by Ruby Loren
Hayley had no intention of leaving the front room - especially if Danny Grey was staying upstairs. There was still something not right about him but she could see what Romani was doing. By giving Danny a room and a job, if he was up to anything, they’d find out sooner rather than later.
"Ready for your lesson?” Danny said and to his credit, his smile didn’t waver even when Romani hesitated for several seconds. Hayley was about to step in when Danny shot her a knowing look before giving Romani a leg up onto Barbarossa.
“This is a big horse,” was all Romani could say as she perched nervously on Barbarossa’s back. Hayley found she was fighting the urge to laugh. Romani looked like a tiny kid up there. Danny would definitely have his work cut out as a riding instructor. His big horse probably hadn’t even noticed that Romani was there.
"He's a big softie when he gets to know you,” Danny said, pointedly enough to make Hayley turn away. She jumped when a velvety black nose bonked the back of her head and she discovered Bararossa had stretched out his neck to say hello. She tentatively extended a hand and he lowered his nose into it. His soft eyes seemed to say ‘wasn’t last night crazy? How about we start again?’ She bit her lip and patted his smooth, black cheek, taking in the sheen of his black coat, only broken by the unusual white sock marking on his right foreleg. Her brain kept flashing back to the moment she’d almost died, the flailing hooves and the aggression that had radiated from the big horse. Then it had all gone away in a heartbeat. One word from Danny and he’d stopped. It was interesting, to say the least.
“You’ll come watch, right? Keep the ambulance number close?” Romani said to Hayley, a slightly pleading edge in her voice.
“Of course! I’ll help you judge whether or not Danny is up to facing Kerry’s kids,” she said and Romani pulled a horrified face that made Hayley laugh. She found herself hoping that Danny did pass muster, if only to see how he'd cope with five strong-wills on plucky riding school ponies. It would probably be YouTube worthy.
“You're doing great,” Danny said as Romani trotted around the edge of the riding school ring before cutting diagonally across the sand. Barbarossa was as quiet as a lamb and Hayley was definitely starting to wonder if she’d imagined the danger of last night. “Do you think you’d be up for some jumps?”
“Sure, why not?” Romani said, and Danny tactfully pretended not to notice the trepidation in her voice. “I’m going to go for it,” she announced and turned Barbarossa around, geeing him up towards a small cavelletti jump.
“Wait! There’s something you need to know before…” Danny called out, but he was too late. His hands flew to his head as he watched the big black horse canter onwards and then stop dead.
“Whoa!” Romani cried, shooting forwards out of the saddle and landing with her arms around the top of Barbarossa’s neck. The black stallion daintily stuck out a hoof and kicked the poles to the floor before turning around and trotting away with a snort.
Hayley had got to her feet but now she started to laugh. It was just too funny seeing the surprise on Romani’s face and then the way Barbarossa had so disdainfully destroyed the obstacle.
“What's the problem?” Romani barked at Danny, more confused than angry.
“Ego. That's what his problem is,” he replied with an apologetic shrug. “If you want proof, let me set up something that’s over five feet and you’ll see what a great jumper he is. Just… only if it's over five feet.”
“You’re kidding," Romani said, starting to smile when she realised that Barbarossa’s behaviour had nothing to do with her. In response, Danny gathered up the poles and set them high… high enough for the regional show jumping championship.
Romani nudged Barbarossa into a trot and then a canter, turning him back towards the centre of the ring and the imposing jump.
“That’s it,” Danny said, encouraging her as she moved with the big horse and they flew through the air and landed on the other side. Hayley’s eyebrows shot up.
That jump had been world-class. Barbarossa was clearly not an average hack. Her eyes found Danny's dark ones and she knew he’d noticed her reaction.
“Yeah, he’s great over the big jumps. We used to enter competitions, but no matter how challenging the course is, if someone’s slipped in a nice little four footer I’m on the other side of the jump minus a horse before I can blink. While it makes great comedy, it’s not so good for actually bringing home the silverware.” He walked over to Barbarossa who tossed his head and danced around playfully. “But I wouldn’t have him any other way. Well done for not falling off, by the way. You’re great on him,” he told Romani who blushed again. Hayley suddenly felt like a third wheel as the would-be instructor and stable owner looked at each other for a beat too long.
***
“So, did I get the job?” Danny asked, in the middle of sawing some boards down to size in preparation for covering one of the many holes in the barn, where the wood had rotted through.
“Well, considering that the competition decided not to turn up and there actually never was a job on offer… yes, you got the job,” Romani said, hefting one of the boards and nearly falling over from the weight. Danny steadied her and Hayley started to fear her eyebrows were going to crawl straight up into her hairline from being raised so often that day.
One thing was for sure, Romani’s mum would have a fit if she found out that her bid to set Romani up with a wealthy, eligible bachelor had pushed her pretty much as far in the opposite direction as you could go. Hayley picked up a hammer and a nail and shrugged the thought away. Who was she to argue if Danny and Romani found they liked one another? Their passion for horses was second to none. Of course, the stables would fall into rack and ruin without any funding, but perhaps there was still time to find a way.
