Page 26 of My Trojan Horse Majesty

As I think about what I’m sure he’ll say, I start to wonder. . .

If someone said that to Whitney, if they said it to my mother, I would be livid. I’d never let them tell my sister she didn’t have a career, even if it was true. Why would I put up with it for myself, even if it is all true?

And now I’m convicting him before I’ve even confronted him.

I tear the page of my assets off the notepad and throw it in the trash, and I make a new list.

Questions for Tim:

1. Why did you tell Dr. Hartfield that I’d be a bad vet? Why do you think that?

2. Why are bad men coming to your house and threatening me—shootingat me?

3. Why are your partners accusing you of things, and why does everyone believe them? What’s really going on?

I freeze then, my pen poised over the notepad. Am I questioning his innocence? Am I worried that maybe, justmaybe, the man who has thugs coming to his house with guns, the man who told my boss to dis-recommend me. . .might be the bad guy after all?

Because if he is, how stupid does that make me?

The only way for me to find out is to confront him. I know him well enough to tell whether he’s lying, or at least, I hope I do. I grab my jacket off the hook by the door, and I throw my purse over my shoulder. I have no idea whether the jail allows visitors, but I’m about to find out. I hope they let me in, and I hope they record our meeting, because if he really did screw not only me, but all his partners, I’m done trying to help him.

In the doorway, I pause.

I should call my best friend Paige. She’s never liked Tim, though, so I already know what she’ll say. She’ll jump on the email and the nefarious men, and she’ll call for his head. Until I’m sure, until I’m absolutely positive that I’ve been wrong about him, I should keep this quiet. He’s in a delicate position, and if there’s any chance I’m wrong about this stuff, I shouldn’t make things worse. Mom and Paige could never forgive all this stuff—the charges and the men and the email.

I have to decide what I think before I tell them about any of it.

I’m almost to my truck when Drago spots me. When he sees me open the door, purse in hand, he loses his mind. He’s bucking, he’s screaming, and he’s kicking the side of the fence. I’m worried he’ll destroy it or himself in the state he’s in. He looks almost exactly the same as he did that first morning, before I ever tried to halter him.

He looks insane.

I glance at my watch. It’s not even eleven in the morning. I have plenty of time, even if the jail officially ‘closes’ at five. I sling my purse into the cab, and I jog across the two dozen yards between me and the nutso stallion. “Drago,” I say. “Calm down, idiot.”

He drops to all four hooves, which is an improvement, and he snorts, pawing at the ground.

“I have a quick errand,” I say. “I have to leave for a little bit, but I’ll be back.” Yes, I’m now talking to a horse like I think he understands me. I’m not sure when I accepted it, but here we are.

He tosses his head, and he screeches.

“I know you’re worried.” Actually, I do feel like he is, and I’m not sure why. I reach my hand through the fence. “You couldn’t see me before, when I was in the house.” I tilt my head. “Did you know I was in there? Could you see me through the windows?” I squint at Tim’s house, not sure how he possibly could.

He sidles closer to the fence, leaning against my hand.

I scratch his shoulder, and he stretches his head out. Then he tosses his head at the gate and throws his nose up in the air repeatedly.

“I can’t come in to see you right now. I’m sorry, but I have to run an errand, no horses allowed.”

And he’s screaming again.

I yank my hand back, worried he might bite me.

He stomps, pawing at the ground, churning up aggressive furrows of earth, then he rears back and slams his big front hooves into the ground again. When he tosses his head, his nostrils are flared and his eyes rolling.

I can’t help my laugh. “These tantrums aren’t very attractive on such a handsome guy.” I tentatively reach my hand through again. “And you may not have learned this yet, but in our world, horses always have to wait around for the humans to finish their stuff.” I drop my voice to a whisper. “You guys think you run things, but you don’t. And sadly, when I decided to keep you, it cost me a lot of money. Then when I went inside, today got even worse.” Any human would judge me for being melodramatic, but a horse can’t do that. I drop my forehead against the fence. “It’s actually been a very,verybad day for this human.” I can’t help my frown. “And now I have to go somewhere they only allow humans to talk to the other human I’m mad at.”

He steps toward me, head bowed, seemingly calmer. I press my hand against the flat front of his face. He sighs. It’s so cute, it actually makes me smile.

“I wish I could take you with me,” I say. “I wish you were a man, just for the afternoon. Then you could come—and I’d be happy for the backup, believe me.”

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