The Business Plan

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  Great, so his brother was going to make him grovel. “I took out my frustration on you and on Candy when the only one to blame for the situation I’m in is me.” He didn’t miss the surprise in Brad’s expression, but there was humor, too.

  “Can’t believe you had it in you.” He reached out and rested his hand on Neil’s shoulder. “So how about the loan I offered? I know you’d do the same.”

  It was true, but there was something about taking money this way. He couldn’t do it.

  “Come on, Neil,” Brad said. “This isn’t the time to let your pride kick in. I understand better than anyone.” He glanced over at the sound of the horses, spotting Emily and Candy with two of them saddled. Emily was astride a small paint, and Candy was riding her big boy, Sable, the gray Azteca. His long main had been brushed, and Neil wondered why Candy was so adamant about keeping it long, especially out here in the rain and the mud. It was always a mess every time she came by.

  “Where’re you two off to?” Brad said as Candy turned Sable easily and Emily worked at it a little more. They were both in jeans. Candy had a dark sweater pulled over her shirt, and Emily was wearing a light jacket and a ball cap. Candy had tied her hair back in a messy bun to keep the hair from her eyes.

  “Just a quick ride to exercise Sable,” she said. “Talked Emily into tagging along. Thought we’d do the loop. It’s just a short ride.” She patted Sable’s neck. Neil wasn’t surprised, because he knew Candy better than she knew herself at times. When it came to Sable, she had a hard time staying off him. She’d more often than not throw her leg over and mount him and ride bareback as soon as she got here.

  “Candy, don’t go out any longer,” Neil said, and Brad looked to him, then back to Emily and Candy.

  “Em, be careful on him,” Brad said. “He’s been a little spooky lately. I’m not kidding—don’t go any farther. It’s getting late, and I don’t want either of you out riding when the sun’s going down.”

  Neil couldn’t help wondering if there was something else, as Brad sounded overly worried, which was unlike him.

  “Maybe they shouldn’t go out,” Neil said. “Candy!”

  She turned again.

  “Maybe it’s not such a good idea, this late. How about in the morning? We’ll come back and you can both go out.”

  “What?” Candy said, circling Sable, who seemed a little antsy. “Neil, Brad, you both are being ridiculous. We’ll be back in an hour or sooner, but these guys need some exercise.” Candy could be stubborn sometimes, and Neil started toward her, about to reach out and grab the halter and make her get down, but Brad reached out and touched his chest.

  “She’s right. They need exercise,” he said, then waved to his wife, who was looking to Candy and then him. “Em, you just follow Candy. Keep it slow, no racing out there.”

  Emily just rolled her eyes as they turned their horses and started to the trailhead at the back of the property, which led into forested public land.

  “Well, since you’re here and it seems my wife is off with yours, why don’t you tell me some more about your plans for your business, see if I can help in some way?” Brad looped his arm around Neil’s shoulders and started him to the house. “Katy watching the kids?”

  “She is at that. Got to tell you, Brad, it won’t be long before you have your hands full with her and the boys come knocking.” He strode into the back door, hearing the kids in the living room and seeing Katy in the kitchen, Michael perched on her hip and the phone to her ear.

  “Who’re you talking to, Katy?” Brad said from behind him.

  “I’ve got to go. It’s my dad,” Katy said before hanging up. “Jason,” she said.

  Brad looked over to Neil as he kicked off his mud-covered boots. “Afraid it’s already started,” he said.

  Chapter 15

  At first, Neil didn’t recognize the idea he came up with while sitting with Brad, feet up in the living room, while Katy did her homework at the coffee table. Trevor was reading a graphic novel, wearing dark-rimmed glasses in the easy chair, his feet dangling over the side. Cat and Becky were playing with dolls, and Michael was reorganizing all the dresses and Barbie furniture the girls had set up in the big doll house in the corner of the living room.

  “So this guy buying the resort was the same person we met when we were all in Cancun for Mom and Dad’s anniversary?” Brad asked.

