Renaissance Man

by M. Garzon

  “Well, what do we do about it?” he asked.

  I looked around for Karen, but she wasn’t in sight. Then I squared my shoulders. As much as I might want someone to back me up right now, especially someone more experienced and credible than me, these were my clients. As Karen had repeatedly told me, learning to relate to clients was as much a part of being a successful big-name rider as dealing with the horses.

  “We start off by giving him some time.” Hades chose that moment to rub his face against me, almost knocking me over. So much for dignity. I recovered and scratched him, trying to find the itchy spot under his bridle. Monica smiled.

  “Hopefully after an uneventful show or two, he’ll realize there’s nothing to worry about and be back to himself again,” I continued.

  “And if he isn’t?” Neil asked.

  I hesitated. I honestly didn’t know what I’d do if Hades didn’t get over his fear. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I’ll do whatever it takes to make him feel secure again. I’ve been sleeping in the stall next to him this whole show.”

  “What?” Monica exclaimed. “You can’t be at your best if you don’t get a good night’s sleep.”

  Neil, however, nodded approvingly. “I like that kind of dedication. All right then, we’ll hope he’s better tomorrow.”

  Hades placed fifth in his class the following day, which was enough to reassure the Donalds. I, on the other hand, didn’t feel any better. Hades hadn’t been himself, I’d simply ridden him more carefully and compensated for his preoccupation.

  After the Donalds left we started preparing for the trip home. When everything was ready I took Hades out to graze, and Erin took Cal. Holding Hades wasn’t very relaxing; he seemed to feel that the best patches of grass were always two steps further away, and he made a beeline for every puddle because he loved to paw in them.

  “Oh no you don’t,” I chided, on his third attempt to drag me into water. “You can’t get your shipping bandages all wet and muddy.” Brittney threw us a contemptuous look as she flounced past. She’d been doing that during the whole show unless contempt was her habitual expression, and it irked me to no end that she’d beaten me in my last two classes.

  When Dec arrived there was a flurry of activity as we loaded first equipment, then horses into the trailer.

  After the last horse was in, Karen turned to Dec. “You said you had stalls open, so I’m sending a boarder your way. She’s a bit of a handful but I’m sure you can handle her.” She grinned at him.

  His return smile was the genuine smile of old friends. “As long as she pays her board, I can handle her.”

  “Oh, I promise you board won’t be a problem. She’s the only child of a woman who made a fortune in business before deciding to have a kid almost as an afterthought. The mother is still CEO of her company and works crazy hours even though she’s in her sixties. She’s given her kid lots of money and few rules, and you can imagine the result.”

  Dec nodded and glanced over at me thoughtfully. I’m not sure why, since I’d been raised under opposite conditions.

  “Her name’s Brittney,” Karen went on, and I groaned. Great. I was going to have Attitude Girl in my own barn. That thought, combined with the mediocre results I’d gotten with my horses, made my drive home a somber one even though my students had all done well.

  Returning I felt, as always, the expansion of my heart as it caught sight of the gently rolling green hills of home, but even that wasn’t enough to shake my mood. I pulled into our long driveway well ahead of the horse trailer, and gladly got out of my car and stretched in the soft evening air. If only I could see Jaden I’d feel better, but the next day was Monday and he’d have to be at work. I wandered into the house for a drink before the horses arrived. I was kicking off my shoes when I sensed movement.

  “Surprise,” Jaden said quietly.

  “Oh!” I whirled around and fell against him in one motion, my arms constricting around him like a vise. I nestled my face into his shirt as a low laugh rumbled through him. His arms closed around me, pushing out my grim thoughts and holding in the wonderful feelings that flooded through me at his touch.

  We said nothing for several minutes, our mouths being otherwise occupied. I was vaguely aware that I was sweaty and disheveled from the show, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to care as his hands ran over me, drawing thrilling trails.

  “I thought you had to work tomorrow,” I murmured finally.

  “I missed you too much to stay away.” He cupped his hand to my cheek as we heard Dec’s truck pull in. He sighed. “Come on, I’ll help you unload.”

