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“He’s like a big puppy,” I said in awe.
Saxon laughed. “Now, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard a thoroughbred being compared to a puppy.”
A phone started ringing, and Saxon pulled it out of his back pocket. I saw him glance at the screen before putting it to his ear.
“Hey,” he said into the phone, then moved away from me, leaving the horse and me alone.
I watched him walk to the other side of the stable. Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous. I glanced up at Rig. He was beautiful.
My thoughts went to my mother. A woman I barely remembered. Dad had never told me about Mom loving horses or riding them. Just like he’d never mentioned Melanie or Florida. I wanted to know more about her, and maybe being around horses would do that for me. For now, I would stay and find out all I could about my mom and her past.
Why had my parents left here? Why hadn’t Melanie come to see me sooner?
There was so much I wanted to know.
Three
After spending my day at Moses Mile, learning to muck stalls, helping Mrs. Jolene prepare and put lunch on the table for the workers, and spreading fresh hay, I felt a little more like I understood the ranch. It was the first distraction I’d had since the accident. I found myself looking forward to tomorrow, and that wasn’t something I’d expected.
Going to Trev’s pool party wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I showered and put on one of the six bathing suits Melanie had bought for me. I’d hoped Melanie had forgotten to buy me a bathing suit so I wouldn’t have to go to the party. There hadn’t been one in my closet. However, Saxon texted his mom earlier today to buy me one without my knowledge, and she went shopping. All six of the ones she had brought home were bikinis, so I chose the one I thought covered me the most, then put a sundress on over it.
Getting out of the house without Melanie asking to see how it looked on me was pure luck. She wasn’t downstairs when I met Saxon at the front doors, and we went out to his truck to head to Hughes Farm.
“You caught on quick today,” Saxon said to me as we left Moses Mile.
“Thanks.”
“Dad was impressed with the stalls when he got back from the auction. When I told him you did it, he said he looked forward to meeting you.”
I started to ask what the auction was when I saw a massive arch up ahead with elaborate horses made out of iron standing on either side. Over the top of the arch, the wordsHughes Farmappeared, gold-plated. Oak trees lined the entrance, and the pavement turned to red brick as we pulled to a stop in front of the closed gate.
Saxon rolled down his window and reached over to punch in a code on an electronic screen. The gate then slowly swung open.
“And this is the Hughes fortress. It’s a bit …” He paused.
“Over the top?” I suggested. “I mean, it’s a horse farm, right?”
Saxon grinned at me, then drove down the red brick road, lined with the old oak trees that shaded the path. “Hughes Farm has been breeding and racing thoroughbreds for a hundred years. They have put out more champions than any other ranch in the Southeast. It’s less of a family-run operation, like Moses Mile. This is more of a corporation. The Hughes have power.”
I frowned, thinking about my interaction with Trev today. He hadn’t seemed like someone from a powerful family. He was more self-absorbed than anything.
“Garrett Hughes, Trev’s dad, is someone you keep on your good side. You don’t want to make an enemy of him. My dad respects that, and we’ve always gotten along with them just fine.”
As the shade from the trees broke, I was sure I gasped at the view of the house—no, that wasn’t a house. It was a mansion. “Whoa,” I whispered.
“Insane, isn’t it?” Saxon said beside me.
I managed to nod. The place had more square footage than the low-income apartment complex I had lived in the past ten years.Why would any family need so much space? How many kids were there?
“Please tell me Trev has nineteen other brothers and sisters, and that is the reason they need this house.”
Saxon let out a bark of laughter. “Uh, no. Trev has one older brother. Different mother though. Garrett is currently in search of wife number four. Trev’s stepmom left him a year ago.”
“What happened to his mom?”
Saxon shrugged. “Not sure. I remember her from when Trev and I were younger, but not much. She was rarely around, and the nanny took care of him. One day, she was just gone. We were about four, I guess. Trev didn’t seem to care, but he barely knew her.”
My life hadn’t been easy, and Dad wasn’t always the ideal parent, but he was there for me and Cole. Even on nights he hadn’t made it home or he had drunk too much and I had to go get him out of the bar, he had always been sorry. He would make it up to us.
