Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 01 - Dark Horse (14 page)

After the first couple questions Jeff sketches a half-wave to Dan and heads into the house. Dan is temporarily distracted. Did he really just let himself be dragged into a conversation with a teenage girl so that Jeff could make an undisturbed booty call? But he reminds himself that Jeff and Evan are none of his business, and tries to get back on track with Tat.

He’s distracted again when Linda comes out to say goodbye for the day. She reminds Dan of his schedule, and makes sure that he’s got everything he needs in the guest house, and then chats a little with Tat about her day. The whole time Dan is thinking that now Jeff and Evan are alone, and they’ve been away from each other for a while, and does Jeff live here? Do they share a bedroom? Or are they in Evan’s bedroom? Or Evan’s office, afternoon light coming in through the venetian blinds, Evan sitting on the big wooden desk with Jeff standing between his legs, pressing in tight, Jeff leaning Evan back over the paperwork, working the buttons on Evan’s shirt open while he sucks and bites at his neck….

Dan feels pressure against his fly and rips himself back to reality. What is he doing, about to let himself get hard ten feet away from a teenage girl? Is he really that desperate? That out of control? He swirls his feet in the pool a little more vigorously, hoping the cool water will help calm him down. Linda calls out her goodbye to him, and he waves in response, and then the door to the house opens and Evan and Jeff come out together, not looking at all as Dan had just been picturing them.

Evan grins at Dan’s position by the pool. “Damn, did Jeff teach you that?” Evan looks over at Jeff’s bare feet and damp lower pant legs. “The guy can’t sit out here for two minutes without having his feet in the water.”

Dan swirls his feet a little more. “I guess he knows how to live. You need to cut the legs off some of those chairs so you could sit like this and still have a backrest.”

Jeff nods. “Now you’re thinking.”

The housekeeper comes out with a tray loaded with a variety of appetizers, and Jeff helps her set it up on the table. She comes back with a bottle of wine and four glasses, as well as a can of Diet Coke. Dan watches in amusement as Evan opens the bottle of wine while Jeff pours the Coke into a wine glass he hands to Tatiana. Then Tat drags him along to the far end of the terrace, wanting to show him where she thinks a squirrel has its nest. With one wine glass still empty, Evan looks at Dan. “We’ve got beer, if you’d prefer?”

Dan shakes his head. “No, wine’s fine, thanks.” Then he starts feeling a little intrusive. “But, maybe not a whole glass. I mean, you guys probably have some sort of family stuff to catch up on or something… and I’ve got things to do to get ready for tomorrow.”

“What, read the resumes again? Come on, it’s California… relax!” Evan fills the glass to the same level as the others and walks over to hand it to Dan. “Besides, you’re here for dinner, right? There’s no point in going away and then coming back again.”

“Uh, I don’t know. Am I here for dinner? I mean, I sort of expected a hotel, thought I’d be eating there.” Evan looks a little startled by Dan’s words. “I don’t mean I
wanted
a hotel, I just… I mean, I’m your employee, right? Do you really want me eating all my meals with you?”

Evan is standing right next to Dan and looks at him for a little longer than is comfortable before softly saying, “Yeah, Dan, I do.” He moves away a little and takes a sip of his wine. “Nice sunglasses, by the way.”

Dan had forgotten he was wearing them. “Oh, yeah. Jeff loaned them to me. It was rainy at home, so I wasn’t wearing any, and I don’t think I remembered to pack any.”

Evan nods. “They’re from a trip we took to Costa Rica. Going down to the tropics, and we both forgot to bring sunglasses. And the shop only had one style that wasn’t totally ugly, so we each bought the same pair, felt like one of those ‘dress alike’ couples for the whole rest of the trip.” Evan takes another sip of wine. “I sat on mine on the plane ride back, totally crushed them.”

Dan wonders if there’s supposed to be some deeper meaning to the saga of the sunglasses, but can’t really see it. Other than reminding Dan that this is an established relationship, that Evan and Jeff have history. Maybe that’s all Evan is trying to say. “Well, I’ll try not to sit on them.”

Evan grins sunnily. “Whatever, they’re just cheap plastic. It’d be good if his got broken, actually—then he could stop using them as evidence of his responsibility compared to my scatterbrainedness.” Dan is starting to be a little confused by this conversation in general, and is relieved when Jeff and Tatiana return from their nature excursion.

They sit by the pool and drink and eat snacks and chat, and any discomfort that Dan felt during his conversation with Evan is long gone. The housekeeper supplies a platter of steaks, and Evan mans the barbecue. Tat helps bring out table linens and place settings and then several side dishes.

