Fox Ridge, The Phoenix, Book 4: Fox Ridge, #4

By Bonnie Marlewski-Probert

As the title describes, if Katherine is going to attempt to rise up from what's left of the ashes of her life at Fox Ridge Equestrian Center, she is going to have to cowgirl-up. After losing all of her clients when her secret was exposed, paying her bills is going to be a challenge until things get sorted out. Katherine agrees to take on a horse that broke the leg of Hadley Vinton's top trainer the week before. This massive, rogue jumper called Jupiter is considered a dirty quitter on a jumping course, making this brute the most dangerous of all jumping horses. Katherine believes the problem is not the horse but rather, his owners and she is betting her life on it. Against all advice from her staff and from Brandon, Katherine knows she needs to make money to make payroll for the staff and taking on Jupiter is the best payday available right now. She also believes she can help Jupiter, if he doesn't kill her first!

The relationship between 20-somethings Jimmy and Brenda continues to blossom and we learn

Jennifer gets a new Western student in the form of a surgeon from the local hospital and sparks start to fly almost immediately, even though Jennifer has been dating her boyfriend Troy for a full year, she can't help but recognize the mutual attraction that is building.

Carl continues to work with "his ladies" but is also working with Katherine while she tries to help Jupiter. They argue about the right way to fix him. Katherine believes he needs patience and reassurance that no one is going to abuse him and Carl believes he needs spurs and a good riding crop to make sure he jumps what and when he is told to.

Their training conflict comes to a head when Katherine takes Jupiter to his first horse show since he broke the leg of Hadley's trainer. Katherine makes a critical mistake on course, which gives Jupiter the perfect opportunity to be the dirty quitter everyone believes him to be. Every trainer on the rail knows Katherine is about to be seriously injured or worse if she doesn't stop Jupiter immediately but she is a competitor, first and foremost. Pulling Jupiter off course isn't even an option in her mind. She decides to go for broke.

Will Jupiter do to Katherine what he did to Hadley's trainer or was Katherine correct in believing that Jupiter was never the problem?

In spite of Katherine's mistake on course, if Jupiter bails her out and jumps clean, they are certain to win the championship.

Find out what happens next and the BIG SURPRISE that happens after the show when you read, The Phoenix, Book 4 in the bestselling Fox Ridge series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bonnie Marlewski-Probert
• Release date: Sep 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386355946

Bonnie Marlewski-Probert

Bonnie Marlewski-Probert is an international bestselling author. Her background includes 20+ years as a professional teacher, trainer, speaker and author for the horse industry. She is the author of more than 26 books and has published more than 1000 magazine articles around the world in a wide variety of markets both in and outside the horse world. She started writing as a professional while still working fulltime in the horse industry, both as a syndicated columnist and freelance magazine writer before she signed her first book publishing deal. She founded Whitehall Publishing in the early 90s and has published the works of hundreds of authors from around the globe in both fiction and non-fiction, including everything from biographies, children’s books, religious works, WWII fiction, how-to books, fund raising works for non-profit organizations, medical works and more. Her firm has published award winning books and has produced dozens of bestselling authors in the process. Bonnie splits her time now between running Whitehall Publishing, working with animal-related non-profits (Therapeutic Riding Centers, Dog/Cat Shelters) and on her free time, writing contemporary romance. If you are a writer looking for a way to publish your work while maintaining creative and financial control, visit whitehallpublishing.com.

Book preview

Chapter 1: Hadley Calls

Katherine knew that building her business back after the fallout from her secret becoming public could take time and more importantly, could require her to make some sacrifices. She couldn’t have anticipated just how many sacrifices. In addition to trying to fill all the stalls once again, her best friend from New York suggested she hold a press conference. While Katherine was terrified to get up in front of the cameras, she had to admit that it made sense to share all the details from the police reports in New York with the media at one time. While they had not finalized a date for that yet, she knew it had to be done and done soon.

While the barn was essentially empty of customers, she and Jimmy took advantage of the opportunity to do some inexpensive but much needed repairs and updates. Painting, stall board replacement and the addition of shelving in the tack room were just a few of the items on her list. This morning, Katherine was putting a fresh coat of paint on the wash rack when the phone rang.

I’ll get it, Jimmy offered, setting down his paint roller and hurrying into the office.

It’s good to hear the phone ringing!

A few moments later, Jimmy emerged from her office and waved his arms to get her attention.

Katherine, Hadley Vinton is on the phone for you, Jimmy whispered loudly to her.

