‘Good night last night?’ she said as they swung onto the road.
Finn shrugged.
‘Aye,’ he replied non-commitally. ‘I’ll give you a number of a mate who can get your car out. He’s got a garage not far from here. Better than any of the garages around, he won’t cheat you so you’ll be safe.’
‘Thanks. I really appreciate it,’ Pippa said as sincerely as she could.
His abrupt change of subject got her wondering though. He obviously didn’t want to talk about his friend from the previous night, even though he’d never struck her as being a particularly private person. Their brief moment of intimacy at The Plough after Aspen Valley’s Open Day had forged a friendship between them, which Pippa enjoyed, but was still unsure of.
Was Finn purposefully avoiding telling Pippa of his personal relationships in an effort to protect her? If he was seeing a girl then perhaps it would be better to tell him not to worry, she already had a boyfriend.
No, Pippa decided. To say that would give her away and if he was simply meeting up with an old friend then she would be left with a very red face.
Or, a sceptical voice in her head spoke up, you enjoy Finn’s attention and setting him straight would put an end to that.
She blocked the voice from her thoughts and turned to her companion.
‘It’s the Cheltenham Festival Trials this weekend, isn’t it?’
‘To be sure,’ Finn nodded. ‘And if the course passes inspection this morning then it’ll be a tough card to ride in.’
‘Don’t you get afraid?’ she asked. Jump racing looked scary enough for the jockeys, especially when they took such crunching falls, but to ride in such awful weather she felt must be terrifying.
‘No room for fear,’ he grinned. ‘The moment I lose confidence in myself is the moment I fall. The horse can tell, you know.’
‘How can he tell?’
‘Horses might be dumb, but they make up for it with their other senses. A horse can feel if his rider is wettin’ his cacks. And if he senses you doubting a fence then he’ll lose confidence in himself and will probably make a mistake.’
‘You’re very brave.’
Finn laughed.
‘Or off my nut, one or the other.’
Pippa smiled, again noting the tired lines on his face. It was a young face, full of humour, made especially attractive by his laughing eyes, but the faint lines made him look older, more mature. He was probably no older than Pippa really, but he seemed so much more worldly to her.
‘No, you don’t look crazy. Brave suits you better,’ she said before she could stop herself.
Finn glanced across at her and grinned.
‘You’re coddin’ me. Me ma is forever tellin’ me I was dropped on my head as a babby.’
‘Does it frighten her when you ride?’
Finn shrugged.
‘She gets uptight when I ride in the National. She doesn’t want to lose her only child I guess. Otherwise, I guess she’s used to it.’
‘Is the National really that tough?’ Pippa asked.
‘Aye, but it’s the one we all want to win. You don’t become a mountaineer without wanting to conquer Everest.’
‘I hope Peace Offering will cope,’ she murmured, the first seed of doubt germinating in her mind.
Finn took his hand off the steering wheel and squeezed her knee.
‘There’s no horse I’ve ever felt safer on than he. He might not be the fastest, but he’s a grand le’per. Clean jump a row of houses for the fun of it.’
Jack was outside, supervising the loading of horses into Aspen Valley’s horse truck when they pulled up in the car park. He frowned at Pippa’s arrival by Finn’s side, his eyes narrowing with suspicion when he also noted Finn’s lack of sleep.
‘Racing still on?’ Pippa asked optimistically.
Jack nodded.
‘For now. The Met office are saying the snow will hold off for another day or so, but you can never believe a bloody word they say.’
Pippa couldn’t argue with that, her confidence in weather forecasts was just as dubious.
‘Let’s hope it’s worth it then,’ she said and headed past him towards the office. She could feel his eyes burning her back. Seconds later, she heard the crunch of his footsteps on the gravel as he followed her. She didn’t look back.
Let him think what he wants, she thought in defiance. What I do in my personal time is my own business and nothing to do with him.
She let herself into the office and was shedding her coat and handbag when Jack made his entrance. She waited for him to speak, looking at him expectantly and for the first time, saw him back down.