“Romani, after we’ve done with this, should we all get together and try to figure out ideas about getting more people in?” She said tentatively, not wanting to snap the stable owner out of her happy daze.
“Yeah, uh, I guess we should.” Romani looked down at the piece of wood in her hands. “I wish Summer was here. The stables were still falling down and short of money, but it was like having a hope to hold onto. I know there are a billion reasons why it's a bad idea to put everything you have on one horse, but he was, well, he was the one for me.”
“Hey, uh… am I interrupting?” Jack poked his head around the side of the barn and took in the wood and debris. “I just wanted to let you know that we’ve done our ride. Russell’s off to sort some business and coerce someone into letting him stay with them… preferably someone with a very large, very sound-proofed house,” Jack added and received twin glares. Of course he’d known about Russell’s nasal affliction. “So, what are you guys up to?”
“Fixing up the stable faster than it can fall down,” Hayley said, a little too brightly. “At least, I think that’s the idea. Then we’re going to have a marketing summit.”
Romani groaned and Jack grinned. “Well, hey, I’m at a loose end for the rest of the day and I do know a thing or two about turning failing businesses around.” There was a frosty silence. “Not that this is… Well, I just meant…”
“Thank you for offering to help. You really don’t have to,” Romani said, giving him as much get out as he needed. To Jack’s credit, he didn’t seize the chance to run.
“It’s always good to have a team of people working on things like this. More heads to work with and more inspiration!” He grimaced. “Sorry, one too many self-help books. When are we starting?”
Hayley hammered another nail in and inspected the patch-up job. It was a bit rough around the edges, but it looked solid. “How about right now?” She suggested, before Romani could lapse into thinking about Summer again.
“Right! Shall we go up to the house?” Jack said, striding ahead.
“I’ll keep on with this. Believe me, I’m not the right guy to ask for business advice,” Danny said with a slanting smile. An answering smile curved Romani’s lips and Hayl
ey wondered if she’d imagined the shadow that crossed Jack’s face - vanishing just as soon as it had appeared. Was he worried his friend was going to miss his chance with Romani?
“It’s too bad Russell has to go, he’d be a great asset to this team, but that’s one of the problems with being a success yourself. There’s never time for anything else," Jack said, sounding truly sorry.
Hayley walked after Jack with Romani following behind. When they'd nearly reached the top of the hill she turned back to see Russell walk out into the car park and raise a hand. Jack had paused to tie his shoe so she waved back for him instead, still wondering if the man was really such a bad choice. He and Jack had almost started to behave like normal human beings and Jack was even pitching in with the business side of things - something he didn’t have to do.
Hayley turned back to Jack and smiled, nearly laughing at the look of surprise on his face when she did so. Had she really been so unfair towards him? She only hoped that things could be changed for the stables as easily as they’d changed in her mind.
CHAPTER FIVE
Thunder
Russell returned to the cottage three days later.
Ever since Jack had helped them to formulate both a real-world and an online marketing plan, Hayley had been making a special effort to try and see the good in Russell. Unfortunately, he seemed hell bent on making that as difficult as possible.
Every morning, Russell would come and take Darkening Dawn out for a ride and then abandon him, still in his saddle and bridle, for someone else to deal with. Hayley knew she should be able to forgive that, it was clearly just what he expected to be included in the fee he paid, but it was the way he treated Danny she couldn’t forgive. Russell never missed a chance to tell Danny he was in the way, or being too loud, or doing something wrong. He wasn’t much better towards Romani. Most people tiptoed around her, knowing how she felt about losing her horse, knowing that in time she’d be ready to start again, but Russell seemed to think his opinion was the only one that mattered. Every day, he’d invite her out for a ride on the horse he'd bought her and every time she’d politely say no. Russell would then go on and on about all of the good qualities of Darkening Dawn and how there was no other horse like him and Hayley could see how it wore on Romani. Every word was painful to her when all she could think about was Starling’s Summer.
Then, last night, Russell had come back bearing suitcases. The friends he’d been staying with had mysteriously been called away on business to another country and he’d discovered that with only a few days to go until the championship, all of the local hotels were booked to overflowing.
Romani had nearly pulled her hair out when he’d arrived, knowing full well that she didn't dare suggest he slept in the hayloft. Salvation had come from Danny, who despite being treated like dirt by Russell, had immediately offered to sleep in the barn. Hayley and Romani had asked if he minded them bunking with him and they’d finally managed to laugh about it all, once they were away from Russell.
But it didn’t stop the tension from simmering below the surface and Hayley knew it wouldn’t be long before something broke.
***
“My horse! My horse is gone! A thief has waltzed in here and stolen my horse. This stupid, dump of a stables!” Russell’s eyes blazed as he stormed through the doorway of the barn, yelling for all he was worth.
Hayley jolted awake, hay falling from her hair. A quick look around the loft revealed that Danny was still asleep and Romani was gone.
“What’s happened?” Hayley called, wondering if Russell had even noticed that he was the only one sleeping up at the cottage.
