Ties that Bind (Sunshine & Shadow Book 3)

by Williamson, Alie

  The surrounding air was still, only roused by his passing, and then in a moment the stirring was gone, as he moved on. The horse turned. His ears pricked forward like he was hearing sound for the first time, his eyes watchful of any movements that he deemed dangerous, and if he did, he would flee again, caught in between a gallop and a soar, appearing to never touch the ground. The only proof that his mighty hooves felt the sand was the dust flying in every direction, spraying out from his path.

  “Cut!”

  The horse stopped dead in his tracks, his head dropping slightly, and he relaxed. One hind foot rested on the dirt like he was bored.

  April smiled at him. The horse, Maverick, was by far her favorite. She had known from the moment she started to work with him a month ago, that he knew when it was time to train, and when it was time to play. His work ethic was like none other.

  She clapped with everyone else, admiring the way the sweat on the stallion’s coat made it gleam even more under the florescent lights of the studio. She dusted her hands on her jeans and made her way to the director’s chair, where Elliot Campbell was studying the scene.

  “Yes, yes, I like this bit…a little long, but we can shorten it…All in all, I’m happy!”

  When he saw April, he turned to her. “Well done, April. I can see now why Damian speaks so highly of you.”

  April glanced over to where the main stunt horse trainer, Damian, stood, talking softly to the horse. He sensed her looking and smiled.

  “Thank you,” April said.

  Campbell’s attention had already diverted back to the monitor so she wandered over to Damian.

  Damian looked like he belonged out front of a club rather than stroking a horse’s face on a movie set. He was at least six foot four, with wide shoulders and a booming laugh. April liked him. His smile was infectious, and he always seemed to have a kind word to say about people.

  “Hey kitten! What did you think?”

  April raised her eyebrows. “What did I think? That was incredible, Damian. I mean, I watched you work with him in the arena, but it was like you took it to a whole new level.”

  “He took it to a whole new level. Didn’t you, boy?” Damian scratched the stallion behind the ears and the horses head dropped to his waist, nudging him slightly. Damian laughed. “I guess someone wants his dinner. Did you finish with Prime Time in the barn?”

  April nodded. “Yeah, but he doesn’t seem to want to eat.”

  Damian shook his head slowly, leading the horse away from the set. April followed him. “He’s been off for a while. He doesn’t seem to want to do anything.”

  “Is he a stunt horse?”

  He shook his head. “Not really. He’s a saddle horse. An actor rides him around on set, but nothing more than that. He’s not on a vigorous training program like these guys are.” Damian patted the big stallion’s neck.

  April pressed her lips together. There were many reasons why a horse would stop eating; stress, anxiety, pain, an illness. But the vet had cleared Prime Time, and although Damian had removed him from the training schedule for nearly a week, the horse hadn’t improved.

  “Is he still being used onset?”

  Damian nodded.

  “By who?”

  “Violet Rose. He’s her saddle horse for the main part of the movie. It’s a big role for him, but like I said, it’s easy. All he has to do is be ridden, and quite often not even in the studio. I just don’t get it.”

  “If he’s not eating that’s enough reason for him not to want to do much else. I’ll try some things in the morning to see if I can get some food into him.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “There are different herbs and oils that can help a horse’s appetite. I guess I’ll just fiddle with his diet until I get it right.”

  “Good luck.”

  Entering the barn was a sight April didn’t think she’d ever get used to. The aisle was wide enough to tie a horse on each side and still have room to lead horses down the middle, four abreast. The concrete floor was cleaned daily and the stalls were immaculate, built from dark timber and black metal framing. The roof was high, making the building airy and open. And the smell was the most overwhelming factor of all. After not being around it for so long, the scent of horses made April’s entire body relax. The barn was the only place she felt at home in this giant, intimidating city.

  She hadn’t had the chance to explore L.A. The movie had rented her a hotel room, and when she wasn’t there, she was at the movie lot, and when she wasn’t at the movie lot, she was trying to figure out what she could do to curb the twisted feeling in her stomach whenever she was alone.

