Free Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 01 - Dark Horse by Kate Sherwood Page A

down at spreadsheets, financial projections… a blur of information that makes his own envelope of homework seem paltry by comparison. Dan takes a moment to glance over the numbers. He’s never had much interest in the business side of horses, but the papers look reasonable, and are projecting a modest profit by the fifth year. He notes that the salary allowed for the head trainer is significantly more than he’d made even back when Karl and Molly were paying him his full salary, and that there are generous allowances for other staff as well.
    He looks up to see the two men watching him expectantly. “Okay, yeah. This looks good, I guess. But… look, Chris said the contract with the Kaminskis requires that you be able to find a suitable trainer. There’s lots of people out there who would love to be part of an operation like this. Are you really going to let this deal fall apart just because you can’t hire me? Or is that just a bluff?”
    “We never actually said that we’d walk away without you, Dan.” Evan explains. “But, yeah, it makes the deal a lot less attractive if you’re not involved.” Evan sees Dan’s eyes narrow and speaks quickly. “I don’t mean that in any sleazy way. And I’m sorry about the other night, for what it’s worth. Jeff said it would complicate things, and I’m sorry if it did. But… we want you for the job because we want to be able to trust whoever we hire. I don’t know enough about horses to really understand what you’re doing, and Jeff’s busy. And I want this to be a fun, relaxing little business… I mean, it’s going to be set up at my home, not in some office somewhere. I don’t want to be worrying all the time about whether my trainer’s cheating me, or cheating someone else.” Evan absentmindedly rubs his neck where Jeff’s fingers had gripped. “So, if we can’t find somebody we trust to do the job, we won’t go forward. And right now, you’re the only one we can think of who has the skills and has our trust.”
    Evan continues. “We understand that you’ve got commitments here, and we respect that. We can be flexible about the starting date, or we can figure out a way to get you enough time off that you can come back and visit, or… whatever you need. Seriously.”
    Jeff looks at Dan. “Ball’s in your court, Dan.”
Dan has to stop and think for a minute. He’s been impressed despite himself. This job is a lot harder to turn down then he had expected it to be. But he had a plan, and he doesn’t think anything’s happened to make it a bad idea. So he takes a deep breath and pulls the envelope up onto the table. He opens it up and takes out a photograph.
“That’s Monty. He’s a seventeen-hand Hanoverian gelding, full brother to the mare that won Rolex two years ago, and he’s had the same trainer. He’s only nine years old, and he’s already eventing—strongly—at the Intermediate level. He has great breeding, he’s incredibly athletic, and
    he’s brave and honest.” Dan pauses for a moment. The two men are looking at him a little oddly, but he ignores them and pulls out another photograph.
    “This is Sunshine. She’s a Hanoverian, too, but a little smaller, only sixteen hands. She’s got great bloodlines and could be a fantastic broodmare, but she’s also capable of competing at a high level.” Dan is on a roll now, and pulls out another photo. “This is Kip. He’s a Thoroughbred stallion, came off the track, but he’s totally sound. He’s sixteen-one, eight years old. He’s eventing at the Training level now, but he’ll be ready to move up in a year at the most.” Another picture comes out. “Chaucer. Hanoverian gelding, only six years old, so he’s still learning. He’s doing really well over jumps, and seems to have the courage and strength to be great at cross country. He’s got the balance and movement for top-level dressage, as soon as he learns to stop fighting his rider.”
    Dan pauses, and Evan jumps in.