Renaissance Man Read online

  Renaissance Man

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  M. Garzon

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  Petal Press Canada

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  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or a portion thereof, in any form. This book may not be resold or uploaded for distribution to others. This is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, horses, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

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  Cover Design by Christina Conway | Dazzle by Design

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  Copyright © 2013 M. Garzon

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-0988001381

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  To Lori Connolly and Cassandra Aurora-Garzon,

  the best sisters-in-law ever.

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  Acknowledgments

  Big huge thank-yous (with balloons attached!) go to the following:

  Foremost and always, to my brothers Lavih and Ilan. I know you’re always there to catch me if I fall. And then laugh at me.

  My proofreaders Jennilyn Robbie, Brooke Woboditsch, Stephanie Roy, Corenne Taylor, and Sharleen Banning.

  Stephanie Binette, acupuncturist and true healer, for keeping my little family healthy.

  Teri McTurner, who is the kind of friend who is just as close, no matter the distance between us.

  Melanie Pelletier and Jason Hayden, the best neighbors anyone could ever hope for. Thanks for the help with the kids, Mel!

  Sommer Christie, Mental Performance Coach

  Steve Taylor for answers regarding police procedure in Ontario.

  Priya Sarin for answering questions about the legal system.

  COTH forum users for generously sharing their knowledge.

  Sandridge Saddlery for the loan of the bitless bridle.

  For the wonderful cover, extra thanks to Christina Conway of Dazzle by Design for your generosity, patience, and mad photography skills!

  Thanks also to our models Thea Lepore, Kyle Armstrong and Wyatt (Play Boy), owned by Tina Filion-Luiten.

  Finally, to Holly Hallett and Dunelm Farm for the horses, location, and putting up with the photoshoot circus.

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  Contents

  The Hoofs Of The Horses

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

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  The Hoofs Of The Horses

  The hoofs of the horses! — Oh! witching and sweet

  Is the music earth steals from the iron-shod feet;

  No whisper of lover, no trilling of bird

  Can stir me as hoofs of the horses have stirred.

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  They spurn disappointment and trample despair,

  And drown with their drum-beats the challenge of care;

  With scarlet and silk for their banners above,

  They are swifter than Fortune and sweeter than Love.

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  On the wings of the morning they gather and fly,

  In the hush of the night-time I hear them go by —

  The horses of memory thundering through

  With flashing white fetlocks all wet with the dew.

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  When you lay me to slumber no spot you can choose

  But will ring to the rhythm of galloping shoes,

  And under the daisies no grave be so deep

  But the hoofs of the horses shall sound in my sleep.

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  © William Henry Ogilvie. All rights reserved.

  Reprinted with permission.

  One

  I stood by the bed, discreetly watching Jaden undress. I wasn’t sure why I was being discreet since he was always quite frank in his appreciation of my body, but I wasn’t as bold as him. He was standing a few feet away, by the closet. His shirt was already unbuttoned, and I admired the sculpted lines of his chest and stomach. He was at a slight angle to me, not quite sideways, and his expression was thoughtful as he unbuckled his belt and started drawing it slowly through the loops.

  I didn’t know what happened. All of a sudden there was a buzzing in my ears; a wave of weakness made me sink down shakily onto the bed. I dropped my face into my hands. A second later his arms were around me and I leaned into his welcome warmth. I was trembling.

  “Mi querida, what’s wrong?” His voice was low and worried.

  I shook my head slightly against his chest. “Nothing. Just a bit dizzy, for some reason.”

  “Téa...” Disbelief was clear in his tone, but he kept rubbing my arm soothingly, and I felt his lips press occasionally against my hair. I didn’t say anything, since silence seemed the safest policy at this point.

  He sighed. He kept one arm around me, but his other hand went to my chin and turned my face to his. He turned the full force of his hypnotic, gold-flecked brown eyes on me — he knew full well that I couldn’t refuse those eyes anything. Nor could I lie to them. Apparently, he meant business.

  “You saw me taking-” he started saying.

  “It’s nothing to do with you,” I interrupted quickly. I stretched up and met his lips, but although he kissed me back, his usual enthusiasm was lacking. He was careful, almost tentative.

  I pulled away with a groan. “Oh, no.”

  “What?” He looked at me in alarm.

  “Don’t go getting all analytical and overprotective on me,” I pleaded. “I think maybe I’m just hungry.”

  “When did you eat last?” he asked, frowning.

  “I don’t know. This morning, I guess.”

  He seized my hand, rolling his eyes, and scolded me gently all the way to the kitchen. “You’re going to have to start taking better care of yourself — how do you expect to keep up the pace you’ve set if you never eat?”

  I didn’t bother arguing with him, but settled onto a stool at the counter and watched him move around his loft’s small kitchen, something I always loved to do. My enjoyment certainly wasn’t diminished by the fact that his shirt was still hanging unbuttoned.

