Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 02 - Out of the Darkness (27 page)

“Relax, dude, I wasn’t gonna accuse you of child abuse. That damn pony’s back is so wide the kid could probably stretch out and have a nap without rolling off.”

“Gretel. The pony.” Taylor smiles fondly. “Owen had no fear at all… just marched right up to her. I think he thought she was stuffed, because we have one of those… those teddy-bear-type rocking horses? You know, it’s like a stuffed horse, but it has some kind of frame, and rockers….” He notices Dan’s look. “Shut up, man. You have no idea how long I can talk about damn baby accessories.”

“No, dude, it… it looks good on you. Being a father. I mean, the whole thing is one more reason to be careful about sleeping with women, but… it seems like it worked out okay for you.”

Taylor gives him a careful look to be sure he’s not joking, and then nods. “Yeah, it… I mean, pretty damn life changing, but you know, it’s totally worth it.” He gets that look on his face that parents sometimes do, the almost-amazed glow, and Dan feels a flash of jealousy. He’s never really thought about kids, not seriously, but it’s hard to deny that Owen seems to have made Taylor really happy.

Taylor snaps himself back from his reverie. “So, anyway, obviously with a kid I had to settle down a little. And my family’s out here. My sister’s in Oakland, and she’s got two kids of her own, so she was really helpful. And my parents, even, once they got past the ‘where’s the mother’ crap. And my brother’s still a useless flake, but he’s not bad at being the fun uncle.” He shakes his head a little. “Anyway, I got a job at this place for handicapped kids to learn to ride horses? Well, ‘special needs’, ‘differently abled’… whatever. And at first I just worked in the barn, but I got certified and got promoted to instructor, and then about six months ago the executive director quit, and I got that job.” He looks at Dan. “It’s not all that impressive, really. It’s a small place, only five full-time staff, counting me. But, you know… it’s… I feel like I’m doing something good, you know?”

“Fuck, man, of course you are. That’s incredible. I’ve seen those places—like, demonstrations at horse shows and stuff. The kids seem like they’re having a blast.”

“Yeah, and you know, for a lot of them, that’s all it is, and that’s enough, because they have a hell of a time day to day, so giving them something fun to do is great. But for some of them, it’s real therapy. We have a part-time physiotherapist, but the kids I’ve been amazed by are the ones with emotional problems. A lot of them can relate to the horses way better than to humans, and the horses are big enough so the kids don’t hurt them if they freak out. I mean, obviously we supervise, but…. The kids get sick of adults telling them what to do, but it doesn’t take them long to figure out that they need a little advice to figure out how to get the horses to do what they want.” He trails off and looks a little sheepish. “Sorry. I…. It’s pretty cool, is all.”

Dan doesn’t even know what word would describe how he’s feeling. He thinks maybe he’s charmed. “No, it’s great. You being enthusiastic. It’s nice to see.”

Taylor looks at Dan to see if he’s teasing, then shrugs. “It’s a big jump from shoveling shit for Vanessa, that’s for sure. A lot more satisfying.” He smiles. “But I still do some work in show barns, when I have time. Good for making connections, and the extra money sure doesn’t hurt. And I’ve been riding an eventer lately, just bringing him along, and you know how horse people are—all about the gossip. So, I think I know a hell of a lot more about what you’ve been up to than you knew about me.” His face gets serious. “I was sorry to hear about your boyfriend. I mean, I didn’t know him, but… seems like he was a good guy.” Taylor shrugs. “Must have been, if he got you to stay in one place for that long.”

“Yeah, he was.” Dan’s found that he’s able to get this far in a conversation about Justin and keep his cool, but he really can’t go much further, so he changes the subject. “And now I’m out here. You weren’t at Shepherd, were you? I would have seen you.”

“Nah, the son-of-a-bitch came up lame three days before. It’s the second time that’s happened, actually—I was gonna maybe get your advice on it, see if I’m training him too fast, or if there’s some way around it.”

“That’s it? That’s the favor?” Dan is a mix of amused and relieved.

“What? Oh, no, man. I mean, yeah, it’d be a favor, ’cause I’m sure as hell not gonna pay your worthless ass for a little advice, but no, the actual favor’s a little bigger. Well, I think it’s a little bigger. I don’t know, really, and you know, if it’s gonna put you in a bad spot, say no, ’cause I can figure something else out….”

“Okay, man, now you’ve got me curious. What is it?”

Taylor looks awkward. “It’s, uh… it’s money. When I took over the program, it was running at a loss, and then the economy tanked, and… we’re in a pretty tight spot. So I’ve got everyone on the board, all the volunteers, all the employees… we’re all calling in favors, hitting up everyone we can think of who might have a little to share.”