He stomped into his office, but reappeared moments later.
‘Entries and decs for next week,’ he said, holding out a ring-binder.
Pippa went to take it from him, but he didn’t let it go. She was curious to see in his blue eyes a conflict going on, like stormy seas.
‘Jack?’ she prompted.
He let go of the notebook and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, squeezing his eyes shut.
‘Pippa, I’m not going to tell you how to live your life –’
‘Good,’ she cautioned.
Jack looked at her impatiently.
‘– but mixing business and pleasure doesn’t gel.’
Pippa folded her arms.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means you work with Finn. What else could it bloody mean?’
‘Ah, you think I’m sleeping with your jockey?’ She gave him a benign smile.
‘Well, aren’t you?’ Jack replied, lifting his hands in exasperation.
Pippa took a deep breath to contain the urge to throw the notebook in his face. She sat down at her desk without answering and rummaged through her bag for the piece of paper Finn had given her earlier. She picked up the telephone and began to dial out.
‘What are you doing?’ Jack demanded.
Pippa slammed down the phone and glared at him.
‘I’m ringing a mechanic to go pull my car out of a ditch!’ she threw back at him. ‘If it wasn’t for Finn, I’d probably be in some A&E with hypothermia right now!’
Jack took an unsteady step backwards, startled.
‘You – you had an accident? Are you okay?’
The remorse in his tone flushed the anger out of Pippa and with a sigh, she nodded.
‘Last night,’ she explained. ‘I lost control. It wasn’t a bad accident really. I wasn’t going fast or anything, but the car got stuck. Finn was passing by and gave me a lift home. Then he picked me up this morning to bring me to work.’
Jack’s brow furrowed and his even white teeth bit into his lower lip.
‘So, you’re not – um – seeing Finn?’
‘No, Jack.’
He rubbed his jaw and cleared his throat.
‘Right. Well – er – I guess I owe you an apology then.’
‘I guess you do,’ Pippa said, turning her back to him and picking up the phone again. Not until Jack had looked so uncomfortable did she acknowledge her hurt pride.
Did he really think so little of her to assume she would jump into bed with anyone, especially when they were both aware she was dating Ollie?
She felt his hand close over her shoulder, his fingers briefly scorching her bare neck.
‘I’m sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusions,’ he mumbled and withdrew his hand.
He was already heading out the door before Pippa could decide whether or not to accept his apology.
By five o’clock, Pippa was more than ready to go home. She hadn’t been able to shake off the chill that had settled over her that morning. Finn’s mechanic friend had been in touch to say he was towing her car back to his garage to give it a proper look over, which meant she would have to ring for a Helensvale taxi.
She switched off the office lights and stepped out into the cold. It was already pitch black. The snow from the night before had turned to slush
and only the occasional white mound in a drain corner, illuminated yellow by the dusky security light, gave away it had ever been.
Hugging her coat around her, she wandered down the row of stables towards Peace Offering’s, returning the greetings of the few staff finishing up their duties as she passed them.
The lady at Helensvale Taxis had warned her there was a good half hour queue for rides on a Saturday night so she was in for a wait. Pippa leaned her arms on her horse’s stable door and murmured his name. Peace Offering, snug in his winter rugs, was crunching on his hay at the back of the stable. At the sound of her voice, he looked up, long ears pricked, his white blaze glowing in the darkness, and walked over to the door.
Pippa stroked the soft skin between his nostrils, smiling as his hot breath blew up her coat sleeve. He pushed his head past her and Pippa leaned her cheek against the warmth of his neck, feeling safe and secure beside his solidity. She wondered how she could ever have been afraid of this gentle giant.
‘Hey, Pippa,’ a voice interrupted her thoughts.
She turned to see Emmie, bundled in a red Aspen Valley jacket and baseball cap standing a few feet away.
‘All right, Emmie?’
‘Yeah, can’t wait to get home and have a hot bath though.’
‘Hmm, me too,’ Pippa agreed.
‘I heard about your car accident.’
