“Close enough. Happy birthday!” Dustin gave Hunter another wave before Scott set him back on the floor where he could go on with whatever game he had been playing.
Cade leaned on the back of the couch again. “I see you’ve been kicking ass already down there. We have livestream watching parties when your classes are streaming. We have them at Mia’s place though, since she has the fancy technology to get the video to appear on her big-screen TV.”
“How do you like riding under those big football-field-style lights on Saturday nights?” Joe asked, leaning in next to Cade.
Vince shrugged. “It’s only a little different. It’s honestly brighter than sunlight, but it makes weird shadows sometimes. Xander doesn’t seem bothered by them.”
“Obviously not,” Anna laughed. “Keep those wins coming.”
“We’ll try.”
The conversation turned to the stable and the horses in retraining. Dustin jumped at the chance to ask how his own personal horse, Justin, was doing, and seemed happy to hear that Joe had taken to riding Justin on a regular basis while Dustin was gone.
Just before the conversation ended, Dustin abruptly asked, “Hey, Jane, what’s your ring look like?”
Jane grinned and held her left hand closer to show off the silver ring that was practically covered in little diamonds, with one fairly large one in the center.
Damn. Being a CPA clearly brought in a greater income than Vince had ever guessed.
“Wow.” There was something almost like wonder in Dustin’s voice and he leaned forward a little to see better. “Holy shit, Scott. Good job.”
“Thanks, man!” Scott called from somewhere outside the frame. He reappeared a moment later with a plate of cheese and crackers, which Jane immediately stole from him. “Gotta spend money on the things that matter.”
“I wouldn’t say the ring matters,” Jane pointed out before popping a piece of cheese into her mouth.
“So you girls pretend to tell us,” Scott replied with a shake of his head. “That’s still the best advice my dad ever gave me. Don’t waste money on things you can get for less, unless they matter.”
Vince nodded thoughtfully. “It makes sense. I like it.”
THE NEXT two weeks were also immensely successful, with nothing below a third place finish in any class Vince and Xander competed in. Vince began getting to know more of the other riders when they started acting friendlier toward him. It was as if Vince had proven himself to be one of them at last, and they wanted to know all about his career with Xander. An unknown rider suddenly winning so often clearly intrigued those who seemed to rule the sport. Most of them were curious about Xander’s breeding, because in most classes he was the only thoroughbred. Finding out that Xander had actually been a racehorse at one point surprised most of the people he told. The story of his rescue was even more shocking. Some riders honestly seemed appalled that he wouldn’t have invested in a warmblood of some kind.
And the fact that he had never trained with a world-class trainer? He might as well have hit some of the professional riders over the head with a pitchfork, the way they reacted.
After that conversation, Vince had made an excuse to head back to the stables. He’d been checking out the new vendors that had arrived that week when a group of riders had taken up conversation with him.
“You’re only worth what Mommy and Daddy put in,” someone commented next to him.
Vince glanced over at the tent beside him, where the voice had come from. There was a table covered in brochures and pictures of houses and stables. The banner in front of the table read “Miller Properties and Construction.” A middle-aged man was talking to a well-dressed couple across the table.
A tall, dark-haired guy in his midtwenties nodded to Vince from where he stood leaning against the end of the table. “I heard what they were saying. Some people don’t recognize hard work. You came out of nowhere to do what they’ve been training to do for their whole lives.”
Vince gave him a curious look. “Thanks? I think?”
The guy suddenly looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry, that was really awkward. I’m Jason Miller, the construction side.” He held out his hand. “Dad’s the properties side,” he added, tilting his head toward the older man.
Vince shook his hand with a nod. “Vince Anderson, but somehow I’m guessing you knew that.”
Jason chuckled, his gray eyes bright. “Everyone knows who you are. I’m an even bigger fan knowing the story now. I do eventing and my boy, Danny, is a former racehorse too. Got him from a group about an hour from here that retrains and rehomes them. Even my brother has one off-track thoroughbred in his string of polo ponies.”
And this guy had been acting like the other riders only caring about money was a terrible offense? Clearly someone running some sort of construction company while competing in eventing, who had a father in real estate and a brother who played polo, must come from money too.
Jason almost seemed to read his mind or at least the expression on Vince’s face. Holding up a hand he explained, “Danny was a gift, yeah, but I paid my way through college and didn’t want to ride with a big trainer. Sure, my parents have helped me out a time or two, but I always paid my own entry fees and other show expenses.”
“It doesn’t really matter to me,” Vince assured him with a nod. “Tell me more about Danny. What’s your brother’s horse’s name?”
By the time Vince had to start getting ready for that afternoon’s class, Jason had handed over a business card with the instructions, “If you ever need anything built—house, barn, anything—let me know. We’ll do it at a discount.”
Vince had taken it with a smile and replied, “If you ever need another thoroughbred or want yours trained, let me know.”
THAT AFTERNOON was another Grand Prix class for Vince and Xander. Their turn was toward the end of the twenty-six-pair lineup, and four pairs had gone clear to qualify for the jump-off by the time the pair before Vince took their turn.
