Isla Halstead is the daughter of Detectives Jay Halstead and Hailey Upton. She's been addicted to horseback riding since she was 6 years old, with dreams of reaching the Olympics. Her parents support her fully along the way and are determined to do...
An hour had passed, and Isla hadn't moved an inch. Jay had reclined his seat back and was scrolling through his phone. Suddenly his phone dinged with a message from Hailey.
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"Your mom just texted me. She wanted me to tell you she loves you and is sorry for pushing you as far as she did." Jay tells his daughter, who continues to stare through the front windshield.
"Tell her I love her too," Isla responded quietly, refusing to look at her father.
"Munchkin, you know why she was pushing you, right?" he asked, placing a comforting hand on her back. Isla stayed quiet.
Jay sighed, "Munchkin, she was pushing you because you've been shutting her out, and she's worried about you. You used to tell her everything, and now you've gone radio silent on her."
"Daddy, I can't do this; please take me home. Please," she begged, tears continuing to fall down her face.
"I can't do that, baby. I know you don't want to be here, but you need to get this over and done with." Jay calmly told his daughter, who turned to look at him, tears pouring down her face.
"I'm not ready, Daddy. I can't. I can't walk in there and not see Dagger. Not after what I did to him." she cried, finally letting him know the reason for not wanting to go back inside the barn.
It finally clicked with Jay why Isla avoided going to the barn. She was blaming herself for Dagger's death.
"Munchkin, you didn't do anything wrong. You made the right choice."
"Maybe if I called Sam sooner, we could've saved him. I just thought it would work itself out. I'm the reason Dagger's gone, Daddy. I can't face that." Isla sobbed.
"Oh munchkin, you heard Sam, stuff like that can pop up out of nowhere, and you'd never know. The most experienced horse owners sometimes don't catch it until it's too late," he tells her, holding her face in his hands.
"It's my fault." She sobbed, cradling her head in her hands.
"No, munchkin, it wasn't. You made the right choice. Dagger will always be your first horse; no one can change that. You have to stop blaming yourself. You did nothing wrong."
"I miss him so much."
"I know you do, baby. I know. Do you want me to come in with you?" Jay asked his daughter, wiping away her tears with his thumbs.
Isla nodded. Jay released her face from his hold before moving to get himself out of the truck, Isla following.
"You ready, munchkin?" knowing full well she wasn't.
"I just want to get it over with," Isla told him truthfully.
They slowly made their way inside the barn's tack room. Isla stopped momentarily and walked over to her tack box to grab some peppermints for Ryder and Navajo. Jay smiled at her; the first thing she always did when she got to the barn was grabbed peppermints for her horses; he was happy to see that she fell back into the routine.
