Dan snorts. “He’d want the whole bucket. But he barely needs any at all.” Dan feels a little thrill of pride when he says, “He’s mine,” and the feeling isn’t diminished at all when he adds, “He’s just a trail horse, not an eventer. He doesn’t need too much of the high energy feed.” Dan ducks into the tack room and finds a pen, then comes back and adds Smokey’s name to the feeding list. He pauses when he looks at the turnout groupings. They’ve kept the same divisions as they’d used in Kentucky, but Smokey had never been turned out with the Archer horses there. “His name’s Smokey—let’s turn him out on his own for a couple days, let him get used to the place. Then we’ll try to find a group for him to make friends with.” Sara nods, and Dan adds a note to the page. “I’m gonna take him out for a ride now… go up and check out the cross-country course. Can you leave Monty in? I’ll ride him when I get back, and he’s a pain to catch from the paddock.”
Sara nods again. She’s in that awkward time when the horses are eating and there’s nothing else to do with them, and the barn is so newly organized that there are really no other chores. Dan remembers the solution he and Justin had found to fill the time, and wonders idly what Sara would do if he suggested that they make out. Wonders what he would do if she accepted the offer. Instead of finding out, he goes and gets Smokey’s tack and grooming kit, and gets to work. The horse hasn’t had much chance to get dirty yet, so the grooming consists mostly of Dan running his hands over Smokey’s body to check for any hidden injuries or sore spots, without much need for brushing. Then he saddles up and leads Smokey outside, hops on, and heads out along the fenced path that leads to the cross-country course. It’s the most convenient route, so Dan doesn’t even need to think of it as a sign of weakness that it also manages to avoid taking him along the hillside where he’d gotten the call about Justin.
The dog from earlier meets him part way and continues along with them. She seems well behaved and politely puts her nose up for a sniff when Dan gives Smokey enough rein to put his head down, so, as long as everyone’s getting along, Dan doesn’t mind the extra company. The three of them head up the hill and through the woods. Dan stops a few times and jumps down to check the footing and construction of the jumps, and is happy to find that everything seems to be in good shape. There’s a mulched, groomed track along the outside of a bit of a plateau, so Dan lets Smokey have his head, and they both enjoy the speed and the wind in their faces. The dog gives up trying to follow after only a couple strides, but she seems to guess where they’re going and takes a shortcut across the middle of field, and she’s sitting and waiting for them when they finish their little circuit.
They all head back to the barn, and the dog accompanies them most of the way before disappearing into the brush around the main house. Dan and Smokey continue on, and when they get to the barn Dan takes Smokey’s saddle and bridle off while they’re still outside and turns the gelding into one of the empty paddocks. Smokey takes a few trotting steps before deciding that he’d rather explore the taste of the grass than the corners of the field.
Dan brings the saddle and bridle inside, but he stops when he gets to Smokey’s stall. All of the eventers have brass name plates on their stalls, their stable names in bold and their registered names underneath. On Smokey’s stall, Sara has tacked a piece of cardboard, with “SMOKEY” in bold, and underneath, in smaller print, “Sir Smokes-a-Lot?” Smokey is mostly Quarter Horse, but he’s not registered, so he doesn’t really have a formal name, but that doesn’t mean he should be left out. Dan grins, and when he drops the tack off, he finds a pen and comes back to the stall. He adds “Smokey the Bear?” underneath Sara’s suggestion and then returns the pen to the tack room while he collects Monty’s equipment.
He spends the rest of the day riding various eventers, getting them used to their new home, making sure they don’t have any aches or pains from the travel. He rides Sunshine after Monty, and she seems fine, so when Tatiana wanders down in the early afternoon, he suggests she give the mare a try, and she does. Judging by the look on her face, she’s pleased with the experiment, and so is Dan. He wishes Evan had come down with her. He’s feeling a little uncomfortable with having so little contact with his employer, and he’s not exactly sure what the rules for Tatiana are. She’s only fifteen, and Dan knows that the whole barn is there essentially for her enjoyment, but he’s not really sure what boundaries, if any, he’s expected to enforce. He decides that’s probably a question worth contacting Linda about, although he thinks it would probably be best to wait until Monday.
