The Girl in the Window (25 page)

Beth, and a stranger touching Fair.

“Can you handle this?” Josh said, looking from Russ and Will to Tyler.

As Chord was Will’s baby in a way, Will was more than glad to take sole possession of ‘his’ horse.

Pride rushed through Josh as Tyler nodded, pride for both Will and Tyler. Both had stepped up to the plate as needed.

It was Tyler, though, who most amazed him, remembering the silent boy Josh had seen first in his paddock and then in the courthouse.

Both had made tremendous strides, but Tyler’s had been the greatest. He’d taken to racing as if he’d been born to it. He had great hands with the reins, so they were already teaching him to drive.

“Russ,” he said.

The other man joined him as Josh walked to Beth’s side.

Out of sheer habit, Josh slid a hand around Beth’s waist, drew her close, and looked at the stranger standing there.

The man didn’t look at him, his eyes were only for the horse. He didn’t so much as turn his head in acknowledgment, but Josh understood the man knew he and Russ were there.

Something, though, kept them both silent.

It was something about the set of the man’s face, the way he held his shoulders, as if something inside him hurt so badly he might shatter. Or the way he stroked his hand ever so gently over Fair’s neck, the gesture soothing.

A moment of silence fell over all of them, over everything, so that every word that was spoken rang clear as a bell.

Only the man’s head turned, to look at Josh.

“You know how it is,” he said grimly, his washed-out blue eyes steady, but there was grief in them. “Back east.”

A chill went through Josh. He did. Some breeders were cutting their losses. Not everyone in racing did it for the love of it. His breath shuddered in his chest when he pulled it in, a spear of pain shooting through him as both his mouth and his jaw tightened in response to the look in the man’s eyes. There had been a time not too long back when it had been just as tough, and some had chosen a different route.

He glanced at Russ, saw a like expression mirrored there, a bitterness and a sorrow.

Bewildered, Beth glanced from one to the other of them.

Seeing her look¸ the man took a breath, and nodded.

This was what he’d come here for, she could see it in his eyes.

Absolution.

“Times have changed,” the stranger said softly. “You know it, I know it. Time was when people did it for the love of racing, for the excitement as well as the investment. Some still do…but not many. For most it’s still an investment. And a losing one.”

He paused, almost bowing his head against Fair’s neck.

“Times changed, racing changed, the economy changed,” the man said. “Everything changed.”

For a breath it seemed there was only a strange silence broken by the faint voices of those around them, the jingle of harness, and the anticipation of the man’s next words.

Josh wanted to protest, but found he couldn’t. It was nothing more than the truth.

“It got more expensive,” the man said, “to maintain stables, to provide the feed, the land became more valuable for building condos and townhouses. And the insurance on things like barns, stables…and horses, became much more attractive.”

The man’s voice fell into that breathless silence, his words like stones.

“Not that long back there was a rash of unexplained fires in the east, particularly in the Northeast,” the stranger said. “A lot of fires.”

“Some blamed it on the stable hands smoking, but fire is something all stables fear, being around so much flammable stuff,” he said grimly, and there was an aching grief in his voice. “Strangely, most of those fires started late at night or early in the morning. Very few of the horses survived.”

“One of the owners said he was grateful that only property damage had been done,” the stranger said, his voice thick with grief. “There was no loss of life. It was sad, but at least only horses had died.”

Beth didn’t know how to encompass the depths of the grief in his voice. Her eyes burned.

She looked up at Josh, who tightened his arm around her, his face stark as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

The stranger’s eyes were on Fair’s neck, but it was clear that wasn’t what he was seeing.

He was watching whatever had happened that night.

“I can still hear them screaming,” the stranger said. “The horses.”

Her heart broke.

Tears streamed down her face.

“I found Fair in his stall, wearing his halter, tied to the rail. He had done well in his early races, but it hadn’t been enough. He was more valuable dead because of it.”

The stranger looked to Josh, then to Russ. “You understand.”

The impact of the man’s words struck Josh hard. His mouth and jaw tightened in helpless fury and grief. He glanced at Russ, and saw his own expression mirrored there.

“Yes,” he said, bitterly.

The nameless man nodded.

“I see you do.”

Those ghostly eyes settled on Beth, as understanding dawned on her.

Horror whispered.

No
.

It wasn’t the stranger who spoke, but Josh.

“They led him in there,” he said.

“Yes,” the stranger said. “He was worth more dead than alive. The rope would have burned in the fire. All they would have found was the horse, dead in his stall.”

Josh swore, softly, bitterly.

No wonder Fair had hated being inside, if the arsonist had led him into the burning barn.

The stranger stroked Fair’s strong neck.

“No one wanted to talk about it,” the man said. “No one did. It was happening too far apart for police jurisdictions. Truth was, they’re just animals as far as the police are concerned. It’s fraud and theft, but money isn’t enough to save them.”

