Dedication

For Grandpa

I don’t think you would have appreciated the subject matter, but I hope you’re okay with my pen

name.

Chapter One

T

HERE

WAS

one place where Vince actually felt sure of himself, and that was near a horse—more

specifically when he was on the back of one. Even more specifically was when that horse was his
personal mount, Sir Galaxy, more commonly known as Xander. The gelding was one of close to
twenty retired racehorses currently at his family’s farm, Anderson Stables, where they specialized in
retraining and rehoming thoroughbreds fresh off the racetrack. Vince had owned and trained Xander
for the last five years. The big bay gelding had gone from failed racehorse left to die of neglect to
promising jumper that was spoiled rotten. They’d done well in the last five shows they’d competed at
together, and Vince planned to get them to another by the end of the summer.

Vince knew they had more training to do before that show. He currently had three jumps set up in

the outdoor arena. Both he and Xander were tired of the indoor arena they’d ridden in all winter; it was
time for fresh air, even though the early spring was dreary. Vince could tell Xander was excited to be
working outside for once.

“Easy, buddy,” Vince told him, reining the thoroughbred in after an overly enthusiastic jump.
The gelding tossed his head and snorted, but listened.
“He’s got some spunk today.”
Vince looked up at his father, who was leaning on the arena fence.
“Definitely,” Vince agreed, patting Xander’s neck.
“Take him around again,” Wes Anderson instructed. “I want to see more action from this beast.”
Vince smiled and got the gelding moving again. He could feel the power of the horse beneath

him, a horse bred for speed and strength. When they jumped, it was like flying. He could only imagine
what being a jockey felt like, but being five foot ten made him too tall. He was content with show
jumping. It was just as exciting and competitive as racing, without size restrictions.

When they finished soaring around the ring, Vince pulled Xander up at the fence in front of his

father and smiled when he saw his girlfriend standing there as well. She smiled back at him and
reached out to rub Xander’s nose.

“Getting ready for the show in July?” she asked.
He nodded and kicked his legs from the stirrups to stretch his ankles. “Yeah. Hopefully, he won’t

be this crazy by then.”

Xander nuzzled at Jane, and she laughed before handing over a carrot. “You’re spoiled.”
“Hey, Vince,” his dad said, drawing his attention away from the snacking horse. “I just got back

from the track, and the colt we brought back from Florida two weeks ago has been lame since. The vet
took a look and said it may be a permanent issue and not to run him. Mark thought it would be best to
send him to us for light training. He’ll never be able to compete, but it’s likely he’d be fine with light
trail riding or flat lessons. I said we’d take him.”

Vince hopped off his horse and unfastened his helmet. “When are we going?” he asked as he ran

the stirrups up.

“I told him tomorrow, late morning. He says he’ll be there all day and just to swing by.”
Vince nodded, then pushed at Xander when he nibbled at the pocket of his jacket. “I don’t always

have treats for you, spoiled brat,” he stated, then looked back at his father. “Sounds good. I’d like to
see the other horses he’s got there.”

“How about we plan to leave at ten?”

“Sure,” Vince agreed, pulling a treat out of his pocket as Xander nuzzled his jacket again.
“You’re such a pushover,” Jane said with a laugh. She opened the gate for him, and he led the

horse out.

“You know me,” he agreed with a smile.
She shook her head and shut the gate again. “Sometimes, I think I know you better than you know

yourself.”

He just rolled his eyes as she fell into step beside him on the way to the barn. There had been a

time when she would have demanded to take his helmet so she could hold his hand while they walked
and when she wouldn’t have been happy without getting a kiss the moment he saw her, even if he had
to stop what he was doing to run over to her. It had always made him uncomfortable, but he’d wanted
to make her happy.

But four months ago, he’d gone down to Florida with his dad for two weeks to see the farms and

racing facilities down there—it was where most New York racehorses came up from, so it was nice to
see it all. It was the first time he’d been down there, despite his father going for a time almost every
winter, and he really enjoyed it. When he’d come back, though, Jane had changed. The time away had
definitely been good for her. She wasn’t so demanding of his attention in any form; she didn’t need to
hold his hand, they didn’t need to kiss all the time, and she didn’t even mind if they didn’t have sex
for a week. The relationship felt like a true friendship at last, and he really liked that. It made him feel
grounded and mostly happy.

He didn’t know why he still couldn’t be happy all the time, but he tried not to think about it.
When they got to the barn, Vince led Xander to a set of cross ties and removed his bridle to put

on a halter, then clipped the ties to it. He hung the bridle on the wall for the moment and turned back
around to find Jane rubbing Xander’s neck and kissing his forehead.

“You know,” he commented, “anytime you find one you really like that isn’t mine, let me know.

I’ll make sure Dad gives you the friends and family discount.”

She smiled at Xander and gave him another carrot from her pocket. “I’m always hoping to find

one that I love, but so far, I haven’t. Even this boy would be too much for me to ride.”

He started undoing the girth of the saddle and replied, “You’re not a beginner. I know you can

handle him. I just have to get you up on him to prove it.”

She rolled her eyes. “I want a trail horse. Though, those breeches might look good on me; they do

on you.”

He snorted. “I’m pretty sure they look good on almost anyone.” The ones he was currently

wearing were living on borrowed time, though. They were stained, and he’d worn a couple of holes in
them, but they were just for riding at home. His show clothes were practically new and hardly worn.

“I do have nicer boots than those, though,” she added, grinning.
“So do I,” he reminded her. The boots he was wearing were his beat-up training boots, not his

high show boots. He also had on a red jacket with the Anderson Stables logo across the back and with
his name on the chest, as well as an old pair of riding gloves. He tended to wear things out completely
before he replaced them. It bothered Jane.

“Where’s the grooming bucket?” Jane asked as he pulled the light saddle from Xander’s back.
He nodded to a spot behind her. “Right there. He’s starting to shed. Have fun.”
She smiled and pulled a pair of gloves from the pockets of her jacket, which matched Vince’s,

and grabbed the bucket of brushes. “Means spring is coming, finally,” she pointed out.

“The mud was enough of a clue for me,” he grumbled, settling the saddle on one arm and

grabbing the discarded bridle with the other.

It was a short walk down the hall to the tack room, which was the biggest tack room Vince had

ever been in, and he’d been in a lot of barns. They had tack for every discipline a thoroughbred could
be trained for, along with personal tack for each person at the farm who owned his or her own horse—
currently five of them.

And it smelled like leather, which he loved.
He hung his saddle and bridle in Xander’s designated spot in the room and went back to where

he’d left his horse and girlfriend. Jane was telling Xander how handsome and good and awesome he
was, and the horse was holding his head up like he knew she was complimenting him. Vince shook his
head and grabbed a brush to work on Xander’s other side.

“So,” he asked, “what do we want to do about dinner?”
“I was hoping you’d suggest something,” she replied, glancing at him over the horse’s back.
He shrugged. “I have none.”
“Guess you won’t eat, then,” she teased.
“Guess I’ll eat some of what this boy gets,” he countered with a shrug.
Jane laughed and shook blonde hair out of her face. “Would you ever really do that?”
“Why not?” he asked seriously. “It’s literally just oats and oil. I’d eat it if the only other option

was to starve.”

“Unless it meant Xander would starve. I know how much you love this boy.”
Vince smiled as he brushed his horse. “Yeah, he’s special.”
“He’s definitely lucky to have you,” Jane added quietly.
Xander sighed, almost as if he was agreeing, which made them both laugh.

V

INCE

WAS

out of bed at six the next morning. Normally, he’d let himself sleep a couple of hours

longer, but they were down one stable hand since they’d caught Alex stealing horse medications and
worming paste from the feed room. Alex wouldn’t say why he was taking them, but they all assumed
it had something to do with making drugs. Wes had given him one hour to get off the property or he
was calling the police and pressing charges. Alex was gone in less than half an hour. Vince couldn’t
understand why anyone would want to get stoned off horse drugs, but he guessed some people just
didn’t care what they used for their highs. So, because of Alex’s potential drug problem, for the last
week he’d been getting up early to help the other four hands do the morning chores.

He changed into an old pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, then gave Jane a kiss on the cheek before

leaving her to sleep for at least a little while longer. He grabbed a granola bar, pulled on his jacket,
shoved his feet into his paddock boots, and left the house he shared with Jane for the barn. The farm
was on a piece of property large enough for two average-sized houses, a trailer house—they referred
to them as cabins—for each stable hand a twenty-four-stall barn, an indoor and outdoor arena, and
three big pastures. Plus the area that wasn’t fenced in and was used for trail riding through the woods.

Vince hadn’t actually seen the deed, but he was pretty sure the property was close to fifty acres.

He did know that it had once been his grandfather’s dairy farm.

He followed the gravel path from his house to the barn, eating his granola bar and silently

complaining about the snowflakes floating around him. It was April, for crying out loud. It shouldn’t
be snowing.

The barn wasn’t much warmer than it was outside, but it shielded him from the wind and snow.

The hands—Mia, Chris, Anna, and Joe—had already started the morning rotation. That meant four
horses were out in the pasture while their stalls were cleaned, then they’d come back in for breakfast.
They’d get pasture time in the afternoon, depending on when they were being trained. Then they’d be
fed around seven in the evening, and the barn would be locked up for the night, to be checked before
morning if anyone was up late. Vince paused to rub Xander’s nose as he made his way down the aisle
to the stalls that they always started with in the morning.

“Heard there’s a new guy coming today,” Joe said, looking out of the stall he was cleaning. “Does

it matter where we put him?”

Vince grabbed a lead rope off the wall as he answered, “Not really. Wherever it’s easiest.”
“Want to bring us back another hand, too?” Mia asked from the next stall over.
Vince laughed. “I can try, but I’m not making any promises.”

Chapter Two

F

OUR

HOURS

later, Vince stepped out of the passenger side of his dad’s truck at the local racetrack.

Wes had pulled the truck and trailer as close to Mark’s barn as he could, and almost as soon as they
got out of the truck, Mark was coming to greet them.

After a round of hellos, they started walking toward the nearest barn, and Vince asked about the

horse.

“We brought him up from Florida,” Mark explained. “He was fine before we left, but his first

workout, he ended up lame. His owners said he was lame a few months ago, but he was sound in a day,
so they didn’t think much of it. Guess they’ll know better next time. The vet said he shouldn’t race, so
I asked the owners what they wanted to do. They sold him to me for practically nothing when I said I
knew a guy who’d make sure he had a good life. The other option was auction, and we all know the
hell he could end up in after one of those.”

Vince tried not to think about that. Life for a washed-up racehorse wasn’t usually good if it was

sent to auction, and it wasn’t usually a long life then either. That was why places like Anderson
Stables existed and others that specialized in just rescuing and rehabilitating horses.

“I’m glad they care about their horses’ welfare,” Wes commented. “Still not enough of those

owners around.”

“I agree there.” They came to a stop outside the stall of a chestnut horse who looked at them

expectantly. “His name is Sweet Justice, but we call him Justin.”

Vince let the horse sniff his hand, then offered him a treat. “He doesn’t act like he’s in pain.”
Mark nodded. “That’s why his owners didn’t realize he had an issue. Guess it doesn’t bother him

that much, but running would ruin him.”

Suddenly, a guy Vince recognized as Mark’s lead groom appeared and tapped Mark’s arm. “That

kid who was hanging around last week is back. What do you want me to do?”

Mark sighed and shrugged. “Tell him I don’t take charity cases. I told him that last week.”
The groom nodded and turned away.
“What’s going on?” Wes asked, and Vince could hear concern in his voice.
Mark shrugged again. “Some kid looking for work. Came around last week, said he just wanted

something to do so he could have someplace to stay. But I don’t do charity. I don’t risk the law by
taking on illegals, I sure as hell won’t risk being accused of kidnapping or exploiting underage
workers if parents found out I was employing their runaway problem child. Plus, he’d split the
moment he had enough money for drugs anyway. Told him I’d call the cops and get him back to his
parents if I saw him around the track again. Claimed he was nineteen and his parents didn’t want him,
but I bet that’s what they all say.”

“Wouldn’t give the kid a chance to prove himself?” Wes questioned. “Maybe he was being

honest.”

Vince stepped away from the stall to watch as the groom stopped twenty feet away to talk to a

guy in dirty clothes, whose long brown hair was tied back in a short ponytail, and who had a short
scruffy beard. He looked like he was probably pretty underweight beneath his tattered clothing, and
the way he stood slumped against the wall with his head down suggested that he wasn’t expecting to
be welcomed with open arms. When the groom talked to him, the guy nodded and started to walk
away, grabbing a backpack off the floor as he did so.

Before Vince even thought about what he was doing, he’d taken two steps forward and called,

“Hey, kid!”

The guy turned around to look at him wearily, and Vince realized everyone around him was

staring at him. He motioned to the kid anyway. “Have you ever handled a horse before?”

The kid shook his head as he walked up. “I’ve watched, though.”
Vince took a step back and grabbed Justin’s halter off the wall. He held it out to the kid, who took

it, and he pointed toward the horse. “Put that halter on that horse.”

After looking at the leather contraption for a moment, the kid nodded and moved toward the stall.

Vince let him in and watched as the guy greeted the horse by petting his neck. He got the halter on
easily and looked back at Vince.

“What’s your name?” Wes asked from beside Vince.
“Dustin O’Brien.”
“Your real name?”
Dustin nodded and pulled a small plastic bag from the side pocket of his backpack. Wes accepted

it, and Vince watched as he took the expired learner’s permit and flimsy Social Security card out to
look them over.

“I thought, if someone ever found me dead somewhere, maybe if they knew who I was, they

could tell my parents,” Dustin explained, clearly nervous.

“Did you run away from them?” Wes asked, looking up at him.
Dustin shook his head. “They kicked me out when I was seventeen—two years ago.”
“Drug problems?”
Again, he shook his head. “It wasn’t an issue like that. And not now, either. I’d rather use what

little money I get for things that really help me live.”

“Where have you been living?” Vince asked.
Dustin shrugged. “The woods lately. The city had too many people.”
Vince was stunned. This kid had been living in the wilderness all winter? Winters in New York

weren’t exactly good camping weather. He looked at his dad and gave him the look he usually
reserved for when he really needed a specific horse.

Wes glanced at him and sighed, putting the identification cards back in the bag. “We’ll keep you

on through the end of August. After that, we’ll see. We’re short one hand, and the summer is our busy
time.” He handed the bag back to Dustin, who looked pleasantly surprised by this. “My name is
Wesley Anderson. I own a place where we retrain horses who can’t race anymore so they have other
uses. This is Vincent, my son. He’s my barn manager. He’ll get you settled in when we get home. And
he’ll be your boss.”

Dustin nodded. “Thank you.”
Vince smiled at his dad, who just rolled his eyes. He took a lead rope from the wall and handed it

to Dustin, still smiling. “Lead him out. You’ll help me get him in the trailer.”

Dustin had definitely been watching, because he barely hesitated before slipping the chain end of

the lead through the ring on the halter, over the horse’s nose, and through the other side. Most people
Vince knew who hadn’t been around horses wouldn’t have figured that out without his help. Dustin
glanced at the men outside the stall for approval, and Vince grinned as he opened the door. Dustin
smiled slightly as he walked Justin out of the stall.

Vince walked beside him toward the trailer, smiling when he heard Mark behind them mutter,

“You’re crazy.”

The kid looked like he was happy for the first time in a long time, so Vince asked, “Did you want

to work here because you thought it would be easy to get a job here, or do you like the horses?”

“Both, I guess,” Dustin answered with a shrug. “Seemed like someone would take me in. I mean,

I hear more Spanish around here than English, and I doubt that’s a coincidence. But I like the horses,
too. I’ve always liked watching them move, and I wondered what riding one would be like.”

“Well, we’ll get you on one soon enough,” Vince promised. “Thoroughbreds aren’t usually my

idea of a beginner’s horse, but we have some who are super laid-back. This guy’s pretty good actually.
His name’s Justin.”

Dustin looked at the chestnut horse and asked, “Why can’t he race?”
“Here, watch.” Vince took the lead and led the gelding away, then back. “See how he’s moving?

He’s lame right now. According to the vet, even if he’s moving normal later, racing will just make it
harder and harder for him to move.” He handed the lead back. “He’ll be okay for light riding, but
anything high-energy wouldn’t be good for him.”

Dustin nodded. “So you’ll train him for that?”
“Then find him a new home,” Vince agreed. They got to the trailer, and Dustin watched him

unlatch the door and lower the ramp. “I can lead him in if you want.”

“I can do it,” Dustin said with a shrug.
Justin was a little antsy about the trailer, but Dustin wasn’t fazed. He led him in like he’d done it

a hundred times, then waited for Vince to secure him.

“Are you sure you’ve never handled a horse before?” Vince asked as they shut the trailer. “You

put that stud chain on him like you’d done it before and hardly cared that he was fussy about loading
in the trailer.”

Dustin just shrugged. “Like I said, I’ve watched a lot.”
When Wes joined them a moment later, he shook his head at Vince. “Hope this kid works out for

you,” he said quietly enough that Dustin, who was rubbing Justin’s face through the trailer window,
couldn’t hear.

Vince smiled. He didn’t know why he had such a good feeling about this, but he wasn’t going to

deny it. “He will. Just look at him.”

“I thought you were crazy when you begged me for Xander, but now I know you are. That kid is a

runaway, whether he admits it or not.”

Vince shrugged. “If it doesn’t affect his work and he’s a legal adult, does it even matter?”
His father sighed. “All right, let’s get going,” he said, this time loud enough for Dustin, who

turned away from the trailer.

“Can I ask a question?” Dustin asked as they pulled out of the racetrack’s back exit and onto the

main road.

“Ask as many as you want,” Vince replied, turning to look back at him from the passenger’s seat.
“Okay. What does OTTB stand for?”
“Off-track thoroughbred,” Wes answered. “Racehorses are thoroughbreds, at least the ones we

work with around here. So an OTTB is a retired racehorse.”

“What other horses race?” Dustin asked, and he sounded genuinely curious.
“Harness racing uses Standardbreds,” Vince explained. “Quarter horses also race in places. This

track doesn’t have racing for those breeds.”

“Why do you take horses who can’t race?”

“Someone has to,” Wes answered seriously. “I used to be one of the top trainers in the country. I

had at least one million-dollar earner every year and rarely had a horse who couldn’t place in almost
every race. Then I had this one horse, we called him Onyx, who was on his way to the Kentucky
Derby, but two months beforehand, he ran another race and ended up hurt. The vet said he’d never run
again, but he still had a good quality of life if he was retired to a nice green pasture. They couldn’t
breed him because he was a gelding, so instead of retiring him, they sent him to an auction for horses
that no one wants. I wasn’t told what they were doing with him, and I didn’t find out until later what
had happened to him. That horse, who was one of the sweetest thoroughbreds I had ever met, ended up
at a slaughterhouse. All because he couldn’t run and he couldn’t breed.”

Wes took a deep breath. “I was devastated when I found out. I almost left racing altogether. But I

started Anderson Stables that same year. Now I train a couple horses for racing every year, and I
retrain the retired ones with the help of my son and my five stable hands.” They pulled in to the
driveway of the farm, and he added, “Welcome to the family.”

Vince watched as Dustin looked out the window at the farm, which in the summer could be quite

amazing. His sister insisted on landscaping, and it was made very affordable by the fact that she was
engaged to a “landscaping professional.” In the first week of April, however, it was a muddy mess; the
gravel on the winding driveway had been plowed away over the winter to leave gaping potholes, and
the trees were still bare.

When they pulled up outside the barn, the other four hands appeared, and Vince grinned as he

stepped out of the truck. “The trip was successful,” he announced, then introduced Dustin to everyone.

“I’m glad you found us some help,” Anna said as she shook Dustin’s hand. “We could use it.”
“You want me to take the horse?” Chris asked.
“I want Dustin to do it,” Vince replied, shaking his head. “Might as well start working now.”
He helped Dustin open the trailer and watched as he backed Justin out, again almost as if he’d

done it before. Vince walked with Dustin into the barn, where he found the empty stall the others had
prepared. When the horse was inside, investigating his new stall, Vince gave Dustin a quick tour of the
barn, then walked him to the cabin he’d be living in.

“Basically, Dad doesn’t pay much, just a little more than minimum wage,” he explained as he

unlocked the door with his master key. “But it’s because you live here for free. Each of these houses
comes with heat, electricity, water, and even cable. You basically only need to buy your own food,
clothes, and toiletries—but my sister always stocks these places after someone moves out. I’m sure
you have enough soap and toilet paper to last a year.”

Dustin was standing in the middle of the little living room, looking around with wide eyes, taking

in the clean, freshly painted space. “I get to live here for free?”

Vince smiled. “Basically, yes, that’s what I’m saying. You get this furniture, plus there’s a stove

in that little kitchen over there, and a dishwasher. If you open that entertainment center, you have a
small TV. I’m sure there are a couple of box fans in the closet somewhere, too. The only downside is
that you don’t have air conditioning in the summer, so you need fans. Or we can get you a window air
conditioner. There should be a washer and dryer off the kitchen, too. I’m sure you have some laundry
soap and all that, too, so don’t worry about that.”

