“Did he tell you what type of horse he was looking for? Is he breeding for sports or racing?” Larina was all business now. will leave all that for you to find out when you meet him. He will be arriving this afternoon.” He turned and walked back toward his home.
Later that day, the ranch truck stopped to pick up Larina before they drove out to meet the helicopter. As Carson unfolded his tall, lanky frame and climbed out of the helicopter, Mr. Cortez stepped forward to embrace him. “Carson, you’ve stayed in our hearts all these years. Welcome to our hacienda.” He directed his men to take care of the luggage. “So good to see you.”
Carson took the cowboy hat he was holding in his hands and put it on his head. Larina studied him and liked what she saw. He had a handsome, weathered face from years in the sun. His sharp, intelligent eyes seemed to miss nothing as they drove back to the big house.
He turned to the backseat and reached over to Larina to shake her hand. “Jared tells me you are to be my guide while I survey the champions he boards in his stables.”
“It will be a pleasure, sir.” She gave him a genuine smile.
“I can see we will be friends.” Carson smiled and winked. “Thank you for taking the time to help.” He turned back around to talk to Jared about the Rio Lago Ranch.
As they all got out of the truck, Mr. Cortez turned to Larina. “Would you join us for dinner this evening? It would be good to have your input as we discuss the stallions.”
“Thank you, I would love to.” Larina was pleased. She had wanted to see the big house; it had seemed strange to be locked out, socially. She also needed something else to think about besides Shane.
After she brushed Caballo and saw to the other horses, she found Marie in the kitchen. “I have been invited to have dinner at the Cortez home. Do you have anything I could wear?”
“Si, Querida.” Marie led Larina down the hall to her room. She opened the closet to find three dresses that would all be fine for dinner in the big house. Larina went to shower and get ready. After trying all the dresses on, she ended up choosing a beautiful white lacy dress with embroidered flowers along the hem.
“Wear this scarf; I always do with this dress.” Marie tied it around her shoulders like a shawl. Larina was just planning to pull her hair back with a ribbon, but Marie insisted on pulling half of it up in curls, leaving some to fall down on her shoulders.
Marie handed her a little makeup bag. “Put a little makeup on, and let’s see how you look.” Her eyes twinkled.
“Okay, I will try it, but you have to tell me if I end up looking worse.” She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, testing out the makeup. Her eyes were dark green, so she added a tiny bit of green eye shadow and a thin line of charcoal eyeliner. When she tried to put mascara on her lashes, she accidentally poked her eye with the wand. Her eyes watered so much she had to wash her face and start all over. This is the pits. Larina opened the door and called to Marie.
She hurried down the hall. “Oh no. It’s good you are beautiful and do not need this help.” Marie was quick with a light application of makeup and stood back to admire her work.
“There, Hermosa, you look beautiful.” Marie walked out partway with her to the Cortez home.
“Go; you will be fine.” She gave Larina a hug.
“Thank you, Marie. I will be careful with your dress. It’s beautiful.”
As Larina walked through the gate and up the stairs, she admired the beautiful gardens along the path. Carson walked down the steps to greet her. “Well, I have seldom seen a more beautiful horse trainer.” His eyes twinkled, and he winked. He reached out his elbow to escort her into the house.
She took his arm. “Thank you, this is my first visit to the big house.”
Mr. and Mrs. Cortez greeted them and gave them a tour of the ground floor of the home. It was gorgeous. The gemstone mosaic was spectacular, but that was not the only wealth displayed. Much of the living room furniture was wood inlayed with gold, and there was a solid-gold sculpture of an ancient native god standing in the corner.
“Many of the native tombs were robbed.” Mr. Cortez frowned in displeasure. “There wasn’t much left after the Spanish were finished with them, but some of the beauty of their civilization can still be found.” He put his hand along the top of the statute.” We actually purchased this in Spain and brought it back to its homeland.”