Pippa shrugged.
‘It was so minor, I wouldn’t even call it an accident.’
‘Still. Can I give you a lift home?’ she offered. ‘I live in Helensvale, see, and your house isn’t far out of the way.’
‘Thanks, Emmie, but I’ve already called a taxi.’
‘Rubbish, the taxi won’t be here for ages, especially on a Saturday with everyone going partying in Bath and Bristol. Come on, just ring them up and cancel it. I’ll drop you home.’
Pippa hesitated.
‘You sure it’s not out of your way?’
‘Certain. And I like a bit of company in the car.’
Pippa grinned and dug her mobile phone out of her handbag.
‘It happened somewhere along here,’ Pippa said as they travelled down the road in Emmie’s Punto. ‘Everything looks so different when it snows. I wonder if I would’ve got lost trying to walk home.’
‘You were walking?’ Emmie asked in disbelief.
‘Not for long. Finn picked me up. He was on his way into Helensvale.’
‘That’s right,’ Emmie said. ‘I saw him at The Plough –’ She paused and glanced at her. ‘Are you and Finn... you know?’
Pippa laughed and shook her head.
‘You’re nearly as bad as Jack. No, Finn and I aren’t you-knowing.’
Emmie shrugged.
‘It was just at The Plough that night after the Open Day, you and he seemed to be getting on really well.’
‘We do get on well,’ Pippa agreed. ‘He’s a nice guy, but we’re not involved.’
‘That’s all right then,’ Emmie breathed. ‘Me and Billy saw him last night with some girl.’
Pippa’s interest perked up. So he was seeing someone.
‘Really?’ she said, keeping her tone light.
‘Yeah. Never seen her before. Very pretty like, all long blonde hair and nice figure, but not from around here.’
‘Interesting,’ Pippa mused. ‘Are you and Billy seeing each other?’
Emmie threw her a quick look, hesitating.
‘Well, almost. But please don’t say anything to Jack about it; we’re trying to keep it quiet.’
‘Why?’
‘Jack doesn’t really approve of his staff dating. All that “not mixing business with pleasure” attitude.’
‘So I found out this morning. He told me I shouldn’t be sleeping with Finn.’
‘But you’re not,’ Emmie pointed out.
‘Yeah, but Jack just presumed that I was since we arrived together this morning. Besides, it’s a bit pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think? He’s dating Melissa, after all. And he trains her father’s horses. That’s mixing business with pleasure.’
Emmie shook her head.
‘Jack was dating Melissa before Mr Mardling moved his horses here.’ She turned to grin at Pippa. ‘And I don’t know if I would call dating Melissa a pleasure, would you?’
Pippa giggled.
‘Maybe that’s why he’s so against it then. He’s realised his own mistake and can’t get himself out of it. It would explain why he’s such a misery all the time.’
Emmie shrugged.
‘He isn’t actually that miserable. He’s just got a serious way about him.’ She looked across at Pippa to see what sort of reaction her disagreeing was having. Pippa waited for her to continue. ‘He’s very fair unless he thinks you’re not pulling your weight. Then he’ll come down on you like a ton of bricks.’
Pippa didn’t reply. In the face of Emmie’s subtle defence over Jack, she felt a little guilty for slagging him off. She gazed out of her window at the high black hedges on the roadside merging with the inky sky.
Jack’s comments deserved nothing less than her contempt, she told herself.
But he had apologised, and quite sincerely too, the other voice in her head argued. Maybe you just bring out the worst in him.
‘Well, as long as my boyfriend doesn’t come work for Aspen Valley, I should be in the clear then,’ she said, trying to defuse the laboured silence.
‘You have a boyfriend? I didn’t know that.’
‘He lives in London. Hasn’t been down here yet – busy with work and everything,’ Pippa explained. She didn’t know how true that last excuse was, but it was the same one Ollie constantly gave her.
‘What does he do?’ Emmie asked.
‘Acting.’ She was tempted to add ‘up’, but refrained. Emmie would think her a right bitch if she started sniping her boyfriend as well as their boss.
