Willow Smoke (3 page)

Daisy
shrugged. “Maybe,” her voice quaked, “fifty thousand. Maybe more.”

“Hmm.
Michael said a hundred grand.” He watched the spirit flow out of the young
woman. Her glistening
eyes
grabbed
at
s
omething
inside
him
that
he
hadn’t
experienced
for
a
long
time.
Not
thinking,
he
reached for her
chin.

“That horse,” he said
softly, “means a lot more to you than a hundred grand,
doesn’t
it?”

Daisy
nodded,
pulling
away
from
his
fingers
and
rubbing
her
eyes
with
her
knuckles.
“She’s
family,”
she
mumbled.
Then
her
watery
eyes
hardened.
“But
she’s
your
horse,
your
property
to
sell
or
do
with
whatever
you
want.”

“Exactly.”
So
why
did
he
feel
like
some
kind
of
lowlife
because
he
wanted
to
sell
his
own
horse?

He
glanced
up
and
down
the
barn
area
where
men
and
women
were
brushing,
bathing
or
walking
horses.
The
place
was
alive;
he
liked
that.
He
kept
his
eyes
on
the
strawberry
blonde
fighting
desperately
to maintain her composure. He
wondered
what
it
would
feel
like
to
be
loved
as
much
as
she
loved
that
four
legged
beast.

Hell,
he’d
always
prided
himself
on
being
a
risk-taker.
He
didn’t
have
that
much
to
lose,
really.
And
maybe
he
could
have
some
fun
and
learn
a
few
things
at
the
same
time.
He
already
liked
teasing
his
newest
employee—that
was
worth
something.
She
tried
so
hard
to
be
tough,
yet
he
bet
she
had
a
heart
the
size of Texas. He smiled. Wasn’t that a horsey thought?

Meeting Daisy eye to
eye, he said, “Okay kid, I’ve got a deal for you.”

“I couldn’t come close
to buying Rainbow if I lived to be a hundred.”

Nick let his chin fall
against his chest. “That’s not the kind of deal I had in mind.”

Daisy rolled her eyes
and reached for a pitchfork sticking out of a nearby hay bale. “I’m not that
kind of woman, old man. You’re old enough
to
be
my
father.”

“What?”
Nick
wrenched
the
fork
away.
“That’s
not
what
I
had
in
mind
either.”
He
let out a ragged
breath. “I
might
be old, but I wasn’t
that
precocious.”

He
scowled
at
her.
He
half
expected
her
to
stick her tongue out at him. “What I
had
in
mind
was
this
kind
of
deal.
If
you
can
convince
me
why
I
should
get
involved
in
horseracing
as
a
serious
venture,
then
I
won’t
sell
Blaze
and
you
can
keep her in your care.”

Daisy
bristled.
“Her
name
is
Rainbow.”

“Her
name
is
RainbowBlaze.
You
call
her
what
you
want.
I’m
calling
her
Blaze.
If
she takes after her trainer at all, then
I think that name is quite appropriate.”

Daisy
shrugged.
“So
what
do
I
have
to
do?”

“Don’t
sound
so
excited.
I
don’t
know.
How
would
you
sell
me
on
horseracing?
Show me the place.”

“Haven’t you ever been
to a race track?” He shook his head.

Daisy rolled her eyes
skyward. “Then you haven’t lived.”

Nick laughed. “Apparently
I’ve lived many more years than you, according to your own assessment.”

Blushing, Daisy asked, “How
long do I have? If I accept your deal.”

“By the end of the day.”

“What? That’s not
possible.”

“I’m a busy fellow.”

“Right. The races will
start in another two hours. A quick barn tour will have to do.” She gave him a
quirky smile. “Soon we have to get you a hat or you’ll be fried.”

Nick smiled and reached
for
her
hand.
“Good
idea.
Come
on,
I’ll
buy
you
lunch.
They must have a gift shop over there
somewhere.
We
can
do
the
barn
tour
later.”

Jerking
her
hand
out
of
his,
Daisy
cried,
“Wait!
I’ve got responsibilities here. I can’t
just run off. I’ve got to tell Sam what’s
up. If he’s not around, then I’ll leave a
message
with
a
groom.
Besides,
you
should
meet
Sam.”

“Not
yet.
Nope,
the
deal
is
with
you,
not with
Sam.
You
do
what
you
have
to
do
and
I’ll
wait
for
you
here
in
the
shade.”

The
lanky
woman
scurried
down
the
length
of
the
barn
and
around
a
corner.
Even
flustered,
she
moved
with
an
unpretentious
grace.
She
had
to
stand
nearly
six
feet;
he
was
six
foot
two
and
he
didn’t
have
to
look
down
at
her
at
all.
She
was
a
lot
of
woman.
He
didn’t
consider
himself
a
betting
man, but he’d bet a ton of money
that
Daisy
Matthews
could
be
quite
convincing.
So
what
kind
of
future
did
he
have
in
horseracing?

- o -

Leaning
against
the
barn
for
much
needed
support,
Daisy
pressed
her
throbbing
temples.
What
in
the
hell
had
she
gotten
into
now?
Deal.
Bullshit.
The
man
already
planned
to
sell
Rainbow;
he
just
enjoyed
torturing
women.

What
choice
did
she
have?
She’d
do
most
anything
to
stay
with
Rainbow.
They’d
been
together
since
she
moved
out
of
the
group
home
to
live
with
Cassie
and
Clint
Travers.
Taking
a
kid
from
the
inner
city
of Chicago to a quiet horse farm in
McHenry
County
had
been
quite
a
reach.
But
it had worked. From that moment
on,
horses
had
become
her
lifeblood.
And RainbowBlaze
stood
above
all
others.

Rainbow
was
the
first
foal
she’d
helped
birth.

Now
she
had
to
deal
with
Nicholas
Underwood.
What
a
pretentious
name!
She’d
wanted
to
rip
his
glasses
off
and
stomp
on
them.
But
she
hadn’t.
Cassie
would
say
that
she
was
learning
to
live
within
herself,
within
her
emotions.
Sounded
like
just
so
much
social
work
bullshit.
But
Cassie
had
been
a
good
social
worker
when
she
worked
at
the
group
home,
and
she
was
now
one
of
the
best
horse
trainers
in
the
Chicago
area.
And
Daisy
owed
her
a
lot—even
her
life.