Page 7 of Knox (Graeme #3)

Faith In Me

T he vibration woke me up this morning, and I caught my phone before it hit the floor.

Jasper still hadn't responded to me, but I didn't expect him to. Not now.

Ian had been down to ride Stryder already, and was now making breakfast when I made it to the kitchen.

I set my boots by the door, and he tilted his head towards the coffee maker. Neither of us was into conversation first thing in the morning.

Colin joined us in his pajamas, and Ian leaned against the counter beside me as he drank his coffee while the bacon sizzled in the pan on the stove.

“You don’t have anywhere to be today besides the wedding tonight,” Colin said.

“I’ve hired someone to take Jasper’s place, and the two new guys you hired last week start work when they show up at noon.

” Colin glanced at me and winked. “Cappy lives in the house, so, they’ll be in the barn apartment. ”

“Adam will like that. He hates it up there,” Ian murmured as he flipped the bacon.

Colin laughed. “And he only spent one night.”

“I think it’s more that the space isn’t soundproof,” Ian said.

“Who did you hire?” I asked, removing the eggs from the fridge while Ian took the bacon up.

“Barry and Billy Donal. They are apprenticing here for a year before MacDonal steps down as Mac,” Ian said. “Can you handle what Jasper was doing?”

“The invoices and stuff?” I asked, and Ian nodded. “I can, yeah.”

“What does Cappy do?” Colin asked.

“He keeps up with schedules, and decides which horses we will train and which we won’t,” I said. “Pretty sure he’ll figure out which stall Foxhound will have, and find a jockey if Granpa wants to race her.”

“He also sets the field rotations,” Ian said. “We won’t be using the valley between here and the house until spring.”

“Okay,” Colin nodded.

Finn walked out of his and Ian’s room, dressed to the nines, his side piece playing peek-a-boo as he turned to look at Colin. “We aren’t going like that.”

“Oh!” Colin hurried out of the kitchen to dress, and Finn hugged Ian, kissed him on the lips, and took his coffee cup to refill it.

We worked together then to set the island for breakfast, and Sylvie joined us, dressed for the barn.

Ian arched a brow at her, and she froze.

“Okay, those clothes aren’t warm enough, your hair is-” Ian said.

“A mess,” Finn finished as he examined her nails. “Chipped polish, chapped skin, and no makeup.”

“She needs a spa day,” Ian nodded as the pair exchanged a glance.

“Mm-hmm,” Finn nodded.

“But I-” she whispered, looking to me for help.

“Now, I think she should help Anni,” Ian said. “She’s learned all she can in the barn, and she’ll be doing Anni’s job in the movie.”

“Well, she can’t meet Macs looking like this,” Finn said.

“You know,” Sylvie slumped onto a stool.

“Know what?” Ian winked.

They did know, and were taking care of her to save face because she was Sylvie Avery, A-lister, like Ian was.

The glitter even said she was here to prepare for a new role, so it wasn’t common knowledge that she was broke.

“Go change after breakfast. You’re going with Anni to the salon at ten,” Ian said, and Sylvie nodded, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“Okay,” she whispered, and Ian set a plate in front of her, while Finn made her a cup of coffee.

Ian pointed at me. “Eat. You have two deliveries today if I’m not mistaken.”

I tucked into my food, and when Mom joined us, she hugged Sylvie before kissing my cheek.

It was strange that it took Uncle Ian showing up for Mom to accept me. Kept that to myself, though. It would hurt her feelings, and I didn’t want to do that.

Left me with questions, though, like the ones I had last night over Knox.

Sylvie said she had clean-up when I set my empty plate in the sink, and Ian followed me to the garage after I grabbed my boots and put them on.

The last bay held a golf cart, and we took that to the barn.

“Uncle, I have a question,” I said when I was sure we were alone.

“Okay.”

“What was Lacey’s problem yesterday?”

Ian laughed before stopping on the rise overlooking the barn. “I think I was the first person to tell her no, and then Knox told her no again. She didn’t leave the barn with anyone last night. Gonna have to fix that when Finn and I have our barn party. How are you?”

