The Front Runner

Elsie Silver's novel is set in the small horse-racing community of Ruby Creek, British Columbia, where a bitter rivalry between two farms becomes the unlikely backdrop for a love story.

Stefan Dalca, a wealthy Romanian-raised outsider, owns Cascade Acres, a racing operation near Gold Rush Ranch, a family-run farm co-owned by brothers Vaughn and Cole Harding. Stefan has made enemies of nearly everyone at Gold Rush, particularly Billie Black, the ranch's head trainer and Vaughn's fiancée. Dr. Mira Thorne, Gold Rush's equine veterinarian, is one of the few people who has not written Stefan off. Six months before the main events, she informs him that his jockey, Patrick Cassel, intentionally injured a Gold Rush rider during a race, sexually threatened her afterward, and may be doping horses. She delivers an ultimatum: Fire Patrick or lose her as his veterinarian. Stefan, genuinely horrified, agrees. He jokingly asks Mira on a date; she declines, and the request becomes a running joke.

The main story begins during foaling season. A mare dies after giving birth to a colt sired by DD, Gold Rush's championship stallion, leaving the foal orphaned and in critical need of a nurse mare, a lactating mare that can adopt and feed him. That same night, Stefan calls Mira with his own emergency: His mare Farrah is having a dangerous red bag delivery, in which the placenta separates prematurely. Mira talks him through the procedure by phone and rushes to Cascade Acres, but Farrah's foal is already dead. She stays through the dawn, taking the shovel from a grief-stricken Stefan to finish burying the foal beneath a weeping willow by the lake where he scattered his mother's ashes.

Stefan's backstory emerges in internal reflections. His mother, Nora, married a wealthy Romanian businessman named Constantin, who was violently abusive. When Stefan was 13, Constantin broke his nose and sold his beloved horse, prompting Nora to send him to boarding school in Switzerland. Stefan carries guilt over leaving his younger half-sister Nadia behind. Nora died in a plane crash alongside Constantin, and on her deathbed she told Stefan she wished she had stayed in Ruby Creek to train racehorses. Stefan dissolved Constantin's shipping empire, used the fortune to buy Cascade Acres, and established a domestic violence shelter to honor her memory.

Mira realizes that Farrah, now producing milk with no foal, is the perfect nurse mare for the orphan. She approaches Stefan, who agrees but sets conditions: The mare and foal stay at his farm, and Mira goes on three dates with him. Mira grudgingly accepts, stipulating the dates must be platonic and secret. The introduction succeeds when Mira uses Vicks VapoRub to mask Farrah's sense of smell and rubs the mare's manure on the colt, and Farrah accepts the orphan. Stefan names the foal Loki.

As Mira visits daily to monitor Loki, she and Stefan develop an increasingly intimate routine. He sleeps on the stall floor beside the foal, revealing a tender side that contradicts his polished public image. Mira meets Nadia, now 19 and recently arrived from Romania, and bonds with her. She hires Nadia as her clinic assistant and helps her shift to online schooling. When Loki falls dangerously ill, Mira and Stefan spend a charged night nursing him back to health. On the barn floor, Stefan opens up about his childhood, and Mira reaches for his hand. They fall asleep leaning against each other, crossing an emotional threshold.

Mira asks Stefan to attend her family reunion as her fake boyfriend so her relatives will stop pressuring her about being single. Stefan bonds with her grandmother over making samosas and publicly defends Mira when an aunt makes pointed remarks about her needing to settle down. Mira storms out, and Stefan follows her to a blueberry field, where they share their first real kiss in the rain. On the drive home, Stefan reveals the final piece of his mother's deathbed confession: His biological father was "the bartender in Ruby Creek."

Mira begins to suspect that Hank, Gold Rush's longtime barn manager and a surrogate father figure to the ranch community, may be Stefan's biological father. Hank's history at the local pub and their striking physical resemblance, particularly matching green eyes, point in that direction. She decides she needs concrete evidence before raising what could be a devastating false hope. Meanwhile, after seeing Jules, Stefan's lawyer, leaving his house and assuming she is a romantic rival, Mira tells Stefan they must maintain professional boundaries. He tells her he will wait.

Their third "date" is a black-tie fundraiser where Stefan orchestrates Patrick Cassel's arrest. Months earlier, Stefan had his horses' blood independently tested, confirming steroids, then hired a private investigator and worked with Jules, his lawyer, to build a criminal case. Patrick is arrested at the event. That night, the tension between Stefan and Mira breaks entirely. She drives to his house, and they have sex for the first time, each admitting the experience is unlike anything they have known. They declare themselves exclusive.

Mira tells her friends about the relationship. Billie is shocked but handles the news with humor. The secret about Hank, however, weighs on Mira. Her plan unravels when Stefan visits the same pub where Mira is dining with Hank. Stefan approaches the table, Hank mentions bartending there, and Stefan registers the resemblance. He reads the stricken look on Mira's face and realizes she knew. Devastated, he tells Mira he cannot be with someone dishonest and drives away, inadvertently revealing he is in love with her.

In the aftermath, Nadia urges Stefan not to lose Mira, and Hank arrives at Stefan's door for a long conversation. The two men agree to pursue a DNA test while deciding their bond will continue regardless. Mira explains her reasoning to Stefan: She had only an unproven hypothesis and feared hurting him. He acknowledges her logic but says he needs time. A week of silence follows.

Mira's grandmother tells her to fight for Stefan. Before Mira can reach him, Nadia calls: The barn at Cascade Acres is on fire. Mira races to the scene and charges inside, freeing every horse stall by stall, saving Loki and Farrah last. She collapses from smoke inhalation. Stefan arrives, learns she is trapped, and runs into the burning building. He finds her unconscious, covers her with his jacket, and carries her out.

Mira wakes in the hospital with Stefan beside her bed. Billie tells her that Stefan fought fiercely for her care and admits she was wrong about him. Stefan tells Mira he loves her, that nothing mattered when he thought he might lose her, and that he will never walk away again. She tells him she loves him too.

In an epilogue three months later, Stefan, Mira, and Hank open the DNA results, confirming Hank is Stefan's biological father. On the cleared ground where the burned barn stood, Stefan proposes with an emerald ring. She says yes. A bonus epilogue two years later shows Loki winning his first race; Billie has given Stefan half-ownership of the colt. Stefan and Mira have a young son named Silas, Hank carries the boy as the family celebrates, and Nadia is away at college studying to become a veterinary technician, inspired by Mira.