Wyatt
“Hey, Wyatt!”
I was headed for my room when Beau called out to me. I was upset and depressed, and I knew it had to do with Sadie and our interaction. Something had changed. She was too standoffish and distant, and it was making it very hard for me to focus on anything else.
“What’s up, Beau?” I looked back at him. “I’m kind of busy.”
“I was thinking perhaps we could have a meeting,” he replied. “Mom suggested it.”
“A meeting?”
“You said you wanted to talk to me about something, right?”
“Yeah. But why does that have to be a meeting? I wanted it to be between you and me. I can’t just have a fucking talk with my brother?”
“Whoa, there, cowboy.” He held up his hand and his eyes and narrowed. “Why are you cursing at me? I thought this is what you wanted.”
“I’ve been asking you for weeks, maybe months now, to have a conversation, and you’ve been blowing me off every single time, and I don’t appreciate it.”
“If you have something to tell me, then tell me. Dude, you know I’ve been busy. I have not been deliberately blowing you off. I didn’t realize it was that important. You should have said something.”
“Well, it is important. Okay?”
“So then let’s fricking have this meeting. Don’t take out your bad mood on me, Wyatt.”
“I’m not in a bad mood.”
“Dude, I’m not going to take this personally because you’ve been acting funky for the last couple of weeks.”
“No, I have not.”
“You’ve been acting funky since Sadie went to Idaho. I mean, get your head out of your ass. You ready to have this meeting or not?”
“So now I have to have a meeting with everyone as opposed to just you? Do you, or do you not run this ranch??
“I do not run this ranch solely. You know that, Wyatt. I’m not the owner of this ranch. It is a family business. Just get your shit together and meet in the study in twenty minutes. Okay?”
“Oh, so twenty minutes. Now you don’t want me to come right away?”
“I want you to get your head together because if you have a pitch that you want to put by me and everyone else in the family, it’d better be good. And you better not come with any attitude.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay. I know. And look, sorry. I’ve just been going through a lot recently.”
“It’s okay, Wyatt. You know, I kind of know what it’s like to lose your head.” He lowered his voice lowered and put a hand on my shoulder. “If there’s anything you ever want to talk about, I’m here. Okay?”
“I know. Thank you.”
“No problem, brother. And you know what, dude? Everything works out the way it’s supposed to. I promise.”
“Okay. Let me go and get myself together, and I’ll meet everyone in the study in twenty minutes.”
“Sounds good,” he said.
I went to my room and closed the door behind me, leaning against it while I counted to twenty. Sadie was messing with my head. Her lips were messing with my head. Everything was messing with my head, and I didn’t know which side was up, but I could not allow that to affect me right now. I finally had a chance to pitch my idea, and I needed to make it work. I needed Beau to understand that this was something that could be great for the family. This was something that could help us.
I grabbed my paperwork and checked my reflection in the mirror. I looked like me, but I wanted to look like a businessman. I wanted to be taken seriously. My brothers saw me as the baby of the family, but I didn’t need to be taken care of. I needed to be seen as someone who was serious, who had good ideas, who was smart—because I was all of those things, and I needed them to realize that.
I quickly changed into a suit, chuckling a little at my reflection. I was completely overdressed for a meeting with my family, but I preferred to go in overdressed rather than underdressed.
A moment later, I walked into the study where most of my brothers were waiting. Knox’s jaw dropped, and Chet started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I said.
“Nothing.” He shook his head, but I could see that he was trying to hide a smile.
Mom and Dad walked into the study. Mom smiled at me lovingly, and I smiled back. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have a supportive mother like her. I knew I was lucky to be part of a family like this, but sometimes it felt like a curse being the youngest, like I wasn’t able to be my own man.
Finally, Beau and Austin walked into the room and closed the door behind them.
“And we sure we don’t want Olivia, Lucy, Arya, and Eloise in here?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
Beau just raised an eyebrow. “Come on now, Wyatt. You know this is a family business, and you know that I take you seriously.”
“So, I just want to ask, was it your idea for this meeting?”
“No, it was Mom’s.” Beau looked over at Mom. “She suggested that we have a family meeting because she’d heard that you had something you wanted to talk about.”
I glanced at my mom in surprise. I hadn’t thought I’d told her anything, but she had eyes and ears everywhere. She’d probably overheard something.
“Well, okay, then. Thank you. I’m glad that everyone is here.” I cleared my throat and walked to the front of the room. “Have a seat, everyone.”
“Okay.” Beau and Austin looked at each other. When everyone was seated, I took a deep breath.
“Hi, everyone knows me. My name is Wyatt Hamilton.”
Hawk burst out laughing. “Dude! Why are you telling us your name?”
“I’m going to ask for silence until the end of my presentation,” I said in my most diplomatic and assertive voice. “As I said, my name is Wyatt Hamilton. I am the youngest son of Amelia and Ranger Hamilton here on Horseshoe Ranch.
“As if we didn’t know that,” Knox said under his breath and then pressed his lips together as I glared at him.