“I came down to ride Darkening Dawn and his stall is open and he’s gone. Someone has stolen my horse!" He said, speaking as though she were an idiot. Hayley tried to write it off as being a reaction to the suspected theft.
“His tack his gone too, that’s not usually the way with a horse thief,” she said after a brief investigation. The door to Darkening Dawn’s stable had also been left wide open, as though whoever had taken him was expecting to bring him back.
Hayley bit her lip and wondered what would happen when Romani returned.
Danny slid down the ladder behind Hayley, immediately earning himself a strong look of disapproval. Any other time Hayley might have laughed at the thoughts Russell so clearly had about them all sharing the loft together. Didn’t he realise it was because of his unearthly snoring?
“Glad to see you’re still here,” Russell said and Hayley didn’t have to look to know that Danny had tensed at the throwaway remark. She opened her mouth to say something but Danny just shook his head and then shot her a resigned look when they heard the sound of hoofbeats in the distance.
Romani’s red hair streamed behind her as she and Darken galloped across the empty field towards the barn. Hayley couldn’t see her face but she could tell she was laughing. There was happiness radiating from the pair and despite what she suspected would come next, Hayley felt her heart lift. She’d found it again, the thing that had made her want to start riding in the first place. Perhaps now Romani would start to move forwards. Perhaps she already had…
“Morning guys, I hope you don't mind, but when I woke up Darken was making such a racket I figured he needed to let loose a bit. It was for the good of all the horses here,” Romani said, so smoothly Hayley almost believed her - despite knowing full well that everything had been quiet ever since Barbarossa and Danny had arrived.
Russell’s face was already darkening towards that familiar purple shade, which surely hinted at dangerously high blood pressure.
“You took… my horse,” he said slowly, as if not quite believing it himself.
Romani slid down from the saddle, landing on the side of the horse that was concealed from Russell. She pulled a panicked face towards her friends and then smoothed her expression back to the carefree smile.
“I thought I’d have him back before you even knew he was gone. Sorry, Russell, it was meant to be five minutes but it was so nice…” She trailed off, looking at the beautiful black horse who stood patiently waiting.
“You could have injured him. You could have fallen off and lost him.” Russell shook his head, his hand smoothing that dome of hair. He reached out and grabbed the reins from Romani. “If it weren't for the championship, I’d…”
“Be at another stable. Yes, I know. But hey ho, only a few days left to go and then you can go back to your place,” Romani said, shocking Hayley with her honesty. She couldn’t say that Russell hadn’t brought it upon himself, but this was Romani’s business and Russell and Jack were one of the few paying clients she had.
"Some things are worth more than money,” Romani said quietly as she walked past Hayley and Hayley didn’t know whether to hug her or tell her to come back and apologise.
“Well, it looks like no harm has been done,” she offered but Russell merely grunted, swinging himself up into the saddle. Darken responded to his every touch and Hayley was forced to admit that, personality aside, Russell did know his way around horses.
“He’s not even breaking a sweat,” he said, voice full of disdain. Danny turned to follow after Romani and Hayley could tell he was echoing her thoughts. If Russell thought making a horse sweat was the sign of a job well done, he shouldn’t be riding.
"What should we do about Romani?” Danny asked when they’d finished mucking out the stables. Hayley looked at the man with wild dark hair and reflected that for all of her doubts, he’d proved himself to be hard working and reliable. She was starting to like Danny Grey.
“I don’t know. I thought something like this would happen…” She paused and brushed a strand of blonde hair free from the sweat on her forehead. “I almost feel sorry for Russell. He’s caught up in her trying to move on from Starling's Summer. I know taking that horse was wrong but… I also know why she did it,” she finished, looking at Danny and seeing the understanding in his eyes.
“We’d better get on with the fixing up. I’m s
urprised Jack’s not already here,” Danny said, throwing Hayley a significant side look. She kept her face blank and hoped she wasn’t blushing. Ever since their marketing summit, Jack had been 'helping out’. That usually meant standing around, attempting to seem like he was directing the repairs, but it was surely the thought that counted.
The marketing side of things hadn’t been going too awfully either, Hayley reflected. It was probably helped by their repair efforts, as the Hawley-Jones Riding School was looking undeniably less shabby. It was quirky to say the least, but the mis-matched wood and cheerful licks of paint gave it character that Hayley thought suited what Romani was trying to do with the place. In the past week, they'd actually had visitors to the stables and Danny had even taught a couple of lessons. Hayley was just starting to wonder if it was time for her to move on… Danny was filling the space she’d thought Romani had needed her help to fill. Beyond somehow locating Starling’s Summer (something which she had made zero progress towards) was there much left for her to do?
“Hey, there’s a big section of rotten wood across the back of Barbarossa and Darken’s stalls. How about we make a start on that today? It’s actually a good thing Darken’s out, as it means we won’t get kicked to death, or whatever it is that Russell seems to think will happen if anyone but him touches that horse.” He raised an eyebrow at Hayley who pretended to be studying the patched up roof. It would be far too easy to get into a serious Russell sniping session with Danny.