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“Nonsense. I brought you a dress since you’ll also give me the excuse that you have nothing to wear.”

“You’re ten feet taller than I am,” I shot back. “It won’t fit me.”

Cheryl turned to Warren. “See, this is what I was telling you about. She’s so difficult.”

Warren held up his hands. “I don’t want to get in the middle of this.”

I took a final drink from the canteen and handed it back to Warren. He took it, held my gaze. The intensity of his concern reminded me that if I didn’t make significant progress with Phantom, he’d haul him away, and this horse might never become the icon I knew he could be.

“I’ll leave you two to catch up,” Warren said, turning to Cheryl. “It was nice to meet you.”

As he walked away, Cheryl drew in a long breath and grabbed my shoulders. “How are you, really?”

I pointed toward the house. “Let’s sit inside.”

Cheryl retrieved a small bag from her vehicle and then fell into step beside me.

Once we went inside the house, the cooler air soothed my aching body. The list of things to do rattled in my head. I hadn’t expected the session with Phantom to take quite that long. I still needed to call all the farms in the area, see if there were any problem horses that needed training and if any of them were interested in some of the equipment I could spare around the ranch. Phantom’s training fees would help toward the mortgage, but I still needed more to keep this operation afloat.

“I brought you this for the banquet,” Cheryl said, pulling a long, satin, dark blue dress from her bag and hanging it on the coat rack.

“I don’t want to go to the banquet.”

“I didn’t ask if you wanted to,” Cheryl said with her hands on her hips. “That’s how you schmooze and get more clients. Bring the handsome captain with you and have a good time.”

Pain throbbed through my head at the thought. I didn’t have the energy in the moment to fight her.

“What’s the latest gossip, Cheryl?” I asked as I slumped into a chair at the kitchen table. “How bad is it?”

She pressed her lips together and sat across from me, her expression neutral as if she knew I was going to ask this. Cheryl only visited when there was some sort of bad news from the association—like when Victor staged a board takeover, or when he tried to get Gramps kicked out of breed shows by alleging that he abused his horses. Cheryl and I knew that Victor had paid off a handful of board members and had a dozen of the judges in his pocket too.

Her tone was flat. “He’s accused you of being improperly . . . entangled with your new client.”

“He works fast.” Anger swirled in me. “We’ve dealt with these sorts of attacks before.”

Cheryl and I had always been the target of male trainers who thought our place was outside the show ring. And I had dealt with the waves of rumors and whispers in Baker once I joined the nurse corps. Some turned up their noses at the idea of a young woman in such an unseemly career, surrounded by men in such improperly unchaperoned environments. I’d never given those opinions any credence.

“I know the rumors themselves don’t bother you.” Cheryl hesitated. “But Victor is pushing for your membership to be pulled from the organization because of it. You remember the Martha Vanderhorn scandal back in 1938? This could be worse. You wouldn’t be able to compete in any of the breed shows.”

Disappointment and trepidation crept into my heart. Martha had been a farm owner in Southern California who had an affair with her married client—and she’d been run out of the industry in shame. This could derail every plan I’d put into motion and cripple my chances of getting Phantom onto the national stage.

I knew Victor would play dirty, but I hadn’t expected this.

And I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fight it.

Warren

I’d unloaded my truck bed of supplies from the hardware store by the time Eva and Cheryl emerged from the house. Eva’s body was tense, her arms crossed in front of her.

I finished stacking the last two-by-four and walked in their direction.

Cheryl put on a smile, though there was less energy behind her expression, which further confirmed my suspicions. “I’ll see you in Seattle, then.” She waved farewell and got into her sedan.

“What’s wrong?” I asked Eva.

She drew in a breath but froze as another vehicle pulled into the driveway. Brilliant timing. Eddie and his kids.

“Let’s talk later,” she said.