him about hers. Get his take on her plans. He likely didn’t know anything about Thoroughbreds, but he might offer advice to steer her. Though no one had said it directly, Jade sensed her siblings and Mac, her father figure, thought she was too young and inexperienced to have bitten off this venture alone. Proving to herself and her family she could do this meant everything to her.
Her older sister, Leonor, had recently brought her five newly retired racehorses, whom Jade had renamed Tinker, Tots, Trace, Toy and Tiny. They were amazing specimens and Jade was enjoying working with them. Rehabilitating them and selling them would be another feather in her cap and she wanted to show her family her work had value and that she was good at what she did.
She searched for an excuse to talk to Declan again and wondered how to segue into a conversation about business. Every step of the way toward opening Hill Country had been a struggle, and her inexperience networking was showing. She couldn’t ask River to help her. Declan and River’s relationship was tense and complicated by Declan’s relationship with Edith, who spoke only good things about her boss, but others seemed to believe Declan was cold and harsh. Having met him and spoken with him for a few minutes, Jade sided with Edith’s opinion.
Jade looked around for Declan. He may have left. The idea disappointed her immensely.
Taking a deep breath, Jade took in the scene around her. River and Edith were only recently engaged and they were planning to marry quickly. It hadn’t given the other Coltons much time to plan the wedding festivities. Edith looked beautiful in a blue dress. Claudia had a hand in selecting her outfit as well as the shoes she was wearing. The dress fell just above her knee and was the right amount of sweet and sexy. Jade admired her ability to pull it off.
Her brothers and sisters were there, surrounded by spouses and boyfriends or girlfriends or fiancés, and everyone seemed so happy. Jade felt a twinge of loneliness and tried to brush it away. Feeling alone while surrounded by her family and friends made no sense.
The party could go on for several more hours and the idea exhausted her. Offering to host had been her attempt to further her connection with her siblings. With the exception of her relationship with Knox, the Coltons had not been close after Livia was arrested and it was a fact Jade regretted. Since Livia had escaped prison, it had gotten better between the siblings as they united against their mother. Jade wouldn’t ask anyone to leave, but she had to get an early start in the morning. Her animals needed her and as a new business owner, she didn’t have extra funds to hire many hands for around the farm. She kept pigs, chickens and goats and, of course, her horses. With the extra noise of the party, Jade needed to check on them to be sure they weren’t riled up.
First she looked in on her barn animals. Feeling secure that they weren’t upset by the party sounds, she walked around the back of the barn, cutting behind her house and into the stables. Her path was deliberate. Though her siblings were friendly and warm toward her, while she couldn’t put her finger on it, she didn’t fit in. Trying in her own way hadn’t taken her far.
Her thoughts turned again to Declan and she swatted them away. He was trouble for her. River’s relationship with his new half brother had overarching complexities Jade didn’t fully understand. More than that, Declan was La Bonne Vie’s owner and as far as Jade could tell, that place brought nothing except problems, including becoming a hideout for their mother last month. Having lived through Livia’s lifetime of crimes, Jade wasn’t naive and sheltered, but Declan had a polish and sophistication she didn’t. Getting caught up with a man more mature and experienced would land her in trouble. Being in over her head in business was something she could handle, but not in her personal life.
Assigning blame wouldn’t help, but Jade believed her mother had a hand in her daughter’s inability to fit in. With the exception of Mac, father to Jade’s half brother Thorne and the man who had taken Jade and Claudia in after Livia’s arrest, Jade hadn’t had a guiding hand growing up. She hadn’t been close with her siblings and Jade hadn’t confided in them when she had problems at school. Same as it was now, except she didn’t make mistakes in school, it was her life and her business that took the hit.
Jade unlocked the stable door and entered. Her horses were all retired Thoroughbreds in need of rehabilitation. Most were three to five years old and had either retired from racing or had never competed because they weren’t fast enough, strong enough or had the wrong dispositions. When the horses no longer required her stable’s services, she would place them for sale. Since opening Hill Country Farm as an equine rehabilitation center two years ago, she had rehabbed, retrained and had found homes for three horses. In her long-term plans, she wanted to work with more horses at one time.
Rehabbing horses, depending on the condition in which she received them, required dedication and commitment. The horse showing the most problems was Tinker, a bay mare. She was nowhere near ready to be rehabbed or retrained. After receiving arthroscopic surgery to repair a leg fracture, Tinker had spent the last month in the pasture during the day and needed to relax and grow accustomed to the changes in her life. Lower protein, higher carbohydrate diet, easy, lazy time spent grazing.
When Jade entered the stable, she sensed the tension rolling off the mare. She spoke to Tinker quietly and calmly, same as she did every time she was near her.
Tinker had a faraway look in her eyes. Though Jade rarely received the complete history of a horse’s life, and no owner admitted to drugging or abusing the animals, she had the sense that Tinker had not been treated well. To date, she might be the most difficult horse she’d taken on, but Jade would not give up. Hill Country Farm would be a place known for sticking it out even when the times were tough.
Claudia had mentioned that some animals, as with people, were beyond repair. Jade heard her meaning, but she wouldn’t accept it. Their mother was a monster. Jade had written her off. But these horses deserved a better life.
Jade sensed someone watching her. If Livia had crept onto her farm to corner her, Jade was ready. Her adrenaline fired and her muscles were tight. Rational thought struggled against her fears. It couldn’t be Livia. Showing up tonight would be audacious, even for Livia. Jade whirled and her eyes landed on Declan.
“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to stare.”
Excitement and happiness danced inside her at the sight of him.
Tinker whinnied, as if sensing the energy in the air, and Jade reached to soothe her. Her heart thundered against her rib cage. “You surprised me. I thought I was alone.” Taking in a measured breath, she kept her cool for her animals. If she got too rattled, they would sense it and act out. Part of her therapy was teaching her horses that calm was okay. They didn’t need to be ready to perform at a moment’s notice anymore.
“You were talking to that horse in a way I’ve never seen before,” Declan said.
“You’re from Texas,” Jade said. Most of the people she knew loved horses: Mac and Thorne and her nephew, Cody, especially.
An uninterpretable emotion passed over Declan’s face. “I was born here. But I spent a good portion of my life in Louisiana.”
Jade mentally kicked herself. She had heard from Edith that Declan had been in foster care in New Orleans. Not knowing him well enough to pry, she didn’t ask how he had come to be in another state. She didn’t appreciate when people asked her invasive questions. Much of her childhood was filled with dark, twisted memories she hated recalling. “I love all my horses.” Stick to a topic she was comfortable with.
“How many do you have?” he asked, taking a couple of steps toward her.
She would give anything to have something more to do with her hands, to keep busy. “Eight. Which is max capacity for us. I just sold a horse last month.” Nine had been near impossible; only with Flint so close to finishing his rehabilitation had it been possible.
Declan tucked his hands in his pockets. He looked at the rows of stalls. “More room than for eight.”
Talking about her big plans made her nervous, almost as if admitting her pie-in-the-sky dream would get her laughed at. Her mother had laughed at her. Her teachers had expected her to fail. After