“These are the only clothes I have,” Dustin admitted quietly.
Vince nodded thoughtfully. “How about you hop in the shower, and I’ll go find you some

clothes? After the evening feedings, Jane and I will take you to Walmart or something. You can get
some clothes and some food. I’m buying,” he added when Dustin started to argue, probably that he
didn’t have the money. “And don’t worry about paying me back. You can’t work if you don’t have
clothes or food. But you’re on your own starting next week when you get paid. And if you ever need to

go anywhere, I would be happy to take you.”

Dustin nodded, and Vince swore the kid was fighting tears. “Thanks.”
Vince just smiled. “Go on and take a long shower if you want. I’ll get you some clothes and leave

them outside your bathroom door.”

“Thanks,” Dustin repeated, nodding. He walked in the direction of the bathroom, wiping his eyes

with one hand when his back was to Vince.

“Y

OU

AND

your rescue missions.”

Vince jumped at the sound of Jane’s voice. She was standing in the doorway to their bedroom,

watching him dig through his dresser for something he could give Dustin to wear—the kid was a good
three inches shorter than him and much thinner, which was understandable given the fact that he had
been living in the woods all winter.

“Is there something wrong with that?” he asked, finally deciding on a pair of sweatpants and a

plain sweatshirt.

“No,” she answered. “I love you for it. So tell me about him.”
“I have to get him some clothes first.” He grabbed a pair of socks, then paused before shutting the

dresser drawer. “Is it weird to give him my underwear?”

She laughed. “Kind of, yes.”
He shrugged and headed toward the door with the clothes he’d chosen. “Want to go shopping with

us tonight? He needs food and clothes.”

“Sure,” she answered as she followed him. “Did I hear your dad say he was homeless?”
“Yeah,” Vince answered. “I couldn’t just watch him walk away and have nowhere to go. Mark

basically told him to scram, and I didn’t want to think about what might happen to him. And I knew
we were short a hand.”

They left the house and started on the short walk to the trailer Dustin was living in, and Jane

asked, “Would he like to have dinner with us? I mean, if he doesn’t have food to eat on his own, he
can eat with us. Then you can show him how to do the nighttime feeding, and we’ll go shopping.”

Vince nodded. “I’ll ask. I’m sure he’ll be glad of the offer.”
When they got to Dustin’s trailer, Vince unlocked the door again and was almost instantly hit by

the warm air and scent of soap from the small bathroom down the hall. The kid must have taken the
hottest shower he could possibly stand, and Vince didn’t blame him. He had smelled quite a bit, not
that Vince was one to talk after spending as much time in a barn as he did.

While Jane waited outside, he walked to the bathroom door. He didn’t hear any water running, so

he knocked and called, “There’s clothes out here for you. When you’re ready, you can come out to the
barn but take your time. There’s no hurry.”

From the other side of the door, he heard a muffed, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
He walked back toward the door, stopping to put the key to the cabin on the small table beside the

door, before stepping out and locking the door behind him.

“So are you looking forward to Mandy’s wedding?” Jane asked.
Vince shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m not a party person; I think you know that. But Jeff’s a good

guy to have for a brother, I guess. Keeps this place looking good.”

He didn’t want to mention the fact that his sister’s impending marriage made him think about

how he was expected to do the same thing as her—go off and get married and have kids and all of that.
He really liked Jane, and they’d been together for two years, but the thought of marrying her just felt
weird. Two months ago, he’d gone to the mall and picked out a ring, but he hadn’t had the courage or
even the real desire to propose. It was just something he knew he had to do at some point, before she
got sick of waiting and he was left on his own for probably a very long time. If he had a chance at a
future that wasn’t lonely, he should take it, even if part of him said he was settling for what he could
easily have but didn’t really, truly want. So until he got the nerve to ask her, the ring would stay
buried at the bottom of Xander’s tack box, where Jane never looked for anything.

“Yeah, for much less than he would charge if he wasn’t dating the owner’s daughter,” Jane

agreed. “That’s what matters. Your dad saves a ton of money there.”

“And you know just how much,” Vince added. They had met when Wes hired Jane to be the

farm’s bookkeeper, and she had made it a point to get to know how the place was run and not only who
the people were, but the horses, too.

“Basically,” she replied with a grin.
He shook his head as they entered the barn. “I’m going to lunge Star, if you want to watch. Just

keep an eye out for Dustin for me.”

Star was the newest horse before Justin, and she was still trying to settle in. The big gray mare

was jittery all the time, so Vince was trying to do something with her everyday to get her used to
working in her new environment.

The mare was finally starting to settle down and trot more calmly around the ring when Vince

noticed Dustin standing at the rail talking to Jane. Vince halted Star and took her over to the fence.

He was stunned by how different Dustin looked. His hair was more red than brown, and he’d

found a razor to shave the scruffy beard from his face. Scrubbed clean and dressed in clothes that
lacked holes, he looked good.

“Guess I should have given you some boots,” Vince commented, glancing at Dustin’s very beat-

up sneakers.

Dustin shrugged. “That’s okay.”
“You need boots to work, though,” Vince replied. “We’ll get you some tonight.”
“Dustin’s joining us for dinner, too,” Jane told him with a smile.
Vince nodded. “Sounds good.” He noticed Dustin looking up at Star, who was looking around

with her ears pricked forward and her nostrils flared. He patted her neck and explained, “This is Star.
She’s a bit more high-strung than Justin.”

Dustin admired her for a bit longer, then held out a hand for her to sniff. Star sniffed him, then

decided he definitely wasn’t worth the effort and went back to surveying her surroundings.

“I can show you the other horses if you want,” Vince offered.
Dustin smiled. “That would be cool.”
So Vince let Star out into the pasture, where she took off running like she was still on a racetrack,

and headed to the barn with Dustin. After watching how interested Dustin clearly was in meeting and
learning about the horses, Vince officially decided that he liked the kid.

They got to Xander’s stall last, and Vince rubbed the gelding’s nose to get him to relax when he

saw Dustin. “This guy’s mine. His name is Sir Galaxy, but we all call him Xander. He’s a little
nervous about meeting new people, especially men.”

“Why’s that?” Dustin asked as he held out a hand for Xander to sniff.
“We’re pretty sure he was abused,” Vince answered, watching as Xander cautiously sniffed

Dustin, who gave him one of the treats Vince had slipped him when they’d first entered the barn. “Dad
and I found him at the track six years ago. Someone had left him in one of the stalls Dad had for his
own horses; I don’t know if they knew he took horses that couldn’t race or what, but they never told
him they had left the horse there. We have no idea how he survived, because he was obviously there
all winter. The humane society came and seized him, but they didn’t have much hope for him. He
could hardly stand, he was horribly thin, dehydrated… I was eighteen, and Dad told me I could have
my first project horse at eighteen, which is what we call the horses we retrain. I was adamant that I
wanted this horse. I kept going to the rescue place where they had him. He was obviously terrified of
people, but I had this feeling I could help him. Dad kept telling me that my first project should be an
easy one, but I kept telling him I needed this horse. So he’s what I got for my nineteenth birthday. I’d
say he’s improved since then. I spent all my spare time with him. Sometimes, I would just sit in his
stall with him. He was never violent toward people, and by that time, he knew me well enough not to
be as afraid of me as he was everyone else. I brought him food, after all, and he appreciated that after
a winter of starvation.”

Vince laughed as he went on, “One night, I actually fell asleep in his stall, and everyone panicked

when they couldn’t find me. They knew I had to be with Xander, but they were afraid he’d killed me
or something. My mom actually managed to take a picture when she realized I wasn’t dead; I was
sitting on the floor with my back against the wall and this great big horse was lying next to me with
his head on my lap. The camera flash didn’t even wake him up, just me.”

“Sounds like a cute picture,” Dustin commented absently, rubbing Xander’s forehead.
“It’s sitting on a shelf in Dad’s house,” Vince replied. “That and lots of other ‘farm history’

pictures. You’ll be over there at some point.”

Dustin kept rubbing Xander’s face, and Vince was impressed by how easily the horse accepted

the new guy in his space. Even with Vince standing there, it usually took much longer for Xander to
fully relax like he was now.

“Do you name all these horses?” Dustin asked after another quiet moment.
“Not usually,” Vince answered. “They all have their racing names, which we didn’t give them.

Most of them have their own nicknames when they come to us. I gave Xander his nickname, but the
rescue he went to first found out his racing name.”

Dustin looked genuinely curious when he looked at him. “How?”
“In order to race, horses have to be registered, and they get a tattoo under their upper lips. I’d

show you his, but it’s probably too dark in here to see it. The lip tattoos identify each horse, and you
can use it to look them up with the Jockey Club.”

Dustin gave Xander another treat and rubbed the white star on the horse’s forehead. “You know, I

lied. I’ve always wanted to be around horses. I always liked driving by farms and seeing them. I
always wondered what it would be like to be close to them. Now I know, and I like it.”

Vince grinned at him. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Chapter Three

“Y

OU

KNOW

,

that kid has been here less than twenty-four hours, and already you guys have a budding

bromance.”

Vince rolled over in bed to face Jane and snorted. “Bromance? He’s a good kid. He’s really

interested in the horses and what we do. He’s got potential. Of course, I’m going to take him under my
wing if he’s that interested.”

“You just spent three hundred dollars buying him food and clothes, even when he kept saying he

didn’t need it all,” she pointed out as she got settled in bed. “He probably feels like he owes you now.”

“I told him working hard is paying me back enough,” Vince argued. “And that next week, once

he’s been paid, he has to buy his own stuff, but I’ll gladly take him anywhere.”

She poked his shoulder. “Bromance.”
“Nomance,” he replied, giving her a mock glare.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Nomance?”
He scowled at her. “No.”
She just laughed. “Admit it.”
He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, then admitted, “I have no idea where this

conversation is supposed to be going, but okay, you win.”

She grinned. “Good answer. Now we just have to put some weight on your bro-friend, and he’ll

be perfect.”

“I’m done,” Vince stated, rolling away from her. “I have to get up in five hours. Good night.”
“Good night,” she said with a laugh. She leaned over him, and he turned long enough for a light

good-night kiss before rolling over again.

And fighting to clear his mind before falling asleep. It seemed like it was becoming increasingly

harder to stop himself from overthinking his life on a daily basis, and he hated it.

A

T

SIX

,

he was out of bed and on his way to the barn. He found Dustin standing outside the barn,

watching the horses in the pasture while he waited for him. When he heard Vince approaching, he
looked over and smiled.

“Sleep well?” Vince asked.
Dustin nodded. “I almost didn’t want to get out of bed.”
Vince grinned. “Good. Come on, I’ll show you how we do morning feedings. It’s basically like

what we did last night, except some of the horses stay outside longer. You’ll get the swing of it pretty
quick.”

“When will you start working with Justin?” Dustin asked as they walked into the barn.
“I’ll probably check him out today,” Vince replied. “You can help if you want. I don’t usually let

anyone but myself and my dad actually train horses, but I’m always glad to have someone who can
work on more minor things with them. Like, if he had issues with his ground manners, I’d usually get
everyone who handles him to work on it when they are with him. Once I’ve been on him and gotten
some of that training done, I’d ask someone to ride him periodically so he gets used to other riders,
and someone else can work on whatever issues he might have there. I take it you’ve never ridden?”

Dustin shook his head. “When I was little, I always wanted to do those pony rides, but my parents

told me it was too dangerous.”

Vince snorted. “Well, your first ride will be on a member of a breed with the reputation of being

hard to handle. Not that a pony ride would have given you much riding experience. I’ll get you on my
dad’s horse, Zeus. He’s almost twenty and very easy to ride. We’ll move you up from there. How’s
that sound?”

Dustin grinned. “When do I start?”

V

INCE

STOOD

at the fence watching Xander graze off the little shoots of grass that were beginning to

appear; he’d already eaten the flake of hay Vince had tossed in with him, but he seemed to be enjoying
the scarce grass. As Vince watched him, he thought about his new stable hand and how maybe Jane
was right, that he really was taking the kid in closer than most of the others he’d worked with. Maybe
it was the real, honest interest he could see in Dustin, with his questions and his desire to work with
these animals that he’d never been close to before. Maybe it was that he saw a combination of himself
and Xander in that kid, a need to be with these animals and a need to have Vince help him. He didn’t
want Dustin to feel like he was a charity case, but he wanted him to feel like he was an important part
of the farm. If that took special treatment at first so he could do his job, so be it. He always trained the
new hands personally, and he had a decent relationship with all of them for it.

To see how plain happy Dustin was when he got on Zeus’s back and was able to ride him on his

own gave him an amazing feeling. The only other person he’d ever introduced to horses and riding
was Jane, and that had been years ago. He loved it.

Then his thoughts started getting mixed up again. Comparing Jane and Dustin and their attitudes

toward the horses, their first riding lessons, and more—their smiles, their voices, their hair, their eyes,
their bodies….

Vince abruptly climbed up the fence and whistled for Xander, who came trotting up to him. Vince

moved easily from the fence onto the horse’s back, where he sat—no saddle, bridle, or even a lead
rope—and patted Xander’s neck. Xander looked back at him, then shook his head and went back to
grazing.

“That’s my Xanny Boy,” Vince said with a smile, then slowly leaned back until he was lying on

his back and gazing at the spring sky. This was something he never suggested anyone doing, but he
trusted Xander completely and knew he wasn’t going to do anything crazy when his human was on his
back. Vince closed his eyes and let himself relax, letting his body move whenever the big bay gelding
took a step.

It was a half an hour later when he felt Xander lift his head, and he glanced over at the fence. His

dad leaned there and shook his head.

“Your mom would kill you if she saw you,” he commented.
Vince slowly sat up and used his legs to direct Xander to the fence, where Wes rubbed his

forehead. “I think she’d be impressed by how far we’ve come in the last five years.”

Wes smiled sadly and continued rubbing the gelding’s face. “I watched Dustin’s riding lesson.

Have you thought about doing lessons for clients?”

“What do you mean?” Vince asked curiously.
“Well, like some owners buy these guys pretty fresh off the track and send them here for training,

but what if you actually worked with the horse and the owner?” Wes explained. “You’ve commented
before that you wished you knew if the owners would handle them the same way you do.”

Vince patted Xander’s neck thoughtfully. “We’d be investing more time in each horse’s training

if I work with them both. That means we can take less horses.”

“We’ll raise the prices for those clients,” Wes replied. “And I’ve been over this with Jane

already; we can easily afford to build another barn. A smaller one, no more than ten stalls. We can
move all of our personal horses there and have the full twenty-four stalls for clients’ horses. In
another year or two, we could add a boarding house for the owners so we can take more than local
clients. We’ll still be able to take in the horses we get on our own, like Justin, but the real money is in
retraining for clients. Jane also said our website needs some updating, but that we’re still getting small
donations for the rescue horses. And we should expand the merchandizing aspect.”

Vince nodded and shifted his seat as Xander went back to grazing. “I’ll look into that. And I’ll

think about the lessons.”

Wes grinned. “Good kid.”
“But only the disciplines I know,” Vince added. “I’ll do jumping, just plain old pleasure and trail

riding. If you want to take eventers, Anna will have to be your trainer. That’s what she knows best.”

“I’m sure she could teach you about dressage and cross-country,” Wes pointed out. “If you really

wanted to train eventers.”

“No thanks,” Vince replied. “I’m not adventurous enough for cross-country, and I hate top hats,

which rules out dressage.”

Wes just laughed and shook his head.

Chapter Four

D

USTIN

SETTLED

in easily to his job in the next several days, and soon Vince was happy to give him

more to do. He didn’t let him ride any of the project horses yet, but he had him work on the ground
with all of them. Vince was impressed by what he saw; Dustin was calm and confident with every
horse he worked with, even Star, who was known to put up a fight every time someone tried to do
anything with her.

He had a feeling that taking Dustin in was a good decision, even if his father was still skeptical.
And Jane teased him for his so-called bromance.
On Friday, Dustin received his first paycheck, and Vince took him out for the day so he could get

a new learner’s permit and a copy of his birth certificate, then a few groceries and some more clothes.
Dustin was clearly happy to be able to buy his own stuff now, but he still thanked Vince repeatedly for
buying him so much the week before and for taking him out. Vince just told him that when he wanted
to learn to drive so he could go anywhere on his own, to let him know.

“That way, you don’t always have to feel like you owe me for taking you places,” he explained.
“But then I’ll feel like I owe you whenever we go driving,” Dustin argued.
Vince smiled over at him from the driver’s seat. “You’ll make it up to me. Once you can drive, I

can send you to the feed store and tack shop.”

Dustin smiled and nodded. “Sounds fair. I’ll let you know.”
That night, when Jane teased him, he responded by taking her clothes off. While they made love,

he struggled to feel like he wasn’t trying to prove something, but in the end, he was left feeling
vaguely empty, no matter how many times he told her that he loved her. And when Jane cuddled up to
him like she always did, she just looked utterly sad.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Had it really been that bad for her?
She just shook her head and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She shook her head again and just held him. He sighed as he slid his arm around her and let the

subject drop. He pushed every sudden concern out of his mind and focused on trying to relax. Things
would be fine. They had to be. The other option was too painful to think about.

A

FTER

SPENDING

all the next morning riding Xander, he decided what he had to do about whatever was

going on with Jane. He wasn’t completely sure he wanted it, but he knew it had to be done. So he went
into the tack room and dug down into Xander’s tack box until he found what he was looking for.

Jane had always criticized men who thought it was okay to propose in public places, so he chose

to do it when they were at home watching a movie on Friday night. He wasn’t paying the slightest
attention to what the movie was; Jane always picked them, and he rarely cared about them. He was
just spending the time working himself up, trying to decide what to say or when the right moment
would be. She asked him twice if he was okay, clearly seeing how anxious he was.

The second time she asked, he turned on the couch to face her and pulled the ring box from the

pocket of his jacket.

But he had barely opened the box before she placed her hands on his and closed it again. When he

looked up at her, there were tears in her blue eyes.

“I can’t let you do this,” she said quietly.

Vince cleared his throat. “What?”
She took a deep breath and squeezed his hands, still holding the box. “I know, Vince,” she stated,

looking up into his eyes. “When you were in Florida a few months ago, I had to use your computer
when my laptop died. I didn’t mean to snoop, and I’m not proud of myself for doing it anyway.” She
smiled a little. “You should probably change your password. The only thing easier to guess than
‘Secretariat73’ would be your name.” She took a deep breath again and went on. “I didn’t want to
confront you, to come at you demanding to know why you had gay porn on your computer, to know
what I actually was to you. I just wanted to be there for you if you really were trying to figure yourself
out. I wanted you to tell me on your own.”

She squeezed his hands again. “But I won’t let you do this. I know you aren’t as happy as you

should be. Save this moment for someone you really love.”

He was struggling to get a grasp on what was happening. It felt like she was ripping away all his

hopes for a normal, stable life. She was telling him he had to face this life of loneliness and
hopelessness and that she wouldn’t help him feel normal.

“I love you, Vince,” she whispered. “And I’m here for you. If you want to hide, that’s up to you.

I’m not going to tell anyone. But I can’t be your cover anymore.”

The tears were trailing down her cheeks, and he realized then that he was crying, too. She reached

out and pulled him close. He let go of the box and let it fall to the floor before wrapping his arms
around her and leaning his head against her shoulder.

And somehow, he realized he was both relieved and terrified.

Chapter Five

V

INCE

COULD

feel the power beneath him as Xander cantered down the arena and flew over the four-

foot fence Vince had set up there. Vince relaxed and let his body follow the rolling motion of the
thousand-pound steed’s powerful gait, letting him gallop away from the jump. He’d been riding for
over an hour, trying to ignore his thoughts and fears about his future. He and Jane had spent the night
just holding each other, trying to cope with the end of whatever they had had together. They’d spent a
good hour that morning talking about what would happen next.

Then Vince had gone seeking the only companion he had ever trusted unconditionally.
He pulled Xander up at the end of the arena when he saw his father watching him.
“What’s wrong?” Wes asked when Xander stopped in front of him.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?” Vince replied, patting his horse’s neck.
Wes raised an eyebrow. “You’re riding bareback.”
“So? I do that all the time,” Vince argued.
“Yeah, but it’s usually when you need to ride and don’t feel like wasting time tacking up,” his

father replied. “Which means something happened and you need the emotional support only this boy
can give you. Don’t act like I don’t know you by now. Plus, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you
jumping bareback, and that suggests you need something to focus on one hundred percent so you don’t
have to process human feelings. So what’s wrong?”

Sometimes Wes’s ability to read a horse’s body language and behavior extended to people, and

Vince had learned to both hate and appreciate that in his father. He dropped the reins and unbuckled
his helmet. He tossed that over the fence—Xander hardly flinched—and pulled off his gloves to rub
his hands over his face.

“Jane’s leaving,” he finally admitted. “Not totally,” he added quickly. “She’s still going to be

keeping the books, and she’ll be around every so often, but we ended things last night.”

“Really?” Wes asked, his surprise clear in his voice. “Should I ask why?”
Vince sighed. He definitely wasn’t ready for that. He couldn’t even think the words yet, let alone

say them. Even to himself. “We both thought it was the right thing to do,” he said instead. “But she’s
still going to be around. We’re on good terms. She’s just going to move out tomorrow.”

“That’s really too bad,” his father said quietly. “But life goes on. You’ll find someone else.”
“Typical words from parent to child after a breakup,” Vince grumbled. “I’m not planning on it

anytime in the near future.”

