Jockeying for You (6 page)

After a moment, her voice came through the line, no louder than a whisper. “Promise we’ll forget this conversation ever happened?”

His heart was now thundering in his chest. “I give you my word.”

“I like you, too, Jake.”

Her voice was so soft. Had he heard wrong? Or maybe she just meant she liked him as an owner. Or a friend.

“Have a good night, Jake.”

“You, too, Ryder.”

“Thanks,” she said quietly before hanging up.

Jake felt a hole in his stomach. Nerves from talking to her? Or alcohol-induced nausea? He was starting to feel lightheaded, too. Given the fact his brother-in-law’s face was bloated and green, Steven was faring no better.

“I’ve got to go,” Steven said miserably. His head hung low like a hound dog that’d been punished for behaving badly.

“Right. Let me get a paper bag before I get into a car with you.”

“Me? You’re no better. You look like you’re gonna puke, too.”

“No way. I’m made of steel.”

The two men left the bar, passing several lushly decorated corridors before they reached the front lobby of the grandiose facility. The concierge came right over to them. “We have car service already waiting for you two gentlemen.”

“Thanks. And thank the bartender for me, will you?”

“Yes, of course, sir. But a woman called us about your need for car service, too.”

Steven was miserable again, his eyes downcast like a defeated dog. “Damn. Dina doesn’t trust me. I told her we’d make sure we got home safely.”

“Sorry to correct you, sir, but the lady who called was a Ms. Hannon.”

A large grin spread out over Jake’s face. “I guess she does care,” he marveled.

“Yeah,” Steven said, elbowing Jake in the gut. “It’s awesome to be cared about, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I do,” Jake agreed, meaning it.

Chapter 5

When Ryder showed up to the stables the next day, it wasn’t a surprise to see Mindy waiting for her with her usual Cheshire cat smile. What was unusual was the fact that Mindy wasn’t there to spill the details about a night of debauchery. No, Mindy’s purpose was to get Ryder to spill the details of her evening.

“Mindy, are you stalking me or something?” Ryder half-teased. How would you know if I was speaking to Jake Carter late last night?”

“I have my ways.” Mindy smiled mysteriously. When Ryder crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow, Mindy expelled a loud huff of air. “Oh all right, I’ll ’fess up. My friend Chuck was filling in for the regular concierge at the country club.”

“The same Chuck you always talk about? The one you want to hook up with?”

“Yep. I must mention you a lot to him, too, since he recognized your name.” A slow smile spread across her face. “And he also recognized Jake Carter’s name. So spill.”

“There’s nothing much to say.”

Mindy frowned. “Are you going to give me that? Seriously?”

Ryder sighed. “Yeesh, all right. But there really isn’t that much to it. Jake butt-dialed me and since I could tell he was drunk I called the country club to make sure he had a ride.”

“He butt-dialed you? Why can’t I ever get that lucky?” She pretended to sigh dramatically. “I wish Jake Carter would butt-dial me. He’s
sooooo
dreamy!”

Ryder bit back a laugh. “Are you done?”

“Hardly.”

“What is it you want to know exactly?”

“Do you two have the hots for each other, or what?”

Ryder bit her lower lip. “I like him,” she said cautiously. “For an owner he’s extremely open to listening to what a trainer has to say.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Mindy chastised. “I’ve known you a long time. You’re not dead. Why do you act it? Are you allergic to romance or something? Jake is mega hot, huge in this industry, and seems to really be into you.”

Ryder took in Mindy’s words but didn’t answer.

“Come on, Ryder,” Mindy urged. “Love is like horseracing. They’re both gambles. But they’re risks worth taking.”

“What makes you think Jake is ready to gamble on love? He only butt-dialed me, for God’s sakes. You make it sound like he proposed.”

“I’d take a proposition from him any day.”

“Mindy, cut it out, will you? I said
proposed
not
propositioned.
”

Mindy laughed. “Start with one to get to the other.”

Ryder shot her a look.

