“He’ll be happy to see you,” she says.
She opens the doors and leads her horse in. I follow, pausing in the aisle to take it all in. Livvie wasn’t kidding. These barns were once stately, in perfect condition. Like the horses, this building had been a jewel in the Abbott crown. Now it’s all sagging and hanging boards, broken gates, exposed wires, and cobwebs.
Livvie hoses off the horse’s legs, gives him a quick rubdown, and then puts him in his stall. It’s perfectly clean, a new rubber mat peeking from the fresh bedding. All the stalls on this side are the same. Tidy, cared for. But the opposite side and other aisle are in complete disrepair. We once housed twenty-two prized Friesians in here. Now it’s barely livable for the few left.
Just then, a long, shaggy black head pops over a stall door as a horse nickers at me.
“Ytse!” I coo, going over to him to rub his nose. “Hi, baby. How’s my sweet boy?”
“Come change your clothes,” Livvie’s voice calls from the tack room.
Pulling away from my sweet old gelding, I go to the tack room and find it completely spotless. Saddles, bridles, halters, and gear hang in perfect order on the walls. Livvie holds up my old riding pants and a sweater. We each kept a tote of riding clothes in the barn so we could change on a whim and go riding. It’s a good thing, too, because I’m not sure my skinny jeans and silk top are appropriate for the trail. I grab my tote and head into the restroom to see if I can still fit into my jodhpurs. They’re a little tight, but I manage.
Livvie changed in the tack room and is already getting Ytse ready for me when I come out. He paws at straw in the aisle but stands quietly for his saddle. My sister is so in her element that I let her tack him up instead of stepping in, and soon we’re mounted and heading down a familiar trail through the back of the property.
The sun is warm, birds are singing, and soft clouds roll across the sky. I could almost forget what my life has turned into and forget that I’m not Frankie Abbott anymore. The one who used to do this with her sisters nearly every day.
Livvie half swivels in the saddle to look back at me. Her horse is antsy and prancing sideways as if ready to run, but she’s making it easy on me by holding him back and keeping our pace to a slow amble. She knows full well I won’t be able to keep up with my tender ass.
“Let’s ride to Delores’s for fruit cups. Just like old times.”
“Sounds good!”
We make our way through the vines and take the winding trail to the Alvarez property to visit with Delores while we have a snack and let the horses rest. Afternoon is well upon us by the time we leave and have a leisurely ride back. Livvie is nonstop chatter about the horses, her senior year of high school, cute boys, and the colleges she’s been looking into.
When she finally stops talking to come up for air, I take the opportunity to casually bring up her new horse. “You were saying something earlier about showing him in dressage. Isn’t the yearly pre-qualifier coming up?”
Charlie and Livvie showed their horses religiously in the state pre-qualifiers and then worked their way into bigger events. Me? I just went for the snacks.
Livvie kicks her feet from the stirrups and lets them hang, swinging them gently back and forth. “Yeah, it is, but I won’t be going.”
“Too busy?” I prod teasingly. “I didn’t know you had such a robust social life now.”
“Ha ha.”
Her entire countenance changes and an uneasy feeling creeps up on me. “Come on, Liv. Tell me what’s going on.”
I nudge my horse to catch up with hers and pull up so we’re side by side. She shrugs and looks straight ahead. “Dad sold the truck and trailer a few months ago, so I wouldn’t be able to get there. But even if he hadn’t, I…can’t really afford the entry fee this year.”
My heart sinks at the realization that my baby sister has been left to bear the brunt of our father’s mistakes ever since Charlie and I left home. Guilt claws at me.
“Livvie, I am so sorry that I haven’t been around.”
We’re back at the barn now and she dismounts gracefully. “Don’t be. You left to help the family. And I’m happy for you. Besides, I can take care of myself. And Charlie always helps out when things get really bad.”
“Good. But now that I’m back, you can come to me, too. I’m always here for you.”
Once I’m off my horse, I pull her in for a hug, silently vowing to make my father pay for his mistakes. I leave Livvie to her work (there’s always more work for her to do, it seems) and head back to the house. I’d be happy to help her, but the sun is starting to sink and I want to be home before dinner so I don’t ruffle Dante’s feathers. He left a brand-new cell phone by my coffee cup this morning and I’m surprised he hasn’t called a hundred times already.
In the mudroom, I pull off my boots, only to find that one of my socks is damp and muddy. Inspecting my boot, I find the leather around the bottom of the heel is starting to separate from the sole. Lovely. And now my sock is too gross to put my tennis shoes back on. Barefoot, I pad down the hall to Livvie’s room to borrow a fresh pair of socks.I know she won’t mind.
En route, I overhear my father’s voice filtering from behind his office door. The sound of his raw, harsh laughter stops me in my tracks. What the hell is he so jolly about?
“Sure thing, Phil,” he’s saying. “Just put me down for five grand on number two-one-two. Yeah…perfect. And five hundred on one-one-eight.”
I can’t believe it. That motherfucker is still gambling. He lost it all, from the family vineyard to his own flesh and blood, and yet he’s learned nothing. Blood boiling, I’m about to bust my way in and confront him with a few choice words when—
“Bellanti? Yeah, why? You need a car tampered with, too? Ha! …sure, I know the guy. I can recommend his services. But it’s gonna cost you.”
