by Leigh Hutton
Dallas’s team had made it into the finals, where all the pro team and college scouts would be, even a few Dallas said he’d been in touch with for the last few years. He was well on his way to the big time. She couldn’t wait to see him play live, after spending several late nights checking him out online. He looked incredibly sexy on the ice.
Annika was standing in her silk dressing gown, arms crossed, in the kitchen when Ebony arrived home. ‘We need to talk about Tootsie,’ she said, taking a step towards her.
‘Hello to you too,’ Ebony said, brushing past her and taking a seat on a stool at the island. She would have remained standing if she wasn’t so tired and her legs so sore from the dozens of extra hours of riding she’d been doing, ramping the horses’ training up for the Summer Series at Spruce.
Annika swept around in front of her, picking up a glass of red wine, and perched herself on an opposite stool. ‘I think we should sell her,’ she said, taking a swill of her drink. It stained her lips crimson, and looked like blood.
‘Couldn’t agree more,’ Ebony said. She rested her elbows on the counter top and rubbed her eyes. She hadn’t even had a chance to think about her plan for Star Girl, but was excited for the opportunity. Could it be possible to have a positive, constructive conversation with Annika?
Annika was stuck into her wine, so Ebony continued, ‘I had an idea while we were in Florida, actually. Did you see a horse named Star Girl go in Tootsie’s classes?’
Annika stared back blankly, but nodded.
‘Um … okay,’ Ebony said, feeling uneasy. Surely this couldn’t be so simple? ‘Well, Luther’s got her and she is simply amazing. She’s Monster’s full sister, and she’s just as talented as him, only she’s so smart and controlled and she’s fiercely competitive and fast. I think she could be a real goer, maybe even for Rio.’
‘Whoa.’ Annika set down her glass. ‘There is no guarantee that you’re even going to make the World’s, let alone the Olympics. Let’s not get carried away.’ She smirked and went to collect her bottle, to refresh herself.
Ebony took a deep breath and let her head fall into her hands. She should have known better than to hope for sense out of this woman.
‘Oh!’ Annika paused while filling her glass. ‘Did you …’ She tilted her head to the side, obviously enjoying the fact that she’d actually caught up to a conversation about horses. ‘Did you want to sell Tootsie, to use the money to buy that other horse?’
‘You got me.’
‘Ha!’ Annika shook her head and poured herself a full glass. ‘That’s pretty funny.’
‘I’m glad you find serious horse business amusing.’
‘The money from Tootsie is going towards the expenses for the other horses, naturally.’
Or into your pocket, more like!
‘I’ve already discussed it with Elaine, and she was happy to change the focus of their sponsorship, especially as Tootsie hasn’t won a dollar in over a year.’ Annika rushed to the windowsill to answer her mobile, which was singing some tarty pop song and vibrating. ‘Yes, darling, I’m getting ready now.’ She smiled like a cat who had got the cream, giggling. ‘Oh, stop it! Yes … okay, I’ll see you soon. ’
Ebony rolled her eyes and had left the room before Annika could even hit End Call.
That night, Ebony had a nightmare about Tootsie. She wasn’t trying to catch her this time, like in previous nightmares. She found her dead in the forest, next to Star Girl, their blood spilling into the summer grass. Ebony was crying when she woke up and had to fight that drag of darkness, of fear and sadness, throughout the morning, throwing herself into her work with the horses to try and forget the terrifying images of her dreams, and the pain of loss that she was going to feel when they came to take Tootsie away.
Even Johnny and Monster seemed to sense her foul mood and Johnny played up more than usual, biting a nice-sized chunk out of her arm while she was tightening up his girth and kicking out so hard that he dented the boards of the indoor arena. Thankfully, Monster was more understanding, and kept from pulling, letting her bend and turn him the way she needed to on the flat and performing like a saint when it came to jumping.
Johnny was feeling much more sombre when Jenny Pedrosa’s groom came to collect his girlfriend, however. His screams would have been heard at the bottom of the jumper field, Ebony was sure. She stood with him, patting his head and trying to get him to eat a carrot, or a treat. She even offered him a sugar cube that Winnie had found for them in the lounge, but he wouldn’t touch it, pacing at the front of his stall, pawing furiously at the rubber matting.