  Jaden didn’t stay long. I hadn’t seen enough of him lately, and his absence was scooping out a hollow inside me, albeit a smaller, less painful one than the cavern Seth had dug.

  I groaned when I rolled out of bed at five to seven the next morning. I pulled on sweats and stumbled to the barn to find Dec already serving hay.

  “We should get someone else to feed on Mondays,” I grumbled. It was the horses’ day off, but even though I didn’t have to teach I still had to get up to feed, thus losing my only possible chance to sleep in.

  “Gran and I have been feeding on all the days you’re at shows,” Dec pointed out. “And you know Alan needs the extra time in the summer.”

  I grabbed an armful of hay, the stalks scratching my arms. “Maybe I can get Catherine to come in,” I mused.

  “Do you plan to pay her to come in for one hour?”

  “Oh. Right.” I sighed and kept feeding, still feeling put-upon. One day a week to sleep past seven in the morning didn’t seem like too much to ask, did it?

  After feeding, Dec made coffee while I toasted some English muffins for us. I told him about the show and he updated me on happenings at the barn, and we sat down companionably while we ate. I smiled at him suddenly, feeling closer to him than I had for a long time. He grinned back and patted my hand before getting up and heading for his office.

  After breakfast, I threw in a load of laundry and decided to catch up with my friends. My text to Teri drew an immediate response.

  Guess what? I’ll be at Woodbine in July, yay!

  I gave a happy little hop in my room. Woodbine racetrack was in Toronto, just an hour away. Next, I texted Seth, and then Julia since it was too early to call her. Finally, I called Jaden.

  “I was so happy to see you yesterday,” I said once I’d ascertained he wasn’t busy with work.

  “Likewise. I’m going to spend the weekend at your place. Can you ride to the polo club with me on Saturday?”

  “Oh.” My entire body slumped in disappointment. “I’ll be at a show next weekend. We’re leaving Thursday.”

  “Again?”

  I checked the much scribbled-on calendar on my wall as I spoke. “Yes... in fact I’ll be gone almost every weekend,” I informed him sadly.

  I felt tension mushrooming at the other end of the phone. “Really. Well, when am I supposed to see you?”

  “I could come to your place tonight,” I suggested.

  “I’m working late.” Frustration had crept into his tone.

  My mind flashed to a sudden image of his attractive boss, London, with her hand on Jaden’s arm. “Why is your boss making you stay late again? I thought you weren’t doing anything important at work.”

  “You’re familiar with the phrase ‘paying your dues’? That’s what I’m doing. I’m the lowest man on the totem pole, and even after I’m fully qualified I’ll have the least experience. Long hours are part and parcel of this career,” he explained patiently, even though it wasn’t the first time he’d warned me about his demanding schedule.

  “So I won’t see you for a whole week?” I asked in a small voice. It seemed like an impossibly long time.

  His tone warmed by several degrees. “I’ll find a way to see you, querida, even if I have to track you down at the show.”

  I wasn’t exactly in a sunny mood the next morning, and it wasn’t helped by the arrival of Brittne
y. Brittney, and her entourage. She waltzed in surrounded by three friends whose heads swiveled around as though they’d never been in a barn before. I was on my way to turn Cal out but I lingered in his stall for a minute to watch them.

  Alan, friendly as always, introduced himself and showed Brittney to the two freshly bedded stalls that awaited her horses. “You’ll like it here,” he assured her, “folks are nice.”

  Brittney barely glanced at the stalls. She didn’t smile, just let her eyes travel disdainfully around the aisle. My fingers tightened around the cotton leadrope, and Cal nudged me.

  “Hold your horses,” I muttered to him. I led him into the aisle. “Brittney.” I nodded to her, determined to at least try to be civil. She was a client now, after all. Her eyebrows rose, but she didn’t respond. I saw her turn to one of her friends and whisper something as I went outside.

  Brittney’s horses arrived soon afterward, swaddled in so many bandages, blankets, and neck protectors that it was hard to see any bits of horse peeping out. I recognized Salsa, the gorgeous bay mare Hades had almost jumped on. The other horse was a light grey gelding with legs like pillars and a kind face. Brittney led Salsa into a stall while the van driver took the grey. Brittney closed the stall, leaving her horse fully dressed, and looked around.