Vince and Xander arrived at the in gate to wait their turn just in time for Vince to see a gray horse abruptly stop at a fence in the middle of the arena. It didn’t stop soon enough, however, and plowed into the fence, sending the rails clattering down with one of the decorative side panels. A collective gasp passed through the small group of spectators as the rider fell forward over the horse’s lowered head and landed hard on her right shoulder, right on top of one of the downed rails. Even Vince sucked in a sharp breath at the sight. The horse didn’t run off like a lot of horses would without a rider; it merely took two steps back and watched its rider slowly get to her feet, rubbing her shoulder.
There was a smattering of applause as the rider led her horse toward the gate. Vince was motioned in before the other pair made it to the gate, and he walked Xander in and turned him away from the direction of the other pair. He let Xander get a good look at some of the spookier obstacles while they waited for the crew to reset the jump. Xander had never stopped on Vince like that in competition, and he didn’t want this to be the first time.
And it wasn’t. Xander was as dependable as always, going fast and clear in the first round and only dropping one rail in the jump-off, which Vince blamed on himself for telling Xander to jump an oxer—two vertical jumps positioned so close together that they had to be jumped as a single unit—too soon. The jump was too wide and Xander’s back hooves clipped the rail as they came down.
Second place wasn’t bad.
Chapter Six
MONDAY MORNING, the start of the fifth week of competition, began for Vince with several texts from his stable hands at home. Each message contained a picture of the property covered in at least a foot of snow. Cade sent a picture of the main door of the barn blocked by three feet of windblown snowdrift. Anna sent another picture of everyone shoveling away the snowdrift enough to get inside. There were even pictures of the houses on the property practically snowed in. Other pictures—and a few videos—showed happy thoroughbreds playing in the snowy
pastures.
The main idea Vince got from the barrage of pictures was a friendly “we’re jealous that you’re in Florida right now so we’re going to show you what you’re not dealing with.” Vince made a mental note to call Anna later to check on things.
Looking at all the messages had kept Vince in the trailer while Dustin went to care for Xander, and by the time he got to the stall he found Xander happily munching on breakfast and Dustin leaning on a pitchfork in the corner of the stall, looking at his phone.
“You got the pictures too?” Vince asked.
Dustin looked up at him and nodded. “I guess we missed one hell of a storm. Over two feet of snow in eight hours.”
“I’m starting to really understand why some people come to Florida for the whole winter.”
“Yeah, it’s nice,” Dustin replied with shrug as he put his phone back in his pocket.
There was something off about Dustin’s tone, something that worried Vince, but before he could ask if anything was wrong, a middle-aged couple approached them.
“Mr. Anderson?” the man asked as they drew near. He was slightly overweight and dressed in a plain polo shirt and khakis. His hair and short beard were black but streaked with gray, and he wore thick black glasses.
“Yes?” Vince replied. He hoped these weren’t show officials here to drug test Xander again. The poor thing had been jabbed with enough needles over the last few weeks. Of course it was mandatory, but Xander deserved some respite.
The man held out his hand. “My name is Wilson Ramsey and this is my wife, Monica.”
Vince shook both their hands, nodding politely. Monica was close to her husband in age, and her dyed blonde hair was pulled tightly away from her sharp face. She wore khakis like her husband, with a lacy blue blouse. Her smile was painfully polite.
“We own Clear Tree Farms in Pennsylvania,” Mr. Ramsey went on. “We were wondering if you would be interested in riding a second horse on Wednesday in the meter-forty-five class. One of our usual riders was injured in a fall yesterday—nothing serious, she just has a sore shoulder and the doctor recommended she not ride for at least this week. I was able to find some other riders to fill in for most of her rides, but not Wednesday’s. I’d rather not lose my entry fee if I can help it, and I had heard you only ride one horse. I’m prepared to offer you 10 percent of whatever prize money you bring in.”
Vince had no idea if that was a good deal or not, because he wasn’t in the market to have other owners pay him to ride. Taking time away from Xander to ride another horse wasn’t exactly something he wanted to do, and the class he was being asked to ride in meant he’d be competing against himself and Xander with a second horse. Two horses in one class sounded stressful, and what would these owners think if he did better with Xander than their horse?
But he had a feeling they were talking about the woman Vince had seen fall and he found himself wanting to help out. He had no idea what had caused the horse to refuse the jump, but the fact that the horse hadn’t run off assured Vince that it wasn’t a bad horse or one with poor training. The refusal had probably been a fluke.
Riding one horse as a favor wouldn’t ruin his training with Xander, even if the favor was for complete strangers. He just had no idea how this was supposed to work.
“And if we don’t place?” he asked.
“You still get paid something, of course,” Mr. Ramsey replied. “If you want to ride for me, we can go introduce you to the horse and we’ll settle on terms you’ll be happy with.”
Vince nodded. “I’d be happy to. I’ve just never been asked to ride for anyone else, so I’m not at all aware of the current rates or anything. And I don’t want to make a habit of riding for people because my focus is my own horse. I’m happy doing it every so often, though. This Wednesday would be perfectly fine.”
Mr. Ramsey smiled brightly and motioned behind him. “Our horses are just in the next row. If you want to head over with us, we’ll go through everything. I’ll give you an honest explanation of what I pay other riders.”
