Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
He held out a hand to me. “Come on. I swear you’re safe. Sword looks like a beast, but he’s a good boy. Well trained.”
I took a step toward Sebastian and looked down at his hand, but didn’t take it. Holding hands with him wasn’t something I was comfortable with. He seemed to understand and dropped his hand back to his side, then closed and latched the gate behind me.
“It’s a bit of a walk, but you can see the horses out along the way,” he told me.
My curiosity about the Shephard Ranch got my attention, and I fell into step beside him. The horse walked on his other side, slightly behind us. I fought the urge to look back and see if he was watching me.
“How many horses do you have?” I asked Sebastian.
“Right now, we have twelve thoroughbreds that we own, five that are boarded, and a few quarter horse mares,” he told me. “Although I believe we are selling a thoroughbred this week. We raised it to sell. He isn’t a champion, but he will hold his own in a race.”
He pointed toward a large circular path that was about one hundred feet away from us. I looked in that direction and saw a horse being ridden so fast that dust was flying behind them as the rider leaned down low over the horse.
“That’s Bloodline, who we hope is our Preakness Stakes winner. Carmen, our best jockey, is on him today,” Sebastian explained.
I had no knowledge of horse racing, but I was assuming Preakness Stakes was a race. I simply nodded, watching in amazement at the speed they were going. We continued walking, but I kept glancing back over to the two, even after the jockey slowed the horse down.
“Is this what your family does? I mean, as a job. You raise horses?” I asked, curious as to how someone could afford to have all this land and horses.
He shrugged. “Yeah, but I mean, we own other things too,” he replied vaguely, and I decided not to push.
But what other things did they own? I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in this.
Up ahead, a stunning house came into view. It appeared to be built of multicolored rocks and had a thatched roof with several gables.
“Is that your house?” I asked, squinting so I could see it better.
He laughed. “No. That’s the stables. Well, the main one. There are two other buildings, but you can’t see them from here. They are on each side of that one, making the shape of a U.”
I stopped walking and stared at him.
When he realized I wasn’t beside him, he paused and looked back at me. “What is it?”
I pointed at the building. “THAT is a stable?”
He grinned while he nodded his head. “Yeah.”
I stared, agape, at the sight. “If that is where you house horses, what kind of house do you live in?” I asked him.
He cleared his throat as I looked back at him.
With a tilt of his head, he raised his eyebrows slightly. “Something a touch larger,” he replied.
Why did I think it was much more than a touch larger?
I started walking again. I had thought the house I’d lived in with Churchill was big, but it wasn’t as impressive as the stables here. These people had to be billionaires. But with horses? Really? You could be that wealthy, racing thoroughbreds? Clearly, I was clueless about this world. When he had said they owned other things, I was wondering if he meant hotel chains, banks, shopping malls, that sort of thing.
“Why do you need so much room for the horses?” There had to be more than horse stalls inside that mansion.
He rubbed his smooth jawline and sighed. “Well, there is a mudroom, laundry room, tack room, and two different office spaces. One for the stable manager and one for us to use. A game room with a bar, where we host parties sometimes. A large patio with a hot tub and firepit is in the center of the three buildings. Two bedrooms upstairs with private en suites, a gym, a full kitchen with a dining area large enough to feed twenty or so. And of course, the most important thing, twenty-five horse stalls.”
“Wow,” I breathed. I hadn’t imagined that stables would consist of all that.
We were getting closer, and I noticed the area was surrounded by bricked paving. Red brick flooring all around the outside. Someone called out to Sebastian, and he raised a hand to wave, but he didn’t stop. I could see a man wearing a black cowboy hat coming out of the side of the first building with a large brown horse behind him.
Another man walked over and took the reins from Sebastian, then led Sword in the opposite direction.
I was in complete awe by the time we reached the doors to the stables. They stood over twelve feet tall and were rounded at the top, wooden, with a hand-carved design of some kind of symbol on each one. Sebastian reached for the black iron curved handle and pulled it open, then held it for me to walk inside.