Chapter 1
“Tipperary Carriage Company, Mae Monahan speaking. How can I help you?”
“Oh, hi. I want to arrange a special carriage ride. It’s for a … I want to propose to my soon-to-be fiancée.”
“A proposal. Oh, that’s wonderful. What did you have in mind?” Fit and slender, forty-five-year old Mae had started a horse-drawn carriage-ride service, and although it had been up and running for only a month, she was already getting more business than she could handle.
At the moment, she only had one horse and a carriage, but she was looking to get at least a few more. In fact, she had to be leaving her condo soon to get to the barn, because her second horse was due to arrive that morning.
“Well, I wanted to do this on Valentine’s Day,” the man went on. “In the morning, if we could. Over in Riverfront Park.”
“I actually do have Valentine’s Day open, since it’s on a Thursday and everyone wanted to book for the weekend right after it,” Mae told him. “And yes, Riverfront Park would be just fine. It’s on the edge of downtown, along the river, and there are wide paved pathways where the carriage can roll with no cars to contend with.”
“Yeah, good.” The man didn’t sound too excited. Mae figured that most likely he was just doing this to please his fiancée, which was not really a very good sign. He would get tired of placating her once they were married.
“So, can you have a carriage there on Thursday the fourteenth?” the man went on. “She wants … I mean, I want to do something special. You know, something that will look good when she posts it on social media.”
“Of course,” said Mae, with a laugh. Just as long as you spell the name of my company right. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to do, just so we can be ready?”
“Yeah. See, my girlfriend will be there with my brother and his wife. I’ll come around the corner in the horse-drawn carriage, bring her into it, and propose to her right there.”
“That sounds lovely. It’s a wonderful idea.”
“Oh, wait,” the man said suddenly, as though he’d just thought of something. “I mean, is that carriage big enough for me to kneel down in?”
“It sure is. It’s large enough to carry six people comfortably on two benches that face each other across the front and the back. There’s plenty of floor space in between them. I’m sure it will be perfect.”
“Okay, good,” the man said. “Can you be there and pick me up at a quarter to ten that morning? I’ll tell the rest of them to meet me at ten.”
“That will work perfectly. I know just the place where I can hide for a few minutes before we come around the corner to join your fiancée. I’ll have the carriage, it’s a white carriage and it will be decorated with flowers and ribbons and….”
“How much will it be?” the man interrupted Mae.
“Let’s see. To meet you there for pictures and then take you and your fiancée for a fifteen-minute ride would be one hundred dollars.”
“Okay. I’ll see you there Thursday morning, on Valentine’s Day.”
It sounded like he was about to hang up. “Oh, wait. I need your name so I can make the reservation.”
“Harry. Harry Irwin. My girlfriend’s name is Cheryl.”
“Harry Irwin . . . and Cheryl,” Mae said, keying the information into the laptop at her kitchen table. “Would you like to place a credit card on file?”
“I’d like to pay cash.”
“You’re all set.”
“Great. See you then.”
The man hung up, and Mae was glad he hadn’t ended the call before she got his contact information. She felt her excitement rising. My first Valentine’s Day customers. And if I’m lucky, I’ll have a special new horse just in time for the proposal.
* * *
Later that morning, out at Goodnight Farm just a few miles from the condo where she lived, Mae stood in the barn aisle beside her white Landau carriage and looked at her new horse.
Grey-haired and in his late fifties, Ross, the man who owned the farm and who seemed to enjoy traveling with Mae to her driving engagements, held the enormous horse in the middle of the aisle. Copper seemed very agitated and would not stand still. He just danced around and tried to look at everything at once. Most of all, he kept whinnying very, very loudly at all the other horses in the barn, most of whom were quiet older guys kept there as retirees or casual trail horses.
Mae felt like covering her ears. “He’s louder than a jet engine here in the barn,” she said, walking over to him to stroke his neck. “Calm down, now. You’re fine. You’re home. I think you’ll like it here.”
But the horse only seemed to get more nervous and excited.
“It’s normal for them to be keyed up in a new place,” said Ross. “But he’s acting like he’s never seen anything in his life.”
“He sure is. The seller told me he’d been to the Ohio State Fair and was shown inside that huge coliseum a couple of times, and he’d pulled a sleigh at home in the wintertime. Something like a new barn shouldn’t rattle him this much.”
As she watched him, Mae was struck by how Copper was even prettier than he’d been in his pictures. He was a huge, tall Belgian gelding with a bright reddish coat and long white mane and tail, as well as four white legs covered from the knees down with the long silky hair called feather.
“He’s going to look gorgeous with the white Landau,” Mae said to Ross. “I’ve already got the perfect start for him. I just got another call this morning from a client who wants a special Valentine’s Day proposal. I can’t wait.”
“Gotta get him to settle down first.” With his calm, steady presence, Ross forced the horse to step back, for Copper was crowding both him and Mae and about to step on someone’s foot. “Let’s put him in the stall with some hay and see if he can figure it out.”
