“Don’t call me son. Ever.”
“A trailer will be here on Monday morning after the competition is over, and Melody will be going back to Virginia with us,” says Paisley, finally chiming in.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Joel says. “My horse is going back to California with me.” He looks at me. “Come on, Vivienne. Let’s leave the cretins to their dinner.”
I think about saying thank you for the dinner, and then rethink it. This woman doesn’t deserve a thank you from me.
We leave the restaurant and get a taxi to take us back to Cardinal Estate. Joel is breathing heavy and fast. I can’t blame him.
“What are you going to do?” I ask. I decide not to bring up James or Paisley and how odd they seem. I can’t put my finger on what makes James seem so weirdly unpleasant, but maybe it’s that he talks like he’s some highbrow socialite from yesteryear. Even though he’s clearly eighteen, he acts like he’s fifty—and not in a good way, but like some obnoxious, rich, good old boy. I wonder what kind of info Joel has on James that set the guy off.
I feel like giving Joel a hug. He has clearly had enough for the evening.
“Whatever it takes to keep my horse,” he replies. “No matter what that is. I will do whatever it takes to make sure she never goes back to Tiffany.”
CHAPTER forty-six
We get back in time to make the social, but I have the feeling that Joel doesn’t want to go in. I offer to stay with him.
“No,” he sighs. “You go in and have a good time. I am going to go call my dad and see what I can do to talk some sense into him, and if I can’t, I’m going to call my mom and find out what she can do on her end.”
“Okay. If you need me, you know where to find me.” I hold up my cell phone.
“Thanks. Thank you for going tonight. I’m sorry you had to see any of that.”
“Don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for.”
“Have fun, Vivvie.”
We both get out of the taxicab. I give Joel a hug. “Please call me if you need anything, like just to talk. . . . I don’t care what time it is. You can call me at three in the morning.”
“Thank you.” He kisses my cheek. “You are a really good girl and friend, Vivvie. I hope Tristan appreciates you.”
Joel waves good-bye and heads for his room as I start my walk down to the stallion shed where the social is taking place. It’s dark, but the pathway is illuminated by tea lights set on either side of the path. I make it halfway down the path when I hear my name. It’s Tristan and he is sitting on a bench next to a koi pond. “Hey, you. What are you doing out here?”
“Waiting for you,” he says. “How was the dinner?”
“Strange. I feel bad for Joel, but I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”
“Good. I don’t want to talk, either.”
“You don’t?” I ask. I sit down next to him.
“No.” When he leans in and kisses me, heat sears through me from my lips all the way down through my body. I begin to feel hot all over as the kiss grows and his hands wrap around my waist. I am not going to lie; there is a part of me that wants this to go farther—much farther.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about the other night before we flew out here,” he says. His fingers reach around my back and slide under my shirt. He stops kissing me on the lips and whispers in my ear, “We’d better stop.” Just his breath and voice in my ear sends another jolt through me—and this one shoots down my spine and starts this sweet, delicious tickle that travels all through me.
“Maybe we shouldn’t stop.”
“Don’t tempt me, Vivienne.”
I pull away and in all seriousness look up at him. “I mean it. Maybe we shouldn’t.”
He shakes his head. “No. Tomorrow is a big day and you need to focus. We both do. I just wanted to kiss you all day, and I’ve been waiting here for the past hour for you to come back from dinner with Joel, and God, that kiss was worth waiting for. Trust me, there is nothing more that I’d rather do than take this to another level. Believe me, I would really like to find somewhere safe and quiet and where we can . . .”
“But . . .,” I say, completing his thought.
“But, only if you really think you’re ready for it. I don’t want to push you. . . .”
“You’re not pushing me into anything,” I reply.
He sighs. “It’s your virginity. And, I want you to be a hundred percent sure, and this isn’t the place. It just isn’t. We need to make it special.”
“How did I get so lucky?” I ask.
“Because you deserve it.”
Oh my God! Sweet, sexy, smart, and sensitive.
“Really? How did I get so lucky? I am serious,” I ask him again.
“I’m the lucky one. Want to go down to the party?” he asks.
“No. I don’t. I think I want to be here with you.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
He wraps his coat around me and we spend the next hour or so just talking horses, school, and our hopes for the event. In between the talking, there is plenty of kissing, but we have established something: that if we are going to take this to the next level, then everything about it has to be just right. And, we both know with such major days ahead of us that waiting a little bit longer makes more sense. I just wish it felt easier. However, I don’t know that I exactly want to be living by common-sense rules right now.
“It’s getting late,” he says. “We’d better get back.”
We walk up to the house hand in hand and as we turn the corner to the side of the building, we both stop as we see Austen and Lydia all over each other. I am not going to be upset, or care, or want to throw up. I am not feeling any of that. I am not. I am with Tristan, who I adore, and who I nearly begged to sleep with me an hour ago. So, yep—I am just totally fine with this.
They don’t even hear us as we start to walk on by. At least I don’t think that they hear us, until Lydia says, “Oh, hi, you two.”
“Hi,” I say, almost too loud and too enthusiastically.
“Hi,” Tristan says.