  Lex was due to arrive at 2:00 pm. He strode through the door, greeting Damian as he passed. His eyes found April’s and he smiled. He wandered slowly to where April stood, pulling hair out of grooming brushes.

  “April,” he said.

  “Good afternoon, Lex.” She tried to be as formal as possible as there were people close by.

  Loud enough for any listening ears, Lex said, “April, if you have a chance tonight I’d love to pick your brain about Benny. He’s been giving me a bit of trouble recently.” His eyes twinkled inside a frame of dark lashes.

  “Of course. I’m here to help.” April picked up another brush and held it out to him. “As are you?”

  He raised an eyebrow but took the brush from her. “I suppose I could help until I need to be on set in…” He checked his watch. “Six minutes.”

  “That’s cutting it a bit close, don’t you think?”

  “I was running a bit late today.”

  “And why’s that?”

  “Just daydreaming about a beautiful girl, as men do.” He winked.

  April dropped her head, her cheeks heating up. She knew they were crimson by now. She still hadn’t figured out how to respond when Lex complimented her.

  “Lucky girl,” she murmured, after a short minute.

  “Well it was nice chatting, April. But I agree; I mustn’t keep the director waiting.”

  He motioned as if he was tipping his hat and walked away. April admired the way the muscles in his back showed through his thin, black t-shirt and rippled as he walked. She knew what they looked like without cover, and her stomach tightened at the memory.

  Chapter 4

  April didn’t want to go back onto the set, but she knew she should. While Damian was busy with horses in the arena, it was part of her job to oversee the horses’ filming. She was avoiding the set for two reasons.

  Lex.

  And Violet.

  Ever since arriving in L.A and beginning her new job, April had been torn between a love of what she was doing, and unhappiness, because every day she had to watch Lex and Violet be a couple, on screen. She tried her hardest to focus on her work with the horses but she found it nearly impossible.

  On the set, Campbell shouted, “Action!”

  “I finally realized,” Violet said in a sickly sweet voice. “You’re the one I’m meant to be with.”

  “Are you sure?” Lex replied, stepping up close to her and putting his hands on either side of her face. “Because I can’t take false hope from you.”

  “I’m sure. I love you. I’ve always loved you. It just took me a while to see it. But now, my heart beats for you, and only you.”

  April turned away. Every time Lex’s hand would graze Violet’s cheek or he would kiss her in front of the cameras, April would feel jealousy eating away at her heart. There was nothing she could do about it. If anyone found out about her and Lex, not only would she lose her job, he’d lose his entire career. No matter how difficult it was to watch, April had to remember that she was here for the horses. Only for the horses. She focused on them and put Lex and Violet out of her mind.

  Prime Time was her main concern. After what Damian had said, April really needed to find out why he was off his game. There was no mistaking it. His head was down, his eyes were dull, until he was given a command when he would snort and p
lant his feet in defiance. He wasn’t cooperating and it was upsetting the scene they were shooting.

  “Cooper!” Campbell called April over.

  “Yes sir.”

  “What’s wrong with this horse?” He pointed at Prime Time. Violet was having a hard time getting on. The horse was determined not to let her.

  “I’m not sure. It could be…well, anything. I haven’t had time to work with him one on one yet, sir.”

  “Well, find the time.” He picked up the loudspeaker. “Bring me another saddle horse for Ms. Rose. Now.” He waved at the groom standing by the sidelines. Turning back to April, he said, “Fix it.”

  April walked to the horse, taking his rein from the defeated groom, and exchanging a look with Lex. His eyes were sympathetic; he knew what a hard-ass Campbell could be at times.

  April led the horse through the barn and into the indoor arena.

  It was massive, much larger than any April had seen before, and she understood why. The area had been separated into three, equally-sized arenas. She took Prime Time to the far one and set him loose. She wanted to watch how he acted on his own before putting him in the round pen.

