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"Hey, you're back." Ty looked up from where he stood, unlatching the ramp of his horse trailer to shoot a brief smile at his younger brother.
"Hi, Lee," he said, nodding slightly at the boy before turning back to lower the ramp.
"So, how'd you do?" Lee asked, casually hooking his thumbs in his jeans pockets, with a jerk of his chin towards the vehicle. Ty's grin widened. Lee took that as his answer. "Another come off on top, huh? They give quite a prize for that kind of win too," he said with a low whistle. He pulled Ty into a playful embrace. "Look at our little Tyler," he teased, "Finally a horse that can make up for your complete lack of talent." He wrinkled his nose. "But do you really find it necessary to smell like him?" Ty shoved his brother off of him with a mock glare.
"What else would you think?" He smiled good-naturedly, puffing out his chest with pretend pomposity. "Now why don't you help me out over here, smart-aleck?" he said, gesturing to the trailer where his horse stood patiently. Lee made another face.
"Yeah, right." He grimaced, looking down at his crisp button down and jeans. "I've already risked enough getting within two feet of you." He ducked when Ty threw a rubber curry comb at him from inside the trailer. "Hey," he said indignantly. "That could have done some serious damage to my face."
"The point." Ty informed him, waving him off. "It would have been a welcome improvement any way." He stepped deeper into the trailer. No matter how many times he saw the large bay, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride due to the fact that Epris was his. "Hey, boy." He murmured softly, patting Epris' back to inform the horse of his approach. He nickered happily at the familiar touch. "I could use some help." Ty reminded Lee.
"Sorry, can't." Lee said, sounding none too unhappy about it. "I'm going into town with my friends." His smile turned devilish. "I bet Melly would love to help you out though."
"That would be great," Ty called back, unhooking Epris and clipping a lead rope to his halter, completely missing Lee's playful smile. "Call you call her?" Melly was one of Baldwin Era's part time stable hands. She was around Ty's age, and the two were good friends. Ty rubbed his horse's muzzle fondly before firmly gripping the lead rope and clicking with his tongue to get the bay moving backwards down the ramp. Epris backed calmly, with all the discipline of a beautifully trained horse. Ty patted his neck when they were firmly on the ground and fished in his sweater pocket for a treat. Epris' eyes lit up when Ty triumphantly pulled out a single sugar cure, and he affectionately lipped it up from his flat palm. The bay nipped at Ty's pocket eagerly. He chuckled and rubbed his hand along the side of Epris' neck.
"Ty Baldwin, are you feeding that horse treats?" a strict voice bellowed. Ty flinched, but Epris only cocked one ear forward curiously. Reluctantly, Ty turned around to face the owner of the voice. His mouth fell open in surprise to see a slight, dark-haired girl looking at him, her shoulders shaking with concealed laughter.
"Mel." Ty breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me. I thought you were…"he trailed off. Melly giggled.
"That was too much fun." She laughed, her eyes sparkling. "You thought I was Mrs. Reese didn't you?" Ty nodded, a slight flush rising to his cheeks. That sent the girl into fresh peals. Epris snorted, the noise sounding suspiciously like a chortle of his own.
"Not you too." Ty groaned. Melly smiled at him, and then was suddenly all business.
"How did the show go?" She asked, disappearing into the trailer for a moment. She came out with a grooming kit.
"See for yourself," Ty said with a smile. He pointed to the blue ribbon pinned to Epris' halter. Melly's face broke into a wide smile.
"Wow, you guys are doing really well this year!" She commented. "That's one amazing horse you've got there, Ty."
"Don't I know it." He secured the lead rope to the side of the trailer. "We almost made a fault, though." He admitted. "We clipped the last jump, and it wobbled a bit."
"It didn't fall, though." She said cheerfully.
"No." He murmured. It was a well-known fact that Ty was very ambitious. He wouldn't be happy with just barely making it. Mel didn't press him further; she instead directed a questioning glance towards where he'd hitched the horse. "Thought we'd spend some time outside. He'll be good without the cross-ties." Ty explained. She just smiled and shook her head. She stepped back and cocked her head, regarding Epris thoughtfully.
"It doesn't look like he needs a bath. I'd say just a quick rub down and grooming. I'll just put his tack away real quick, and empty the rest of the trailer first." She offered. Ty nodded.
"That sounds good. I'll get started here then." Melly nodded and looked in the grooming kit, walking towards him. She stopped suddenly.