Wes nodded. “That’s just fine. Come on, we have horses to train. Focus on solving their

problems, not your own, if that’s what you need right now.”

Vince hopped off Xander’s back, then led him to the closest pasture, where he took off his bridle

and let him loose. He slung the bridle over his shoulder, collected his helmet and gloves, and headed
into the barn.

After dropping his things off in the tack room, he walked back into the aisle to see all five of his

stable hands quickly start acting like they were working and not trying to figure out what was going
on. So he sighed and walked to where Dustin had Justin in cross-ties while he groomed him.

He rubbed the chestnut gelding’s forehead and addressed all of them, “Come here, guys.”
Anna, Mia, Joe, and Chris all appeared from the stalls they had been cleaning, while Dustin

stopped grooming to look at him.

“I’m saying this to avoid any rumors or speculation,” he began, still rubbing Justin’s face. Then

he looked at all of them. “Jane and I ended things last night. We’re on good terms. She’s still our
bookkeeper, and she’s still going to come around. Don’t treat her any different when she does. Like I
said, we’re on good terms. Don’t act like it’s something serious if you see her or if you see us talking.
Don’t think we are upset with each other, because we aren’t. Okay?”

Everyone nodded, and he nodded back. “Thanks. That’s it.”
As they went back to working, Vince went back to the tack room and grabbed the jacket he’d

stashed there earlier, when he’d wanted to avoid all human interaction. He took it back to Dustin and
handed it to him.

“This is yours.”
Dustin put his brush down and unfolded the jacket. It was the same red Anderson Stables OTTB

Retraining jacket that everyone who worked there had. It was embroidered on the chest with Dustin’s
name.

“Everyone gets one when they start working here,” Vince explained, seeing the expression on

Dustin’s face. “It’s definitely not something you should feel like you owe me for.”

Dustin thanked him and took off the sweatshirt he was wearing to put the jacket on.
“So how’s Justin doing?” Vince asked, rubbing the gelding’s neck.
“He’s doing a lot better when I lead him,” Dustin answered. “He isn’t as excited as he was when

he first got here.”

Vince nodded and patted the gelding’s neck. “They’re all like that when they get here. It takes

them a few days to settle in. Is he lame today?”

“He wasn’t when I brought him in.”
“I think I’ll try riding him today,” Vince said thoughtfully. “I’m guessing you want to keep riding

western?”

“What do you mean?” Dustin asked, looking at him like he had no idea how those two sentences

fit together.

“I usually assign specific horses to specific people,” Vince explained. “I had you working on his

ground manners, so I planned to ask you if you wanted to ride him, if he’s not too hard to handle. If
he’s a nutcase under saddle, I’ll have Joe or Anna ride him when I’m not. I still like having everyone
handle each horse at some point, but I know if I give most of the work to one person, it will get done.
So if he’s not a handful and you want to ride him, I’d ride him in a western saddle because that’s what
you are used to. Unless you wanted to start doing some English stuff.”

Dustin shook his head. “I don’t like looking at those tiny saddles. I’d end up in the dirt in no

time.”

Vince chuckled. “Western it is.”

I

T

FELT

strange to have Jane cook him dinner that night, knowing she would be leaving in the morning.

All her things were already packed and sitting by the front door, and so it was weird that they could
eat dinner like they normally did, though they were both much quieter than usual. It was also weird to
have her sleep in bed with him, but she clearly knew that he needed her emotional support. They lay
there facing each other, holding hands and wondering what came next.

“I’m sorry,” Vince finally said quietly.
She smiled. “Don’t be. Sorry is the last thing you should be. I’m sorry I didn’t do this sooner.

And that I tried to tease you into telling me so many times.”

He shook his head. “I can’t even tell myself yet.”

She leaned closer and kissed his forehead. “You’ll get there. I’m here for you. I promise. If you

need me, I’ll be here.”

“Thanks,” he murmured. He really did appreciate how much she cared, but he couldn’t find a way

to tell her that. Instead, he squeezed her hand and forced a smile.

H

ELPING

HER

load her things into his truck the next morning was also weird. And watching her drive

off in his truck to take her stuff back to her parents’ house on the other side of town—she’d bring the
truck back that night and take her car. Inside, the house hardly felt like home. He hadn’t even realized
how much had belonged to her; he’d just been used to it after a year of living together. There were
pictures missing from the walls, some dishes were gone from the cabinets, her little home office was
just a barren room, half the movies and books on the shelves in the living room had vanished, and
she’d taken the toaster. Not that he ever really ate much toast. That took too long.

Of course, her shoes, jackets, and other clothes were gone, along with all her bathroom items—

which meant his bathroom was basically empty. On the table beside the bed was the ring, sitting there
in its box. He’d originally kept the receipt in case he couldn’t go through with it. Now he wasn’t sure
when he’d be able to make himself return it.

As he was thinking this, his phone went off. He pulled it from his pocket and saw that it was his

sister.

“Dad told me,” she began when he answered. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he lied. “I’m fine, Mandy.”
“He said you guys are still friends.”
“So?” he asked. “You make that sound like a bad thing.”
She sighed. “That just never works out. You end up jealous when the other moves on, or you start

hooking up all the time.”

He snorted. “Highly doubt that. I gotta go. See you in two months, if you don’t get up here before

that.”

“Jeff’s going to come fix the place up in a couple weeks. I’m coming with him.”
“Okay. See you then.”
He hung up and tossed his phone onto the bed.

Chapter Six

T

HREE

DAYS

later, he got Dustin up on Justin, which made the kid even happier than he’d been to ride

Zeus. Vince had taken a few days to feel Justin out and make sure he wasn’t going to have any sudden
quirks he hadn’t shown before, but he’d turned out to be relatively easy to handle. With Vince’s
instruction, Dustin did great with him, and Vince decided that they were a perfect match.

Vince was riding Xander a couple of days later when he noticed Dustin watching them from the

fence. He pulled Xander up in front of him. “Want to give me hand?”

“Sure,” Dustin replied. “What can I do?”
Vince pointed to the four jumps in the arena. “Can you raise those one more level? You’ll see

how to do it, it’s not hard.”

Dustin nodded and climbed over the fence. “Do you do competitions like this?” he asked as he

walked toward the first jump.

“Yeah, we’ve done a few shows,” Vince answered. “I don’t want it to take away from what I do

here, so I’m not super serious about it. We do have a show in July, if you want to come as my groom. I
usually take Jane, but I don’t want her to feel obligated to do it.”

“I can do that,” Dustin said with a shrug. He took a moment to examine the first jump, then easily

figured out how to raise the top rail. “What would I be doing?”

“Basically just helping me out with all my stuff and Xander,” Vince explained. “I usually do a lot

of it myself, but it’s always good to have help.”

Dustin nodded. “I’d be happy to. You guys seem really good.”
Vince smiled. “You haven’t seen the pairs we compete against. You will, though. We’re decent,

but we’re not the best of the best.”

Dustin moved on to the next fence. “Why can’t you be?”
“I have too many other horses to focus on,” Vince explained as he patted Xander’s neck. “I can’t

take time from that to compete all over the country for six months out of the year, sometimes more.
One or two shows a summer is good for me. Plus, I would have to take extra time to train him and not
the others. And there’s no way I’m paying some professional trainer to tell me I’m doing everything
wrong. I used to take lessons, but I’ve learned Xander so well, why would I change anything I’m
doing? He responds like he needs to, I’m not going to confuse both of us by bringing in a new trainer.
Even though we’ve won all five shows we’ve been in, we’re not considered that good without a
personal trainer, and because I ride a ‘recycled’ thoroughbred, not an imported warmblood valued at
tens of thousands of dollars”

Dustin had moved to the final jump. “It sounds like a very snobby sport.”
Vince laughed. “Yes, it basically is. I’d like to prove them all wrong, but like I said, this place

comes first.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to try,” Dustin replied as he hopped up to sit on the fence.
Vince just shook his head and took Xander through the course again.

T

HE

FIRST

Saturday of May was the Kentucky Derby and the farm’s annual Derby party. It usually

involved a lot of junk food and alcohol while watching the prerace coverage on TV. They also had
their own betting system that Vince explained to Dustin as soon as everyone gathered in his father’s
living room.

“Basically, you choose one horse you want to win and put anywhere between a dollar and a

hundred dollars in the prize jar next to where my dad is sitting. He keeps track of who chooses what
horse. The money is split between whoever chooses the winner.”

“Seems simple enough,” Dustin said with a shrug. “I don’t know how to pick one, though.”
“Just pick one that looks good,” Mia told him with a grin. “Or one with a cool name. That’s how I

do it. I don’t think the guys who come up with the odds are very good at it.”

“They usually are,” Vince murmured, leaning close to Dustin’s ear. “She’s just stubborn.”
Dustin leaned away slightly to look closer at the TV. “I think I understand how the odds work.

But I don’t think picking the favorite is the way to go either. There’s always an underdog.”

Vince grinned. “Exactly how I always think about it.”
As the party wore on, Vince was surprised to find himself drinking more than usual. Wes looked

like he wanted to advise him against it and then like he wanted to slap him when he kept ignoring his
pointed glances. Eventually, he must have decided his son was adult enough to make the choice to
drink away his current emotional dilemma if he really wanted to, however, because he didn’t say
anything.

The race was over by seven, and it turned out that whatever method Dustin had used to choose a

winner had worked; he was the only one who had picked the right horse, which meant he got over two
hundred dollars and was excused from the evening feedings.

Vince vaguely wondered if that was really because Dustin had been the only one to choose the

winner—no one else had ever been given a night off for that—or because Wes wanted someone sober
to take care of Vince. Dustin was the one who had offered to walk him the short distance to his house
and get him anything he needed, after all.

Dustin got him inside, then went to his own cabin to stash his winnings. When he got back a few

minutes later, Vince was sitting on the floor in the master bathroom, his head against the cool glass of
the shower doors. Dustin handed Vince a bottle of water and sat down next to him.

“I don’t usually drink this much,” Vince mumbled as he took the cap off the water bottle.

“Actually, I don’t think I ever have. Even after Mom died.”

“How’d she die?” Dustin asked quietly.
Vince took a drink of water in the hopes of washing away the taste of bile and beer in his mouth.

“Breast cancer. Three years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”
“I’d just turned twenty-one. Dad thought I was going to go get drunk that night. But I stayed

home. I held the teddy bear she made me when I was a baby. I cried until I fell asleep.” He stared at
the water for a moment, then went on, “She always wanted me and Xane to start showing. So we did
our first show that summer. Kicked ass. I got special pink wraps for his legs. Still use ’em. And the
pink tie. Because I do every show for her. She used to tell me how she wanted to see me ride in the
Olympics. But I can’t do that. I’d just let her down. I’d never make it.”

“You could always try,” Dustin said, his voice quiet and soothing.
Vince shook his head, then closed his eyes as the room spun. “Can’t.”
Dustin was quiet for a moment, then changed the subject. “So how many nicknames does Xander

have?”

“Xander,” Vince mumbled. “Xanny Boy. Xane. Xan. When he’s being a nut, I call him

Xandoodle.”

Dustin laughed, and Vince was sure it was the first time he’d ever really heard him laugh in the

month he’d been around. Just like his voice, it was quiet and almost soothing. Vince looked over at
him and saw that he was smiling brightly.

“I like Xandoodle,” Dustin told him. “Is he your first horse?”
“Nah,” Vince replied, taking another drink of water. “I had a pony when I was little. Name was

Oreo, ’cause he looked like one. Black head, black butt, white in the middle.”

“What happened to him?”
“He got old. He was already twenty when I got him. I was five. He was thirty-one when we had to

put him down. I didn’t have my own horse again until Xane. Even though I couldn’t ride Oreo once I
was, like, twelve. I just couldn’t find the right one. I took lessons. Did shows with lesson horses. Rode
Dad’s horses. But I didn’t have another horse of my own until I was nineteen. Sorry I’m rambling. But
my horses are the only things I can count on.”

“It’s okay.”
“No,” Vince argued, staring at the cabinet across the room from where they sat. “Nothing’s okay.

Where’s my life going?”

He saw Dustin shrug out of the corner of his eye. “Only you can know that.”
“But I don’t,” Vince grumbled, throwing the cap from the water bottle across the room in

frustration. “I thought I did. I thought I was gonna be with Jane and be happy. I fucking proposed to
her. But she wouldn’t marry me. She figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Dustin asked, his voice sounding hesitant.
“That I was hiding. I was using her. So I could be normal. So I didn’t have to worry. That I

wished she was a man. That… That I’m… I’m gay.”
He spilled his water all over the floor as he dove for the toilet again.

Chapter Seven

V

INCE

WOKE

up in his bed, dressed in the clothes he’d been wearing the night before. Once he’d dealt

with the more immediate effects of his hangover, he noticed an empty water bottle on the bathroom
sink and a wet towel in the hamper. In his room, he found a bottle of Advil and orange juice on his
bedside table. He sat down and took three pills with the orange juice, and noticed the wooden rocking
chair across the room from him. On it was a pillow from his bed and a spare blanket from the hall
closet, along with one of the books from his bookshelf downstairs. He moved closer to see which book
and realized it was one of his books about Secretariat.

He vaguely remembered Dustin being there and sitting with him for a while. How long had he

stayed? He had a weird feeling that he’d possibly told his friend things that he shouldn’t have.

He really hoped he hadn’t told him what he thought he had.
Once he had showered, changed, and coped with his hangover enough to function like a human

being, he headed out to the barn.

“Hey there,” Anna said as soon as he walked in. “Feeling a little out of it this morning?”
“No,” he replied sarcastically. “I feel fine.”
She shook her head, pausing in her grooming of Star. “It’s understandable. I’d want to get it out

of my system, too. Should have done it sooner.”

“What?” he asked, confused. Had he possibly told everyone?
She waved her brush at him. “The need to get completely smashed after ending a two-year

relationship.”

He heaved an inward sigh of relief. “Oh. Yeah, you’re probably right.”
She went back to grooming and told him, “I sent Dustin home for the afternoon. He said he was

up most of the night with you so you didn’t bash your head open on the way to the bathroom or choke
on your own vomit. No, those are my words, not his.”

Vince ran a hand over his pounding forehead. “I need to apologize for that, then, if he’s awake.”
Anna waved him away. “I got things covered. Joe and Chris are annoyed, but they’ll get over it.

God knows we’ve let them have time for their own hangovers before.”

“Thanks,” Vince replied as he turned to the door. “I’ll be back.”
He knocked on the door of Dustin’s cabin a few minutes later and heard a muffled, “Come in.”

When he opened the door, he found Dustin walking out of the tiny kitchen with a mug, which Vince
assumed was full of coffee by the smell of the cabin. Dustin was wearing a pair of jeans and a plain T-
shirt, and his shoulder-length hair was wet like he’d just gotten out of the shower.

“Hey,” Dustin said when he saw him. “I was going to head back out in a few minutes.”
“That’s fine,” Vince assured him. “I just came to apologize. You didn’t need to stay with me.”
Dustin shrugged. “It seemed like a better idea than leaving you on your own. I found a book to

read. Can I borrow it?”

Vince nodded. Obviously, he hadn’t told Dustin what he thought he had, because he was acting

normal toward him. “Sure. You can borrow whatever books you want, anytime.”

Dustin nodded back. “Thanks.”
“Did you sleep at all, though?” Vince questioned. He definitely looked exhausted.
“I slept a couple hours at your place,” Dustin answered, “and another three when Anna sent me

home. I don’t want to make everyone pick up my slack all day, though. I’ll just go to bed as soon as
we get the evening feeding done.”

Vince sighed. “Take your time drinking your coffee. It’s my fault you’re not working all day, I’m

not going to reprimand you for it. And thanks for staying with me so long.”

Dustin smiled. “Thought it would be a way to pay you back for everything.”
“It works,” Vince agreed with a small smile. “See you when you finish your coffee.” He turned to

leave but was stopped by Dustin’s voice.

“I’m not going to tell anyone. Just so you know.”
Vince froze halfway to the door and turned back to him. “What?”
Dustin looked him right in the eye. “About why you and Jane broke up.”
Vince ran his hands through his hair and sat down heavily on the couch. “I did tell you that.

Fuck.” He was trying hard not to panic.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dustin assured him. “I said I’m not going to tell anyone. It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” Vince argued. “I got drunk to escape my problems, not make more.”
Dustin sat down on the other side of the couch. He sat staring into his coffee for a moment, then

took a deep breath. “It’s why my parents kicked me out.”

Vince turned his head to look at him. “It is?”
Dustin nodded. “Yeah. They were really strict. I told you about never being able to do a pony

ride. They were also insanely religious. They told me I was no longer their son and kicked me out of
the house. And I had nowhere to go. I didn’t have any friends whose parents would take me in once
they knew.”

“How’d they find out?” Vince asked quietly.
“They found my porn.”
Vince couldn’t hold back his laugh.
Dustin looked at him with a smile. “I take it that’s how Jane found out?”
“Exactly,” Vince replied with a grin.
Dustin held a hand out and Vince high-fived him. Then their smiles died, and they both grew

quiet.

“My problems are nothing compared to yours,” Vince finally stated with a sigh. “My girlfriend

left me. Your family kicked you out.”

Dustin shrugged. “I’m here now, so I don’t really have those problems. I have a pretty nice place

to live, a job I really like, and someone I can talk to.”

Vince smiled. “And your secret’s safe with me.”
“Likewise,” Dustin agreed with a grin. “And thanks, still, for everything.”
“Don’t mention it,” Vince told him for the hundredth time.
As he walked back to the barn a minute later, he was amazed by how much better he felt about

everything. For the first time in his life, he was happy about getting drunk. Not that he liked the
headache, though.

Chapter Eight

T

WO

HOURS

later, Vince was reorganizing the tack room when he was brought out of the barn by the

sound of a rather large truck pulling up outside. Vince had forgotten about the landscaping
appointment with his sister’s fiancé. He waved as Jeff and Mandy climbed out of the truck. Behind
them came another truck with four of Jeff’s workers.

Mandy came over and gave him a hug. “It’s nice to see you, little brother.”
“You, too,” he replied, returning the hug. “I’m guessing you want to see the horses,” he added

after greeting his soon-to-be brother-in-law.

Mandy grinned. “You know me so well.” As they headed toward the barn, she asked, “So what

really happened with you and Jane?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” he told her.
“But you’re still friends?” she asked quietly. “Bet that won’t last long.”
“Yes, it will,” he stated. “I know you have this theory that whatever happens in your relationships

happens to everyone, but it doesn’t apply. Nor will it ever.”

She snorted. “Well, you’re my brother, and you have always followed in my footsteps. So you’d

have to be gay for that to happen.”

He just threw his hands up and walked away from her. There was no way he was having this

conversation again. His head hurt too much. Even trying to insult her hadn’t thrown her off.

“What the hell, Vince?” she called, trying to catch up. Then she gasped. “Oh my god. That’s why,

isn’t it? You are.”

He spun around so fast he almost thought he’d pass out. “Shut up!” he practically yelled, then

relaxed as the earth rolled under his feet and his head pounded. He winced and put his hands to his
forehead. “Just stop. Okay? I’m not doing this right now.”

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, then reached out and hugged him again.
He just nodded. “Do you want to see the horses or not?”
She let him go, and they headed into the barn, where she greeted the horses she knew as well as

the stable hands.

“Two new horses since you were last here,” he told her. “Star is outside; I’ll show her to you

when we go back out.” He stopped at Justin’s stall and found Dustin grooming him. “This is Justin and
Dustin.”

Mandy laughed. “Who’s who?”
“Dustin is the one with two legs,” Vince answered. He leaned on the stall door and motioned to

Mandy as Dustin looked up. “Dustin, my sister, Mandy.”

Dustin rubbed his hand off on his jeans, then shook hers. “Nice to meet you,” he said with a

smile.

“You too,” she replied with a smile of her own. “When did you start here?”
Dustin patted Justin’s neck. “About a month ago. Same as this guy.”
“Yeah, it was a good day for the barn.” Vince rubbed his forehead. “I need coffee.”
“I offered you some earlier,” Dustin pointed out, returning to his grooming. Did the kid groom

Justin when he had nothing else to do?

“I know,” Vince replied. “I didn’t want it then. I’m going to go make some now. Either of you

want some?”

Mandy looked at him curiously. “Have a rough night?”
Vince snorted. “Yeah, something like that. I’m sure Dad will tell you all about it. Or you can ask

Dustin.”

Dustin shrugged when Mandy looked at him. “He’s hungover. Your dad asked me to stay with

him for a little while last night.”

Mandy looked at her brother skeptically, and he shrugged. “It’s been a rough two weeks.”
She nodded. “I’ll come with you.”
He sighed and started to turn away before stopping to ask Dustin, “Do you want anything? I owe

you.”

“No, I still owe you,” he argued. “I’m fine.”
So Vince and Mandy walked toward his house. Once inside, Mandy followed him to the kitchen.
“So,” she asked immediately, “who knows?”
Vince practically slammed the tin of coffee grounds on the counter. “Man, can you just leave it

alone?”

She sighed and put her arm around his shoulders. “We don’t have to talk about it. I’m just curious

who knows.”

He hung his head in resignation. “Apparently, you do. And Jane, obviously. And I guess I told

Dustin when I was drunk last night.”