The way he says it sounds like he feels about as out of place as I do right now. “Good night,” we mutter as we walk past them and into the house. Tristan leaves me at the door to my room.
“I’d come in, but that’s probably not the best idea tonight.” He gives me one last kiss and a hug.
I slip through the door and throw myself on the bed, and despite the many thoughts racing through my mind, I manage to fall asleep.
CHAPTER forty-seven
The next morning after checking in on Harmony and seeing that my groom, Charlie, has everything under control, I go to the bathroom near the event space and put on some makeup, and dress in the outfit that Kayla helped pick out for the jog. I’m wearing a cute pair of capri khakis with a fitted white blouse underneath a cropped red jacket, and a pair of flats. The jog-out has everything to do with presentation, so the typical attire of breeches and a polo isn’t going to cut it here. I am feeling pretty J.Crewish at the moment.
As I’m finishing curling my hair, Lydia walks in. “Hey, Scholarship. Don’t you look cute.”
I don’t even comment.
“I kind of like your old boyfriend. He’s a really good kisser.”
I continue to ignore and curl my hair.
“I guess I’m just going to call him hot. Like h.o.t.” She spells it out and I want to gag. “I do think there must be a story there,” Lydia digs. “One between the two of you.”
“You think wrong. Austen was never my boyfriend.”
“Uh-huh.”
I set the curling iron down and face her. “What do you want? I mean, really? What do you want from me? We aren’t friends. It’s perfectly clear to both of us that neither one of us likes the other. I
think that maybe we should just stay out of each other’s way and leave it at that. Austen is a great guy, and it’s too bad that he can’t see through who and what you are. But I think he’ll figure that out soon enough.”
She crosses her arms and lowers her voice, staying eerily calm. “You know what it is, Scholarship? It’s that you nearly ruined my family. My brother is in jail because of you. My mother won’t get out of bed, and my dad is so busy trying to get an appeal for my brother that he couldn’t even make it out here to see me compete.”
“Wait a minute. You’re blaming me for your brother’s crimes? Give me a break. Figuring out the scam your brother was running with Newman and realizing that Newman murdered Dr. Miller almost got me killed along with Riley and Emily last semester, so I hate to tell you, but I am not taking the blame for this at all. Here’s the deal. I say that we agree to disagree and stay out of each other’s way.”
“Sure thing, Scholarship. Besides, I am not too worried about you getting what is coming to you. Since you seem to pride yourself on being Little Miss Detective, let me give you a heads-up—maybe you should go digging in your boyfriend’s closet. I’m thinking there may be a skeleton or two.”
I look straight at her. I take a chance here, but I think it’s time that I do so for Tristan’s sake. “I know about Tristan. He told me that he told you about his dad.”
She looks shocked at this, and for once I see that Lydia is speechless.
“Yeah, but the kicker is that he didn’t tell me what it is that you know. It must be something so bad because he is afraid I could get hurt. My gut tells me that you know all about whatever it is, and in some way I think you’re blackmailing him. I don’t know what you’re getting out of it, but I am pretty sure you’re hanging something over his head, and you’re rotten for it. You really are. Why don’t you just let people live their lives and leave them alone?”
“Huh,” she laughs. “Hate to tell you, Scholarship, but it goes both ways. Have you ever thought that maybe Tristan’s little secret has a bit more to it than just the fact that his dad is a bad guy? Maybe he’s not telling you because he just doesn’t want you to know. You don’t really believe it’s because he wants to protect you, do you?”
I have no comeback. Nothing. She gives me a cold smile and leaves the room. I start gathering my things furiously. I know she wants to wind me up. I get that. But I can’t let her distract me. I need to be jogging Harmony in a half hour, and this is just Lydia’s sick and twisted way of trying to blow up my world. I tell myself over and over that none of that is really about me. It’s all about her.
Once I get outside, I’m glad to see Christian walking toward me. He is all smiles. “Hey, kid, you ready? You look great.”
“Thank you. I think I’m ready.”
“Your head in the game?”
“Yes.” Can he tell that I have just been shaken up by Lydia? He’s right. I have to get my head straight. I am here, and this is where it all begins.
“Good. Your horse is ready.”
I go and get her. I take a rag and wipe down her face again. I run a hand over each leg—her legs are nice and tight. I hear the jog being announced.
I see Tristan and the rest of the team on the lawn jogging their horses, prepping them for the jog-out. This part is for a few reasons. One aspect of it is key because this is where we make our first impression. The judges will check us out. Are we neat and clean? Do we present well? However, the most important aspect of the jog is that the judges are making sure the horses that are going to be competing are sound, meaning there are no lameness issues or any other prospective health issues that may need to be addressed.
I am only five minutes away from my turn to present when I see Riley go up to the jog path with Santos. My mind needs to be solely on my horse, but knowing that Riley was a little concerned about his horse yesterday, I have to watch. I see Santos take a few borderline steps and watch as the officials ask Riley to wait. This means he will have to go through a second pass after the other horses go. The vets will be checking Santos’s legs as well. My nerves are set off by this. I want to go up to Ri and support him, but I know that isn’t an option.
