Willow Smoke (10 page)

“Sure
do,
teach.
I’m
sure
you
have
your
hands
full
in
the
mornings.
Maybe
Thursday...”

She
heard
him
rummaging,
probably
through
his
appointment
book.

“How
about
two o’clock? I’ve got the rest of the day
open. How’s that for you?”

Daisy
didn’t
have
to
check
her
book.
“It
looks good for me. Why don’t you come to
Barn D? We can start from there.”

“Great.
I’m
going
to
have
a
messenger
bring
by
Blaze’s
papers
for
you
to
sign.
The
sooner
we
get
the
paperwork
completed,
the
quicker
she
can
race
again.”

“You
know
where
I
live?”

“It doesn’t take a
private investigator to
determine
that. Most of your personal
information
has
to
go
on
the
ownership
papers.
As
well
as
your
Assistant
Trainers
License.
Right?”

“Right. I didn’t think
about that.”

“Besides,
I
make
a
point
of
knowing
everything
I
can
about
my
employees
and
partners.”

“I’m not your employee,
Mr.
Underwood.”
She
knew
she
must
sound
harsh,
but
she
couldn’t
help
it.
Sometimes
the
man
really
galled
her.
Like
right
now.
“We
may
be partners by some strange
circumstance, but I
work
for
Sam Gallagher.”

“Whoa
there,
kid.
The
lady
has
a
temper.
I
like
that.
Shows
fire
and
will.”
He
paused.
“I’ll
have
to
think
on
that.
You
may
be
right.
You
may
complicate
my
life
yet.”

Daisy
frowned.
“Well,
you
sure
as
hell
have
complicated
mine.”

“Yeah,
but
aren’t
they
nice
complications?
A
week
ago
you
didn’t
even
know
I
existed.
You
didn’t
own
a
race
horse.
And
you
were
probably
planning
to
waste
time
you
could
spend
educating
me
playing
around
with
some
college
guy.”

Brushing
hair
off
her
brow,
Daisy
chewed
on
her
lip.
She
wasn’t
experienced
at
this
kind
of
repartee.
She
only
knew
how
to tell guys
no
, not how to give
them a
let’s-wait-and-see
signal.

“Cat got your tongue,
kid? Am I really
going
to
complicate
your
life
that
much?”

He
sounded
far too pleased with himself. “I don’t know. Depends on how much time you
require, I suppose. I not only have my job—I do have to study, too.”

“Will
I be imposing on your social life? Do you have a steady man in your life?”

“Not
hardly. Well, I mean,” she stammered, “not one.”

“Still
playing the field, huh? Well, I shouldn’t get in the way too much, then
. If you’re
a good teacher, this may not require a lot of time.”

“You
mean
if
you’re
a
good
student,
don’t
you?”

“Now,
that’s
more
like
the
woman
I
remember
with
straw
in
her
hair.
Do
you
realize
that
you
are
drop
dead
gorgeous
with
a
half
dozen
pieces
of
straw
sticking
out
of
your
hair?
The
guys
must
be
lined
up
around
your
block
with
their
tongues
hanging out. I’m sure they won’t like my
intruding
on their time, but I won’t let that
deter
me.
Are
you
still
there?”

“I’m
here.”
Daisy
tried
to
keep
her
voice
steady
while
her
heart
raced
wildly.

“Maybe
you’ll
just
have
to
put
some
of
the
guys
on
ice
for
a
while.
I
can
be
quite
demanding,
and
I
make
no
apologies
for
that.
There
never
is
enough
time
to
do
everything I want to do. But this horse
thing
is now at the top of my to-do list.
And
that
includes
you.
Remember,
you’ve
been
paid
in
advance.”

“I remember. Owning a
part of Rainbow far exceeds any of my dreams.”

“Listen
kid,
if
you
hang
around
me
much
you’ll
have
to
get
used
to
expanding
your
dreams. I don’t dream small. It doesn’t take any more time
to dream big than
small.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“What
do
you
mean
maybe?
Weren’t
you
listening
to
what
I
just
said?”

“I heard you. It’s just
that some folks can dream all they want to, work as hard as
they
can,
and
still
nothing
happens.”

She
heard
Underwood
swallow.
“Guess
you’re
right,” he said, “sometimes I get
so
wrapped up in what I’m doing that
I forget
where I’ve come from and
what I’ve
seen.”

“What?”

“Some other time. Good
to hear your voice,
kid. There’s a
quality about it that I
can’t
quite
name.
Maybe
its
youthful
exuberance.
Anyway,
I’ll
see
you
next
Thursday
at
two
o’clock.
Don’t
be
late.”

“I’ll
be
there.”

- o -

Nicholas
Underwood
sat
staring
at
the
cell
phone
long
after
he’d
set
it
on
the
massive oak desk at the center of his
study
in
his
fourteen
room
Kenwood
house.
The
woman
stuck
to
his
hide
like
a
sandbur.
Sultry
described
her
voice.
She
probably
didn’t
have
a
clue
how
sexy
she
sounded
or
looked.

He
leaned
back
in
his
swivel
chair
and
propped
his
feet
on
the
desk.
She
had
to
be his employee. It was safer that way.
But
she
might
be
right.
He
hired
Sam
Gallagher,
and
Sam
hired
Daisy
Matthews.
So
what
did
that
make
Willow
to
him?
One
could
probably
cut
it
either
way.

Who
was
he
kidding?
He
didn’t
want
to
regard
the
tall,
slender
woman
with
the
deep
smoky
voice
as
an
employee.
He
closed
his
eyes.
T
wenty-five from
forty-two
equals
seventeen.
Shit.
He
slammed
his
feet
back
to
the
carpet
and
strolled
over
to
one
of
the
floor-to-ceiling
bookcases
that
nearly
ringed
his
study.
He
reached
for
a
slim
volume
and
turned
the
pages
until
words
leapt out
at him
. Let the world
slip:
we
shall
ne’er
be
younger.
It
was
from
Taming
of
the
Shrew.