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“Mama, look at the playground,” Layla called out, jumping down, and racing to Carly’s side when she got out of the truck. “It has a climbing wall,” she declared with awe. “Watch me.” After the world’s fastest hug, she raced to the eight-foot-tall climbing wall and scrambled up its side.
Carly’s breath caught in her throat. She was nervous for Layla who seemed totally oblivious to the danger of falling. She understood safe play, where there was the potential for slight injury but no true danger, still, she winced as she watched her daughter perched on top of the wall.
“See, Mama, I’m good.” She waved and swayed back and forth.
“Relax, Carly,” Birch’s mom, Helen said. “She’s been up and down there twenty times already. She loves it and the rubber chips are cushioning if she takes a tumble.”
Carly smiled and waved at her daughter who scrambled down and raced to the spiral slide. “I can’t help but worry.” She managed a laugh.
“What do you think of the place? I’m so proud of what Birch has become. He’s quite the name in horse racing. Last year, one of his horses took several titles.” She beamed with pride.
“I had no idea. Nobody said anything. I really thought he just raised horses and sold them for pleasure riders. But this...” she waved toward the stunning buildings he had built, “this is beyond anything I imagined. Tanya always referred to his silly horses. I mean ....” she trailed off, unable to complete the thought coherently.
“I’m still astounded myself.” Helen waved to Layla who was now atop the monkey bars. “The first time he sold a horse for six figures, I nearly had a heart attack. Imagine, my son building an empire from a few horses he inherited from my father. It’s incredible. Don’t let those fancy buildings worry you. Birch hasn’t changed one bit. He’s still the solid, caring man you’ve known for years.”
“Oh, Helen, I don’t know. I’m a simple girl with simple needs. This is all so much.” She waved to encompass the house and all the matching outbuildings.
“My son is a regular guy who happens to have a bit more money than some. Don’t let it make you feel inadequate.”
“I don’t feel inadequate,” she lied.
“Oh, honey, don’t be silly. I can see it in your face. If you weren’t intimidated, you wouldn’t be staring at your car wishing you were anywhere but here.” She smiled. “Straighten those shoulders and get your backside down there. Birch will be devastated if you leave. He’s been talking about sharing his world with you for weeks. He’s proud of what he’s built, rightfully so. Don’t disappoint him by stealing his chance to impress you.”
“That’s the trouble, I was impressed with him before. He’s kind and generous. He’s a hard worker and great with animals. He’s got a sense of humor. He adores Layla.” She snapped her mouth shut.
“He’s still all those things, dear. The only difference is that you realized he’s got a nice fat bank account.” She paused thoughtfully. “Go, spend time with him. See him for who he is. Ignore the money. At the end of the day, you can always walk away. He waited a long time for you to notice him and he’s terrified about this date and rejection. Spend some time with him before you throw him away.”
Throw him away? Is that what Helen thought she was planning to do? “Fine.” She resisted rolling her eyes. Helen had the mom guilt down pat.
“This isn’t about you,” Helen said kindly. “This is about Birch. I know our money, and now his, makes you uncomfortable, but forget about the money. And remember one thing, if Birch wasn’t proud to have you at his side, he wouldn’t have waited years for you. You are not inadequate beside him; you are more than enough. You’re a special woman and my son cares for you. All that matters is the love you share.” She turned toward Layla and called, “Layla, come say goodbye to your mom before she goes back to see Birch.”
Layla rushed over and threw her arms around Carly. “Bye, Mama.” She looked up and smiled. “You look exquisite.”
“Exquisite?” she chuckled. “Where did you hear that?”
“From Grandma Helen. She says her roses are exquisite, that means lovely and beautiful. Bye.” She raced to the monkey bars and started swinging her way across.
“There it is, from an expert.” Helen laughed. “She’s right, you look lovely. Go on now, take a ride, enjoy the evening.” She pointed toward the barn. “Oh look, there’s Birch now.”
Sure enough, he strolled off the house’s deck toward them.
“Bye, Helen. Bye, Layla.” She started toward him.
“Carly, why haven’t you changed yet?” He slung his arm around her shoulder as they pivoted toward his house.
“I just wanted to check on Layla.”
“I tried calling you. You didn’t answer.”
“Sorry, I turned off my ringer.” She didn’t want her phone to interrupt their ride. This might be the last time she dated Birch and she didn’t want her phone to ruin it. “I’m excited to see your land.” She was, she just wasn’t excited about his money.
“There’s a but in your voice, and I swear I want to hear all about it. You seem ... how do I put this ... at the risk of getting a swat for the metaphor, you seem like a skittish colt.”