In a couple of minutes it’s my turn to present Harmony. I make a kissing sound to her as we start into the jog. There is a spring in her step that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. I almost laugh as we trot down the pathway. It’s as if she is saying to everyone, “Look at me. I am here! Look at me!”
The judges thank me when we finish and that means we have passed. The rules dictate that we are not allowed to wait at the finish for anyone else because it’ll back up the lineup. It’s frustrating because I so badly want to find out if Santos passed.
I take Harmony to her stall, and as I am putting her away, I see Riley coming back with Santos. He doesn’t look completely devastated so I think this must be a good sign.
“Well?” I ask.
“We were spun,” he replies.
“What? Really?”
“Yeah. He’s sore. I don’t know why, or what’s going on. Christian is going to have one of the vets come and take a look and see what we can figure out.”
“Oh, Ri, I am so sorry. I am really, really sorry. That sucks.”
“It’s okay,” he replies. “These things happen. It’s not our time, but it is yours. All I want is for my horse to be okay.”
“Want to get some lunch?”
“Yeah. That sounds good.”
Once he’s finished, we walk down to the food stands and order a slice of pizza and a soda. We take our food and sit on the grass facing the lake. “Is everything really okay, Ri?” I ask, knowing that it isn’t.
He shrugs. “I guess. I mean, it sucks about my horse. But, I’m fine.”
I set my soda down and face him. “I know you better than that, and I know that you and Joel haven’t been hanging out again. What gives?”
“Do I need to tell you? Because I’m thinking you already know what gives.”
I nod and look down at my plate. “I sort of do. I know about the kiss.”
“Right. Great.”
“Riley, you know me well enough by now to know that I am not one to judge.”
“You know my plan and my reasons. I can’t have any of it threatened by Joel and his feelings.”
“So, you just give up the friendship?” I ask.
“It’s complicated. Can we not talk about it?”
“I get that, but I think this is something you need to work out.”
“I can’t do that. Not right now. Maybe after graduation I will be free and clear to act like the person I really am. I want to be able to make decisions without having to worry about getting a terrible reaction from my family that might affect my future or, God forbid, my being with Santos. But for now, Joel needs to keep his distance.”
I don’t comment. I figure maybe this is one of those things that is better left alone for now. I want to ask him about what Joel is hiding because Joel had indicated that Riley had some of that information. “Want to walk the course with me?” I ask.
“I would, but I need to be around for the vet. Besides, it’s probably something you should do with Christian first.”
“Yeah. He told me to walk it, then we’ll have a group walk, then an individual walk with him, and then he suggests we go out and do it again by ourselves,” I reply.
“He’s got a method, that’s for sure. At least with horses. I still have no idea what he thinks he’s doing with Kayla Fairmont. I really think the right thing to do is tell Holden.”
“I know. I think that it is the right thing, but I’m scared and it feels intrusive.”
He starts laughing. “Listen to you. You ask everyone else questions. You intrude on everyone else’s stuff, but in this situation you won’t do the right thing because you’re afraid that it will change your life . . . maybe ruin your
chances . . . take away your scholarship.”
I eye him because I can’t believe what I am hearing. And because, even though it’s painful, I have to admit that he’s right.
I stare at him. “Yeah. You’re probably not totally wrong, Riley. Maybe I am being selfish on this front. But see, this is my one chance, so I guess that makes me human. I guess you and I are kind of alike in that way. You know if anyone finds out about you that it will turn your world upside down, so that fear guides your decisions. It’s kind of the same way for me. If Holden learns about Kayla and Christian from me, it could change my life—and for that matter, yours as well. It doesn’t make it right. I get that, but what you are doing isn’t right, either.” I stand up and start to walk away. He’s hit a piece of me that hurts.
“Vivvie, I’m sorry. I’m just being defensive. Come back here.”
“It’s fine. I’m going to walk the course.” I keep walking, fighting back tears. I ask myself why I want to cry right now. I know the answer. It’s because Riley is right about being honest with Holden. And, it’s making me question what kind of person I really am.
I really, really wish it wasn’t all so complicated.
CHAPTER forty-eight
I try to forget my problems for a minute as I begin my first ever walk on the course where the famous Rolex has taken place for over thirty years. This is the place where the World Equestrian Games happened just a few years ago, and where so many powerful, courageous horses and their riders have performed. I am pretty awed. I just wish I didn’t have so many other things going on inside my head.
As I walk up to each jump and count strides, I think about all the possible options for my approach, my position, and Harmony’s position. I look at each angle. I take into account the technicalities and the difficulties. Three-day eventing isn’t just about getting on the horse and riding it over some jumps or in a dressage arena. It takes skill and study. It takes composure and rational thinking. There is so much that goes into each section of this sport, which is probably one of the reasons that I love it so much. It is challenging. It challenges Harmony and me both physically and mentally, and the bond between the horse and rider is hugely significant. There needs to be trust in the truest form when sailing over solid obstacles.
Dark Harmony: A Vivienne Taylor Horse Lover's Mystery (Fairmont Riding Academy Book 2) Page 21