“He didn’t seem bothered by it,” she commented.
He shook his head. “He’s fine. Can we drop this now? I’m not ready for this.”
She rubbed his shoulder. “Sure.”

V

INCE

QUICKLY

learned that if he needed to find Dustin, he could almost certainly be found with

Justin. They reminded Vince of himself and Xander; the kid was always grooming him, petting him,
giving him treats, even hugging him. And Justin seemed to be responding very well to all the love and
attention. The horse had calmed down significantly and listened to every command Dustin gave, both
on the ground and in the saddle. Vince hadn’t seen him spook or put up any sort of fight since the first
week he was at the farm. Vince continued giving Dustin riding lessons but had moved him onto Justin
within a week of his first ride on Zeus.

Whenever Vince saw them together, he felt saddened by the knowledge that his dad would

eventually be selling Justin, once his training was done, and that it would break Dustin’s heart. He
himself didn’t have the heart to remind him of this and damage the bond between horse and human.

Dustin had taken to the other horses, too, just not as deeply as Justin. Vince found him in one of

the pastures one day, just socializing with the four horses out there, despite the fact that it was raining
a fine mist across the fields. He had already bonded with the horses more than any of the other hands
ever had. Vince was glad he’d insisted on taking him on.

“How about taking Justin for a trail ride?” Vince suggested one afternoon when he found Dustin

in the pasture yet again.

“Trail ride?” Dustin asked in response, walking up to the fence with two horses following him.
Vince nodded and pointed toward the far side of the property. “Dad wants me to check out the

trails, see what they’re like now that winter is over.”

“So we ride out and check how the trails held up?” Dustin questioned, idly rubbing one of the

horses’ noses.

“Basically,” Vince replied, rubbing the same horse’s forehead. “And we fix what we can. Drag

tree branches out of the way and that sort of stuff. It’s a two-man job. Want to help me out?”

Dustin smiled. “Sure. It’ll be good training for Justin.”
Vince moved aside to let Dustin climb over the fence. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
A short time later, they were riding out toward the start of the trail. Dustin was riding Justin, and

Vince had chosen to take Zeus, mainly because he didn’t want to put a western saddle on Xander and
he wasn’t about to hop on and off a horse with an English saddle.

“So did your dad buy this whole place?” Dustin asked as they rode.
“Nah,” Vince answered. “He grew up here. My grandparents used to have a dairy farm here. They

passed it to him before they moved to a retirement home in Florida. He’d turned it into a horse stable
before that, though. They got out of the dairy business when my dad was in college, but they kept the
place and let him turn it into a boarding stable.”

“A boarding stable?”
“Yeah. Lots of people own horses but not a place to keep them. So they board them at other

stables.”

“When did he start training racehorses?” Dustin asked, looking over at him.
“College, I think. My grandpa trained, so my dad started working with him, then started taking

over for him. Not many people were willing to give him a shot, being so young, but he proved himself.
He’s had three horses in the Kentucky Derby, one that won and the other two placed. Plus he’s had
some in other big races. Then he and Mom decided to have kids, so they came back here. That’s also
when he started this place and cut back on race training.”

“How’d he meet your mom, if he was doing all this training? Sounds like it involves a lot of

travel.”

Vince laughed. “He hired her as a groom and exercise rider. Said she was the only woman he’d

ever met who could put up a fight with any man or horse.”

“I thought you were never supposed to date the boss,” Dustin joked.
“Where’d you get that idea?” Vince laughed as he pulled Zeus up next to a large tree branch

across the trail. “This is why we’re out here,” he pointed out, dropping down off his horse’s back.

Dustin followed him, and they managed to drag the branch, which was nearly twenty feet long

and heavier than Vince had expected, off the trail. Both Justin and Zeus stood waiting patiently for
them, probably because Zeus was that well trained, but Vince was impressed that Justin hadn’t moved
more than a foot. Vince had a feeling it was because of his love for Dustin that he didn’t wander off.
He’d been prepared to give Dustin a lesson in catching a loose horse when he’d instructed him to leave
the reins on the saddle horn.

Instead, he was just saddened by again realizing that bond would eventually be broken.
“There’s a good boy,” Dustin murmured with a smile, kissing Justin’s forehead. As he went to

mount again, he saw Vince watching him and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Vince sighed and motioned to Justin. “You know my dad’s going to sell him… right?”
Dustin nodded sadly and patted Justin’s neck. “I know. Anna and Mia keep reminding me.” He

shrugged and hugged the horse. “I figure he deserves to have someone to love him while he’s here.”

“I just thought I’d make sure,” Vince said quietly. “I didn’t want you to get attached if you didn’t

know. Since you know, I guess that’s your choice.”

They got back in the saddle and rode on quietly for a few minutes. Finally, Dustin asked, “Have

you ever gotten attached to a horse you had to sell?”

Vince shrugged. “A couple of times. Dad had this really sweet mare when I was probably about

sixteen. I loved the hell out of her, but she went to a young girl who needed a therapy horse. Her
parents wanted her to have a pony, but the girl loved that horse as soon as she met her. I couldn’t tell
my dad not to sell the horse to a girl trying to learn how to walk again. That was probably the hardest.
There were a couple of other times when I got pretty close to a horse, but none ever hurt like that one.”

Dustin sighed. “I know he’ll be leaving,” he admitted, “but I like having this bond. Never had it

with a human, but I have it with this guy. He’s not going to let me down. Even if I know it’s going to
end, why not enjoy it while I can? Isn’t that why people get in relationships? It always ends somehow
—break up, divorce, someone dies… but they enjoy it while they can.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Vince told him quietly. “Xander is my best friend. It’s nice to

know I’m not the only one who understands what that’s like.”

“It’s nice to know I got the chance to know what it’s like,” Dustin replied with a smile. “I think

I’ll always appreciate it.”

Vince pointed ahead of them toward a hill overlooking most of the property. “We’re going up

there,” he explained, trying to lighten the subject.

“What’s up there?” Dustin asked.
“A cabin, like the ones you guys live in, but without heat or plumbing. Used to be Mom’s special

quiet place where she’d spend time writing. She’d ride up there and write poems all afternoon,
especially as she got sicker. Mandy or I would go with her then, to make sure she was okay. Never
Dad. She said she was enough of a burden to him at all other times of the day. But Mandy and I would
do our homework with her or work on the garden we built just for her.”

“So you still use it?” Dustin questioned cautiously.
Vince nodded. “Dad didn’t want it to fall apart, because that’s not what Mom would have wanted.

It doesn’t get used much now, but it’s nice to have it there for her. Mandy used to keep the garden nice
all summer. Not sure what’ll happen now that she’s living an hour away with Jeff. I go out every few
weeks and make sure the animals don’t start calling it home. Even in the winter. There’s a little corral
for the horses, too.”

“It just sits there looking habitable but not being used most of the time?”
Vince shrugged. “Basically. Sometimes when I need to relax, I take Xander and move up there

for a few days. Took Jane there for a weekend once. It’s mainly one of those things you don’t really
need but you keep for sentimental reasons. It doesn’t take much to maintain, just some roof tiles each
year and some pest-repellants. And whatever Mandy does for the garden. Water only when we use it
for the horses.”

Dustin looked at him curiously. “No bathroom?”
“That’s the part I personally don’t care for,” Vince replied with half a smile. “The stupid

outhouse. And if you stay there a couple of days, you’re forced by your own grossness to either come
back or take a hose bath.”

“Better than what I had for a while,” Dustin commented.
Vince suddenly realized what he’d said. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “That was—”
“It’s fine,” Dustin assured him. “If I don’t joke about it, I’ll never be okay. I know what it’s like

to wish you could take a long, hot shower. If you don’t remember, it’s practically the first thing I did
when I got here.”

Vince had to laugh. “I thought I was going to melt when I dropped your clothes off. I didn’t

realize that little shower could generate that much steam.”

Dustin laughed, too. “It was the best shower I have ever had.”
Vince let his smile fade. “This might not be okay to ask, so you don’t have to answer… I was just

wondering; how did you survive being homeless for two years?”

“By doing a lot of things I’m not proud of,” Dustin replied quietly, not looking at him. “I stole

things when I had to. Let myself be raped when I had to. Ate out of trashcans. Drank filthy water.
Things I had to do to survive.”

“You didn’t have to answer,” Vince told him, stunned and deeply disturbed. “Jesus. What about

the homeless shelters?”

Dustin shrugged. “I stayed in a couple for a few days. But I felt confined, that I’d rather be on the

streets. Plus the workers there are always asking questions, trying to catch runaways and get them
back to their families. The only thing I am proud of is not taking up drugs or drinking. When I
couldn’t stand living like that anymore, I moved out into the woods.”

“How did you live out there all winter?”
“I stole two tarps from someone’s backyard. Used those and a bunch of tree branches and dirt to

build a shelter, used snow to reinforce it when it started. Stole food from a store down the road—
mainly nuts. I felt like a fucking squirrel. I also got as many packages of hand warmers as I possibly
could, whenever I could. I had some blankets and a winter coat I’d taken from my house before they
changed the locks. I think they realized I’d come in and taken things like that, and a couple hundred
dollars from my mom’s purse.”

“I’m sorry,” Vince whispered.
Dustin shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I owe you my life, so don’t be. In fact, thank you. Thank

you, a lot.”

Vince smiled a little. “You’re welcome.”

Chapter Nine

W

HEN

THEY

had their traditional party for the Preakness Stakes race, Vince made sure he stayed well

away from the beer. Not that he had much more personal information to divulge in a moment of
drunkenness, at least not to Dustin. The last thing he needed was to spill his guts to someone else.

Dustin picked the same horse to win as he had before, and got lucky enough to win again. This

time, though, he wasn’t the only winner.

“Don’t pick that horse to win the Belmont,” Mia warned him. “There hasn’t been a Triple Crown

winner since Affirmed in 1978. Won’t happen this year, either. Never does.”

Vince rolled his eyes. “Pick whoever you want to pick. Mia is going to pick him. She always

does. She just wants less people to share the possible winnings with.”

“I can’t even plot my victory without you ruining it, can I?” Mia grumbled.
“Is this when I learn not to trust Mia?” Dustin questioned.
“Yes,” Vince answered at the same time that Mia said, “No.”
Dustin smiled. “Guess I’ll have to choose wisely.”

“H

EY

V

INCE

?”

Dustin asked one afternoon as Vince was standing at the arena fence watching Mia

ride one of the horses in training.

“Yeah?” he replied, turning to look at Dustin as he took a spot at the fence beside him.
“If you’re free sometime, would you mind taking me to get a haircut?”
Vince smiled. “Sure. Actually, we can go once Mia is done here. Tired of the ponytail?”
Dustin nodded. “I hate having long hair. Can’t really cut your own hair very well, though.”
“I’ve never tried, so I’ll take your word on that,” Vince replied. “You want to try driving?”
Dustin looked slightly terrified. “Your truck?”
Vince shrugged. “Why not? I mean, you don’t have to, but I thought I would at least offer. I

wouldn’t make you start off on the road. It’s Wednesday, I’m sure most church parking lots are
empty.”

“Can I think about it?” Dustin asked.
“Yeah, we can get your hair cut first,” Vince agreed.
They were heading for the mall an hour later when Dustin looked over from the passenger seat

and asked, “How hard is it to get a bank account?”

Vince shrugged. “You’re over eighteen, so I doubt it’s very hard.”
“I think it would be a good idea to get one,” Dustin told him, looking back out the windshield. “I

feel bad that your dad pays me under the table because he knows I don’t have a bank account to
deposit my paycheck into.”

Vince stopped for a red light and glanced over at him. “He actually suggested I take you to get

one back when we got your ID and birth certificate. I didn’t want to overwhelm you then, and with
everything in my own life, it slipped my mind. I’m sorry.”

Dustin shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. I can still get one now, though.”
The light turned green, and they started moving again. “We can do that. There’s a bank at the

mall. It’s the same one my whole family uses, so I know it’s pretty good.”

“Thanks,” Dustin replied with a smile.

Vince thought the afternoon was quite successful. They got Dustin’s hair cut first, and it made

him look totally different and more attractive. Vince tried not to think about the second observation—
it wouldn’t be a good idea to start down that path. After that, they got him a checking account at the
bank, bought some coffee for the road, and headed home. On the way, Dustin decided to try driving.
So, in the parking lot of a local church, Vince parked the truck and traded seats with him.

Vince wasn’t sure of his teaching skills, but Dustin did fairly well, considering he’d never even

driven so much as a go-cart in his life. By the time he’d been going around the parking lot for an hour,
Dustin seemed a lot more relaxed and comfortable. But Vince still wasn’t about to have him drive on
the road for quite a while.

Chapter Ten

W

HEN

IT

was time for the third race in the Triple Crown, Dustin apparently decided to trust Vince

over Mia and made his bet on the same horse that had already won the first two races. It turned out to
be a poor choice, as the horse finished closer to the back of the pack than the front. In fact, no one
chose the winner, so everyone got their money back.

The next morning, Vince went to the barn shortly after the morning feeding to see if Dustin

wanted to take Justin on another trail ride and found him in Justin’s stall as usual. But this time,
Dustin was leaning against the wall just watching the big gelding as he searched his clean stall
shavings for any scraps of hay or feed he might have missed when he ate breakfast. Dustin wasn’t
smiling like he usually was around the horse. He looked miserable.

“What’s going on?” Vince asked as he leaned his arms on the stall door.
Dustin shrugged, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. “Your dad was just here. He put

Justin up for sale.”

“Already?” Vince practically gasped. Justin was doing great, but Vince never expected him to be

placed up for sale so soon.

Dustin just shrugged again. “I thought I’d have more time, too. But I knew it would happen

eventually. I just have to start detaching myself now.”

“You never know how long it will be before anyone actually buys him,” Vince pointed out. “I

doubt it’ll be tomorrow. Maybe not even by the end of the summer.”

Dustin sighed. “I know. I’m still going to miss him.”
Vince nodded. “I know,” he said quietly. “Come on, let’s take him for a trail ride.”

O

NCE

V

INCE

knew all the hands were at the barn for the evening feeding, he let himself in to his

parents’ house and marched into his father’s home office. Wes looked up as his son walked up to him
and stopped just before hitting the desk. Vince was on a mission; he’d made his decision hours ago,
and he wasn’t going to give up easily.

“How much are you asking for Justin?” he asked.
Wes leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow. “You have a horse.”
“But Dustin doesn’t.”
Wes rubbed his forehead and sighed. “I know the kid loves that horse, but even if he didn’t spend

a dime since I started paying him, he’d barely have enough to buy him.”

“I’m buying him,” Vince clarified. “For Dustin.”
His father sighed again. “Why?”
“Because he deserves to have some happiness in his life. And Justin loves him as much as Dustin

loves Justin.”

“You should have told him I’d be selling this horse,” Wes stated. “Why did you let him get

attached?”

Vince threw his hands up. “Why is it my responsibility to make sure no one out there bonds with

a horse? I told him, and he said he still wanted to have what he had with Justin while he could. Dad,
the last two years of his life have been more fucked up than you can imagine. If you’re worried he
might leave at the end of the summer and can’t keep Justin, you shouldn’t. You have a buy-back

clause in every sales contract. And if Dustin has his own horse, he won’t bond like this with any
others. Let me give him something to be happy about. Really happy, not just grateful to have a house
and a job to support himself.”

Wes looked at him thoughtfully. “Well,” he finally sighed, “if it’ll make you happy to do this, I

won’t stop you. Go get your checkbook while I take his ad down. I’ll write up the contract tonight.”

Vince turned to go, then stopped and looked back at his father. “Make sure it’s a sales contract

for zero dollars. I don’t want him to know I did this.”

“All right,” Wes replied, waving him out.
Vince was grinning before he even made it out the door.

H

E

WENT

back to his father’s office at lunchtime the next day and was handed the sales contract for

Justin.

“I trust you when you say this is the right thing to do,” Wes said, looking him in the eye.
Vince nodded. “You know it is, too.”
His father smiled. “Maybe you’re right.”
Vince went straight to the barn and saw Dustin helping Joe to groom Star, who had apparently

decided she wanted to become chestnut instead of gray and used the mud in the pasture to aid in the
transformation.

“Sorry, Joe,” he said as he walked close to where they had the mare cross-tied in the aisle. “I have

to steal Dustin for a minute.”

Joe waved a very muddy brush at him. “Go ahead. We were just talking about taking her to the

hose out back and just spraying her off. I’ll get Chris to help me instead.”

Vince nodded and motioned to Dustin to come with him to the barn office. Dustin was silent, and

Vince wondered if he was worried that Vince was going to tell him that Justin was leaving. When they
got to the office, Vince unlocked the door, turned on the light, and closed the door behind them.

“I have something for you,” Vince announced before handing the sales papers over.
Dustin took them with a puzzled look on his face. “What is it?”
“Read it” was all Vince said. He had to fight his urge to smile as he waited for Dustin to realize

what he held.

Dustin began reading, and his eyes got wide. He looked up at Vince abruptly and seemed to

struggle to find words for a moment. Finally, he whispered, “Your dad’s giving me Justin? Why?
How?”

Vince grinned. “I convinced him that you guys belonged together, and that Justin already has a

strong bond with you.”

“He’s mine?” Dustin breathed, still looking like he was experiencing the biggest shock of his life.
Vince nodded. “Well, as soon as you sign these papers and I get them back to my dad.”
Dustin threw himself at Vince and hugged him so tightly that it actually hurt. It seemed all

Dustin could say was “thank you” over and over again. Vince hugged him back the best he could and
let Dustin decide when to let go, which took about two minutes.

Vince had never seen Dustin grinning so brightly, and it made him grin back. “Here, let’s get

those papers signed. Then I’ll get them back to Dad while you go hug your horse.”

V

INCE

WAS

surprised to get a call from Jane that night. She’d been around the farm a couple of times

since she had moved out, but she hadn’t stayed longer than her meetings with Wes about the financial
side of things. She’d never checked in with him before, and he assumed she was trying to give him
space to clear his mind. It was something she would do.

“Just thought I’d see how you’re doing,” she explained as soon as they said hello.
Vince started cleaning up the dishes from his meager dinner. “I’m all right.”
“How’s your friend Dustin?”
“Good,” Vince answered, rinsing his plate and fork in the sink. “Actually, I think he’s pretty high

on life now. I bought Justin for him.”

“You what?” she practically yelled.
Vince winced and moved the phone to his other ear. “Dad was going to sell Justin already, but

those two have a great bond, a lot like Xander and I do. I couldn’t stand to break them up, so Dad let
me pay for Justin while putting Dustin’s name on the papers. I just don’t want him to ever figure out
that Dad wasn’t really selling the horse to him for nothing,” he added in warning.

“Jesus, Vince,” Jane laughed. “You sure you’re not in love with him?”
He closed the dishwasher and rolled his eyes, not caring that she couldn’t see him. “He’s a good

friend. He stayed with me when I got really drunk a few weeks ago. Though I will say Dad asked him
to.” He cleared his throat and added. “And apparently, I told him about myself while I was drunk. He’s
fine with it.”

“Is he, too?”
Vince paused. He’d told Dustin he wasn’t going to tell anyone, and he meant it. He was about to

tell her he didn’t know the answer to that when she caught on anyway.

“Oh my god, that’s why he got kicked out of his house, isn’t it?”
Vince groaned. “Jane, please. I told him I wasn’t going to tell anyone.”
“You didn’t tell me,” she argued. “You’re just awkward at conversations that require you to lie

like that. I will never let him know that I know before others do. I will say, though—you better go get
’im. You’re already basically in love with him.”

“Yeah, right,” he practically laughed. “He’s a kid, five years younger than me. He’s hot and all,

but I think he’s more like a brother. Plus I’m technically his boss.”

“Didn’t stop your parents, did it?” she countered. “And who cares that you’re five years older?

It’s not like he’s not a legal adult.”

Vince walked into the living room and dropped down onto the couch. “Jane, I hardly have my life

figured out anymore. The last thing I’m going to do right now is start dating the kid and fuck up his
life too. He’s happy now, and I’ll be damned if I take that away from him.”

“Maybe you should find out what he wants instead of being selfish and hiding under a rock for

the rest of your life?”

Vince shifted so he was lying on the couch with his feet dangling off the end. “If he wants

something, he’s free to let me know, and then maybe I’d think about it.”

She did laugh this time. “You expect him to make a move on an older guy who happens to be his

boss and has done all these great things for him? He has a stable life there; he’s not just going to risk
it like that.”

“It’s not like I’d make him leave because I don’t want to date him,” Vince argued. “That would

be pretty unprofessional.”

“But how comfortable would he be seeing you every day knowing that you shot him down? Even

if he did stay, your friendship would be ruined. You’re going to need to handle it.”

He groaned and ran a hand through his messy hair. “Dammit, Jane, I’m not going to date Dustin.

Or anyone. Seriously, I can take care of myself. Stop rushing me into dating. I can’t go from being
with you for two years to suddenly accepting the fact that I like guys overnight. When I’m ready for a
relationship, I’ll find a dating website.”

She sighed. “I guess you’re right. I am pushing you. I just want you to realize that you guys

should be together. He loves his horse like you love yours, and you’re good friends. Let it happen.”

