Free Dream 3 - Finding the Dream by Nora Roberts

them?" The very idea had Kayla's lip poking out.
    "All but Max and Darling. I won't sell them, ever. But the others will go to people who'll appreciate their talents and take good care of them. They all have a destiny. Now Jack here, he's going to make someone a good saddle horse. He'll ride forever if you ask him. And Rash, he'll be a hell of a stunt pony when I'm finished with him."
    "You mean he'll do tricks?"
    "Yeah." Michael grinned at Kayla. "He's already got a few up his sleeve. But Max—now Max knows them all. Want a show?"
    "Really, can we?"
    "It'll cost you."
    "How much?" Kayla demanded. "I have money in my bank."
    "Not money," Michael said as he led them back to Max. "If you like the show, you have to come back and work it off."
    "What kind of work?" Ali wanted to know.
    "We'll talk about it. Come on, Max." Michael took a bridle and slipped it on. "You've got a couple of ladies to impress here."
    At five, Max was a veteran performer. He high-stepped it outside, pleased to have an audience. Michael led him to the small paddock beside the building. "You girls stay at the fence there. This could get hairy. Take your bows, Max."
    Max gracefully bent his front legs and lowered himself. When the girls erupted with applause, Michael could have sworn that Max grinned.
    "Up," he ordered.
    Using voice and hand signals, Michael took Max through his routine. The big horse reared, pawed the air, let out a high whinny. He pranced, sidestepped, danced, circled. Then when Michael swung up onto his bare back, he repeated the routine with variations.
    "Now here's his 'we've been walking in the desert for three days without water routine.' " At the signal, Max drooped, his head fell limply, and he plodded along as though each step would be his last. "Now, look out, rattlesnake." Max leapt back, bunched up, cowered. "God almighty, the posse shot my horse right out from under me. Dead horse, Max."
    For his finale Max wheeled, cantered to the left, and dropped to the ground. Michael tumbled off, rolled. As he got to his feet, he caught sight of Laura, racing in skinny little heels across the yard.
    "Oh, God, are you all right? How did it happen? Oh, your horse!"
    Though he started to speak, Michael found himself too involved in watching that nifty length of bare leg as she vaulted the fence in her neat little lady's suit.
    Max lay dead, hardly flicking an eye when Laura knelt at his head. "Poor thing, poor thing! Is it his leg? Who's your vet?"
    At the sight of the horse lying with his big head nestled in the lap of Laura's pretty blue skirt, Michael tucked his tongue in his cheek. "Looks like it's curtains for old Max."
    "Don't say that," Laura snapped back. "He might have just bruised something." But what if he hadn't? She pushed back the hair that curled flirtatiously at her jaw. "Girls, go back to the house now."
    "But, Mama—"
    "Don't argue." She couldn't bear the idea of either of them witnessing what might have to be done.
    "Laura," Michael began.
    "Why are you just standing there?" Worry and temper warred in her eyes. "Why aren't you doing something? The poor thing is suffering, and you're just standing there. Don't you care about your own horse?"
    "Yes, ma'am, I do. Max, cut."
    On cue, and to Laura's astonishment, the big horse rolled again, then got to his feet.
    "It was a trick, Mama." Kayla laughed gaily at the shared joke while Michael pulled Laura up. "Max does tricks. He was playing dead. Like a dog does. Isn't he wonderful? Isn't he smart?"
    "Yes." Under a ragged cloak of dignity, Laura brushed off her skirt. "He's certainly talented."
    "Sorry." A wise man knew when to smother a grin. Michael rarely chose to be wise. "I'd have warned you if I'd seen you coming. Then you were off and running." He scratched his cheek. "Seemed a lot more worried about my horse than about me. I could have broken my neck."
    "The horse was down," Laura said primly. "You weren't." But everything faded into admiration as Max bent his head to