“Well, he wasn’t involved in the conversation I heard, but why wouldn’t he if everyone else does?” I take a breath and the truth just spills out without permission. “I heard his wife, Lizzie, talk to someone who turned out to be the local veterinarian, Kade. Apparently, I’m a spoiled brat and just like Veronika.”
“What?” her response is swift, the outrage entering her voice. She’d know how much being compared to my mother would hurt me.
“Yeah. He went on to berate me behind my back about never getting in touch with Wayne when you know I tried.” And I did try, I called only for him to never pick up, I wrote letters only for them to be ‘returned to sender.’ After the recurrent rejection, I couldn’t deal with it anymore and stopped trying. There’s only so much I can take before I break.
“Mon…” Dakota trails off, clearly not knowing what else to say. She knows what all of that did to the teenage me, she was there to witness my fall to rock bottom when she helped me pick up my life before I destroyed it to the point of no return.
“It’s okay, Kota. It is what it is. There’s little I can do to change all of this now. They see me however they want. And this Kade guy definitely dislikes me with a lot more vigor than I’d expect since he doesn’t even know me personally.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he knows about the accident seven years ago. But he also knows what people like Destiny are saying about me. About me accusing people of cheating or throwing a fit during a competition.”
“There’s only one person who says this about you, Mon. Everyone else knows it’s your mother…”
“I know, but apparently he has a college friend telling him all of this. It’s probably Destiny herself or one of the men she’s screwing around with.”
“What’s his name again?” Dakota asks.
“Kade…” I pause, trying to remember his last name. “Reed. Kade Reed. I’ve never heard of him before.”
“I haven’t either. But let me do some asking around.”
I sigh, not sure I want to know. “Don’t worry about it, Kota. It’s not worth worrying over.”
“You sure?”
Am I sure I don’t want to know why this gorgeous man seems to hate me without cause? Without even knowing me? “Yes.” I’ve had enough rejection to last a lifetime. No need to add more to it, especially from someone with perfectly chiseled features and blue eyes I would happily drown in without a care of the consequences.
“Okay then. Despite the warm welcome”—her snort of derision is quick and brings a smile to my face—“how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. The shoulder hurts and the painkillers keep knocking me out. But other than that, I’m good. And Whisky is well taken care off, which is the only reason why I’m doing this. He can recuperate here with people who can handle him.”
I can hear the laughter in her next words. “That boy. One thing is for sure, he’ll give anyone who looks at you wrong hell. Is he gonna be okay though? What did the vet say?”
“Well, Kade agrees with Dr. Woods’s assessment. But he doesn’t know the extent of the damage yet. We have to bring him into town next week for an ultrasound. That’s when we’ll know for sure what his prognosis looks like and if he’ll make the Olympics. But he is hopeful that it isn’t bad enough to keep him from competing this summer.”
“So, all you can do is wait until next week?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s a fighter just like you.”
“I hope so. I need him to make it to the Olympics,” I stress.
“If not this year, you’ll be going in four years. We all know that.”
“I—” I start, but stop myself, knowing she won’t understand my incessant need to attend and win, to prove myself. I’ve never told her just how desperate I am to win my father’s approval. And Whisky is the best chance I have to accomplish that. It’s the one secret I plan to keep from everyone. No need to open myself up to even more ridicule. So, I concede, “You’re right. I’ll just go in four years.” I don’t mention the fact that it will probably be too late by then. “So, enough about me. You prepared for tomorrow?”
“As prepared as I’ll ever be. Florida welcomed us with a thunderstorm today, but it should be fine for Sunday to compete. And the arena they provided is nice enough to do some exercise the next couple of days.” She sounds confident, which is good. She deserves to win and go to the Olympics as much as me, but the competition this year seems especially hard.
“You got this, babe. You and Savannah know how to do this. Just remember, focus and don’t let them distract you with their vitriol against me. It’s not worth it.”
“I know. It’s still weird to be here without you.”
“You’ll do great. Just let Savannah do her thing. She knows what she’s doing. Trust your horse.”
“So, you keep telling me. I’ll do my best.”
“All you can do in the end,” I say through a yawn.
“You all right?” The worry is back in her voice.
“Yeah, just tired.”
“Well, in that case I’ll leave you to take a nap. And you’ll have to tell me next time if Kade is as gorgeous as I have the impression he might be.”
“Why would you say that?” I’m shocked at her words. “He’s a jerk no matter how handsome he is.”
“So, he is handsome? I knew it.” If I didn’t love her so much her hoot of laughter would be annoying.
“Whatever.”
“I hate to say this, babe, but I
