Impulsion (Station 32 #1)(7)

Wyatt held a special place in Camille’s heart. Harley wasn’t sure if it was because he was the oldest or if it was because Wyatt was his father all over again.

Camille was in her early fifties, still a beautiful woman, but you could clearly see that the sun, the outdoors, had been a constant companion to her. Wyatt had her hair color, that shade that the sunshine would highlight, that fair skin that was hidden under the bronze kiss of the sun. Lines that were mixes of smiles and scowls defined Camille’s visage. She was fit, had long, lean muscles in her arms and legs. She rode every day, never really sat still if you took the time to observe her for a while.

In the ring, she was as fierce as she taught. Her criticism was heavy, but that only made her praise all the sweeter. She never complimented you on what you should already know or be doing but always made sure you knew when you stepped outside of your limitations.

Harley was used to hard-core women, but Camille was different from the others, different from her mother, in the way that she seemed to understand that in life the only one you truly compete against is yourself. That was one of the first things she taught Harley, and that lesson helped Harley when she went home. It kept her from being drenched in the stress of fitting into the socialite life her mother kept forcing on her. Instead of looking at the other girls, or even her mother, Harley focused on what she could do to improve her own life. She would walk the way she was told, speak the way she was told, but she saw all of that as a lesson, a role, one where she could find a way to measure how much better she could improve one performance over the last.

“It’s going to rain tonight. We should move his day off to tomorrow.”

None of the horses were worked every day. They, too, needed days off, days just to be turned out and do what horses do. On Danny Boy’s days off, Harley would ride one of the other horses. She had a few that were her favorites, some were easier than Danny Boy, others pushed her, which made riding Danny Boy that much easier the next time she mounted.

If by random chance, at least every other week, there was no one for her to ride, Harley spent the morning with Wyatt in the south barn, working with the rescue horses. There was a mare she was in love with at that barn and was eager to spend time with. That mare was the first she had seen born. Her mother had no milk, so Harley and the others were the ones that nursed her. Knowing she would be mountless tomorrow and be able to spend time with that mare and Wyatt, she nodded to agree, then closed her book to give Camille her full attention.

“Do you not know how to swim, Harley?” Camille asked, not looking away from Danny Boy.

That statement confused Harley. At her school, everyone had to have two sports. Riding was one of hers, swimming was the other. It was the only sport she assumed would not hurt her and take away her chance to ride. She was sure Camille knew that, too.

“It’s not as fun as riding,” Harley answered, wondering if this were some parable or analogy. Right then, she was questioning if her lesson this morning didn’t go as well as it should have. Her first summer here, after every harsh lesson Camille made it a point to link the simplest things back to the rhythm and grace a rider needed.

“So you just dislike swimming in creeks?”

Harley flushed. The Dorans were far from poor, even though they jokingly called themselves horse poor all the time, meaning all of their money was in this facility, the equipment, the horses, what they needed to provide for them. Yet, every once in a while a comment would come Harley’s way that made her feel like the rich brat her mother claimed she was.

“I don’t know that the opportunity has ever surfaced,” Harley said as cautiously as she could.

“It didn’t arrive today, or every other day that Ava nags the hell out of me to take a break from the heat?”

Ava had asked Harley over and over that first summer to go swimming. At first, Harley didn’t go because she had a crush on Wyatt, was too scared to. Then, when what they were did happen, she didn’t go because she, as well as he, didn’t want anyone to pick up on the fact that they were falling hard for each other.

“Mrs. Doran.”

“Camille.”

“Camille,” Harley corrected. “I, I know what my mom said about me being here. I don’t want to put you or anyone in a difficult position.”

Camille smirked. She wasn’t the type of person to hide the way she felt about anyone or anything. Everyone knew that Camille Doran and Claire Tatum strongly disliked each other, even though over the years Claire Tatum had sent numerous clients to Camille. Harley’s mother wasn’t being nice by doing that, not at all. The fact was, in order to save face in front of all of her friends, Claire acted as if it were her grand idea that Harley train with the Dorans, and because Claire endorsed it, several followed her lead.

Those clients didn’t board here like Harley did. In fact, Harley learned after she came to this farm that it was her father’s request that she stay here. Of course, he came up with that proposal when Camille told him that Harley would have to train daily to even come close to riding Danny Boy to the caliber he needed.

Camille had said that to blow off the rich banker from New York and was floored when he asked her to board his daughter as well—and she was not shy about asking why he wanted her to do that. His response: he wanted his daughter to have the childhood, at least in part, that he’d had.

Camille adored Harley’s father, enjoyed hosting him when he came in once a month and stayed a week to watch Harley’s progression. “There is a real man under that suit.” That’s what she had told Harley.