Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 02 - Out of the Darkness (18 page)

Monica looks a little taken aback, but Amanda jumps in. “Okay, excellent. You’re going to
eat
lunch, right?”

 

“Uh, yeah, I guess….”

Monica turns to Evan. “Let’s go get takeout. We can bring it back here and have a picnic!” Tat smiles enthusiastically. Great. If Tat’s behind the plan, Dan might as well give up.

“Well, I’ve got a lunch I brought, but obviously you guys can eat here….” He decides to try one last effort. “But the smell of horseshit isn’t all that appetizing for most people. There’s a couple spots up on the cross-country course with great views.Maybe you should head up there.”

“Meh, we can eat with a view anytime,” Blaine decides. “This is our chance to eat with Evan’s new”—and he breaks off with an incredibly awkward look in Tat’s direction before finishing with— “friend.” The words aren’t all that incriminating, but Blaine’s reaction is far from subtle.

Shit. Evan told these idiots but didn’t tell Tat? Judging by the look on her face, she’s come to the same realization and is torn between being happy that she got what she wanted with Evan and Dan and upset that Evan hadn’t bothered to tell her. Dan can understand that. Judging by Evan’s face, he can too. He looks a little torn himself, but he seems to be wanting to simultaneously talk to Tat and kill Blaine.

Dan decides to jump in. He can’t mess things up any worse than Blaine, surely. “Tat, did you get a chance to look at any of those books I left for you?” When in doubt, evade the issue; that’s Dan’s motto.

She looks a bit surprised by the topic change. “Uh, not yet, really….”

 

“That’s too bad. Tulip’s got a little bump here on her neck, I thought you might be able to diagnose it.”

If Tat’s ears could move, they would be perking forward. She scurries around to where Dan is standing and runs her fingers along the spot on Tulip’s neck. “Oh, wow, I feel it! Is it serious? Will she be okay?”

Dan grins. “Get a bit more information first. Does it seem sore? Press pretty hard, watch her ears and body for a reaction….” Tat does. “Did she seem to react?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

 

“Okay, good, I don’t think so, either. So, not sore. Feel it a bit, see if it’s hard or soft, if it moves around….”

“Moves around?!” Tat’s hand jerks back in alarm. “Is it something
alive
?” Evan has drawn a little closer, whether in genuine interest or just an attempt to be near Tat, and he makes a disgusted face as well.

Dan tries to hold back his laughter. “No, I doubt it. But some things are anchored to the spots they formed, others… they move around a bit.”

“Yikes.” Tat returns her fingers gingerly to the lump and follows Dan’s instructions. “Okay, It’s… pretty hard, seems like it’s all the same texture all through it… and it’s not moving, thankfully! So, is it serious?”

Dan shakes his head. “I doubt it. I think it’s just a bug bite. But we need to keep an eye on it, just in case. And if you only rode one horse and were the only one riding her, you could just keep track in your head. But who knows the next time you’ll be a position to check on this, right? So….”

“Her binder! Do
I
get to make the note?”
“You’ve got all the same information I have, so why not?”

Tat scampers happily to the tack room to get the binder, and Evan smiles gratefully at Dan. “Thanks, dude.” Then he turns to Blaine. “Seriously, man, could you possibly try thinking before you speak? Like, ever?”

“Shit, Evan, I’m so sorry. I just… you know I’m crap with secrets! You should never tell me anything.”

“No, I really try not to. But sometimes you dig your way into things that are none of your goddamn business and you won’t let it rest. Sound familiar?” Evan sounds genuinely angry, and Dan almost feels sorry for Blaine. Almost. Evan doesn’t seem interested in forgiving him, although he does stop glaring once he sees Tat returning with Tulip’s binder.

Tat looks tentatively at Dan, and he nods at her. “Go ahead. Just note down what you observed, make sure you date it. It’s that easy. If I’m not here and you think it’s something important, leave me a note on the chalkboard, but otherwise, you’re done.” She looks pleased with her new responsibility, so Dan continues. “And once you’re back in the saddle, you should start making training notes as well. If I’m not here, you can read my notes to see what you should be working on and then put your own notes in to say how it went. Okay?”

“Really? I can do all that?”

“Dude, it’s about time you started pulling your weight in this partnership, right?” Dan smiles to make it clear that he’s teasing, and she smiles back.

“All right, partner.”

