Her sister shook her head.
“I had a feeling this was coming. It’s just sooner than I was expecting.” Blake squared her shoulders, and Grace copied her.
Shit.Whatever this was, it was definitely not going to be pretty.
“Does anyone know where Duke is?” Blake asked casually, but we all knew that it was serious.
The red car came to a stop in front of the barn where we were still gathered. From it emerged an older looking version of the sisters. Well fuck. Grace’s mother was here.
“Someone tell me what the hell is going on here,” the woman screeched as she slammed the car door.
“Hello, Mother,” Grace said coolly.
“Why have you not been answering your phone? I’ve been worried sick.” Grace’s mother took a few steps toward her daughter, but Grace held up her hand to stop her.
“How did you find me?”
“The insurance company called me confirming an accident you had. Is that why you’re in this awful place? Why are you here and not in Florida with Charlie?” The woman looked around with a look of disgust on her face.
I already didn’t like her. How dare she drive in here and insult us?
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” Grace tensed at her mother’s comment.
She hadn’t told her about what had happened. We knew she had been ignoring her mother’s calls for over a week, but she hadn’t told us much other than she wasn’t ready to talk to her.
“Get your things. This is no place for you. You need to get back to Florida.” She extended out her arm to guide Grace toward the car, but Grace held her ground.
“Mom, can we take this someplace more private, please?” Blake asked calmly.
“Don’t call me that. You are no daughter of mine,” she snapped. “I’m here to take Grace with me and get her somewhere professional to train. She doesn’t need your disappointment rubbing off on her. Grace is a winner.” She eyed Blake with disdain. “Not like you.”
“Mother!” Grace shrieked.
Ouch. What. The. Fuck.
Blake threw her arm out and blocked Gavin from going after her mother.
I came up behind Grace and laced a finger through her back belt loop. I wanted her to know I was there for her, but I didn’t want to get in the way or make things worse.
“I’m doing just fine here. I don’t need to go anywhere else. I’m working things out on my own.” Grace crossed her arms over her chest.
“Oh honey, you can’t do anything on your own. You would rather come crawling here instead of coming to me? I tried to call Charlie since you weren’t answering my calls, but his phone isn’t working. Did he get a new number?”
Grace’s mother examined her nails like she was looking to see if she had chipped her manicure or if dirt had gotten under them in the few minutes she’d been here. She barely spared either of her daughters a glance.
She sickened me. How dare a mother talk to her daughter the way she was to Grace or to Blake. I never wanted to hit a woman in my life, but I wanted to smack some compassion into this person standing in front of all of us.
Grace quickly looked over at Blake and then back at her mother. Grace reached around and squeezed my fingers. Good. At least she knew I was here.
“Charlie left. The team has disbanded. I’m here training until I can find another team to be on.”
Before her mother could respond, Thomas and Stefan emerged from the barn and strode over to the group.
“Hello,” Thomas said and looked at each of us as though we could explain.
“Thomas. This is my mother, Debra.” Grace lifted a hand toward the woman.
“Debra, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Thomas Kingston. My brother and I run this ranch and training facility. It’s been a pleasure to have Grace here training with us. You raised two amazing women. Blake—”
“You can have Blake. She’s nothing to me.” She let out a sigh. “Useless and disappointing.”
“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to refrain from speaking ill of my employees,” Thomas responded, barely keeping his hostility in check. “Blake is an amazing trainer and rider. We are lucky to have her.”
“I want nothing to do with her. And I wish you good luck because you’ll need it.”
Thomas’ fist clenched at his side. It was one thing to insult an employee, a woman, or someone Thomas considered family, but to do it to someone who was all three? God help this lady.
“I think it’s time for you to leave. You can either go willingly or you can be escorted off the property by my staff. Your choice.”
Debra had the audacity to look offended. She was the one spewing hate from her lips and thought we were the rude ones. “Grace, are you going to let him talk to me like that?”
“He’s the owner, and you’re the one who refuses to stop degrading your daughter.”
She pointed to Grace. “And you would be wise to remember how you got this far, young lady. If it weren’t for me, you’d have been finished years ago. You are nothing without me.”
Grace stumbled back into me. I grabbed her waist to keep her upright. How dare she say that about Grace. She was who she was today because of her amazing riding skills.
Just then, Declan and Duke strode over to us from around the corner.