About Downed Fences
by Kate Roman
67 pages / 31000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-984-2
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, epub, Sony-optimized pdf
Show jumper Cody Blackwell is used to taking orders both from his father, and from his trainer, with the hardest lessons learned after the lights are out. But when a fall in the jumping arena lands him in the arms of fellow rider Troy Griffiths, Cody discovers a range of feelings he'd never even imagined. Breaking free will open a whole new world, but also put his show jumping career on the line. Can Cody find the courage to make the toughest leap of his career?
Review
Forthcoming.
Sample
Troy Griffiths drained his
beer moodily. He wasn't yet ready for the solitary drive home and the
never-ending drudge of feeding up and mucking out that awaited his return.
Most days, he loved his work, loved the horses and their individual quirks,
and even the long hours of physical labor their care entailed was nothing
but a joy. But tonight, he'd have given a lot for the freedom to drown his
filthy mood in another beer.
Cody Blackwell was an enigma. The first time they'd met, even shaken by the
fall as Cody was, Troy had been sure he'd seemed interested. It had taken
all Troy's self-control not to ask him out right then. And today, both in
the practice ring and in the bar, Troy had felt the same vibe.
But at the same time, there was something else. Cody was frightened, Troy
could tell, and as much as Troy wanted to help, he was almost afraid to pry.
There were rumors on the circuit, rumors about the training practices in the
Blackwell barn, and if Cody was involved in the maltreatment of horses, Troy
knew in his heart he couldn't let it slide. No matter how attractive he
found the tall, young blond with the scared blue eyes.
He paid his tab, joking
mechanically with the guy about the next show, the next bar, and the day's
competition, barely listening. He shook the barman's hand, manufacturing a
smile, and shouldered his way out of the tent, letting the frown he'd been
fighting descend on his rugged features.
He'd watched Cody until he left the tent, shepherded by his overbearing
father, and the longer he looked, the more he wanted the shy, lanky blond.
"Fuck it all," Troy cursed under his breath, crossing the arena back toward
his horses. The last thing he needed was another relationship, especially
one with a beautiful, closeted man with suspect training methods.
Troy reminded himself of that as he turned in at the gate of the farm he
leased on Copperfield Road, a pretty country highway with good access to the
interstate and bordered with gentle hilly terrain. It was perfect horse
country, and Troy's horses had never done so well on pasture before in his
life. But that wasn't what had brought him here.
He'd come to get away, to try and forget the machinations of Michael Atkins,
another beautiful, closeted man. A guy he'd thought loved him until he
figured out he was only one in a long line of men across that threshold. Men
who were bribed and bought with sweet promises and caressing words, just as
Troy had been.
Troy counted himself lucky that he'd wised up to Michael before he'd fallen
any further.
Pushing the hurt away, Troy unloaded his horses and got started on the evening chores. There were horses to bring in from the pastures and others that had spent the day in yards or stables that needed putting out to spend the night at grass. There were rugs to change and feeds to mix, water buckets to scrub and fill.
All in all, there was plenty to keep Troy occupied, plenty to keep his mind off the pain he was trying to put behind him. But it wasn't Michael intruding on Troy's thoughts. Instead, he found he couldn't stop thinking of Cody's bright blue eyes, the way his smile lit up his face.
The next move was Cody's. Troy told himself that as he finished in the barn, closing the huge sliding door on the contented whuffles and munching of his charges and walking the short distance to the tumble-down cottage beside the immaculate horse barn.