Page 9 of The Match
“Do you have trainers for the horses?” I inquired.
“No, we do that by ourselves,” Felicia replied. “We weren’t properly trained for it, but after so many years, it’s become second nature. We’ve never had any issues with our animals misbehaving.”
“And you’ve never had any liability issues?” Grace asked. It was a smart question, I’d give her that.
I stood a few steps behind so I could take a good look at her. Her shoulders were rigid, her chin slightly jutted forward in a commanding way.
“No, not even one,” Felicia replied.
Grace nodded. “It’s something I’d take a closer look at in the eventuality of a collaboration,” she went on, and both Gaston and Felicia frowned. Grace was definitely not winning them over, but that was fine by me.
They gave us a full tour of the house, going into great detail about how they organized therapy sessions. It took about two hours even though there were just a few rooms.
“We could show you the cabins,” Gaston said, “but honestly, most of them are pretty run-down. It’s the reason why we haven’t really booked anything this summer. We realized we needed a total overhaul before we could have people stay over again.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Why did they wait until the last minute?
“I’d still like to see them,” Grace said, “just to get an idea of what the investment would be.”
“Then let’s go,” Gaston said, he and Felicia walking back to the front door.
Grace didn’t even look at me as she stepped past me. I wanted to ask what the fuck her deal was but held back. I was simply here to assess if this was worth my investment. If she had a problem with me, it was up to her to tell me.
Chapter Four
Grace
“As you can see,” Felicia said apologetically after showing us two of the cabins, “we truly need to renovate them.”
I smiled, turning around to face them. Honestly, they’d scared me when they said they weren’t offering camps this summer because the cabins were too run-down.
“Felicia, these aren’t too bad. Nothing a good team can’t fix.”
I was speaking directly to the two of them. I couldn’t even stand looking at Zachary LeBlanc. I couldn’t understand why this man was affecting me so much. True, he’d played dirty by having someone contact Felicia and Gaston. But I’d endured much worse over the years. I stayed a few feet away from him because his nearness unnerved me.
On top of being annoyed with him, he exuded a strange energy—and probably some pheromones too,said a small voice in the back of my mind. It was impossible not to notice how attractive he was. But that didn’t matter. He was still a jackass, no matter how iridescent his blue eyes were or how muscular his arms were. I’d checked him out in more detail than I’d intended to. In my defense, though, the man was wearing a T-shirt.
“Are all the cabins the same size?” I asked. This one had two bedrooms.
“No, we have smaller ones, too, with just one bedroom. Some of our veterans need more privacy than others. The kids mostly just want to bunk up.”
“It’s a good mix.” I smiled, looking around again. I’d had to be careful in my heels, as the floorboards had spaces between them, and I didn’t want to stumble. The walk over was cumbersome too. I had to stay on my tiptoes almost the entire way or I’d sink into the ground.
The cabin was all wood andreallyhot. They needed a proper AC system. I couldn’t believe they’d been built without one, as the bayou had always been hot and humid in the summer. It had two doors opposite each other so occupants could get a good draft, but it wasn’t enough to cool a cabin down. Plus, in the heat of summer, the bayou could get really buggy too.
“This place has great energy,” I said, and their faces completely opened up.
Oh, thank goodness. They’d looked so stern back in the house. Then again, I’d put my foot in my mouth a few times. I wasn’t really behaving like myself. On the drive here, I’d managed to work myself up into a frenzy thinking about Zachary LeBlanc bad-mouthing me.
“Could we go see the horses?” I inquired.
“Sure.”
“I love animals,” I added with a sheepish smile. They were kind, gave pure, unconditional love, and just wanted to be loved back. No hidden agendas.
Once we stepped out, I looked down at my feet. I should’ve brought sneakers to change into, but it completely slipped my mind. As proficient as I was at wearing heels, I still kept my eyes firmly on the ground so I didn’t trip over something.
The stables were quite some distance away from the cabins. I was hyperaware of every step Zachary took. Even though he was walking behind me, I swear I could tell whenever he was getting nearer. I was certain he wasn’t close enough for me to feel his body warmth, and yet I did.
