"I apologize for my behavior the other day. I didn't realize you were a Fairfield client."
"Are you saying you treat people with deep pockets differently from everyday people?"
"No… I just meant I thought you were someone else."
"Ah, I see. I hate to break it to you, but you just blew your cover, because the latter is true. I'm not a client at Fairfield, though I am curious who exactly you believed me to be?"
His brow pinches, and Katie steals his words right before he's about to speak. "I win, Laney. Someone bought White Flame."
My eyes zero in on the winning bid card, where the bidder's name is listed in black bold letters. Cintel Estates.
"That's not fair. You stacked the deck."
Beside me, Trigg chuckles. "That's golden. You just got hustled by a seven-year-old."
"Eight," she corrects, making my loss a tad more tolerable. I like her moxie. She may have just pulled a quick one on me, but her loyalty lies with me. "I have one more horse I want to check on; he's on the other end. Can I go see if Brownie Points sold?"
"Sure, just don't leave this area. Stay where I can see you," I say as she's already skipping around us.
We both watch her bolt down the center of the stables before Trigg finally breaks the silence. "So, if you're not a client, what are you doing at Fairfield?"
"Asha is one of my closest friends. I just graduated this past semester with my bachelor's in equestrian science and needed to get working hours for my Eagala and PATH International certifications..." I lift one shoulder. "Since we're friends and she was spending the summer at home anyway, I'm earning them at Fairfield."
"Why both?" He leans against White Flame's stall.
"Initially, I thought I would just pursue my certification with PATH International. I connect the most with horses when I'm riding them, and my dream is to share those connections with others through therapeutic riding, but then I remembered the daythat changed my life, and on that day, I didn't ride the horse. I simply watched him stand in an empty field, stoic and strong in the middle of a storm…" I nervously fidget with my hands.
I love helping people find the inner peace I've discovered from working with horses. Listening to their stories and watching them conquer their demons and come out lighter at the end of it is inspiring. While I feel like what I teach has helped me heal, I'm still working on the sharing part. I still haven't managed to get to a place where sharing my experience aloud feels safe. That may never happen, but part of therapy is also realizing that it is okay. Not all stories that we are given are meant to be shared. Sometimes, they are just meant to provide us with the tools to help others, and mine has done that.
"I don't know, that day, staring at the horse, changed me, and then I realized I could return the favor. I could help them too. My work here this summer is twofold. I'm earning my hours, but Asha hopes to show her father, through my work, that mindfully exploring other avenues outside of retirement for racehorses past their prime isn't just good for the horse but also business." I stop my fidgeting and meet his watchful gaze. "When I talk to people like you, I feel silly. I feel like a dreamer or something. In your world, horses are a sport, a stream of revenue, not therapy."
"My world?" His dark, bold eyebrows rise. "You can't judge my world based on Asha's. The Fairfields have their way, but that doesn't mean it's the standard." He turns to White Flame. "So you're a horse whisperer, then? Maybe you could stop by the ranch and look at my friend's horse sometime."
"I don't know," I say, stepping up to White Flame's stall.
"Or I could bring him by Fairfield. Asha might not be too thrilled, but?—"
"It's not that. I'm sure you have more qualified trainers on staff. Technically, I'm not a trainer. I assess horses and evaluate their temperaments…" In fairness, I work with them a little, but still not a trainer. "And you're right, working with the competition probably isn't in my best interest, given the hospitality the Fairfields are affording me."
Yes, Asha asked me to get close, but I'm not sure she meant work-with-his-horses close.
My comment earns me a half smile, and I notice a small dimple as he drops his head and says, "Good to hear Asha recognizes me as the competition, but I think you'd be surprised how different we are. Your career endeavors seem better suited for a ranch like mine. Spending a few hours there might be good for you."
"How so?"
"Well, for starters, I don't have trainers on staff."
"You're bluffing."
He holds his hands up in defense. "I'm not. You're looking at one of the only two trainers on staff. My father taught me all I need to know, and now my brother and I work with the horses."
"Really?" The word escapes me an octave too high.
The training revelation is a surprise, but his casual mention of a brother is the real reason for the pitch in my response. Asha never mentioned that he had a brother.
"WOW, way to knock a man's ego down a few notches," he says, adjusting his cowboy hat.
"I didn't mean it like that," I stammer. "I don't know you well enough. I just assumed?—"
