Breaking the Reins Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Praise for Breaking the Reins

  Dedication

  Dictionary

  Eight Months Earlier

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Eight Months Later

  About the novel

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Breaking the Reins

  Juliana Haygert

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  Praise for Breaking the Reins

  “Breaking The Reins by Juliana Haygert is a real treasure. It’s a sexy, heartbreaking and romantic ride you won’t want to miss.” —Sawyer Bennett, USA Today Bestselling author of Off Side, Off Limits, Off the Record, and Off Course.

  “A breath of fresh air in the New Adult market. Juliana Haygert's new contemporary novel is one not to be missed!” —Magan Vernon, international bestselling author of The Only Exception

  “A swoonworthy love interest and a fantastic backdrop make Breaking the Reins a New Adult read you don't want to miss!” —Alyssa Rose Ivy, bestselling author of The Crescent Chronicles, Clayton Falls Series, and The Hazards of Skinny Dipping.

  To all lovers of New Adult

  Dictionary

  Portuguese - English

  Note that some words and expression don’t have a perfect literal translation. The translation you see here is the one that fits the context of this novel.

  Bem - fine, good

  Boa noite - good night

  Boa tarde - good afternoon

  Bom - well

  Bomba - item to drink chimarrão with

  Bombacha – typical pants used by gaúchos

  Calma – calm down

  Carreteiro – typical dish made of leftover steaks from barbecues

  Chimarrão - herb-based drink from the south of Brazil

  Cuia - item to drink chimarrão with

  Delícia – delicious

  De nada – you’re welcome

  Desculpa - sorry

  Deus do céu – Lord above/Oh my God

  Eita – whoa

  Eu não vou me atrasar – I won’t be late

  Eu vou te matar - I’ll kill you

  Feliz Páscoa – Happy Easter

  Filho duma puta – son of a bitch

  Gaúcho/ Gaúcha – how people from the south of Brazil are called

  Graças a Deus – thank God

  Guria - girl

  Me dá - give it to me

  Me deixa em paz - leave me alone

  Merda - shit

  Meu Deus - my God

  Morena - brunette, but in Brazil this term is used in a caring way, like darling or sweetie

  Não – no

  Nossa – wow/whoa

  O que - what

  O que é isso - what is this

  Obrigado (a) - thanks

  Oi – hi/hello

  Peão/Peões – what cowboys are called in Brazil

  Perfeita - perfect

  Pois então – well/you see

  Porra – fuck/shit

  Porcaria – crap/jeez/damn

  Puta merda – fuck/shit/bullshit

  Que droga - crap/jeez/damn

  Que mentira - what a lie

  Que nada - nonsense

  Sim – yes

  Tá bom – okay

  Também – too/also

  Tche – a common expression used by gaúchos – it can mean many things. A salutation, an exasperated exclamation, or even calling someone

  Tchau - bye

  Tudo bem/Tudo bom - how are you

  Vai com – go with

  Veado - deer. But in Brazil, it’s a nickname for homosexuals. Between friends, it’s used as a friendly, teasing callback.

  Você - you

  Eight Months Earlier

  I cranked the volume on the stereo, and sang along to Lady Antebellum’s latest track while driving away from my grandma’s ranch. She insisted I stay since it was almost midnight and drive back to campus in the morning, but she knew I wouldn’t change my mind. I didn’t mind driving at night. Actually, I preferred it. Besides, I knew these roads by heart.

  The aroma of cookies filling the inside of my car made me smile, and I inhaled deeply. She always baked something whenever I came to spend the weekend with her—which was often—and made me a huge container of whatever it was so I could take it back to campus. The bad side was that I had to share with my roommate. Although we weren’t close by any means, she loved my grandma’s cooking.

  I guess everyone loved my grandma’s cooking.

  I glanced to the cookies on the passenger seat. Mmm, too tempting. I reached for one and my eyes gazed over my tote beside it. It was open, and my big economics book, along with all the notes I’d stuck in it, was missing. Crap. I’d taken it out to study while grandma baked the cookies. Maybe it was still in her kitchen.

  The bright blue light from the clock on the dashboard indicated it was past midnight. I was already close to town, but I had to go back. I would need my notes for my morning class. Great. What was supposed to be a twenty-minute drive had just turned into an hour-long one, if I counted going back to the ranch, then back to campus.

  Cursing, I pulled over and turned around.

  Thirteen minutes into my drive back, my cell phone rang, playing It Girl.

  “I thought you would be sleeping by now,” I said.

  “Hannah, where are you?” Eric asked. “I thought you were supposed to be on campus by now. I’m waiting for you to call me from your room, when you’re safe and sound in your bed, so I can go to sleep too.”

  “Sorry, change of plans.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m going back ’cause I forgot my book and my notes at the ranch.” For a second or two, he said nothing. “Eric, are you there?”

  “Baby, you shouldn’t worry about your book. It’s late and you’re probably tired. I would feel better if you didn’t drive back and forth so much.”