Tat hangs around for the rest of the afternoon, watching Dan work the horses. At first he’s a little uncomfortable, thinking about what Evan had said about the girl’s crush, but she starts asking questions about what he’s doing, and it soon becomes clear that she’s genuinely interested in learning more about training the horses. He ends up enjoying the afternoon, starts getting used to explaining instead of just doing, and a few times he hops off and puts Tatiana on the horse, because there’s some things about horses that you have to feel to really understand. Robyn wanders down from the apartment while Tat is riding Kip, trying to feel the different degrees of collection, and she stands beside Dan, leaning on the fence and watching.
“She’s going to be pretty good, isn’t she?” Robyn asks.
“I guess… if she sticks with it. She’s only fifteen, though—next week she could decide she wants to spend all her time playing the flute or something.”
“Or chasing boys,” Robyn agrees.
Dan grins. “God knows that was a bit of a distraction for me.”
Robyn smiles back and looks around. “Jeff and Evan haven’t been down?”
“No. I ran into them last night in town, but I haven’t seen them since then.”
“Huh.” Robyn seems a bit surprised. “They were practically living down here the last few days, seeing all the horses arrive, helping them get settled. Maybe they were just keeping an eye on things, and now that you’re here they can take a break.”
Dan nods. He guesses that’s as good an explanation as any, although it doesn’t really help him understand the coolness he’d felt the night before. But he’s not great at reading people, so maybe he had misinterpreted that. Tat pulls up beside them and starts asking questions, and Dan brings his focus back to the task at hand.
He works until dusk and then goes back to the house and heats up one of the frozen dinners. He eats it while reading one of his business books and then takes a notebook and a beer out onto the porch. He tries to put together a list of questions to ask Evan or Linda or whoever’s available. He writes down a list, adds a few notes, and then reads a bit more. It’s not exciting, but it’s peaceful, and he feels like he’s put in a good day’s work. Everything still feels a little weird, but he’s hopeful that it will get better and seem more natural in time.
He calls Linda the next morning, but only gets her voicemail, and he realizes that he doesn’t even have a number to call Evan. He adds that to his list of things to ask about. He doesn’t plan to harass the man, but if Tatiana is going to continue spending so much time at the barn, he’d like to at least have an emergency number.
He spends the day working with the horses and the new trainers, and when Tatiana comes home after school, he spends some time with her and Sunshine as well. She’s only got one week of school left, so she’s buzzing with excitement about all the things she’ll do at the barn once she’s got more time, and Dan appreciates her enthusiasm. He also appreciates it when she goes home for dinner and gives his ears a break.
Dan goes home for his own dinner and then sets up on the porch again, working out the conditioning schedules for the horses. It’s a bit hard to do without knowing what Evan’s priorities for the barn are, but he thinks that two calls in one day might be a little much. It’s good to stay busy, though. He’s not missing Kentucky too much, not missing Justin—at least not when he’s not thinking about it.
The sun is just going down when the old
Jeep Cherokee pulls into the guest house drive and Evan climbs out. He’s wearing business clothes again, and he looks a little rumpled after a long day, but still pretty sharp. When he gets a little closer Dan notices the weary set to his shoulder and the bags under his eyes. It looks like maybe he’s had more than one long day. He climbs halfway up the porch steps and smiles at Dan, although it’s not one of the full-body smiles that Dan has seen in the past.
“Hey, man,” Evan starts. “Sorry I didn’t return your call. It was a busy day.”
“No, no problem. There’s nothing super-urgent, if this isn’t a good time….”
“No, Linda told me what you wanted to talk about. You’re right. We should get that stuff sorted out. Do you have a little time now?”
Dan nods, and Evan comes the rest of the way up onto the porch and settles into the other chair with a long sigh. Dan raises his half-empty beer bottle. “Want one? Or do you want some coffee or something?”
Evan looks like he’s fighting some sort of temptation before he gives in with a sigh. “A beer would be perfect, man. Thanks.”
