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Tiffany ignored the comment for now. “So why don’t you bring the kids out here for a weekend sometime?”
Nancy’s bright eyes softened. “You mean it?”
“Of course.”
“They’re a handful,” the sprightly reporter warned.
“But they’d love it here, and I adore kids.”
Nancy was thoughtful as she stared at the horses frolicking in the lush grass of the paddock. “So why didn’t you have any?”
Tiffany shrugged. “Too busy, I guess. Ellery wasn’t all that keen on being a father.”
“And you?”
“It takes two.”
Nancy sighed and lit a cigarette. A small puff of blue smoke filtered toward the cloudless sky. “Boy, does it. Raising the kids alone is no picnic. Ralph has them every other weekend, of course, but sometimes . . . Oh, well. Look, I’m here for an interview, right? Tell me what you’ve been doing since you took over the farm.”
Nancy took a tape recorder from her purse and switched it on. For the next hour and a half Tiffany answered Nancy’s questions about the farm—the problems and the joys.
“So what’s all this ruckus over Moon Shadow?” Nancy asked, her hazel eyes questioning.
“Hype.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, I’ll show you.” Tiffany led Nancy to the stallion barn and Moon Shadow’s stall. Moon Shadow poked his ebony head out of the stall, held it regally high and flattened his ears backward at the sight of the stranger. “Here he is, in the flesh, the stallion who’s been getting a lot of bad press.”
“What you referred to as ‘hype’?”
“Yes. He’s fathered over a hundred Thoroughbreds in the past eight years, several who have become champions.”
“Like Devil’s Gambit?”
Tiffany’s heart seemed to miss a beat. She didn’t want to discuss Devil’s Gambit with anyone, including Nancy. “Yes, as well as Journey’s End.”
“Rhodes Breeding Farm’s latest contender. He promises to be the next Devil’s Gambit,” Nancy observed.
“We hope so.”
Moon Shadow’s large brown eyes wandered from Tiffany to the reporter and back again. Tiffany reached into the pocket of her skirt and withdrew a piece of carrot. The proud stallion nickered softly and took the carrot from Tiffany’s hand.
“He’s been a good stud,” Tiffany emphasized while rubbing the velvet-soft black muzzle.
Tiffany continued to talk about Moon Shadow’s qualities and the unfortunate incidents with the dead foals. Whenever Nancy posed a particularly pointed question, Tiffany was able to defend herself and her stallion by pointing to his winning sons and daughters.
Nancy had snapped off her tape recorder and stayed through lunch. Tiffany felt more relaxed than she had in days when she and Nancy reminisced about college.
“So what happened between you and Ralph?” Tiffany asked, as they drank a cup of coffee after the meal.
Nancy shrugged. “I don’t really know—it just seemed that we grew in different directions. I thought that the kids would make a difference, but I was wrong.” When she saw the horrified look in Tiffany’s eyes, she held up her hand. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, Tiff. It wasn’t that Ralph wasn’t a good father—” she shrugged her shoulders slightly “—he just wasn’t comfortable in the role of breadwinner. Too much responsibility, I suppose. Anyway, it’s worked out for the best. He’s remarried, and I’m dating a wonderful man.”
“And the girls?”
Nancy sighed and lit a cigarette. “It was rough on them at first, but they seem to be handling it okay now.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
