“Because I’ve been hemorrhaging brand deals since the bar fight. This interview will help restore my reputation.”
“You mean Star Mountain has helped you with your reputation,” she says. “Because it has. Don’t deny how good it looks for you to be spending your time helping out here.”
“I’m not denying it, and I never have. Candice and Beau have been aware of how much I’ve posted about the barn since day one,” Nathan says, a shadow falling over his eyes.
“It’s benefited us just as much as it’s benefited him, Jenny,” I say quietly. “We have some actual financial stability now. We can actually plan for the future. Hell, I might even be able to give you a raise.”
“Fine,” she says, crossing her arms. “I just don’t want him to forget that he owes us some gratitude once he’s off cavorting at rodeos once again.”
“Jesus, Jenny, who pissed in your oatmeal this morning?” Nathan asks.
The two bicker back and forth, but I don’t hear what they’re saying. A rushing sound fills my ears as Jenny’s words replay in my mind. The words are a knife to my heart—because they give voice to the inevitable reality that I’ve been pushing aside. Nathanwillleave, and hewillgo back to his lucrative career of competitions and photoshoots and half-million-dollar brand deals.
It doesn’t matter, I tell myself. Things between us are just casual—just practice. Nathan will leave, our lessons will end, and I’ll be ready to go out and find a real relationship. Everything will be fine.
I will be fine.
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asks, looking me over. “You’re being quiet.”
Damn him for being so perceptive and knowing me so well.
“Nothing,” I say. “Still feeling a little down about Storm is all.”
“You should take some time off. Process,” Jenny says.
“I took a day.”
“Jenny’s right,” Nathan says. “Processing is good. You’ve been working yourself to the bone these last few days.”
“I feel like if I stop, I’ll collapse,” I admit. “The horses, and caring for them, are keeping me going. It gives me a purpose.”
“That’s fine,” Jenny says. “But promise me that you and Beau will at leastplanto take some time off?”
“Sure,” I say, though I know that ripping my brother away from this place will be even tougher even than getting me to leave. If I leave for a few days, the horses will be just fine, evenif I might not be. If Beau left and one of them had a medical emergency, I know he’d never forgive himself. He knows some vets he’d trust to take care of them, but my older brother doesn’t know how to let anyone else shoulder his responsibilities.
“You could plan a trip to Paris,” Nathan says.
I snort. “With what money? If we take any time off it will probably be a summer camping trip or something.” We used to do that with our grandparents—it was the only type of vacation we could afford, but we didn’t care. We always had fun.
Nathan looks like he wants to say something, but his phone pings in his pocket.
“The Western Horsewoman crew are here, and so is my manager,” he says after reading the text.
He holds out his arm to me, and I take it, resting my hand lightly in the crook of his elbow. He looks down at me, eyes shining with excitement, and says, “It’s showtime, Viper.”
The woman interviewingNathan and running the show is called Shane, and from the moment I shake her hand, I dislike her. She takes one look at me, says, “I’m Shane,” and then turns to Nathan and starts gabbing at him about her “vision” and the “narrative” she’s going to craft with him.
After a few moments, I’m edged out of the way by a short blonde woman wearing cowboy boots that have never seen a day’s work. From the way she talks to Nathan and Shane, I gather that she’s Amber, his manager. She barely glances at me, and I refrain from interjecting with bitchy comments. It doesn’t matter if Shane or Amber are nice to me. What matters is that the rescue ends up featured in their magazine with millions of readers.
I take a deep breath in and then let it out, and paste a smile on my face. It doesn’t match the hollow feeling in my chest, but that’s fine. I can do this.
“Let me show you around,” I say, pushing forward a bit.
“Who are you?” Amber asks.
“This is Candice,” Nathan says. “She owns this place with her brother Beau. She’s going to be in the article, too.”
Amber looks me up and down, and so does Shane.