“Okay, okay,” Mindy relented. “I’m being serious now. You want to blow off the significance of his phone call as a mere butt-dial. Let’s see. Did Jake hang up once you answered? Or did he want to talk to you instead?”

“Talk to me, of course, but it would have been rude otherwise.”

“He could have simply apologized and hung up.”

“He tried.”

“Not hard enough apparently. It wouldn’t have been rude to end the call. Mistakes happen. But he talked to you for a while, didn’t he?” When Ryder bit her bottom lip and stayed silent Mindy pressed more. “What did he say?”

Ryder shook her head.

“Spill,” Mindy insisted.

“He said I’m amazing,” Ryder said so softly it was hard to even hear herself.

“Amazing, huh?” Mindy’s grin was bigger than Texas. “I don’t think he butt-dialed you at all. I bet it was an excuse to talk to you.”

“Mindy, you’re being crazy as—”

“Sure I’m crazy,” Mindy interrupted with a wave. “But I’m not blind. When I saw him stare at you the last time he was here, it was with eyes so hot I’m surprised they didn’t leave scorch marks on your skin. They practically branded you, like you’re a horse from the Wild West.”

“You’re exagger—”

“Nope. I remember it crystal clear. I wish Chuck would look at me that way.” Mindy lowered her volume. “I wish anyone would look at me that way. I’d be all over that. He wouldn’t have to look like Jake Carter or even have powerful connections. Or gobs of money. I’d simply be happy if the guy’s into me. Truly into me.” Mindy contorted her face. “I’m thirty-eight years old, Ryder. I’m physically fit, but nowhere near your petite size. I don’t have your blue eyes or your blond hair. My long brown braid already has some grays in it . . .”

Ryder leaned forward and wrapped Mindy in her arms. “You are young. You are beautiful. You are vibrant. And have your whole life ahead of you. You will find a fabulous man to see in you all the wonderful things I do.”

Mindy gave a hard sniff when Ryder let her go. “Thanks, Ry. I needed to hear that. Despite all my teasing, I have a soft side that’s
waaaaay
too soft.” She let out a small laugh. “What about you, though? Are you ever going to take a chance?”

“I take chances,” Ryder protested.

Mindy crossed her hands over her chest, mimicking Ryder.

“Funny,” Ryder said tightly. “Ha ha ha, you’re acting like me.”

“I’m not trying to be funny,” Mindy said. “You helped me so I’m trying to help you. Whether you want my help or not. You don’t take chances. Not since you fell off—”

“Don’t go there,” Ryder warned.

“And why not?” Mindy demanded. “It’s true. You don’t want to take a chance because you don’t want to fail again. I know you want to be a jockey, but it’s safer to sit on the sidelines, training. I know you want Jake Carter, but again, rather than go for it and put yourself out there where you can be hurt, you sit on the sidelines taking the safe route in life.”

Ryder felt her eyes go wide, her jaw hang open.

“It’s true,” Mindy said gently. “Take a risk in life, Ry. You have faith in me. You want me to be happy. I feel the same about you.” She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her, giving Ryder a kiss on the cheek before turning to go.

“Love ya,” Mindy called out as she left the stalls behind.

Ryder watched her go. Was Mindy right? Was it time to take a chance? To get back in the saddle again?

No. Right now she was still suffering from too many scars. Emotionally and physically. Would she ever be able to bare that part of herself to him?

Chapter 6

Jake returned to Ryder’s stable a week and a half later, not believing the scene unfurled in front of him.
Is that a goat? And a bunch of chickens?
He felt his forehead wrinkle. This was supposed to be a professional establishment, not a barn for rundown broncos. He was readying himself to barge in to her office and demand an explanation for her rendition of
Little Stable on the Prairie
when Ryder came up to him. Her white teeth gleamed in a wide-open smile.

Batting her hands against her jeans, a cloud of dust rose up. He coughed. “Sorry,” she apologized.

