Heywood Equestrian Stables

The Races

As much as I wanted to move past what happened, I couldn't. I wanted to. I wanted to believe Sidney when he said it was just sex that one time with Eliza and it was only to help my father. I wasn't even upset that he had sex with her. What bothered me the most was how he lied to me when he told me months ago there was never anything between them. I tried to convince myself that it was still early in our relationship and we weren't even officially together when he told me that. His excuse was always that he never saw anything between them, so when he told me he was never with her, in his mind he was telling me the truth. In a way, that almost made it worse.

I was finding it easier to hide my feelings from Sidney. I pretended everything was fine on the surface. I kept myself busy with Onyx and spent a lot of time with Esther. She had become a great support and helped to clarify many things I had going on in my head. She wanted to help me plan the wedding and even talked about going dress shopping, but the thought of planning a wedding didn't seem very appealing.

When I was alone with Sidney at night, I'd claim I was exhausted and needed sleep. He accepted what I said and typically agreed that he was tired too. We were falling apart right before my eyes, but I was helpless to stop it.

We were a day away from the first race and Onyx was training more and more to prepare. Mr. Babington had the entire schedule of races Onyx would participate in mapped out. We sat down at the table one night while he walked us through the schedule.

"This is a lot," I said, looking over the dates. "Don't you think he should have a break in between some of these races?"

"Some horses race twice as many as this. He will be fine. He's ready for this," Babington excused with a chuckle. "Don't worry, Charlotte. Onyx is going to blow everyone away."

"But some of these races are all back-to-back." I pointed out a group of dates on his schedule. "Look at these ones, for instance. You have him racing five days in a row. He needs a break in between."

"I suppose if you insist, I could cut a few races out."

"We insist," Sidney added.

Mr. Babington sighed in defeat and glanced over the schedule he had laid before us. "I'll go over the schedule again and see if I can rearrange a few dates."

"Thank you," I said. We all stood, and Mr. Babington gathered up his papers in his arms before shaking both of our hands. He walked towards his office, which he'd probably spend half the night going over the races and studying the competition. Racing truly was his main priority, much to Esther's dismay. Although, she reminded me often that she knew this about him before they married and had agreed to accept him as he was.

Once alone, Sidney affectionately rubbed my back. "Things are about to get pretty busy," he said.

I nodded my head in agreement before turning towards him. "Thank you for sticking up for me about Onyx needing a break."

"Of course," he said. "I happen to agree with you. As much as he's pushing Onyx to be this great racehorse, Onyx was not bred to be a racehorse. This is his first season, and we can't push him too far."

I smiled and felt relieved Sidney knew what I was thinking without even saying anything. "I'm worried about him."

He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly to give me comfort. A part of me did feel that comfort, but another part of me felt uneasy. "Let's get to bed. Tomorrow is a big day."

Sidney led me up the stairs to our room where we both got ready for bed. As I was pulling the blankets back, Sidney came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle. He leaned into my neck and started to kiss me. I enjoyed it for a moment, until flashes of him being with Eliza filled my thoughts. When his hands started to venture under my shirt and into the waistband of my pajama bottoms, I pulled away. He was left confused by my sudden refusal.