  I smiled. He always cared so much about me. “Don’t worry. I’m sure grandma will convince me to sleep over and drive back in the morning. She suggested it earlier anyway.”

  “Even so. You’ll be tired in the morning.”

  He had a point, but it was too late now. “Eric, I’m almost there.”

  “Baby—”

  “Why don’t you tell me about your trip while I drive the last six miles?” I drove by the Thompson ranch. Not too far to go now. “It’ll help pass the time.”

  “I already told you about it. We won.”

  “Yeah, but I’m sure there’s more to it. Like, how was the other team? How was the hotel? Was the food good, and did Tomas fall off his horse this time?”

  “It was all good. And no, Tomas didn’t fall. Though, Justin’s pony was limping by the end of the match. She’ll be checked out by the vet tomorr
ow.”

  “Oh, I hope Irina is okay.”

  “I do too. Justin is too attached to that damn horse. If she’s ill, he’ll have a breakdown.”

  “And that’s not good,” I said. “Oh, speaking of not good, guess who showed up at the ranch this afternoon?”

  He sighed. “No idea.”

  “Mr. Nash. Damn, sometimes I want to punch him for grandma. When is he going to learn she won’t sell the ranch to him? Or to anyone? The man doesn’t get it. Worse, when grandma refused to keep discussing it, he started yelling and threatening her. It was creepy.”

  “See? One more reason not to go there so much. What if this guy turns violent?”

  “Ah, Eric. He’s like a dog. All bark, no bite.”

  I turned left onto a smaller road and approached the ranch gates. Everything was supposed to be dark, except for a few lights around the stables and the house.

  But the dark night was tinged by orange.

  “Eric,” I whispered. “Something’s wrong.”

  The road to grandma’s house and the stables was a long one, but it suddenly seemed infinite. And the orange on the horizon seemed far away.

  “What is it?”

  The phone fell from my hands as I slammed on the brakes at the end of the road, causing the car to skid.

  The main stable was completely engulfed in fire.

  Chapter One

  The coffee maker beeped and I reached for it. If Eric saw me making a new pot in the afternoon, or any time of the day, he would dump it on the sink. Thankfully, he was at a meeting with his team at the polo club, so my coffee was safe.

  I gripped my mug with both hands and inhaled deeply. Ah, the perfect comforting smell. And even more perfect mixed with the house’s permanent vanilla scent. My grandma used it in everything—perfume, candles, fabric softener. After eight months, her home still smelled like it.

  I looked around the kitchen and, as always, my eyes settled on the largest portrait on the wall. It was a 24-by-18 frame of grandma, Hercules, and me in front of the old stable a couple of weeks before the fire. Grandma and I were smiling, and Hercules had his muzzle on my neck. Damn, how I missed them.

  My gaze fell on Hercules, my beautiful, happy horse. He was very different from the one in my stable right now.

  My cell phone rang.

  I glanced at the screen before answering and groaned. “Hi, Mom.”

  “Good afternoon, Hannah,” she said, her tone flat. “I’m just calling to make sure you remember our dinner party tonight.” She didn’t wait for me to answer before continuing, “Do you have plans to come early and spend a few minutes with your parents?”

  I sighed. “I’ll try.”

  “You will try,” she muttered.

  “Mom, today is Jimmy’s day off, and I have tons of stuff to do around here.”

  “Hannah, you’re a Taylor. You can do anything you want to. If that means hiring more employees so you have more time for your family, you do it. But as a Taylor, you’re never late to your appointments and events. Never.”

  I gritted my teeth. Typical, playing the you-are-a-Taylor card. It didn’t matter to them that I spent most of my time as a student at the University of California in Santa Barbara, or that I lived on a ranch by myself.

  No. To them I was Hannah Taylor, one of the two heiresses to an equestrian empire, and girlfriend of the best polo player in the world.

  I closed my eyes. “I’ll be there about an hour before the party starts, Mom.”

  “Good,” she said, sounding triumphant. “I’ll see you and Eric in a few hours, then.”

  A loud cracking noise came from the stable, and I snapped my head to the window.

  “Yeah, sure,” I said, my mind on what that noise could be. “Mom, I gotta go. Bye.”

  Barely thinking, I turned off the phone, let go of my coffee, ran to the foyer, pulled on my boots, and ran out of the house.

  The sun peeked out of heavy clouds, unable to dry the grass and dirt road from the morning rain. The trees and the flowers’ scent drifted around me, accentuated by the dampness in the air.

  I dashed down the stone path, careful not to slip, and reached the new stable as thunder rolled in the sky. Apparently, the rain wasn’t over yet. The odd thing was it rarely rained over this region.

  All the horses were quiet in the stable, except for Argus.

  I’d barely seen this horse since Jimmy convinced me to bring him. Four days ago, I was arriving home after I had finished my last final for spring semester, when Jimmy, my grandma’s right hand, came running from the arena. “Miss Taylor.”

  I stepped out of my car and headed for the house. “Hi, Jimmy.”