Even dirty she was a jewel. Dirt never bothered him although Betsy would have killed herself. Betsy saw dirt as working class. He merely saw it as indicative of hard work. And hard work was an enviable trait to find in someone. It was something he was glad to have in common with the beautiful, albeit dirty, woman in front of him. At least her smile was bright, her pearly white teeth were as beautiful as the rest of her.

“Hope my appearance doesn’t scare you away,” she apologized. “Barn work is real dirty and we needed to make some changes around here, as you can see.” She gestured around at the cacophony coming from the loose chickens. A loud, annoyed, “
meh!”
brought his attention to the mangy goat standing off to the side.

Goat pellets littered the floor of her horse stalls, along with loose feathers. One small white wisp drifted past his face. He blew it away with a hard exhale. But the feather blew back and stuck against his lower lip. His lip twitched as he hastily brushed it off.

“There’s more,” she said with obvious pride. “I installed a beach ball on a tether in his stall. He can bat it around when he gets bored. So, tell me, do you like what we’ve done?”

“Er, no.”

“What? You’ve got to be kidding me! We worked so hard to do this for Handsome Dancer. And he’s responded so well to everything.”

“Responding well to what? Chickens?” He felt his eyebrows raise as high as his hairline.
I must be missing her logic.

He could see her quiet down. She pushed some blond, flyaway strands behind her ears and straightened herself up. She tugged her oversized denim shirt more squarely on her shoulders, as if she was trying to look more professional and less ragged, putting a lid on a temper about to explode. And then her eyes clouded like an incoming storm.

Uh-oh. I guess I did miss something. Something about her, anyway. She’s got a volcano hidden inside her.

“Yes. Chickens. And Clem, the goat standing over there.”

“I don’t get it. What’s up?” he asked.

“Handsome Dancer needed animal friends. Clearly he wasn’t taking to humans too well if he kept throwing them off. I picked a goat and some chickens because they can roam free. Some horses feel very lonely when they’re left all alone in stall. They can’t even see the horse next to them. It’s isolating.”

“I thought Handsome Dancer hated being around anything. That’s why he couldn’t be ridden.”

“I think he was having trouble being broken because his heart’s broken. I mean, if you had no friends, wouldn’t you be in a bad mood?”

“I guess so.”

“Same for your horse. It’s an old tactic, actually. Ever hear the phrase, ‘to get someone’s goat’? It originated from unscrupulous horse owners stealing another racehorse’s pet goat. The racehorse would get very upset and then lose the race. All I did was to employ the reverse trick. Giving a horse a pet goat so he’d win his races.” Ryder’s face beamed with pride at her ingenuity.

She’s pretty clever. Or pretty crazy.

“I gave Handsome Dancer friends. Friends he can see because they can come to his stall. This way Handsome and his friends can communicate.

Jake felt his eyebrow arch up. “Dr. Doolittle, I presume?”

A slow smile spread across her lips.

“How far have you gotten with Handsome?”

“He’ll let me ride him now.”

Jake’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “My God, Ryder, you’re amazing,” he exclaimed. With a shake of his head and a hard cough he corrected himself. “I mean, your results with him are amazing.”

Ryder’s grin was now Cheshire cat sized. “Thanks for both compliments.”

Damn. She couldn’t let my mistake go.

Then it hit him. His comment was a slip, but was it really a mistake? Her beautiful face, which had been beaming with pride now had a shy aspect that was even more endearing. She bore a schoolgirl’s blush and averted her eyes from him as she busied herself petting Handsome’s nose.

If only she could stroke me the same way.
Though somewhere lower down than my nose.
He tensed at the thought.
Focus, Jake, damn it! This is business.
“Show me,” he said.

She blinked. “Show you what?”

“Show me Handsome Dancer can be ridden. I want you to ride him for me.”

“Now? He’s already had his exercise for today. I don’t want to tire him out.”

Handsome’s head batted her shoulder with a determination that was comical.

