Portia gave Jonathan the privilege of picking corresponding books that interested him. He picked five, and three of them were books about horse husbandry. The Horse: With a Treatise on Draught, The Complete Farrier, and On Horsemanship, an English translation of an ancient Greek historian. Though horse-related books were in abundance, they were not the only choices. Portia had already scanned every title on the shelves. “What made you pick these three?” Portia asked. He shrugged and turned his head toward the front window. Toward the horse barn. “I bet your father read these to you.” With a sad sigh, he nodded and scratched at a spot on the desk top. She sat down at the big desk. The windows into Jonathan’s soul had opened a little more. He loved his father and looked up to him. They should be able to connect through all those things fathers and sons did together — reading, hunting, fishing, and the family business. Maybe she could encourage that somehow. The door opened, and Bessie announced lunch before she could form any solid plans.