  I entered the house but Jimmy halted by the door and took off his hat. “Michael, the animal control officer, rescued a horse this morning. He wants to bring him here.”

  What? Why?

  “Your grandmother was the one who took care of them ….”

  Well, she isn’t here anymore.

  “But he thought you would like to have the horse.” He scratched his thin mustache. “He mentioned putting him down if you don’t accept him.”

  I crossed my arms. “That’s a big pressure on me. You know I’m not my grandmother, Jimmy. I can’t do what she did.”

  “But, besides me, you were the one who spent more time with her around this ranch. You may have never healed a horse by yourself, but you’ve seen your grandmother do it.”

  I had seen her doing it, yes, but that didn’t mean I knew how to do it by myself. This would be the first time I would work on a damaged horse without her. It would only serve to make things more real, to remind me she wasn’t here anymore and never would be again. That my own horse wasn’t here anymore and never would be again.

  The ranch had plenty of horses, but I didn’t feel like they were mine. I hadn’t cared for them the same way I cared for Hercules. I hadn’t picked them like I had picked Hercules. Still, they had been my grandma’s horses, and now I was taking care of them. Leaving her ranch to me was her wish.

  Since she died, I had not taken or bought any new horses. It just didn’t feel right. And accepting this one, even if for a short period of time, felt like I was betraying Hercules. Like I had found a substitute for him.

  However, I couldn’t let animal control put the horse down. Who was I kidding? Even if remembering Hercules hurt, I couldn’t deny help to a horse.

  “All right,” I finally said.

  Ugh, I had underestimated my preparedness to “cure” a horse by myself, and the pain I felt at thinking about taking care of any horse other than Hercules.

  For now, I allowed Jimmy to take care of him. But this Saturday being his day off, I was alone at the ranch.

  The white horse jerked around in his stall, kicking and bumping his body against the wooden walls.

  I approached his door. “Hey, boy,” I whispered. “Easy, easy.”

  But he didn’t go easy. He turned to me and, when his eyes met mine, he neighed loud and clear. Then, all the other horses complained and joined him, their screams ringing in my ears. I couldn’t afford to have him disturb them. It would cause a ruckus, and I wouldn’t be able to control them all.

  Breaking the stare, Argus used his hind legs to kick at the door, and I retreated on instinct.

  “Argus, please, look at me.”

  He kicked at the door. That was where the noise I heard from inside the house came from. The wood of the door was cracking and he knew it.

  I glanced behind me to the shelf on the wall where the extra syringes and sedatives were. I could use that, but I had no idea how I would get close enough without being stomped on. There was another solution I could try.

  I ran to the tack room and searched for something I could use to block the door. Either that or I could put him in another stall, but then he would just break it again. My best choice was to calm him down, if I could. Or give him sedatives like Jimmy had been doing whenever he became agitated.

  Crap. Why ha
d I allowed Jimmy to bring him in? I knew the answer without having to think about it. The poor animal was found beaten and frightened. I couldn’t leave him alone or put him down without at least trying to save him.

  Another crack, louder this time, startled me. I grabbed the first pair of bridle and reins I saw and dashed to Argus’s stall just as he was about to jump over the broken door.

  He halted and looked at me. I froze, afraid that if I moved he would gallop away.

  “Argus, boy, come here.” I hid my hands behind my back. “I’ve got carrots and apples here. Want some? Come and get it.”

  The horse was either too smart or too wary. He snorted at me before racing out of the stable.

  I grabbed a syringe and a sedative from the shelf, and scurried after him.

  I would never be able to catch up with him, but I had to try. I put my hand inside my pocket to pick up my phone, and realized I had dropped it when I was putting on my boots. I cursed myself and considered racing to the house and grabbing the phone, but if I didn’t go after him, I would lose him. And if I lost sight of him now, I might never find him again.

  He trotted down the path leading away from the property as if he savored freedom. Thunder echoed through the sky. Startled, the horse neighed and sped up.

  “Argus!” I yelled, running after him.

  Great! Now I would spend the afternoon racing after this damn horse instead of doing my chores and getting ready for the party. I hoped I solved this situation fast, otherwise I would be late for the damn dinner party, and my mother wouldn’t care about explanations.

  Speaking of my mother, if she saw me like this—in short jeans, a pink tank, and red cowboy boots, now covered in mud—she would have an anxiety attack and faint, at the very least. Thank goodness, she lived one hour away.

  The horse left the ranch and turned on the main road. Keeping up with a horse was impossible, and soon I’d have to stop chasing him. Hopefully, the Thompsons would be outside their barn, and I would be able to holler for help.

  “Argus, stop!”

  He slowed when he reached a turn in the road. Tall trees reached up and entangled their leaves together, creating a beautiful green tunnel.

  Something moved in the bushes behind him, and Argus halted, watching it. Damn, I hoped it wasn’t a mountain lion. I tried not thinking about it as I used the horse’s distraction to get near him.