Free Heat Wave (Riders Up) by Adriana Kraft Page A

the older ones and
rescuing the cup that had dropped to the floor. Clint reached for the Eddie,
picked him up and soothed him. While a single parent could manage such
escapades quite well, these were moments, Maggie acknowledged, when another
pair of hands could be decisive.
    Once the commotion
was settled and Cassie plunked down another round of hot pancakes, the woman
opted for peace and quiet. “Lester, Sammy, I’ve had about enough closeness for
this early in the morning. Both of you are done. I want you to take your dishes
to the sink and then go out and do your chores.” Softening her stern look, she
said, “Love you, but be gone.”
    “Okay, Cass,”
replied the twelve-year-old boy, rising from his chair.
    His younger sister,
Sammy, followed on the run and then dashed back to give Cassie a hug. “Sorry,
Mommy. Didn’t mean to get you mad.”
    “It’s okay. I’m not
mad. Just a little grumpy. Eddie was up most of the night with an earache. Run
along now,” she whispered, kissing the girl’s forehead.
    After the screen
door clattered shut, Clint said, “Cass and I have been talking about your
plans, Maggie. We’d like to make a suggestion or two, if you don’t mind.”
    Maggie loved the
drawl of the copper skinned man with hair as dark as night. She met his eyes
easily. “Not at all. What do you have in mind?”
    “Well, it’s a lot
to expect of anyone to learn the ins and outs of training race horses all at
once. People work for years as apprentices to learn what you need to know.” Glancing
at his wife, he continued, “We thought you might want to leave the horses that
are still racing with us so Cass can continue their training and entering them
in races on the Chicago circuit. When they’re ready for a couple months rest to
freshen up, we can ship them down to you.”
    “That way,” Cassie said,
breaking in, “Ed can teach you how to prepare some of the younger horses for
racing without the pressure of immediately tackling track management.”
    Whoa, Maggie wanted
to shout. Things were moving too quickly all of a sudden. Dollar signs nagged
at her brain. She couldn’t afford racing on the Chicago circuit. Not in the
beginning. But neither did she want to offend her new friends.
    Biting her lower
lip, she mumbled, “I don’t know.” Instinctively, she looked to Harrington for
his advice.
    Harrington raised
an eyebrow. “It’s probably a good idea, Maggie. You’ll need time to develop
along with the horses. We could work with two or three yearlings and two-year-olds
and with those on R and R from the track. This way we might not even have to
race at Prairie Meadows until the fall or even the next season.”
    “You’ll want to
watch your horses race,” Cassie said, turning to adjust Eddie in his highchair.
“I’ll bet you could catch most of the races via satellite at Prairie Meadows. We’ll
keep our eye on the stakes races they’ll be offering down there. It may pay to
ship a horse or two, and that would give you more hands on experience at the
track. And, of course, you could always come up here and work with me for
however long you can get away. There is no better substitute for learning the
ways of the backside than being there.”
    Maggie knew that
had to be true. And she also knew that everyone at the table was reminding her
that Harrington could not teach her how things were done at the track while
sitting on a bale of hay in the barn. He might never be able to show her how to
run a racing operation at the track.
    That information
wasn’t new. So why had she turned so cold just now? Was she already too
dependent on him?
    “But it must be
awfully expensive racing up here,” Maggie protested, stoking her throat with
rigid fingers.
    Both Clint and
Cassie smiled. “We will only charge you our costs,” Cassie said. “There will be
no trainer fees.”
    “What! Why would
you do that? I’m no charity case,” Maggie fumed.
    “Now don’t get
stubborn on us,” Cassie cooed.