Bittersweet Farm 1: Mounted

by Barbara Morgenroth

  “I have to take a shower before dinner but I just want to ask one question.”

  “That sounds like a setup.”

  “Did you take job figuring you could ignore your headaches and the photosensitivity and go back to riding pretending everything was fine?”

  He didn’t answer for a moment.

  “Yes or no. No’s as good an answer as yes.”

  “Yes. Carefully.”

  “That was so unfair.”

  “That’s why I think I should leave.”

  “Unfair to yourself. Go take a shower. It’s almost time for dinner.”

  “Talia?”

  “Bye.” I hung up.

  How badly did he need this job to risk his health, future and life?

  I pulled off my jeans and went into my bathroom.

  He said he would be paying off the hospital bill for years. He sold his horse. He had little more than his tack when he arrived here.

  Had he tried to get other jobs down south and been rejected because everyone there knew about the accident?

  Lockie had assessed the situation accurately. A top stable would expect him to show. He was a combined training rider. Even if he had become a strictly equitation teacher, he would be expected to show hunters for the publicity value.

  Lockie was somewhat famous. Not to the world at large but in the equestrian world, he was. He had enormous talent; at fifteen, Lockie had competed against adults in the open jumper division and beaten them. Even if he was based in California, he came East for the big shows. He had been on the Winter Circuit in Florida.

  Everyone wanted him to ride their horses. It was termed catch riding. He’d be at a show and an owner or trainer would want someone super talented to ride their horse in a class.

  It took an unusual rider to get on a horse, warm it up and take it into the ring with an expectation of winning. Lockie was that good. As a junior.

  Everyone in the horse show community was talking about him. It wasn’t possible to read The Chronicle of the Horse without seeing his picture every few weeks.

  Then after he went to the Ruhlmann’s and concentrated on combined training, Lockie was less interesting to that hunter/jumper crowd. I stopped hearing about him. If I had thought about it, the assumption would have been that he went to Europe where stadium jumping was a major sport. In America, no one outside the horse world knew what it was.

  Turning on the water, I stepped under the spray.

  I understood why Lockie thought his life as he knew it was over. It was. No Olympics. No international competitions.

  But that was hardly signified the end of his life and accommodations could be made. It was just a change in plans. An alternate future.

  All I could do was hope my father would say the right things. I still didn’t trust him and knew how easily my father could disappoint me.

  After toweling off, I changed three times before hitting on the right combination. Not into clothes the way Greer was, I relied almost completely on Jules to go shopping with me, and pick out appropriate outfits. She had wonderful sense of style but how could she not given where she had grown up.

  Hurrying downstairs because as I predicted, quite correctly, that I would be late.

  We were eating on the terrace, something that was more Jules’ choice than mine, since dining al fresco in the evening was normal in her family but we had bugs in Connecticut and I hated slapping at mosquitoes instead of eating.

  “Hi, sorry,” I said, sitting down quickly.

  “Now we can have dinner?” My father started on his salad.

  “I don’t want to spoil the meal,” Lockie began.

  “Then don’t,” I replied.

  My father let his fork drop onto the plate. “Let’s get to it then we can eat.”

  “I’m offering to quit. I understand I have a contract and if you wanted to get rid of me, one of your lawyers could do it in five minutes but you shouldn’t be forced into that position.”

  My father looked at me then to Lockie. “Why would you quit?”

  “His doctor wasn’t...” I started.

  “I can do this without help.”

  “He didn’t vet out sound,” I finished.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Thank you very much, Tali, I was doing it my way.”

  “You were taking too long.”

  “Learn some patience. Tempo. Pace. Think around the corner.”

  Jules tapped her water glass with her fork to get our attention. “Not at the dinner table.”

  Lockie gave me a look that was easy to translate. Back off. “I was hired to fulfill certain job specs and I can’t, so you should be free to be able to find someone who can.”

  “This is amazing,” my father said and looked at each of us. “This is why you had me come up from the city?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tali,” Lockie said. “Stop running my life.”

  “Stop ruining your life and I will.”

  “Time out. Can I get a word in edgewise?”

  I turned to my father. “Of course.”

  “Lockie, I spoke to your doctor yesterday and today. I’m fully aware of your condition. You have a contract, you’re staying. Now can we eat in peace?”

  “It’s all good to me,” I said and picked up my fork.

  “And,” my father continued, “the doctor said there are some experimental photochromic contact lenses being made in Singapore. They should help with the light sensitivity problem. So now your biggest problem is dealing with Talia. Let me give you a hint, she’s just like her mother and I didn’t have a prayer with Sarah.”

  “Thank you, sir, all advice is gratefully accepted.” He turned to me. “Don’t kick me under the table.”

  ***

  Dessert was freshly churned peach ice cream scooped into homemade Italian style waffle cones. Lockie and I took them from Jules then headed through the pastures to the stream where we sat on an outcropping of rocks left over from the Ice Age and couldn’t lick fast enough to prevent being dripped on.

  “That friend of yours,” Lockie began.

  There was a long pause.

  “Rogers,” I supplied.

