s Docto r Wilson.”
“Doctor?”
“Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Wasn’t for Wilson, your horse there would have been put down. He patched her up free of charge, took care of her for a month, and then asked us to find her a good home.”
Taylor dropped Rain’s sweaty saddle pad to the ground as her brain clicked into rewind, sifting through images like a slide show—the photo of the hand holding the bullet; the intimacy of his exchange with Rain; the mare’s obvious affection for him. “ I’ll always have my own name for her . ”
“You didn’t hit on him did you? Or insult him?” Liz’s odd features twitched repeatedly as she studied Taylor’s reaction.
“Not exactly. But I wasn’t nice, either. Why didn’t you tell me he was here?”
“You didn’t ask.”
Taylor watched Liz push her saddle into a carrying bag, then drag the bag to the tack room. It was a resourceful way to take care of her equipment without having to ask for help.
“Do you know what Bellissima means?”
“You gonna load up or what? I don’t have all day.” Liz jerked her head to Taylor’s saddle lying where she had let it drop. Dirt scuffed the cantle. Liz frowned.
“I’m going, I’m going … ”
After loading the rest of the tack, Taylor put Rain into the trailer where Toby already waited. Liz immediately turned the key and the F250 rumbled to life. Taylor hurried to the passenger side. How was it possible she consistently couldn’t keep up with a handicapped woman?
“Why would he patch up a stray horse for free? Especially one like Rain?”
“Obviously handicapped for the rest of her life, you mean?” Liz glanced in her rear view mirror. “Why waste resources on that sort of individual?”
“Yeah.”
In the silence that followed Taylor forced her mind from Jacob Wilson and considered her verbal blunder. With Liz it was hard to know when to keep talking and when to shut up.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Like what, exactly?” Liz looked quickly at Taylor. She ignored her own question. “Guess he saw something worth saving . Bellissim a , by the way, means ‘beautiful’.”
Taylor did not reply. In the space of a few hours she’d insulted both people responsible for saving her mare’s life. Best to keep one’s mouth shut. She focused instead on the sun bleached stubble on the fields outside and the poetry of one word: Bellissima.
Chapter 15
T
aylor watched her windshield wipers smear the first drops of rain into undulating channels across the glass in front of her. The long Indian summer had ended suddenly in early October, the day dawning with a brisk wetness that contrasted sharply with the sunburned shoulders Taylor had received on a trail ride the previous day. As much as the rain was refreshing, she fought the melancholy bubbling inside. The regular weekly trail rides with Liz would soon cease and she’d be forced back inside to fight memories of the past and contemplate her bleak future in real estate.
The wet weather and impending soggy winter were foremost on her mind when Taylor finally pulled up to her mother’s stylish condo in Edmonds for dinner. It wasn’ t jus t dinner, Taylor reminded herself, shaking smoke from her jacket. It was an inquiry, a test, and marching orders. She’d earned her Washington State real estate license and a broker’s license was next on her mother’s agenda. Taylor had no interest in becoming a broker, no interest in being made into a mini Ann Archer. The two things she currently enjoyed most were a one-eyed horse and making mochas. Taylor punched the bell outside the building and scrambled for a way to explai n tha t to her mother.
While waiting, Taylor fought the anxiety of an evening with her mother by returning to a recent victory: Rain’s moment of trust. It was a small, inconspicuous moment, yet carried the deepest of messages.
She’d almost missed it, lost in thought about Melissa and the real
“Doctor?”
“Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Wasn’t for Wilson, your horse there would have been put down. He patched her up free of charge, took care of her for a month, and then asked us to find her a good home.”
Taylor dropped Rain’s sweaty saddle pad to the ground as her brain clicked into rewind, sifting through images like a slide show—the photo of the hand holding the bullet; the intimacy of his exchange with Rain; the mare’s obvious affection for him. “ I’ll always have my own name for her . ”
“You didn’t hit on him did you? Or insult him?” Liz’s odd features twitched repeatedly as she studied Taylor’s reaction.
“Not exactly. But I wasn’t nice, either. Why didn’t you tell me he was here?”
“You didn’t ask.”
Taylor watched Liz push her saddle into a carrying bag, then drag the bag to the tack room. It was a resourceful way to take care of her equipment without having to ask for help.
“Do you know what Bellissima means?”
“You gonna load up or what? I don’t have all day.” Liz jerked her head to Taylor’s saddle lying where she had let it drop. Dirt scuffed the cantle. Liz frowned.
“I’m going, I’m going … ”
After loading the rest of the tack, Taylor put Rain into the trailer where Toby already waited. Liz immediately turned the key and the F250 rumbled to life. Taylor hurried to the passenger side. How was it possible she consistently couldn’t keep up with a handicapped woman?
“Why would he patch up a stray horse for free? Especially one like Rain?”
“Obviously handicapped for the rest of her life, you mean?” Liz glanced in her rear view mirror. “Why waste resources on that sort of individual?”
“Yeah.”
In the silence that followed Taylor forced her mind from Jacob Wilson and considered her verbal blunder. With Liz it was hard to know when to keep talking and when to shut up.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Like what, exactly?” Liz looked quickly at Taylor. She ignored her own question. “Guess he saw something worth saving . Bellissim a , by the way, means ‘beautiful’.”
Taylor did not reply. In the space of a few hours she’d insulted both people responsible for saving her mare’s life. Best to keep one’s mouth shut. She focused instead on the sun bleached stubble on the fields outside and the poetry of one word: Bellissima.
Chapter 15
T
aylor watched her windshield wipers smear the first drops of rain into undulating channels across the glass in front of her. The long Indian summer had ended suddenly in early October, the day dawning with a brisk wetness that contrasted sharply with the sunburned shoulders Taylor had received on a trail ride the previous day. As much as the rain was refreshing, she fought the melancholy bubbling inside. The regular weekly trail rides with Liz would soon cease and she’d be forced back inside to fight memories of the past and contemplate her bleak future in real estate.
The wet weather and impending soggy winter were foremost on her mind when Taylor finally pulled up to her mother’s stylish condo in Edmonds for dinner. It wasn’ t jus t dinner, Taylor reminded herself, shaking smoke from her jacket. It was an inquiry, a test, and marching orders. She’d earned her Washington State real estate license and a broker’s license was next on her mother’s agenda. Taylor had no interest in becoming a broker, no interest in being made into a mini Ann Archer. The two things she currently enjoyed most were a one-eyed horse and making mochas. Taylor punched the bell outside the building and scrambled for a way to explai n tha t to her mother.
While waiting, Taylor fought the anxiety of an evening with her mother by returning to a recent victory: Rain’s moment of trust. It was a small, inconspicuous moment, yet carried the deepest of messages.
She’d almost missed it, lost in thought about Melissa and the real
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