Tat hops up on a stack of hay bales and starts writing, and Dan reaches for the bridle. Maybe he can capitalize on Blaine’s mistake, get rid of the three of them while they’re still feeling awkward and guilty. “I’m actually going to be taking a lot of the weekend off, so I want to get some riding in while I can. I’ll probably just eat something as I go. Why don’t you guys head into town and find somewhere nice to eat? Maybe Tat has a favorite place.” Most of this was said to the crowd in general, but the last was sent straight to Blaine. Hopefully he still feels like he needs to make something up to her.

To his credit, Blaine takes the hint. “Yeah, Brat, what do you say? Has your injury put you off your food, or do you want me to buy you lunch?”

Tat looks from Evan to Blaine, and then back. “Can we go to Zio’s?” As soon as Evan nods, Tat’s beaming. She turns to Dan. “Are you sure you don’t want to come? You liked Zio’s, right?”

Dan thinks back to his last meal at Zio’s with Tat, when she had been so rude to Ryan. It seems like forever ago. “Yeah, I like it, but I want to get some stuff done around here before Chris comes.”

Tat nods her acquiescence before returning to her binder. Evan looks like he’s looking forward to the lunch about as much as Dan would have been. Dan isn’t sure how to feel about that; the LA Three aren’t exactly Dan’s favorite people, but Amanda was right when she’d pointed out that Evan doesn’t have a lot of friends, so Dan doesn’t really want him to be angry at the ones he
does
have….

He decides it isn’t really his problem. Evan’s a big boy, and he hasn’t asked for Dan’s help. Which is good, because Dan really can’t think of anything intelligent to do, and bumbling around with his usual lack of interpersonal skills probably wouldn’t help anyone at all. He’ll just stick to horses, at least if these people will let him.

“Uh, I’m just gonna go ride now, so… excuse me….”

Amanda steps aside somewhat reluctantly, and Blaine gives in on his side. Dan pulls the reins over Tulip’s head and leads her to the jumping ring. She’s still young, and he doesn’t want to push her, so it’ll just be low obstacles for her. She’s one of those horses who just loves jumping, though, so he doesn’t really think he needs to worry about souring her or pushing her too hard. He’s turned her out in the jump ring a few times and she’s jumped all on her own, just for fun. Another horse with a lot of potential. Reading over the partnership contract, Dan had seen the price Evan had paid the Archers for the string of horses. He agrees with them that it was a good price and almost certainly more than they would have gotten if they had tried to sell at auction, but he also thinks Evan got a good deal, because damn it, these are some damn fine horses, most of them with potential that an average buyer wouldn’t be able to see. Dan still can’t believe that he’s been given a chance to actually own them, even partly.

He warms Tulip up on the flat and remembers that this is where she might have some trouble. She’s a lot like Monty: too proud, too full of herself to accept her rider’s guidance. Dan has to admit that he kind of loves that about her.

He takes her over some trotting poles, but she’s still fighting him, still wanting to do things her way. He thinks he might have to scrap the jumping plans for the day. There’s no point in doing it if it’s just going to teach her bad habits. He notices that Smokey and Monty are back, their riders sitting on them and watching Dan’s struggles. He rides over to say hello and maybe to share a little frustration.

Anna is the first to speak. Dan hasn’t known her long, but he’s willing to bet that’s the usual order of things with her. “Beautiful mover, isn’t she? Lots of muscle, too, for a Thoroughbred.”

Dan remembers just how much he likes this horse. “Yeah, she’s pretty great. Super-athletic, obviously.” He smiles ruefully. “Lots of energy, maybe a bit stubborn….”

Anna laughs. “You just need to get her tired out. That was my strategy with Jeff, when he was a youngster. Whenever he stopped listening to me, or wouldn’t use his common sense, I’d set him to moving things or digging holes or… anything, really, just to wear off some of that rebellion.” She smiles fondly at her son, who looks like he’d like to dig another hole just about now, big enough to crawl into and hide. “And look how well he turned out.”

Dan grins. “Yeah, he’s as calm as Smokey, there, isn’t he? You’re right, that would probably work.” He looks at his watch. It’s past noon, and he was hoping to ride at least one other horse, and lunge one of the colts….

Anna jumps in again. “I can do it, if you want. There’s a lovely hill on the way up to the course. I could take her up and down that fifty times, see if her attitude improves.”