Did you say Hadley Vinton?

Jimmy silently mouthed the word YES to Katherine with a giggle, his eyes wide as he nodded his head up and down.

Tell him I’ll be right there please. With that, she put the paint roller back in the tray and grabbed a towel from the back pocket of her jeans to wipe her hands as she hurried toward the office.

You better not be punking me Jimmy, she whispered with a menacing sneer.

With his hand over the receiver, he whispered, I promise, he he was Hadley Vinton calling for you.

Katherine shooed Jimmy out of her office and closed the door behind him before sitting at her desk. Speaking with Hadley Vinton was best done sitting down behind closed doors because he had never called her before without sharing some bad news.

Good morning Hadley, what can I do for you?

Katherine, I have a proposition for you.

Ok, I’m nervous. Do you remember the last time you made me a proposition?

It’s nothing like that. Look, I’m glad you decided to stay and I know you lost a lot of your customers and that it may take some time to get them back.

Tell me something I don’t already know.

In an effort to help you pay your bills, I have a horse in my barn that needs some work and my trainer doesn’t have time for him, so I thought I would send the business to you.

That’s really nice of you. This wouldn’t be that big Thoroughbred that broke your trainer’s leg would it?

How did you hear about that?

The grapevine runs both ways. Is that the horse you’re offering?

Yes, I thought, since it was one of my customers, I’d offer you a sub-contractor deal and send the horse over to you for 30 days. How does that sound to you?

Katherine erupted with laughter, are you drunk already this morning? I’m not risking my neck on that horse as a sub. If you want me to deal with him, send the horse and his owners to me… Now, how does that sound to you?

Oh hell! All right. I just want that piece of shit out of my barn anyway. Fine. You can have him and his bull shit owner. I’ll tell them to call you to arrange the deal.

Thanks Hadley, it’s always a pleasure to speak with you. Tell Mason I wish him a speedy recovery. And with that, she hung up the phone with a smile that went from ear to ear. Besting Hadley Vinton always made her smile but even more than that, she knew that this horse came from the West Coast and if she were able to help him, that could open up a lot of badly needed business opportunities for her. Jimmy stood just outside Katherine’s door to hear her side of the conversation. He tapped on her office door before he entered after he heard her finish the call.

Can I ask what Hadley wanted?

He’s sending over a horse for some rehab work.

That’s great. I didn’t think Hadley was the kind of man to give away business, especially not to you.

The joke could be on me. That horse he’s sending over is the one that broke Mason’s leg at the show.

You’re not talking about the big gelding from the West Coast are you?

One and the same.

We watched Mason break his leg riding that horse at the show. Carl Mason was a dead man before he even got into the ring because that horse is that ring sour. Carl even predicted the fence the horse would hurt Mason at and Carl was right. Katherine, maybe you shouldn’t take this horse on.

Normally, I would agree with you but I’ve got bills to pay, payroll to meet and until business picks back up, I’ll take any job I can. Besides, I might be able to help this horse.

I wouldn’t mind if you couldn’t pay me for a few weeks. I’d rather that than have you put your life in danger. Aren’t you afraid to work with a horse like that?

I wouldn’t say afraid. I’m nervous but there are plenty of things I can do to minimize my risks. And by the way, as long as you work for me, you get paid, but I appreciate the thought.

What can you do to make that horse less dangerous? I saw what he did to Mason. That horse was out to get him even before they entered the arena.

Mason and I have a very different approach to training and to rehab work. I’m counting on that making all the difference. Mason believes that his 200 pounds of manliness can force a 1200 – 1500 pound horse into doing anything he wants them to do. As a female trainer, I studied science in school and I’m clear that my 120 pounds is never going to be able to force any horse into doing something they don’t want to do. So, I use my brains to find ways to build a partnership between myself and the horses I ride. From what you described to me about the horse show where Mason got hurt, he went in looking for a fight and the horse proved that 200 pounds of man can’t win in a fight against 1200 – 1500 pounds of horse.

You’re right, Mason was expecting a fight before he even got into the arena. He was armed with spurs and a stick. He ran the horse backwards into the arena and then tried to cowboy him over every fence. I don’t think that horse had his ears forward until after Mason was on the ground and he cantered over to Thomas who was waiting for him at the out gate.

Does Thomas like this horse?

Yeah, he told me he likes him a lot but the approach Mason was taking was never going to work.

When Katherine heard that Thomas, the head groom at Vinton Stables liked the horse, she felt instant relief. Thomas is a good judge of horse flesh and he’s a good guy. If he likes that horse, there’s hope for that big gelding after all.