She elbowed him in the ribs, despite the accuracy of his comparison. “Gee, thanks.”
“I knew that was the wrong thing to say.” He stopped and turned her so they were face to face. “I don’t know what’s bothering you. I just want us to enjoy the day together. I want to have a chance to talk to you. I have things I want to tell you.”
He pulled her close and after twenty long seconds of staring into her eyes, lowered his head toward her.
She held her breath. He was going to kiss her. She’d dreamed of this moment for so long. Her heart raced. She shouldn’t want to taste him, there were too many unresolved issues between them, but by all that was holy, she wanted that kiss.
At the last second, he straightened and said, “Come on. Let’s ride some horses.”
It took her five minutes to change and three of that was spent mentally bracing herself. Why did he have to be so rich? What did a handsome, talented, gentle, rich man want with an ordinary girl like her? And why didn’t he kiss her?
“Are you coming?” Birch called from the kitchen.
She didn’t answer. She straightened her spine and strode into the room. “Let’s do this thing.”
“Relax. You’ve ridden before. You’ll love it.” Hand in hand they walked back to the barn. Jimmy waited with three horses. Two were saddled, and the third wore a pair of bulging packs where a saddle normally sat. Like saddlebags, but not quite.
“What’s in the packs?” she asked.
“Wait and see.” He helped her mount and hopped up on his own horse. “Jimmy, we’ll be back by four. Don’t forget to study while we’re gone.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Brighton, sir.”
When they were out of earshot, she asked the first of many questions she had. “Sir? Study?”
“Jimmy was failing in school. His mother was at her wit’s end. When I caught him shoplifting in the drugstore, I turned him in to the police. After a lot of talk, the police, Jimmy, his mother, and I came to an agreement. He’s doing community service here instead of being arrested and getting a record. Turns out that he loves horses almost as much as I do. He’ll do anything to keep this job. Keeping his marks up is part of our deal. He works Saturdays, and after school from four to eight. Part of that time is spent studying.”
“You’re a good guy, Mr. Brighton, sir.”
“I insist on being called Mr., but not the sir. It might be old school, but it keeps a definitive line between management and other staff. All my managers are Mr., Mrs., Miss., or Ms. as they prefer. We have a lot of students working here besides Jimmy. They go by their first names.”
“Just how many staff do you have?” She didn’t know if she was awed or intimidated. Probably the latter.
“Don’t make it sound like that. Like hiring people makes me a bad person somehow. Money is important to me only in that it lets me do what I want. What I want to do is raise horses. If I can hire other people and share my profit, that’s a good thing.”
They rode in silence while she tried to digest his words.
Finally, he said, “I lied. There are two things I want. I want to raise horses, and I want a family of my own. Is that so wrong? To want to have enough money to give the people I love everything they need and have enough left over to hire people, so my family gets my time as well?”
“No.” It didn’t seem so bad when he put it that way. Spreading his money around by hiring people was a great way to give to the community. Admirable.
“Look. I didn’t bring you here to show off my money. But this land, these horses and my facilities are all part of me. Horses aren’t what I do, they’re who I am. Look at it this way, you aren’t just a mom. You’re a generous kind-hearted woman and it would be wrong of anyone to try and make you change what you are deep inside.”
They rode a little further. “Dad made some really good investments over the years. He made a killing in real estate and the stock market. He’s retired from that to raise cattle. You don’t have trouble around my parents’ money, why do you balk at mine? That is the problem, that’s why you suddenly felt uncomfortable isn’t it?” Frustration rang in his voice.
“I ... I just sort of ... I don’t know. I’ve always thought of you as a regular guy. When you started talking bucket lists that included travelling the whole world and doing expensive things, it shocked me.”
“Give me today to prove that I am a regular guy, okay? My family has had money for as long as I can remember. But nothing was ever handed to me. I had to buy my own trucks. I paid for my own education, the same as Tanya is doing.”
“I’ll try to be open minded,” she answered.
He pointed to the left. “We’ll follow that trail. It gets narrow, so follow behind me. We’re almost there.”
“Almost where?”
He laughed. “Wait and see.”
They rode up a gentle sloping hill through the trees and when the path opened into a clearing by a stream he stopped and dismounted. He helped her down and let the horses’ reins dangle.
“Won’t they run away?”
“No. They’re trained to stay. A bear or cougar might freak them out, but we’d see their nervousness before they got too carried away.” He ran his finger down the crease in her brow. “Relax, beautiful. We’re safe here.”
