The Untold Story of Prince Charming (Book 2 of Cinderella Series)

Chapter 14

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Julie stopped reading the letter again and sighed, moving a hand through her hair and pursed her lips in annoyance. "Oh, Dear, God," she said, her voice barely above a whisper before she cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. "This is going to be interesting."

She bit back a small sigh before she shook her head and shifted in her seat again. She furrowed her brows and cocked her head while she studied what she had read so far, her heart filling a bit with warmth because her father cared about her mother and her horse, even though he didn't need to.

"Oh, Dad," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, moving a hand through her hair and across her face before she bit back a small sigh. "What were you doing? What did you do to help Mom? Do you think you helped Mom like you thought you would?"

He did...

Julie shivered, and her heart skipped a beat before it started to pound hard and fast in her chest while her throat closed.

He helped as much as he could, if not more...

She took a deep breath before she released it with a small whoosh before she smiled and slowly nodded, her heart filling with warmth and relief.

"Oh, God," she said before she cleared her throat and shifted in her seat while she moved a hand through her hair again. "Now, I think it's time to continue to read this letter and see what else happened. Hopefully Dad was able to help Mom and her horse..."

Even though she already knew that he did from what Mom had told her before she passed.

Julie chuckled sadly and shook her head, her heart aching and became filled with loss and sadness. "I miss you both," she said and moved a hand across her father's journal, blinking back some tears. "I don't know how I can tell you that, but I wanted you both to know that."

And with another soft, sad sigh, Julie shook her head before she started to continue to read her father's journal, wanting to see what her father was able to do without her grandfather's knowledge.

Maybe, just maybe her father was able to ride Blue, too, and showed Blue the life he could live here without his "mother" by his side...

~***~***~***~

Dr. Ren sighed and nodded after she was finished checking him over before she looked at me. "He looks good, Daniel," she said before she cleared her throat and shifted on her feet before she took a step back to give him some space. "As always." She cleared her throat again and shifted on her feet, gesturing toward the horse beside me. "However, he's going to need to have his teeth floated soon, but that is about it."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and slowly nodded. "Can we go ahead and schedule that with you today?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "Do you know about how long it's going to be until we need to get it done?"

"You will need to do it in a month or so," Dr. Ren said and nodded, agreeing with me about setting a date for his teeth. She cleared her throat and looked at Blue before she looked at me. "Do you know what plans your father has for him?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"He wants to start racing him," Richard said, interrupting me when I opened my mouth to say that I didn't know. He looked at me and flashed me a small smile in apology before he looked at Dr. Ren. "Do you think that it will be fine?"

Dr. Ren sighed and moved a hand through her hair before she cleared her throat and shook her head. "That is something that I do not know if it's possible or not," she said. She cleared her throat again and shifted on her feet while she looked at him before she looked at us again. "He's six, and he hasn't been in any racing competitions before."

"Why not?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. I looked at her before I looked at my "new" horse, rubbing his neck, and he nuzzled my side, breathing a small sigh of relief. I bit back a small smile before I looked at her again. "Did her stepmother not allow her to?"

"Correct," she said and nodded in confirmation. "Red tried to get her into some things, but it didn't work because her stepmother would stop them from leaving."

My heart ached, and I couldn't help but cringe, hating that for her. "Oh," I said before I cleared my throat and placed my lips into a thin line. "That sucks."

Dr. Ren bit back a small chuckle and slowly nodded before she sighed and pressed her lips into a thin line. "It does," she said before she cleared her throat and grew serious. "Now, are you going to try to ride him, too?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

I smiled sadly and shook my head no. "Unfortunately, Dad doesn't want me to have anything to deal with him for some reason. Doing this is actually against his wishes, and I don't want to make him mad as much as he will be if he finds out about this."

"We will make sure that he doesn't know, Young Boss," Richard said, and I looked at him, biting back a small sigh of relief and nodded in confirmation. "If you want to ride him, then we will make sure that he doesn't know about that too."

My group nodded in agreement before Alec cleared his throat and shifted on his feet looking between the two of us before he looked at me.

"We all will help, Young Sir," Alec said and nodded again. "If ye want to ride 'im, then we will help make sure yer father is busy with something else so that ye can."

I breathed a small sigh of relief, and my shoulders sank with relief. "Just don't get into trouble with him. Is that understood?" I raised an eyebrow in question while I looked at them, making sure to meet each one's gazes. "I do not want anyone to get in trouble with him."

"Yes, Sir," they said and nodded, and I held back an eye roll when they called me "sir," even though they were older than me.

However, I did not say a word about it while I looked at them.

I breathed a small sigh of relief and nodded. "Good," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet before I looked at Dr. Ren. "Was there anything else that we needed to do with Blue, or can I go ahead and put him back in his stall?"

"You can put him back in his stall," Dr. Ren said and nodded. "We will do some lunging and stuff later, but I want to make sure that your father doesn't know that you are out here." She paused and cocked her head while she studied me, raising an eyebrow in question. "Do you know where he is?"

I smiled sadly and shook my head, pressing my lips into a thin line. "Unfortunately, not," I said. "I don't know where he is at, but I know that he isn't at home, and I don't think I want to know where he is at."

I had no idea what Dr. Ren knew about our family, the secrets that we tried to keep hidden from the outside world, and I didn't want to air out this business, especially when it was only something that we thought was happening and not the actual truth.

Dr. Ren pressed her lips into a thin line before she slowly nodded. "Ok," she said before she cleared her throat and shifted on her feet. She looked at Blue and then looked at me. "Are you ready to get him back into his stall?"

"Yes," I said and nodded in confirmation. I rubbed his neck and clicked my tongue before I gently pulled on his lead rope to get his attention. "Come on, Blue," I said softly, and he whickered and nuzzled my side. "Let's go."

I started to walk toward his stall, and Blue followed me with the others watching over us, silently discussing something that I couldn't hear.

Hopefully it wasn't anything bad or about me and the relationship I was going to have with a horse that belonged to a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed to follow me even when I closed my eyes...