Page 111 of You'll Find Out

“Pardon me?”

“About my guilt—what changed your mind?”

Becca shrugged and hoped to appear indifferent. “I guess I knew it all along. It was just an easy excuse to justify your . . . change in attitude . . .”

He put his arm around her shoulder and forced her to face him. The darkness was broken only by the security lights surrounding the barns. “Rebecca, I’m sorry—God, I’m sorry. I made a horribly unjust decision about you and I’ve regretted it ever since. It was my mistake.” He crushed her against his chest and Becca felt the burn of tears behind her eyes.

“It’s all over now,” she whispered, clinging to him and aware of soft drops of rain on her cheeks and hair. It felt so right, standing in the darkness, unconscious of the chill in the air, holding Brig.

“It will never be ‘all over,’” he said. “But maybe we can heal the wounds by finding out what happened to Lady.”

She stiffened. “I think that’s impossible . . .”

“Nothing is. I shouldn’t have to tell you that. You found a way to breed Gypsy Wind when all the cards were stacked against you.”

“That was only possible because of your father.”

“I know, and that’s another one of the pieces of the puzzle that doesn’t seem to fit.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told you that things didn’t add up and I mentioned your silence.”

“Yes?”

“Well, another thing that won’t seem to quit nagging me is the fact that you didn’t race Gypsy Wind as a two-year-old.”

“Ian and I thought it best, because of her legs—I told you all that, and what in the world does it have to do with your father?”

“Dad is just one other thing that doesn’t make any sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can understand him loaning you some money—but not that much. When my father gave or loaned something to a pretty young woman, he usually expected something in return.”

“He did—repayment of the loan with interest.”

Brig shook his head as if trying to dislodge a wayward thought. “Not good enough, Rebecca. Jason must have wanted something else.”

“I think you’re grasping at straws,” Becca whispered, but the feeling of dread that had been with her for the past few days increased.

“Do you remember what Jason said after the race between Winsome and Sentimental Lady?”

“I know. But he was upset, we all were.”

Brig raked his fingers through his hair and noticed it was wet from the rain. He ignored the cool water running under his collar. He watched Becca’s reaction when he repeated his father’s damning words: “We threw a fast pace at the bitch and she just broke down.”

Becca shuddered. “He didn’t know what he was saying—”

“A handy excuse . . .”

Placing her palm to her forehead, Becca tried to close out the painful memories taking hold of her. “Don’t, Brig . . . let’s not dredge it all up again. What’s the point?”

He took her by the shoulders and shook her until she met his eyes. “You’re going to have to face everything if you really intend to race Gypsy Wind, Rebecca. You won’t be able to hide here at Starlight Breeding Farm and expect the reporters to respect your privacy. All the old wounds are going to be reopened and examined with a microscope.”

“You still think I had something to do with it,” she accused, near hysteria. The rain, Brig’s dark eyes, the haunting memories all began to unnerve her.

“No, dear one, no. But I have to know why you would go to my father for money after he said what he did.”

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