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“You’re right. I should have called, but I didn’t because there wasn’t a damned thing you or I or anyone else could do.”
“I suppose you’re right about that,” Dustin conceded with a frown and then turned his attention to Mac. “I was just trying to convince Tiffany here that she ought to come to Florida and see for herself how Journey’s End is doing.”
“Not a bad idea,” Mac agreed, though there were reservations in his eyes. He removed his hat and took a chair at the table. “That way she could check up on Bob Prescott, see that he’s doing a good job of training the colt.”
Prescott was a young trainer who traveled with the horses while they were racing. He was a damned good man around a horse, but there was something shifty about him that Mac didn’t like. The missus called it jealousy. Mac wasn’t so sure, but he couldn’t put his finger on the problem, and Bob Prescott had molded Journey’s End into a fine racing machine.
Dustin’s smile froze. “See, Tiffany, even Mac agrees that you could use a vacation. A little Florida sun might do you a world of good.”
Tiffany managed a thin smile for both men and finished her coffee. “It’ll have to wait until we’re over this crisis.” She leaned back in the chair and held up a finger. “However, you can bet I’ll be at the Derby this year.”
“You think Journey’s End will make a good show of it?” Dustin asked as he placed his empty cup in the sink and wiped an accumulation of sweat from his brow.
“Not a show nor a place, but a win,” the crusty old trainer predicted.
“High praise coming from you,” Dustin observed.
“Journey’s End is a fine colt. He’s got the heart, the look of eagles if you will, but his temperament’s got to be controlled . . . guided.” He lifted his wise old eyes to Dustin’s face. “I just hope that Bob Prescott knows what he’s doing.”
“He does.”
“Then Journey’s End should win the Derby,” Mac stated without qualification. “He’s the best horse I’ve seen since Devil’s Gambit or Moon Shadow.”
Dustin nearly choked on his final swallow of coffee and turned the subject away from Devil’s Gambit. “We all know why Moon Shadow lost the Derby, don’t we?” Dustin asked pointedly.
Mac’s faded eyes narrowed. “Aye, that we do. I haven’t made any excuses about it, either. I should never have let that jockey ride him.”
“He was Ellery’s choice,” Tiffany intervened, sensing an argument brewing between the two men.
“And I shouldn’t have allowed it.” Mac straightened his wiry frame from the chair, and his fedora dangled from his fingers as he turned to Tiffany. “I called Vance. I’m sure we’ll have another foal before morning.”
Tiffany took in a ragged breath. “Let me know when the time comes.”
“Aye. That I will.” With his final remarks, Mac walked out of the room and the screen door banged behind him.
Tiffany whirled on Dustin. “That was uncalled for, you know,” she spit out.
“What?”
“Those remarks about Moon Shadow and the Derby.”
“Serves the old man right. I never have figured why you keep that old relic around, anyway.”
Tiffany was furious and shaking with rage. “Mac’s not old, nor a relic, and he’s the best damned horseman in this state, maybe the country. He knows more about Thoroughbreds than you or I could hope to know in a lifetime. Let’s just hope, brother-in-law, that he doesn’t take your remarks to heart and quit on us. We’ll be in a world of hurt, then, let me tell you!”
Dustin had visibly paled but scoffed at Tiffany’s remarks. “You’re giving him too much credit,” he said with a shrug as he stared out the window. “You’re genuinely fond of the old goat, aren’t you?”
“Mac’s been good to me, good to this farm, good to Ellery and good to you. Why you continue to ridicule him is beyond me. Unless you’d secretly like to see him leave.”
“It wouldn’t affect me one way or the other.”
“Like hell, Dustin. We had an agreement, remember?” she reminded him. “I run the operations of the farm, you handle the PR. Right now, because of all the adverse publicity with Moon Shadow’s foals, it seems to me that you’ve got more than your share of work cut out for you!”
With her final remark Tiffany stormed out of the kitchen, tugged on her boots and went off to make amends with Mac. Why did Dustin have to provoke the trainer now when she needed Mac’s expertise the most?
* * *
Mac was already at his pickup when Tiffany caught up with him. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. She was out of breath from her sprint across the back lawn and parking lot.