The doorbell rang, making Vince sit up and turn to the door. Dustin was standing on the other

side of the door—the screen door. The weather had improved enough to make it sensible to have
windows and doors open during the day, and Vince was suddenly terrified. Had Dustin heard any of
that conversation?

“I gotta go, Jane,” he said cautiously.
“Okay… bye.” She sounded confused but didn’t ask any questions.
Vince hung up and called for Dustin to let himself in.
“I just thought I should bring your book back,” he explained, holding up the book he’d been

reading the night Vince had been drunk.

Vince was relieved to see that he was at least acting like he hadn’t overheard his boss talking

about dating him. “That’s fine. Help yourself to more if you want.”

Dustin smiled, and he went to the bookshelf. He put the book back, then grabbed another. It only

took five minutes for him to choose a book and thank Vince before leaving again. And the whole time,
Vince had sat there telling himself that he couldn’t date the kid, no matter how attractive he was and
how good he was with horses—which was a major turn-on for Vince.

There were too many reasons why it would be a terrible idea to start a relationship with Dustin

for him to even let his mind wander there. He could put it out of his mind if he tried. Until Jane
brought it up again. He knew she’d never let it go.

Chapter Eleven

A

WEEK

and a half later, Vince and Wes left the farm in the hands of Anna and Jane—who was the

one best suited to looking after the business side of things when Wes couldn’t—and made the hour
drive to the hotel Mandy and Jeff had put them up in for the weekend of the wedding. They left Friday
night and would be back sometime on Sunday, and while it wasn’t likely that much would be able to
go wrong before they got back, Wes thought it best to have someone besides the stable hands there
just in case something did. Whenever both he and Vince left for any longer than a day, he had
someone keep an eye on things. When it wasn’t Jane or Mandy, it was Mark.

It was a nice wedding, Vince thought. Jeff’s family was religious, so they had chosen to have the

wedding in the church the family attended. Vince knew his sister was not at all religious, so it was
obvious that she was just trying to please her new in-laws by having the wedding there. When he
entered the church, he wondered with a touch of amusement if his presence would cause the roof to
collapse, but apparently, being gay didn’t carry such powers. If there was a god, it must not care about
him being there or him standing at the altar as part of the wedding party.

After the ceremony, he smiled for more pictures than he could possibly count, then squeezed into

the limo with the rest of the wedding party. The limo took them back to the hotel, where the reception
was being held. It was a nice place with a patio outside and a decent bar. All the tables had glittering
crystal centerpieces holding silver and red candles to match the wedding. There were flowers
everywhere, and quiet music played from speakers on the walls.

Vince wasn’t sure he felt like socializing very much, but Wes felt the same way and kept him

company by the bar. At one point, Jeff’s parents approached them and started making conversation.
Vince didn’t pay much attention and didn’t contribute unless he was asked a direct question.

Did he think his sister had made a good choice in marrying Jeff? Of course.
Was the ceremony nice? Sure.
Isn’t the reception room just lovely? Yeah.
Was he seeing someone? Not at the moment.
Could he believe those gays thought they deserved to have these wonderful weddings?
Just then Vince spotted Mark and his wife across the room. “Excuse me,” he said, not bothering

to answer his brother-in-law’s mother’s stupid question. He took his drink over to where Mark and his
wife, Leah, had just finished greeting Mandy and Jeff.

“How is Justin doing?” Mark asked after they exchanged greetings.
“Good,” Vince replied with a nod. “He actually found himself a new owner already.”
Mark looked surprised. “That was fast. I knew he was a smart horse, though. How’s that boy that

you picked up?”

Vince grinned. “I’m glad you didn’t give him a shot. He’s great with the horses, and the biggest

problem I have with him is that he doesn’t know how to drive. He gets along with everyone, has no
drug or alcohol problems. We’re working on the driving. So you missed out.”

Mark laughed. “I guess I did. Well, I’m glad you could help him. I hated turning him away like

that, but it was too risky to take him on.”

“It was worth it for us,” Vince stated with a smile.

T

HEY

WERE

halfway home Sunday afternoon, both of them nursing slight hangovers, when Vince’s

cell phone rang. As soon as he saw Anna’s name on the screen, he was worried. He pressed the speaker
button and answered.

“Hey, you’re coming home today, right?” she asked.
“Yeah, we’ll be there in about a half an hour,” Vince answered. “What’s going on?”
She let out a deep breath. “There was an… altercation between Chris and Dustin this morning.”
“What?” Vince and Wes both asked at once. Vince was stunned.
“What exactly happened?” Wes demanded from the driver’s seat.
“I had just finished the last of the stalls, Star’s, and went to get her. Joe and I were the only ones

in the barn. I didn’t think much of it because Mia was riding Foxy in the indoor ring and I assumed
Dustin and Chris were there watching. You know how wild that horse gets in the indoor ring; she
always has someone spot her in case Foxy flips her shit and bucks her off. I went outside to get Star
and found her tacked up in the outdoor ring. Dustin and Chris were both there, and all I saw was Chris
haul off and slug Dustin. By the time I ran over, he was practically beating the shit out of him. Joe
helped me pull them apart—he must have heard me yelling from inside. And Dustin’s not seriously
hurt, to be clear.”

“What the hell?” Wes’s hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly that Vince could see

his knuckles turning white. “How did this start?”

Vince had a feeling he knew, but he waited for Anna to answer.
“Well, I guess he tried to get Dustin to ride Star, and Dustin told him flat out that he wasn’t going

to. He said he didn’t ride anyone Vince or myself hasn’t told him to because he’s not that experienced
a rider yet, and neither of us told him to ride her. Dustin didn’t want to tell me everything, but Chris
informed me that Dustin is, in his words, ‘a fucking faggot’ if he wouldn’t ride her and that, again, in
his words, ‘faggots get beat.’ Apparently, Dustin didn’t give in to prove his manhood, so Chris beat
the shit out of him.” She took a deep breath and asked, “Did you know that’s why Dustin was kicked
out of his house?”

“Yes,” Vince answered.
“I didn’t,” Wes added. “But what concerns me right now isn’t his sexual preferences. I want to

know what the hell is wrong with Chris. I’ve never known him to be violent.”

“He’s been developing a drinking problem,” Anna admitted. “It started when Alex left. I think

he’s pissed because Alex was his gambling buddy. None of the rest of us care that much for him.”

“Why didn’t I know about this?” Vince demanded. His jaw hurt from being clenched so tightly,

but he was angrier than he thought he’d ever been in his life.

“This is the first time he’s ever done anything worth telling you about,” she explained carefully.

“Everything else was just little things I figured we could deal with unless it got worse. And it got
worse. I guess I should have said something sooner, then maybe Dustin wouldn’t have gone through
that this morning.”

Vince forced himself to unclench his jaw and his hand that wasn’t holding the phone—apparently

he’d formed a fist without thinking about it. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it; just keep an eye on him
for now. How is Dustin?”

“Like I said, no serious injuries. He’s got a black eye and some bruised ribs, plenty of other

bruises too. Nothing broken, no blood except that he bit his lip. Jane took him to the ER, but no
stitches or casts. I told him to take the afternoon off. Jane’s sitting with him, last I knew. He’s a little
shook up is all. I made Chris take over all of Dustin’s work for the day. Except taking care of Justin.

I’ll do that.”

“I can,” Vince assured her. “And I’ll deal with Chris as soon as I get back.”
“Okay, I’ll see you guys soon.”
“I can’t believe this,” Vince grumbled as he put his phone back into his pocket.
Wes shook his head. “Me neither. I don’t know if this is a drunken bout of idiocy or a calculated

hate crime.”

“Sounds like he planned to hurt him,” Vince replied, running a hand through his hair. “Why else

would he try to get him on Star? Everyone knows he’s a novice rider and rides western. Star is ridden
English, and she’s a handful. He was trying to hurt him either physically or emotionally. Maybe trying
to make him leave because he took Alex’s spot? I don’t really think I care why he did it. I’m not
tolerating violence among my hands.”

Wes nodded. “I didn’t know he was gay. Did Chris?”
Vince shook his head. “As far as I know, I’m the only one who knew. I guess he told Anna,

though. Maybe he’s out to everyone now.”

“If Chris is going to cause more trouble, feel free to fire him. I don’t want things like this

happening all the time because he’s a hate-filled drunk.”

Vince sighed. “I’ll see how he reacts when I talk to him. I’ll talk to Dustin first, see what he

wants me to do. Or if Chris has tried anything before.”

Wes nodded. “Good plan. See, you used to doubt yourself when it came to running the barn, but

you know what you’re doing.”

“I’ve had a few years to get the hang of it,” Vince said with a shrug. “But this is new.”
“For me, too.”

A

S

SOON

as they got back to the farm, Vince walked to Dustin’s cabin and knocked on the door.

Seconds later, Jane opened the door and let him in.

“Have you talked to Chris yet?” she asked as he stepped in.
“No, I wanted to see what Dustin wanted done first,” Vince explained.
The TV in the living room was on, and Dustin was lying on the couch dressed in dirty jeans and a

plain black T-shirt covered in arena dust. Either he was in too much pain to change his clothes or he
just didn’t care. Vince could see bruises on his arms, and there was an ice pack over the left side of his
face, which he lifted when he heard Vince’s voice.

“I’m sorry,” Dustin said as Vince walked over, cringing at how bad his face looked.
“Why are you sorry?” Vince asked, sitting on the kitchen chair nearby that Jane must have

brought in.

Dustin shrugged slightly. “For making you have to deal with this.”
“And it’s your fault how?” Vince demanded.
“I just feel bad for making everyone waste their time on me. I didn’t ask Chris to beat me up, but

now everyone has to deal with this. If I hadn’t started working here, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Vince just looked at him for a long moment, fighting a sudden need to hold the kid. “Dust, what

do you want me to do about Chris? Has he done or said anything to you before?”

Dustin shook his head.
“Do you want to see him fired?”

Again, Dustin shook his head.
“Do you want to press assault charges?”
As Vince expected, Dustin shook his head.
Vince sighed. “Then I guess he’s getting a warning. If he tries to hurt you again, he’s going to be

fired. I don’t take well to my workers not getting along like this. But I need you to let me know if he
threatens or tries to attack you again.”

Dustin nodded. “Okay, I guess.”
“Last question—does everyone know you’re gay now?”
He shrugged a little. “I told Anna. I don’t know if she told everyone or if everyone just assumes

because of the names Chris kept calling me.”

“So do you have any clue why Chris did this?”
“None,” Dustin replied. “Maybe he just wanted some amusement by making me ride Star, but I

wasn’t going to do that. And I figured fighting back when he hit me would just make things worse.”

Vince nodded. “It probably would have. And you were right to refuse riding Star. You’re not

ready for that horse yet. Anna informed me that Chris is developing a drinking problem, so that could
explain part of his reasoning. Or lack thereof.” He sighed. “Don’t worry about wasting our time. You
can probably do some light work tomorrow. If not, oh well. Chris has all your work right now, so it’s
not like Mia, Anna, or Joe are complaining. And I’ll take care of Justin,” he added when Dustin started
to protest. “I won’t let him work with Justin if I can.”

Dustin nodded and looked away. “Thanks, Vince.”
He smiled and reached forward to lightly squeeze his shoulder, which thankfully didn’t seem to

hurt him. “Seriously, Dust, don’t worry about this. Anna and I will take care of things. You’re not
making more work for us or wasting anyone’s time. Okay?”

Dustin nodded again, and this time his green eyes met Vince’s. “Okay.”
Vince stood. “Just relax for the day.” He left a moment later and headed to the barn. As soon as

he walked in, he yelled, “Chris!”

Chris walked out of a nearby stall. He didn’t look worried or that he regretted beating the living

hell out of his coworker. In fact, he was smirking.

Vince pointed toward the office. “With me.”
As soon as they were both in the office, Vince slammed the door. “Tell me what happened this

morning and why Dustin looks like he was trampled by a raging thoroughbred.”

Chris shrugged nonchalantly. “Maybe he was.”
“We both know he wasn’t,” Vince countered, clenching a fist. “Is there a reason you beat him like

that?”

Chris just shrugged again. “What else would I do with a faggot?”
“And why is he a faggot?”
Chris snorted. “Obviously, if he refuses to ride a horse, he’s too much of a pansy for this place.

Clearly, he really is a faggot if he didn’t fight back. No room for ass-fuckers here. I just gave him a
reason to leave.”

Vince took a calming breath. “I don’t care whether you like him or not, if you touch him—or

anyone here—again, you will be the one leaving. In a police car. And if it’s Dustin you attack again,
you’ll be charged with a hate crime, I assure you.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t have the balls to press charges. He couldn’t face me in court.”

Vince pointed to the door. “You’ve been warned,” he hissed. “Now get the fuck out of here.”
As soon as the amused Chris was out the door, Vince released his anger and frustration by

punching the office desk. It didn’t make him feel much better. Vince wanted to fire the guy, but he
knew that even having a poor worker was better than being one hand short during the busy season. If
he wanted to make any sales this summer, he needed to put up with Chris for the time being. The
thought wasn’t appealing, but he didn’t have time to find another new hand.

He wasn’t going to give the guy a third chance, though, that was for sure.

Chapter Twelve

W

HEN

V

INCE

got to the barn the next morning, he learned that Anna had just sent Dustin back home.

“He can’t do much of anything,” she explained. “Not with sore ribs like that. Chris is doing all

his work.”

Vince nodded. “I’ll take care of Justin, don’t worry about that.”
He fed Xander and Justin and cleaned both of their stalls, then went to check on Dustin. The kid

looked worse than he had the day before, if that were even possible. His bruises looked uglier, and his
eye was still swollen. He was sitting on his couch again with the TV on, an icepack sitting on the
couch next to him.

“Are you doing okay?” Vince asked.
“Anna sent me home, so I guess not,” Dustin grumbled.
Vince moved the ice pack and sat down on the couch with Dustin. “Take another day off. If you

want to do light work tomorrow even if it’s painful for you, I won’t stop you. But don’t push yourself
too much. The only one picking up your slack is Chris, so you have no reason to feel bad.”

Dustin sighed. “I definitely want to try tomorrow. I’ll just keep taking my painkillers.”
Vince handed him the ice pack. “Good idea. I’ll trust you to decide what you can handle.”
“Thanks,” Dustin replied, putting the ice pack to his face.

T

HE

NEXT

evening, Jane showed up at Vince’s house unannounced. He thought she looked rather

nervous when he let her in, and he was instantly concerned about her.

“I need to talk to you about something,” she told him.
“Okay,” he replied, leading her to the living room. “What’s going on?”
She sat down on the couch and took a deep breath. “Vince,” she said quietly, “I’m pregnant.”
He stared at her from the other end of the couch.
“The last person I slept with was you,” she added.
The memory of that night slapped him across the face. “Oh god. It broke. And I didn’t worry

about it because you were on the pill and I was planning on marrying you.” He buried his face in his
hands. “Fuck.”

Jane grabbed his arm and pulled it to her. He didn’t even bother resisting her as she wove her

fingers through his. “Listen to me, Vince,” she began, sounding remarkably calm, “I don’t blame you.
I wouldn’t have worried all that much if you’d told me right away, either. I might have been a little
concerned, knowing that I wasn’t always perfect about taking the pills, but I wouldn’t have been
paranoid. How it happened doesn’t matter. It’s what we do now that is important. What do you want to
do?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, turning his head to look at her, still half covering his face with

his other hand.

“We don’t have to go through with this,” she pointed out. “I’ve looked up local abortion clinics.

If that’s what we need to do, I’m prepared to go that way. I can’t make that decision without you,
though. Ideally, I would want us to be able to have the baby and raise it jointly. I don’t want this to
involve any legal channels, just us working this out on our own. I want us to be able to share the
parenting. I would be willing to be the main caregiver, but I’d want you to be willing and able to help

out financially and to raise our child with me. I would love for you to visit the baby and, when it’s
older, to do more father-child stuff. Considering where you are in life right now, do you feel like you
could do that?”

He shook his head and closed his eyes. “I don’t know,” he admitted quietly. “Can you give me a

couple of days to think this through? I honestly don’t know what to think right now.”

She nodded. “Of course.” She let go of his hand to hug him. “Thank you.”

V

INCE

SPENT

the night and a few hours of the morning in a state of surreal indecision, which slowly

gave way to resolve. By noon, he picked up his phone and texted Jane.

I can’t promise to be a great father, but I promise to try.

T

HE

TRADITION

of having parties on the farm had been started by Vince’s mother during the farm’s

first year, and the first one was the Fourth of July. After she passed away, Wes had decided to
continue the tradition in her memory. So when it came to be the Fourth of July, Vince, along with his
sister who had shown up unexpectedly that morning with her husband, helped his father set up for the
farm’s annual barbecue. Jane also arrived as the preparations were ending and everyone was coming
from the barn to the main house’s backyard.

Vince had finally gotten used to seeing Dustin bruised. It had been four days since his incident

with Chris, but he still didn’t look very good. He claimed he wasn’t as sore as he had been before and
insisted on doing light work every day, including taking care of Justin, which Vince helped him with
when he was allowed to. Dustin never asked for help but let Vince step in most of the time.

Mandy winced when she saw Dustin, even though Vince had told her the story before. But she hid

her surprise pretty well when she said hello to Dustin, Vince thought.

Mark also looked surprised when he asked Vince, “I thought he wasn’t a problem kid?”
Vince shook his head. “He’s not the problem. Chris is. Chris randomly beat him up for no reason

other than that Dustin was doing exactly what I wanted. Dustin didn’t fight back or instigate.”

“Then I’m impressed,” Mark replied. “But he should know he can defend himself.”
Vince shrugged. “He knew Chris would just beat him harder if he fought back.”
“So you’re still happy with him?”
Vince nodded and took a drink of the soda he was holding. “Definitely. If another issue happens

with him and Chris, Chris will be the one I let go unless there is some obvious evidence of
provocation.”

Mark nodded. “Everyone always has to have a problem worker.”
Vince chuckled. “Exactly.”
Vince was wary of drinking too much that afternoon, but he had no desire to stay totally sober. It

turned out that his father and his brother-in-law were the best companions for that sort of drinking.
That evening, when the stable hands went to do the night feeding and Mandy and Jane had gone inside,
they sat around the fire pit in the yard and talked about all kinds of random things. It was the most
time Vince had spent with Jeff, and he really felt like they were brothers.

“What do you like most about my sister?” Vince asked as he tossed a stick into the fire.
Jeff took a drink of his beer and grinned. “She’s great in bed.”
“Hey now,” Wes warned, pointing a finger at him. “She may be all grown up, but I’m still her

daddy.”

Jeff grinned again. “Nah, it’s a bonus. She’s just a great person. I love her.”
“That’s better,” Wes stated, grinning.
“I guess love is a good reason,” Vince conceded.
“Do you still love Jane?” Jeff asked.
Vince shrugged. “Yeah, but I don’t think I ever loved her that way.”
“There’s a girl out there somewhere you’ll love someday,” his father said confidently.
Vince laughed. “I’m not expecting that.”
“Oh, don’t be so sorry for yourself,” Wes argued, squeezing his shoulder. “You’ll find love.”
Before Vince even thought about it, he laughed again and said, “That would be nice, but it

wouldn’t be a woman.”

His father released his shoulder, and Vince suddenly realized what he’d said. He finished his beer

to try to hide his awkwardness. He was tempted to get up and walk away, but the awkward pause
didn’t last long enough.

“That’s why you and Jane broke up?” Wes asked quietly.
Vince nodded. “Yeah. She figured out I was trying to hide and have a normal life with her. She

couldn’t do it anymore.”

“So is that why you knew about Dustin?” his father questioned, still quiet.
Vince stared at the fire and replied, “If you’re asking if there’s something going on with us, no.

I’m not ready for a relationship now. When I got drunk at the Derby party and he stayed with me, I
told him out of drunken stupidity, kind of like I just did now. And he told me about himself to assure
me that he wasn’t going to talk or treat me any different.”

After a long moment, Jeff said, “Mandy will kill me, but I have to say that she told me already. I

don’t want you to kill her either, though.”

Vince sighed. “How’d I know she wouldn’t keep it quiet even though I asked her to?”
“You could have told me sooner,” Wes stated suddenly.
“I didn’t know how you’d react,” Vince admitted.
“You’re my son,” Wes declared, “how would you expect me to react?”
“I don’t know,” Vince said quietly.
Wes set his beer bottle down and turned to him. “Vince, you’re my son and my business partner.

As long as your preferences don’t put you against me for some reason or hurt you or make it
impossible for you to train the horses, I don’t give a damn what you do in your private life. I want you
to be happy. And I hope you find a nice guy who loves you and can make you happy, if that’s what it
has to be.”

Vince looked down at his hands in his lap, surprised to find himself fighting tears. “Thanks,

Dad.” He took a deep breath and added, “While I’m confessing things…. Jane’s pregnant. It happened
the last night we were together. I just found out.”

“And… what’s going to happen?” Wes asked gently.
Vince ignored the fact that Jeff was staring at him. “We’re both going to raise the baby. Like a

joint custody type of thing without the legal aspect.”

“Then I’m glad to hear it,” Wes declared and squeezed Vince’s shoulder. “I love you.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Vince repeated. “I love you, too.”
He was pretty sure the last time he’d said that had been at his mother’s funeral.

