Conflicted (Everlasting Love)(19)

When he finally returned to the hotel after sitting through three sets of X rays and two veterinary exams, all Jesse wanted was a cold shower, a hot meal and some time with his wife. But when he opened the door to their suite, she and Big John were sitting on the couch, talking in low voices.

Conscious of their eyes on him and the sudden stillness of the room, Jesse closed the door behind him and walked slowly into the living room.

“Rhapsody’s going to be fine,” he said into the hostile silence. “Nothing’s broken, but it’ll take her a couple of weeks to recover from the sprains. She was still so nervous that the vet had to tranq her so that she wouldn’t hurt herself. By the time I left she was pretty mellow.”

Big John nodded, abruptly climbing to his feet. “Did you get the chance to look at the films? See what happened?”

“Mystic bit her, just a little nip on her left flank, but you know how sensitive Rhapsody is. It set her off.”

“Shouldn’t she have been trained for that? Expecting it as it happens quite a bit on the racetrack?” Though his voice held no trace of emotion, Jesse could see the accusation on his father-in-law’s face, the misery on Desiree’s.

“I’m not in the habit of walking up behind my horses and biting them, if that’s what you’re asking, John,” Jesse commented.

“Your horses?” Big John answered with a deliberate cruelty. “And here I’ve been under the impression that they were my horses.” He walked to the door. “You marry my daughter and suddenly get delusions of grandeur, Rainwater? Seeing as how it’s been nine years and I still don’t have a Triple Crown winner, I think that takes some nerve.” He slammed out of the hotel room without another word, leaving Jesse standing with his mouth half-open and the first seeds of anger sprouting in his gut.

“What was that all about?” he demanded, turning toward Desiree as rage swept through him. “If Rhapsody hadn’t fallen, he would have had his damn Triple Crown today and everyone knows it.”

“But she did stumble and he doesn’t have the Triple Crown.” Her words were abrupt, her tone almost angry and Jesse stared at her incredulously. “Are you kidding me? You’re going to blame this on me, too?”

Desiree bit her lip, stared at him through confused eyes. “I didn’t say that, Jess. But what exactly do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me what you two were talking about when I got here?”

“Nothing,” she spoke quickly, even as she avoided looking directly into his eyes. “We were discussing what had happened and how it could have been prevented.”

Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “Rhapsody’s high-strung, Desi. You know that. Everyone knows that. And she was already spooked going into this thing—a nip on the rump was all it took to send her completely over the edge. It’s not that hard to understand.”

“But we should have been able to prevent it, to stop—”

“You mean I should have been able to stop it, don’t you?”

“I didn’t say that!”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Jesse, you promised my father a Triple Crown!”

“I promised your father that I would do my best to deliver one. I didn’t guarantee it.”

She shook her head in irritation. “Now you’re splitting hairs.”

“I’m splitting hairs? You’re jumping all over me because a horse, who was going to win the race, stumbled and fell on the track. Don’t you think that’s just a little irrational?”

“Irrational?” Her voice rose with every syllable. “Look, I’m caught in the middle between you and my father and I didn’t ask to be put there.”

“Bullshit. Don’t play the martyr, Desiree, it doesn’t become you. You’re in the middle because you put yourself there. I’ve never asked you to interfere between your father and me before and I’m not doing so now. You’re the one who started on me the second your father left.”

“He’s got the right to be upset. His—”

“Are you even listening to yourself? What the hell does he have to be upset about? He should be grateful that Rhapsody is all right, that she didn’t break both her front legs like Sterling’s Silver. That he didn’t have to put down a million-dollar racehorse and that she’ll be able to run again.” Fury ate at him, raising his voice and his blood pressure.

“Of course he’s happy that Rhapsody is okay.”

“Yeah. He looked really relieved when I told him.”

“You’re not being fair.”

“I’m getting blamed because a horse fell in the race and you think I’m not being fair?”

“She didn’t win, Jess.”

“So what, Desiree? It’s just a race. One that your father—and apparently, you—are completely obsessed with, but it’s still just a race.”

“It’s more than that. Daddy wants this more that anything, has worked for it his entire life. Why can’t you see that?”

“Why can’t you see that he’s obsessed? That his desire to win this stupid thing is almost sick?”

“Don’t say that about him! Don’t you ever say that! Since Mama died, this ranch is all he has. He wants to leave a legacy, Jesse. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”