Having been laid up from an accident for some months now, and just starting to feel “fairly good again,” Toni — a horse trainer —receives a call from an old lover from twenty years ago, Wendell, who’s coming to town. She tells Margaret and her husband Murphy the history of their relationship, and remarks that she and Wendell saw each other while he was separated from his wife. But that they ended things after Wendell returned to his wife because a divorce was too expensive — a story that makes Margaret and Murphy wary of him.  When Wendell arrives, Toni introduces him to Murphy, who takes a liking to him. Murphy asks about his wife in particular, and Wendell remarks that he hardly pays attention to her. Later, in preparation for dinner at Margaret and Murphy’s, Murphy walks into the kitchen and Toni apologizes for Wendell’s behavior, to which he responds that he “seems to be a nice enough fellow.” Toni disagrees, and suggests that Wendell treats his wife like one of the pasture animals he herds and manages. When Wendell arrives, he spends the evening angling to make eye contact with Toni, but she refuses, decidedly tending to the table for dinner. Wendell inquires about Toni’s accident, and she shares that a horse fell on her, to which he responds that women shouldn’t be allowed to train horses. Murphy, finally picking-up on Wendell’s misogyny, tells him the story of how a horse, after being aroused to frenzy by neighboring mares, had been thrown into shock at the sight of a stick Toni used to tame him. The horse fell over on top her, and crushed her into the “unforgiving” ground. Wendell remarks that if he were around, he would never let train horses, and that he’d stop her from training horses altogether. Toni heads to her car, eager to leave. She is intercepted by Wendell who attempts to ply her into relations, but she refuses, and explains that she's no longer interested. He dolefully understands.