Dan’s never been in this position before. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but nothing like what Taylor had seemed to be building up to. He thinks of the money he’s got in his savings account. “Yeah, man, I can spare a little. I mean, I’m not exactly rolling in cash, but it sounds like a great program. I’d be glad to help out.”

Taylor doesn’t look relieved, though. “Yeah, thanks, that’s… that’s really generous of you, and every little bit helps. But, uh… actually, I was hoping…. Okay, I told you I heard about you through gossip, right? So… I also heard about who you’re working for.” Dan understands now, but he waits for Taylor to continue. “And someone like that, he’d have the money to
really
make a difference, you know? So, I don’t know how it works with you two, but… if you were able to talk to him… it’d be great to get him out to the barn, to see what we’re doing, but even just a meeting, just five minutes of face time with him… it’d be great if you could set it up, man. I mean, like I said, if it puts you in a bad spot, we’ll try to figure something else out.” Taylor’s watching Dan carefully, trying to gauge his reaction. “His name came up after Shepherd. Somebody on the board had been there and said how Kaminski had been there, too, and how great that could be. If he got involved with horses we could maybe have a reason to approach him… and then someone mentioned your name, and, you know….” Taylor trails off and looks at Dan cautiously.

Movement catches Dan’s eye, and he looks toward the door to see Evan walking through. He sees Dan and heads to the bar to get a beer before coming over. “You just want a few minutes with him, maybe have a beer or something?” Dan smiles at Taylor. He’s not sure how he feels about being in this position and isn’t sure how Evan’s going to like it, but there’s not much he can do about it right now. “Yeah, okay, I think that can be arranged.”

Chapter 16

E
VAN
looks a little out of place still dressed in his suit and tie, tall and healthy and vibrant in contrast to the rough, used-up patrons of the bar. He looks out of place but good. At least Dan appreciates it. As he walks across the bar toward them, Dan realizes that they still haven’t even worked out how to greet each other in public. He thinks back, frantically trying to remember how Jeff and Evan act together or how Dan and Justin used to. He remembers the strategy he’d used with Chris and nods for Taylor to stand up. Dan stands with him but just behind, and when Evan gets there, Dan shoves Taylor forward a little and says, “Evan, this is Taylor Andrews. Taylor, Evan Kaminski.” His grin is only a little wicked when he raises his eyebrows at Taylor and adds, “Interesting coincidence, I guess.”

Evan’s smile is a little tight when he shakes Taylor’s hand, but Dan doesn’t think anyone who wasn’t used to Evan’s usual full-face grin would notice it. Evan’s got three beer bottles held between the fingers of his left hand, so that’s a good sign, at least—he’s being friendly enough to get a round. But now he’s looking at Dan with a questioning look. “How’s it a coincidence?”

Dan shakes his head. “Sit down, man.” They all sit, and Dan lets his knee fall over to touch Evan’s. Evan notices and glances at him, then smiles a little. So maybe they’re okay there. “Yeah, uh, remember how I told you that Taylor had a favor to ask me? It turns out that you’re it.”

Evan looks blank. “How do you mean?”

“He wanted to see if he could get five minutes of face time with my boss.” Dan remembers then and turns to Taylor. “But he’s not my boss anymore. Technically.” He shrugs. “But I guess that doesn’t really matter for the current conversation.”

“No, he’s…
he’s
the guy you’re involved with?” Taylor still seems a bit stunned by the whole situation, and Dan can’t help laughing a little. It’s kind of fun to be the one who knows what’s going on for a change.

“I didn’t mean to ambush you, man… or you, either,” he adds, turning to Evan. “We were just getting to the part where he wanted to meet you, and then, bam! There you were. It was like magic, really. I should go on the road.”

Evan’s frowning a little, but he seems more confused than angry. He seems to sense that Dan is enjoying his position of superior knowledge a little too much to be helpful, so he turns to Taylor instead. “I don’t get it. If you didn’t know that Dan and I were… involved… why did you want to meet me?”

Taylor looks more than a little flustered. Dan finds it cute, remembering when Taylor had been trying to figure out his attraction to Dan, how easy it had been to get him disconcerted, just a casual brush when walking through a doorway or holding his gaze half a second too long… but that’s not an appropriate thing to be thinking about right now, and Dan tries to call his mind back to the present.