Vince’s mind was already on the excitement of learning a new horse before Mr. Ramsey even finished talking and he followed the couple without a second thought. He never looked back to see Dustin leaning on the wall outside Xander’s stall with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
BOLD WINTER was an eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding, and he was the gray horse Vince had seen the day before. His usual rider was a woman in her early twenties, Jessica Winton, who seemed very embarrassed about the accident. She was a petite brunette and dressed for riding despite her injury. When Monica Ramsey asked where her sling had gone, Jessica ignored the question and pretended her shoulder didn’t hurt when she moved her arm.
Once Vince worked out the details with Mr. Ramsey, he was given permission to get to know Bold Winter—or Casper, as he was known to everyone else—better.
When Vince asked about the barn name, Jessica laughed and explained, “He’s practically white, and super friendly, so he’s like a friendly ghost.”
Vince rode Casper for an hour, figuring out his quirks. One thing Vince had learned from training horses at home was that every horse was different. Every horse has a different background of trainers and riders and owners, and thus slightly different training and treatment. Vince wished he had more than two days to get acquainted with Casper before their class, because there was only so much he could learn in such a short amount of time.
He did figure out one thing quickly, though. When he held the reins at the length Jessica claimed he needed, Casper was unhappy and frequently tried to toss his head, yanking on Vince’s arms. It was a good thing Jessica had been told not to ride with a hurt shoulder, or dealing with this would have made her injury worse. Vince decided to try loosening the reins a little and letting Casper have his head a bit more. Instantly, Casper relaxed and took to the bit without complaint. He made a point to explain this to Jessica when he finished riding, and she seemed amazed that Vince had “fixed his issues” in one ride.
When he went back to get Xander for their training session, he was surprised not to see Dustin. He tacked up Xander, rode for an hour, and settled Xander back in his stall without seeing Dustin once, He was becoming really curious when he went back to the trailer.
He found Dustin watching a movie inside, and was rather surprised by which movie he was watching.
“You’re watching Return of the King without me?” he questioned, staring at Dustin’s laptop screen.
Dustin paused it and shrugged. “You’ve seen it before. I haven’t. I was going to ask if you wanted to watch it today, but you ran off with those other owners this morning.”
“I’m riding a horse for them.”
“So I overheard.”
“That gray from yesterday who lost his rider.”
“Cool.”
Vince stared at him for a moment. “Are you okay?”
Dustin waved his hand at the screen. “Frodo and Sam are trying to climb Mount Doom and everyone else is on a suicide mission—no, I’m not okay.”
Vince sat down on the couch beside Dustin and said nothing. Dustin took the hint and hit Play, then gently gripped Vince’s hand. Vince smiled and squeezed Dustin’s hand. It was nice to be able to relax for a while. In fact, it was so nice that he didn’t even realize he was falling asleep until a loud sound from the movie woke him. He shifted away from Dustin to get more comfortable, and as the movie grew quiet and peaceful with the conclusion, he fell asleep again.
VINCE RODE Casper on Tuesday in preparation for the class on Wednesday. Once again the usual rider, Jessica, watched the training session, and the owners stopped by the arena briefly to see how they were doing.
“He seems to get along really well with you,” Jessica commented. She fell into step beside Vince as he led Casper back to the stable. “I’m impressed.”
Vince patted Casper’s neck. “Thank you. He’s a good horse.”
“And you’re a great rider,” Jessica added
. “Makes for an awesome pair. Your own horse must be really great.”
He nodded. “Xander’s pretty special.”
“You must work with him a lot.”
“As much as I can.”
They arrived back at the stables and Vince handed Casper off to his groom with a last pat on the neck.
“You must have a girlfriend who’s into horses too, then. Someone who understands the work needed to compete so much.”
Vince pulled off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. “No girlfriend.”
“Oh?” Jessica asked in a quiet voice as she turned to step closer to him.
He was a little uncomfortable with the sudden closeness. And her hand on his arm. He took a step back. “What’s going on?”
She smiled at him and stroked his arm. “Are you looking for a girlfriend? Or maybe someone to hook up with while you’re here?”
Whoa. He had not been expecting this turn.
“I’m not looking for either actually. I’m pretty happy with my current relationship.”
She scowled. “Married? She doesn’t need to know.”
Vince shook his head. “Not married.”
Her expression became one of disappointment. “Gay.”
He just nodded.
She took her hand from his arm with a sigh. “Every. Time. It’s so hard to find an equestrian guy, or even just a guy who doesn’t think horses are a childish girl phase I should have grown out of with puberty. All the ones with potential are already taken or gay—or both. Hell.” She gave him a thoughtful glare. “You’re sure you’re not bi?”
“I’m sure,” he declared with a nod.
She sighed and looked away. “I’m sorry about that. I guess I’m starting to feel a little desperate.”
Vince wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to say to help her. He felt like brushing her off wouldn’t be nice, even if he did hardly know her.
“There are plenty of horse guys who aren’t specifically riders,” he finally pointed out. “Vets, farriers, trainers, even grooms.”
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