The groom let the horses kiss noses, before leading Tootsie away.
‘You’ll still see her at shows,’ Ebony said to a distraught Johnny, but her own heart even sank with the lie. Tootsie was being sold on to one of Jenny’s rich Mexican clients, Johnny would never see her again.
By that evening, Ebony was well and truly ready to escape from the sadness that had befallen the barn in the absence of the popular mare. Winnie had managed to settle Johnny, with a handful of sugar cubes and a cute novice mare of Marcus’s that they’d moved up from his end of the barn. There couldn’t have been a better night to be going to see her boyfriend play for the very first time.
She found the Olson Todd Memorial Rink without any trouble, as she’d past it about a million times before, on her way to the barn from Annika’s. The parking lot was packed with cars and she had to settle for a spot in a side street about a kilometre away.
By the time Ebony made it up the stairs and through the front doors of the rink, she was out of breath and feeling flustered. She didn’t know where to go, as the game had already started, and all the doors were closed. Rock music pumped from inside the rink and the cheers of a large crowd erupted from behind the doors. A few parents with young children loitered in the lobby, and a film crew and a guy she recognised as one of the city’s TV sports reporters rushed past. She followed them through a wide door to their right, and up a flight of concrete stairs …
The fresh smell of ice and sweet smell of sweat greeted Ebony as she stepped out into the rink. There must have been a thousand fans, packing the rows of seating. The air was crisp and she could see the puffs of her own breath escaping into the atmosphere.
A huge electronic scoreboard hung in the middle of the rink and sponsors signs lined the boards. She searched the players; half in yellow and black, the others red and white, and spotted Dallas, skating beside an opposing player, fighting for the puck.
‘And it’s Cash!’ A male announcer boomed. ‘Cash and Kyle at quarter ice! Oh, a check from the Knights and the puck is free! The Lumberjacks have the puck, but Cash is back!’
Dallas claimed the puck and skated hard for the goal. Then an aggressive shove and elbow to the head from a huge black and yellow player sent him into the boards, and Ebony gasped, hoping he was alright. The bell went and the referees skated over.
‘It’s a penalty for Vernon!’
Dallas shook off the hit and was back on his skates. Ebony pulled her phone from her jacket pocket, to check his message for where she was supposed to sit. She found her seat, in the front row, next to a man who could only be Dallas’s father.
‘Ebony.’ The man rose to his feet, and wrapped her up in an incredible bear hug. He was as tall as Dallas and nearly twice as wide. ‘So nice to meet you. I’m Dale Cash.’
‘Sit her down!’ yelled someone from behind them.
Ebony’s cheeks went hot and she sat down quickly.
‘Don’t mind them,’ Dale Cash said, lifting his new Knights cap to run a hand over his bald head. ‘They’re down, and we’re up!’ He pointed to the scoreboard: ‘1’ for Home and ‘0’ for Visitors. ‘Know much about hockey?’ he asked.
A whistle went and Dallas and another player were facing off at centre ice. A ref dropped the puck, and Dallas’s stick shot forward as fast as a King Cobra. The game was so exciting and Ebony loved watching Dallas; so focused, determined, and of course big, sexy and strong i
n his pads and Knights uniform. He skated hard and passed the puck to a teammate, down near the goal.
‘I’ve never been to a game before,’ Ebony said, her eyes on Dallas.
‘Well,’ Dale slapped her thigh, then handed her a tray of what Ebony could only assume were deep fried sausages. ‘You’ll be needing one of these, then!’
They smelled delicious, and she was starving.
‘Cheese sticks — go on,’ Dale said, grinning: Dallas’s smile. ‘I’ll fill you in.’
Dallas’s team took the win of the first of seven games in their Western Canadian finals tournament, beating the Vernon Lumberjacks 3 — 2 in overtime. Dale took her to the locker room afterwards, and she waited outside, watching the handsome players filing out, showered and smelling of cologne and strong, sporty deodorant. They all eyed her like she was dinner, and she was relieved when Dallas finally made his exit, and swept her up in a warm hug. He was powerful tonight, even more so than normal, his muscles still pumped up from the game.
