“Interesting,” Hunt said.
“Interesting? What kind of comment is that?” his father demanded.
“I don't know. It's just that she's not what I thought, you know?”
“No, I don't know,” his father said. “What did you think she was?”
“Well, from all the talk, I thought . . .”
Danny nodded and guffawed. “You've been listening to Jack Carney's cronies. They're wrong, son. That girl in there is good people in spite of what you've heard.”
Nealy came out of Stardancer's stall smiling. “He's better now,” she said.
“You've spoiled him,” Danny said.
“Maybe, but he deserves to be spoiled a little after all the years everybody ignored him. Thanks for sending Hunt for me. Good night, Danny. See you tomorrow.”
“Night, Nealy.”
Hunt followed Nealy through the breezeway into the open. “Hey, wait up,” he called. “I want to talk to you.”
“About what?” she asked over her shoulder.
She could hear him hesitate a moment. “About Stardancer. I'm curious about something my dad said.”
She turned around and waited for him to fall in step beside her. “I'd invite you to have some dessert with us if you promise not to say anything about the Christmas tree.” She gave him a challenging look.
He nodded. “Okay, I promise.”
It felt good coming into the warm kitchen from outside. As soon as Nealy hung her coat on the hook, she peeked into the living room to see how Carmela and the kids were doing. A gurgle of laughter erupted from her throat when she saw the Christmas tree. Buddy was on the ladder with the tree topper, trying to tie it around the stump with a piece of Christmas ribbon. “It is a bush,” she whispered to herself as she opened the door and went into the living room. “It's beautiful!” she said, her smile wide. Then she cocked her head to give it a better look. “Well, maybe
beautiful
isn't the right word. Let's say it's different. Very different. But I like it. I really like it! It's kind of like us. Not perfect, a little rough around the edges, but sturdy. Really sturdy.”
“That's a profound statement if I ever heard one,” Hunt said.
Nealy turned to look at him and saw that he wasn't making fun of her. His expression was serious.
“Milky Way bars for dessert,” she announced, feeling suddenly uncomfortable and needing to escape. “The frozen kind.” Nealy walked over to the children, hugged them, then signed,
You both did real good. See, this is something we'll remember for a very long time. Wash up and go to the kitchen.
“I'll go get things ready,” Carmela said, heading toward the kitchen.
Hunt touched her arm. “My dad says you've got a special way with horses, actually with all animals.”
“I just pay attention to them, that's all.” She bent to pick up an empty ornament box. “I know your father and some of the others think I was crazy to breed Stardancer with Little Lady, but they'll change their minds, just you wait and see. Their foal is going to be a Derby winner. And when he runs for the roses, Stardancer and Little Lady are going to be right there at the track watching him. Horses have feelings, emotions about their offspring, just like people. I don't care what the books say or those horse experts who think they know about horses. If people would just pay closer attention, they'd see what I've seen. Horses are not big, dumb, stupid animals like most people think. They aren't. Stardancer is the living proof. Go ahead, laugh. Everybody else does, so you might as well join in,” Nealy said grimly, her jaw set in hard lines.
“You don't see me laughing, do you?” Hunt said quietly.
Nealy's tight expression eased. “No, I don't see you laughing. I guess I should thank you for that.”
“In case you didn't know, I worked here part-time right alongside my dad until I went off to college, so I learned a thing or two about horses. I was here the day Stardancer threw Maud. Jess called my dad to get him after it happened. I was right there with my dad helping to quiet Stardancer. All the way back to his stall, Dancer kept twisting around to look behind him, as if he knew he'd done something he shouldn't have. So you see, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that horses are emotional, feeling creatures just like us, only different.”
Nealy stared at him. An unexpected feeling of warmth surged through her. She'd been resisting Hunt's friendship since the day he'd arrived. Why, she didn't know. He was so easy to talk to, and he didn't laugh at her like the others did.
“So, you're going to be a lawyer,” she said, deliberately changing the subject.
“Maud and Jess wanted me to make something out of myself, so they footed half the bill. All I ever wanted was to work here alongside my dad, grooming horses, watching them race around the track. It's what I lived for. But Dad was on Maud and Jess's side. He said anybody could be a groom, but to be a lawyer, now that was something special. He'd had enough disappointments in life, and I didn't want to be another one. So I went to law school, got good grades, and will graduate this May. I hate the law. Always did and probably always will. But I'm good at it.”
“Wow, that ought to make for an interesting career. I can see you now, getting up every morning, going over your briefs as you absentmindedly sip coffee, putting on your fashionable dark gray suit and matching tie and walking into the courtroom and saying, âI object, Your Honor.' ”
“Yep, you got it. And I'm going to hate every minute of it.”
“I'm looking to replace Jack Carney,” Nealy blurted without thinking. “You say you know a thing or two about horses, and I know you know a thing or two about handling people and about the legal system so . . .” She stopped to take a breath and to wonder what she was doing. “Do you think you could manage Blue Diamond Farms?”
“What?” Hunt's eyes were wide with disbelief.
“You'd have to report to me. If you think you'd have a problem with answering to a woman as your boss, say so now.”
“I can't believe this. Are you serious?”
“There's something you need to know about me, Hunter Clay. I never say anything I don't mean. I'm serious, I'm dedicated, and I never give up on anything. Once I make a decision, and I make lots of snap decisions, I live with it. I got that tree . . . bush . . . whatever it is in here, didn't I? If you want the job, it's yours, but only after you finish law school. And you have to pass the bar exam. You can handle our routine legal affairs and save us outside fees. Your salary will be the same as what Jack was getting. It's more than generous. Jess set the pay scale awhile back. The year-end bonuses are equally generous. We can talk about it when you're ready to sign on.”