I hope you’re right. I can tell you that he is one big, ugly animal but he has a lot of jump in him.

Later that day, Katherine called Jupiter’s owners in California.

Hello, Jennings Software. How may I direct your call?

Good Morning, this is Katherine McMahon calling for Stewart Jennings. He’s expecting my call.

Yes, Ms. McMahon, I’ll put you through, A few moments later, a male voice answered the phone.

Stewart Jennings here.

Mr. Jennings, this is Katherine McMahon calling from North Carolina about Jupiter.

Yes, thanks for calling. Please, call me Stewart. Hang on just a moment so I can get Marilyn on the line. A few moments later, she could hear they were on speaker. Ms. McMahon, let me introduce you to my wife, Marilyn Jennings.

Good to meet you Mrs. Jennings.

Please call me Marilyn. If you’re going to be working with Jupiter, you’re part of the Jennings family now.

Then, please call me Katherine.

So, tell me what your plans are to fix my horse, Stewart interjected.

He’s scheduled to arrive here in a couple of days. Our normal protocol is to give a new horse two days to settle in. Afterwards, we’ll work him on a lunge line for three more days to ensure he has verbal commands so we can add that layer to our communication base before we saddle up on the sixth day. We’ll do flat work with him for a few days before we put any fences in front of him. The goal is to build a relationship with him so I understand what makes him tick before we ride him over fences.

Ms. McMahon, Katherine, I need him fixed over fences, not on a lunge line or under saddle.

Stew, stop badgering the woman. She’s the trainer here.

"Stewart, you’ve already seen how other trainers handled Jupiter and the results were a broken leg and a very angry horse. My approach is focused on getting to the root of the real problem. If we identify and fix that, he will have years of blues ahead of him. If trainers continue to try to put a Band-Aid on what they think is the problem, your horse is going to end up hurting more people and never find himself back in the blues."

I just want him winning over fences again as soon as possible.

"On that score, you and I share the same goal. The difference is that I am suggesting we take a month or two to get to the heart of the real problem so you never have to doubt Jupiter again over fences."

That makes perfect sense to me! Marilyn interjected.

"He’s scheduled to be delivered in a couple of days. Give me a week with him after that and then let’s speak again. By then, I should have a fair idea of what the real problem is and what I can do to help resolve it. Does that sound fair to you?"

I don’t want any horse in my barn that can’t win so I hope you can figure out what his problem is.

I can’t promise you anything until I meet Jupiter and get to spend some time with him.

That sounds reasonable enough to me Katherine, Marilyn jumped into the conversation again.

Katherine, I’ll be frank with you. We’ve had several trainers here on the West Coast try to fix him and Hadley’s man tried to fix him. These were all seasoned men who either ended up injured or at the very least, none of them were able to make him do his job over fences. What makes you think you can?

Stewart, I’ll let you in on a little secret that female trainers know.

What’s that?

"Female trainers know that it is impossible to force a 1400 pound animal to jump a fence. Because we know that, we don’t bother with spurs and crops or any type of force. Instead, we use our brains, dissect the problem until we get to the root of it and then we resolve the real problem. That’s the difference between most male trainers and female trainers. So far, the male approach has not worked so why don’t you let me take a female approach to the problem and see if we can solve it."

Stew, Katherine makes perfect sense!

Ok then, I’ll give you a call in about ten days and we can go forward from there.

Chapter 2: Life After Loss

Sarah phoned the barn to speak with Katherine a few days after her mother had passed.

Hi Sarah, how are you doing?

My heart is broken in pieces and I feel like I’ve lost a part of my soul.

I’m so sorry that you’re having to go through this.

It feels terrible but at least our family knew mom was sick and we knew the end was near so we had the gift of time to say the things that needed to be and to spend those last days with her. When I think that you lost both your parents without any notice when you were just a teenager, I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like for you.

I’m not going to lie, it sucked, but it was a long time ago. How’s your family handling the loss?

John was very fond of my mom but he’s handling it pretty well. So is Emily but only because I don’t think she understands what’s happening. It’s Duke who seems to be taking it as hard as I am. He really loved his grandma.

He talked about her a lot when he and Emily were here at the farm.

Thanks again for babysitting. Sarah laughed for the first time, I wanted to thank you for what you did. The kids had the time of their lives with you and Brandon. You two are all they’ve talked about since!

