The group made their way to the table offering coffee and snacks, and Becca sidled up to me. She had a full face of makeup and perfect hair, looking like she was headed for a night out and not a simple town meeting. It wasn’t even noon.
“Have you seen our handsome vet lately?” she asked, a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
I frowned. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Well, you two seemed to be spending so much time together, so I just assumed that you would’ve.” She turned to scan the room. “Is he going to show up today?”
I took a deep breath to calm myself. “I have no idea,” I lied. “I don’t keep his schedule.”
Becca laughed. “Not yet you don’t, but I bet if you had your way youwould!”
I moved toward the coffee urn and positioned myself so that my back was to Becca.
“Anyway, I need to thank him,” Becca continued, reaching past me for a coffee cup. “He gave me a great tip on a mare, so I bought her. She’s being delivered tomorrow so of course I’ll need him to come over and assess her.”
There seemed to be something pointed in Becca’s tone, as if she was winding me up, baiting me. But why would she expect me to care about her purchases? It was Becca’s business. She had the right to invest in it any way she wanted. Did she simply want to brag about having enough money to spare to make purchases whenever she wanted? I wasn’t sure what her game was, but I wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of seeing that sheaffected me. Keeping my tone casual, I replied, “Is that a fact? Where from?”
“A little operation in Eastville.”
I froze. There was no way…
“Harmony Hill.” Becca continued, stirring her coffee. “Declan said she was a sound mare at a great price, so how could I not jump on it? I swooped right in and bought Sunshine on the spot. Cash offer, over asking price. When I talked to Mary—uh, Mary Dugan—she mentioned that you’d expressed some interest too, but then she said she hadn’t heard from you in a while so…” Becca shrugged prettily. “We both assumed that you weren’t interested anymore.”
The room started spinning, and the noise around me seemed to go silent as I tried to comprehend what was going on.
“You bought Sunshine.MySunshine.”
I thought I’d said it in a normal tone of voice but based on the way everyone turned to look at me, I must have shouted it.
“Well, she’smySunshine now.” Becca laughed. “Thanks to Declan.”
I shook my head in confusion. “Dr. Morrisis the one who told you about Sunshine? You didn’t know about her before that?”
“Nope.”
“Didn’t he say thatIwas going to buy her?” This time I knew that I sounded screechy, but I couldn’t help it.
“He may have mentioned that. I really can’t recall. It’s not like I keep track of what you do with your little breeding program. Anyway… this is business, Shannon. A tip is a tip, and that was agood one. I owe Declan a huge thank you, and I really can’t wait to give it to him.”
I’ll just bet she couldn’t. I stared at her. “Sunshine is a warmblood. Why would you buy her when you specialize in hot bloods?”
She shrugged and I couldn’t miss that smirk on her face. “Oh, you know, I’m always looking at ways to expand the business.”
A few ranchers had gathered around us, listening in but pretending not to. Walter Briggs was the only one who didn’t seem to care that he was obviously eavesdropping.
As much as I wanted to blast Becca for ruining the deal I’d worked so hard to close, I knew the real anger needed to be directed at Declan. I could barely see straight, but I knew that I needed to keep it together considering how many of the town folks were clocked in on the conversation. I needed to hold on to their respect for my sake and my family’s.
“Anyway, so sorry you were disappointed,” Becca said, giving me an exaggerated frown.
“It’s business,” was all I could manage. I turned on my heel to grab my bag and leave.
“Excuse me, Miss Shannon, can you talk for a moment?”
I turned and saw Walter Briggs walking toward me with a concerned expression etched on his face. The last thing I wanted to do was have a conversation with a man who was known for monologuing when I was trying to make a speedy exit, but there was no way I could avoid him without being unforgivably rude.
“Okay.”
“I couldn’t help but overhear what you and Miss Becca were talking about. Did she say that Doc Morris tipped her off about a mareyou’dplanned to buy?”