Taylor takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry, man, I wasn’t really expecting… I mean…. Okay, sorry, just give me one second.” Taylor takes another breath, lets it out, and then smiles at Evan. “Okay. Uh, I wasn’t expecting to see you today, so I don’t have any of the backup documents or anything, but….” Taylor looks like he’s going to try to keep going with some sort of businesslike approach, but then he glances at Dan and frowns. “Okay, you like Dan, so you probably aren’t a big fan of bullshit. I, uh… I wanted to meet you because I want to ask you for money.” Evan’s eyebrows go up, and Dan jogs his knee a little, hoping to send a message to relax.

Taylor continues, his voice a little high, a little too fast. “Not for me, obviously… well, maybe that’s not obvious, I don’t know what kind of appeals you must get every day. But… I work for a nonprofit organization… a charity. It gives horseback-riding lessons and equine therapy to kids with special needs. It’s a great program, and I’d love to tell you more about it or take you on a tour of the place or whatever you’d like…. But, yeah, I called Dan because we’re in a hell of a bind, financially, and I heard he was working for you, and I thought maybe he could help get me in past the gatekeepers.” He shakes his head. “I didn’t think it would be quite this easy, to be honest.”

Evan looks at Taylor appraisingly. “There’s a process for this. Both the company and the family give quite a bit of money to charities, but there’s an application process. We have… there’s, I don’t know, four or five people at the company who deal with this exclusively.”

Taylor looks a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, we’ve applied to them, we have. But… like you said, it’s a process, and it takes quite a while, and we’re in trouble
now
. And… we have a list of the charities your company gives to, and they’re great, and we think we’d fit right in, but it’s a pretty steady list from year to year. Not a lot of new additions. I mean, no one’s gonna say, ‘no, thanks, we don’t need your money this year’, you know? And… I don’t know, we don’t have a list of your private donations, but… is it about the same, maybe? You give to the same people year after year?” Taylor shrugs. “I’m not saying they’re not deserving….”

He looks at Evan’s impassive face and then over at Dan. Then he looks back at Evan. “I’m sorry to put you on the spot. I mean, there’s stuff I’d love to show you, and I really, really think you’d be impressed by what we’re doing at the barn. But you just came here for a drink, you weren’t expecting all this….” He looks over at Dan for help, and Dan takes pity on him.

“Yeah, man, sorry.” He smiles tentatively at Evan. “I have no idea how you handle all this stuff, and I’m sure you’re already really generous with people.”

Evan looks back at him and shrugs, and Taylor stands up, taking advantage of the break in conversation. “I’m just gonna go…,” he says, and he gestures in the direction of the men’s room. Dan nods, and Taylor heads away.

Evan still isn’t talking, and Dan’s beginning to get a little worried. “Are you okay, man? I mean, it really wasn’t a deliberate ambush.
I
had no idea what he wanted, and
he
had no idea you were the guy who was coming to check up on us.”

Evan sighs and turns to Dan. “I’m not mad, man, I get it. I just… Jesus, does he have to be so fucking gorgeous?”

Dan is silent for a moment and then snorts out a half-laugh. “What? I mean… you’re still on that? Him being good looking?” “More than good looking, Dan.” Evan sounds a little frustrated.

“Well, shit, man, what can I say? I’m shallow; I like my men handsome.” He twists in his seat a little and brings one hand over to Evan’s thigh. “You’re pretty good proof of that.”

Evan shakes his head. “Ryan wasn’t that pretty.”

Dan can’t believe that Ryan is being held up as the better option. “Ryan’s cute, and what the hell? You got all bent out of shape over him, too, so don’t go pretending this is some sort of… unique problem.”

“Ryan… shit, I’d
pay
to have Ryan back. This guy… he could be a model or something, but no, that’s not quite enough. He’s got to work for a charity, and seem be a good guy, and know about horses,
and
be fucking gorgeous….”

“Well, shit, man, when you put it that way, what the hell am I doing with you?” Dan waits for an answer and then shakes his head in frustration. “What the fuck, dude, since when are you insecure? You’re Evan Kaminski, for fuck’s sake—you give the money so people can afford to hire people like Taylor, and you know you’re a good guy, and you’re learning about horses, and I hate to break it to you, man, but you’re smokin’ hot.” Dan glances around the bar; it’s a bit rough, and he doesn’t want to call attention to them, but it feels wrong to be so far away from Evan. He brings his free hand up to the back of Evan’s neck, and gives it a shake, just like he’s seen Jeff do. “I… I wish you were a bit less mental, but otherwise, seriously… no complaints.” He grins a little. “And obviously I’m in no position to bitch about other people’s lack of mental stability.”