  “Same company, father–son team. The father owns a number of resorts already in Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, and Laredo. They wanted to add mine. It would be a great fit, considering mine is five stars, but it’s on the higher end of what they’re used to. It was part of this timeshare exchange they’re involved in,” Neil said. “It’s not that they haven’t given me anything, because they have. The deposit in trust with Stella, my banker in Cancun, is there at least to keep it afloat and pay the operating expenses. The problem is this guy could walk at any time before paying the full amount I’m asking, and he’s been dragging his feet.”

  “Well, let me just put this out there,” Brad said. “Not that I’m saying it’s a done deal, but sounds to me he’s been on the fence long enough. You know resorts. It was your dream to have it. Why not take it back but maybe bring in some partners to run it? You need operating capital, so bring in others who can provide that, and, as you just said, you want to think long and hard about uprooting Candy again with the kids. If you go back to Cancun full time, move there, run your resort, will Candy be okay with that, or can you run something from here?”

  “In a perfect world, I’d be in both places, here and Cancun, going back and forth. I think Candy would like that, and seeing her with Em, the kids here together…I’ve never seen her so settled and happy. Even with you, big brother. I know she really looks forward to all the time we spend together, the first real family she’s ever had. It’d be tough to take that away, and if I moved us back there…”

  “You’re afraid she’ll be unhappy?” Brad was leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

  “There’re a lot of bad memories there. Being here gave us the distance I needed from the surrogate, and Candy, too. I know she’d go back, but living here has her more settled, more confident and happier, even though she misses Mom and Dad.” He sighed, because listening to Candy and hearing her try to get through to him about his mom and what had happened, he wondered whether he’d taken too hard a line. Candy was obviously more understanding than him.

  Brad had an odd look on his face and then shook his head. Maybe he and Brad really did need to sit down and talk about what they’d learned.

  “Dad, what time is Mom coming back?” Katy looked up from where she was writing in her notebook.

  Brad stood up and looked out the window, then at his watch. “Any time now. Maybe they’re putting the horses away.” Brad wandered into the kitchen and then looked out the back door. Neil could hear the springs squeak on the screen. “Em!” he called out, and Neil wandered up behind him and slipped on his boots.

  No one answered, and it was that silence that worried Neil. The sun was dropping lower in the sky, and it was getting close to dinner time. They’d now been out for about an hour and a half. Nothing to worry about yet, but the way his brother had harped at Emily earlier and was now walking out the door concerned him.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Neil called out just as Brad pulled his cell phone from his back pocket. He was shaking his head. “Em, where are you? Answer the damn phone. Call me back. I’m starting to get a little worried.” Brad hung up. “It went to voicemail.” He shook his head again.

  “Okay, now you’re starting to freak me out a bit. What’s going on? They’ve been gone this long before. What’s up?” he said.

  “I don’t know, just a feeling I had earlier and couldn’t shake. Springtime, you know. Maybe I’m making too much of it. It’s just that Em not answering doesn’t ease my mind.” He held up the phone.

  “What is it you’re worried about?” Neil asked. “They were taking the loop—nice, eas
y, flat. Should be no problems.”

  Brad didn’t say anything as he glanced back once at Neil. “Out here with miles of public land, wilderness and nothing else, they could run into just about anything. The fact that they should have been back by now makes me more uneasy than ever. You never know what’s out in the spring, a mother bear and her cubs, cougars… Could be anything.”

  Okay, now Brad was making him worry, and Brad was the one in the family who didn’t panic. “Maybe we should go and look for them,” Neil said, and Brad looked to the house and the screen door that squeaked open.

  “Dad, we’re getting hungry,” Katy said. “What should I do about dinner? Mom has a stew in the crockpot.”

  Brad glanced to Neil. “You stay here with the kids,” he said. “I’ll go look for the girls.” He started back into the house for his coat, but Neil looked out at the horizon, at the miles of trees, and said, “No, let’s call your neighbor June, have her come and stay with the kids. I’m going with you.”

  Chapter 16

  Candy loved riding her horse. Being on Sable was truly a magical experience for her. There was something about this time, riding in this part of the country, far away from city life. Even Cancun, with her sandy beach and oceanfront property, had nothing on the beauty of this area. She led their horses on the miles of trails back here. Trees surrounded them: cedar, fir, and some maple. There was undergrowth, too, and there was something different every time even though she rode this trail so often she believed she could do it in her sleep.