“It is incredibly beautiful. The craftsmanship of these early peoples is awe-inspiring.” Larina loved seeing the beautiful additions they’d made to their already beautiful home. It was impressive that they’d chosen things that had meaning to them.
Jared continued to give them a history of some of their art pieces as they walked toward the back of the house. They stopped in the library, where many ribbons and trophies were displayed. Jared pointed to the trophy case along the back wall. “These are my treasures.” There were pictures of many beautiful horses in the winner’s circle with jockeys standing close by.
Larina walked over and surveyed each picture. They all seemed familiar. Her heart was pumping faster. She felt she was on the edge of a discovery. It was frustrating. One of the pictures toward the back caught her eye. “Where was this?”
Jared walked over and opened the case. He handed the picture to Larina. “That was in Connecticut, in the US. We were at a steeplechase competition.”
She kept staring at the man in the picture. His eyes were familiar. She felt a longing in her heart. Do I know this man? She looked for an inscription but couldn’t find any.
“Do you know who this is?” She pointed at the man in the picture.
“No, I don’t. I was more interested in the horse.” Cortez chuckled as he put the picture back in the trophy case.
They walked into the dining room and took their seats. The table was set beautifully. They were served by houseboys and maids from the kitchen. The courses were beautiful in their presentation and wonderful in flavor. A final desert was brought out on fire. Larina had worried about what Marie had called “a very fancy dinner,” but she felt very comfortable. She must have been accustomed to eating like this.
Jared turned to Larina. “How do you suggest we go about finding the perfect stallion for Carson?”
Larina turned to Carson. “What do you need in a stallion?”
“I would like to upgrade our stock. We don’t race. We mainly specialize in high-quality riding horses. It’s a very exclusive dude ranch.”
“So you do not plan to race. What about breeding?”
“We don’t want to race, but we would like to raise and train racing horses to sell. Many of our ranch guests are in the market for high-end horseflesh. Some of them even train while they are visiting with us. We recently set up a practice course for steeplechase.”
“Okay, then you want a champion bloodline with great racing potential. There are many here with those qualifications.” Larina smiled, and Mr. Cortez seemed pleased.
After dinner, Carson walked to the stables with her to take a look at the horses. She liked Carson. He was charming. She laughed at his slow southern drawl, which she felt sure he dragged out even farther for effect. As she watched him taking a close look at each of the horses, a sadness came over her. Do I have a father? She hoped he would be similar in character to this good man.
Carson noticed her countenance change and asked, “So, what’s up Larina? Why the sad eyes?”
She felt she could tell this kind man anything. “I’m in an unusual position. I don’t know if Mr. Cortez mentioned my amnesia or not.” It felt good to just say it out loud. What if I never regain my memories?
“Yes, he did mention it in passing, but what he emphasized was the great gift you had with horses.” Carson opened Caballo’s stall and walked in. Larina took a sharp intake of breath. She was afraid Caballo would react poorly to the intrusion, but he seemed calm and interested. She walked in with Carson. Carson did not realize it, but he had in a way answered her question. She did have a future in the horse world.
Caballo nestled his head close to Larina. She backed away and talked soothingly to him. “Let’s not ruin Marie’s dress, Caballo.” She stepped back out of the stall. “The most promising stallion here is in the big stall at the front there. I have ridden him—he is challenged by the course and wants to jump.” She hoped she could steer Carson in another direction.
Carson leaned back and looked at Larina and Caballo for a minute, thinking. Then he walked on over toward the front stall. “If you don’t mind, I would like to see this one and Caballo run tomorrow.”
Larina nodded and walked back out of the stables with Carson.
“Thanks for joining us for dinner.” Carson reached out to shake her hand. “I will see you here tomorrow about 8 a.m. It’s a pleasure meeting you.”
After seeing Carson off, Larina went back into the stall with Caballo. She rested her forehead against the stallion’s. “What are we going to do?”
