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Caroline finally sauntered over to me and glanced at the ring, my hand still in Susan’s. “Nice,” she commented, “a much bigger diamond than the one you gave Tess.”
My head jerked up in shock. Caroline’s taut countenance remained expressionless. I felt Trey’s muscles tense at my side. Nigel ignored her comment, which was probably the result of years of conditioning. He'd learned to tune her out.
Tristan finally broke the silence, “A much bigger diamond for a much greater love I think, dear Caroline,” he commented, not taking his sharp green eyes off of me.
I flushed nervously, glancing up at Caroline who was downing her glass of wine, impassive to his comment.
“Nigel it appears we’ll be uncles soon,” Tristan said, smiling at his older brother.
“Yes! How about that? Congratulations to you both!” Nigel replied warmly.
“Do you know whether it’s a boy or a girl yet?” Caroline asked.
“We decided to be surprised,” Trey replied.
“I think we’re all pretty muchsurprisednow,” Caroline commented, refilling her wine glass. “Don’t they teach safe sex in fourth grade these days?” she said, catching my eye.
“Caroline,” Susan said, her voice carrying a distinct warning, “please remember yourself while you’re with us. This family is ecstatic about the arrival of our first grandchild.”
Trey’s arm around me was so tightly muscled that it made my shoulder ache. I looked up at him and could tell he was seething. I placed my hand on his chest and he lowered his gaze to me. I shook my head ‘no’ in an effort to avoid further comments that would only escalate the situation.
“Have you picked out any names?” Tristan asked, sipping his brandy.
Susan piped up, “Tylar are you still going with ‘Jack’ and ‘Danielle’?”
Uh oh.
Tristan immediately made the connection, a broad smile lighting across his handsome features, revealing his dimple. Trey squirmed beside me uncomfortably. Tristan was enjoying Trey’s discomfort.
“We’re still kicking various names around for now,” I lied.
“Where are your people from Tylar?” Caroline semi-slurred.
“I’m from around Louisville, Kentucky. I attended Virginia Intermont College here in Bristol. Trey and I met this past summer when I worked for Sinclair Stables,” I replied.
There—wanna make something of it?
“Another V.I.C. coed under your belt so to speak, Trey,” she replied, not disguising the smarminess in her voice.
Tristan interjected. “Trey, how about you, Tylar, and I take a walk to the stables? I understand you’ve been handling a lot of the buying and breeding here. Father said you had a stellar season.”
I was relieved to have a reason, any reason to get away from Caroline. “Trey,” I agreed, “let’s get our jackets. I think a walk would be nice.” He nodded, obviously still pissed about Caroline’s last comment.
Out in the barn, Trey showed Tristan some of the warm bloods he'd purchased this summer. I checked on Derringer, deciding to brush him in his stall. He nuzzled my coat pockets, curious for carrots. The brothers came over to Derringer’s stall.
“Trey tells me you do quite well with dressage, Tylar,” Tristan commented. “I’d enjoy seeing your competition videos from this past season.”
“I’m sure Dad has them in the house somewhere,” Trey replied, pulling me close to him. He looked proud of me and I liked that feeling.
“Did Trey tell you I also did pretty well quarter racing for Sinclair Stables?” I asked, giving Trey a devilish smile.
“No, he didn’t mention that, which horse did you race?”
“Jezebel, she’s stabled over at the Belle,” I replied. “Yep, took a first place purse in a feature race. I likely would’ve taken the bonus purse that night until Jezebel was scratched.”
Tristan glanced at me and saw that I was looking at Trey. He looked back and forth between the two of us trying to figure out what he was missing. Trey finally caved and blurted out his side of the story.
“Tylar went against my instructions. She was recovering from a concussion so I didn’t want her handling the horses. So what does she do? She enters herself as the jockey for Jezebel in the Kick-Off Season Stakes!”
