He knew I wasn’t okay. His subtle eyes told me we would talk about it later, then he moved to my father. No doubt the judgmental once-over he offered him would come back to bite him in the ass. Jack probably already knew Richard was buzzed. He didn’t let go of me, though, as he stepped forward to shake his hand.
“Mr. Rynne, it’s so nice to have you out here to visit. Good to see you again.”
My father shook Jack’s hand in a death grip and stared him down. Jack was well over six feet, and my dad was just under it, but he made sure to compensate with the fatherly protectiveness he had perfected over the years.
“Good to be out here,” was all Dad said in response. He let go of Jack’s hand and looked around the field. It was a beautiful day in Golden Meadow. Not a cloud was in sight, and the sun was just hot enough to warm my skin without burning it.
“Jack? Are you ready to get on? I warmed up your horse for you,” Ramón, who Jack hired for today’s game, asked. “Also, I have my wife, Flora, holding spares for you today,” he said, referring to the horse that stood at the end of the field in case the one the player is riding gets tired.
My nervous husband turned to face Ramón and smiled. “Thank you. Yes, I’m ready.”
“You want me to take some spare mallets for you?” I asked, heading over to the trailer tack room.
“Yes, please. Can you grab two fifty-threes and a fifty-two?” he answered, describing the lengths of the mallets he needed.
I retrieved the mallets from the trailer’s tack room and took a deep breath. Jack appeared at the door opposite the one I entered and pulled me to the side of the trailer that my dad couldn’t see.
“You okay?” He was so kind, so gentle, making sure I was okay when he was supposed to be warming up his horses. And yet the fierceness that waited beneath his expression begged me to tell him the truth.
After a shudder and a breath, I nodded. “He’s bitter about it. But I’m good.”
“Good.” Jack took my face in his hands and held his forehead against mine. It was short and sweet, and while I wasn’t expecting it, it was exactly what I needed in that moment.
However innocent the motion, my breath still caught at seeing his face when he pulled away. “I’m winning for you today, Mags.” And with that, he walked away.
Jesus. This man would be the death of me. Of course, he showed up as my knight in shining polo boots. He swept me off my feet in more ways than I could count.
I collected myself and rounded the back of the trailer to find my dad, tapping the horses’ hinds as I passed them to let themknow I was there. My father still didn’t look happy, and his expression toward Jack wasn’t comforting in the slightest.
“Ready to head over to watch?” my voice squeaked. Dad nodded and sat in the gator.
“Yeah. I know some of these guys. Should be a good game.” His tone was flat.
Trying to keep a smile on my face, I drove us along the boards that lined the polo field and parked right near the center line. The players made their way onto the grass, warming up their horses and hitting polo balls. This was an important game for Jack. It determined whether or not his team made it to the semi-finals, and he needed that. His first season playing as a pro in a new club meant all eyes were on him. Jack did well under the pressure, though. He was a dedicated player who put everything he had into the sport. It was one of the things I respected most about him—his relentless dedication toward everything he did.
The umpires blew their whistles, signaling that all players needed to line up on the center line for the bowl-in. Each team faced each other toward their goals, their mallets down, waiting for the umpire to throw in the ball and yell, “Play!”
Of course, Jack caught possession of the ball, yelling instructions to his team on where they should be. He called out to Mike to stay up and guard his man. He took the ball up the field, heading toward the goal, while his opposing man tried to catch him. The first horse he rode today was Priya, one of his fastest. She was a gorgeous light bay color with baby blue polo wraps on her legs, which moved at lightning speed as she galloped down the field under Jack. Felix, another player on Jack’s team, raced up behind Jack and took out the player trying to catch him.
“Vamos, Jack!” he yelled. “Take it to goal!”
With ease, Jack tapped the ball into the goal, leaving the other players in the dust. He was either determined to win today, ortrying to prove how great he was to my dad. Maybe it was a little of both.
“Your boy been playing pretty good out here?” Dad asked. It was his first question about Jack, no doubt stemming from his goal.
“He’s been doing incredible. Michael Luna hired him because he knew he was a great player, but Jack is blowing everybody out of the park.” I stared in awe at the astonishing man on the field that I could almost call my own.
“He’s a damn good player, I’ll give him that.”
A sliver of hope seeped into my heart that maybe the two of them could get along.
I turned my attention back to the game, fighting a smile. The play had moved to the same side of the field on which Jack had just scored a goal. Because the teams switched sides after each goal, our team fought to take possession of the ball and bring it to the opposite end of the field. Jack was on his man’s offside—his right—reaching his mallet out to hook the player, defending him from hitting the ball. The two players neutralized each other, and the following two players reached the ball. Felix, another player on Jack’s team, threw his mallet into an offside backshot. The play immediately turned, and the players raced toward the ball, which landed on the ground and rolled past midfield. Vibrations from the horses’ hooves on the ground buzzed through my body, creating the adrenaline and excitement I loved about polo.
“Mike, go up!” Jack yelled behind him to his teammate. Mike followed his instructions and raced in front of the play. He turned around to watch for Jack to hit the ball up to him. Jack launched it in the air, and Mike sped his horse faster toward it, watching his man coming up behind him. He whacked the ball and brought it closer to the goal. His man caught him and began to ride him off, pushing his horse onto Mike’s so theywere parallel, but Mike fought back. “Push, push him!” Jack encouraged. The ball flew between the goal posts after Mike shoved his man aside and hit a beautiful shot, earning the team a second point on the board.
The few people on the sidelines with us clapped and cheered at our team’s second goal in a row. My heart warmed with joy.
This was what polo was about. Banding together as a team. Pushing each other to the highest potential. Celebrating the wins.
