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called Pegasus. That’s a cool name. How big is he?’
    â€˜Seventeen hands.’
    â€˜And how much does he weigh?’
    â€˜Nearly nine hundred kilograms.’
    Tyler looked serious. ‘That’s quite a lot.’
    â€˜It feels like even more than that if he stands on your foot,’ Dominic said with a wry smile.
    â€˜Does he live here?’
    â€˜Yes.’ Dominic paused. ‘You can come and see him, if you like—if that’s all right with your mum.’
    â€˜Please, Mum? Can I?’ Tyler’s gaze was full of entreaty.
    â€˜He’s very gentle,’ Dominic reassured Louisa.
    And huge , she thought, when Dominic took them over to the stables.
    Tyler duly admired the horse, asking if he was allowed to stroke him and then, at Dominic’s agreement, stroking the horse’s nose. ‘He’s beautiful.’
    â€˜He certainly is,’ Dominic agreed.
    â€˜Are you jousting this weekend?’
    â€˜No.’
    His voice was even, but Louisa noticed the shadows inhis eyes. Time to head off her son’s line of conversation. ‘Ty, we ought to—’ she began, but Tyler spoke over her.
    â€˜But there’s that picture of you. You’re a knight. You had a lance and you were wearing armour, so you must be a jouster.’
    â€˜Not any more.’
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜Ty, you can’t ask questions like that,’ Louisa said.
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜It’s rude.’
    â€˜But I didn’t say a swear.’
    How was she going to explain this? ‘Ty, let’s talk about this later, OK?’
    â€˜But I wasn’t rude,’ Tyler said, looking puzzled.
    Dominic raked a hand through his hair. ‘It’s a fair question. I don’t joust any more because there was an accident and someone got hurt.’
    He frowned. ‘My mum’s a nurse. She makes people better. Why didn’t your friend go to see a nurse or a doctor?’
    Dominic took a deep breath. ‘It doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes even a nurse or doctor can’t fix things.’
    â€˜Oh.’ Tyler digested the information. ‘Do you miss jousting?’
    â€˜Ty, let’s talk about something else,’ Louisa pleaded. ‘I dunno—what the horse eats, what kind of saddle he has?’
    But her son refused to budge. ‘If I’d been a knight and I didn’t do it any more, I think I’d miss jousting,’ Tyler said. ‘I want to be a knight.’
    â€˜It takes a lot of practice and hard work,’ Dominic warned.
    â€˜I don’t mind. I’m going to practise holding the reins at home. Bea showed me how. All I need is a ribbon.’
    â€˜So let’s go and buy the ribbon now,’ Louisa said, seeing an opening. She caught Dominic’s eye and mouthed, ‘Sorry.’
    He said nothing, and she stifled a sigh. So much for thinking he understood about Asperger’s and the way it gave a child tunnel vision. Then again, Ty had obviously trampled on a really sore spot. He hadn’t meant to: he just hadn’t been able to pick up the visual clues that Dominic was uncomfortable and she hadn’t been able to head Tyler in another direction.
    â€˜Time to say goodbye, Ty,’ she said.
    â€˜Goodbye, and thank you for showing me your horse,’ Tyler said politely.
    Â 
    Dominic leaned back against the stable door and watched them both walk over the yard. Hell. He hadn’t been prepared for that one.
    Do you miss jousting?
    Yes, he missed it. Missed it like crazy. Holding the lance in his right hand and the reins in his left, then focusing on the tilt, urging Pegasus to a quick canter and then closing in, focusing on where he was going to land his lance. Speed, precision and skill: the kind of thrill that reminded him he was still alive.
    Except he’d been a little too precise, the last time he’d jousted. Too fast. And he’d unhorsed his opponent.