The meal is delicious, the scenery is incredible, and everyone is pleasant and charming. Dan feels like he’s stumbled into someone else’s life. The world of eventing certainly has its share of wealthy participants, but there’s usually a fairly clear divide between the patrons and the patronized, the owners and the workers. Dan really doesn’t feel that here, and isn’t sure what to make of it. He isn’t sure he likes it, even… it’s harder to keep things clear in his head this way, and he really thinks he needs to keep a clear head. He looks at Jeff, who’s lazily smiling as Evan teases Tatiana, and wonders if he’s a bit too late.

Chapter 12

D
AN
wakes up the next morning and doesn’t know where he is. California is three hours behind Louisville, so part of the problem is jet lag. When his body tells him it’s time to get up, it’s still pitch black outside his window. He dozes for a while, but each time he wakes it’s with the same unpleasant sense of disorientation and displacement, and finally he gives up and gets out of bed. He finds his book and reads a chapter and then showers and gets dressed.

There’s a coffeemaker in the kitchen, and he finds a bag of ground coffee in the freezer. He makes the coffee and finds a mug, then takes his book out onto the porch. It’s still a bit chilly out, but the sun is coming up, and the porch faces east, toward the mountains. He doesn’t really read, just sits there and enjoys his coffee, and wonders if this could be his life. If he actually lived here, of course, he’d be over at the barn by now, helping to feed the horses and turn them out, figuring out the training for the day. If this was his life, maybe he’d have someone in his bed upstairs, someone who would have dragged at him when he got up, tried to coax him back to bed.

He has to shut the fantasy down when his imagination puts Justin in the bed, when he starts remembering Justin hiding his eyes from the daylight and trying to wrap Dan up under their quilt. He has a brief flash of Jeff in the role, his gentle eyes watching Dan come out of the shower, his big hands resting on Dan’s hips and pulling him back toward the bed, but then Dan shuts down that thought too. Nothing can happen with Jeff. It would be unfaithful to Justin and unfair to Evan, and if nothing’s going to happen, then Dan should just stop torturing himself with thoughts of it. He thinks of Justin as he is now, lifeless and wasting in a sterile hospital bed, and that’s as effective as a cold shower. No more fantasies for Dan this morning.

Evan had said that he’d be up by six and ready to get started by seven. It’s not quite seven yet, but Dan figures that he can walk slowly, so he puts his book and mug inside the door and starts toward the house. He hasn’t gone far when he sees the two dogs racing toward him. Evan’s tall shape appears from a path in the trees and follows after the dogs, albeit more slowly.

Dan crouches to greet the animals, and is rewarded with kisses and cold noses against his neck. He straightens with a laugh and walks to join their master.

Evan turns to go toward the house with Dan, neither of them saying much. The dogs take off into the woods, and Evan grins. “We saw a deer this morning, and they had no idea what to do. But now every time a leaf moves, they’re chasing after it like they’ve got something to prove.”

“Not great hunters, then?”
“Well, they’re… enthusiastic.”

“Just as well. We had a dog when I was a kid, he’d bring back a dead something at least once a day. And if we buried it shallow, he’d dig it up and bring it home again, like he’d killed it twice, no matter how rotten and stinky it was. So we had to bury ’em deep.”

Evan grins. “Sounds like a good job for a young whippersnapper like you.”
Dan flexes his shoulders. “These are grave-digging muscles, boy.”

They walk for a bit, and then Evan says, “Where was that? Kentucky?”

Dan shakes his head. “No, Texas.”
“Oh yeah? Is that where you grew up?”

“Yeah, mostly.” Dan doesn’t think this needs to go any further. “So, Tatiana said she wanted to be there when I saw the stuff you’ve done at the barn. Did she mean it, or can we go by now?”

Evan makes a face. “Oh, no, she meant it. She talked me into letting her take today off school so she can ‘be part of the new business’. She wants in on the interviews, the site inspections, everything.”

“Linda said you
wanted
Tat to get interested in the business side of things.”

“Yeah, if she’s actually interested, that’s great. I just wonder if she’s pretending to be interested as a way to get out of school. And maybe…” Evan’s lips twitch a little. “Maybe so she can spend a little more time with the dreamy new trainer.”