  Jumping up on the fence, she studied him.

  At first all he did was sniff the ground. His nose skimmed the sand and he inhaled and exhaled, blowing dust into the air and snorting. Then he rolled, scratching himself on the dirt, then standing up and shaking.

  April sighed. He was behaving just like a regular horse, not one that was ill or overly stressed. She jumped down and took a hold of his halter, leading him into a round pen beside the arena.

  Once in the circular pen, she let him go and went to the center.

  “What’s your issue, buddy?” she asked as she observed the horse trotting around the outside, putting no pressure on him to make him move.

  His head was up, defiant. He stomped his feet and swished his tail as he moved, like he was fending off an attack of flies. But as there were none in the building, April knew it to be another sign of dominance. He was very upset with humans, and she knew as soon as she put any pressure on him, his aggression would come out.

  She swung her rope in a small circle and Prime Time turned, pinning his ears flat to his head and showing the whites of his eyes. She swung her rope again, this time more forcefully, and took a strong step towards him. He kicked out at her with both back feet and stopped, planting himself on the rail and turning his hind end in her direction, his tail tucked in tight.

  April didn’t want to back up and show submission, but she knew that one kick from those powerful hooves could kill her. She flicked her rope towards him and the horse rushed her, mouth open and eyes wild with the fire of a crazed animal.

  Jumping out of the way at the last second and landing on her knees in the dust, April said, “What the hell is your problem?”

  She stood up, brushing the sand off her jeans and watched the horse trot the fence across from her, ears pinned, hitting the ground with his hooves like he was trying to break through the earth’s crust. His chestnut coat glistened with a fine layer of sweat, but April had a feeling he wouldn’t give in even if he was drenched and dripping foam.

  “April! Be careful!” Damian rushed across the arena towards her.

  “Yeah, he’s not in the best mood.”

  “No, you don’t understand,” he said, as he reached her, “We don’t round pen this horse. I tried, when he first arrived and he almost killed me.”

  April frowned. “Then how did you train him?”

  “Carefully,” he said, laughing humorlessly. “Once he’s caught and saddled he can be trained, but you have to let him be the boss, as bad as that sounds. He’ll never submit. And I hate to say it, but as a girl, you’ve got no chance.”

  It was understood in the world of horses, that if a strong-minded horse wouldn’t back down to a man, he definitely wouldn’t submit to a woman; something about the smell made women seem inferior to them. April had proved that theory wrong with the horses at Blue Haven, but she didn’t want to overstep the boundary by telling Damian that.

  “What’s his issue?”

  “No-one knows,” Damian said, opening the gate to let her out. “We got him from a ranch in Colorado. He was bred to be a stunt horse, trained from the ground up to do this line of work. And for a while he did. He accepted the new tricks without complaint.”

  “When did the complaining start?”

  Damian took his baseball cap off and scratched his head. “Right around the start of this movie. I tried taking him back to basics and doing the exact same things I did when he first arrived, but nothing worked. I even called the ranch in Colorado and they had no clue. Apparently he didn’t put up any kind of fuss when they broke him. They described him as a pussycat, if you can believe that.”

  With April out of the round pen, Prime Time used the entire area to show his annoyance. He pranced along the fence line, swishing his tail back and forth and tossing his head so that his mane swung from side to side.

  “I came to tell you it’s three o’ clock,” Damian said.

  “I’ll put him in his stall and head home, I guess.”

  “I’ll do that.” He took the rope from her hand. “He’s going to need some time to calm down before we can catch him anyway. Head home and relax. Study up on those herbs and stuff. Maybe we can figure him out that way. It might be something really simple we’ve been missing.”

  April nodded and left the arena. She didn’t say goodbye to Lex, preferring not to see his lips locked with Violets in the scene that the director insisted they do over and over again to make sure it was perfect. She grabbed her things from the staff room in the giant barn and headed to the parking lot. As she closed the back door behind her, her phone vibrated.