‘Thanks so much for coming,’ Dallas said, kissing her on the lips.
‘You were awesome.’ She shied away from a stocky teammate who came in close, slapping Dallas on the back.
‘Can I buy you dinner?’ Ebony whispered in Dallas’s ear. ‘I get staff discount!’ And she didn’t have to work again until Wednesday night.
They each ordered a soup and sandwich meal and shared a maple-dipped donut. Dallas apologised that he didn’t have the Will; Bryce would need another week, as the team was leaving for Vernon after game three, for the final four games on their rink. ‘He’ll definitely have it by the end of next week.’
‘Thanks so much for doing this,’ Ebony said. ‘You guys can’t get into trouble, can you?’
Dallas smiled, and let her have the last bite of donut. ‘Only if you tell Annika.’
‘As if I’d do that!’
‘So, where should we meet?’ Dallas asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and resting a hand on her thigh. ‘I’ll be home on Tuesday.’
‘Let’s meet at the Windsor Heights Cemetery,’ she said, kissing him gently on the cheek. ‘I’d like to introduce you to Cecile.’
It had been way too long since Ebony had visited her mother’s grave. After the funeral, she couldn’t come here. It was too raw, and she was so close to being sucked into the deep, dark hole within her mind. She’d felt this way before, at many of the horrible foster homes she’d had to live in as a child. Getting on with life was the only way she’d learned to survive, so she put up a wall to hide the pain, overhauled her armour, and soldiered on, moving into Annika’s like she’d been told to do and doing her best not to think of Cecile and the happiness they’d found together. Only this time, it hadn’t worked. The darkness was too strong, lurking, dragging her down. Too intense was the despair, the frustration. It was the move to Marcus’s that had saved her, so far, and finding Monster and meeting Dallas. She seemed so much more capable of seeing the light now, and, finally, felt strong enough to revisit this blissful time in her life, and to pay her respects to her cherished Cecile.
Ebony parked her car and made her way up the hill, to the Windsor Heights Cemetery. The wind was cool and dark clouds were rolling in from the southwest. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and started to jog. The grass was green and squishy beneath her sneakers, the moisture leaked in through the fabric and drenched her socks as she ran. She spotted Dallas, sitting on a park bench under a huge oak tree, looking out over the city of Calgary and its towering buildings, ticky-tack houses and patches of green forest winding along the Bow River.
Cecile’s grave wasn’t far to his right.
When Cecile had died, it was as if the whole city had felt it; she was that well known in so many circles. The funeral was held here on the hill and was attended by more than a thousand people including the mayor, the premier of the province and pretty much everyone from the horse show world. Annika wore a ridiculous skin-tight black dress, massive hat and sky-high heels, wailing until a handsome man in a suit came to comfort her. Ebony spewed in a bush as Cecile’s coffin was lowered into the ground, then she and Winnie headed straight for the barn, so she could flat Gallant and try to forget.
Cecile’s city girlfriends were genuinely kind to Ebony and did their best to comfort her at the funeral, which they had organised. Ebony liked the gravestone they’d chosen: a life-sized stone angel with a black marble headstone. It was the tallest in the cemetery and stood front and centre at the peak of the hill.
Ebony sat down beside Dallas, crossing her wet feet beneath her. ‘Congrats again on your win, super star,’ she said, kissing him softly on the cheek, then grabbing ahold of him. She was so close to Cecile now, and the pain was stabbing at her heart. She clung on to Dallas, and wasn’t letting go.
‘Nationals, here we come,’ he said, his jaw tightening all business, then he looked down at her and smiled. ‘It’s so good to see you.’ He slipped an envelope into her hoodie pocket. ‘Sorry it took me so long to get.’
‘Whoa.’ The wind was punched from her chest. ‘Is that…’
Dallas nodded.
‘I can’t believe you actually got it.’ She took a long breath, her eyes going wide as she pulled the rectangular, white envelope from her pocket. Her hands shook it like a white flag. ‘You must really like to help people, eh?’ She flattened it against her thigh to stop the shaking.
