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“I have no idea. Brendan apparently wants me to work with her this morning. Do you know where I might find her?”
He cocked his head and stared at me quizzically, but he pointed to the pasture off in the distance behind him. “She’s down at the training ring.”
“Great. Thanks.” With a careful eye on where I stepped, I followed the direction of his finger. An auburn-haired beauty was rubbing the muzzle of an intimidating black horse. I stayed to the outside of the ring. The woman was petite, short in stature with the tiniest waist and a big mess of curls, but the horse listened to her every word.
“You’re going to have a hard time working on a ranch if you’re afraid of horses,” she said without turning around.
I stiffened. “What makes you think that I’m afraid of horses?” I’d wondered how she knew that I was here except that the horse was staring at me, and just like the other, he looked like he hated me.
“I can practically smell your fear, and what’s worse, so can they.” She turned around and studied me intently. “Brendan is usually pretty smart, but I’m definitely questioning his sanity.”
Narrowing my eyes, I climbed over the fence and hopped down. I wasn’t about to let some woman who didn’t even know me judge me. “Better?”
“Am I supposed to be impressed?”
“No, you’re supposed to tell me what my husband wants me to do.” I assumed her issues with me were personal, and I thought she’d flinch at my words, but she just laughed.
“Down girl. You have plenty of competition but not from me. I’m just not sure you’re the girl to help Silva.” Patting her horse’s flank, she released him, and he immediately trotted over to a bale of hay on the other side. “Come with me.”
“What exactly do you train them to do?”
“It depends. Brendan and Kim breed racehorses, show horses, and workhorses. I’ve even had the pleasure of training a police horse and a miniature service pony.”
A miniature service pony? I tried to imagine someone walking a small pony on Rodeo Drive while they shopped. “What determines what they do?”
“First, it’s bloodlines. Champion racehorses are meant to breed other champion racehorses. With Brendan’s father, it was all about bloodlines, but I like to take personality and natural talent into consideration. In some cases, the foals are sold before I can train them, but things are changing around here. It’s becoming more about the horses than the money, and that’s thanks to Brendan.”
“You really admire him.” I followed behind her as she opened the gate and locked it behind her.
She stopped and looked me straight in the eye. “He’s a good man.”
The accusation was in her eyes, and I bristled. “I never said that he wasn’t.”
“Your leaving him says it for you.”
Anger mixed with hurt, and my initial reaction was to lash out. But I didn’t. Although this woman clearly didn’t like me, I appreciated her honesty. “There are a million reasons for relationships to not work out, and they don’t all center around disrespect or hatred.”
“That’s true.” She shrugged. “But I’m not saying that you hate him. I do think that you resent him.”
“My relationship, past and present, isn’t any of your business. I’m just here to help Brendan get his land so that I can get my divorce. I’m not here to revisit my marriage to Brendan, and I’m certainly not here to defend myself to anyone. I would appreciate it if everybody here would keep their nose out of my business.”
Debra snorted and shook her head. “Good luck with that. We all love Brendan here, and you need to get used to that.” She turned her back on me and took off walking. “Come on. Brendan wants you working with Silva while you’re here.”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly. “Wants me working with Silva? I don’t have any experience working with horses,” I protested as I jogged to catch up with her.
“It’s not a hands-on job. Silva is a horse that Brendan rescued a few months ago. He survived horrible abuse, and he’s just lost his only friend, Blue. He stopped eating, and we’re hoping a little company might cheer him up.”
I was stunned. “Company? You want me to entertain a horse? I’ve seen more than a dozen people working around here.”
“All men, and Silva doesn’t like men. You happen to be the only female right now with not a lot on her plate.” We entered the stables. There were only two horses in the stable. “This is Darling. We brought her in hoping to entice Silva.”
“Entice him? Like sexually? That’s a little weird, right?”
Male laughter filtered out of one of the stalls, and the door opened. Brendan stepped out. “Not at all. Sex is a basic instinct. Just like needing food and water. The horse who wants to mate is the horse that has something to live for.”