 

“Oh, no, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t ask, as I recall. Really, I’d be happy to do it. Jeff needs to go in and be the artist-in-residence at the gallery, and I was just going to get dropped off at his house. I’d be bored and probably entertain myself by snooping through his things, so, really, you’d be doing both of us—everyone—a favor if you kept me occupied.”

Dan looks at Jeff, who shrugs helplessly at him. “She’s right, really. If you’re not comfortable with it, don’t worry, but if you are… it’d be great. You could drop her off at my place when you go home, or she can just stay here and knock around the barn until I get back to pick her up. Or, hell, she could borrow one of Evan’s cars and drive herself around.”

Monty is standing calmly, happy as a clam with the strange rider on his back, and that’s a pretty good sign that Anna knows what she’s doing. Monty isn’t the sort of horse to be patient with inexperienced riders. “Well, yeah, if you don’t mind… that’d be really helpful.” He remembers that Jeff is a bit out of the loop. “Chris is coming out—I’m picking him up at the airport at five. Evan was talking about a barbecue—or maybe just Tat was, I’m not sure.” He turns to Anna. “But I could drop you off at Jeff’s on the way to the airport, if that works for you.” She nods, and he continues. “Do you want to just swap horses? I can take Monty in.”

“Oooh, I like this, having my horses taken care of for me when all I do is ride. I feel like a lady of leisure!”

“See if you still feel that way when she’s ripping your arms out of their sockets.” Dan catches himself. “I mean, she won’t do that, but she does tend to pull….”

Anna swings down from Monty’s back and nods. “She’s off-thetrack?”

“Yeah… I’ve gotten her used to lighter contact, but she still wants to balance off the bit if you let her. I ride her with a lot of seat, not too much hands or leg, but she will yield once she gets in the right mindset.”

“So, if I trot her a bit, walk her up and down the hill, trot her a bit, then back to the hill?”

 

“Sounds perfect, yeah. If she gets wound up, drop contact almost entirely and just slow her down with your seat.”

Anna nods confidently. “Okay, great.” She smiles at Jeff. “I might just have to visit more often, if I get to do all this fun training down here.”

“Well, you know I’d love that, Mom.”

Her smile turns a little wicked. “Yeah, it didn’t seem to cramp your style too much last night… stumbling in this morning looking all worn out….”

Jeff and Dan are very careful to
not
look at each other, but that seems like just as clear of a signal to Anna as if they had, and she chuckles gleefully to herself as she ducks under the fence and takes Tulip’s reins from Dan. He ducks under in the opposite direction and is glad to have an excuse to turn his blushing face away from the older woman’s observant eyes. Jeff looks like he’s more or less used to this level of invasiveness.

Anna springs up onto Tulip’s back like someone half her age, and Dan thinks that the woman actually
looks
a little younger than she had when he’d first seen her. Apparently riding agrees with her. She takes a moment to get organized as Tulip prances around like she’s walking through a room of snakes, and then Dan leads Monty down and opens the gate for Tulip and Anna to head up to the hill. Anna salutes smartly as she passes through, and Dan smiles in return. Jeff’s mom is excellent.

He decides not to bother getting on Monty’s back to go back to the barn; he rides so much, it’s nice to just stretch his legs sometimes. And Monty is being a gentleman for a change, happy to walk along beside Dan. When they get back to Jeff, he swings down off Smokey so he and Dan are at the same level.

“Your mom’s great, man.”
Jeff nods. “Yeah, she really is. I got lucky.”

Dan thinks of his own mother. She’d been sick for so long, it’s hard to remember what she was like before all that. But he can remember her standing by, silent while his stepfather had called him a fag, said that he wasn’t going to have a cocksucker living in his house…. Dan really can’t imagine Anna doing that. Or being stupid enough to marry the asshole in the first place.

Jeff notices his thoughtfulness. “Thinking about
your
mom?” he asks.

 

“Yeah, I guess.” Dan shoots a quick look at Jeff. “Makes me wonder where I got my great taste in men.”

 

Jeff smiles at the compliment. “My mom might make you wonder where I got my laid-back attitude.”

 

“Yeah, good point. I guess sometimes the fruit
does
fall a bit away from the tree.”

 

“Or runs away from it.”

They head back into the barn and untack the horses together. There’s no sign of any Kaminskis or their guests, which is lovely, and Robyn and Sara are just going upstairs for lunch. That leaves Dan alone in the barn with Jeff, and that’s a situation that definitely gives Dan ideas.