  From: Lex Mitchell

  Hey, meet at my place? I’ll be done early.

  April felt her heart speed up. Even though meeting at Lex’s house was a regular occurrence, butterflies still erupted in her stomach whenever he suggested it, expectant of the afternoon’s usual activities. Lex had rented her a car and, as she pulled out of the parking lot in the brand-new Land Rover, she got looks from passerby’s that made her cheeks flame.

  She headed straight to Lex’s house, planning to hang out with his puppy Maxwell until Lex arrived. Pulling into his long, tree-lined driveway, she punched the memorized code into the keypad and watched as the huge, wrought iron gates swung open, revealing the winding road up to the big house.

  The house itself was impressive enough without all the add-ons. High in the Hollywood hills, the view was extraordinary. The house sat atop a mound, lifting it away from the grass and flower-covered courtyard where April stopped her car. She opened the door as she turned the ignition off. Cash appeared on the porch.

  “Did you want to pull into the garage? It’s going to hail. Just please don’t hit my car.” Cash smiled and went back inside the house.

  The garage was behind the house, half for cars and half for a workshop. Lex liked working on cars, a hobby of his that April had only just discovered. She parked beside Cash’s Range-Rover, in Lex’s spot. She inched around the SUV, aware of how protective Cash was over his pride and joy.

  Inside the house she was greeted by the smell of fresh blueberry muffins. She followed the scent to the kitchen and found Cash reading a book up the kitchen island. His head was buried in the novel, mouthing the words to himself as he read.

  “Smells good,” April said, sliding onto a stool opposite him.

  “Lex made them this morning. He said they’re your favorite.”

  She nodded. “They are.”

  Grabbing one off the plate, she chewed absentmindedly. April laughed as Maxwell skidded around the corner and into the kitchen, wiping out on the slippery hardwood and sliding towards her. She jumped off the stool and let the puppy leap into her arms.

  “Someone’s happy to see you,” Cash said.

  April scratched the collie behind the ears. His bright, hazel eyes twinkled ben
eath two brown eyebrows. Lex had chosen him because he always looked happy, and because the black spot of hair under his nose looked like a moustache.

  “Yeah, it’s been a few days, hasn’t it boy?” She laughed as Max licked up the length of her face.

  Cash phone vibrated on the table. He glanced at it.

  “Lex says he’s got a short day today, so he’ll be home in a few.”

  “I know,” April said.

  Cash’s phone vibrated again. This time he picked it up. “Cash Mitchell,” he said in a very formal tone. “Yes, one moment please.” Cash closed the book and stood up, covering the microphone with one hand. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

  April nodded and gave him the thumbs-up. He disappeared up the stairs. Max tugged at her shirt and she chuckled, watching the way his little body wiggled when he wagged his tail.

  “Come on boy,” she said, picking him up. “Let’s go find you a toy.”

  April carried the puppy down to the basement. There was a miniature movie theatre, a spare bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, a storage room, and Maxwell’s bedroom; although April had a feeling the puppy hadn’t even spent one night in there since Lex had brought him home. Whenever she slept over, it seemed he had a permanent spot at the foot of Lex’s bed.

  There was a treasure chest in the room, filled to the brim with chew-toys, ropes, treats, and other things Lex hoped Maxwell would grow into. The only toy he seemed interested in playing with at the moment was Lex’s cowboy boots, which were now tightly locked away in his walk-in closet. Maxwell had since moved on to visitors’ shoes, left unprotected by the front door.

  She brought out a rope and encouraged Max to grab one end. His little nose twitched and he tipped his head to one side, whining quietly, trying to understand what she was asking.

  A car pulled into the driveway.

  “Fine. If you don’t want to play, we’ll just go back upstairs.” April stood up and put the toy back in the chest. She looked down at the pup, still watching her. “Come on, Max! Let’s go see Daddy!”