I’m glad they enjoyed themselves. Brandon and I had just as much fun. I don’t know how you keep up with them. We were both exhausted by bedtime. I actually think parents put young children to bed early, not for the sake of the child but because the parents are exhausted! Both women enjoyed a good laugh.

You’re not the only one who’s often exhausted by the end of the day after spending it with two young children. I think that’s why public schools were invented in the first place… not to teach children how to read and write but to give parents an opportunity to sleep for a few hours!

You know, for the entire time the kids were here, I was terrified that Brandon’s phone was going to ring with an emergency call and I’d be out numbered, left on my own with both children! I thank God it didn’t ring.

On the days when I have the kids on my own and John is working, I worry that he will be late coming home from work for the same reason! You’d make a great mom because you think like one already! Sarah suddenly caught herself. She knew that Katherine couldn’t have any children of her own but it had slipped her mind for a moment. …Katherine, I’m sorry.

It’s Ok, no need to apologize.

There are so many women in the world who have no business having children but you’d make a great mom. You certainly made a great auntie to my kids!

Thanks for saying that, coming from a real mom that means a lot. I’ve had six years to come to terms with the hand I’ve been dealt. I don’t like it and I don’t think it’s fair, but I’ve learned to just keep moving forward. The good news is that while I can’t have children of my own, I get to have an impact on the lives of hundreds of other children through riding lessons and that will have to be enough…So, when is the funeral service for your mom?

We’re still sorting out the details but I think it will be Friday or Saturday. Everyone from the barn is invited to come. We’re going to keep it small and simple. She would’ve preferred it that way.

When you have the details, give me a call or email them over and I’ll share them with everyone.

Thanks. If it’s OK with you, I’d like to come back to work on Monday of next week. That’ll give me time to arrange the funeral, say good bye to mom and take care of the preliminary arrangements for her house.

Whatever you need. Let’s plan on next Monday and if that changes, just give me a call and we’ll figure it out. Say hi to Duke and Emily for me.

I will!

Chapter 3: Taking Your Power Back

On Tuesday afternoon Katherine pulled up to the women’s shelter for her meeting with Barbara Tomas, the shelter’s executive director. Barbara founded the shelter years before as a way to pay-it-forward for the help she and her mother had received when she was just a child back in Detroit. Barbara knew that if there hadn’t been a women’s shelter in her area, she and her mother would have ended up on the streets.

Hey Barb, thanks for making time to see me today, Katherine , giving the older woman a hug as she entered her office. I brought donuts. Katherine knew that Barbara enjoyed sweets so she tried to always bring something with her when she came to the shelter.

You’re a jewel for bringing donuts but you didn’t have to.

I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to and when I tell you what I need, you might not think a dozen donuts are nearly enough.

Whatever you need, I’m here for you. I feel terrible that you were carrying around that secret alone. You have the best poker face of any person I’ve ever known. I had no idea what demons were hiding inside you all those years. I understand why you felt you had to keep it a secret but I wish you’d told me when we first met. I would’ve done everything in my power to help you through this. You must’ve been terrified.

I’m glad you you wanted to help me through this because I need a favor. I lived every day of my life since coming to North Carolina in fear. As angry as I was that Mrs. Klassen divulged my secret, I have to say, I’m glad it’s out there and just maybe, with your help, I can put this chapter of my life in my rear view mirror.

What can I do to help?

You might want to sit down for this.

You’d better give me the donuts first! You look like you’re going to ask for the moon. With that, Barbara sat down at her desk, reaching for the box of assorted glazed donuts, picking out the largest one she could find. She took a healthy bite, closed her eyes with sheer delight and then pulled a napkin out of her desk to reluctantly rest the donut on before they proceeded.

I need to ask but if you tell me to go to hell, I’ll completely understand and it will have no impact on our friendship.

Spill! What do you want me to do?

My best friend Sharon from New York told me that you can’t erase your past, you can only replace it with something more positive and I agree with her.

Ok…I would agree with Sharon on that too... Barb cautiously, taking a second bite of her donut, while eyeing the rest of the box.

Well, Sharon suggested I hold a press conference and hand out copies of the entire file from the police in New York so all the local media have all the facts at one time.

Holy crap! That’s a brilliant idea. How can I help?

I want you to do the press conference with me. If I have to go up there alone, I’m going to either have a heart attack or pee in my pants. I thought you could share some national statistics on domestic violence and tell them about the shelter. What do you think?

"Is that all? I work with the press all the time so I’m happy to do a press conference. I’ll have your back so you don’t have to worry