“Hay and water are already in there waiting for him,” Mae said. She walked down to the last stall and slid the door open. “Maybe Steel will calm him down.”
Steel was right next door and immediately came over to see his new neighbor. He had been a New York City carriage horse for a few years and was about as calm and reliable as any horse could ever be, but it looked like Copper might be a different story.
Ross got the new horse inside the stall, turned him around to face the door, took off the halter and stepped outside. Mae thought the horse would simply poke around a bit and then go straight for that mountain of bluegrass hay piled up in one corner.
But instead, all he did was yell his head off inside the stall and run from one side to the other. Steel stood patiently at the heavy wire mesh that separated the two stalls, reaching out his nose as though to make friends, but Copper just ignored him and only became more frantic with every moment.
“I’ve never seen a horse act like this,” Mae said, beginning to feel worried. “What’s wrong with him?”
Ross just continued to watch Copper. “Get me his bridle. No reins.”
“Sure, I’ll go get it. The new harness for him got here two days ago,” Mae said, walking towards the tack room door in the center of one side of the barn. She knew that Ross had a long, if somewhat mysterious, background as both a lawman and a cowboy in Texas, and if anyone could settle a fractious horse, it would be him.
Carrying the heavy driving bridle, Ross quietly went back into the stall and approached Copper. “It’s okay, boy. Easy now.”
The horse snorted and spooked a little, but Ross stayed at his shoulder, and in a moment, was able to slip the bridle over Copper’s head.
Ross snapped a couple of lead shanks to the bit and made a few adjustments to the bridle so it would fit properly. “The blinkers might help. They’ll shut out the sight of so many things that seem to rattle him.”
The blinkers were squares of thick leather that were attached to either side of the bridle and kept a horse from seeing what was behind or alongside him.
“Sometimes horses like things better if they don’t see them,” said Mae.
Ross just nodded and Mae stepped back as he led the horse out into the aisle again. “I’ll let him see where he is. Sometimes that helps.”
“He does seem pretty disoriented,” agreed Mae, and quickly followed along as Ross took Copper outside through the back door of the barn.
The horse’s head went up even higher and he still went on yelling, though Ross kept him busy by walking back and forth and letting him look at the riding ring, the two large turnout fields, the hay barn, and the distant trees that were all out behind the main barn.
After a few minutes, the loud whinnying grew less frequent and the horse seemed a little more settled. Mae watched anxiously as Ross took him back into the barn and turned him loose in the stall once again, but this time, Copper started working on the hay and even walked to the side of the stall to touch noses with Steel.
“Poor Steel doesn’t know what to think,” said Mae, laughing a little. “But he’s so steady that maybe he’ll help this new guy settle in.”
“Might,” agreed Ross, sliding the door shut once again.
“He acts like he didn’t know there was anything else in the world except his own farm,” said Mae … and then she had another thought. “Do you think this is the real reason why they sold him? Because he was just too spooky to work anywhere?”
“Hard to say. Most horses will settle in if you work them steady and they learn what you want.”
“I sure hope I can use him. Gosh, he’s gorgeous. Once he settles down, I think the customers will love him.”
Ross just glanced at her. “He’s got a lot to get used to. We’ll have to start soon if you want him for Valentine’s Day. That’s barely two weeks away.”
“I know,” she said, feeling a little better as she watched Copper dig into the hay. Then she looked cautiously up at Ross. “And, did I tell you that I’ve got another Landau coming?”
He just nodded. “You told me that you wanted at least one more.”
“And I got a second white stock trailer to haul it.”
“Good thing I have another truck, even if it is maroon and not dark green like yours.”
“I think that would be okay.” Mae smiled.
“Want a nameplate for his stall door? I’ve got to order a couple more for the other owners.”
“Hmmm . . . well, I’m not sure on that yet.”
Steel had a handsome metal plate with his name on it and Tipperary Carriage Company underneath listed as the owner, but Mae found she was not yet ready to commit to this new horse. “I’d better see how he does first.”
“Okay. That can wait. Also, I’ve been doing some rearranging.”
“Rearranging?”
“Here. I’ll show you.” He started walking towards the front of the barn and Mae followed along.
Facing the road was the small farmhouse where Ross lived, and behind that was a freestanding two-car garage. Once outside, he raised up one of the wide doors and Mae looked inside. “Hey, it looks great,” she said. “I’ve only seen the door up once or twice.”
“It was still a mess from when I bought this place,” Ross said. “But you need a carriage house. Not good to leave those vehicles out in the barn aisle, like yours is now.”
“Now I won’t have to. It’ll be perfect for the carriages. Thank you so much.”
“Not a problem. In here, they’ll be out of the way, easily loaded in the trailers, and safely locked up.”
“Perfect,” Mae said again, and smiled up at him. “I can’t believe my luck in finding this farm. I don't know what I’d do without you.”
“Well, you’re just about keeping this place afloat as it is so that suits me, as well.”
“I’m glad. I sure don’t want to go anywhere else.”
Ross winked. “Good. Because I think you’re gonna need help with that new horse.”
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