The Horsewoman(45)

Finally, slowly, she was able to get to her feet.

“You ready to get back to work?” he said.

“Now?”

“You know what they say,” Gus said. “Don’t tell me about the pain. Just show me the baby.”

“You know who says that?” she said. “Guys.”

It was when she had turned Paladin and put him back into motion that she saw Daniel Ortega staring at her from the other side of the fence.





FIFTY-ONE

Maggie



SHE TROTTED PALADIN one more time around the ring. When she finished, Daniel was the one coming out to help her down. Her legs were cramping again, though not as badly as before. But she wasn’t going to let him see that.

“What are you doing here, Maggie?” he said.

“Isn’t that obvious?” she said.

“What’s obvious,” he said, “is that it’s too soon for you to be doing this.”

“Probably so,” she said. “But not your call.” Then she snapped at him, “The one who has no right to be here is you.”

She knew she had no right to be angry at him. But she wanted to be angry at somebody. Mostly because she’d been caught.

“We need to talk,” she said. “Right now.”

She ignored the pain in her legs, her knee really barking at her now, and led him out of the ring and over to the driveway where Daniel had parked his car next to hers. She resisted the powerful urge to sit down and she leaned against the side of her car instead.

“First things first,” she said. “If you tell either one of them, you’re fired.”

They both knew she meant Becky and Caroline.

“You don’t mean that,” he said.

“Try me,” she said.

Daniel suggested they have their talk over coffee.

“Right here is fine,” Maggie said. “I’m not done riding yet.”

“Gus seemed to be under the impression the horse was done for the day,” Daniel said.

“Is he the one who told you?”

She just wanted to be sure.

Daniel shook his head.

“Are you certain of that?”

“Yes, Maggie, I am.”

Don’t sit down. Fight off the pain. Keep going.

“If you wanted to start riding again,” Daniel said, “why here and not at home? Why aren’t you training with me?”

“I don’t need a trainer right now,” she said. “I need a nanny.”

“But why here?”

“Because I don’t want them to know!” she said. “Because I don’t want them to see me like this.” She sighed and in a quieter voice said, “I didn’t want you to see, either, if you want to know the truth.”

“Maggie,” he said, “as Dr. Garry told you, if you get hurt now, it won’t be a month away from riding. It could be a whole year.”

She could feel heat rising up in her, mostly because she knew he was right. She’d always told Becky: When you’re right, you’re right.

But she kept her voice calm.

“It’s not your decision,” she said. “Not Mother’s, or Becky’s, or even Dr. Garry’s. It’s mine. The same as it will be my decision when I want to tell my mom or Becky. And that is why you are going to promise me that you’re not going to tell.”

“You will have to tell them eventually,” he said. “If they don’t find out the way I did.”

“Until I do,” she said, “I don’t want them looking at me like I’m a piece of my mother’s precious china.”

She looked at him.

“Okay?” she said.

She studied his face. Saw the hesitation before he answered, as if having a debate with himself Maggie could almost hear.

“Okay,” he said finally.

“You promise to keep my secret for now,” she said.

She knew it wasn’t close to being a question.

“If that is what you wish.”

“You’ve got your secrets, Daniel,” she said. “Now you get to carry around one of mine. I’ve got this. I do. And until I tell them, I don’t want you worrying about me.”

That got a smile out of him.

“Now that,” he said, “I cannot promise.”

“And I will make a promise to you,” she said. “I won’t jump until I’m sure I’m ready. I promise.”

They shook on it. At least her hands didn’t hurt.

He told her he would see her back at the barn, got into his car, and drove away. Maggie watched until the car disappeared. Then she limped inside the barn and told Gus she wanted to spend just a little more time in the ring.

“Could you wait about fifteen minutes so I can watch you?” he said. “I’ve got a quick conference call in the house about this horse in Kentucky we’ve been looking at.”

“I’m barely going to do more than walk,” Maggie said. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” he said. “Because if I break you, your mother is going to be really mad at me.”

Seamus got Paladin ready, walked him out, got Maggie up, then Gus wheeled around the corner of the barn toward his house. When Maggie was sure he was gone, she urged the horse into a trot.