Winter Circuit (The Show Circuit -- Book 2) (8 page)

“So when do the Pearces get here?” I asked Linda.

“Probably next week. So you can just settle in, get used to things.”

“Great,” I said. “Do I, um, have to stay here, or can I stay with my boyfriend some nights?”

She shrugged. “Fine if you don’t stay here when Dakota’s not here. Just as long as you’re here in the morning when I need you.”

“Of course,” I said.

The last thing Linda showed me was the car and golf cart at my disposal. The car was a black Jeep. She handed me the keys and told me to keep my receipts for gas to get reimbursed.

“Okay, take the rest of the day to settle in. Tomorrow morning you can start getting up to speed on the routine with the horses and I could use your help running errands.”

“Of course,” I said. “Great.”

I texted Chris that I was through for the day and that I’d love to come over to see his barn. He gave me directions via golf cart. His barn was not in Grand Prix Village, a fact I was slightly surprised by.

I found my way, passing other golf carts, cars, and a few riders on horses. I went slow, looking at every gorgeous barn I passed. There were paddocks by the road and occasionally I could see through to a ring or grass jump field. There was one huge jump field that I had a good view of with the fences set incredibly high. A few riders were cantering around and a very famous trainer that even I recognized from afar was standing in the middle teaching. His voice reverberated over a microphone system.

Once out of the back gate of Grand Prix Village, the farms didn’t look as impressive. They didn’t have formidable gates and weren’t as landscaped. I felt sort of like I’d crossed the proverbial tracks to the place where the other half lived. I knew I had found the right barn because Jasper came running out barking. I would have been scared of him if I hadn’t known it was all bluster.

“It’s just me, Jas,” I told him.

He gave me a small tail wag and slight nuzzle, which was a pretty warm reception for the dog whose sun set and rose on one person only: Chris. At least he remembered me.

To be honest, compared to the Pearces’, Chris’s barn looked pretty shabby. It was just a simple one aisle barn with ten stalls and a ring. There were patches of sand where there should have been grass and the ring itself had only a calf-high fence around it—no impressive hedges. A giant mirror stood on one side of the ring, which seemed odd. But, of course, the barn was still immaculate. Chris ran a tight ship. It might not be a fancy ship, apparently, but it was still a tight ship with blankets folded neatly on stall doors and the aisle swept clean.

As excited as I had been to see Chris at the airport, I was almost equally as excited to see Logan. I hadn’t seen him since he’d gotten on the trailer in Vermont. The horse I had almost detested at the beginning of the summer circuit had become my greatest friend.

Dale was organizing a tack trunk that probably didn’t need to be organized. But Dale didn’t sit still. Ever. I tried to be cheerful, hoping he’d give me even half as warm a reception as Jasper had. “Hi, Dale,” I chirped and then wished I’d sounded a little less chipper.

He moved his chin a millimeter in my general direction. Didn’t even speak. I didn’t warrant enough breath to make words. Why did Dale hate me? Was it because I was a complete outsider to this sport? Had he been as chilly to Mary Beth?

“What’s with the mirror by the ring?” I asked.

He shook his head like I was a total idiot for not knowing. “Used to be a dressage farm.”

Chris must have known I’d want to see Logan because he took me right to his stall. Jasper followed us faithfully. Logan was eating his hay. I opened his door and said his name. He swung his head to look at me as he chewed. Did he recognize me? If only horses were like dogs and could wag their tails, do happy dances, or lick you. But that was the enigma of the horse. You weren’t ever truly sure how they felt about you. It wasn’t like I’d spent my whole life caring for him, either. Before Vermont, I’d only ridden him a few times a week. Then in Vermont I’d been his sole caretaker and from my end I’d felt we’d formed an amazing bond. We’d come together in the ring and around the barn and I’d grown to love him like I’d never loved any animal before. But now I didn’t even know if he remembered me.

I’d heard stories of horses remembering their owners years after they’d last seen them and certainly all horse movies made it seem like every horse would gallop up to the pasture fence, whinnying, when its owner came. But how many horses really did that?