  Emily was behind her on the paint she loved to ride, Trudy. She glanced back a number of times and circled around, but there was something about Trudy today, the way she kept pinning her ears back every time Candy and Sable got too close.

  “Would you stop it, already? You’re being silly. We ride together all the time. You guys are supposed to be friends,” Emily said to the horse, and Candy wanted to laugh because Emily at times talked to the horse as she did her own children.

  “Could be just the pecking order. I have a feeling Ambrose may have thrown it off a bit,” Emily said. Trudy had once been closer to the bottom, but there was something about Ambrose and Sable together that made them rank closer to Lucy, the quarter horse and lead mare that Brad always rode. “I’m glad you came out with me, Em. I always feel so much better after I go out for a ride. Kind of clears my head and helps me to shake off everything that’s bothering me.”

  “How’s it going with Neil? I have to tell you, Brad has been worried. Me, too. We love having you both so close, but this small-town life…we’re starting to think it’s pulling Neil down.”

  Hearing Emily voice what she already knew didn’t help or make her feel any better. She was about to say something more about Neil when she stopped, remembering how much it bothered him to have her talking to Brad and Emily about everything that was happening with them.

  “He’s figuring it out,” she said as she found the dip in the path to take them down the bank and across the meadow to the trail going back. She chirped and turned Sable, leading him down through the thick brush and then pulling him to a stop when a downed tree blocked their path. “Emily, I don’t think we can get around this.” She climbed down just as Emily pulled up the paint.

  “That wasn’t here before,” Emily said.

  It was a large tree caught in a big cedar, and there was no way they could go over it, as it was at the height of her head. She could crawl under it, but there was no way she’d get her horse down and through. She grabbed the halter of the paint, who was getting antsy. “We’re going to have to turn around. We can’t get through this way.”

  Emily wasn’t the most confident of riders, and she still had to learn that when she worried, her horse would pick up on her stress. That became a problem for less confident riders, who could suddenly find themselves unable to control their horses.

  “We’ll just turn around and go back the way we came, no big deal. Do you think you can do some trotting?” She could easily do a canter with Sable, and a gallop, too, but she knew Emily didn’t like running the horses. She was more comfortable at a walk. When trotting, she still bounced a lot and grabbed the saddle horn.

  “As long as it’s not too fast, and if I say stop, can you?” The paint backed up and bumped the branches, then pranced sideways. “Whoa, Trudy!”

  “Emily, it’s fine. You’re doing good. Just take her back off this trail to the one we just came off, and then I’ll go ahead of you.” She was doing her best to keep Emily calm, and she slid her foot in the stirrup and had just climbed up when there was a noise. The paint whinnied and took off. Emily yelled.

  “Trudy, stop!” Candy shouted. She had her leg over and moved Sable, jumping the dip in the path and heading up the embankment after Emily, who was on a runaway Trudy.

  “Em, pull the rein back, one rein past your knee! Keep it low,” she called out, moving Sable fast and hard, leaning forward to urge him on.

  Emily was screaming and pulling the rein, and Trudy went to the side and slowed, prancing and skittish. When Candy reached Emily, she leaned forward to grab the reins just as she stopped Sable.

  “Oh my God, I’m shaking,” Emily said. “She’s never done this before. Something spooked her. I hate it when Brad is right at times. Just don’t tell him.”

  Candy just smiled, trying to get Emily to calm down when she heard a sound that had the hair on the back of her neck going up. Sable bolted, and Candy lost her balance, falling back. It was then that everything went into slow motion. Emily’s eyes went wide, someone yelled, a horse screamed, and she hit the ground, her head snapping back. Her breath left her in a whoosh.

  Chapter 17

  Brad had just finished saddling his quarter horse, sliding his rifle in behind the saddle, and throwing extra shells in his saddlebag when his cell phone rang. Neil was putting the bridle on the black Arabian he loved to ride.

  Brad pulled out his phone. “It’s Em.” He came around the back of the horse, holding the bridle. “Where the hell are you?” he barked. The only thing Neil could hear was the panic in Emily’s voice, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

  “She fell,” Brad said, gesturing to Neil. Brad had all his attention.

