By Heart Read online

  “I’m not adorable,” Vince said when he read the comments Dustin showed him the next afternoon.

  “But you are sweet,” Dustin replied with a smile. “You be sweet. I’ll be adorable.”

  “That you are, though,” Vince declared with a smile.

  Dustin stuck his tongue out at him and went back to cleaning tack.

  It really was a good distraction, among other things. Submerged in training, checking on the new construction, compiling a wait list of future students, and giving riding lessons to Hunter, Vince was able to keep his mind relatively off the upcoming team announcement. He never checked his social media accounts and instead let Dustin keep up on it.

  Then once again, the evening before the official list was due to be made public, Vince’s phone rang with a call from Greg. He shut himself in the barn office and answered.

  “I wanted to inform you that Harold Becket will be spending very little time near the show ring from this point forward,” Greg said. “I’m not sure how he’ll pass his time, but he won’t be allowed at an international show for at least five years. He agreed not to fight the allegations, so that’s the official ruling that will come down.”

  Vince was surprised by the conversation because it was not the one he had expected. He assumed Harold would get some kind of major punishment thanks to the evidence, so having Greg confirm it was not that important. He had put the event behind him because Xander wasn’t hurt after all.

  “Thank you for letting me know,” Vince replied. “I’m glad he’ll be losing some of his business thanks to this. Maybe not all, but certainly some.”

  “Oh, I’m sure. We have no room for people like him. I wonder how he’ll get his horses and students to the shows he wants them at now, but I suppose that’s none of my business. He’ll just have to fork out money to hire an assistant.”

  Vince smiled. “Good. As long as he’s paying for this somehow.”

  “He has been fined too. Nearly forgot that, but it’s just change for him. Oh, and congratulations, by the way.”

  “For what?” Vince asked. Helping to get Harold out of the show world for a while? The pictures of him and Dustin floating around the internet and making people think they were married already?

  “Making the team.”

  Vince stopped pacing. When had he even started, anyway? “Wait, what?”

  Greg chuckled. “You made the team. And I was told that, yes, you would have made it without doing the third show. Others on the list had worse results at their shows than you did.”

  Vince couldn’t think of anything to say, then finally voiced the first thing that came to mind. “Did you do that on purpose?”

  “What, distract you so I could surprise you?” Greg asked innocently. “Why on earth would I do that?”

  Vince laughed and sat down on the couch. “Well, thank you. What happens now?”

  “You don’t talk about it until tomorrow,” Greg replied. “Just like the short list.”

  Vince glanced toward the door, where there was suspicious silence. No voices, no creaking wheelbarrows, no hooves on concrete, no jingling tack.

  “Not sure that will be possible. I’m in the office at my barn, and I think I have a crowd of stable hands lurking outside.”

  Greg chuckled. “Okay, but make them promise not to talk publicly about it until tomorrow.”

  “I think we can handle that,” Vince assured him.

  “Good. You’ll be updated on what happens next as things fall into line. For now, make sure all three of you have valid passports and all your paperwork is up-to-date. I’ll send you the list of documents needed.”

  “Sounds good,” Vince replied. “Thank you.”

  “Not a problem. I’m very happy for you, and I’ll be seeing you soon.”

  When Vince got off the phone, he stared out the window for a moment. “Holy fucking shit,” he murmured. Without even thinking, he grasped his mom’s wedding ring around his neck and texted Dustin.

  I know you’re outside the office. Come in. I have an update on Harold.

  Only moments after the message sent, Dustin slipped inside and closed the door.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “What happened? What’s he saying?”

  Vince tried not to smile as he motioned for Dustin to sit beside him on the couch. “No, he got suspended for a minimum of five years, and he’s being forced to pay a fine.”

  Dustin sighed. “That’s good. So that’s why someone called you?”

  Vince shrugged. “Greg thought he would update me. Oh, and to let me know we made the team.”

  Dustin’s green eyes went wide. “Really?” he gasped.

  Vince grinned. “You look surprised.”

  Dustin knocked him against the arm of the couch with a hug. “Not surprised, just excited!”

  “So am I,” Vince replied, hugging Dustin as tight as he could. “So am I.”

  “This is so amazing,” Dustin declared. “Oh my God.”

  Vince kissed him. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone until tomorrow. Again. But I told Greg I had everyone at Anderson Stables outside the office trying to eavesdrop, and he said we could tell them as long as they promised not to talk about it publicly.”

  Dustin stood and pulled him up into another hug. “Come on, then,” he said into Vince’s shoulder, but didn’t move.

  Vince chuckled and hugged him again, then released him. “Let’s not kill them with suspense,” he suggested, grasping Dustin’s hand.

  He pulled Dustin toward the door and opened it. As expected, everyone was there, and they stopped whispering among themselves as soon as they saw Vince and Dustin. Vince considered leading them on for a moment, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  “You need to promise not to say anything until tomorrow” was all he said before everyone erupted into cheers.

  “You made it, didn’t you?” Cade asked over the noise. When Vince nodded with a grin, Cade laughed and shook his shoulder.