“It’s me,” I told Logan, as if that would jog his memory.

His ears flicked at my voice but that was it. He kept chewing.

I put my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. I breathed in his wonderful smell. Maybe it didn’t matter if he remembered me. Maybe all that mattered was how much I loved him.

Chris poked his head over the stall door. “I have to call Craig back. I’ll be in the office.”

I knew Craig was Lily’s father.

I had no idea where the office was but I was fine hugging Logan for a while longer. I ran my hand over his neck and stepped back to take a look at him. Then I ran my hands down each leg and picked up each hoof. His legs felt tight and cool, not at all puffy or hot. His hooves looked strong too. Wow. He looked amazing. He was more muscled along his topline and hind-end, and his coat gleamed. Under Chris’s care he got things I couldn’t have given him—time on the treadmill for fitness, time spent standing on the vibrating pad, and wearing the magnetic blanket. Most of all, though, he looked happy. I was so lucky Dad had agreed to send him with Chris.

I stayed in his stall a few minutes longer. As I was closing the stall door behind me, I turned and found Dale blocking my path. We stood closer than I had maybe at any other time before. Abnormally and uncomfortably close. I could see the lines around his eyes and mouth. For someone who rarely smiled, he had a lot of laugh lines. Probably from too much sun exposure and squinting. I wished I could go right back in the stall, or that Logan would swing his head over and save me.

“This is a big winter for him,” Dale said.

At first I thought he meant Logan, and I was confused because I didn’t think Dale cared that much about Logan. But then I realized he meant Chris. Dale had a quiet voice—he never talked loudly. But it was a serious voice. He continued, “Losing Harris was huge but he’s making out okay. He’s recovering from it. He’s got a few clients. This is the big stage here. It doesn’t get any bigger. Do you get that?”

I nodded, even though I hadn’t really thought about it. To me, Florida had always seemed like just another horse show. But judging from what I’d already seen in terms of the farms and the pure wealth, it was very different.

“This is where he lands another sponsor and gets a number one horse. This winter is when he gets back in the game.”

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say to Dale. I wanted all that for Chris too. We were on the same team—Team Chris.

“He can’t have any distractions,” Dale added.

“I’m a distraction?” I said.

“Before you he had Harris.”

“That wasn’t because of me,” I said. “Or we don’t know it was just because of me.”

I knew Chris had told Dale about Harris’s wife making a pass at him and Chris rejecting her. Chris told Dale everything. They were more like uncle and nephew or big and little brother than rider and barn manager.

“Don’t ruin this for him,” Dale said.

“I’m not going to,” I promised him. “I want everything you want for him.” As much as I felt like Dale was out of line, his intentions were good. He wanted Chris to be the best in the sport and I didn’t get the sense it was because it would promote Dale or get him something he wanted. Sure, if you’re the barn manager for an Olympic Gold Medalist you get more attention and accolades. But I’m not sure your pay gets any higher really. Dale loved Chris and wanted him to reach his fullest potential. Which was what I wanted too, but Dale couldn’t see that we were actually aligned in that goal, and I didn’t hold out much hope of convincing him. At least not today, my first day in Welly World.

Dale turned and walked off. I leaned back against Logan’s stall door and let out a breath. I hadn’t even been in Florida a few hours and things were already more complicated than I had thought they’d be.

Chapter 11

“What’s that like?” I asked Chris when we were seated. “You and Tommy?”

They had been close until this past summer when Harris had pulled his horses from Chris and given them to Tommy.

“We’re both professionals—we can still be civil to each other,” Chris said, picking up a menu.

“That’s it? That’s all you feel about it?” Sometimes Chris could be almost too controlled in his emotions. He was always so levelheaded. But underneath it seemed impossible that he wouldn’t have the same emotions that we all did.

“Are you still friends?” I asked.

“Definitely, but I’m not going to lie… it’s hard to watch him ride my horses.”

“Just hard?”

Chris placed the menu to the side. “No, it nearly kills me. Each time I watch him go into the ring on Titan I think I might die.”

He said this with a straight face and little emotion and I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. I gave him a confused look. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, totally, completely, undeniably, thoroughly, utterly, unconditionally, unreservedly serious.”

