CHAPTER NINE
Auggie
I waved goodbye to Dad and took my seat in the corporate jet Worth had sent to pick me up. I hated to leave Dad even though he assured me he was doing just fine and needed to get used to the idea of being alone. He said he and Margaret had many friends who were still there for him, and he’d never be lonely. I’m not sure if I wanted to believe him so I could get home to Worth and the kids, or whether I truly did. Regardless, there was only so much I could do for him there. Time would have to take care of the rest.
I buckled myself in, and the attendant brought me a pillow and cover. “As soon as we’re off the ground and leveled out, I’ll bring you a pot of tea and some sandwiches,” she said with a kind smile. I liked the way she looked and thought she was perfect for her job. She was professional, yet had a soft and loving face with eyes that seemed to invite confidence.
True to her word, once we were leveled out, she emerged from the galley with a pot of tea, beautiful china, linen napkins and a tempting selection of bite-size sandwiches on a small platter. Another platter held tiny cakes. She’d clearly gone to a lot of trouble.
“How lovely,” I commented and gratefully accepted the short cart of goodies. “You went to a lot of trouble for just me.”
“No trouble at all, Mrs. LaViere.”
“Oh, call me Auggie,” I urged her and she nodded in appreciation. I read her name badge. “Lily, why don’t you sit here with me and share this food? I’m not the world’s best flyer, and it would make me far more comfortable if I had someone to talk to.”
She hesitated, looking over her shoulder and then realized that I was her boss, not the captain. “I’d love to,” she finally said and took a small plate and selected a couple of the sandwiches. She poured our tea and handed me one of the linen napkins before taking one herself and settling into the seat opposite me.
“Have you always worked on private jets, Lily?” I asked, looking for something to talk about.
“Oh, no. Actually, I’m fairly new at it. Believe it or not, I’ve worked with horses all my life.”
My ears pricked up. “Really? Tell me about it.”
“Nothing very romantic, I’m afraid,” she began, “just a girl who grew up on a Thoroughbred farm in California. My dad had about thirty horses on the place. Some we owned and some we boarded or trained for others.”
“Why did you change careers?” I asked, curious.
She dabbed at the corner of her mouth with the napkin. “Dad died last year. He had medical bills, the farm was all we had… well, you get the idea,” she finished.
“Do you miss it?” I asked, knowing that I would feel as though my leg had been cut off if I couldn’t be with horses.
“Oh, you betcha, I do,” she sighed. “I tried to find a job on one of the other farms we knew, but as you know, the industry is getting smaller and smaller, and I just didn’t have the resources to keep ours going, and no one else needed more help. So…” she waved her arm around the cabin, “here I am.”
I nodded and was instantly thoughtful. “May I ask how old you are, Lily?”
“Thirty-four. I know, I know, that’s kind of old for a new career. But that’s how it goes.”
“No, wasn’t thinking of you as being too old for anything. Do you have a husband? Children?”
She shook her head and frowned a bit, the glints in her blonde hair reflecting the sunlight streaming through the clouds into the smallish cabin. “Divorced and we never had children. Actually, I’m not sure I can. Riding accident as a teen. Until now it wasn’t an issue, so I’m fine with it.”
“Lily, I wonder if you have a break between flights coming up?”
She was confused. “You mean today?”
“Well, I meant like a couple of days’ layover before you leave again. Doesn’t matter when.”
Lily answered immediately. “Well, once we deliver you to Louisville, we’ll head to Cincinnati for our annual inspection on the jet, giving me four days off. Why? Do you need me to schedule you another flight somewhere?”
“No, nothing like that. You see, I have a Thoroughbred breeding, boarding and training facility, and I’m looking for a farm manager. I handle it myself right now. Well, with my children’s help, but they’ll be going to college in a couple of years, and I need to train someone to help and eventually replace me. I’m wondering if you’d like to come and be my guest for a couple of days and take a look around. No promises, mind you, but I have a guest cottage as well as a small hotel, and you would, of course, be my guest. Interested?”
Lily’s face brightened. “Interested? Are you kidding? It would be like going home again. How kind you are. Thank you and yes, I accept. As a matter of fact, I don’t have to ride along to Cincy. If you’re okay with my coming right away, I could accompany you to your house today.”
“Perfect!” I had a good feeling about Lily. We spent the remainder of the two-hour flight talking about horses and Thoroughbreds in particular. I was very impressed with her extensive knowledge. In many ways, her past mimicked mine, and although she was no longer in the industry, I could tell she wanted back in.
We landed and a limo was waiting. Lily joined me, and we drove from Standiford Field out to Oldham County to Carlos Acres. It was late, and I was tired. I took her directly to the hotel. They got her checked in, and I went home to see my family.
