➵ ｒａｃｉｎｇ ｈｅａｒｔｓ

chapter 4 ➵ the big boss man

First impressions screamed opulence at me. The shiny, ornate brass gate that stood a little off the main road was decorated with sun and moon carvings into the metal, held up by two marble pillars also painted with golden symbols. I ran a finger over the handle and it responded with a shock of ice birthed from the cold weather under my touch.

Castillo Acres was huge, and dauntingly so. Clearly living up the latter half of its name, it seemed to stretch endlessly over the fields. At the very top of the hill stood a proud old mansion that I guessed was Larkbridge House. It wasn't a particularly steep incline, but again, it wasn't one I looked forward to walking every day, and I had a fleeting thought of how the people who lived here coped. That was quickly quashed by the realisation that the family wouldn't need to use buses. No doubt they had chauffeurs to do that for them! 

My eyes soon flickered to the left of the house. Etched into the side of the hill was a shallow valley, carved from a body of water somewhere between a stream and a river gushing across the hillside. Shrouded by a thick forest jumbled with an assortment of trees, you could only glance at the water every so often when the woodland allowed a glimpse. A bridge, which an educated guess would have said was what the manor was named after, stood lonesome in an open grove of trees.

The most impressive and possibly important thing that caught my eye were the equestrian facilities, scattered in front of me across the landscape. Furthest away stood two barns parallel to each other, made of a pretty oak and decorated with mossy green edging across the panels. From what I could make out, it had all the things you'd expect to find right next to it: an arena, a round-pen and a horse walker. Closer to me, lined with small rose bushes of varying colours (some of which I'd never seen before), a practice race track complete with a small bandstand waited to be used. The gallops were cut out with the iconic white fencing. You could truly tell this was a horse racing business.

I jumped out my skin when a sudden beep from behind me woke me from my reverie.

With a flick of my hair, I spun around to be greeted by a blood red Mini Cooper. In an almost-comical stand off moment, I tried to peer into the front windscreen to see who the driver was, but the sun reflected off it causing my view to be obstructed. Once again it beeped, and I suddenly leapt into action, slightly worried that whoever the impatient driver was would mow me down. 

As I moved to one side, the car slowed down beside me and the window rolled down steadily. A woman stared up at me with a blank look on her face, perfectly manicured nails matching the colour of her mini flexing around the wheel. 

"Are you lost?" She asked bluntly, with no hint of an accent. 

Shaking my head, I tried to pull my words together, telling myself to stop acting so pathetically. "Uh, I'm here for the interviews for the groom position." I offered, tightening my grip on my bag across my shoulder self-consciously. 

With a frown, she brought one of her hands up to her chin thoughtfully. "No... no, you can't be. Those ended last week. Sorry. Thank you for coming, but Mr. Castillo is a busy man." With that, she was putting her car into gear, clearly ready to leave me in her wake.

"Wait!" I called, grabbing onto the open window. 

The woman looked up at me with hazel eyes disapprovingly.

"I was definitely given today as an interview time. I'm sure I was. Maybe Grace got it wrong, sent me the wrong date or something..." Blathering a little, I tried to fumble for my phone but from the look on her face, guessed that it would be a waste of time. "Please, at least let me try? If Mr. Castillo doesn't want to see me, I'll walk right out, no questions asked."

For a few moments, I thought she was going to drive off, but my face clearly must have looked desperate as she rolled her eyes and patted the leather seat next to her. "Alright. But if you incur his wrath, on your head be it."