Meg Lacey - Million Dollar Stud

Darcy laughed. “Trust me, if I see a good-looking babe, I’ll turn the other cheek. Or at least I’ll try.”

“Ah hell, go,” Nicholas said, picking up his drink. “But call if you need me.”

Darcy waved as he left the room. “See you in a month.”

HAVING MADE HIS DECISION to leave, Darcy didn’t waste time in getting on his way. Monday morning, just after dawn, he hefted a large duffel bag into the seat of the old pickup truck he’d borrowed from one of his grooms, and hit the road. He felt an unaccustomed feeling of freedom. When was the last time he’d had an adventure like this? Never, he thought. His adventures had always included exotic locales, first-class accommodations and expensive equipment. At the moment he had five hundred dollars in his wallet, a few changes of clothes and a couple of his favorite books. He was ready to roll.

He ignored the interstates and took back roads, meandering through the familiar rolling valleys of Virginia, then the mountains of West Virginia, passing through small towns that brought a smile, and over rivers and creeks with names that celebrated pioneer discovery. He slipped unnoticed into Kentucky, into the eastern Appalachian hills, and finally into the majesty and promise of the bluegrass region—the grazing land, rolling wooded vistas and wide valleys that surrounded his final destination.

SILVER BRAYBOURNE TOOK a firmer grasp on the lunge lines as her horse walked in a tight circle. “All right, now,” she crooned, “just settle down. You know what this is all about.” Lucky Hand wasn’t a young, inexperienced horse, but one who needed retraining if he was ever to reach his potential. And Silver thought this horse had plenty of potential. The problem lately was convincing her father.

“That’s right, let’s smooth it out.” She jammed her old baseball hat down on her head as she studied the stallion’s gait, paying close attention to the movement of his back legs as she let the line out a bit. She’d had the horse for about two months, but had only been working him hard for one. “We’ve had a lot of winners come out of Braybourne Farm. I expect you to do your share.” The horse glanced her way as if he understood. “You’re a winner. I just know it, and I’m going to prove it, no matter what anyone says.” After all, they’d bred and trained a number of winning racehorses, even if they hadn’t produced a Derby winner. But she could change that if she managed this farm. She lightly cracked her whip, smiling as the horse responded. Daddy was just getting cold feet, not up to taking a risk. She’d convince him otherwise or she didn’t deserve to be a Braybourne.

Silver blinked sweat from her eyes and wiped her forehead on the sleeve of her old cotton shirt. Damn, it was hot. She couldn’t remember when it had last been so hot in Cecil. June in Kentucky was generally pleasant, but this year was already promising to be a scorcher. She hoped it wouldn’t be dry, too. The past few years had been hard on their crops, not to mention their horses. They couldn’t afford to take any more losses.

“’Scuse me, Miz Braybourne,” a voice interrupted her. “Doc Winters sent me over with some of that new liniment you was asking about.”

Silver glanced over her shoulder at the young man giving her an admiring glance from behind the fence.

“Hi, Jamie. Just put it in the office for me, okay?”

“You gotta sign for it. Doc Winters said you gotta sign for it.”

“Why don’t you sign for me, Jamie? I’m fine with that.”

“The doc wouldn’t like it. He’s got a new office manager who says he’s gotta clean up his act, and she’s making the doc’s life miserable.”

Silver laughed. “Well, I’m almost finished anyway, so bring the paper on out here. I wouldn’t want you to break the rules on my account.” That was her job. Breaking rules, pushing to see how far she could go, before someone hauled her back to the gate. Unfortunately, most of the time she was pulled up short before she’d even gotten onto the field. But that didn’t stop her from trying.

Jamie slipped into the paddock and picked his way over to Silver, taking care to avoid the big black stallion at the other end of the line. He held out a professional-looking clipboard. “Here you go, Miz Braybourne.”

“You can call me Silver, Jamie. You used to.” She sent the young man a teasing grin. “Before you remembered that I changed your diapers when I baby-sat for you.”

Jamie blushed and scuffed his toe in the dirt. “I wish you’d forget about that.”

Silver held the lunge line in one hand as she scribbled her name with the other. “Can’t, Jamie. You had such a cute little backside.”

Silver’s grin expanded as Jamie turned every shade of red. “Ah, geez!”

A high-pitched cackle erupted from the fence, followed by a halfhearted command, “Girl, you leave that there young man alone. Ain’t no call to embarrass him that way.”

Silver handed the clipboard back to Jamie, smiling at his muttered “thank you” as he walked to his pickup truck. She looked over her shoulder at Travis O’Neill, whom her grandfather had nicknamed Tater when he was just a little sprout. “Tater, where’ve you been? Dad was down here looking for you a little while ago.”

“He found me,” he replied, resting his elbows on the fence.

Silver stared at him. There was something about his tone of voice…. She slowed her horse to a walk. “Is anything wrong?”

Tater climbed stiffly onto the fence, perching on the top rail. “What could be wrong, girlie?”

She walked to the horse and removed the line, leading him by the bridle over to Tater. “Besides the fact that we’re in hock up to our ears, you mean?”

“Nothing new in that, Silver. Braybournes been either in the money or out of it ever since your great-great-great-great-grandfather settled Cecil.”

“I know, but we were getting ahead until Brett made that stupid investment.”

“Your brother didn’t make it by hisself, ya know. Your daddy okayed it.”

“I know. If he’d asked me, I could have told him—”

“Point is, he didn’t. So I’d let it go if I was you, and do your best to help turn things around, any way you can.”

“I’m trying, Tater, but my father doesn’t always listen to me. For God’s sake, I know as much, if not more, about horses than any of my brothers ever did, and he listens to them. No questions asked. And now with Daddy’s accident…”

“Well, you know how it is with a man and his sons.” He held up his hand to shut her up. “Now, I ain’t sayin’ it’s right, just that’s how it is with some people.”

“Uh-huh. And much as I love my brothers, what did those three sons do? Each of them managed the place for a while, then moved on to something else. I’m the one who stayed.”

“You’ll be moving on yourself someday, Silver. Some man’ll sweep you right on out of here.”

“What?” Her chin came up. “No, that won’t happen.”

“You’ll get yourself hitched and—”

“Think again. The only male I’m interested in—” she jerked her head toward her horse “—is this one, ’cause the man hasn’t been born yet who can sweep me off my feet.” Silver kept hoping she’d find one, but so far all the men she’d met seemed so tame. So familiar. So boring. If she ever met one who wasn’t…look out! She didn’t see much chance of that, however, not in her social circle.

Tater eyed the stallion and chuckled. “Silver, girl, I don’t think that there male is what your pa has in mind for your future.”

Silver grimaced as she started on her biggest gripe. “No. I’m supposed to be the Braybourne debutante, go to all the parties and play the dating game.”