Page 78 of My Queendom for a Horse

The woman’s gestures are smooth and fluid, and she looks entirely at ease. She’s wearing a lovely grey business suit, and a string of black pearls with sensible black pumps.

She makes me look like a stable hand.

It’s clear she’s the lady of this gargantuan house. And if that wasn’t enough to clue me in to her identity, she has the exact same sky blue eyes as Sean. “Well, it won’t be made with Gruyere, but we have to be a little flexible with newer staff sometimes.” The woman brushes her right hand over her absolutely perfectly coiffed hair, smoothing nonexistent flyaways toward her beautiful, dark bun.

“Mother, we’ll be in shortly.” Sean’s voice is tight but firm.

As if she didn’t hear him, she turns toward me and descends the stairs. “This must be Kristiana.” She beams, and I can’t tell whether it’s forced or genuine. I suppose that’s how you know if someone is quite practiced with their smiles. You can’t really be sure either way. “I have heard nothing but your name for months, now.”

“Come, Mother,” Sean says.

“What?” she asks.

Sean smiles. “It’s been far longer than that.”

I’m sure they’re exaggerating, but it’s nice to hear all the same. “You must be Sean’s beautiful mother. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“The pleasure is entirely mine.” She holds out her hand. “I hear your family hails from America.”

“My mother’s family,” I say, “yes. My father’s from Latvia—and we live there still.”

“You don’t say.” Lady McDermott narrows her eyes at Sean. “You didn’t mention that when you said you were opening a branch there.”

He shrugs sheepishly—an expression I’ve never before seen on his face. “Well, it did make good business sense, too.”

“Finding the right woman is the most important thing you’ll ever do,” Lady McDermott says. “I’m the last person who would argue with you for doing whatever it takes to succeed, there.”

Aleks clears his throat.

“And who is this?” she asks.

“This is. . .” Sean pauses. “Actually, I can’t recall his name. I usually just call him the crazy Russian trainer.”

His mother’s eyes widen and she turns toward me slowly. “He brought your car?”

I shake my head. “It’s not my car.” I’m actually legitimately worried that the constables will round the bend any moment, sirens blaring. “I’m not quite sure—”

“The last few months have been rough,” Aleks says. His English accent sounds exactly like mine—American like my mother’s was. “You see, we had some family. . .” He clears his throat. “Some family drama, you could say. My closest relative recently passed, leaving the paperwork in total disarray. Instead of coming to me as it should have, the family land, titles, estate, and businesses all. . .well, they languished.”

“That’s terrible,” Lady McDermott says. “You should come inside. You can eat with us and tell us all about it.”

“But what about the meal?” I ask. “Will there be enough food?”

She waves her hand at me airily. “Oh, yes. They always make another plate or two, just in case someone requests more or there’s an issue with the existing food—a hair, too much salt, that sort of thing.”

An extra plate or two? Who are these people?

“I’d love to join you for dinner. Thank you for extending the invite.” For all the world, Aleksandr looks just like a vampire who recently secured a coveted invite into the home of someone delicious. It makes me exceedingly nervous.

“Actually,” I say, “he was just dropping something off. He needs to get back and make sure our horse, Obsidian Devil, is doing fine for the race that’s only two days away.”

“I just saw him,” Aleks says. “He looked perfect. And I do have to eat.”

I scowl at him, but he just smiles.

“Sure,” Sean says. “I’d love to hear more about this family drama as well, now we come to it.” He also wants to know why Aleksandr can speak flawless English, I’m sure. Even geniuses couldn’t pick it up that fast.

Which means that either Aleks lied to me about it, or we both lied to Sean.

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