Dan sputters a little. “Really? Does she not know that I’m gay?” Evan laughs. “Well, she knows about Justin, she saw the video from when he won Rolex.” Evan pauses to see if the mention has upset Dan and then continues. “It’s kinda my fault—I’m pretty equal opportunity about things. I mean, I don’t bring anyone home if we’re not reasonably serious, but she’s seen me with guys and girls. I don’t know, I think she thinks everyone’s the same way.” Evan pauses.

“Oh. God.” Dan isn’t up to this.
“No, it’s cool, she’s really innocent. She might moon around after you for a while, but it’s not like she’s gonna make a move or something.” Evan seems amused by Dan’s alarm. “Jeff said you were really good with her yesterday. Said I might have to look at turning the place into a breeding operation, but otherwise… said you were good.”
“Yeah.” Dan doesn’t want to get too far into this, but…. “I have a younger sister. I remember the age.”
“Really? She’s Tat’s age?”
“No. She’s only two years younger than me. But she was about Tat’s age the last time I saw her.”
Evan looks like he wants to ask a
lot
more questions, but he satisfies himself with one. “This was back in Texas?”
Dan nods, and they walk in silence until they reach the house.
They go in through a side door, and Evan grabs a towel to wipe the

dogs’ feet before they go into the main house. They follow the smells of food to the kitchen, where the housekeeper is laying the table.

Evan greets her with a kiss on the cheek. “Tia, something smells incredible.” Evan reaches out to open the oven door and look inside, and Tia slaps his hand away.

“When Tatiana is ready, you can sit at the table and eat like a civilized person.” Tia stirs something in a pot on the stove, and then turns to Dan. “Can I get you some coffee or juice, Mr. Wheeler?”

Dan grins at Evan’s eyeroll. “Uh, coffee would be great, but I can get it myself if you’re busy.” He reluctantly adds, “And Dan is fine.” “No, you sit down. I’ll get you some coffee.”

Tia bustles off to take care of that, and Evan shakes his head ruefully. “The disadvantage of having longstanding employees. When a woman’s changed your diaper, it’s hard to get her to treat you with a whole lot of respect.” Evan crosses to a box on the wall, and punches in a few numbers. There’s a crackle, and then Evan speaks into the box. “Tat, let’s go! Breakfast is served!”

The box speaks back in strident tones. “Leave me alone! I’ll be down when I’m ready.”

Evan winks at Dan and then says, “Okay, Tat, but Dan’s here, and he’s hungry, so let’s not keep him waiting too long.”
There’s a pause, and then the box sounds almost meek. “I’m hurrying.”

Evan walks behind Dan to get to his place at the table, and he affectionately ruffles Dan’s hair as he passes. “This could be really useful. If having you around makes my little sister behave like a human instead of a troll… I’m sorry to say it, but you may have to give up on all this ‘gay’ nonsense.”

Dan ducks away from Evan’s hand, but he grins. “And marry into this? I dunno, man, it might be worth it.”

“Well, better you than some of the guys she goes to school with, that’s for sure.”
Tia brings the coffee over and sends a dark look at Evan. “You be careful with that talk, Evan. If she thinks you’re judging her friends, she’ll stop bringing them home, and then what?”

Dan nods in smug support, and Tia rewards him with a pat to his cheek.
Dan helps himself to sugar from the bowl in the middle of the table, and then passes it over to Evan. He’s curious about why there was only one call on the intercom. “Is Jeff not eating?”

Evan grimaces. “Maybe. He went home last night. His dog just had surgery, and she’s all stitched up, so she can’t really come over and deal with the beasts. But he wants to be here for the grand tour, and for sure for the interviews, so we’ll see if he makes it for breakfast.”

Tatiana arrives then, looking freshly scrubbed and sunny, and gracefully slides into a seat at the table. She’s right across from Dan, and he thinks of Evan’s earlier remarks and feels the heat rising up on his neck. Evan notices and grins.

“Morning, Tat. Is that a new hairband? It’s really pretty.” Evan smiles ingratiatingly at his sister, who looks back at him in bewilderment. Evan continues. “Isn’t it a nice hairband, Dan?”

Dan smiles awkwardly, but decides to give it his best shot. “I don’t really know about the hairband, but I like your hair pulled back like that. It brings out your eyes.”

Tatiana blushes happily, and Dan smirks at Evan.

Tia is just serving up breakfast, some sort of waffle-esque pastry with homemade blueberry sauce, when the door opens and Jeff comes in. “Hey, I thought I smelled something good!” He kisses Tia’s cheek and then goes around the table, bending to catch Tatiana’s cheek and pulling Evan’s head back a little to kiss his forehead. He grins at Dan, but doesn’t approach.