Ronnie Chandler Deschaines' stomach seemed to be in a permanent knot these days. She went about her work, listing and selling properties as an agent at Horse Country Real Estate, planning the creation of the equestrian community the Westlake Group had agreed to underwrite, and doing what she loved best in her free time―riding the beautiful trails in Big South Fork National Park. She'd only been married to Luc Deschaines for a matter of weeks but saw him so rarely, not yet able to blend their two households in Tennessee and Virginia.
She felt like she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which it certainly would, because no one double-crossed Senator Evan Parker and got away with it. They all knew the risks.
It had been Luc's own idea, in fact, but it was Ronnie alone who shouldered the burden of stringing her ex-husband Evan along until he cast the crucial vote, the swing vote, on the bill to privatize the national park. The proposed measure had already passed through the House and would be before the Senate within a matter of weeks, but it felt like an eternity to Ronnie. What if it's delayed? I've made such a bargain with the devil!
She shoved those unwelcome thoughts from her mind, looking forward to the upcoming few days when Caroline Jamieson arrived from North Carolina for a short visit. Caroline was her neighbor's guest, actually, but Ronnie was always invited to ride with them when Caroline visited.
****
Caroline loved to ride and came to Big South Fork as often as she could. Now, she was on the way again. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard of her big white F250 and saw she was making good time, even hauling into a headwind. Then she glanced at the tiny monitor of her closed-circuit TV clipped to the visor. She hardly needed it to know Rebel Yell and George Dickel were traveling comfortably, but it had been a Christmas gift from her cousin, Asha, the year before. For years, Asha had routinely traveled the northeastern event circuit with her students, hauling a small herd in her eight-horse, and she needed to keep an eye on things in what she jokingly called "steerage."
Caroline loved visiting her friend, Mindy Morrison-Myers. They were inseparable as boarding-school suitemates decades before and had kept in close touch ever since. This time she planned to stay eight days, if the weather cooperated, so she'd brought both horses. Previous experience had taught her there were few short rides in Big South Fork, and she would need to let the horses take turns, each enjoying a day off and recuperating from their exertions over the rugged terrain.
"Take ramp right," a woman's voice broke into her reverie. She didn't need a GPS to guide her to Jamestown, but the state highway snaked its way north from Crossville, and the map display showed the road's twists and turns. It also provided her arrival time. She took her foot off the gas and eased into the right lane, signaling her intention to get off the interstate at the exit.