  “Where are the grooms?” she demanded.

  “What grooms? We’re not at a show,” I said absentmindedly. I was occupied with admiring her horses.

  “You mean you don’t have grooms for the barn?” The look she gave me was almost panicked, and I suppressed a snicker.

  “Um, no. We all take care of our own horses.”

  Her eyes widened for a second, but she soon managed a sneer. “Well, I suppose it’s to be expected in a hole like this. I’ll get my own groom.” She turned to the knot of girls who were clumped in the aisle. “Alicia, come help me,” she ordered. She began removing Salsa’s bandages, and the black-haired Alicia sprang over to help.

  I had turned out two more horses by the time Dec strode into the barn. He smiled at Brittney with his hand outstretched, his pale blue gaze assessing. “Sorry I wasn’t here to meet you when you came in. I’m Dec Foster. Welcome to Shady Lane.”

  I expected Brittney’s usual distasteful response, but she dropped the blanket she was holding and shook Dec’s hand, smiling prettily.

  “Mr. Foster, it’s so nice to officially meet you. I remember you from Pépinière, of course.”

  I gaped at her. She hadn’t given any indication of noticing us when Dec trailered her horse to that show.

  “Call me Dec, please.”

  “Okay, Dec.” She tilted her head slightly and toyed with a lock of her chin-length red hair. My eyebrows were edging toward my hairline at the sudden change in her attitude, but I gave a mental shrug, pulled on my cap and headed outside to teach my first lesson of the day. To my relief, Brittney was gone by the time I finished.

  “Thanks for the new boarder, she’s a peach,” I told Karen sarcastically when she came in the next morning.

  Karen grinned. “Isn’t she though? I’ve never been so happy to see someone move out of my barn. I’ll miss her horses, though. Especially Keeping Time.”

  I spun to face her, suddenly alert. “Keeping Time? You mean the Keeping Time?”

  “The one from the winning team at the Pan Am games? Yup, that’s the one. I wondered if you’d recognize her.”

  I felt the twist and pull of something ugly inside of me. Jealousy, anger, and frustration roiled together in a dark brew. How was it fair that someone like Brittney, who’d never done a day’s work in her life and who wasn’t even a halfway nice person, ended up with a world-class horse that everyone had expected to see at the next Olympics? I felt my mouth press into a tight line as I marched over to Salsa’s stall.

  “I thought she looked familiar,” I muttered.

  Karen joined me. “It’s an honor to have a horse like that in the barn. George over there is no slouch either — he won the Nation’s Cup at Hickstead four years ago.”

  My jaw dropped open, shock momentarily releasing its tension.

  “Her mother gave me a budget and told me to find Brittney the best horses I could within that amount,” Karen explained.

  “An amount big enough to run a small country,” I guessed.

  “Pretty much.” Karen’s shrewd brown eyes settled on me. “She’s not a bad rider, Téa. She’s put in the hours, but... you’re better. I don’t want you to go wasting your energy on jealousy. I’ve seen the damage that can do to a person.”

  I looked away from her, struggling to quell the protests that swelled inside me. I had worked tirelessly for what felt like my entire life to get to this point. And what did I have to show for it? A talented but extremely complicated jumper whose owners could decide to replace me at any moment, and a young horse of questionable ability who I could barely afford to compete with. A backbreaking job, long hours, and strained relationships. It was hard not to feel that I’d be better off with a rich parent buying me an experienced, uber-trained horse who could teach me the ropes.

  I felt Karen’s hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s hard, kid, but you’ve learned things that Brittney will never know. You’ve had to. And someday those things will allow you to beat her.”

  My morale was down to my ankles as I went to get Cal ready to ride. I found his stall empty.

  “Alan, did you put Cal out? I told you I was riding him this morning, remember?” I tried to mask the edge of annoyance in my voice. I didn’t want the extra work of cleaning Cal up if he’d rolled; there were still a few muddy spots from last week’s rain.