Chapter Thirteen

V

INCE

WAS

glad that Dustin was mostly recovered from his altercation with Chris by the time the

show he had been training for came around. His face was still faintly bruised, but Vince didn’t think it
was overly obvious to most people, and his ribs were still bothering him a bit, but painkillers seemed
to make light work bearable. Vince told him he could ask Jane or Mia to go to the show with him
instead, but Dustin insisted on going as his groom as they had planned.

In the end, Vince was glad he agreed to let Dustin be his groom despite his still-healing injuries.

The look on Dustin’s face when they arrived was enough to make him smile. The kid had obviously
never been to a show, and even though the stable area was similar to a racetrack and the show horses
were highly trained, specially bred performance horses just like thoroughbreds, it was clearly different
from any place he’d ever been.

They unloaded Xander, and Dustin let him walk around a bit to stretch after his two-hour trailer

ride while Vince went to check in. When he got back to the trailer, he found Dustin sitting on the
wheel well, holding Xander’s lead rope while the gelding watched his master approach. Vince grinned
and rubbed the horse’s forehead.

“I don’t ride for a couple of hours,” he explained to Dustin. “We can stick him back inside for a

bit if you want, but I still want one of us to be with him at all times in case a person he doesn’t know
gets too close.”

Dustin looked confused for a moment, then nodded. “It makes him upset meeting new people

here?”

“Unless I’m on his back or right next to him, usually,” Vince explained. “I think he’d be okay

with you. Maybe not as relaxed as he is with me, but he wouldn’t freak out.”

Dustin nodded. “Do you mind if I use the bathroom quick?”
Vince pointed behind him. “Porta Potties over there.”
“I’ll be back,” Dustin replied, handing over Xander’s lead rope.
“I hope so,” Vince said with a smile.
Dustin grinned and shook his head while he walked off in the direction Vince had pointed him.

Vince’s own amusement didn’t last more than a few seconds, though.

“If it isn’t the boy with the recycled pony.”
Vince sighed and looked up at the sound of the voice he unfortunately recognized. “Hello,

Stephen.”

Stephen Wilks stood before him, looking basically the same as he always did: perfectly arranged

blond hair, perfectly shaved face, perfect clothes that fit his six-foot slim frame just perfectly. And
Stephen knew how perfect he was. If only his personality was perfect. Instead, his aura itself screamed
“complete asshole.” He was a few years older than Vince and had always disliked him for doing so
well with his “recycled” thoroughbred.

“I see you still have your useless nag,” Stephen commented casually.
“Yep, Xander is still going strong. I like that I don’t have to change horses every two weeks.”
Stephen chuckled. “I just got myself a new star. Purebred warmblood stud imported straight from

France. He’s got an impeccable pedigree and has sired champions already.”

Vince pretended to be interested. “Are you proposing a breeding arrangement? Because Xander is

a gelding and I’m not sure the foal would take. We could try, but I’m not paying until the foal stands
and nurses.”

Stephen rolled his perfect blue eyes. “Funny, Anderson. Your sense of humor must be how you

deal with your difficult life. Where’s your usual groom, by the way? I’ve never known you to change
anything.”

Vince shrugged. “She had better things to do.”
“Your kid looks a little sore,” Stephen added. “Never thought you were a groom abuser. No

wonder the chick left.”

Vince shrugged again. He’d learned long ago not to argue with Stephen. It just gave him more

fuel. “Sometimes, I can’t help it.”

Dustin happened to return at that moment and innocently said hello to Stephen.
Stephen scoffed and said to Vince, “You’re the king of misfit toys. See you in the ring.” He

turned and walked away, obviously not feeling Vince’s glare drilling a hole in his back.

Dustin turned to Vince. “What’s his problem?”
“He was born that way,” Vince explained, handing the lead rope back to Dustin. “He doesn’t like

that I do better than he does when I don’t have a horse that was exclusively bred for show jumping.”
He grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler in the back of the truck and offered it to Dustin, who
thanked him as he took it. “That guy has been out to beat me since my first win with my former
racehorse. His family imports and breeds warmbloods.” He grabbed himself a bottle of water, and
each of them a snack-sized bag of pretzels from the box of food they’d brought.

“What’s a warmblood?” Dustin asked as he watched Xander graze.
Vince leaned against the side of the trailer. “They’re bred for competition like this—jumping,

dressage, that sort of stuff.”

Dustin set his water down on the ground and looked at him in confusion. “And what’s dressage?”
Vince thought a moment, then answered, “I guess to someone seeing it for the first time, it looks

like horses prancing around doing really boring dance moves. I don’t like it: it’s not very exciting, and
it’s clearly not natural for a horse to do most of it. I’ll show you some videos, and you can see for
yourself.”

“So he thinks his horses are better than Xander because they prance around?”
Vince snorted. “Well, more because they have perfect bloodlines and come from selective

breeding programs. Meaning, before a foal is born, you’ve already spent thousands of dollars just
getting the mare pregnant by artificial insemination and making sure the foal is born healthy and at
the right time. Not that they don’t do the same when breeding racehorses, but in Stephen’s mind, it’s a
more serious business when the horses are bred for showing, not racing.”

Dustin patted Xander’s neck. “So basically, his horses were bred to do this, so a horse that was

bred for something else has no right to do better?”

“Exactly,” Vince said with a nod. “But Xane and I prove him wrong every time.”

V

INCE

WAS

even happier to have Dustin along with him as the day wore on. It was nice to have

someone to talk to when he wasn’t getting ready for his round. He would have been able to talk to
Jane, of course, but she would have found a way to make him talk about how he needed to be with
Dustin whether he accepted it or not. Her inability to stop trying to play matchmaker was really
bothering him. It didn’t matter if she knew he was gay and, therefore, wasn’t the least bit jealous of
him dating someone else; it was still weird to have his ex trying so desperately to hook him up with
someone.

With Dustin, he could talk about other things—mainly horses. Dustin was just as curious about

showing as he had been about training horses, and Vince was more than happy to teach him as much as
he could about it. Starting with how he should not take it personally if anyone was ever rude to him.

“A lot of these people—not all, but a lot,” he explained, “were basically born into rich families.

They have money for whatever they want, and there are a number of them who think taking care of
their horses is below them, that all they should be expected to do is ride and train and pet their horses
a little when they venture into the barn. They all have grooms, and many don’t have much respect for
them. To them, grooms are just there to act basically as servants and to make sure the horses are in
perfect showing condition. So if anyone is rude to you, please don’t take it personally. Stephen is just
one example of how other riders can be.”

Dustin nodded. “I guess I can understand that. And you’re not like that, so that helps.”
Vince grinned. “I’ve always tried to be the poster child for groom appreciation.”

T

HEY

WATCHED

some of the other riders before Vince and Xander had to start warming up, and Vince

explained the rules and scoring to Dustin. “Basically,” he concluded, “the object is to go fast and
clear. Jump everything without knocking a rail down or falling off, and ride as fast as you can.”

“Seems simple enough,” Dustin commented as they headed toward the warm-up ring with

Xander.

“Easier said than done,” Vince clarified, shaking his head.
Dustin held Xander steady while Vince hopped into the saddle. He clipped the chin strap of his

helmet and took up the reins before noticing that Dustin was looking at him strangely.

“What’s up?” he asked.
Dustin shrugged. “Can I tell you something without you taking it the wrong way?”
“Probably,” Vince replied, then smiled and added, “Unless you’re about to insult me.”
With a smile, Dustin shook his head. “No, I was just going to say that the riding outfit looks good

on you.”

Vince was wearing his usual show clothes—knee-high black boots, tight white breeches, and

what was basically a black suit coat designed for riding with a white dress shirt beneath it, complete
with the pink tie he always wore in his mother’s memory and a pair of black gloves.

He grinned. “Thanks. Let me just say that I’m glad it’s such a dreary day or I’d be a lot hotter.”
Dustin shook his head and moved to watch from the arena rail while Vince got his horse warmed

up. Vince was glad he had something to focus on other than the fact that, despite his suggestion that it
wasn’t what it sounded like, Dustin had definitely just been flirting with him.

“What do you think, Xane?” Vince asked his horse, patting his neck.
Xander just tossed his head, anxious to get going faster than a walk.
Vince smiled slightly. “Yeah, you’re no help,” he murmured before moving the big gelding into a

trot.

X

ANDER

NEVER

let him down. It was the one thing in life that Vince had come to expect and

appreciate. The gelding flew over every fence like he was born to fly, and he kicked up the speed when
Vince asked for it. His hooves never so much as nicked a rail, and they came out of their round on top.
So far, they were the only ones to go clear, but there were four more riders to go.

“Loosen the saddle,” Vince said as Dustin met them outside the ring. “Keep him tacked up,

though. If anyone else goes clear, we’ll need to go again.” He leaned forward and hugged Xander’s
neck.

Dustin nodded and held Xander as Vince patted his neck and swung out of the saddle. “I have to

say, I can’t see myself ever doing jumping with Justin.”

Vince laughed. “I didn’t expect you to.”
“I was never very competitive,” Dustin added with a grin.
“That’s just fine.” Vince took off his helmet as he spoke. “I’m not sure I would like to have to

compete against one of my employees. And a friend. I don’t really have any in this sport.”

“That’s too bad,” Dustin said with a frown, rubbing Xander’s neck as they walked.
Vince shrugged. “Makes it easier not to care about the competition.”
Dustin just laughed.

Chapter Fourteen

V

INCE

TRIED

to suppress his joy when Stephen knocked down a rail and had no chance to place higher

than Vince—but he didn’t try too hard. He didn’t intend to be unsportsmanlike but thinking about his
own happiness was different than rubbing it in his competition’s face, which was something he
definitely didn’t do. In the end, Vince and Xander were the only pair to go clear, and it meant they
took first place.

Stephen ended up finishing third, and Vince could feel his eyes piercing daggers into him during

the ribbon-pinning ceremony. He ignored it by smiling and patting Xander’s neck before the
traditional victory gallop.

It was getting late when they got back to the trailer, and Dustin took over untacking Xander and

packing their things while Vince changed into clothes that were both more casual and more
comfortable. He was changing in one stall of the two-stall trailer, Xander’s travel blanket hanging in
the opening for privacy. He’d just gotten his annoying breeches exchanged for jeans and was working
on the one stubborn button on his coat when Dustin called in to him.

“I did everything I can out here, do you mind if I bring Xander in?”
“Sure,” Vince replied, giving an inward sigh of relief when the button finally came undone.
As he slipped the coat off and easily pulled off his tie Dustin led Xander into the stall next to

him. Vince reached over the partition and rubbed his horse’s forehead.

“I got everything in the truck,” Dustin explained as he tied Xander’s lead to the ring on the wall.

“I just need his blanket.”

Vince nodded to the blanket. “I’d say to take it down, but the way Stephen was acting, if he’s still

here, he’d try to have me suspended for public indecency if he saw me changing my shirt.”

Dustin snorted. “I’m glad you beat him, though.”
Vince grinned and reached over to pat Xander again. “Xanny does all the real work. All I do is

tell him where to go and how fast and make his work easier by knowing how to ride. He’s the one
running and jumping. Anyway, hop out and close the back of the trailer, then come back in this door
on my side and take it. By the time you get it on him, I’ll be ready to go.”

“Works for me,” Dustin replied with a nod.
He moved back past Xander, who was too busy eating his hay to care, and closed the back of the

trailer. When he heard Dustin at the little side door, Vince moved aside so he could get in and past
him. Only when he noticed the way Dustin quickly looked away from him did he become fully aware
of the fact that he had just taken off his shirt.

And the situation was suddenly awkward.
Vince quickly tossed his shirt onto the floor with the rest of his clothes and grabbed his T-shirt.

“Do you want to stop somewhere for dinner?” he asked, trying to dispel the uncomfortable feeling
suddenly filling the trailer. “And by that, I mean go through a drive-thru.”

Dustin finished getting the blanket down and shrugged. “Sure,” he answered without looking at

Vince even slightly. “I’m pretty hungry.”

Vince yanked on his T-shirt and grabbed Xander’s halter so he didn’t spook when Dustin dragged

the blanket up behind him—not that he was likely to with Dustin murmuring to him the way he was.
The kid had more horse sense than Jane, that was for sure.

“There are a few places just down the road,” he said, still holding Xander.

Dustin got the blanket onto the horse’s back, and Vince let go, knowing Xander wouldn’t be

bothered by Dustin getting the thing adjusted on him. While Dustin worked, Vince picked up his show
clothes and hung them in a suit bag, then placed it flat on the floor in the empty stall.

They were soon on the road, after a quick stop at McDonald’s for a healthy and nutritious dinner.

Dustin was quiet, and Vince wasn’t sure if it was because he was eating or because of their awkward
moments at the show. When the eating excuse was no longer possible, Vince decided he couldn’t take
the quiet anymore.

“Did you like coming with me, or not really?”
Dustin nodded. “Yeah, it was cool. I learned a lot. Mainly, that you’re a lot nicer than most of

those other people. I’m glad you beat them all.”

Vince grinned. “Me too.”
“I was wondering,” Dustin asked a few minutes later, “why do you have all your ribbons and

things at your dad’s house and not yours?”

“I don’t know,” Vince answered with a shrug. “I guess because he’s my dad and he wants to be

proud of me, and I don’t need to look at my ribbons every day to be happy. Some people need to be
reminded of their accomplishments every day, but I don’t. I guess if it wasn’t just me there, like if I
had someone else to share in those accomplishments or kids who want to see how cool their dad is and
show all their friends when they come over. So maybe when Jane has the baby, I’ll be more interested
in displaying my ribbons.”

“Wait,” Dustin cut in suddenly, “Jane’s pregnant? With your kid?”
Vince sighed. “Yeah. I guess it happened right before we ended things. She was willing to have

an abortion if I wasn’t ready to be a father, but I couldn’t do that. I realized I honestly want to have
kids.”

Dustin sounded genuinely curious. “How are you guys going to do this?”
“We’re just going to work it out on our own,” Vince explained. “I’m going to help however I can,

whatever Jane needs me to do.”

“I think you’ll be a good dad,” Dustin commented.
Vince smiled. “Thanks. I’m going to try, at least. Back to what we were talking about; it’s not

like I want to have other people admire me for what I win, just that it would be less asshole-ish for me
to have a trophy wall if I wasn’t the only one to see it or have things on it. Though I probably sound
like a conceited douche because I have no idea how to word what I’m thinking.”

Dustin laughed. “I guess I understand what you’re saying. I think it’s human nature to want

someone else to be proud of the things you do. If you’re the only one to see your ribbons on a daily
basis, you’re the only one who remembers to be proud of you.”

Vince thought a moment. “Something like that, I guess,” he agreed after a minute. “Deep down, I

guess all I want is someone to be happy for me. Dad’s really all I have since Mom’s gone and Mandy
moved an hour away, and Jane left.”

“For what it’s worth,” Dustin said cautiously, “I’m proud of you and glad I could be here today.

And I have a feeling Jane is proud of you, too, in general. You guys should definitely stay close, baby
or no; she’s really awesome. And I bet your mom is proud, too, if Heaven actually is real. If it is, I’m
sure she watches you all the time and is especially proud of you for the pink you and Xander wear.
And maybe Mandy is distracted by being a newlywed and getting her life settled, but I bet when it
comes down to it, she’s proud of her brother. Of course your dad is, but he’s not the only one, and no
one is proud of you just for your show wins.”

Vince had to pull over right there on the highway. He put the truck in park and just stared at

Dustin, who quickly blushed and looked away. Vince was fighting a lump in his throat as he sat there
looking at a kid who he was pretty sure had had very few, if any, friendly social encounters in the last
two years, who had made him feel more emotionally aware and sure of himself than anyone had in a
long time.

“Thanks, Dust,” he murmured.
Dustin nodded and looked down at his hands in his lap before looking back at Vince. “It’s just

that you have so much, and you don’t even realize it. Sure, you lost your mom, you lost Jane in a way,
and you’re still trying to figure your life out. But just spending as little time around your dad as I
have, I know he actually loves you because you’re his son, not because you’re great at what you do.
You’re great at what you do because he loves you enough to support you. I doubt you ever had to deal
with being almost constantly lectured and grounded. I’m nineteen years old, and I’ve never had a cell
phone. I never had a MySpace or a Facebook account, not even so much as an e-mail or instant
messaging account. I got a crappy laptop when I started having to write a ton of papers in high school
and my parents were sick of driving me to school early or picking me up late because I had to use the
library to write them. I didn’t dare make any of those accounts, because someone would tell my
parents eventually. But yeah, I was desperate enough to use it to watch porn because that was the only
way I had to figure out why I really didn’t give a crap when my friends got so excited about watching
the girls during gym class.

“And nothing I ever did was good enough. Grades were either straight-As or the nightly hour of

TV was taken away. I never learned to drive in the year I had my permit because my dad considered it
a privilege that I had to earn. But whenever I’d do well on a test or have straight-As, there were never
any ‘good jobs’ or ‘I’m proud of you.’ Hugs never happened once I hit about ten. If I was sick, my
mom would make me soup and toast and give me water and ginger ale, but she wouldn’t act worried.
And if I couldn’t make it to the bathroom before puking, I’d hear about it for a week. I never had so
much as a goldfish for a pet, and I told you how I wasn’t allowed to do pony rides.”

He took a deep, shaky breath. “And when I see you with your dad, I wonder if you realize how

lucky you are. Someone who smiles and laughs and hugs you. And who sends someone other than a
church minion to look out for you while you’re drunk. Some people never have parents like that. And I
don’t want you to feel bad for me, just appreciate what you have. I mean, you told me how your dad
was okay with it when you came out to him; if he’d made you leave the farm, I know Jane would find
you a place to stay. Or Mandy. I didn’t even have friends who tried to help me. I’m really, really glad
you found me and gave me a job and a place to live, but who knows how long I’ll be staying? I’m
definitely not going to take it for granted while I’m here.”

As he watched Dustin wipe his eyes, Vince realized there were tears on his own cheeks. There

was nothing he could find the words to say, so he leaned over and hugged Dustin. He held him for a
few moments while Dustin cried softly against him, and he didn’t care if Dustin—or anyone—
perceived it as anything more than friendship.

Chapter Fifteen

A

S

SOON

as Vince parked the truck and trailer in front of the barn, he saw Anna walking quickly

toward him.

“I need to show you something in the feed room,” she said as she reached him.
He closed the door of the truck heavily and looked back at Dustin, who was walking around the

front of the truck. “Can you get Xander unloaded and everything? I’ll be there as soon as I deal with
whatever this is.”

Dustin nodded and turned around to open the trailer from the other side. He hadn’t spoken much

since they had stopped hugging on the side of the road almost an hour ago.

“How’d the show go?” Anna asked as Vince followed her to the barn.
“Good,” Vince replied. “Xander kicked Warmblood’s ass.”
“Always good,” Anna replied, but she didn’t sound as amused as Vince was used to. She was

obviously distracted.

“So what’s going on?” he asked as they entered the barn and made their way down the aisle to the

feed room.

She shook her head. “I have an idea, but I don’t know for sure.”
The feed room contained several storage bins full of feed, and four full bags that had been

purchased recently as the level of feed in the storage bins declined. The bags had been sitting in the
feed room for about two weeks.

Anna walked right to the bags and lifted one easily with two fingers, and Vince immediately

knew what was wrong; the bags were empty. Though they looked full, they usually held fifty pounds
of feed, and Anna definitely didn’t have superhuman strength. She was one of the most physically
strong women Vince knew, but she wasn’t that strong.

“Mice?” he asked. They’d had rodent problems before, and it was always a risk keeping the bags

around before dumping them into the bins. But eating that entire bag must have taken a lot of mice.
Maybe Mia’s dog had gotten out of his run at some point and helped those mice out. It wouldn’t have
been the first time, nor would it be the last.

“Not unless mice are now carrying pocket knives,” Anna replied, holding the bag out to him.
Vince took it and looked at the bottom corner, where there was a perfectly clean cut about three

inches long.

“There’s a bunch of mouse shit on the floor,” Anna explained, “so I’m guessing they did eat it,

but they sure as hell didn’t make that cut. Someone sliced open all of these bags. Only that one is
empty so far. And I’m not feeding any of the rest to the horses.”

Vince nodded, still examining the bag. “Yeah, just toss it all outside away from the pastures.

Let’s try to keep the mice out of the barn. Do you want help?”

She shrugged. “I think I can manage. I’ll do it after the evening feeding.”
“I’ll call the feed store in the morning and see if they can set some aside for us,” Vince said,

setting the bag on the floor. “Are you thinking of the same person I am?”

“I’m thinking Chris,” she admitted.
“Me, too,” he agreed. “But we don’t have any proof. Let’s just handle this without making a big

deal out of it. I don’t have the energy to confront him right now. Next time, he’ll be buying the
replacements.”

Anna nodded. “Agreed. I’ll keep you in the loop.”
“Thanks.”
Vince found Dustin brushing Xander down in his stall a few minutes later. Dustin looked up when

Vince entered the stall. He leaned against the far wall and sighed, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“What’s wrong with the feed room?” Dustin asked.
Vince reached out and rubbed Xander’s nose. He knew that Chris could be in any of the nearby

stalls and wasn’t going to voice his suspicions. “Apparently, mice got to the unopened bags of feed,”
he replied, pulling his pocketknife from his jeans. He flipped the blade out and held it up.