“So, Knox asked me for a ride yesterday. Sylvie was worried about supper, so I had her order pizza from my phone while he was in the back seat.”

“You bought his food, too,” Ian nodded.

“I did, yeah. His sister ended up with Jasper, and he asked me for a ride?” I shook my head. “When I dropped him off last night, he kissed me when his dad came out and stood on the porch. Don’t know what that was about. Was he saving himself or me?”

“Now, that’s interesting. You aren’t upset about Jasper, then.”

I frowned. “Dunno how to feel about it, really. Did he use me as a place to stay? I just want to know why, really. I miss him, but at the same time, he basically cheated on me, or used me or somethin’.”

“I think I changed things when I made you my heir, Josh. I’m sorry. The Macs had a plan, and I blew it up.”

I nodded. “It’s okay. I want someone who wants me back, you know? But if I wasn’t good enough for Marcus-”

“Well, those plans were set in motion before I came home, now. I claimed you as my heir, and that raised your status from the toy Ethan and Anni fought over to family.” He rubbed the top of my head. “You are family, Josh. No matter what happens or who you choose to be with.”

One truck with a trailer attached headed towards the barn from the road, and Ian took off in that direction again.

Andy MacHinden climbed out, and when Ian stopped the golf cart, Andy hugged me. “Happy birthday, Josh. I brought you a new horse to train. Roman is a two-year-old Quarterhorse from Atlanta. He’s quick, and should transition well from Western to English.”

He stepped back, and led me around to the trailer, letting the tailgate down. Ian handed me an apple and motioned for me to go ahead.

"Me? You want me to train him?" I whispered. Okay, dealing with Stryder was one thing. Ian's horse had a personality, and well, he was Ian's. I didn't know what to do with Roman.

"You." Andy winked. "I've seen you working with the others."

I took a deep breath and put a hand on the horse’s flank. "Okay. Here goes nothin'."

Ian laughed and shook his head. "You can do this, Josh. Have a little faith in yourself."

I nodded once, licked my top lip, and began to talk like Ian did when he wanted to coax a horse out of the trailer. “Hey, Roman. I’m Josh. Got an apple for ya, and a nice stall with some oats and hay. I’ve never ridden with a Western saddle. Heard they like to barrel race? Have you done that?”

I reached his head, and he scented me, touching his forehead to mine. I reached for the lead and kept talking as I backed him out.

“You’re my first horse, so I hope I make a good human,” I said as we cleared the trailer.

Roman took the apple from my hand, and I looked around, finding Cappy, who motioned me to Roman’s new stall.

Hellfire lifted his head from farther down, but that was the extent of his huff over Roman.

Stryder nickered, and Roman nickered back, sidestepping the stall Cappy chose.

I shrugged and headed towards Stryder; the pair greeted each other like old friends.

“You good now?” I asked, rubbing Stryder’s forehead.

“Well, these two will get along, then,” Cappy said. “I fixed this stall for Foxhound, but it seems maybe it should be Roman’s.”

He opened the door, and Roman huffed at Cappy before walking into the stall beside Stryder.

I laughed softly and removed the lead before closing the door again.

"Go on up and get the paperwork started. Ian and I can handle this until the new ones get here." Cappy winked at me, and I smiled.

Cappy had faith in me, too. It was a week of revelations, and this one, at least, was good.

I entered the barn apartment and looked around before heading into the office. Everything had been moved back, and all traces of it being Sylvie’s room were gone.

Sat down at the desk, and whistled over the paperwork. So many things had to be entered, and invoices needed to be printed.

Boarding and training fees ran the barn and paid for the employees. For the charity race, we made a hundred grand, and for the barn party last night, we made two hundred grand.

Wallace sent twenty horses for a week, and it was ten a pop for each one because they were staying while he honeymooned, too. Wallace pampered his horses, and we would cater to them.

Jasper stopped working on this a week ago, and didn't bother to ask me. He could have. We shared this before.

How could one girl be so much more important than a job? Okay, I was being mean. It was clan politics, and KnightTimeDanc3r was right. None of us could escape our fate.