"You're missing the curry comb. I wonder where it got to," she mused. Ty grinned and jerked a thumb in one direction. She walked over to where he had indicated, bent down and removed the comb from the grass. She gave Ty a strange look while handing it to him, but didn't say anything. "I don't want to know." She said decidedly, emerging from the trailer with Epris' saddle with his saddle blanket, bridle and reins folded over it neatly. She started walking towards the far barn. "Oh, wait. I forgot." Melly turned back towards Ty, a look of dismay on her face. "I have to meet my family for dinner tonight. I should get going if I want to meet them on time." She indicated in the direction of the small barn, where Epris was housed in bad weather, and of which the task of cleaning fell on them both. "I only did about half of the mucking. Can you finish up without me?"
Ty pretended to consider. "Well, there is the matter of the few hundred stalls I'll be saving for you tomorrow, but if you really need to meet up with your folks…"
"Thanks, Ty! You're such a generous guy" She said dryly. "Be good." She ordered. "Keep an eye on him, Epris. He can be a real pain."
"She finally sees the light!" Lee joked, walking towards Ty from the direction Melly had just gone.
"What are you still doing here?" Ty asked, surprised. "I thought you'd gone already."
"Dad can't take me. He's busy in his office." Lee hesitated before continuing. "I was hoping you could give me a ride." Ty didn't answer right away, looking at his horse in what he hoped was a discreet manner. Lee's face fell.
"I'm sorry, Lee." Ty said. "Any other day I would. It's just, with Epris and –"
"Don't worry about it." Lee interrupted nonchalantly, his expression darkening. "It's no big deal. I know you have to spend time with the horse. The Lexington Encore Grand Prix and whatnot." He mumbled, turning back towards their house. Ty watched him go, feeling somewhat guilty. He just had to focus on Epris for a while. Lee understood – or he would, anyway.
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Sunday dinner at the Baldwins' was a most important event. It was the event that Ty would go to great lengths to avoid, which was strictly frowned upon without prior consent. The food was always delicious, but the company left something to be desired. Especially when his father started throwing not-so-subtle looks at him over the main dish. Still, his parents were strict about coming together every Saturday evening for a meal. Everything else came second.
So, to say the least, Ty was surprised when he found that he was sitting at the formal dining room table, but his younger brother was not.
"Where's Lee?" He asked his mother who was smoothing her elegant cloth napkin onto her lap.
"We went to meet with some of his friends in town." She said with a small smile. "I believe he's spending the night at the Layne's."
"Oh," he said softly, and then after a pause, "Who took him?"
"That girl, Melissa." She responded, her face brightening. "Your father and I were too busy to drive Lee, but she was very sweet and said it wasn't too out of her way." Ty knew for a fact that it was an entire twenty minutes out of her way. He felt a fresh stab of guilt rack through his body.
Nobody spoke for a moment.
"Ty," his mother began warmly, Sunday evening being one of the only times she saw her eldest son, "how did you do in your horse show today?" From the corner of his eye, Ty noticed his father look up suddenly.
"Fine," he replied, his tone not inviting.
"How is riding Always Tomorrow working for you?" He was surprised to hear his father's voice, cold and clipped and rarely directed at him without an underlying motive.
"Pretty well." Ty's astonishment escalated when Brad cocked an eye brow, a signal to elaborate. "Uh, he's got a great stride, and is really great with sharp turns." He offered unhurriedly. He wasn't pressed further, much to his relief.
"That's good to hear." Brad said, but it was clear from his expression that he hadn't heard a word Ty had just said – or he hadn't listened, anyway. He ignored a warning glace from his wife before continuing, "This hobby of yours is proving to be fruitful." He stressed the word hobby.
Ty struggled to bite back a vulgar reply. He replied in a controlled voice, "Yes. I might just end up with a future in it." Brad's mouth twitched.
"Yes," he declared in a similarly calm voice. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Yeah?" Ty raised an eyebrow in not entirely feigned surprise.
"Of course." Brad continued casually. "And now that we have, I want to talk to you about something else. There's going to be an auction in Lexington next Saturday afternoon. I hear there will be a great lineup this year, even one two-year old grand-sired by Secretariat! Baldwin Era could really benefit from a few more horses with great bloodlines and we could possibly purchase a few yearlings as well. I think you and I should go together."
"No, Dad." Ty said, struggling to restrain the sudden fury that overwhelmed him. "I don't think we have discussed my future as a show jumper yet. And besides, I'm busy then. I've got a show that day. I'm not going to miss that."
"Yes, Ty. I think we have discussed that show jumping is not an acceptable means of living for someone of your caliber." Brad fixed Ty with a hard look. "You have to step up and begin to learn how to take responsibility for Baldwin Era. My son is not going to live day to day riding some second-rate animal out in the dirt and dust, in some worthless sport that could very well cost him his life."
