Racetrack Royalty by Renée Dahlia

Author:Renée Dahlia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Escape Publishing

Chapter 11

Ananya woke up with a racing heart in the dark. She rolled over to reach out for Shannon, but her hand found nothing, only slightly warm sheets. Soon it would be morning, and her last day with Shannon would begin. Hot tears prickled behind her eyes and she let them fall. In the dark, Shannon wouldn’t see her cry. He’d be confused about her sadness. Where had he gone anyway? She grabbed his pillow and let out the sob that had built up in her chest, pressing her face against the fabric. His leather and sage scent filled her nostrils, and her agony at knowing she was about to let him go flowed out until the pillow was wet with her tears. She forced herself to get up and blow her nose, standing on weak legs as she fumbled about in her suitcase in the dark for the packet of emergency tissues she had in her toiletries bag.

‘Do you need a hand?’ Shannon flicked on the torch on his phone, aiming it at her mostly empty suitcase. She’d kept all her dirty clothes in a neat pile beside her case, so the ones inside the case stayed clean; and she’d hung all her race-day dresses up from the single railing tucked in the corner of the room. Shannon’s light helped her find the tissues and she blew her nose, too loud in the quiet of the night.

‘I’m okay.’ She lied, and leaped back into bed, quickly flipping his pillow over so the wet side was underneath.

‘Good. I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t mean to disturb you.’ He sat on the edge of the bed and switched off the torch.

‘Are you worried about tomorrow?’ She sat up and rubbed between his shoulder blades with one hand. Her breath still shook a little but having something to do helped ease the hurt squeezing her chest.

‘Not about Bio—he’s in great nick, he’s come through the King’s Stand better than I could have hoped, and his work since has been outstanding. But his owners are going to retire him after tomorrow, and I have to say goodbye soon.’

‘Is he staying here in England?’

‘No. He’s going to stay in Australia first. Our breeding season starts in September, so I’ll be able to travel home with him. My other good horse, Tsuyoi Red, has retired too.’

‘I understand.’

‘You do?’

‘Yes. After tomorrow, you’ll have no champions in your stable.’

He shifted his shoulders under her hand. ‘It’s not that. Before these two came along, I was a simple country trainer with a stable of ordinary horses. I’m fine with going back to that. It’s just the goodbyes that hurt.’

Ananya swallowed. Was he saying goodbye to her as well as Biographical?

‘I want to say goodbye to Bio on a high note, but there is so much I can’t control when it comes to a race. We haven’t raced any of the horses in this field before.’ Biographical was the only horse backing up after the King’s Stand, and already

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