“Yeah—until Aaron called Mr. Osterly to have the van come and pick us up because they were all going off to look for Marcus,” Matt said.
“Do you remember anything odd about that day?” Dustin asked.
“Poor Sammy, coming back looking like he’d met up with a bear,” Sean said.
“Before that, did any of you notice if the horses were all there?” Olivia asked.
“I was playing Ping-Pong. I didn’t even see Sammy until everyone started screaming,” Nick said.
Joey frowned, then suddenly grew excited. “I didn’t see the big guy—Gargantua. I like him a lot. Olivia used him now and then, I guess to show us that the biggest, toughest animals—and people—could be the kindest if that was the choice they made.” He looked at Olivia.
“Something like that,” Olivia agreed. “Did you ask anybody about him?”
“Yeah, I did. Sandra was there, and I saw her heading for Aaron’s office. I asked her if they’d let somebody take Gangantua out. She said he was probably just hanging around by the trees and we couldn’t see him. I don’t think she was paying much attention to me. She seemed distracted,” Joey said.
“She was distracted before Sammy came back injured?” Olivia asked.
Joey nodded.
“But she was there,” Dustin said.
Joey nodded again.
“Who else do you remember being in the office right before you were sent back and everyone went riding off to find Marcus?” Dustin asked.
“I think Sandra’s the only one. And then Aaron, once Sammy showed up. And then everyone,” Joey said.
“I saw Mason.” Matt grinned. “He was fixing his hair in the mirror in back.”
“Thanks,” Dustin told them.
“You guys are great, and what you’ve accomplished is great,” Olivia said. “No matter what happens.”
They wished the boys a good night, thanking Lance Osterly.
“No, thank you. They really respect you, Liv. I’m praying that all this gets sorted out quickly. We offer the kids all kinds of stuff here—group therapy, individual therapy, art therapy, massage therapy—you name it. But there’s nothing like the Horse Farm for most of our boys.”
“We’ll keep it afloat—and we’ll get our reputation back, I promise,” Olivia said fervently.
When they reached the car, she burst out with, “What a liar I am!”
“You’re not a liar.”
“An impossible dreamer, then.”
“I keep telling you, when we discover the truth, the world will spin more smoothly on its axis.” They stopped by the Horse Farm to pick up Sammy. The stables were quiet; evidently Drew and Sydney had gone to bed for the night.
Sloan and Jane Everett were still up, though. Of course, sleeping on couches couldn’t have been conducive to going to bed early. Jane had been looking through Aaron’s correspondence. “I found an offer from a firm, sent to Aaron. He must’ve ignored it and shoved it in his desk,” Jane said.
“What kind of offer?” Olivia asked.
“An offer for the property. It’s from the offices of that Nashville attorney Delilah mentioned. Henry Whittaker. And it came last week.”
“He wanted to buy the Horse Farm—and went straight to Aaron?” Olivia asked, puzzled. “But an attorney would know, or could easily find out, just how tied up the place was! Why didn’t he go directly to Fairchild?” When she saw Jane’s puzzled look, she explained. “Fairchild was Marcus’s attorney, and he’s been dealing with everything concerning the Horse Farm.”
“Well, this is a friendly letter. It just says that if the Horse Farm is ever in trouble, he’s willing to pay a more-than-fair asking price for the property and buildings, and to see that the charities nearest and dearest to him received the greatest benefit,” Jane said.
She showed them the letter.
Olivia said, “I can’t imagine that an attorney from Nashville would be able to manage any of this without insider assistance.”
“No, I don’t think that’s possible, either,” Sloan agreed. “But it does speak to the theory that someone is trying to ruin the Horse Farm rather than take it over.”
“Maybe we’ll head back to Nashville in the morning,” Dustin said. “But right now...we need to let Sammy search Liv’s house before we go inside!”
They left the Horse Farm, with Sammy happily back in the car, sticking his nose between them. When they reached the house, Sammy showed no sign of fear or suspicion.
Olivia let Dustin and the dog search for evidence that there’d been any sign of invasion in their absence and went up to shower. She didn’t bother dressing; she went straight into the bedroom and waited.
Twenty minutes later, Dustin came to her room.
She saw him in the doorframe for a moment, and the longing and anticipation she’d been feeling seemed to overwhelm her. She loved his analytical mind, his concern for others, his kindness....