‘Ooh, how exciting. Have I seen him in anything?’
‘Do you watch Holby City?’
Emmie stared at Pippa open-mouthed and wide-eyed.
‘Road,’ Pippa reminded her, pointing ahead.
‘Don’t tell me you’re dating Rich Holden,’ she breathed.
Pippa laughed.
‘No, Ollie Buckingham. He’s Doctor Fletcher.’
‘Oh, my God!’ Emmie squeaked. ‘I don’t know who Doctor Fletcher is, but how lucky are you, Pippa? Dating a Holby City doctor. Have you met Rich Holden?’
‘No, but I believe we’re going to his Christmas party according to Ollie. Road,’ she prompted again, as Emmie’s concentration lapsed once more.
‘Wow,’ Emmie sighed, relieving Pippa by looking ahead again. ‘A Christmas party at Rich Holden’s place.’
‘Speaking of Christmas parties,’ Pippa said, a thought popping into her head. ‘Jack hasn’t mentioned anything about a Christmas party for Aspen Valley. Don’t you have one each year?’
‘Kinda,’ Emmie nodded. ‘Usually between Christmas and New Year, we have a few drinks. Jack’ll buy a couple of crates of beer and snacks and leave us to it. Mind you, the beer is usually drunk within an hour so you couldn’t really call it a party, I suppose. And most of us are still sober enough to know we have to get up early for work the next day so it would be all over by about eight.’
‘Sounds like a humdinger,’ Pippa said with a dry smile. ‘A party would be good fun. I’ll have to ask Jack about it.’
Chapter Nineteen
Monday morning found Pippa opening scores of Christmas cards addressed to Aspen Valley, Virtuoso and Black Russian, and Jack Carmichael (the sexiest trainer in National Hunt, according to one well-wisher) while forecast snow fell in sleepy abandon outside in the yard. Their success over the weekend at Cheltenham Festival Trials, which had reaped four winners for Aspen Valley, seemed to have unleashed a surge of Christmas spirit from racing fans.
Pippa hunted down some string and looped lines along the walls of the office, draping the cards over them. She stood back with her hands on her h
ips and surveyed her handiwork with satisfaction. The room looked alive and festive now with its brightly-coloured decorations. With Christmas only two weeks away, she could feel the child-like excitement, which always consumed her at this time of year, begin to bubble up inside.
Jack walked in, shaking snowflakes from his shoulders as he closed the door on the bitter weather. He did a double-take when he saw the Christmas cards looping across the walls.
‘What the hell?’
‘From your fans,’ Pippa said with a grin. ‘What do you think?’
Jack looked dubious.
‘It’s different,’ he answered.
‘It’s festive,’ she corrected him. ‘Speaking of which, presumably you want me to organise a staff party?’
‘Oh, that. Yeah, although don’t get too excited. “Party” is probably too strong a word. Just order a couple of crates of beer.’
Pippa looked pained.
‘But it’s Christmas,’ she pointed out. ‘Why not have a proper party? Everyone would love a good ol’ bash. Let them forget they’re at work and at a proper party.’
‘Because,’ Jack maintained, ‘all that will happen is everyone’ll come to work the next morning with sore heads and end up breaking their necks out riding. They won’t love you so much then.’
‘If it’s a really good party with a DJ and stuff then they might be more forgiving.’
‘This isn’t London. A few beers will do just fine.’
Pippa thought about arguing, but decided to leave it for now.
Jack gave her an expectant look.
‘Now, any chance of some tea?’
She couldn’t help the smile twitching her lips.
‘Really? Did I just hear you ask for some tea? Chamomile tea?’
Jack averted his eyes, an embarrassed frown creasing his brow.
‘It’s not that bad, I’ve decided,’ he mumbled.
Pippa grinned and made for the kitchenette, mildly surprised when Jack followed her. Usually he’d come in, grumble about the weather then shut himself away in his office.
Keeping the Peace Page 15
