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Lottie
Aweek wasn’t long enough to recover from the chaos of our wedding day. The only words I’d spoken to Hunter since then were necessary.
Yes, I’ll split my time between your house and mine.
I want my own room.
Stay away from me.
I gripped the steering wheel as I pulled out of Hunter’s driveway. I wasn’t used to being in his house yet—the modernism of it, the size—it was so unlike my family home. Sure, my dad had money, but our house had always been small and homey. We’d never splurged on that. Hunter’s self-raising blinds and crisp white walls were still as foreign to me as the first night I’d stayed there.
I’d only agreed to stay with him to keep up appearances. It was easy enough to say I was at home part-time because of my dad, but Hunter was worried that staying home full-time immediately after the wedding would raise questions. As much as I wanted to pretend it wouldn’t, I knew damn well that my father would insist on it anyway. He didn’t want me to worry about him now that I had someone to take care of me.
I chuckled to myself. As if Hunter had any intention of actually doing that.
No, Hunter more than likely wouldn’t give a shit if I was dead in a ditch. And if I were to believe that maybe, just maybe, he had felt the same way I did before everything went down, then he probably hated me even more than I imagined. But there was no convincing him fully that I wasn’t tied to Jared anymore, and that was entirely my fault for not telling him sooner.
At least he hadn’t spoken another word about it at the wedding.
We’d put on the performance of a lifetime for our families. Dad had walked me down the aisle, and what he’d mistaken for tears of joy over my nuptials were solely tears of joy that he’d managed to stand on his feet long enough to reach the other side of the room. When I’d said my vows and read them off my phone screen, the guests had laughed and smiled, some wiping their eyes, some quietly crying. I hadn’t written them myself; I found prewritten ones on the internet that seemed appropriate enough. When we had our first dance, I buried my head in his chest, purely so I wouldn’t have to look at his face.
Hunter’s friend Ray and her husband, Wade, had been in attendance with their son, Alex. It was their wedding I’d slipped into back in Oahu, and the level of embarrassment I’d felt when Hunter told them almost had me walking out of my own wedding. But I’d pushed on. They introduced me to their friends, Mandy and Jackson, as well as their daughter, Cassie. They all seemed so happy, so content in their lives, so happy for us, and yet all I felt was dread.
The overwhelming amount of congratulations we received was tiresome. I barely knew the majority of the guests in attendance, so faking a smile and giving hugs to strangers nearly sent me on an inward spiral. By the time the father-daughter dance came around, Dad had regained some strength and managed to spend an entire three minutes on his feet with me, even if it was more swaying and less dancing.
That was the highlight of my evening. That was what would stay in my memory beyond anything else, I’d decided. I’d let the rest fade.
What wasn’t fading, however, was Hunter’s sly little betrayal about me receiving forty-nine percent of the horse breeding business. I’d fought with myself for days, trying to decide if it was better to leave it alone and let everything go, or fight for what was meant to be mine, what was promised to be mine. I wasn’t going to let him renege on his deal. I was too invested now, too angry about it all.
He’d broken my heart just the same as I’d broken his.
Parking outside the stable offices, I sat and stared at the field beyond the windshield of my car. The grass sparkled from the dew that had formed overnight as the sun slowly peeked over the mountains. It was nearly winter, and soon enough the dew would turn to frost, and then to snow, and Dad would be dead and I’d be alone in a loveless marriage with only myself to blame.
Good job keeping your head up, Lots.
Shaking off the irritating pessimism, I kicked open my door and stepped out into the crisp morning air. It was my first day back after the wedding, and I knew damn well I’d be walking into a shit storm. I had meetings scheduled with some of our scientists who had been working on the potential for a new crossbreed. At least I could look forward to that.
What I hadn’t expected, though, was the sheer amount of stares. Almost everyone in the building, from the receptionist to the janitor to the office workers, stared at me as I walked by. One or two offered their congratulations, but the rest… there didn’t appear to be a single person that was genuinely happy for me. Except maybe Dana, but she was out in Stable Four. Most of them were firmly of the belief that I’d slept my way into my job and had no business being in charge of them.
Maybe they were right. After all, I had slept with Hunter during my interview.
————
The meeting hall was alight with our scientists, some press, and a handful of our breeders who handled the physicality of it all. Dana had come, citing her interest in the crossbreeds, and I couldn’t have felt more comfortable with her there.
Deborah, our lead scientist, pointed toward the projection of her PowerPoint on the far wall. “Crossing the Appaloosas and Friesians isn’t necessarily uncommon,” she said. I knew that; I’d heard of the cross before. I’d requested further research into it purely from a competition standpoint. “But in speaking with some known breeders and examining successful crossbreeds, we’ve found some truly interesting selling points.”
I flipped open my laptop and opened up Word. I wanted to note down every bit of information I could. If this was going to work, if they would perform as well, or better than, their full-bred counterparts, this could be a major deal for us. We could be the main hub of the breed in the Midwest.
“Friesians are most well-known for their outstanding performances in dressage and their unique versatility. On the other side, Appaloosas are most well-known for their endurance and speed in racing, coming in among the top ten choices for buyers. What we’ve found, though, suggests that in careful breeding…”
The door opened behind me. I turned in my seat, ready to chew out whoever had been late to our closed-door meeting.
Heat warmed my cheeks in a way that made me feel sick. Hunter’s crooked smile was aimed directly at me as the door clicked shut.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed, venom spilling from the words. I hoped no one around me could hear, but Dana’s soft hand on my shoulder told me that they absolutely could. “Honey,” I added on, plastering a fake smile on my face.
Hunter shrugged as he pulled out the chair directly next to me. “I figured someone with a stake in the business should be here for this.”