  “Sorry, I forgot.” Alan appeared in a stall door. “That new girl’s horses have got my routine messed up.”

  “Messed up how?”

  “Well, I normally turn out in order, but I’m not supposed to touch’em — her groom is gonna turn them out.”

  I hadn’t thought Brittney was serious about getting her own groom for the barn. I trudged outside to retrieve Cal, shaking my head. He was waiting by the gate, and when I clipped on the leadrope I was preoccupied — okay, maybe fuming was more accurate — so it took me a minute to realize that something was amiss. My horse’s first step jerked me back to full alertness as his head bobbed down next to me.

  I stopped and turned to him. “Crap.” I cursed silently as I noticed the raised foreleg. I squatted down next to him, prepared to examine his leg, but the cause of his limp was immediately apparent — he had lost a shoe, and with it, a sizeable piece of hoof. The shoe was dangling crookedly from one side of his foot, and I picked up his hoof to pull it off, not wanting the now-exposed nails to do any further damage. I tried to pry off the shoe the way our farrier had taught me, but I couldn’t do it with my bare hands. I lowered Cal’s hoof gently back to the ground and looked around. We were at the gate to the large grass paddock right in front of the barn. To my right were the driveway, the shed, and our square, red-brick house. Right in front of me was a wide path that led to the main riding ring and two turnout paddocks, and beyond, the trail into the woods. The barn was just to the left, but as my eyes scanned the normally-busy area I didn’t see a soul. Karen must have joined Dec for coffee, her usual habit, and it was a bit early for students.

  “Alan!” I tried calling. No response, other than Cal turning to look at me questioningly. I stroked his face. “I don’t suppose you’d stay here if I went to get pliers, would you? You’ll mess up your foot if you walk on it.” I had just decided to move Cal the short distance to the fence and tie him when a familiar car turned into the driveway.

  “Gran!” I called in relief. Gran hurried over right away; she would have known immediately that something was wrong from the way we were standing immobile by the gate.

  “Cal threw a shoe,” I explained when she got close enough.

  “Not to worry,” she consoled us, patting Cal briskly. “I’ll be right back.” A minute later she had Cal’s hoof between her knees and was expertly prying his s
hoe off, and I thought how lucky we were that Gran, despite her white hair and thickened figure, was still strong and healthy.

  We walked slowly back into the barn, and I was putting Cal on the crossties as Karen came in. “Cal threw a shoe, and a chunk of his hoof went with it,” I told her glumly. “His feet were in perfect shape. How could this happen?”

  Karen and Gran both turned incredulous looks on me. “How many times have you seen this kind of thing, Téa? You know better than to ask that question.” Karen’s response stopped short of being severe, but it was clear she wouldn’t stand for me feeling sorry for myself, and somewhere inside me — although I refused to acknowledge it at the moment — lurked the knowledge that she was right. Injuries were an unavoidable part of life. I heaved a sigh as Karen bent over Cal’s foot, already deep in conversation with Gran about possible treatments.

  “I’ll call the farrier,” I mumbled.

  After we’d ascertained that Cal had no other injuries I brought him back to his stall. A girl wandered by as I stepped out. She was in her twenties, thin, with lank brown hair.

  “Hi, uh, I’m looking for Brittney’s horses? I’m Elise?” she said timidly. Even her name sounded like a question. I wondered how this mouse of a girl would fare working for Brittney, but I showed her where Salsa and George were stabled and she went right to work, greeting them with obvious familiarity.

  I was expecting Julia since we were having a schooling session with Karen, but she hadn’t shown up by the time I was done preparing Hades. I was pulling out my phone to text her when I heard her bell-like laugh coming from the tackroom. She emerged a second later, encumbered by all her supplies and followed by a bemused-looking man. Julia dumped her tack and slipped an arm through his before leading him over to meet me.

  “Téa, this is Al,” she said. She gazed meltingly up at him.

  I wiped my hand on my pants before shaking his and thought I detected the hint of a wince. Al had hair like a crow’s wing, light brown skin, and intense dark eyes.