The next day, Larina came out to the stables at seven. There stood Carson, waiting in the stall with Caballo. As she walked in, Caballo pricked up his ears and whinnied. Carson looked around to see Larina coming. “This horse has one focus, and that is you. Good morning. It seems we are both early birds.”
“Since we’re both here, there’s no reason why we can’t start right now. Which horse would you like me to take through the course first?” Larina was all business.
Carson was thoughtful and seemed to be taking his time considering her question, so she took a moment to study him. He looked physically strong, and she could see his intelligence through his eyes. She couldn’t really tell how old he was. He could be anywhere from 55 to 75.
One thing that drew her close to him was his obvious love of horses. In that moment, she understood why Caballo was at ease with him. But she was panicked at the thought of him choosing to purchase Caballo. She knew he would care for him properly, and she couldn’t reasonably expect to keep this horse—he was worth a fortune. But the bond she felt with the stallion was vital to her feelings of connection to her past. Without Caballo, she felt she would be lost.
“Why don’t we try Mr. Cortez’s favorite in the front stall first. Then I would like to see Caballo.” Carson walked over and saddled the horse for Larina and brought him out to the center.
They walked the stallion along the dirt road lined with white board fencing. Carson looked up into the tunnel of trees. “I just have to marvel at how green everything is in this part of the world. Texas has green, but it’s only during the rainy season. There is a time in the summer when the grass is so dry it literally crunches when you walk on it.”
“Have you lived in Texas all of your life?” Larina was just going through the motions of conversation; her heart was full of dread.
“I have seen much of the world, but I settled down in Texas. For me it was a good choice.” Carson stopped and whistled as he looked over to the pasture. “Now that is some practice track. Jared doesn’t spare any expense.”
The jumps were pristine, and there was a shaded grandstand with all the amenities for comfortable viewing. A line of soda and snack machines sat against the wall. They walked over to the gate. “I’ll just make myself comfortable over here while you take him around.” He chuckled.
“Okay, sounds good. Come on, boy.” Larina led the horse through the gate and mounted. The first time around, she just ran him beside the jumps. The second time, she ran him on track to take the lower jumps, which he sailed over effortlessly. She realized she was trying hard to sell this horse. Just buy this one, Carson. The third time, even though he had not previously tried the higher jumps, she put him on line to take one.
“Okay, boy, let’s do this.” The horse responded to her energy and took off, gaining speed as he approached the jump. He was running full out as they came around the corner. Just as he lifted into the air, Larina had a flash of memory. As she sailed over the jump, she was in another time—crowds were cheering, her arm was raised victoriously in the air, a man was smiling at the sidelines. Larina was thrilled not with the jump but with the memory. A memory! She ran it over in her mind again as she rode over to Carson.
“Now that is good riding, Miss Larina.” Carson seemed pleased.
“I’ll ride over to the stables to get Caballo and be right back.” She rode through the gate, her mind searching that memory over and over again. She was trying to focus on the man at the sidelines. She knew he was important, but his face would not come into focus.
In the stables, Andrew took the reigns as she dismounted and walked over to Caballo’s stall. How do I say “don’t do well, boy”? She knew it didn’t matter, Carson knew horseflesh and he had zeroed in on the two best stallions instantly. She reluctantly mounted and rode over to the track.
Carson waved as she rode down to the end of the track. “Okay, Caballo, let’s do this.” He was prancing he was so happy to be out on the track. “No, you don’t want to show happy. Do you know what’s at stake here? Take it easy.” The horse turned his head back and snorted, questioning.
They started running. She tried to turn him to take a run around first, but Caballo insisted he take the track. He picked up speed instantly and ran full out as he approached the first jump. He sailed over and gunned it toward the second. It was almost like he was making sure she didn’t try to stop him. She could feel the joy and freedom Caballo was feeling. Finally, she just let him go. “Okay, boy, go for it.” He took off with even more speed, taking the second and third jumps easily. Larina was laughing as joy and freedom coursed through her. As he sailed over the final jump, she couldn’t help the tears that ran down her cheeks. This was pure joy.