“You know,” Jake quipped, “if he actually understands you then you really are Dr. Doolittle.”

“I’m sure he just wanted me to give him an apple.” She wiped a stray blond bang from her hot forehead and looked the horse in one of his eyes. “What are you saying, babycakes? That you want to go on a short ride with me?”

Yes, yes, I do.
Jake cleared his throat and gave her a tight smile. “Go ahead, you two. Impress me.”

A few minutes later, he was outside the training track, his hands casually resting on the guardrail while he waited for the show to begin.

Soon, Ryder and Handsome entered the track. He heard her cluck her tongue at the horse, and then watched her lightly kick Handsome’s rear. The horse took off around the track in a fast gallop. The horse’s flight was fluid and astoundingly fast for what was supposed to be an easy go-around. She was doing more than merely riding Handsome Dancer. She was a part of him. One cohesive whole.

Thinking the demo was about to end, he had almost turned around to head back when something caught the corner of his eye. It was a flash of color, a fast burst of brown.
What the . . . ?
Whipping his head around to the source, he stared open-mouthed at the sight. Handsome Dancer was bolting down a stretch of training track at a speed unheard of for a newbie horse. Or maybe any horse. In all of Jake’s experiences, he doubted he had seen a horse move that fast when not performing in an actual race.

As impressed as he was, he frowned. Was Ryder working Handsome too hard? Tiring a horse out with a training exercise was a bad idea all around. Both emotionally and physically for the horse. As someone who cared about his animals’ well-being, the potential emotional impact was something important to worry about. Stressing out a horse by constantly spurring it on could lead to depression. The risk of negative physical impact was no better. And likely a whole lot worse. Pulled tendons or muscles could leave the horse permanently lame, which could impact the horse’s psychological state, too.

How sure was he Ryder knew what she was doing? By the time she dismounted, handing Handsome over to a hot walker after affectionately kissing his sweaty, heavily breathing nose, he was more than ready to find out. He straightened himself up to his full height and peered down at the smiling face. Her rail-thin body was over a foot shorter than his but her obvious pride in her accomplishment seemed to puff her up until she loomed as large as him.

“Well? Whadja think?” she demanded. Her grin had grown even larger. If she beamed any brighter she’d pass as a lighthouse.

His lips twisted around until he formed his carefully chosen words. “I’m glad to see you got him to perform.”

Her smile dropped, a heavy rock tossed off the lighthouse’s cliff. “You’re not happy?”

“I’m . . . I’m not sure how you got so far so fast. I don’t want him pushed past his limits. To be performing this hard, to be running at that pace for a simple demo . . .”

“I am not pushing him past his limits. This is not the Belmont Stakes where everything is on the line. Handsome Dancer was merely trying to prove to you he can do it.
He
wants to show off, not me.” She folded her arms across her chest and blew a stray strand of blond hair from her eyes. She didn’t seem like she was challenging him as much as she was wary of him. “It’s going to be hard to work for you if you’re going to doubt my integrity. I break down a horse’s barriers to success. But I don’t break their spirit. And I would never overexert an animal just to impress an owner.”

He expelled a hard breath. “Okay. I didn’t think so. But if you didn’t push him to the max, how was he able to take off like that? He flew around the track.”

“Like you said yourself, your horse is special.”

“The trainer has a lot to do with it,” said a deep voice out of nowhere. The person sounded highly annoyed. When Jake turned to see Lenny’s face, he knew he had called it right. Notwithstanding, Jake extended his hand and plastered on a pleasant face.

“It’s okay, Lenny,” Ryder said gently. “I can fight my own battles.”

Her voice had the duality of light chastisement and heavy affection. She put a hand on the older man’s shoulder.

A thought struck Jake. Ryder and Lenny had a father/daughter relationship.
“I’m not attacking anyone,” Jake explained, putting his rejected hand down.

“Good. Because Ryder here is the best. She’s been doing wonders for Handsome Dancer, and if you think she’d push an animal before its ready, and for the sole reason of showing off, you don’t know her at all.”

