Passion » Max Regnery

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"You're practically a natural," shouted Carole Hanson, beautiful dark skinned girl with bright hazel eyes and curly brown hair. She had returned back the Pine Hallow after being grounded for cheating on one of her tests in high school.

Blake pulled Garnet into a steady trot before slowly to a walk, the mare responding to her commands as if this is what she was supposed to do. But that is what she is supposed to do, Blake reminded herself as she came to a halt in front of Red.

"That was amazing," he said, practically beaming. "To think it only took you two weeks to advance to exercising Garnet."

"I could only imagine how much longer it would have taken had I not shown up when I did," Carole said as she entered the ring and now stood beside Red.

"Hey, I am an excellent teacher."

"Yeah, suree," said Blake as she looked off to her left and tried not to smile as she imagined the look on Red's once he realized she was being sarcastic.

Just across the way, they could hear gravel crunching beneath tires, something that was rare to hear in a very slow day like today. All three, and Garnet, turned the attention toward the black Lexus that pulled into the parking lot.

"Is that Deb?" Carole asked Red as she cranned her neck to get a better look.

"I believe so," he replied as he too, stood on his toes to get a better look. "I was starting to wonder where she was."

Meanwhile, still on top of Garnet, Blake watched with a perfect view and a knot in her stomach. No one knew the truth about Max and his wife, or ex-wife. No one knew that the one thing Max was struggling with more than anything, was the divorce he was still going through.

"Deb!" Carole suddenly shouted, startling both Garnet and Blake. Luckily for Blake, Garnet displayed her discomfort by pawing the ground and shaking her head.

She sat forward in the Arabian mare and gently patted her neck while Carole waved her arm and motioned for the woman dressed in the most expensive looking navy blue business attire Blake had ever seen.

Deb seemed to have been in much of a good mood to take a detour over to the riding ring where Blake, Carole, and Red stood.

"Hi guys," she said as she finally reached the fence and took off her sunglasses. "Is that Garnet?"

"Yep," replied Carole as she turned to look back. "And thanks to Max's new stable hand, Blake, we don't have to worry so much now. Garnet took to her instantly, from what I'm told."

"You should have seen it, Deb," said Red, "Nearly took off Max's arm when he tried to bring her in one day, but this one," he pointed to Blake. "Has some serious horse sense going on. Garnet comes instantly when she sees her."

"Kind of like Belle is with Stevie?" Deb asked as she looked from Carole to Red, smiling.

Blake realized she was still sitting in the saddle and decided now was a good time to dismount. She was still a little rusty without the mounting block, but unlike Patch, Garnet stood perfectly still.

Once down, she made sure to run up the stirrups so that they were not banging against Garnet's sides and then pulled the reins over her head and gripped below her mouth in one hand and the other half of the reins in her left.

So this was Deb, Max's wife? Blake thought as she studied the woman. Red had most certainly been right about one thing, she was obviously a city slicker.

"Oh, Blake, come meet Deb!" Carole turned to Blake.

Blake cast a side glance at Garnet who in response pointed her ears forward and then back and lifted her head. Garnet placed on leg forward, tilted her head to look at Blake and then back. Understanding what Garnet was doing, even if it seemed odd to other, Blake fell in step with the mare as the approached the fence.

"Hello," Blake finally said as she forced a smile. "I'm Blake Witmore."

"Witmore?" Deb's smile faded only a smidge. "Would happen to have a sister named Alex, would you?"

Though her smile had been forced and fake, it died instantly at the mention of her perfect little sister.

"Unfortunately."

"Wait, oh my gosh!" Carole's face lit up. "I didn't know Alex has a sister! She was one of the best riders here!"

"Excellent rider. She managed to make a name for Pine Hollow at shows." Deb added.

"If you'll excuse me," she then forced her smile again, this time it was paining her to do so. "I think I'll go cool Garnet down before returning her back to her stall. It was nice to meet you, Deb."

And with that, Blake turned, Garnet in tow, and started for the gate.

Blake now found herself in the tack room where she had finished thoroughly cleaning Garnet's tack when she heard a familiar voice raising just a little.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Blake placed the tack back on its designated rack and walked out the tack room and head toward the office. She didn't dare step any closer in fear that she'd be caught eavesdropping. Then she looked out across from the office to see Barq, one of Max's many school horses and so she approached him.

The good thing about Barq, was that he provided for an excellent way to make her look as if she had some reason to be here in case someone came by and asked what she was doing. However, the only problem was that the shouting had stopped.

Blake didn't have to wait long before the office door opened and the sound of heels clicking against pavement brought her attention away from the gelding to the man staring at her in the doorway. Despite doing her best to look innocent, she could tell by his expression, he knew exactly why she was buddying up to the horse.

Despite thinking she was probably going to end up on his shit list, Max jerked his head in a motion that told her to enter the office. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat and petting Barq one last time, Blake crossed the aisle and entered the office.

Behind her, Max closed the door and moved to sit down on his desk. Blake, not waiting for a signal to sit down, made herself comfortable on the couch after retrieving her granola bar from the couch and a yogurt from the mini fridge she convinced Max to invest in. She still wasn't sure how that happened.

"She wants the stables."

Blake struggled to swallow a piece of her granola chew she had just bit off when he delivered the news. "What?" She asked with tears in her eyes as she coughed.

"Exactly!" He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "She doesn't even like horses, yet she wants my stables! For what?"

"Probably to sell them," Blake realized she accidentally voiced her thought out loud.

"Exactly!" He jumped up from his desk, nearly knocking over some things as the desk scooted closer the the wall.

"Can she even claim the stables? I mean, aren't they apart of your family history or something?"

"My grandfather founded them and passed them on to my father who passed them on to me." He said as he paced the room.

"And can she technically claim them and sell them if you don't even fully own them?" She avoiding his eyes, certain he was glaring at her for reminding him that he currently owned half of Pine Hollow.

"She shouldn't even want them at all!" He shouted as he resumes pacing. "She hates horses!"

"I heard from a little bird, she learned to ride for you. And that she accepted them too. Also," Blake licked her spoon before continuing. "She seemed happy to see Garnet. I am starting to feel like this divorce is kinda fishy."

His pacing stopped. Max turned around to face Blake who was in mid lick, tongue fully out and on the back of the silver spoon coated in pink yogurt.

"So it's not just me then?"

She stuck the spoon in her mouth, sucking off any access yogurt before popping it out and then saying, "Nope."

In truth, all from what she was starting to hear about Deb, Blake was beginning to wonder what the real motive behind the divorce was.