‘Only the pretty girls — kidding!’ he said, as Ebony spun and punched him on the shoulder. He kissed her on the top of the head. ‘It’s nice to be needed.’
‘Thank you.’ Is this really it? She asked herself, her heart pounding hard. Could this really hold a clue to the truth about Cecile? She glanced at Cecile’s stone angel, then back at the envelope, running her finger over the sharp edges, then tapping it on her thigh. ‘I can’t look at this,’ she said, handing it quickly to Dallas, and leaning forward, her elbows on her knees, face in her hands. ‘Sorry. Tell me what it says, please?’
Dallas wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. ‘I’m sorry, this is a lot. Are you okay?’
‘Fine. Please get on with it.’ His warmth was wonderful, reassuring, a comfort. She steadied her breathing; long, calm breaths, as she watched, from the corner of her eye, Dallas rip open the envelope. He was quiet for a moment, reading, flipping through the pages … What! She wanted to scream. What does it say?!
‘Who’s Samson Albright?’ he finally asked.
‘Cecile’s ex,’ Ebony said, but her words had caught in her throat, so she sat up, taking a deep breath. ‘Why?’
‘According to this,’ Dallas said, running his finger down the page. ‘He was left with the bulk of Cecile’s assets, including her property at Millarville, her apartment and a house at Whistler.’
‘ What?! ’ Ebony grabbed the paper and scanned the text. There’s no way she left a cent to him! But Dallas was right, it was all there. The Final Will and Testament of Cecile Brienne Scott Harris. Proof that she was gone, forever.
‘There’s no way this is right.’ Samson’s name haunted her from the page. ‘She and Samson were fighting over this before she died!’ Ebony put a hand to her mouth, to keep from screaming. Something was seriously awry. She looked back at the document, and flipped the page. That was when she spotted the name Miss Annika Emelia Scott Harris …
Annika had been left Cecile’s company, Appassionata Enterprises, which, from this document, looked to have an amount of $500,000.00 in a term deposit for ‘management, maintenance and development of its horse assets’, as in Johnny and Tootsie, and ‘any other horses being ridden in the name of the enterprise’, which would cover leased horses for its rider. As far as Ebony was aware, Cecile and Mr. Prince had come to the understanding that he purchase Johnny, and Cecile look after his stabling, feed, entry fees etc., as well as finding a suitable rider and paying the training fees. They split the prize money. She could only imagine, and it wasn’t good, what kind of new arrangement Annika had managed to nego
tiate with the generous man.
All she could hope was that Annika had been smart with the half million. Cecile had always kept Ebony in the loop in regards to the money, and she was grateful for it. Being included in these discussions gave her a valuable understanding of the business and of basic money management. An amount that great should keep the show effort going for many years, especially if Ebony was able to claim some big wins and make the World’s and the Olympics, which had been their plan all along.
God only knew how Annika was spending the cash, as Cecile hadn’t set up any checks and balances in her company. It was essentially a sole proprietorship, giving her and Ebony complete control over what went on with the horses. It had worked brilliantly when she was alive.
‘What’s her deal, anyway?’ Dallas asked, reading over her shoulder.
‘Annika?’ Ebony asked.
‘Why’s she so unhappy?’
‘You are so nice, you know that?’ Ebony kissed him quickly on the lips — she just couldn’t help it — it felt nice, his warm skin on hers, when every fibre within her was hurting and confused. ‘She’s a lot more than just unhappy.’
‘What’s her and Cecile’s story?’
Ebony’s heart was racing, her hands shaking, her feet tapping on the concrete. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and focused on a spot on the horizon … the Calgary Tower popped out at her, illuminated by two shafts of sun breaking through the dark cloud. She’d never been up it before, but had always wanted to see the view of the Rocky Mountains from its height. She looked back at Dallas. ‘Cecile loved her parents. They were the best,’ she said. ‘I’ve never spoken to Annika about anything personal, naturally.’
Dallas smiled with understanding.
‘Their parents died just after they’d started university. The girls were only a year apart. Their mother died first, of breast cancer, and their father in a plane crash. It was incredibly hard on Cecile, they died only six months apart.’
‘That’s terrible,’ Dallas said.