  “You guys are probably scaring the horses,” Vince finally reminded them when he heard a horse kick a wall from down the aisle. Only half of the nearly two-dozen horses currently on the property were out in the pastures at the moment. The rest were in their stalls.

  Everyone quieted down then but still had a million questions they apparently needed to ask. Vince answered what he could, then broke away so he could call his dad and Jane. He knew they would be able to keep quiet about it for a day.

  Jane shrieked when he told her, then proceeded to say she had known all along that he would make it. His dad just kept saying how proud he was of Vince and how proud his mom would have been if she were there. Vince had never been very religious, but he hoped if there was a heaven, his mom was there celebrating for him.

  He was doing it for her, after all. Her memory was pushing him forward as much as the support from his family and friends was.

  Chapter Eight

  ONCE IT was publicly announced the next day, Vince was astonished by the number of messages and emails he got congratulating him on making the team, including some from others who didn’t make it. The rest of the team members, who all had experience in Olympic competition, welcomed him as well. Mary Renolds was on the team, along with two other riders Vince had gotten to compete with and against over the last few years. He also knew who the alternative riders were from past shows and was amazed to realize he was the only one without either Olympic or twenty years of top-class experience. He sent responses back thanking each of them for the support and congratulating them on making the team.

  He also started getting a number of requests from various journalists from the GLBT sports groups who followed him, wanting to interview him for Olympic specials. He had always found it odd that those groups wanted to follow him since he knew many people didn’t consider equestrian events to be sports at all, but he was more than happy to do his part in bringing it to more people.

  On top of planning those interviews, he also had the equestrian news
people asking for him to be included in their Olympic coverage. And the area news channels and papers were calling because they rarely got to write about local Olympians.

  And he needed to actually get ready to leave for the whole thing, and that would take a good deal of planning too.

  With Dustin’s help, Vince compiled a list of things they needed to get done, then filled in a calendar with what they would be doing and when. Paperwork, vet checks, doctor appointments, shopping, packing, interviews, deciding who would watch Tally and the house…. Everything needed to be done in a timely manner. They finished—at least until they realized they’d forgotten to put something down—two nights after the announcement.

  Vince tapped his pencil on the coffee table currently decorated with scattered papers, a laptop, and eraser clumps. “Seems good for now,” he declared.

  Dustin looked the calendar over and nodded. “I think we got it all. Time for a break.” He sighed and leaned back against the couch. “Where did we put the extra wedding invitations?”

  Vince dropped his pencil and stretched his back. “In the desk in the office upstairs. Why?”

  Dustin sighed again before explaining. “Mom told Eve she wants to see me and try to mend our relationship—Eve’s words, not mine. It’s taken me until now to figure out what to do about it.”

  “You’re going to invite her to the wedding?” Vince asked, surprised. He also leaned back, keeping his gaze locked on Dustin.

  “If you’re okay with it,” Dustin replied. “I’ll tell her that we’re really busy right now, but if she’s serious about having a relationship with me again, she needs to accept who I am and that you’re a part of my life now. If she can accept that, she can show it by coming.”

  “And if she doesn’t come?”

  Dustin shrugged. “We’ll have to see what happens. But that’s what would really prove to me that she does want to fix things.”

  Vince nodded and put an arm around Dustin’s shoulders. “Then I say you should invite her. Whether she shows or not, we’ll be able to move forward from there.”

  Dustin leaned against him. “Thank you.”

  THE FOURTH of July ended up being more to celebrate Vince making the Olympic team than anything else. Wes invited his training partner from the racetrack, Mark, to their annual barbecue at Anderson Stables, and Mark immediately congratulated Vince. Even Mandy, who knew almost nothing about his show career, gave him a hug and told him how happy she was for him before letting him hold his six-month-old niece.

  Everyone wished him luck. Mandy’s husband, Jeff, warned him to watch out for biting insects, homophobes, and terrorists. Mandy told Jeff to shut up. Everyone else instructed him to have fun and take as many pictures as possible.

  “Seriously, though,” Wes said at the end of the night. “Make sure you stay safe.”

  “We will,” Vince assured him. He really wasn’t concerned. He knew he wasn’t going to be alone and that it really would be one of the safest environments for them, all things considered. “I promise,” he added for his father’s sake, though.

  VINCE WAS fielding a huge number of phone calls, even from people he’d never given his number to. It got to the point where he started putting his phone on silent when he wanted to spend time with Xander or any of the other horses, then checked his messages when he could. Which was how he received the message from Mary almost a week after the announcement.

  “Hi, Vince. It’s Mary Renolds. I’m sure you know by now that we’ll be flying out of Miami. I thought I’d offer you guys a place at my barn in the meantime. I’m less than an hour from there, and it might make things easier on you. Let me know.”

  It was a good thing they had written their calendar in pencil because, while Vince was planning around interviews, photo shoots at Anderson Stables he was not well prepared for, shopping trips, paperwork, and medical visits of the human and equine variety, he now also had to arrange for the three of them to drive down to Mary’s barn. It would give Xander less time to travel to the quarantine facility, and it meant Vince wouldn’t have to leave a vehicle at the airport, so they could remain close to Xander during quarantine. It left them a shorter time to prepare at home, though, and it meant leaving Tally without them longer.