Dan goes to get the beer and then comes back and settles into his chair and pulls out his list of questions. He doesn’t know whether he should push Evan to get things resolved quickly so he can go get some rest, or give the poor guy a chance for a little break. Evan takes a long swallow of his beer and then sits forward and says, “Okay, let’s get started,” and Dan realizes that he was silly to think he’d be the one to determine the pace of the conversation. Evan’s a powerful man, and he’s not going to let his employee run a meeting.
“Yeah, okay. I think the big thing I need to know is how fast you want the horses turned over. I mean, the basic business is to buy cheap, untrained horses, train them, and sell them as valuable, trained horses. But ‘trained’ isn’t an absolute term. We can sell them half-trained for a bit of a profit and then give our energy to another horse, or we can hold onto them for longer and train them more and sell them for more of a profit. You know—sell more moderately priced horses or fewer expensive horses.” Dan glances over and sees that Evan is paying close attention. There’s something a bit unsettling about it, as if Evan is actually paying too much attention or something. But Dan’s always found Evan a little intense, so he just continues. “So I kind of need to know what kind of approach you’re looking for. And I need to know how aggressively you want to be marketing things, how much time you want spent on showing and other promotional-type activities compared to active training. Stuff like that.”
Evan nods thoughtfully, and they talk business for a half-hour or so. Evan takes off his tie part way in, and when he finishes his beer Dan goes and gets another for each of them. After a while, the conversation peters out, and they’re both left sitting and watching the night settle in. It’s peaceful, and Dan likes it more than the night before, when he’d done the same thing but been all alone. After a while Evan’s eyes begin to drift closed, and Dan finds himself watching the man rather than the night. Dan’s always known that Evan is good-looking, and Lord knows his body is a thing of beauty, but his face is so active that Dan’s never really had a chance to see it for itself, without the ever-changing expressions. Half-asleep, Evan looks young, and peaceful. The lines in his wide forehead smooth out, but there’s one tiny one left, and Dan’s fingers want to reach over and smooth it out.
After a few minutes Evan snorts a little, and his eyes open, and Dan quickly looks out at the mountains again, pretends he was unaware of Evan’s little nap. Evan takes a minute to collect himself and then rubs the back of his neck and says, “I’d better get home. Is there anything else we need to cover?”
“Uh, just… Tat.” Evan raises an eyebrow, and Dan hurries to clarify. “She’s great, and she’s got a lot of potential as a rider, and I’m really happy to have her as a part of the barn. I’m just wondering how to treat her, I guess. What the priorities are in terms of balancing Tat’s enjoyment of the horses with running the place as a business.”
“Okay… I think I get what you’re saying, but can you give me an example?” Evan’s back in business-man mode, but the edge is gone, and it feels like they’re colleagues rather than employer and employee.
“Well, I’m assuming that Sunshine isn’t for sale right now, since she seems to be the horse Tat’s settled on showing. But is she never for sale? Right now, Sunshine knows a hell of a lot more than Tat does. If she’s only going to be Tat’s horse, there’s no real reason to put much energy into her training, at least for a while. You know?” Evan nods, so Dan continues. “And Tat’s interested in riding more over the summer, which is great. But she really hasn’t got the skills yet to be a whole lot of use as a trainer. She could do okay as an exercise rider, though. So if she was just another employee, I’d have her riding the horses up and down hills, stuff like that—stuff that’s good for the horses but isn’t really going to teach Tat much as a rider. But she’s not just another employee, not an employee at all, so maybe I should be focusing on having her do more schooling-type riding, where she’d learn more even though she’s not really the best rider for the job, you know?”
Evan smiles a little ruefully. “I hear what you’re saying. I….” He leans back a little and now his smile seems a bit sad. “As far as I’m concerned, the whole Kaminski business ‘empire’ is only useful insofar as it makes Tatiana happy. I mean, I don’t need a lot of money, and we’re the only ones left in the family… so pretty much everything I’m doing is for Tat, so that when she gets old enough there will still be a business for her to choose to get involved in or to choose to ignore.” He plays with his beer bottle a little, peeling the label off thoughtfully. “But, I dunno… it’s probably not a good idea for a fifteen-year-old to realize that she has that kind of clout, you know? Seems like it would be hard to grow up normal knowing that a good-sized chunk of the world actually does revolve around you.”
