Dad continued: “I spent hours watching that show with you. The one about the rainbow ponies.”
“You used to watchMy Little Ponywith me?” I asked. “Why did you subject yourself to that?”
He shrugged and looked out the window.
“I wanted to spend time with you. It was what you liked to do.”
We were silent after that.
Until Skip the Driver began to speak.
“As you can see,” he said, “we’re approaching Stoneshire Estates.”
I looked in the mirror and found some life in his eyes. It was like someone had just plunked a quarter in him.
“Located in the famed Golden Corridor of Ocala,” he began, “this lush and opulent acreage is proof enough that Ocala is the true Horse Capital of the US.”
A huge metal gate slid open, and our car entered a white gravel path. Inside was a secret garden overflowing with wildflowers.
“This is all thanks to the stewardship of Mr. Leroy Labelle, a second-generation Florida horseman with an enduring vision and an irrepressible spirit!”
I hoped Skip got paid a lot of money to say these things because he sounded like a bit of an asshole. The car was reaching the end of the path, and we were approaching a New England–style home, painted the color of fresh egg yolk. Surrounding it was a canopy of moss-draped oak trees.
As soon as we stepped out of the car, a man began walking toward us, dressed in a butterscotch-colored suit. He wore a pink dress shirt beneath the jacket and a pair of shimmering gold cuff links at his wrists. My first thoughtwas: What is Willy Wonka doing on a horse farm? Of course, it was Leroy.
“There he is!” he shouted. “The man of the hour!”
He walked right past me and squeezed my dad’s hand in a desperate grip. He smiled and sucked his teeth. I got out of the car.
“This must be your daughter!” he said, and clapped his hands together. “Welcome to Stoneshire! Welcome to horse country! If God didn’t make this place, then who did? That’s what I want you to tell me, young lady.”
I looked over the house and the lush lawn surrounding it.
“Sorry for your loss. Apparently, I used to be really into ponies,” I said.
Leroy blinked. He had a sizable mustache. It twitched.
“Yes,” he said softly. “Of course. Thank you, sweetheart.”
He turned back to my dad.
“Skip will take your bags, and he’ll show the young lady around. But before we get started on the planning, there’s something we need to do. There can be no inspiration without it.”
“Do you want to tell me more about Sarge?” my father asked.
“No,” said Leroy. “I want you to see his body.”
8
When I got to my room, Skip waited outside my door for a half hour straight asking me to come out for a tour. He had been ordered to show me around pony town, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I could only stall him by pretending I didn’t know what to wear.
“Are you done yet?” he asked for the fifth time.
“No,” I said. “I’m totally naked. Go away.”
“You’ve already been in there twenty-five minutes.”
“I’m giving myself a Brazilian,” I said.