Dustin looked confused for a moment, and then an obvious look of understanding crossed his

face. “Chris?” he asked, barely a whisper.

Vince shrugged and closed his knife before clipping it back to his pocket. “Someone,” he

murmured. “So,” he went on in a normal tone, “I might see about getting some barn cats. It’ll help.
Unless anyone is seriously allergic to them.”

“I’m not,” Dustin replied as he went back to grooming the horse that was currently rubbing his

face on Vince’s chest. “My grandma had one.”

Vince hugged Xander and smiled at him. “I’ll check with everyone.”

A

FEW

days later, with a collective okay from the farm, Vince and Dustin went to get three cats from

the local animal shelter. Vince knew he would have been able to handle the task alone, but he wanted
to give Dustin the chance to get some more driving practice, this time on back roads. Vince had been
taking him grocery shopping every payday and had been stopping on the way to let Dustin drive
around empty parking lots and the deserted campus of the local high school.

Vince wasn’t worried about Dustin’s driving—he was overly cautious, not overly daring—but

Dustin seemed relieved when they made it to the parking lot of the shelter.

“I don’t have to drive home, do I?” he asked, resting his forehead on the steering wheel. “I don’t

want to kill the cats.”

“The cats?” Vince replied with a laugh. “What about me?”
Dustin smiled and shook his head—or rolled his forehead back and forth on the steering wheel,

rather. “You have accepted the risk of letting me drive. The cats would be innocent bystanders.”

Vince laughed and opened his door. “Come on, help me find those cats.”
The local shelter was pretty large and had about thirty cats available for adoption at the time.

Vince and Dustin wandered down the hallways among the cat cages, where many cats were sleeping
and some were eager to meet people. Dustin seemed taken in by a mother cat with three black-and-
white kittens, and Vince smiled as he watched the kid wiggling his fingers through the bars on the
cage to get the kittens to play. Meanwhile, the solid-black mother cat decided that her babies were
safe and went to sleep in the corner.

“Can I help you?” a female voice asked behind them. Vince turned to see a pretty girl who had to

be in her summer between high school and college. Her name tag said she was Lisa, a volunteer.

Vince smiled and shrugged. “We’re looking for some barn cats. I have a stable where mice have

taken a liking to our horse feed.”

Lisa returned the smile. “Great job for cats. How many were you thinking of?”
“Would we be able to take this whole group?” Dustin asked, motioning to the mother cat and the

kittens he was playing with.

She smiled again and looked back at Vince to answer. “I’m sure that would be all right. The

kittens are old enough. We would just require that you have them all spayed and neutered at the
appropriate time.”

Vince nodded. “We can do that. We don’t need a breeding population, just a few at a time to keep

the mice at bay.”

“Well then,” she said, still smiling and tilting her head to get her light-blonde hair away from her

eyes, “we can get the paperwork signed. Your friend can stay and play if he wants.”

Vince shrugged. “Sure.”
As he walked away, he heard Dustin snort and didn’t understand what it was for. The kid seemed

perfectly happy to play with the kittens, though.

Lisa seemed overly friendly as she explained all about caring for the kittens if they were going to

be living in the barn, when they and the mother should be spayed and neutered, and what the adoption
contract entailed. Her boss—an overweight woman his father’s age—was there the whole time, Vince
assumed to make sure she told him everything he needed to know, and rolled her eyes several times
during the conversation. Finally, he signed his name on the contract and returned to Dustin with both
women, who loaded the cats into a large travel carrier that he had been convinced to purchase by the
ever-smiling Lisa.

They loaded the carrier into the backseat of the truck, where Dustin chose to sit to keep the cats

company. It didn’t stop them from meowing, and even Vince had to admit it was both a cute and a sad
sound.

“So did you get Lisa’s number?” Dustin asked as they started pulling out of the parking lot.
Vince glanced in the rearview mirror to see that his friend was grinning. “Yeah, actually. She said

I could call if I had any questions.”

Dustin burst out laughing, and Vince suddenly felt very confused and like he should be

embarrassed about something. “What’s so funny?” he demanded.

“Other than the fact that you’re too blind to know when someone is flirting with you?” Dustin

replied, still laughing.

“No she wasn’t,” Vince argued. “She was just being friendly.”
“Well,” Dustin pointed out, “she wasn’t exactly friendly to me. She told me to stay with the cats

while she took you away.”

Vince cleared his throat. “Maybe, I guess. I must be pretty socially clueless.”
“Yeah, a little,” Dustin told him, and he definitely sounded like he was teasing.
For a minute, the only sound in the truck was that of the crying kittens, because Vince had no

idea how to respond to that comment, even as true as it was.

Finally, in an attempt to spark some sort of conversation, he said, “Thanks for picking the cats.

I’m sure they’ll be helpful. We’ll still have the Chris problem, but the mice won’t be his allies
anymore.”

Dustin chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“It’ll be fun to watch the babies grow up, too,” Vince added.
“Yeah, it would be,” Dustin agreed quietly.
Vince frowned and glanced back at him quickly. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, it would be fun if I was around to see it,” Dustin replied, still quiet.
“Why wouldn’t you be?” Vince questioned.
Dustin was quiet a moment before answering. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s not guaranteed that I’ll

be staying. Your dad said I had a job until the end of the summer, then we’d see.”

“My dad isn’t going to fire you,” Vince declared. “He wouldn’t have given you Justin if he had

any doubts. Plus you’re a great worker. Sure, you can’t do everything because you’re just not that
experienced. That doesn’t mean you’re a poor employee, it just means you need to get more
experience. Which working will give you.”

Dustin didn’t respond, and when Vince glanced back at him, he saw Dustin just looking at the box

of cats. He frowned again and looked back to the road.

Chapter Sixteen

I

N

THE

next couple of days, Vince started wondering more and more if Dustin might actually leave,

even if Wes didn’t decide to let him go. The fact that he had such a bond with Justin strongly
suggested that he wouldn’t choose to leave if he could stay, but there was still a nagging voice in the
back of his mind warning him that it might happen.

The most terrifying part of the whole thing was when he watched Dustin wandering in the

pastures among the horses and realized that Jane was right.

He wanted Dustin to stay around. And he couldn’t lie to himself enough to say that it was only

because Dustin was his best friend besides Jane or that he was one of the best hands they had. The
feelings he found that day were far beyond the realms of friendship, and he fled immediately to
Xander’s pasture, where he lay down in the grass and let Xander graze around him. When that didn’t
help, he took Xander by the halter to the fence and climbed onto his back. He lay there, looking at the
sky, until Anna found him and informed him that he should wear sunscreen when he decided to take a
nap on a horse’s back. He really wished he’d thought of that when he looked at himself in the mirror
later.

Before he got into bed that night, he picked up the box on his nightstand that held the ring he had

purchased for Jane. The ring she had rejected when she had forced him to face reality. He opened the
box and stared at the shiny silver band and the glittering diamond. With his other hand, he picked up
his cell phone and hit her number on his speed dial.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice sleepy.
He took a shaky breath. “Tell me how to act normal around someone on a daily basis after you

realize you feel something for him and you can’t cope with a relationship yet.”

“Vince,” she said quietly. “You don’t want to do that.”
“Yes,” he replied, gripping his phone tightly, “I do.”
“Is this who I think it is?”
“Goddamnit, Jane!” he practically yelled. He pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up,

then turned his phone off and threw it as hard as he could onto his bed, followed by the ring box. He
sat down heavily on the mattress and went to rub his hands over his face, until the pain of his sunburn
stopped him and he decided to attempt forcing himself to sleep.

S

OMEHOW

, V

INCE

managed to sleep fairly well that night and woke up feeling pretty good. Until the

panic and fear set in about ten seconds after he opened his eyes. He grabbed his phone and turned it
back on. There was one missed call from Jane from the night before and a text.

I’m sorry, Vince. Let me come talk to you.
He sighed and replied, I’m going to the mall at 11. Meet me at Starbucks.
Instead of waiting for a reply, he got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. After taking a cold

shower with the sole—and failed—goal to clear his mind, he dressed and went straight to the barn to
feed Xander. He felt like he was avoiding everyone there, but he was in no mood for social interaction,
especially if it was Dustin who tried to talk to him. But no one did, and Vince heaved a sigh of relief
as he walked back to his house a short time later.

At eleven, he walked into the mall, clutching the engagement ring he’d purchased for Jane and

the receipt he had kept just in case.

The woman working that morning smiled at him from behind the bright glass counter filled with

glittering jewelry in all forms, from rings to bracelets to necklaces and earrings. “Can I help you?” she
asked cheerily.

He placed the ring box and receipt on the counter. “I need to return this.”
She took the box and opened it, then smiled sadly. “That’s too bad. You’re sure you don’t want to

keep it for the next one? Or you’d rather pick one out specifically for her later?”

“That one won’t work for ‘next time,’” he replied, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets. “It

won’t be the right style.”

She looked puzzled, but smiled anyway. “That’s all right. I’ll get this all taken care of.”
At eleven thirty, Vince met Jane at Starbucks, where she insisted on buying his coffee.
“Tell me what happened,” she began as they sat down in the most secluded part of the cafe.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know,” he stated. “I just started thinking about

how he might be leaving.”

“And you don’t want him to.”
Vince nodded and took a sip of coffee.
“And it’s more than that he’s your friend and employee?”
He sighed. “Yeah.”
“When did you come to this conclusion?” she asked, watching him curiously as he drank more

coffee.

He shrugged. “Yesterday.”
“Took you long enough,” she mumbled. “How do you think he feels?”
He shrugged again. “No idea. I mean, he’s flirted with me before, but who’s to say that means

anything or if he even realized he was doing it?”

He tried not to think of Dustin telling him that he obviously didn’t know when someone was

flirting with him, because that would just mean that he had done it consciously. How could he think
about that with any level of sanity? He couldn’t.

Jane thought for a moment, then took a sip of her coffee and placed her cup down on the table.

“You’re not going to like what I have to say,” she stated.

Vince sighed. “Just tell me.”
“You should talk to him,” she replied. “Ask him why he’s not sure about leaving. Ask if he’s

happy. Find out if he wants a relationship.”

“There are two problems with that,” he argued. “First, how do you expect me to start a

conversation like that with anyone? Any time I’ve ever talked about feelings with you, you started it.”

“You asked for my help,” she interrupted. “You asked me how to cope with your emotions. So

you started this conversation.”

“How many other times have I, though?” he countered. “I’m talking now because I need help. I

have a situation that I can’t handle on my own. I haven’t needed help like this before.”

She waved her coffee cup at him. “Okay, I give you that. What’s the second issue?”
“I don’t want a relationship right now,” he stated plainly.
“You said you discovered feelings for him,” she pointed out. “The logical next step is to start

dating him. Before you both end up hurt.”

He toyed with the cardboard slip on his cup that was supposed to protect his hands from the hot

coffee. “I don’t want to hurt him. But dating him will hurt him. Then he’ll be on his own again. I don’t

care about me. I care about him.”

“Exactly why you need to do something,” she agreed.
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
“No,” he said firmly, glaring at her. “No way in hell.”
Jane shrugged. “Then do whatever you want. I gave you my advice. If you don’t want to take it,

that’s up to you. I just want you to find some real happiness,” she added quietly.

Vince nodded. “I know. I just can’t do that.”
She nodded sadly. “I’m sorry.”
They drank their coffee in silence for a moment before Jane spoke again.
“Why are you here anyway?”
“I had to return something,” he answered, not meeting her eyes.
“At least, it wasn’t a waste,” she murmured.
“Yeah. I guess I had low expectations when I saved the receipt. And that has nothing to do with

you, so don’t be offended.”

Jane nodded. “I know you. The only time you have any self-esteem or confidence is when you’re

working with a horse.”

“I’d have been kicked to death by now if I wasn’t confident around them,” he stated, taking

another drink of his coffee. “And it’s easier to have a bond with a horse than a person.”

“I know what you mean,” she admitted. “Sometimes, it’s hard to trust and depend on another

person. And that’s not a personal attack on you, either.”

Vince nodded. “I know.”
She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “You’ll be okay. Just think about what I told

you to do.”

“I’ll try.”
But in reality, he wondered if he would ever be brave enough to try. When it came down to losing

Dustin forever or having a chance to really be with him, could he do it?

He doubted it.

Chapter Seventeen

V

INCE

WAS

worried that Dustin would be able to tell that he felt awkward around him, but he couldn’t

help the feeling. Somehow, it also felt like Dustin was avoiding him, and he wondered why. Finally,
he decided to try making things normal again, no matter how hard it would be.

He found Dustin in one of the pastures a few days after his meeting with Jane and let himself in

to talk to him. “Is everything okay?” he asked, watching the horses graze.

“I guess,” Dustin replied, not looking at Vince.
“Can I do anything to help?” Vince questioned.
Dustin sighed. “I don’t think so,” he answered quietly.
Vince finally looked at him. “Are you sure?”
Dustin nodded. “Yeah. Seriously. I’m fine.”
Vince nodded reluctantly. “I’m around if you ever need anything,” he offered, then turned and

headed back to the barn.

T

HERE

WERE

really only two sports Vince cared about—horse racing and the highest level of show

jumping. Sometimes, following jumping made him dream about making it to that level and being able
to compete internationally, but he knew it wasn’t possible. He’d have to essentially give up on the
other horses he was supposed to be training to focus solely on himself and Xander. The barn was his
first priority in life. Everything else came after.

That didn’t stop him from sitting in the aisle of the barn with his laptop, watching the Olympic

competition in August. He was the boss, so he figured he was allowed some time to dream once every
four years. And his dad had put wireless Internet in the barn for the office computer, so it wasn’t as if
he was sitting in his house away from everything.

“Hey, slacker.”
He looked up as Anna pulled a folding chair over next to his. “I’m in the barn, so I’m only half

slacking. It’s the final round of team jumping; I didn’t want to miss it.”

“How are we doing?” she asked, leaning over to look at the screen.
Vince adjusted the screen so they could both see it. “Out of contention. My bet’s on Britain.”
“Home arena advantage,” she commented. “How far in are they?”
“Probably have another half an hour, if there’s no jump off.”
“What’s going on?”
Vince looked up again, this time at Mia, and Dustin coming up behind her. He knew Joe wouldn’t

be far behind, either.

“Final round of show jumping from London,” Anna answered.
“You guys can find a couple chairs and watch, too,” Vince added. “Oh, and can you bring one of

the lighter tack boxes from the tack room? I could use a table.”

Both Mia and Dustin turned around for the tack room and returned a minute later, dragging a tack

box between them. They set it down in front of Vince and Anna before taking two chairs out from it.
They had just gotten situated when Joe joined them.

“Crap those fences are high,” Dustin observed.
Vince hadn’t failed to notice that he had let Mia sit between them. It made him both sad and

relieved at the same time, which he wasn’t sure he understood. “They’re about five foot four,” he

explained.

“That’s almost as tall as I am,” Dustin commented. He sounded almost like he was in awe. “Can

Xander jump that?”

“Right now? No,” Vince answered. “I’ve jumped him close to five feet, but we’d have to work up

to that.”

“But he’d try,” Anna pointed out. “That horse would never refuse anything you pointed him at.

He might not clear it, but he’d try his damnedest.”

He had to admit that she was right; Xander had never given him a refusal, even during training.

He liked to think it was because they had a special bond, but everyone tended to think that when they
had an amazing horse. Xander just trusted him enough to do everything Vince asked of him, but Vince
didn’t beat him to get him to work.

“You guys could do this,” Mia said, pointing at the computer screen. “You know, compete in the

Olympics.”

Vince laughed. “There’s so much work that goes into something like that, and the chances of

making it are so low, it wouldn’t be worth it.”

“If you say so,” Joe said. “Someone just doesn’t want to try.”
“I don’t,” Vince lied. “It’s not for me. I’m just a casual competitor.”
“If you say so,” Anna said, repeating Joe.
Vince just shook his head. “Well, looks like we might get to watch a jump off.”
“Turn up the volume,” Mia commanded. “So we can hear what they’re saying about it.”
“It’s an old laptop, the audio sucks,” Vince replied. “I know how it goes anyway. All four

members of the team ride again. The goal is just to go clear at first. If there’s still a tied score after
they all ride, it’ll come down to who rode faster.”

“So they shouldn’t worry about the clock?” Anna asked.
“Well, they should,” Vince explained, “in case they can’t win on jumping faults alone. Normally,

they’d be worried about time faults for going over the allotted time, but there are no time faults in the
jump off, just the jumping faults for rails down.”

“Does Team USA ever do well?” Mia questioned, watching the current riding in the ring on the

computer screen.

“We had team gold in Beijing,” Vince answered with a shrug. “Lately, we haven’t done well in

international competition, though.”

“You and Xane could change that,” Joe threw in.
Vince rolled his eyes. This was almost getting annoying. “Keep thinking that, Joe.”
Despite his words, Vince let himself dream for just the duration of the jump-off. His mother had

always wanted him to try to compete at the highest level, and part of him wished he could make her
proud by doing so, but the other part of him knew it would be irresponsible because he’d be neglecting
the farm. He supposed there was nothing wrong with dreaming for a moment.

Chapter Eighteen

V

INCE

’

S

TWENTY

-

FOURTH

birthday was at the end of August, and once again, Wes hosted a gathering

for the whole farm, as well as Mandy, Jeff, and Jane. There were glorious amounts of junk food,
alcohol, music, and cake. There was also a horseshoe tournament, made all the better by not only
alcohol but the fact that each horseshoe had actually been on a horse at one point and was slightly
different from all the others. Vince had never been good at the game.

Every year, the stable hands pooled funds to get him a gift card—they did the same for Wes—but

this year, Vince was very aware of the fact that Chris’s name was missing from the birthday card it
came with. The amount on the gift card was also slightly lower than usual, which Anna apologized to
him about privately.

“The money doesn’t matter,” Vince assured her. “I’m happy just getting something from you

guys. You know none of you need to do that.”

“Well,” she argued with a smile, “sometimes you’re more like a brother than a boss.”
Vince wasn’t sure which he was acting like when he watched Dustin get himself drunker and

drunker as the night wore on. He hadn’t actually seen the kid drink much, but he was thin—not as thin
as when Vince had first met him, but still not bulky like the other guys—and probably hadn’t had
much experience with alcohol. He was only nineteen, after all, and from a strict family. Plus he
claimed he never got into drugs or drinking while he was on the streets. Vince’s feelings were divided
between worrying about him and just wanting the kid to enjoy himself. After all, none of them were
leaving the farm that night, not even Jane, Mandy, and Jeff, who were staying in guest rooms at Wes’s
house.

By the end of the night, Vince decided that, despite all the emotional confusion of the last few

weeks, Dustin deserved to have someone there for him like he’d been there for Vince back in May.

As the party ended late that night, he walked up next to Dustin and said, “I’ll walk with you.”
“Why?” Dustin asked, looking at him in confusion.
“Because you did it for me once,” Vince replied, motioning him to walk.
“I want to see Justin,” Dustin stated as he started walking away from the back lawn littered with

bottles, wrappers, and balloons.

Vince caught his arm as he took an awkward step onto the gravel driveway. “Okay, but you are

definitely not going into the barn alone right now.”

“Justin won’t hurt me,” Dustin argued. “He cares about me.”
“Yeah, well, so do I, and that doesn’t mean he’s not going to be worried about the beer he can

smell on you. I don’t let people around the horses when they’re drunk. I wouldn’t even go into
Xander’s stall in your state. I trust that horse with my life, but only when I’m sober enough to
understand his body language.”

“Justin won’t hurt me,” Dustin repeated.
“Not intentionally,” Vince agreed. “Just listen to me, okay? I make the rules, remember?”
Dustin grumbled something that Vince didn’t quite hear as they stepped into the barn. Vince

walked with Dustin to Justin’s stall, where he let Dustin lean on the stall door and rub the horse’s
forehead. Justin seemed not to care that his master was drunk, he was just sleepy and enjoyed being
petted.

“See?” Dustin asked, looking at Vince. “He won’t hurt me.”
“Not if you stay out here with me,” Vince replied with a nod. “He does love you, though.”
Dustin nodded. “It’s nice that he does. He’s the only person I trust, and he’s not even a person.

And he’s the only person who loves me.”

“How do you know that for sure?” Vince argued, just trying to keep a conversation going.
“He’s the only one who shows it,” Dustin answered.
“I doubt that,” Vince argued gently.
Dustin shrugged. “Except for my sister. She used to.”
“You have a sister?” Vince asked in surprise.
Dustin nodded. “She’s your age. Five years older than me. She was at college when I got kicked

out. Never tried to find me, though. So I guess she really didn’t care.”

“How do you know she didn’t try to find you?”
“She would have found me if she tried hard enough,” Dustin answered simply.
“That doesn’t mean she didn’t try at all,” Vince pointed out. “Or that she doesn’t love you.”
Dustin shrugged. “I wish someday I could have a person who loves me like Justin does. I wish he

was a person.”

“You’ll have that someday.”
Dustin shook his head. “No one wants someone like me. I’m worthless.”
Vince reminded himself that the kid would hardly remember this conversation in the morning

even as he argued with this assessment. “You’re far from worthless, Dust. I know someone will make
you happy.”