She wiped her eyes as she trotted over to Carson. “That was magnificent! And I’m not just talking about the horse.”
She nodded. It was magnificent, and she was too overwhelmed to speak.
Carson nodded, understanding. “Come sit here with me for a minute.”
Larina stepped down out of the stirrups. She looked over to see Andrew had been watching along the fence line. He walked over and took the reins to lead Caballo back to the stables.
Larina climbed up to the stands and sat down next to Carson. He handed her a soda and took an appraising look at her. “I want to hire you to come back to Texas with me and train these horses. You are amazing. And being in the States would open up the resources you need to find your family and, hopefully, your memory. “
“I don’t know.” Larina hesitated. In her heart she knew she needed to move on and find her family if she had one. But at the same time she hated to leave the Juarez family. “I was planning to stay longer to help my family here with their responsibilities to the Cortez ranch. What horse are you planning to purchase?”
“If you agree to come, you can choose the horse.” Carson gave her a knowing look and raised one eyebrow.
She looked down and laughed as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. He had read the situation perfectly. She had to admire his bargaining brilliance. He had her, and he knew it.
They walked back to the stables as Carson explained his training plans. In spite of the panic she was feeling, she was determined to stop hiding and find out who she was and, more importantly, if she was free to follow her heart.
Each night as she lay in bed, she could see Shane’s face taunting her with such love in his eyes it took her breath away. How could she let that go? She knew she could trust Carson, and if she also had Caballo, there wasn’t going to be a better time to make the break from the cocoon she had fashioned here for herself.
Carson was searching for something on his phone. He turned to Larina, satisfied. “Larina I will take care of everything with Mr. Cortez and your family. Get packed; we are leaving tomorrow with Caballo.”
Chapter 9
Shane was in an agony about his lost opportunity in Argentina. He thought about Lari
na all day, and he dreamed about her all night. Something had to be done. He couldn’t keep going on like this. Even his new stallion did nothing but bring him memories of Larina.
The first thing he did upon arriving home was to research amnesia and to find the best physicians to treat it. He wasn’t sure he wanted her to remember—especially if she was right about having someone in her life. But he couldn’t go on like this. And even though she’d basically ended their relationship, he wasn’t ready to quit. At least, not until she remembered.
Shane had decided to name his new stallion Black. It wasn’t imaginative at all, but he was black, so it worked. Shipping large animals was easy if you had the money. Black arrived in an air-conditioned horse trailer. The man he’d hired to travel with the stallion was paid in full at the airport in Houston. Shane had hired another specialist in equestrian travel to drive Black out to the ranch. When Black finally arrived, they released him into the corral.
“Okay, Black, I know this has not been your best 24 hours.” He was amazed at the beauty of this magnificent animal. He stood tall like a champion. His bloodlines were excellent. Shane whistled as he envisioned the stud fees alone.
Black pranced around and around the corral before finally stopping to drink. Shane threw in a bale of hay mixed with alfalfa. It startled Black, and he jumped to the side. “Sorry, boy.”
After sniffing the air, Black came over and started grazing. Shane wished Larina was there. He could see her on Black, sailing over the jumps. The look of joy on her face was something he would never forget. It was freedom and beauty and courage all in one beautiful moment.
Shane went into the corral with Black and gave him a sugar cube. “We are going to be friends, Black.” He could hear Jasper whinnying in protest from the stables. He asked his ranch hand to open Jasper’s stall.
The minute he did, Jasper came trotting over in perfect form. As he got closer, his ears went back, and he snorted and pawed the ground with his hoofs before running confidently over to the corral. Black snorted and pranced around in response. Finally they both approached each other and stopped ten feet apart, holding their positions. Well that wasn’t so bad.
Her Billionaire to Remember Page 6