  “Yes, Rogers. Would you please call and invite her to a lesson at her earliest possible convenience?”

  “Sure. Should she bring her horse?”

  “No, let’s have her ride the German mare.”

  “Okay.”

  “You sound unsure.”

  “Rogers doesn’t have a great deal of confidence.”

  “Can she ride?”

  “She’s been riding her whole life.”

  “She’ll be fine.”

  I finished my ice cream then went to the stream to wash my hands in the water. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

  “Avoiding telling me, it sounds like.”

  “We’ve all been invited to an anniversary party this weekend. It’s a big celebration every year; they hold nothing back. There’s at least one band, professional fireworks, photographers, videographers, journalists to write it all up so the common folk can feel left out.”

  Lockie said nothing.

  “Tents, dance floor, catered food. You won’t find hot dogs there.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  “I go with someone from school, the son of the anniversary couple. I always...”

  “Have a good time.” Lockie stood and began walking back to the barn.

  “You’re supposed to go.”

  “Fireworks give me a headache. Light and noise. It’s too much.”

  We walked back in silence. At the barn, Lockie said a quick goodnight and left me standing there.

  I don’t know what I expected but not this reaction.

  After reading late into the night, when I turned out my light, his was already out.

  ***

  At just after 2 p.m. the next day, the horses arrived from Pennsylvania. Freudigen Geist walked me into the barn not noticing I was on the other end of t
he lead rope and he was even larger than I remembered him.

  For a moment, it occurred to me that I may have made a mistake. Was I going to be over-mounted on him? I remembered Lockie standing there in the Theissens’ indoor saying “this is a really big horse, Talia.” Was the translation “this is too much horse for you” and I didn’t get it?

  I had liked the grey gelding then. He was comfortable and Lockie had been right that there was a sense of security but now I wondered if I was going to be dragged everywhere. If he started to misbehave, would I be strong enough to control him?

  Butch never tested me and we were so compatible. This horse looked over the top of my head and didn’t see me below him. If I didn’t make sure he knew I was stronger willed than he was, there would be no end to the problems. Horses might not have a genius IQ but they were plenty clever when the need arose.

  Fortunately, Greer had left the house late that morning to join friends for a pool party so there was no commentary from her to deal with. She had worked with Lockie on Counterpoint in the morning over fences that were too big for me to contemplate. Then they spent time on Spare and I was impressed since I was unable to remember her ever working that hard. If Lockie had arrived in February, maybe she would have made it to the National Horse Show.

  That her equitation career was finished didn’t seem to bother Greer one whit. She had always derived more of a charge from going at top speed, hence the Porsche and the collection of warnings from the local cops. Lockie had figured her out when everyone else had been unable to do so.

  By the end of the day, I couldn’t stand it any longer and cornered him in the tack room.

  “Are you going to talk to me ever again?”

  “Of course. I didn’t realize I wasn’t talking to you.”

  “I’m going out for dinner,” I started.

  “Have a good time.”

  “Stop it! I’m going out with Rogers to give her the courage to tell her parents she wants to ride with you.”

  “That’s fine. Thanks. Why don’t you get up on the mare tomorrow and see how she is. Have Tracy help you if you need it.”

  “Where are you going to be?”

  “I got a call from the doctor and the contact lenses were overnighted from Singapore so that’s what I’m doing. Then I’m going to stop and visit some people in Bedford. They invited me to dinner and since I haven’t seen them in a long time, at least a year, it sounded like a good idea. It’s okay if I keep the car and driver that long?”

  Lockie had problems driving at night with the oncoming headlights.

  “No, that’s not a problem.”

  My mother was always so patient with me, and my father insisted I was so much like her but right then I didn’t feel like her, I felt like my father, who usually had a pretty short fuse.

  “Thank you. Then I’ll see you Saturday. Although probably not, on second thought.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Your big shindig.”

  “Yeah. Exactly. Going to the ol’ shindig. Well, you have fun in Bedford.”

  “I will.”

  Nearly hissing at him, I walked back to the house, went into the kitchen and stuck my head under the sink faucet, letting the cold water pour over me.

  “What happened to you?” Jules asked.

  “I’m not eating with him tonight. Thankfully.”

  “I’ll eat with him; I think he’s adorable.”

  I practically hissed at her, too.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It wasn’t hard to convince Rogers giving up on Robert was a net gain and we concocted a reason why it would be so much more convenient to ride with Lockie. She promised she would tell them the next morning or afternoon, whenever they ambled across her path.

  The following day, Lockie was already gone when I reached the barn, but there had been no a big rush to get there. I rode the mare and thought she would be a wonderful horse for Rogers. Comfortable and gentle, she was well-trained, bomb-proof and Rogers would learn an enormous amount by riding her. I always thought it was a mistake for her to own a Thoroughbred. Her gelding tended to be so scatty and unpredictable, Rogers never knew what to expect. This made it impossible for her to relax which made the horse even more nervous. It was a never-ending supply of fail.

  Butch and I went on a trail ride for an hour doing nothing more than walk. Going back to the house, Jules and I went shopping for the party.