“The person I think will make me happy doesn’t want me,” Dustin declared.
“Who is that?” Vince asked, trying not to get his hopes up.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Is this what’s been bothering you?”
Dustin nodded.
Vince leaned on the stall door and braced himself mentally. “Maybe he doesn’t know.”
“He is clueless,” Dustin stated as he watched Justin sleep.
“Seems to be a common problem among men,” Vince commented. “Or so Jane has always told

me.”

Dustin turned and looked at him for a long moment, then moved slightly closer. Despite

everything Vince had told Jane about wanting Dustin to make the first move if he really wanted to, he
knew one thing—he did not want Dustin to be drunk when he did it. The chances of him regretting it,
no matter what actually happened, were too great. Vince would rather have him fully aware of what he
was doing. But he couldn’t make himself react as Dustin moved closer, even though he knew he
should do something to stop what was happening. Rough lips pressed hard against his own,
accompanied by the scent of beer, as Dustin kissed him. Vince wanted desperately to return the kiss,
to press in deeper and spend an hour making out right there in the barn. But the smell of beer on
Dustin’s breath reminded him that it wouldn’t be the best idea.

He put a hand on Dustin’s shoulder and pushed him back gently. “Dust,” he said when Dustin

looked at him in confusion, “stop. You’re drunk.”

“So?” Dustin demanded.

“So I don’t want you to do this,” Vince replied.
Dustin moved faster than Vince would have expected, turning around and walking quickly toward

the door.

“Dust!” Vince called, going after him.
“Leave me alone,” Dustin told him as he caught up.
“Dust, wait.” Vince grabbed his arm.
“No,” Dustin growled, yanking his arm away.
Vince backed off but kept following him. There was no way he was going to let Dustin go

anywhere alone in his current state. He followed Dustin back to his cabin.

“Let me help you,” he said, catching the front door as Dustin started to slam it shut.
“Go away!” Dustin yelled, storming to his bedroom.
Instead of leaving, Vince sat down in the living room. He sat there for over an hour, his head in

his hands, listening to Dustin let out his frustration until he was physically sick and sobbing. Vince
didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t leave Dustin like this, but he couldn’t have a serious
conversation about the situation with him, either. If he couldn’t get things sorted out now, he just
wanted to be able to take care of Dustin like Dustin had taken care of him, even if that meant sitting
around listening as Dustin told himself how stupid he was over and over again.

When the cabin finally fell silent, Vince checked on Dustin, who was sound asleep in his bed,

still fully dressed and with his blankets in disarray. Vince left the cabin for the barn, where he grabbed
a spare feed bucket and headed back. He put the bucket by Dustin’s bed if he needed it, then set a glass
of water on the nightstand. He spent a minute figuring out the alarm clock and finally unset it for the
morning. Then he pulled a sheet over Dustin and switched on the window air conditioning unit—how
the kid had fallen asleep in the late summer heat was beyond Vince, even if he was emotionally
exhausted.

Vince went back to the kitchen and found a sheet of paper and a pen. He scrawled a note quickly.
I’ll do your morning chores, don’t worry. Feel better.—V.
He considered adding “we’ll talk later” but thought that would be too ominous—it always was

when Jane said it—so he left it at that. He put the note next to the glass of water and knelt down next
to the bed. Dustin was frowning in his sleep, and Vince couldn’t help feeling terrible. He’d wanted
Dustin to do this, let him know what he wanted before Vince took that risk. Instead, he’d made Dustin
take the risk and had clearly hurt him. Dustin assumed Vince was rejecting him, but Vince didn’t want
to. He knew that now; he really didn’t want to.

He hesitated, then reached out and lightly touched Dustin’s cheek. It was clammy from sweat and

tears. “God, I fucked this up,” he murmured to himself. He leaned forward and kissed Dustin’s
forehead, knowing Dustin would never know about it. “I hope you forget about all of this,” he added
quietly, then stood and left.

Chapter Nineteen

V

INCE

DIDN

’

T

see Dustin until the next afternoon. He had woken up early to do all of Dustin’s

morning chores and then worked a few of the horses. Chris was the only one who wanted to know why
Dustin wasn’t working, but Anna had sternly reminded him that Vince covered for all of them at some
time or another and to shut up before she kicked his ass back to the trailer park he came from.

That had failed to get a smile out of Vince, and only walking away had kept Anna from noticing.

He didn’t need everyone asking what was wrong with him now, of all times. He’d fucked up, and he
had no idea how to fix it.

As soon as he was done working with the horses he was retraining, he got on Xander and jumped

him with no tack at all. At one point, he looked up and saw a group at the fence watching him—his
sister, Jane, Dustin, Anna, and Joe. Even from a distance, Dustin looked like hell.

“Can you guys raise the jumps for me?” he called.
“Do you have a fucking death wish?” Anna called back.
“Maybe I do.”
“You’re already jumping five feet,” she pointed out. “Whatever has you so worked up, find less

dangerous ways of dealing with it!”

“I’m your fucking boss, Anna!” he yelled. “Raise the fucking jumps!”
She just shook her head and walked away, followed shortly by Joe. Frustrated, Vince kicked

Xander back into motion. By the time he looked up, only Dustin was still at the fence. After another
round, though, even he was gone.

Vince slumped forward and wrapped his arms around Xander’s neck. He could have made things

right at that moment, when it had just been the two of them and Xander, but he’d let the moment pass.
He was falling deeper into a well of despair that he had no idea how to climb out of.

H

E

DIDN

’

T

get to see Dustin alone at any other point that day. He’d given up on even trying when his

dad called him at nine.

“Come to the house” was all he said.
“Why?”
But Wes had already ended the call. “That was a waste of effort,” he grumbled as he got up from

the couch, where he had been staring blankly into space while hating himself, and left his house.

When he got to his dad’s house, he was surprised when he saw both Jane’s and Jeff’s cars still in

the driveway. What were they still doing there? The party had been twenty-four hours ago. Didn’t they
want to get back to their own lives?

He got his answer when he walked into the house and found a large group waiting for him in the

living room. His dad was there with Mandy, Jeff, Jane, and all the stable hands except for Chris. Vince
had a bad feeling this was some sort of intervention, but he had no idea what for. It certainly didn’t
have anything to do with him and Dustin; why would he or Jane tell everyone about the situation like
that? They wouldn’t. Was it about Chris? He wasn’t there, but whatever the issue was with him, it
wouldn’t involve Mandy, Jeff, or Jane.

“Sit,” Wes said, motioning to the only empty seat in the room—a footstool.
This really was an intervention. What the hell was going on?

He did as he was told and sat down, looking around at everyone. He couldn’t help but feel

worried and confused at the same time.

“I was told,” Wes began, leaning against the couch where Mandy and Anna were sitting, “that

you were jumping Xander completely tackless today. Five-foot fences.”

Was he being lectured? This was ridiculous. “What—”
Wes held up a hand. “This is not me criticizing you. This is me—us—telling you to stop selling

yourself short.”

“What are you talking about?” Vince questioned.
“You remember how your mom always wanted you to compete more,” his father explained. “She

dreamed of seeing you try for the Olympic team.”

“No,” Vince interrupted. “I can’t do that. I would never make it, and I’m not going to abandon

this place to chase an empty dream. I can’t just come out of nowhere and make it in, what, three
years? And I’m not going to keep competing just to try to make it on the team eight years from now.
This place is more important.”

“We’ve all been talking about this all afternoon,” Wes countered. “Just listen. You need to do

this, Vince. We all know you’ll regret it if you never try. Take these next few years and try. If you
don’t make it, you don’t make it. But at least you gave it a chance. It’s not like you’ll never be here.
When you are, you can focus on training Xander, but you can help out here, too. We’ll hire another
hand to help out, too, since I’m assuming you’ll take Dustin as a groom. You and I need to take
Mark’s horses down to Florida for the winter, so we’ll be taking on temporary help anyway.”

This was the first time Vince had learned that he was leaving for the winter. He wasn’t surprised,

though. Wes was technically Mark’s assistant trainer, and they both spent parts of the winter training
in Florida, and though Vince went with his dad from time to time, it was never for the whole winter.
What he was surprised by, however, was Dustin apparently offering to be his groom. He glanced at the
kid, but Dustin looked away.

Vince looked at Jane next. “But, Jane—”
She smiled at him. “Vince, if I tried to hold you back from this, I would be a terrible, terrible

person. It’ll all be fine, trust me. We’ll work around your schedule when we need to.”

When he glanced at everyone else, none of them looked confused by what Jane had said. She

must have told them her news during the discussion they had had about intervening in his life. She was
starting to look pregnant, so he wasn’t surprised.

“Try it, Vince,” Anna commented, smiling. “We can handle things here. You need to at least try.”
“You won’t let Mom down if you don’t make it,” Mandy added gently. “Not trying at all because

you think it won’t work out would be letting her down.”

He looked back at Dustin, who finally glanced up at him. “You should do it,” he said with a nod,

though he looked sad for some reason. Hadn’t he offered to be Vince’s groom at some point before
Vince had gotten there? Wasn’t that why Wes had mentioned it?

Vince rubbed his hands over his face.
“Just these next few years, that’s all it is,” Wes reminded him. “If you don’t make it this time,

you don’t have to keep trying. If anything, do it for Xander. That horse has talent, and the world
deserves to see him.”

Could he really do this? If Jane was fine with it, if his dad was encouraging him, if Anna felt they

could handle things without him, and if Dustin was willing to be there with him through the years to
come, maybe he could.

“Okay,” he finally agreed quietly. “I’ll try. Don’t get your hopes up because you’ll be

disappointed, but I’ll try.”

Everyone in the room seemed completely happy to hear him agree to do it, and they all spent

time telling him how they would be there for him and how they would handle things without him. But
the one person he wanted to talk to disappeared as soon as the group conversation was over.

He had to find the time to talk to him.

Chapter Twenty

D

USTIN

CLEARLY

avoided Vince the next day, and Vince never found a chance to get him away from

what he was doing at any point. By the end of the day, he had given up. It was shortly after seven the
next night and Vince was looking through an old photo album he had of his mother, just thinking
about the dreams she had for him and wondering if he could ever make them come true for her, when
his cell phone rang. He picked it up off the coffee table in front of him and was worried as soon as he
saw his father’s name on the screen.

“Come down to my office for a minute” was all he said before hanging up.
“You could have texted me just as easily,” Vince told the dead line, wondering when his dad had

started making cryptic one-line calls to people. This was the second one he’d gotten in two days. Was
it just him, or did others get them too? With a sigh, he got up and took the short walk to his father’s
office.

“Explain to me,” Wes pressed as soon as Vince entered the room, “why Dustin just signed Justin

back over to me, because he sure as hell won’t tell me anything.”

Vince stared at him. “He what?” he asked, lost.
Wes held out a piece of paper, one that had been included in the sales contract Dustin had signed

in the event that he ever needed to give Justin back to the farm. “He looked like he was resigned to
giving up everything he’s ever loved. As far as I know, you’re the only real friend he has here. You
need to find out what’s going on, and if he’s leaving, you’d better make him stay. Because he’s the
best person in the world for that horse, and he’s the best damn stable hand we’ve had besides Anna,
and I can tell you’ll be a mess without him around. Whatever the hell is wrong here, you find a way to
fix it, or at least do everything you can to try. We leave tomorrow now—there’s no time to find a
replacement for him.”

Vince swallowed. Dustin was leaving? He wasn’t even going to say anything to him before he

just up and left? Where was he going to go? Vince hadn’t even gotten the chance to fix things and tell
Dustin how he really felt.

“Vince?” Wes asked, grabbing his shoulder. His concern visibly shifted from his deserting

employee to his only son.

Vince was pretty sure he looked like he was watching his mom die again, so he guessed the

concern was understandable. He cleared his throat and assured him, “I’m fine. Let me go talk to him.
I’ll see if I can do anything.”

Wes nodded. “Please.”
Vince turned and left the office. During his walk to Dustin’s cabin, he couldn’t decide if he was

angry, heartbroken, or just damn desperate to make Dustin stay. He figured it was a little of all three.

He didn’t bother to knock when he got to the cabin, he just barged in. Dustin was walking out of

his bedroom with his old battered backpack—something Vince hadn’t seen since the day Dustin had
first come to the farm—and froze when he saw Vince standing in the doorway, the front door closing
heavily behind him.

“It’s usually a common courtesy to give two weeks’ notice before quitting a job,” Vince told him,

trying to keep all emotion out of his voice, but he figured his stance was enough to let Dustin know
that he was pissed.

Dustin just stood there and looked at the floor.
“And it’s not really fair to Justin to just throw him away after he bonded to you that completely,”

he went on. “Who knows if he’ll love another person like that anytime soon.”

“I gave him back to your dad,” Dustin grumbled, “because he can’t come with me.”
“And where are you going?” Vince demanded.
Dustin shrugged, still not looking at Vince. “Back to my woods maybe. I don’t really know yet.”
“So you’re just going to abandon all of us?” Vince countered. “All of us who have given you

everything we could? Justin, my dad, Jane, Anna, Mia, Joe. Me. Without so much as a good-bye?”

Dustin finally looked up, but only to glare at him. “Don’t play the guilt trip game, okay? It’s not

that I’m not grateful for everything, for having this place to call home as long as I did, but I just can’t
do it anymore. Okay?”

Vince ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Why? Did Chris do something else to you that

you won’t tell me about? I can deal with him. Did anything else happen? We want you here, Dust, tell
me what’s wrong.”

“It’s not something you can do anything about,” Dustin snarled. “I’m leaving.”
“Stay,” Vince ordered. “We need you here. Maybe not Chris, but the rest of us want you here. I

want you here.”

Dustin laughed, but it was clearly devoid of any humor. “Exactly. You want me here, but you

don’t want me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Vince practically yelled, his frustration mounting. Then

he realized what was happening. “Jesus, is this about my birthday?” Dustin didn’t speak, but the look
on his face was answer enough. “You were drunk, Dust! I wasn’t going to let you do something you
were going to regret when you weren’t sober!”

“Well trust me, I regret it!”
He tried to storm past Vince to the door, but Vince grabbed him and surprised even himself by

shoving him against the wall.

When their eyes met, Vince saw both tears and fear in Dustin’s.
Vince closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the wall beside Dustin’s head, lifting his arms

up to rest them above his head, giving Dustin the opportunity to move out from under him, to leave
and let him fall to the floor in a heap of misery.

But Dustin didn’t move. If it weren’t for the fact that Vince could feel his breath on his neck, he

would have thought the kid wasn’t even breathing.

“Please stay,” Vince requested quietly.
When Dustin didn’t respond, Vince brought his hands down to Dustin’s shoulders. “Please stay,”

he repeated, moving his head to look at him.

All Dustin did was close his eyes.
Vince lifted his head away from the wall and pressed his forehead to Dustin’s. His hands moved

from Dustin’s shoulders to the sides of his neck, his fingertips twined in the hair at the nape of his
neck. He took one tiny step forward.

“Please?”
Dustin drew a ragged breath but didn’t move or speak or even open his eyes.
So Vince kissed his eyes, tasting the salt from Dustin’s tears. Then he turned his head and lightly

touched his lips to Dustin’s. Vince was less surprised and amazed by his actions than he was
determined that his feelings for Dustin weren’t going to be kept to himself anymore.

Still, Dustin didn’t respond.

“Please stay,” Vince murmured before leaning in to kiss him again.
Just before their lips touched, he felt Dustin’s arms wind around him, his hands grabbing the back

of his T-shirt and holding him tightly as their lips came together. Vince felt Dustin’s lips part and
yield to him, then Dustin was kissing him. Vince struggled to hold on to reality in the short moments
their lips were together and finally pulled away. He looked at Dustin questioningly but saw no fear or
sadness in those green eyes.

“Okay,” Dustin breathed. “I’ll stay.”
Vince laughed and grinned. “God. Thank you, Dust.”
Dustin just smiled and kissed him again. Roughly, deeply. Like he couldn’t believe what was

happening and didn’t want to let reality in. Vince finally stopped holding back and returned that same
intense feeling as he kissed Dustin, pressing him heavily against the wall without thinking about it.
But Dustin pulled him closer, sliding his hands up Vince’s back—under his shirt—and holding Vince
tightly against him. And Dustin didn’t smell or taste like beer this time. Somehow, Vince knew that
whatever his senses picked up was purely Dustin—everything he felt, smelled, tasted, heard was
Dustin.

Vince was utterly lost in it.
Dustin broke the kiss before it could go beyond making out. “Wait,” he gasped.
Vince quickly took a step back. When had he actually pinned Dustin to the wall anyway? “I’m

sorry,” he panted.

“It’s okay,” Dustin replied, pulling his hands from under Vince’s shirt. “It’s just… I told you

about being on the streets. How I had to basically let myself be raped to survive.” He took a deep
breath. “I’ve never been tested. For anything. If this is actually happening, I want to know. I want you
to know.”

Vince nodded. “I understand. Do you think you have something?”
Dustin shrugged. “I don’t know. But the chances of me being clear after all that time seem low.”
Vince nodded again, trying not to feel worried. “It’s a good idea. I have to leave tomorrow, but

I’m assuming Jane is going to be house-sitting because she and Mandy usually do. At least until the
baby comes.” Oh god, he was going to miss his child’s birth. Could this situation be any more
depressing? Leaving Dustin now and abandoning Jane… “Jane knows that I’ve had feelings for you
for a long time,” he pressed on. He heard Dustin inhale sharply, but before he could say anything,
Vince kept talking. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to know about this, and I’m positive she’d be willing to
take you to get tested. I can talk to her if you want me to.”

Dustin nodded. “That would be good. So… you leave tomorrow?”
Vince sighed and moved to lean back against the wall next to Dustin, sliding down to sit on the

floor. “Yeah, I know. I’m horrible.”

Dustin sat down next to him. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, I should have told you weeks ago that I wanted to be with you,” Vince explained. “I was

honestly terrified. My life is so crazy, I didn’t want to end up hurting you. And I wanted you to tell me
if you wanted something with me so I wouldn’t be so terrified. But then you did, and I fucked it up so
bad.”

“God, you have no idea how awful that felt,” Dustin said quietly.
“I wasn’t trying to reject you,” Vince murmured, taking Dustin’s hand in his. “I really wasn’t. I

just didn’t want you to do something you’d regret because you were drunk. I didn’t want to feel like I
was taking advantage of you either.”

“I can see that now,” Dustin said, gripping his hand. “It’s okay. I appreciate that you stayed, even

though I was really confused when I found your note.”

“I didn’t know what I could do. I tried to catch you alone to talk to you yesterday and all day

today. I understand why you’d be avoiding me, though.”

Dustin nodded. “Talking to you hurt too much.”
Vince let go of his hand and put his arm around Dustin. “I’m sorry. I fucked up.”
Dustin shook his head. “It’s okay now. Just sucks that you’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Are you okay with that?” Vince asked quietly. “The long-distance thing for now?”
“Well, you’re coming back,” Dustin replied. “And I want to be your groom when you do your

shows. If you want me to.”

“Of course I do,” Vince stated. “Would you like to have a way to talk to me while I’m gone? Like

one of those prepaid cell phones or e-mail or something?”

“E-mail would be good,” Dustin answered, “but I don’t have a computer.”
“You can borrow my laptop. Dad will take his with us.”
Dustin nodded and smiled. “If you don’t mind me snooping, that’s fine with me.”
Vince snorted. “Nothing secret there. I wiped it clean after Jane dumped me. I have no clue why.

I guess I felt lost and guilty and pretty much worthless.”

Dustin shifted to kiss his cheek. “You’re okay now, right?”
“I’m definitely better,” Vince assured him, smiling. “So we’re good?”
“We’re good,” Dustin replied. “Can you stay here for a while?”
“I really should go home,” Vince answered reluctantly. “I have to finish packing. But a few

minutes more wouldn’t hurt.”

Dustin grinned. “I’ll take what I can get.”
Vince smiled as he turned to kiss him again. Despite the fact that he was now about to leave for

several months, he felt much better about his life and himself. And he knew he should have listened to
Jane. She probably wouldn’t let him forget that.

About the Author

S

ASHA

K

AY

R

ILEY

grew up near a small thoroughbred racetrack in upstate New York, where her

earliest memories of horses began, thanks to her dad. Her obsession with writing started several years
later, and of course she decided to combine the two. Throwing in a romantic twist made the adventure
especially fun. It was even more fun when she discovered that love stories between men didn’t make
her feel lonely like the rest of the romance genre. When not writing or reading, Sasha can usually be
found at the barn playing with her Haflinger pony, Alec. She plans to one day own and run a small
equine boarding stable and to keep writing until the voices stop talking.

Website: http://www.sashakayriley.com

superiorz

Romance from

D

REAMSPINNER

P

RESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Romance from

DREAMSPINNER

PRESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Copyright

Published by
Dreamspinner Press
5032 Capital Circle SW
Suite 2, PMB# 279
Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886
USA
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously,
and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

By Chance
© 2014 Sasha Kay Riley.

Cover Art
© 2014 Anna Sikorska.
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a
violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook
format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the
written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact
Dreamspinner Press at: 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/.

Digital ISBN: 978-1-62649-532-1

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition

March 2014

Table of Contents

Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
About the Author
Romance from Dreamspinner Press
Romance from Dreamspinner Press
Copyright