Wren was trying to figure out what she wanted, once she could remove all the noise around her. It turned out that coming home was the perfect place to do that.
I leaned over the gate and watched her galloping in the distance as she and Wrax sailed through the air over each jump.
“Damn,” Coby whistled. “She’s such a badass. Do you know she asked me to adjust the farthest jump out there to the highest setting possible?”
I glanced over at him. “Yep. Sounds about right. She loves to challenge herself. It has nothing to do with winning a competition, either. She’s always been too busy competing with herself to care what anyone else is doing.” I chuckled.
“She has no fear, does she?” Benji asked.
“Not when she’s out there with Wrax,” I said.
The sound of crunching gravel in the distance soon had us all turning to see Charles Waterstone get out of his car.
“We’re going to take off and let you deal with this one on your own,” Jonah said as he clapped me on the back, and all three of them walked away just as Charles approached.
“Axel, nice to see you,” he said, extending a hand.
“Yeah, good to see you, too.” I gave him a quick shake. Wren’s father and I had always gotten along fine, although I didn’t respect the pressure he’d put on her about competing, not to mention the stress he’d caused when she’d caught him cheating on her mother and he’d insisted she keep it to herself. And don’t even get me started about him selling off Wrax, knowing it would devastate her.
I guess you could say that I tolerated the man because he was Wren’s dad.
“Glad to see she’s out there training. She hasn’t taken my calls lately.” He settled beside me with his arms resting on the gate as we both watched her take another round of jumps.
“I think she’s just trying to process the divorce and the new baby,” I said, staring straight ahead and not looking at him. “It’s a lot all at once.”
“I’m just trying to live my life, you know? I’m not getting any younger, and life is short. Everyone deserves to be happy.”
Including your daughter.
“I get it,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. I’d do what I could to keep things amicable with her father.
Her brother was a different story.
“I understand you bought that horse back for her.” His voice was calm, but I felt the shift in stance beside me. He was pissed.
“I did.”
“You really think Wrax is going to help her make the Olympic team?” he asked. “You’re a smart man, Axel. You can’t believe that.”
I turned to look at him. “I don’t give a shit if he helps her make the Olympic team. She loves him and she wants to ride him, so that’s all that matters to me. Respecting her wishes.” I held his stare. “Everybody deserves to be happy, right? That includes Wren, too.”
“She just lost her mojo a little bit after that fall. She’ll find her rhythm.” He cleared his throat. “And you’re right. If she thinks she can get there riding Wrax, I should respect that.”
I turned to face him. “I don’t think she’s thinking that far into the future. I think right now, she wants to get back out there with Wrax and show everyone that the accident is in the past.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “You know, it’s hard to put into words what it’s like as a father to see your daughter be the best at something. And eventing is as tough as it gets. Seeing her follow in my father’s footsteps, it makes me really proud.”
“I get that. Hell, I’m proud of her, too. But I’m proud of her whether she wins or loses, because she’s out there fighting the good fight, you know? And that’s what she loves. She loves pushing herself and riding Wrax as hard as she can. It’s never been about anyone else. Not in a very long time,” I said. “It’s about showing up and getting those scores as low as she can. She’s not even looking at everyone else’s scores. She’s looking at her own.”
Eventers are scored over three events: dressage, show jumping, and cross-country. The rider with the lowest penalty score at the end wins.
“You’ve always gotten her in a way no one else ever did,” he said as he stared out into the distance at his daughter. And then he clapped me on the shoulder. “That’s what she needs.”
“You don’t want to wait and see her? She’ll be finishing up soon,” I said.
“Nope. I just came by to offer to pay you for Wrax, but I can tell that’s not going to be an option.”
“That would be correct. That horse is solely in her name, as it should have been all along.”
