Maris Soule - Paternity Lessons

“There was a problem at the stable.” Tyler glanced at Alicia and then at her uncle. “I didn’t get a full accounting.”

“The woman smelled like she’d been rolling in manure.” Alicia wrinkled her nose. “And so did your daughter.”

There wasn’t much he could say about that. “I’ve discovered that working with horses does leave a smell. Each night, I’ve been putting Lanie’s clothes in the wash as soon as she takes them off.”

“You’re going to have to do something about that child’s language,” Gordon said, shaking his head. “Can’t have that kind of talk around here.”

“I know.” Once again, Tyler wondered if he should go after Lanie.

“Well...” Gordon looked at his niece, then at Tyler. “I’ll leave you two alone. But see to it that something like this doesn’t happen again, Tyler. It disturbs everyone in the firm.”

“I’ll talk to Lanie,” Tyler said. He watched his boss leave, not sure he liked being reprimanded like a naughty boy.

As Gordon closed the door behind him, Alicia stepped closer to Tyler’s desk. “She’s very attractive...in a sort of earthy way.”

Tyler knew a dangerous situation when he heard one. There was no safe way to respond, so he half lied. “I suppose you could say she’s attractive. I really haven’t paid that much attention to her looks. I’ve been more concerned with whether she’ll work with Lanie’s horse.”

“She actually owns the stable where you’re boarding the horse?”

“Yes. That is, I think she does.” He still wasn’t sure what Alicia was getting at.

“Is it a big stable?”

“No, not very big. I’d say she has forty horses there. Maybe fewer. It’s nothing fancy.” Not a place where Alicia would board a horse...if Alicia had a horse.

She eyed him for a moment, then glanced toward the door as if the image of Shaunna was imbedded there. “You said her last name’s Lightfeather? What is that, Navajo or something?”

“I really don’t know. Someone said she was part Indian.”

“Is she married?”

“No.”

Alicia’s silence was poignant, and Tyler suddenly realized she was jealous. He found that interesting. Although they’d been dating for nearly a year, he always had the feeling she was keeping him at a distance. But he found that understandable. He was well aware that she was in a social class far above his. And even though he enjoyed her company, most of the events they attended were business oriented. He wasn’t looking for love and romance. He’d given up on that years ago. He and Alicia hadn’t even slept together.

The one thing he was concentrating on at this point in his life was his career, and Alicia had certainly helped him there. It was at her urging that he’d applied for a position at her uncle’s firm, which in turn had led him to the job he now held. And he had to admit she’d been very supportive when he learned about Lanie. Alicia had spend a lot of hours with him at the hospital as he sat by Lanie’s side, had talked her uncle into giving Tyler the time off he needed to be with Lanie and had even been offering suggestions on how to handle Lanie now.

Finally, Alicia spoke, her tone clearly cool. “You seem to know quite a bit about this Shaunna woman.”

He shook his head. “Only what I found out when I was looking for someone to work with Lanie’s horse. I didn’t want to move him from one bad situation to another. Shaunna, according to those I spoke with, is the best horse trainer around. Perhaps the best in the country.”

There was another moment of silence, Alicia’s gaze never leaving his face, then she looked down at her hands and began brushing a fingertip over one of her painted nails. “I think it’s commendable,” she said, “how much concern you’re showing for Lanie and this horse of hers, but you do remember that I don’t like horses, don’t you? I hope you’re not thinking of asking me to accompany you out to that stable or anything?”

“I wouldn’t think of it.” He could just imagine her reaction if she saw Shaunna’s house and the barns. Alicia’s condominium was in the best section of town. In fact, her father owned most of the real estate in that area, along with oil wells and other land. Her parents’ home, which he’d visited a couple of times, was absolutely palatial. No, she wouldn’t think much of Shaunna’s stable or house.

Alicia looked back at him and smiled. “I just wanted to be sure we understood each other. Dinner tonight? You could come by my place after work. I have something I’d like to discuss with you. A proposition of sorts.”

The bristling gone, Alicia was once again warm and friendly, but Tyler knew that dinner at her place tonight was out of the question. “I’m afraid I can’t. I need to find out what exactly happened today. In fact—” he stood “—I think I’d better go make sure Shaunna caught up with Lanie.”

Shaunna didn’t catch up with Lanie for more than a city block. Where the child thought she was going, Shaunna didn’t know, but Lanie was walking with determination, her limp barely discernible. As soon as she reached her side, Shaunna matched her steps to the ten-year-old’s. “You showed him, didn’t you?” she said as if they’d been carrying on a casual conversation for some time.

Lanie didn’t slow her steps and didn’t look at her. “Go away.”

“Can’t.”

Lanie did slow, then came to a complete stop. Only when she looked up, could Shaunna see the tears. She wanted to reach out and draw the girl close, but she knew Lanie would only resist. So she stood where she was and looked down at her, waiting for Lanie’s next response.

“I hate you,” she said.

“I don’t hate you.”

“I hate everyone.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“I want to ride Magic.”

“You can’t. Not yet.”

Shaunna watched Lanie chew on her lower lip, struggling not to cry. “You’re never going to let me ride him,” she said, her voice trembling.

“It’s not up to me whether you ride him or not. It’s up to Magic. We have to give him time to decide that he wants to be ridden. We have to let him know that he can trust us.”

“Magic used to trust me. He was sweet and loving before the accident. It’s you people who’ve ruined him.”

“Don’t include me in that ‘you’ people. I didn’t harm him. You’re the one who hasn’t shown me that you won’t harm him. Look at what happened today. Right there by Magic’s paddock, you got into a fight with Bobby.”

“He said my horse was ugly.”

“So you had to push him into that pile of manure?”

“He pushed me into it, too.”

“And that makes it right?”

Lanie stood, glaring at her, her breathing shallow.

Shaunna met her gaze without wavering. “What happens,” she asked, “if Magic doesn’t do what you want? Do you shove him around? Beat him up?”

Shaunna could tell that the suggestion surprised Lanie. “I wouldn’t hurt Magic,” she said.

“How do I know that?”

“’Cause I love him.”

“Words are cheap.” Shauna remembered how many times her father had said he loved her. Then she’d do something he didn’t like, bring home a math paper she’d done poorly on, and he’d hit her.

“I really mean it,” Lanie insisted.

“If you love him, then you’ll take care of him. You’ll give him time to get used to his new surroundings, time to get used to seeing you around. Every time you go into his stall or paddock, you leave your scent. I want him to associate that scent with good things. A clean paddock. Food. Clean water. I want him to see you around the other horses. And I want you watching him, watching how he acts and reacts. I want to know you’ve got the patience he’s going to need. Otherwise, forget it. I am not going to help that horse just to have you turn around and ruin him.”