  “You’ll have to be a good girl for Mia,” Dustin told her the night before they left. She was sitting between his legs while he sat on the couch. She’d been glued to Dustin even more so than usual that day, like she knew they were leaving. Dustin leaned forward and hugged her. “I don’t want to hear you were naughty.”

  Vince rubbed Dustin’s back. “She’ll be good. I wish we could bring her.”

  Dustin nodded against Tally’s head. “Me too, but that’s life.”

  Tally craned her neck and licked his hands around her chest.

  “Mary probably would have been fine with us bringing her there, but we don’t want to leave her alone at her place. It’s better if we don’t mess up her daily life too much.”

  “I know,” Dustin assured him. “I’ll miss her, but it’ll be fun. It’ll just be lonely spending the night without you or her.”

  They had been told the grooms were staying in accommodations close to the barns while the riders were to stay in the Athletes’ Village. They would have transportation between the village and the barns on a daily basis, but Vince and Dustin would have to spend their nights apart.

  “We’ll make the days worth it,” Vince told him. He leaned over and gave Dustin a kiss on the cheek. “Greg said he can pull some strings to make sure we can have the full experience too.”

  Dustin raised an eyebrow at him. “How so?”

  Vince smiled, glad to finally be able to share the plan he’d managed to work out with Greg and whatever Team USA officials he had leverage with. “We’re flying in with the eventing team a few days before the opening ceremony. Jumping is the last sport, so the rest of the show jumping team will trickle in after that. I’m also going on the plane as a flight groom for Jason’s horse.”

  Dustin’s eyes lit up. “You’ll be there? Good! I like that much better than going it alone.”

  Vince kissed him lightly. “Me too. I’ll be less worried about both of you if I’m there with you.”

  “I’m so happy Jason made the team too,” Dustin added. “I can trust someone to keep an eye on you now.”

  Vince pushed him playfully. “You don’t trust Mary? I’ve known her just as long as I’ve known Jason.”

  Dustin smiled. “Jason wants to make sure you don’t get mugged or something. He needs your money.”

  Vince laughed. “I guess that’s true. Anyway, we’re also on one of the last flights out, which is the night after the closing ceremony. I’ll be coming back as Mary’s groom, so I’m with Xander and you again. Plus we get to do both ceremonies.”

  “You do,” Dustin pointed out. “I’ve been told I don’t.”

  “Nope,” Vince replied with a smile. “Greg argued that grooms are staff members and should be given the chance to participate. So if you want to, you can.”

  “Really?” Dustin asked, then grinned. “I’d love that.”

  “Greg worked it out after I told him I was likely not going to try to make the team again,” Vince explained. He had made the decision already considering how much work and travel was involved. He wanted to keep focused on training horses and riders at home and traveling to shows only in the US and Canada. Maybe if the Games came back to North America in the future he would change his mind. “We’ll be able to watch whatever other sports we want too—as long as they’re not while I’m competing, of course.”

  “Well, we have to watch Jason compete, that’s for sure.”

  Vince nodded. “Of course.”

  “So aside from spending every night apart for more than two weeks, it’ll be fun. Like a vacation.”

  “I would almost say like a prehoneymoon,” Vince commented, “but the sleeping apart thing kind of ruins that.”

  Dustin laughed. “I’d have to agree
with that. But I think maybe we should have one anyway.”

  “You really want one?” Vince asked. “I was thinking it would be nice, but so would just having a stay-at-home honeymoon after all that travel. Either way, I won’t be upset.”

  Dustin smiled. “True. But I did some research on friendly places we could go. Just in case.”

  Vince returned the smile. “Show me. Let’s see what we can do.”

  Chapter Nine

  THE NEXT morning they left for Mary’s barn in Florida. Vince was glad to be driving there in the middle of the summer instead of the beginning of winter or early spring. They were now planning on going to the Winter Equestrian Festival every late December and returning in April, when the weather could be cold and miserable during the northern part of the route. Though they did encounter some heavy rain during their almost four days of driving, there was no snow or freezing rain for once. The summer travel traffic wasn’t exactly pleasant, but Vince had learned how to handle it. He just took a deep breath and carefully maneuvered the trailer through as they made their way to their destination. He focused all his thought on Xander’s safety and disregarded the frustrated drivers who didn’t think he was accelerating or turning fast enough.

  At night they slept at truck stops. Vince allowed Dustin to walk Xander around while he cleaned the trailer stall and refilled the hay net and feed bucket. This was something Xander had gotten used to rather quickly, and he no longer spooked at any vehicle driving by or pulling into the parking area. Vince made sure to lock the trailer doors at night so no one would be able to break in. Horse thieves were a real thing, and he wanted to avoid that happening, especially when they didn’t have a dog with them as a security system.

  “What would someone steal a horse for, especially if they don’t know who you are?” Jane asked him one night while he was on the phone with her and locking the doors at the same time.

  “Quick money,” Vince answered. “They take them to auctions.”