“I am happy to have the opportunity to talk to you all today. Good afternoon, Ranger Hamilton and Amelia Hamilton.” My parents smiled benevolently. “Hello, Beau, Austin, Chet, Flint, Huck, Knox. It is great to see you all this afternoon. So today I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had for the ranch that I think would be a great business endeavor. As you know, there are thousands of investors who like to purchase and bet on racehorses. And as many of you might know, breeding and training racehorses is particularly lucrative if you have horses or studs that become winners. I have spent my entire life riding horses, training horses, and breaking horses, and I believe that I could become a top trainer. I would like the opportunity to purchase two to three yearlings that I can train and enter into races. If my horses do well, they’ll put Horseshoe Ranch on the map, and we will have investors coming to us, asking me to purchase and train yearlings for them. There’s an auction coming up within the next month.”
I stared at everyone to see what their reaction was, but no one said anything and their expressions gave nothing away. “I would like an initial investment of approximately two hundred thousand dollars.”
Beau spoke up finally. “Two hundred thousand? Are you joking, Wyatt? I thought you were going to say two thousand.”
“I can’t purchase any quality yearling for two thousand. I will need to purchase horses that already have a pedigree so that I can ensure that I have the best chances possible. Two hundred thousand is enough to purchase the sort of yearling that I think will be viable for the ranch—”
“No,” Beau said, shaking his head. “It’s not going to happen. We are not in a position to just give you two hundred grand to flush down the toilet.”
His words his me like a slap. “Excuse me?”
“Beau, that was rude,” Austin put in. “Wyatt, I understand what you want to do, and I think it’s a great idea, but right now, that’s a lot of money. We’re already investing in building the eco-resort—”
“Excuse me,” my mother spoke up.
Austin and Beau turned to her. “Yes, Mama?”
“I think that you forget that this is a family business, and we all get a say. Beau, you are taking over the running of Horseshoe Ranch from Papa, and we are forever grateful for everything that you’re doing. Austin, you are Beau’s right-hand man. But don’t forget, we all have an equal say in this ranch, and I think that Wyatt is onto a winning idea. I think that we should at least have a vote to see whether or not we will move forward with this.”
“Mom, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Beau spoke up. “We really don’t have two hundred thousand right now.”
My dad cleared his throat and looked at me. “That is a large investment,” he said. “I think that a hundred thousand could work.” I could see a keenness and a respect in his eyes that I’d never seen before, and I felt proud of myself for coming up with this idea and moving forward with it.
“I really think that the minimum amount would be a hundred and fifty thousand,” I replied. “I can’t just buy one yearling if I really want to give it a solid chance. I need at least two, and I’m not going to get to great pedigree yearlings for a hundred thousand. I need at least one-fifty.”
“So then, let’s vote. A hundred and fifty thousand.” My father looked around the room. “Sons, I have raised you all to be independent, forward-thinking businessmen. This ranch is our life, and I trust each and every one of you to do what’s best for it. Just because one is the first-born or the second-born or the third or the last, it doesn’t mean that one is more important than the other. Wyatt is twenty-five years old. No, he hasn’t run a business yet, and no, he hasn’t run a ranch by himself, but he has a good head on his shoulders, as do you all, and I would like to think that any one of you who came forward with an idea would be supported by the family. I realize we do not have the sort of cashflow that we’d like to be seeing right now. But we do have reserves, and I, for one, support this idea. So shall we put it to a vote?”
Beau looked at me and then looked at my dad. I could see that he was thinking.
Austin nodded. “Okay, let’s put it to a vote. All those in favor, say aye.”
I immediately put my hand up and said, “Aye.”
Then my mother and dad put their hands up. I looked around the room at my brothers. Were they really not going to support me in this? My chest felt so heavy it was almost like I couldn’t breathe. They didn’t trust me. I was the baby to them. I would amount to nothing. At that moment, I realized that if that’s how my brothers viewed me, I couldn’t stay at Horseshoe Ranch anymore. I couldn’t be the brother that did nothing but listen to orders.
Chet put his hand up. “I support you, bro.”
“Thank you,” I breathed.
“You got my vote,” Flint said finally.
“Me, too.” Hawk nodded.
Knox looked at everyone and grinned. “You got my vote. I think it’s a great idea. I love betting on horses.”
So it was just Beau and Austin. I wasn’t sure if they would change their minds, but I knew that their two votes mattered the most to me. Austin whispered something in Beau’s ear and Beau whispered something back to him. I couldn’t tell what they were saying. I couldn’t tell what they were thinking. They went back and forth for about a minute and then Austin nodded. He put his hand up.
“I support you, Wyatt.”
Beau got up and walked over to me, his hand held out. He shook my hand and smiled. “I support you too, Wyatt. I’m proud of you. I’m proud of this idea, and I’m proud of you for coming to the entire family and thinking of something that was out of the box and something that could indeed be very worthwhile. And I support you. You have my vote as well.”
“Thank you.” I looked around the room. “Thank you, everyone. I don’t even know what to say.”
“Just make us proud, son,” Dad replied.
Mom squeezed his hand. “You always make us proud, Wyatt, but you’ll make us even prouder with this.” She looked around the room and she stood up. “Sons, I’ve never been prouder of each one of you than in this moment. As a family, we support each other. As a family, we stick together. And as a family, we will always have each other’s backs. You hear me?”
“Yes, Mama,” we all chorused.
“Now let me go and make some cookies, and everyone come to the kitchen in five minutes. Okay?”
“Okay,” we replied. She smiled at us and left the room.
There was a huge smile on my face as I realized just how much I loved my family.