Royal(53)
“You’re the only girl I know who’d rather be with a horse than with me,” he said, laughing, and she thanked him for dinner, and went to her room. It had been a nice evening, and for some reason, even with all the trappings, the fancy car, his good looks, and the racy life he seemed to lead, she felt sorry for him. He’d had a lonely childhood and no mother to love him. She’d been better off growing up as the daughter of a housemaid and a stable hand who both adored her. It had been a simple life, but they were real, and she knew how much they loved her. She never doubted it. The life he led seemed empty to her. He was a lost boy in a glittering world that had no appeal at all to her.
In his room, Anthony poured himself a glass of scotch and wondered what would become of her. She was like a child, and a breath of air. A little too much so for him. The women in his world were more exciting, and what they wanted from him was easy to give. What you’d have to give a girl like her was beyond him, and would have terrified him.
* * *
—
Annie was back in the stables at six o’clock the next morning, and had Flash in the main ring ten minutes later. He was more skittish than he had been the day before, but her steady routine and soothing voice calmed him, and by the time she brought him back to his stall at seven, he was peaceful and easy to manage again. She saw Lord Hatton go to his office as she walked Flash back to the barn. She was at the trainers’ meeting on time, and got her assignment for the day. She heard a rumor from the other trainers that there were photographers lying in wait for her, and then was told later that Lord Hatton had chased them away. He didn’t want Annie harassed by anyone, nor their collective privacy invaded. It was a great relief to Annie.
She’d exercised five of the horses by the end of the afternoon, and passed Anthony in the hall of the guesthouse. He was on his way out, looking very dashing. He obviously had a date or was going to a party.
“My father’s going to London tomorrow. Shall we race?” he said enticingly, and she hesitated.
“Will we get in trouble?” she asked him with wide eyes.
“We might,” he admitted, “but not if you don’t tell him.” The challenge was too great for either of them to resist, and they agreed to meet at seven the next morning. She was tempted to ride Flash, but knew he wasn’t stable, although she could have run any race with him. She didn’t want to win badly enough to damage a horse that wasn’t settled yet, and decided to ride a horse she’d exercised that afternoon, that was tried and true and easier to predict.
They settled on the meeting place, and she hoped no one would see them and tell Lord Hatton. It was a risk that seemed worth taking and she was looking forward to it.
She exercised Flash the next morning, and switched horses in time to meet Anthony. The idea of racing him was exhilarating. He was a good rider, but his skill was more mechanical, without passion. He had learned about horses and had been taught well, but didn’t “feel” them in his gut the way she did, or love them. She was smiling when she met up with him, in anticipation of what was to come. They left the more populated area sedately, and didn’t start the race until they were well out of sight. She gave her horse its head, and coaxed everything out of him he had to give. She wasn’t going to let Anthony beat her, and she calculated her horse’s strengths well, and won easily. Anthony looked angry when they finished, but got control of himself quickly.
“You’re a hell of a rider, Your Royal Highness,” he said grudgingly. “Rematch tomorrow?” he pressed her and she laughed. It had been an easy victory for her.
“Where will your father be?” They were like two naughty children, but she was pleased with beating him, and wanted to do it again. She’d outsmarted him as much as outrun him.
“He won’t be back till tomorrow night,” Anthony said.
“Then you have a deal. Same time, same place,” she said, and they headed back to the barns, with no one any the wiser for what they’d done.
She met him again the next day. She had chosen a different horse this time, one that was faster and more spirited. He danced around a bit on their way to where they had raced the day before. They were both wearing helmets, which would have been a tip-off to anyone who knew either of them that they were up to mischief, but no one had seen them leave the barn and ride off.
She got a good start on him as she had the day before, and they pounded across the meadow, and raced toward the cluster of trees that had been their finish line the day before. They were almost there when her horse shied from something he’d seen. She kept control of him, but he almost stumbled, and with no warning, she came off and flew through the air like a doll and landed hard, as Anthony reined his horse in, and raced to where she lay, suddenly realizing how foolish they had been. She lay lifeless on her back when he got there, and he grabbed her horse’s reins on the way, and tethered the two horses to each other as he jumped down and knelt next to her. She was breathing, but looked deathly pale. He took her helmet off and tried to decide what to do, and as he started to panic, she opened her eyes and couldn’t speak for a minute. She was badly winded, and when she tried to sit up, he stopped her.
“Stay still for a minute. I was an idiot to suggest this. Can you move?” he asked her. She gently moved her arms and legs and smiled up at him as she caught her breath enough to speak to him.