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“His sire is Macintosh Red from Dufoil Stables in Virginia. You’ve heard of him, haven’t you?”
“Who hasn’t?” Blake asked, repeating back to the boy the words he’d used when Blake had asked him if he’d ever heard of Brady Carrick and the Cross Fox Ranch. “He won the Arkansas Derby, the Arlington Million and the Oak Leaf Stakes.”
Colin seemed neither impressed nor unimpressed by Blake’s knowledge. “The dam is Honey’s Gold from Henleys’ Blue Bonnet Farm.”
“This horse is at Henleys’?”
“The Carricks have known Al Henley for years,” Colin told Blake.
Was this kid a private eye in his spare time? “And how do you know that?”
“The sale of horses is public record,” Colin said. “The two farms have had several business dealings, dating back a number of years.”
Good, solid information. Blake wasn’t ready to be impressed, but at least Colin had his full interest. “Go on.”
“He’s chestnut colored with white socks. His neck is long and his hocks and knees are perfectly straight. His hips are maybe a little narrow, but it doesn’t affect his stride at all.”
“How do you know so much about horses?”
“I don’t,” Colin said. “But I know someone who does, and I took her to Dallas with me for the weekend.”
Ah. A man with contacts. And the sense to use them.
“He’s being offered at a private sale on January 16, and I’m betting the Carricks can get him for forty to forty-five thousand. He’s a winner, Mr. Smith. You aren’t going to find a better horse.”
Eyes narrowed, Blake studied the kid. “You’re sure about that.”
“Absolutely.”
There was nothing cocky in Colin’s attitude. Nothing unlikable at all. He was someone who knew what he was talking about, and was certain he was making the best recommendation.
Blake considered his options. To tell the kid to go back to the drawing board just in case. To continue researching because he hadn’t been at it long enough. To go away and never come back. Or to give him a chance to sink or swim, to believe him and find out what the kid was really made of…
“I’ll give the Carricks a call,” he told the boy. And pretended not to notice when Colin gave a short, completely unprofessional whoop of joy.
“You won’t be sorry, Mr. Smith,” he said, slightly more collected as he shook Blake’s hand and hurried out to his desk in a cubicle behind Marta’s.
For better or worse, it looked like Blake had a new kid in the house.
ANNIE HAD WAITED for Blake Saturday night, having spent the day determining exactly what she was going to say when she sent him away. And again on Sunday. But he didn’t show up either night. Didn’t call.
By Monday evening, after two sleepless nights thinking about him, running scenarios and outcomes through her mind, plus spending the weekend trapped at home for fear he might show up and she’d miss him, she knew she couldn’t go on like this. She had no desire to chase after Blake. Or to hound him. But she had something to say and a need to say it.She dialed his cell phone on the way home from work, holding her own cell to her ear as she bicycled slowly through the streets of River Bluff—taking the long way because she needed to feel the wind in her hair.
“Annie?” He answered on the second ring. And obviously knew her number, since he seemed to have recognized it on his phone.
“Yes.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No.” Not exactly. He sounded so good. Alive and vital. Real. It was good to hear his voice. “Am I interrupting something?”
“I’m still at the office,” he told her. “Just finishing up a proposal.”
Had he been planning a drive to River Bluff after that? Annie quivered at the possibility of one more night in his arms. Considered asking him to come, just in case she’d been off a day or two on her fertility charts. As a safety measure.
“A proposal for something you’re considering buying?” she asked. She’d never had a lot to do with Blake’s work when they’d been married. The business had been between him and his uncle. Something they’d always shared. A bond between them. Asking about it had always felt to Annie as if she’d been intruding on their parenting of a beloved child.
“A condo conversion.” His voice took on the confidence of the successful businessman he was as Blake gave her a brief overview of his newest project. It sounded impressive. Far-reaching. And a little bit risky.
