“So, that’s it? You want me to let my dad win?” Brielle crawls onto my lap and she cups my face. “Why does he get to dictate who I can love?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper to her.
“It’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, Brielle. This life we live in—with the prestige, the money, and the status. There are expectations of each of us and we’re expected to stay in our lanes. We can’t detour or dive around the pothole without someone making it a thing.”
“But love should be different, Colby. This is our lives we’re talking about. We love each other and for the past three years have stayed away because of some lie my father told. If I had known the truth, I would’ve never stopped talking to you, and who knows, maybe we’d be standing side by side this Saturday when Maximus is put into the starting gate.”
“It would be Voltaire,” I remind her, but she shakes her head.
“You were meant to train that colt. He came into your life for a reason and this weekend, everyone is going to see what you can do, and people are going to flock to Lucky Seven Ranch to have you train their horses. I predict, in the next five years, you’ll have your own training facility, Colby Hensley. You’re going to make a name for yourself.”
“And where will you be?”
Her hands fall from my face and she presses her back against the steering wheel. “I don’t know.”
8
Brielle
When Colby and I drive by the stables, there are media vans everywhere, no doubt searching for us. Luckily, William’s close by and I get him to meet us down the road where we’re out of sight. Colby doesn’t say much when I get out of his truck, but I can see the pain in his eyes. It’s as if he knew our time together wasn’t going to last, almost as if he has no faith in me. Then again, I can see why he feels like that. I let a lie my father told me tear us apart. I keep wondering what my life would be like right now if I’d just confronted him after he quit working for my father.
As soon as I shut the truck door, he drives away. I knew this day would come. Deep down, I had a feeling I was going to have to choose between my heart and my dad. Butch Armstrong is a hard man to please. It’s his way or no way. I’ve always pretended to see eye to eye with him on everything, but in all honesty, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The man has given me everything I could ever want, except one thing … Colby. It’s the one thing he refuses to let me have.
William comes up behind me and sets a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Scoffing, I watch Colby’s truck disappear around the corner. “Far from it, Will,” I huff.
“What are you going to do?”
I wipe my tears away and huff. I’m done crying. I’m done putting myself last. “What I’m going to do,” I say, turning around to face him, “is what I should’ve done a long time ago.”
William’s lips pull back into a mischievous smile. “Sounds like a plan to me. Want me to go with you?”
Shaking my head, I pull out my phone. “No, I need to do this on my own.” I call my father, but of course, he doesn’t pick up. I knew he wouldn’t. He’s probably forking over tens of thousands of dollars trying to make my scandal disappear. I call him again and still no answer. It’s infuriating. I can feel the anger bubbling through my veins. My chest is so tight I can barely breathe. All I want to do is scream and yell, but I can’t.
“What do you want me to do?” William asks, his voice soothing as he speaks.
Clenching the phone in my hands, I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I need you to drop me off at my dad’s house. I’ll wait for him there.”
William nods and opens the passenger’s side door of his car for me. My heart thumps wildly in my chest. There are so many emotions fighting through me that I don’t know which one is taking over.
When we get to my father’s house, I know he’s not there, but I see a familiar truck parked down at our private stables. I point toward it. “Drop me off down there. There’s someone I need to talk to.”
William drives past the driveway and takes me to the stables. Just as we pull up, the man I want to speak to comes walking out. Colby’s father, Martin Hensley.
“Damn, he looks like an older, more clean-cut version of Colby.”
With a heavy sigh, I nod. Martin spots us and turns to head back into the stables. “Yes, he does.” I turn to William. “Wait for me at the main house. I’ll be right there.”