I burst out laughing. Most people would show their emotions with a slew of passionate swearwords, a raised voice, or a pounding fist. But it was so Chris to convey his emotions in a calm and composed, well-spoken, cerebral manner.

“What was that again?” I teased. “Completely, thoroughly, totally…?”

“I think it was: totally, completely, undeniably, thoroughly, utterly, unconditionally,” he said with a smirk. “Oh, and unreservedly, at the end.”

The waitress came and filled our waters. Chris ordered a beer. She said she’d give us a little more time with the menu, since I hadn’t even opened mine. Having been here before, Chris already knew what he wanted.

He continued, “That was my horse. I brought him along. And now he’s Tommy’s. It’s not Tommy’s fault. Tommy’s a good guy. And this is a business and this kind of stuff happens but it kills me to watch them. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for that to go away, or if it’ll ever truly go away. Maybe it’ll be better when I have a horse for the big ring again.”

“But in the meantime it nearly kills you.”

“Yup.”

I loved how Chris had gone from seeming like somehow he was above emotion to admitting just how much it hurt him to see Tommy ride Titan.

We had a nice dinner. The food was good, the restaurant was quiet enough for us to talk, and it felt great to be with Chris and not to be worrying about when I’d see him next or how much time we had left together. All of Vermont had seemed to be lived under somewhat of a ticking clock as the circuit inched toward its end and we went our separate ways. Of course, the Florida circuit wasn’t forever either but it was just starting and we had months together ahead of us.

Tommy and his girlfriend must have come in shortly before us, because they were heading out the door at the same time we were. This time, Chris introduced me to Tommy as his girlfriend.

“Sure, I remember you from Vermont,” Tommy said. He introduced his girlfriend who was willowy and slightly exotic looking.

“Did you hear what happened to Louie?” Tommy asked Chris.

“What?”

“His tack room was broken into. A whole bunch of tack including five saddles stolen.”

“When?” Chris asked.

“Last night. Cleaned him out. It was like twenty grand in tack and saddles.”

In the car I asked Chris whether things like what happened to Louie were common on the circuit.

“I wouldn’t say common but I wouldn’t say totally uncommon either.”

“But how can whoever stole the stuff make any money off it? Wouldn’t people find out if suddenly five saddles show up on ebay or something?”

“I’m not exactly sure but I guess it’s like stolen art. You don’t sell it right away, or you sell it through black market channels, or to other countries or something.”

We talked a little more about Tommy. He said Tommy’s girlfriend owned an upscale, boutique clothing store at the show, real clothes, not riding clothes. Chris told me that Harris had bought Tommy another top grand prix horse after he’d told Chris he couldn’t afford another one.

“Where’s Harris’s farm now?” I asked.

“Now?”

“I guess I assumed last year his horses were with you at your farm?” I realized as I said the words how off my thinking was. Harris would never tolerate a barn like the one Chris was using this winter.

“Harris owns the most amazing farm in Grand Prix Village,” Chris said.

“And that’s where you were last year and where Tommy is this year.” Now I truly understood what a step down his current situation was for Chris. There were certainly no dressage mirrors at Harris’s farm.

“You want to come over tonight?” Chris said, changing the subject.

“Most definitely.” When Dakota was at the show, I’d have to spend my nights with her. But until then, I could do what I wanted, and I wanted to be with Chris.

I imagine that most men think they make a girl want them with what they do sexually. They think it’s the way they press their lips against yours or probably more likely the way they thrust their hips or the size of their dick. I guess maybe I had assumed as much too before I’d started having sex with Chris. But now I realized that for me anyway, something tiny could turn me on to him. Some little thing he said, or a quick touch. That night it was when I walked by him in his kitchen and he reached out and grabbed my wrist. Something about how quick and predatory it felt, his hand tight on my skin, telling me he needed me. Maybe he needed me to make him feel good and powerful again after seeing Tommy. I got that sweeping burst of excitement in my stomach. Without a word he was saying he wanted me. Right then. And it made me want him back badly.