  “Who fell?”

  “Tell me where you are,” Brad said, then tilted the phone away from his mouth. “Candy fell. Her horse spooked. Emily can’t get to her.” He slipped the bridle on and looped the reins over the mare’s neck. “We’re coming to you. Keep your phone on and stay there. I know where you are.” Brad was nodding into the phone as if Emily could see him. Whatever she was saying, she was totally freaked out, and Neil was ready to yell at Brad to hurry up. “I don’t care about the damn horse at this point. Tie her up to a branch, but get off her. Stay right there. I’ll find you.”

  Brad slid the phone in his pocket and was in the saddle. “The girls had to turn back about three quarters of the way at the turnoff. There was a tree down. They couldn’t get past it, and the paint spooked and got away from Emily. Dammit, I knew it. I know she loves that horse, but it’s too much of a horse for her. Candy stopped her, and then Sable spooked, threw Candy, and took off. Em’s already called 911, and Search and Rescue are heading in. She called them right before me. She said Candy isn’t moving. She may have hit her head.”

  Brad kicked up his horse and moved, Neil right behind him. He was scared of the unknown, and Candy…how bad was she hurt? This was the fear he had of her riding, getting hurt even though she was so comfortable in a saddle, on a horse. Her being thrown wasn’t something he’d expected.

  “What else did Emily say, Brad?” he shouted as he squeezed the sides of the horse and pulled up behind him.

  Brad didn’t look back as he took a corner in the trail fast. “I don’t know. Emily was freaked out about hearing something, could be a cougar. Let’s just get out there.”

  There were shadows everywhere as the sun dropped lower, and this was the first time Neil had ever seen Brad push a horse as hard
as he was. Neil couldn’t get past the horror that something had happened to Candy. This was a kind of fear he’d never experienced before. Even when they’d survived the storm together, she had been with him. He was so angry that his body ached from the worry. The only thing he prayed he’d have the chance to do was put his hands on her, spitting mad, and kiss her.

  ***

  “Hey, you, I can’t believe how much fun this is. Such a great idea.” She was floating in the water. Looking back at the shore, she could see Michael and Cat playing in the sand.

  “I didn’t think you’d want to come back here. I’m so glad you did. I saved this part for you, part of your ocean, your beach. That was where your house was before the storm took it down.”

  She stood up in the soft blue as the waves slapped against her legs. The warm ocean water was so inviting, and the sun shone down on Candy and on Neil, bare chested in swim trunks as he raced back to Michael and lifted him in the air, then dipped him in the water. He giggled as Neil splashed his legs. It was picture perfect. Her children were having so much fun, and Neil lay down in the sand with Michael on top of him, and she just stood there, watching, dipping her hand in the water and taking another step, feeling the warmth of the sun beating down. She looked down the beach to the building, the resort that was now where her tiny house used to be, her father’s house before the storm took it down. It was beautiful. She didn’t know why she had been scared, why she had worried. It didn’t make sense, because being here with Neil, with Cat, with Michael seemed so right. Why had she fought this?

  She went to take another step, but she couldn’t move. Her foot was stuck. It was heavy. She saw the shadow, and it was coming from the estate, the path Neil always walked, always, before coming to her. It was her, her dark hair pinned back to the sides of her round face, her eyes dark. She was wearing a peach bikini top and a white skirt that wrapped around her waist and knotted on the side. She’d always had a full body, hips that were made to carry a child, and she was walking right to Neil, clapping her hands, not even looking her way but smiling down at Michael, who raced toward her as fast as his little legs could, calling out, “Mama!” She lifted him in the air, kissed him, and hugged him before looking back at Neil. She was barefoot as she walked toward him, her belly round—Maria, Michael’s mother. She reached Neil, and he leaned down and kissed her, touching her pregnant belly. This wasn’t right. She was standing right here, and where were her kids? Then she heard a voice, yelling, calling to her: “Candy! Answer me…” It was an echo, but it wasn’t Neil, and he wasn’t looking. He was on the beach, laughing with the children, his children.