“Lenny. I—” Ryder tried to cut in.

“I’m an owner.” Jake straightened. “Don’t you think I have the right to ask what’s being done with my horse?”

Lenny’s chin rose up a notch. “If you have so many doubts that you need to ask her to explain herself maybe you should—”

Ryder took a step in front of Lenny. “None of us need be hasty. Mr. Carter has a right to ask.”

Jake winced. The return to formality was painful.

The old man was glaring hard at her too.

“And Lenny has a right to make sure our philosophy and technique is respected by the owners of the horses we train,” Ryder hastily finished.

Her words seemed to calm Lenny down. His eyes looked less like weapons of mass destruction.

“You should appreciate all she’s been doing,” Lenny ground out, obviously still irritated with him. “She’s been working night and day with Handsome Dancer. Had to hire another hand to make up for her lost time on the other horses she’s working with so they don’t suffer for it. You can see your horse is responding well to her. He’s got pure power, yeah. But it’s Ryder he wants to do well for. The only one trying to show off around here is Handsome Dancer. There’s no doubt in my mind your horse wants her proud of him. That dang boy practically coos like a baby every time she walks by. And you ought to thank her for that.”

Lenny abruptly turned and left. Ryder shot Jake a sympathetic smile before taking off after Lenny. The old man slowed down only long enough to stop for a kiss on his cheek from her and then resumed his pace back to wherever it was he was going.

Moments later, Ryder was back in front of Jake. “Sorry for that, but I’m sure you understand. You two are a lot alike.”

Jake arched an eyebrow. “Really? I’m a hot-under-the-collar curmudgeon?”

Ryder bit back a smile. “I hadn’t thought of that. I meant you’re both highly protective of what you care most about. Lenny’s protective of me. You’re protective of Handsome Dancer.”

He froze over the truism of her words. No wonder she did such amazing things with horses, she could read all animals—from equines to mankind. And with spot-on honesty. As if the curtains were pulled back and the stage cleared off for the person to be thoroughly revealed. She seemed to understand everybody and everything’s dynamics, why reactions were what they were. Even better, she knew what to do about it, as if she reacted not to words or attitude problems, but to their real issues. And then had the ability to calm their fears and anxieties—if by doing nothing more than simply reassuring them she was there for them.

A second thought hit him. At least Lenny had someone special at the center of his life. All Jake had was his business.
Lenny is no doubt smarter than I am.
It was time to put a person at the center of his life, too. And like Lenny, maybe it was Ryder who should be in that center.

“Would you like to go out to dinner with me?” Jake blurted.

“What?” Her eyes went wide. “You feel we need to go someplace private to talk about business?”

He slipped his fingers inside his shirt collar and gave a little tug. “No, I’m asking you to go out on a date.”

“You were serious when you butt-dialed me?”

He took a deep breath.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
“Serious about finding you attractive? Yes.” His face felt hot.

“Hmmm. I don’t know. First you seemed worried by how I train your horse, and now you’re worried whether I’m willing to train you?” She laughed. The sound of it was earthy and delightful.

“Yeah. That’s about right.” He grinned.

“Some beasts are untrainable. Are you one of them?”

“Come find out. I never should have doubted you. I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you by taking you out to dinner. Somewhere nice. We won’t talk business. Not one drop. I swear.”

Ryder bit her lip, and then broke out into a smile. “Okay. We can go tonight. But just out to dinner, okay? I have work very early in the morning.”

He crossed his fingers and held them over his chest. “Scout’s honor. I’ll see you at six. Dress nice.”

Dumbfounded by the whole chain of events, Ryder wasn’t sure what to make of Jake Carter but couldn’t resist finding out. Lost in thought, she surveyed her dirty denim and slopped-up riding boots. Blond flyaway wisps circled around her head like an electrified halo. She batted them away with a grimy hand.
To say I look like a disaster would be an insult to disasters. A mudslide would be more attractive.