Without warning her feet left the floor and she was sailing through the air in a pair of hard, muscular arms. She could smell his aftershave and the overall clean smell of him. It was a heady combination. The kiss on her forehead burned. She was so flustered when he set her down she could feel her face start to burn.
“You're blushing,” Hunt said. “I didn't know girls blushed these days.”
“You . . . you took my breath away,” she said, putting her hand over her heart to keep it from popping out of her chest. “Hey,” she said breathlessly, “don't go getting any ideas now.”
“God forbid!” he said, laughing. “You're okay, Nealy Diamond.”
“So are you, Hunter Clay.”
“C'mon, let's go celebrate with that dessert I promised you,” Nealy said, linking her arm with Hunt's for the walk to the kitchen.
Â
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The twenty-ninth day of the New Year dawned clear and bright. Nealy knew when she woke that today was
the
day . . . the day her Kentucky Derby winner would be born.
Stardancer seemed to know, too. He was pacing in his stall when she arrived, and Danny said he had been excited all morning. “I want you to take Little Lady to the foaling stall in the new barn, then I'll help you take Stardancer over there and put him in the adjoining stall.” When she saw his eyes narrow, she said, “Don't give me any flak on this, Danny. I know what I'm asking is against every Thoroughbred horse breeder's rules, but this is my farm now, and I make the rules. Think of it as an experiment.”
“Okay, you're the boss, but don't blame me if something goes wrong.”
“I won't, Danny. But nothing will go wrong. Will you please have faith in me just this once, okay?”
The new foaling barn had been built to Nealy's exact specifications just after Hunt had arrived. It wasn't for every mare, just for a few selected ones, and only one birth at a time ever took place. The stall was bigger than average, thirty square feet, to allow the mare and her attendants to walk around without running into each other. It was deeply bedded with clean straw, and the sides were padded so when the new foal fell he or she wouldn't be hurt. Every modern convenience, every comfort had been seen to, including a sleeping area and a small bathroom so the attendants had no reason to leave.
Hunt was the only one who hadn't raised his eyebrows at her plan. He understood her feelings and respected her instincts. “Do what your heart tells you to do,” he had said. And that's what she'd done.
“Today's the day, isn't it, big fella?” Nealy asked from outside the stall. The stallion was far too excited to be bothered with hugs and pats. “Be patient a little while longer, okay?” She gave him a hug and a wave before she headed back to the house. Emmie and Buddy would be delighted with the news and equally delighted to learn that they wouldn't be going to school today.
Carmela had lived around Nealy long enough to trust her instincts. With Nealy's announcement that today was
the
day, she'd made coffee in the twenty-cup coffeemaker and prepared an assortment of sandwiches and snacks.
The children taken care of, Nealy returned to the barn to check on Little Lady. She knew the workers were hissing and whispering about her behind her back, knew none of the old-timers approved of her methods. No one would have questioned Maud or Jess; but she was still fair game, the twit who had stepped into the golden pile of horse shit.
Hunter and Danny were settling the mare into her new quarters when she arrived.
“She's looking a mite uncomfortable,” Hunt observed.
Nealy laughed. “You would be, too, if you were carrying that big of a load around in your belly.”
Dr. Ed Franklin blew into the new barn with a heavy gust of wind. He chucked his wool jacket, his muffler, and his cap onto the bench in the breezeway. “So, how's it going?”
The moment the words were out of his mouth, Little Lady's water broke.
“Time to get Stardancer and bring him over,” Nealy said, taking Hunt's arm.
“You can't be serious,” the vet said.
Nealy turned around. “I'm very serious. Why do you think I had this barn built? You knew this was my plan from the beginning. Why are you acting so surprised now?”
“If you bring that stallion in here, I'm leaving. I won't be a party to this . . . this . . . craziness.”
Nealy's back stiffened. She swallowed the saliva in her mouth. What would Maud and Jess do? She had to admit she didn't know. “That's your choice.” She thought about how much money the vet earned annually at Blue Diamond Farms. “Hunt, call Dr. Miller.”
“Miller?” the vet shouted, his voice several octaves higher than normal. “You want that quack to attend Little Lady?” His angry eyes were as big as horseshoes.
“Thank you for coming, Dr. Franklin. Since we won't be needing your services any longer, we'll be sending you a final check at the end of the week. You have a nice day now.”
The vet stomped out of the stall, grumbling as he went. “Crazy female. Hasn't a clue. Wait till the other owners hear about this!”
The moment Hunt completed his call to Dr. Miller, he raced after Nealy to help her bring Stardancer to his new stall. The stallion pranced through the breezeway to his now-familiar quarters. He was the picture of excitement, his eyes big and wide and his ears perked to hear every sound. As excited and as spirited as he was, he was manageable, a fact that Hunt commented on with surprise.
A large opening between stalls had been built so that the stallion could poke his head through and see everything that was going on with his mare and foal. For hours, Stardancer watched intently, hardly moving, never eating or drinking.
Little Lady's contractions had started about ten minutes after her water broke. The vet had arrived thirty minutes later and didn't voice an opinion one way or another where Stardancer was concerned.
An hour later the vet split the thick, rubbery silver-looking placenta. A few minutes later, Nealy saw the first sign of the foalâhis two front legs. As the foal moved, the vet skillfully peeled the placenta away. Then the foal's nostrils appeared, and, a second later, its head was out, tucking against the mare's legs.