Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
I don’t know a lot about horses, but I’ve learned a few things being involved in Carmen’s world of show riding. I know that WC means world champion because the horse my sister just bought for Carmen, Lady Beatrice, is a world champion herself. It was earned years ago, but that accolade never loses its shine.
Ethan opens the stall door after handing me his beer. I patiently wait to see what he’ll do and wonder if his silence is because he’s still ruminating about the Mardraggons. I admire his confidence as he moves to the side of the huge horse that intimidates me enough to stand well outside of the stall.
“What’s up, big boy?” Ethan murmurs. The horse is dark brown with a white star on his forehead and a blaze of white along its nose. Ethan fusses around with the horse, adjusting the lightweight nylon blanket it wears. It isn’t overly cold this evening, but I know that the Blackburns baby their horses. Ethan strokes Squid’s neck but he doesn’t arch into him the way a cat would. Instead, he snorts and tosses his head.
Ethan chuckles and gives it a solid pat. “Still full of piss and vinegar.”
“Sounds like a personal relationship you have with him,” I observe.
Ethan gives the horse another pat on his neck and steps out of the stall, accepting his beer back. “This was my horse once upon a time. He’s an old boy now and the academy kids ride him in the shows. But he’ll always be a favorite.”
“Are you the one who earned the world champion title on him?” I ask.
Ethan shakes his head. “Trey did but I’m the one who trained him. This was the first horse I fully trained from start to finish. We foaled him on the farm. I was there when he was born.”
I move closer to the stall gate before he closes it and Squid drops his head down toward me. I lift a hand but am hesitant to bring it any closer.
“It’s okay. He doesn’t bite, although that can’t be said for all horses.” My blood heats when Ethan circles my wrist to move it closer to Squid’s face. He slides his fingers up and flattens my palm to press it against the big horse’s jawline. “He loves it when you scratch him right here.”
I scrub the tips of my fingers into his fur and lo and behold, Squid turns into a cat. He arches his neck and leans into me as I rub him, and I laugh in delight. “Why… you’re just a big baby, aren’t you?”
“Feed him a few apples and he will love you for life.”
Ethan releases his hold on me and my hand drops away. We both step back from the stall and Ethan closes and latches the door. Squid lets out what sounds like a snort of disapproval that we’re leaving, but Ethan does nothing more than turn around and lean against the wooden gate. He stares down at his beer a moment before lifting his gaze. “Gabe came to the barn the day you took the girls for ice cream. That’s why I couldn’t go. He let me know about the trust and promptly offered me fifteen million dollars to buy Sylvie’s shares.”
“Fifteen million?” I gasp. “That’s a lot of money to turn down.”
“Maybe,” he replies thoughtfully. “But without knowing what it was worth, it was easy to turn down.”
“No,” I say with a shake of my head. It would never be strictly about money where Sylvie is concerned. “You turned it down for some other reason.”
Ethan smiles in such a genuine way that I melt. “That winery was Alaine’s. It was intended to go to Sylvie. It’s part of her heritage. I’m not about to give away Sylvie’s mother and all her memories.”
Heart melting, I realize that Sylvie is exactly where she needs to be. Ethan will protect her at all costs and he knows what’s important. But now I’m more curious than ever. “Her mother owned it? I assumed it was all part of the family holdings. I mean… they own the biggest bourbon distillery in the nation.”
He chuffs down his clear frustration. “I’d assumed the same. I knew there was a trust for Sylvie fed by its earnings, but apparently Alaine owned the majority shares of the winery and left them all to Sylvie. As the majority shareholder, she had the right to dictate how the business was run, and she named Gabe and me as co-trustees. I can’t fathom why she would do such a thing.”
“To keep her family honest?” I suggest.
He blinks in surprise. “You don’t know the Mardraggons that well. You’ve been very careful in your neutrality for Sylvie’s sake. I’m surprised you would suggest such a thing.”
“You’re correct… I don’t know them and I’m only on Sylvie’s side. But when you think about the fact that Alaine revealed you as Sylvie’s father and made it clear that she wanted you to raise Sylvie, I don’t think anyone can doubt that she had some level of mistrust of her own family.”