He looked at Fair.

“The owner, after the fire? He said he was just grateful no one died.”

He took a breath. “Fourteen horses died that night.”

There was a pause.

“I can still hear them screaming, the ones we couldn’t save.”

He patted Fair’s neck.

“I’m glad he’s found a good home,” he said. “Show them what you’ve got, son. Show them what they missed.”

This racetrack was much bigger and much fancier than the ones they’d been to in the spring. In this they were behind, since Fair was an unknown. He had no races as a two-year-old to establish himself and only one race as a yearling.

So they needed to at least get him some seasoning before they could start him in the bigger races. He was handicapped by that lost year with only slight advantages.

He had easily won his last two races, buying him a spot in this one, but not in the best position at the gates. It would take a lot more skill on Josh’s part to get him into a good position to win.

Beth thought she’d never been so nervous.

This time they hadn’t been able to bring some of the folks from the home, but Tyler was with her, and Tyler’s mother, Mary, had come, too. Will was helping down at the stables, of course, but Tony and the boys had come, too.

Still it was Tyler who was her rock at moments like these.

Beth glanced up at him and shook her head. “When are you going to stop growing?”

Grinning, he just shrugged. “I’m not complaining.”

“I am,” his mother groused affectionately, “it’s a good thing he makes his own money, because I had to buy him three new pairs of pants the other day or it would look like we were preparing for a flood.”

Tyler blushed.

“It won’t be long now,” he said, to change the subject.

Down in the stable yard they were almost finished with the last of the prep, Fair waiting only a little impatiently, shifting from one foot to the other. Will held him steady.

Russ soothed him with a pat. “He’s not jumping out of his skin, just excited. It’s a good sign.”

Climbing into the bike, settling himself, Josh felt something in his pocket.

A little glow of excitement lit inside him. He pulled the little box out, tossed it to Russ.

“What do you think of that?” he asked.

Seeing the familiar velvet box flash through the air, Russ caught it neatly, opened it and whistled low. He tilted it so Will could see the contents.

“Dayum,” Will said, in admiration.

“Pretty,” Russ said.

“I’ve been carrying it around since after that first race, as sort of a good luck charm,” Josh said. “I’m thinking of giving it to her if we make it to the Hambletonian.”

The first race in harness racing’s Triple Crown, the Hambletonian was held at the Meadowlands in August. If they only made it that far, Josh would count himself a happy man.

Russ looked at him, his gaze level, sure. “We will.”

There was dead certainty in the man’s voice.

“All right.”

Something about that certainty settled the last of Josh’s own doubts, the niggling fear that his judgment was wrong, that Fair wasn’t the horse Josh thought he was, despite his impressive figures.

“That’s a couple months away yet,” Russ said.

“It is,” Josh said, “But I want it to be a special occasion. If she’s already dressed up she won’t be expecting it and I can ask her in front of all those people.”

“Like I said,” Russ cautioned, giving him a look, “don’t wait too long.”

Josh grinned. “That long and no longer, I promise.”

Grinning back, Russ nodded. “Good enough.”

“So hold onto that for me,” Josh said.

“Will do,” Russ said, with a nod.

“And don’t lose it,” Josh said.

Sticking the box in his deepest pocket, Russ patted it. “I won’t.”

“Good,” Josh said, “it’s been my good luck charm so far. Let’s get this show on the road.”

As Josh and Fair were led out onto the track, Russ and Will hurried to join Beth in the stands.

They were a long shot, at long odds. Russ could only hope that someone had bet good money on them, backed them to at least place.

He was pleased to see Tyler’s mother there.

They’d met a time or two at holidays, dated once or twice, and went to Tyler’s events. She was a good woman, doing her best by her boy. It was no fault of hers that she couldn’t keep him out of bad company, that was his father’s duty, but the boy had shown his character at the end, shown his upbringing. That was something Russ could appreciate.

She was an attractive woman, too, sweet, and a little shy.

It had to be rough on her, going it alone and he appreciated that, too, that she was doing the best by her son.

As they joined the small group Beth turned to look at him and Russ hid a smile, thinking of what was in his pocket. He slid his hand inside to feel the velvet box.

The horses were lined up in the gates and the gates began to move away as the horses settled into their rhythm, each driver certain they’d picked the right pace, the right start, that they were guiding their horses to the place they need to be at the right gait to move into position to win.

Russ could almost feel Beth’s tension, her body leaned forward against the rail of the stands, and he smiled in approval.

For Beth there was only Josh and Fair out on the track, Josh’s colors on his helmet and stretched across his broad shoulders. She knew they’d debated hiring a driver but had been concerned about Fair’s reaction to a strange driver. In the end, Josh couldn’t bear not to be the driver of his own horses.

She also knew how much it pained Josh not to be the one to race him and there was the question of whether he was the best driver to get Fair to the Triple Crown, if they could reach it.