Page 99 of My Queendom for a Horse

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Sean doesn’t even seem upset.

“Hey, look, you took a horse no one could control and almost made him a champion.” He winces, hearing how that sounds. “It wasn’t on you. I think there’s something wrong with his leg, maybe. And that insane trainer wasn’t even there. I looked everywhere. Maybe he’s drunk and passed out, I don’t know.”

“Sean—”

He holds up a hand. “No, it’s fine. I’ll stop talking about it. Not the time.”

“It’s hard to believe that just happened,” I say. “I mean, we had it.”

“Please don’t worry about it. And on the bright side, I bet I can get the bank to release him as collateral, now.” He winks.

As if it would take more than a simple call from him at any point.

“Have you thought about selling him to my friend? I still think we could make that work. Maybe not for quite as much, though, maybe we still could. It’s not like he wants to run him—he wants to use him as a stud for his program, and clearly the horse can clear a fence. Plus, he loves black as a color.”

It’s like he can’t stop talking. Does he think it’ll cheer me up? It’s just depressing me more.

“Sean,” I say quietly. “It’s fine. I’ll be alright.”

Luckily, my dad and John show up to distract him. The three of them are like drunk frat boys, encouraging each other, and I’m kind of sick of hearing it. None of them really get it, and I still feel like Obsidian has something to tell me.

But when I look down, I have a new text from my real estate agent. She’s checking in, again, to see if I’ve made a decision about the deal.

It’s the day after Christmas, but I don’t blame her. The offer is time sensitive, and it’s a lot of money. As soon as I get Obsidian into his stall, I pick up my phone and call her. It’s not like I could change him right now, anyway. Literally anyone could walk through that stall at any moment. It’s too risky.

She picks up on the third ring.

And I tell her we’ll take the offer.

“I need it to close as soon as it possibly can,” I say.

Between the taxes on the sale of the land—which will be brutal—and on my winnings from Down Royal to two different countries, I’m not going to have much left over, but I should still be able to repay Sean and the balloon note, and then all this will be behind me. If I’m lucky, I’ll have a bit left to replenish my business account from the hits it’s taken recently.

Obsidian begins pacing, and I know he wants me to change him, but I can’t. Not yet. “I’m sorry,” I say. “We just lost a big, high profile race, and there’s no telling who might come in here, and no plausible reason to tell them why you’re not here.”

As predicted, Sean’s head pops over the edge of the stall less than five minutes later. “I know you need to clean up, regroup, whatever. But since you’re close, I want to see you, obviously.”

Before I can even open my mouth, he plows ahead.

“Let me take you to dinner. You’ve been amazing, putting up with my house, my parents, and the worst parts of my life. Let me remind you what the good parts are.”

It’s the smart thing to do.

It’s really the only thing to do. Even if I don’t think he’s the guy for me, I don’t think I can afford to upset him right now. Which. . .what does that make me? Am I a prostitute? Oh, no. I am. Am I?

I nod numbly. “Sure.”

“Text me when you’re ready, and I’ll be right over.”

My dad and John come by to cheerlead as well, but I send them away just as quickly. And then, between what seems like one moment and the next, things become quiet. The horses have mostly been led away or fed their dinner and left for the night.

When Obsidian bumps my shoulder, I nod. “Yeah, it’s time.” I’m frankly surprised he wasn’t making himself much more obnoxious.

This time, when I change him, I have clothing already waiting. He changes without any fuss or jokes. When I turn to face him, he’s fully dressed and wearing the long wool overcoat I found in the boot of his car.

“What happened?” I ask.

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