in business.
Ben reminded himself how important this was for his mother’s quality of life.
The last time he’d seen Kate had been one of the worst days of his life. His old dog, Banjo, who had seen him through the loneliest of his childhood years straight through college, had stayed out one night and gotten into a tangle with a rabid raccoon. It hadn’t taken long to figure out what was wrong, and when the vet had advised them to take Banjo out back, Ben wouldn’t let anyone go except for himself. It was a private thing, between him and his old pal.
Pulling that trigger had been the worst moment of his life, and it had felt as though it had taken a year.
No sooner was it over with, and the dog had hit the ground, had Ben heard a gasp and turned to see Kate Gregory running across the lower pasture toward her house. She must have known what was going on; the word had gotten out as a warning to all the local residents of what had happened.
Yet, when she’d seen Ben have to shoot his own dog, she hadn’t even mustered a single word of sympathy. She’d just run off into the sunset, literally and figuratively.
That’s the way Kate had always been—aloof, detached. Like no one could really get close to her or touch her heart.
He pulled his Jeep to a halt outside the main barn and got out. He took a deep breath. He didn’t want to do it. He just had to remind himself that, if he was careful, he might just score the one thing that could save his family’s farm. His feet crunched the gravel below him as he took slow steps toward the barn office.
“Ben?”
He turned.
The surprised voice belonged to none other than the platinum-haired Bianca, who was coming from the direction of the office. “Is that Ben Devere?”
“That’s right.”
“Good Lord, we were just talking about you.”
“We? We who?” This was weird. He didn’t even know anyone knew he was back. “And what were you saying?”
“Oh.” She hesitated just long enough to imply she was hiding something. “Nothing, really. Just that you were here in town. So what brings you here?”
This was it. Time to take that step. “I was hoping to see Kate.”
“Oh, were you?” Bianca raised an eyebrow. “How interesting! Now, why is that? You’re not planning to ask my single sister out on a date of some sort, are you?”
“Um, no.” He frowned. That was a strange question. “It was a business matter.”
Bianca’s face fell and her lips puffed into that famous Bianca Gregory pout. “Oh. Darn.”
He felt a little like he’d stepped into someone else’s bizarre dream. “I’m sorry…what?”
Bianca shrugged with the drama of a four-year-old child. “Nothing. Never mind.”
Ben looked down at the earth beneath his feet and briefly weighed the relative merits of selling the farm and moving his mother to a smaller place, closer to him, versus begging the Gregory girls for their help.
Saving the farm won, of course. “Look, I understand you have the capability of siring a mare by Fireflight.” It was awkward but he couldn’t think of another way to word it. Word underground was that the Gregorys had somehow acquired frozen genetic material from one of the finest racehorses ever to hit the turf and if there was one thing that could save his farm, it was a foal or two by Fireflight.
Dawning understanding came into Bianca’s pale blue eyes. “Oo-oh, I see. You’re here to make a purchase.”
“Depending on the cost, yes.” That was where this conversation was going to get really sticky. His finances were limited and he could only bluff so far before they, potentially, made him look like the desperate man he was. “So what’s your price?”
Bianca looked at him, raising her finger to her mouth and looking him over as she considered. “From what I hear, the Devere Ranch doesn’t have a whole lot of money, Ben.”
“Don’t listen to everything you hear.”
“Fireflight’s worth a whole lot.”
“Potentially.” He tried to look casual. “You never know what you’re gonna end up with. Artificial insemination of a mare…well, it’s a hell of a gamble. You know that.”
She gave a nonconcessionary nod. “It’s a gamble a lot of people are willing to pay a hell of a lot of money for.” She eyed him. “Victor’s working a colt out at the track every morning, and he says the times are absolutely amazing. He may even beat his sire. So I’m thinking it’s a pretty safe bet anyone who sires a mare by Fireflight will end up with a profit in the end. That is, if they can pay up front.”
“What are we talking about?”
“Half a million.”
He couldn’t shell out more than a quarter million. Not for such a risky chance as this. After all, the money was going to be coming out of his pocket, not the ranch’s. “Well, Bianca, this business being what it is, I think I’d rather just take a chance with what I’ve got.” He gave a short nod and started back toward his truck.
“I think I might know a way you can take it for free, though,” Bianca called behind him in a singsong voice.
This was no time to stand on pride. He stopped and turned back to her, cautiously keeping his face impassive. “Who do I have to kill?”
She laughed. “You only have to date my sister.”
She hadn’t said what he thought she’d said. Surely she wasn’t suggesting it was worth five hundred grand to Kate to have a date. “What are you talking about?”
Bianca gave a slow smile and sauntered over toward him. “I need a little favor. If you succeed, you get Fireflight and my sister, and you have a chance at real happiness. If you don’t succeed—” she shrugged “—well, you’re no worse off than you are now. What do you say, are you a betting man, Ben Devere?”
Chapter Two
It was a chilly, misty morning and Kate could hear the thundering hoofbeats on the turf long before the horse actually appeared from the mist, running all-out, white puffs of steam coming from his nose.
He was beautiful.
Her father had named the horse Kate’s Flight, in honor of her and in reference to his sire, so she felt a special affinity for the chestnut stallion. As much as she hated the gamble of this lifestyle, she loved the majesty of the animals and the heart they showed every time they hit the track.
The story of Black Gold—crossing the finish line with a shattered leg, to complete his final win—was never completely out of her mind. The horses loved to run and, more than that, they loved to win, there was no doubt about it.
So she smiled as she watched Kate’s Flight barrel past in the predawn light.
“Quite
