Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Miranda
Play Your Cards
Thor and Beast performed flawless turns around the arena before the auction, and if someone had told her that her horse was going to break the auction bid record she would have said they were crazy.
After toiling over her decision on whether or not to sell Thor, she decided it was the best way to find out which ranchers were interested in her work.
She could contact each rancher who had bid on Thor and offer first-time discounts for breeding services with Beast. And she was able to set the first bid amount, so if no rancher wanted to pay what she knew Thor was worth, he’d go back home with her.
With her adrenaline pounding, she led Thor into the auction circle and waited breathless to see what would happen. A minute into the bidding the offers were well over her asking price and then Dixon ranch made the final offer, beating everyone by ten thousand.
She was ecstatic. And the first person she wanted to hug and celebrate with stood off to the side of the arena with a huge proud grin just for her.
But when she led Thor out of the auction circle to a holding stall where the auction house would confirm the fund transfer for the sale, a wave of sadness hit her.
She’d had Thor for two years, after spotting him at a smaller estate sale.
Trained him herself, and now she’d have to let him go.
But this was part of the price of starting her own business—she was having to make sacrifices.
And her debts weren’t going to pay for themselves.
“I bet Dixon ranch will let you visit him,” Renn said walking up behind her.
She rubbed the white patch along Thor’s snout and blinked back the tears. “It’s probably silly to get so attached to them, but he was really the one that taught me to believe in my ability to do this. Train them, hone my own line of polished, beautiful horses.”
Renn rubbed her back and she didn’t have the energy to pull away from his comfort even if she knew she wouldn’t get to keep him.
“Mrs. Sutton, I’d like to speak with you a little about Thor’s training routine if you have time?
” A polished middle-aged woman approached, but when she recognized Renn her arms opened up wide in a big hug.
“Renn Walker, I heard you were here and was wondering why you hadn’t been over to see me yet. ”
“Mrs. Dixon, I didn’t realize you were here too.” Renn hugged the woman for a long beat, and something passed between them.
“How have you been holding up? I miss your mama every day.”
“Same, but somehow the world keeps moving on.”
“It sure does.” Mrs. Dixon looked from Renn to Miranda. “Why am I not surprised you found a woman with a love of horses.”
Renn smiled. “I told Miranda that my mama would say she has the touch.”
“Yes, she would. I was looking at your social media, Ms. Sutton, and we will definitely be interested to see how your expected foals look when you’re ready to show them off.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m excited to welcome them to BB later this month.”
“I know this is a whirlwind of a process, but I did want to have a chance to speak with you about your routine with Thor before we make the transfer.”
“Of course.” She chatted with Mrs. Dixon for the next half hour and didn’t realize until later that Renn had left the arena until she found him back at the trailer loading up Beast.
“So, you feel like you got what you came for?” he asked, locking the trailer bolt into place.
She wasn’t sure if he meant the horse or him, but for her first official auction it was hard to say it wasn’t a complete success.
The entire time she spoke to Mrs. Dixon she got the feeling she was being quizzed about her methods and techniques, even though they’d already purchased Thor.
Maybe that was how it always was when you sold a horse for so much money, and she was proud of the interest her horses had garnered.
“I’m not sure this weekend could have gone any better, but it’s time to get back to the ranch and see how many of the ranches that were interested in BB breeding services actually pan out.”
“At least you’ve bought yourself some time with the sale of Thor.” Renn reached out to capture her hand, and she let him walk her to the rented paddocks. “Better give it one last look to make sure we got everything.”
They each checked the now-empty stalls and her eyes lingered on the haystack where they’d had their sleeping bag.
As a quarterback for the Aces, Renn was going to be a huge NFL star, and she knew he’d have women throwing themselves at him.
But for one night, under the Georgia moon, he’d been hers to have and she didn’t have any regrets about that.