  While Newbury was a small town, there were a few stores that catered to the weekend residents who expected the same quality of goods that they could find in the city. The quality might have been the same but the selection was much smaller.

  “I wonder,” I started as we walked down the sidewalk.

  “Then call him,” Jules said over me.

  “How do you know what I’m talking about?”

  She opened the door to a boutique and we went inside. “You’re right I don’t. I assumed you were wondering how Lockie was doing being fitted for his fancy contact lenses.”

  “I was wondering if Josh had come home yet.”

  “Liar.” Jules laughed as she headed deep into the shop where the fancier dresses were kept.

  “Josh has been a good friend to me.”

  “Yeah?” Jules began going through a rack and held a dress out to me. “This is really cute.”

  “So what?”

  “Try it on.”

  “Why can’t I wear what I wore last year? Why can’t I wear something of yours?”

  “Okay.” She pushed her bags into my arms. “I’m trying it on.”

  I followed her to the back where there was a former closet transformed into a dressing room. Jules banged around in there for a moment then the door opened and she was half-dressed.

  “Are they kidding me? It’s not big enough for a Barbie doll to get dressed in there. Act as a screen and we’ll pretend no one can see me.”

  I moved in front of Jules to prevent anyone walking on the street who happened to look in the window at that moment from finding it possible to see her in the back of the shop.

  “You’re so much better as a sister than Greer,” I commented over my shoulder.

  “That I believe.”

  “Don’t leave.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. Actually, I am, but you should come with me. I’m going to LA in the fall for a week to see my parents.”

  “I go to school, remember?”

  “If that’s the reason, stay home.”

  “Yeah, I’ll go with you.”

  I turned, zipped her up and she studied herself in the mirror. “You’ll look terrific in this.”

  So I bought it.

  ***

  Josh called that night as I was about to go to sleep. He had just arrived home for the party and had much to tell me about touring with the road company. He was talking so fast, I couldn’t follow what he was saying and simply looked out the window.

  The light wasn’t on in Lockie’s apartment. He hadn’t returned yet.

  ***

  I took the day off and didn’t go to the barn; Greer did it often enough, why was I expected to be there every moment of my life?

  Unfortunately, being at the barn was my life and I didn’t have a blooming thing to do otherwise.

  Rogers called and said she told her parents she was leaving Robert and going to ride with Lockie. They said “Fine, dear,” and headed out for lunch at the country club. I told her that was terrific and we talked for a half hour about nothing then we both had to start getting ready.

  Jules French braided my hair because if it was good enough for a horse, it was good enough for me. Then I pulled the dress over my head, it was cute--pinks and purples in layers. Jules loaned me some purple heels she had and I wanted my jeans and paddock boots back so decided to wear trainers until arriving at the party.

  Jules dressed in a stylish pale green cocktail dress and did nothing with her hair but let it cascade over her shoulders. She was beautiful whether she was in a $2000
dress or splashed with spaghetti sauce.

  My father called early in the day and said he had to fly out to Wisconsin on important business so Jules and I were on our own. We drove to the Standish estate in my truck. Normally I would have checked on the horses, but was sure Lockie had all of it well in hand.

  “Will you do me a favor?” Jules said as we drove into the field serving as a parking lot for all the Standish guests.

  “Sure.”

  “Solve this disagreement with Lockie by Monday.”

  “Why does it fall on me?” I asked getting out of the truck.

  “Because it’s about you, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Unless you don’t want it solved. You only have a couple more weeks of summer and then you’ll be seeing Josh every day. You’ll fall back into the old routine. I’m sure it’s comfortable.”

  I tried to figure out whether she thought it was good to be comfortable with Josh or not as we proceeded to the largest tent where the band was playing.

  Soon we had drinks and found a place to sit. A few minutes later, a friend of Jules’ arrived and after making sure I’d be fine, she left to mingle.

  Leaving sounded very appealing as I was not party-minded right then, but Josh expected me to be there and I would do things for him I wouldn’t do for others. Finally, he tapped me on the shoulder and kissed my cheek.

  “Hi! I’m glad you made it.”

  “How could I miss this party?” I replied glancing around at all the society types drifting like swans through the crowd.

  “It is pretty grim, isn’t it?”

  I nodded.

  Every year was the same. Over the top food, drink, decorations and guests. Then his parents toasted each other in the completely hearty though insincere fashion expected for the occasion. I didn’t know if they loved each other or not, but they were a prominent local couple so there was always something for them to do together and there was no sense in getting a divorce if they didn’t.

  “The fireworks are never less than excellent,” I admitted. “Tell me about the tour. It must have been fun traveling from town to town, like being with the circus.”

  Josh pushed back the lock of hair that usually fell into his face. It was winningly boyish but he didn’t want to be considered a kid anymore, he wanted to be adult. The suggestion to use mousse to hold his hair in place if it bothered him so much must have bothered him more because he refused. I thought someone accustomed to wearing makeup on stage wouldn’t have a emotional breakdown over a little glop on his hair but no.