  We had a quick meal of leftovers. I was putting the plates in the dishwasher when Jaden spoke from the sink. “Even if you didn’t eat all day, I have a strong suspicion that’s not what made you dizzy.”

  I closed the dishwasher and turned to face him. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

  Half his mouth quirked up. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I give you the impression you had a choice?”

  My brows shot up. “Yes, in fact,” I said. I stepped nearer and ran my hands down his muscled chest and over his stomach. “You’ve given me the impression that I always have a choice.”

  I let my hands continue downward. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me hard against him, and we stumbled toward the bedroom, shedding clothes on the way.

  As we fell onto the bed I murmured, “Don’t forget I have a curfew.”

  A low laugh rumbled through his chest. “Are you asking me to be quick?”

  We didn’t rush, and I had time to relax with my head on his chest afterward, his arms warm around me. It was the first time in weeks I’d even approached ha
ppiness.

  I awoke with a start. “Oh, crap,” I whimpered when I checked the bedside clock.

  Jaden reached over sleepily; I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and jumped out of bed.

  “Gotta run, I’m late.” Very, very late — it was early morning, and I had to get home in time to feed the horses. Preferably before my stepfather noticed I was gone.

  It was snowing when I stumbled outside, and I frenziedly brushed just enough white stuff off my car so that I could see. I got in, shivering violently and still half-asleep as I maneuvered through the snowy Toronto streets. I relaxed a bit once I got onto the cleared highway, and I felt warmer as my mind roamed over my evening with Jaden. It was the first time I’d seen him since he’d left to play polo in Florida, but he almost hadn’t gone at all. I remembered having to convince him.

  “Maybe I should stay,” Jaden had said worriedly. That was two days after Seth, my twin brother, had left for Spain.

  I gently disentangled his hand from his hair and held it between my own. “You need the money,” I reminded him. We were sitting on the old tack trunk in the gloomy shed since the barn had been busy with people. Jaden was distressed at leaving me so soon after Seth’s departure. I shivered — the shed wasn’t heated — and Jaden pulled me more tightly against him.

  “I’ll be okay, really,” I said with more conviction than I felt. I knew that a few weeks of polo would pay for Jaden’s final semester of school.

  He had gone, in the end, and Christmas had felt less like a holiday to me than it had the year before, when I’d been in Florida with no tree and Chinese food for dinner. Dec and I, still barely speaking, went to Aunt Penny’s and Uncle Robert’s house for Christmas. The most uncomfortable Christmas dinner ever, as it turned out.

  To their credit, the Foster family had never treated us like ‘the stepkids’. Even when Dec first married my mom — years before he adopted us — we were held to the same standards as the rest of the Foster clan. They had adopted us too, and from the way they were acting, I wondered whether they were now suffering similar feelings of betrayal from my brother’s defection. During the meal, Aunt Penny frequently put her hand on Dec’s shoulder, but her stiff manner with me spoke volumes, and the rest of my family seemed ill at ease. As soon as the meal was over my cousin Stacey grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs to her bedroom.

  “Holy crap,” she said as she shut the door.

  “Yeah,” I said tiredly. “Let’s hope the New Year brings a new mood, otherwise I might as well go to Spain myself.”

  “Would you really?” she exclaimed. She looked more excited than shocked at the possibility.

  “No,” I sighed. “I can’t.”

  I had kept busy over the holidays. I was still too angry with Dec to talk to him much; I blamed him for Seth’s absence. Teri, my best friend, was at the barn almost every day helping out. Her pony Picasso had been sold the week before, purchased as a Christmas present for the luckiest little girl ever, and we’d both cried while wrapping his legs with shipping bandages. We had stuffed him full of treats and patted and kissed him before Teri handed over the lead rope to his new owners, but we didn’t watch him get into the trailer. That was too hard.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go home?” I had asked Teri as she prepared to teach a beginner lesson. The lesson schedule always picked up during holidays.

  She shrugged. “I’m okay.” Only the way her celery-green eyes refused to meet mine gave a clue to her feelings.

  “You’re a lifesaver, Ter. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I meant it, too. Even though I was positive she’d rather be relaxing at home, away from the constant reminders of Picasso’s absence, Teri was here freezing her fingers and toes off because I needed the help. With Seth gone I was stretched way too thin — Gran taught the odd lesson, but the cold was harder on her than it used to be, and Dec was busy with a work project that was behind schedule. Julia was on vacation with her parents, who had decided that a week down south would help her get over the break-up with Seth. I wished it were that easy for me.

  “Any big plans for tomorrow?” Dec had asked me the day before New Year’s Eve. We were having a simple soup-and-sandwich dinner, and the table felt empty with just the two of us.

  “No,” I replied. Teri was going out with her family, and my other friends were gone. Even Kabir had stayed in California over the holidays.

  “Oh. Well, do you want to do something, just the two of us?” Dec had looked uncomfortable; both of us knew it wouldn’t be an enjoyable evening.

  “That’s okay. Why don’t you go out, Dec.” I was pretty sure he had plans with Joanne, his girlfriend.

