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‘If you require anything additional – particular bedding or feed, for example, let me know and I’ll add it in to the contract.’
‘Will do.’
‘The fees are all in there too.’ Somewhat reluctantly, she leaned closer so she could point out the relevant section on the paperwork. For someone dressed in jodhpurs and a simple T-shirt, someone who had been around horses long before he arrived this morning, she smelt pretty good, like a heady summer fragrance that made you want to cling onto the day that lay ahead.
‘Are they as expected?’ she asked when he didn’t comment. She’d already moved away again. ‘They should be around about what was quoted on the website. I can’t remember how old that draft is.’ She pulled a face.
He cleared his throat, willing himself to get a grip. It wasn’t like he’d never been in the company of an attractive woman before, it was more that this morning, she was unexpected. And he wasn’t sure what to make of her demeanour – friendly one minute, wary the next, as though she was trying to work him out. He held up the contract and pamphlet. ‘They all look satisfactory to me. I’ll take a look at all of this and be in touch with the details – mine and Denby’s.’
‘Great. Now, I’ll need to take a deposit from you today to hold the stable place.’
‘Is it your last?’ He felt his back pockets one after the other and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and slipped the card out to hand over to Hazel.
‘It is, almost a full house,’ she smiled, grabbing a card machine from behind a stack of papers on top of the filing cabinet.
‘You must love your work.’
‘I really do.’ Something in the way she said it hinted that she might be reminding herself of that rather than telling him, and he punched in his PIN once she’d inserted his card and entered the amount to be paid.
The pamphlet in his hands, after Hazel had stapled his receipt to the front of it, Gus flipped through to find the section about Denby being used for riding lessons. ‘My daughter is worried about this bit.’
She glanced over to see which section he was pointing at. ‘Please tell her not to be. Rest assured we will fully assess Denby ourselves to make sure he’s suitable for riding lessons. And both Arnold and I will decide what age group is appropriate for Denby to be paired with, what level of ability his riders should have. It’s an important part of settling him in and I can assure you we are used to doing it. We’ll get to know him first, as it’s important to us that he’s matched with the right riders when they come along.’ She pointed to the contract. ‘You’ll find details in the paperwork of how many hours Denby will be ridden as a maximum and on what days. As you’ll see, it’s not crazy amounts. And days and times can be adjusted if need be.’
‘That sounds reassuring, I’ll let Abigail know.’ He closed the pamphlet. ‘So both you and Arnold teach, is that right?’
‘We certainly do. Do you ride?’
‘Previously I’ve had some lessons with Denby’s former owner, she’s very patient. We went out on a few long rides too, saw a bit of the countryside. It was nice to get to know Denby when we bought him. Couldn’t let Abigail have all the fun.’
She seemed to relax at his revelation that he might care about horses almost as much as his daughter did.
He hadn’t really thought about learning anything else but found himself telling her, ‘I wouldn’t mind a few more lessons as a reminder, a familiarisation, if you like. Would you have any space?’
She nodded. ‘I think I do. Let me take a look in the diary.’ She opened up a big book and reeled off a few different days and time slots. ‘When you know your own schedule and once Denby is here, give me a shout.’
‘Thank you, I will do.’
‘I think Denby will be happy here.’ She said it with an air of pride and also with a love for what she did. He could see it in her demeanour, the way she softened as she talked about horses, the way her smile met her eyes. ‘Don’t forget, as the horse owner, you can pop in as much as you like, you can use the school, indoors or outside, you can take Denby out on a ride. We like people to feel a part of life here at Heritage View.’
He tried to work out whether that was her standard line but even if it was, he could tell she meant it. And he was glad she didn’t seem quite as jumpy with him now. When they’d first come into the office and she’d insisted on leaving the door open, he’d had a feeling that they clashed, that this was never going to work. But now he felt confident that it would. ‘I was thinking of having Denby come here at the weekend. Joan can bring him as soon as we like.’
‘Then let’s get the contract in place. I’ll need any requests for changes in writing.’ She leaned across the desk and he caught a glimpse of her belly button when her T-shirt rode up as she reached for one of the business cards in a container at the back. ‘Take this, all my details are on there.’
‘Do I deal mostly with you, or your brother?’ Please let it be her. Already he quite liked the idea.
‘Most likely me, as I’m the one who manages the office, but if you leave a message and Arnold picks it up, you might hear from him too.’
‘Great. Would it be all right to take a better look around?’
‘Sure, let’s do that now.’ She gestured for him to leave the office first and once she was outside, she closed the door behind them.
Gus met Arnold briefly as he finished putting away the bales of hay they’d had delivered and Hazel had a short conversation with him, agreeing to tack up a couple of horses when they were brought in from the paddock in a little while. Her brother must be taking a lesson. ‘Sometimes the horses in the paddock give him the run around,’ she said good-humouredly, ‘but hopefully not this morning. He doesn’t have much time before the lesson.’ She checked her watch.
‘I appreciate you doing this when I gave zero warning I would turn up so early.’ He’d already taken Abigail to school in time for breakfast club this morning and although he hadn’t wanted to let her go into the new environment just yet, he had no choice if he wanted to sort out a place for Denby. Abigail had seemed happy enough with the arrangement, almost enthusiastic to get on with it, but Gus hadn’t been. It had taken all his willpower not to look back at his daughter after he closed that classroom door in case she looked so lost and vulnerable that he ran back inside, scooped her up, and took her back to the house. Home schooling had briefly filtered through his mind but so had Joan’s voice, telling him he had to let her experience everything other girls her age did.
‘It’s really not a problem,’ Hazel assured him as she led the way to what looked a little like a shed from the outside. ‘This is the tack room.’ She seemed to try to keep some distance between them, ever the professional, but it was a compact space, so it wasn’t easy.
‘It’s very organised.’ Against the walls were saddle racks, each with a saddle and the name of the horse on the wall behind it. It reminded him of Abigail’s first day at primary school, when they’d found her coat peg with her name on it. She’d been gutted she had a fish and someone else got a horse, he wasn’t sure she’d ever got over it, at least not until she stuck a big sticker of a horse over the poor fish.