"And what is my caliber, Dad?" Brad opened his mouth to reply, but Ty cut him off. "Is it my talent? What I've worked hard for, which happens to be show jumping, or as you put it, riding some horse, considered second-rate because he doesn't have the breeding papers of a thoroughbred, in a sport, that, although risky, is something I love to do?"
"Or," he continued, "is it some damn, high-end position you've created with your influence and money to sit on my ass on some priceless, piece-of-shit chair, in some office filled with other kids with rich fathers with sticks shoved-"
"Ty!" his mother exclaimed in warning.
Ty reformed his sentence. "Am I supposed to make my living in a position where I can make decisions without ever getting my hands dirty – without ever having to do real work? And I mean hard labor, dad. Am I supposed to stay where you can control me for the rest of my god-damned, freaking life?" He broke off, breathing hard. His father pressed his lips together in a thin line, a vein in his temple throbbing.
"If that's what you call guaranteed success, Ty," Brad growled, barely keeping his tone steady. "then, yes, that is what I expect you to do in the future." His voice rose. "It would be better for you to accept that that's what you will be doing, whether willingly or not. I have had enough of your ungrateful bitching, and never making time for anyone but yourself. I want this to be the end of all of your selfishness, young man, or any more of your foolishness. And I will not tolerate anything different while you live under my roof, risking an expensive animal of mine in your stupid games." He leveled Ty with a harsh glare. "Do I make myself clear?"
"I'll damn well do what I want with my life." Ty retorted, crossing his arms.
"That is enough! Both of you." Carol broke in shrilly. "We will enjoy our dinner and both of you will be civil." She ordered.
Nobody answered. There was almost a full minute of silence. No silverware clattered, as if the very place settings were aware of the intense, withering glares that passed between the two Baldwin men.
"So," Brad finally spat out, trying, unsuccessfully to conceal his sarcasm, picking up his fork and attacking his potato with renewed, and excessive, force, "If you've got some free time, I'd like for you to drive out to with me and check up on Image's yearling in a few weeks." Ty broke the heated gaze, confused.
"Image's yearling?" he questioned, abandoning his dinner completely. "I thought this was his first year," he struggled to come up with the correct phrase, "being let out…to other people to…um…"
"It is," Brad sighed frustrated, choosing to ignore Ty's wording, "I'm talking about the foal that came out of the accidental breeding of Image and that retired steeplechase broodmare. I think she belonged to some eventing place. Green Briar, or something." A vague memory came to his mind. He remembered, early spring around two years ago, when Baldwin Image had gotten loose and turned up in a paddock almost twenty-five miles away with a mare that had been turned out for the night. The stable had been in chaos the few hours before Image had been found, and there had been a nightmare of paperwork for Brad when he'd discovered his horse had bred. He'd been very annoyed that Image's first foal would be born out of a mare with no racetrack record. His only consolation was that the mare in question was purely thoroughbred. That and he'd begun breeding Image to most of his own broodmares soon after. Ty guessed that the foal had to have been born late winter – probably near the end of January, a good time for a horse that might be destined to grow into racing. He hadn't known that the foal's dam lived at an eventing farm though.
"What's Green Briar like?" He asked eagerly, his previous anger forgotten. "Any good show jumpers there?" Brad looked at him incredulously.
"We're talking about the foal, Tyler." He growled in disbelief. "You know, our first yearling by Image. In case you've forgotten, you happen to live on a horse farm as well. A quite successful one at that. You might do good to keep that in mind." Chagrined, Ty scowled at his plate.
"Fine, Dad." He bit out venomously. "What about your foal?"
"We're going to check up on her and discuss her prospects for the future." Brad's frown deepened, but he continued, nonetheless. "And we've got naming rights, so we're going to do that as well." He looked disgusted when he muttered, "Already a year old, and unregistered under a decent name. Some people." Ty took a sip of water to refrain from pointing out that it was Baldwin Era's 'people' who were to blame, seeing as Brad had insisted on having the right to name the foal before it had been born. "Any way," he said, clearing his throat. "I want you to come with me."
"Me?" Ty put down his glass. "Why?" Brad pushed his chair back from the table and crossed his arms.
"Because, Ty." He said, his voice rising slightly. "You are as much a part of this farm – of this family – as the rest of us. It's time you started taking notice."
"Whatever, Dad," Ty turned to face Brad and was ready to refuse when he caught sight of his mother. Carol was looking at him, her eyes desperate – pleading. He sighed. "Okay. When do we go?" If Brad was annoyed at Ty's reluctant tone, he didn't let on. His expression was inscrutable.
His voice, however, was not.
"I'm thinking the second Saturday of next month." That was five weeks from then. He took on a haughty tone. "Will that work for you, son? Anything more pressing to take care of?"
"I'll see," Ty responded coldly, excusing himself from the table. He walked away without a second glance.
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