  On New Year’s Eve Jaden called me at ten minutes before midnight. I could hear the sounds of a party in the background, and for a second was transported back to our magical evening of the year before, when all had seemed so right with the world.

  “Corazon,” he said quietly. “Stay on the phone with me until midnight, so I can pretend you’re here in my arms.” By the time I hung up ten minutes later, after having wished our friend Michele a Happy New Year too, I had felt a whole lot better. After all, this year promised to bring a lot of good things, too.

  * * *

  I came out of my reverie as I pulled into the long, tree-lined driveway to Shady Lane Stables. It was barely dawn, and I hoped fervently that I could sneak in before Dec realized I hadn’t come home.

  No such luck. He stepped out of the kitchen the minute I was in the door, his expression grim. He didn’t say anything, but then his glare said enough. The fact that he was in pajama bottoms and a T-shirt didn’t make him any less intimidating.

  “I was at Jaden’s, and I... well, we fell asleep,” I stammered my excuse.

  A spasm crossed Dec’s face; inasmuch as he knew that Jaden and I were a couple, he obviously hated the thought of us sleeping together. Let alone doing anything else in bed.

  “Listen to me, Téa. You may think you’re all grown up now, but you’re still young, and as long as you’re living in this house there are rules to follow.”

  I felt my temper awaken. “Tell me you’re not using that ‘as long as you’re under my roof’ line on me.” I had lost my brother to that policy not long before, and the memory was still raw. “We fell asleep. It was an accident!”

  “That’s what telephones are for! Why didn’t you call me as soon as you woke up?”

  “I didn’t think of it until I was in the car,” I admitted, “and then my phone was dead.”

  He took a quick step towards me, and I tensed instantly, my breath catching. My reaction must have shown because a pained look crossed his face. He stopped, and I watched him breathe deeply for a moment.

  “Okay,” he said more calmly. I relaxed. “But this had better be the last time, Téa.”

  “Dec, I don’t get it. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know, but it’s not like I was out with a stranger. This is Jaden we’re talking about. You know I’m completely safe with him.”

  “I don’t care,” he said obstinately. “I want you home at night. And I’ll be having a word with Jaden to that effect, too.”

  I felt my jaw set, but I knew better than to argue with him now. I trudged upstairs and went straight to the phone in the guestroom. It still felt like Jaden’s room to me, since he’d spent so much time in there during our first summer together.

  “Hey, it’s me,” I said morosely when he answered. “I wanted to give you a heads up, Dec’s pretty mad. Maybe you shouldn’t answer your phone for the rest of the day.”

  “How mad?” he asked immediately. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. But don’t let him blame you for me staying out all night.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” he soothed, sounding relieved. “I can handle Dec as long as you’re all right.”

  “I’m far better than ‘all right’,” I told him, smiling. “I had an incredible time with you yesterday. I wish I could stay over more often... though it’s not lookin
g too likely.”

  It was something I’d have to address with Dec at some point, I realized. We owned a family business; who knew how long I’d live here? Until I finished university, at the very least, and maybe a lot longer. And even though I’d still be under ‘his’ roof, I didn’t want Dec telling me how to live my life when I was twenty-five.

  * * *

  Jaden hadn’t stayed in Florida as long as he usually did. He was going into his final semester of law school, and I supposed even his charm and intelligence had limits — his professors had insisted that he be present for the entire winter term, which had just started for both of us. It was only my second semester of university, and it looked like the workload was going to be even heavier than in the first. On the third day of classes, I crept into a cavernous, almost-full auditorium and found a seat. My neighbor had dark hair and a gangly look, still more boy than man.

  “I’m Chuck,” he introduced himself. He had an open, friendly smile.

  “Tay-a,” I replied, pronouncing my name clearly for him. After class, we headed to the cafeteria together for lunch.

  “Did we have a class together last semester?” I asked him as we got into line.

  “I don’t think so, but you do look kind of familiar,” he responded. A second later he waved to someone. “Hey, Shannon.” A woman with short auburn-and-grey hair and a comfortably round shape joined us. After the introductions were made we found seats together; it turned out we were all biology majors.

  “My dad and granddad are both vets,” Chuck told us. “But it’s gotten so hard to get into vet school that I might be the first generation not to take over the family practice,” he said glumly.

  “At least your family understands,” Shannon said. “My entire family thinks I’m nuts for leaving a steady job at forty years old to go back to school. But being a vet is all I’ve ever wanted. I figure better late than never.”

  “What about you, Téa?” Chuck asked.

  “Well, my family owns an equestrian center, so I’ve worked with horses most of my life. Being a vet just seems like a logical next step,” I said. I didn’t add that it wasn’t my first choice since Chuck and Shannon both seemed so anxious to get into vet school.

  “Horses, huh?” Chuck looked at me with renewed interest. “We have a mixed practice — small and large animals — and horses are probably the trickiest to treat. For me, anyway.”