Worth greeted me at the door, having seen the limo leaving the hotel. “You bring home a lover?” I loved the smile that played on his lips when he teased me.
“You weren’t supposed to see that,” was my cocky response.
“He better than me?”
“I don’t know, let’s do a comparison.” I took his hand to go up to our bedroom. Once there, I collapsed on the bed, arms outspread and kicked off my shoes.
“You look like you could use a foot rub.” Worth wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
“I sure could. Are you offering?”
Worth kicked off his own shoes and slid beneath my legs on the bed, taking my feet in his big hands. He began massaging my toes, his strong fingers rubbing each joint. It felt like heaven.
“Your dad?” he prompted.
“Ahh, well, as you can imagine. He waved me off, but I could tell he would be lonely. I don’t like the way lonely looks, Worth. Promise you’ll let me die first so I’ll never feel it?”
“Sweetheart, what a selfish thing to say.” He lifted my foot to bite my big toe. “What do you say we jump off a cliff in tandem. That way, the last guy who hits the bottom only suffers a split second?”
“Oh, don’t tease me. You know what I’m saying.”
“Yes, yes, I do, but you’re always so dramatic.”
“I’m dramatic? I would have settled for a subtle poison in our morning coffee, but nooooo, you want to pack up a car and drive until we find just the right cliff.”
We were silent a few moments as I enjoyed his strong fingers pressing into my arch. “Did you get along okay without me?”
“What would be the best answer for that?” he said. “I feel like it’s a trap. If I say we got along fine, you’ll feel unneeded. If I answer that we missed you, you’ll complain that you never get a day to yourself.”
My eyebrow lifted high. “My, my, my, aren’t we in a cynical mood.”
“Yes, indeed, my dear. That we are. Both of us. So, who did you drop at the hotel?”
“Oh, yes, about that. The attendant on the plane and I had a nice sit down to keep me a bit more relaxed. We shared a cup of tea and sandwiches. Turns out that Lily, that’s her name, well, Lily and I have quite a bit in common.”
“You both are overly dramatic?”
“Cute. Actually, she also grew up in the equine industry on her family’s farm, except her family lived in California. They’re gone now, and she lost the farm. So, she chose a new career but misses her old world.”
He stopped massaging my foot. “And this has to do with us how?”
“It has to do with us,” I explained in a careful tone, “because with the kids heading off to college in a couple of years, I’d like to have a backup so I can take some time off when I want to. I need a farm manager. Sort of like Bernie used to be, but this time, they would really be a farm manager more than a personal assistant.”
We were both silent long enough to think about Bernie and wonder where he was and why he no longer stayed in touch or collected the money Worth sent.
“So, you made her quit her job and follow you home like a newly adopted puppy?” Worth’s tone was a bit sarcastic.
“Of course not. I’d never hire someone without your approval, you know that.”
“I do?”
I ran a hand down his arm, feeling the muscles flex and relax. “Well, now I wouldn’t. Those were different times. You were being sneaky, and I had to do the same.”
He nodded as though this made perfect sense. “I see.”
I nodded and shifted so he could massage my other foot. “The company she works for is putting that jet in for a routine inspection, and she has a few days off. I invited her here as our guest. At worst, I thought she’d have a nice little vacation in a place that seems like home. At best, she might be that manager.”
“You always have things worked out so neatly. Did you mention your plans to her yet?” He was teasing me. I didn’t take the bait.
“Worth, you’ve said you’d like me to spend more time with you. This is the only way I could possibly do it.”
“Not really, Auggie. You know, we won’t exactly starve if you don’t muck stalls every day. We could sell this place and move to town, or to China, for that matter.”
“Worth! You know how I feel about this place, and the kids need a home to come to on weekends and holidays. If you took horses away from me, I’d go crazy. I’m not exactly the tea cakes and bridge type, you know.”
“I’m quite aware of that. But, at the same time, you recognize that eventually working with horses will be too much to handle, especially at the rate your business is growing.”
“I was sort of hoping that one or both of the twins would take over,” I mentioned casually.
He turned to me, serious now. “Auggie, you can’t do that, and you know it. You didn’t like your mother making plans for your future, and it’s not fair that you try to do that for them. If one or both of them choose to do it of their own volition, that’s one thing. But don’t push. Promise me?”
I nodded. I knew what he was afraid of. For years now, ever since Ford had been sent away, we silently held our breath that nothing would go wrong with either of the twins. It almost felt as precarious as parents whose pregnancies miscarry over and over. You don’t know what you did wrong, but you try very hard not to repeat those mistakes. There was no logic to it, but there was no logic to life overall.
I whispered, “You think he’s still out there?”
Worth didn’t hesitate. “I know he is. I’d feel it if he weren’t.”
I nodded in agreement. I had to let it go at that. There was no other choice.