Evan pauses, and Dan jumps in. “For what it’s worth, man, I think you’re doing a great job so far.” Evan glances over in surprise, and Dan blushes a little. “I mean, I’m not a psychologist or anything, but… she’s a great kid. She’s been working really hard at the barn, and Robyn and all the rest of the staff love her. She doesn’t seem spoiled at all.”
Evan’s smile finally has the warmth that Dan remembers. “Thanks, man. That means a lot. She’s… she’s my most important job, you know? And I really have no idea what I’m doing. Jeff helps….” And then Evan’s smile is fading, although Dan isn’t sure why. He hopes there isn’t trouble between the two, at the same time as a tiny part of his brain jumps to attention at even the hint that Jeff could someday be single again.
Dan squishes that thought down as hard as he can and tries to get back to Evan’s conversation, tries to get back to the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of moments ago. “I’m not sure anyone really knows what they’re doing. There’s lots of kids from parents who should be experts who turn out bad. And like I said… so far, Tatiana seems like she’s turning out great.”
Evan smiles again, and it’s almost at full power. “Yeah, she really is pretty excellent.” He pauses for a moment. “So, in terms of the barn—can I ask you to just use your judgment? I’m not trying to unload my responsibilities onto you, but I just don’t know if I’ve got an answer. I want her to be happy, but I know that she won’t be happy long-term if she gets everything she wants all the damn time. So—maybe a mix? Have her do some stuff that’s good for the barn, but try to work in some stuff like the training that’s good for her. Does that make sense?”
Dan nods. It’s not crystal clear, but at least it’s a general guideline, and at least the issue has been raised.
“And I’ll try to check in more regularly, without you having to chase me down. From the sound of things, Tat’s looking to spend most of her summer at the barn, so you’ll probably be seeing more of her than I do. So… I guess I’ll be looking to you for updates on my sister.” He smiles a little ruefully and then continues. “And I wanted
to thank you for what you’ve been doing so far. She came home last night just about floating off the ground, totally thrilled with everything you’d been teaching her. And she texted me at work seven times today, babbling about how excellent everything at the barn is… so, whatever you’re doing seems great… as long as she doesn’t get spoiled.”
Dan’s a little embarrassed, but Evan is standing up and getting ready to go, so there really isn’t a chance to dwell on it.
“Okay, so, thanks for everything. I’ll try to drop by the barn and see what’s going on, but I’m sure you’ve got it all under control.” He smiles and scratches his stomach a little, and Dan’s eyes are caught by a little flash of skin showing when his dress shirt rucks up a little. Dan tears his eyes back to Evan’s face, but it’s too late; Evan has noticed. The man’s smile gets a strange little edge to it that Dan can’t decipher, but he doesn’t say anything, just sets his empty beer bottle on the table and heads down the stairs. He turns at the bottom and looks back up, and his eyes are a little warmer than they were before, a little more focused. “So, I’ll be in touch. Let me know if you need anything.”
He turns the Jeep around and heads out, and Dan sits back down on the porch. The meeting had gone well, and Evan had been friendly. So Dan figures he should be happy, should be satisfied that things are going smoothly. And he is, really. He just can’t quite shake a little feeling like he’s missing something, something that might be important. He tries to let his mind relax, and let it come to him, but all he gets is flashes of Evan’s tanned stomach and peaceful sleeping face, mixed in with Jeff’s gentle smile and hungry eyes. That’s not at all helpful, he decides, and goes to have a shower before bed. When he gets in the shower and finds the same images going through his mind as his hand wanders to his cock, he tries not to worry about it too much. Fantasies are totally natural. He just has to make sure they don’t get in the way of reality.
Dreamspinner Press Year Four Greatest Hits Page 46