The Business Plan

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  She gasped. Her eyes were open, and she didn’t know where she was as she struggled, trying to get a breath again and again. It was the worst, the panic of not being able to suck in a breath as she clawed at her shirt, her neck. Then she heard more yelling, heard gravel and rocks falling. Emily was beside her on the ground, touching her and reaching for her hand. As Candy felt the panic, she grasped at her chest and pounded.

  “Calm down. Take a breath, slow and steady. You’re gasping and panicking. Stop, don’t fight it. Slow down.” Emily sounded so calm, and Candy finally got a breath, then took another, slower.

  “Are you hurt? You scared the hell out of me,” Emily said.

  Candy took in the dribble of blood above Emily’s eye and the dimness of the night. “Where’s Sable?” Her voice sounded off. She didn’t recognize it. It sounded so strange to her own ears. “It was a cougar, that cry, wasn’t it?” She remembered that horrible sound and the feeling of eyes watching her. She had been sucked back to that horrible dream.

  “He took off,” Emily said. “I’m more worried about you. You fell down the embankment, you weren’t moving. I called Brad. He’s coming.”

  She wanted to move, and she started to roll to her side. “Help me up,” she said, reaching for Emily’s hand and rolling over, feeling stiff and sore.

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. You could be hurt bad. You didn’t answer me. You landed really hard, Candy.”

  She couldn’t calm Emily down as she struggled to sit up. Then she heard Brad shouting, calling out to Emily.

  “Down here!” Emily yelled back, and Candy somehow held on to Emily as she started to sit up. She almost threw up, her head was dizzy. She must have swayed, as Emily slid her arm around her and let her lean against her.

  “Candy!” It was Neil shouting, and she could hear the men sliding down. She blinked again, taking in the trees and the hill. Did her head hurt? She was dizzy. It was such a relief then that they were there.

  “Are you hurt?” Neil was on his knees, and Brad, too, touching her and Emily and hovering. It was welcome, even though she was so confused.

  “Just my pride. I can’t believe I got thrown,” she said as Neil pulled her closer and she cried out. “Ouch, my shoulder.”

  Neil was looking at her, running his hands over her, holding her face. Then he looked at his hand. “You’re bleeding, Candy. You have blood on the back of your head.”

  She reached back to touch, but he grabbed her hand.

  “Don’t touch,” he said. “You probably need stitches.”

  “Well, just help me up. Have you seen Sable, Neil, was he there?” She couldn’t believe he would just take off.

  “Do we chance moving her?” Brad said, and Emily was talking, too. Everyone was talking, and she just wanted them to stop. The kids would need her. She couldn’t stay here.

  Neil was running his hands down her back, over her arms. “Candy, where are you hurt?”

  “I’m okay.” She had to clear her throat. “Just help me up.”

  Neil held her still. “Search and Rescue are on their way. I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  “I’ve fallen harder, Neil. I’m fine. Just help me up.”

  Neil stood up and put his arm around her waist, pulling her up to him, holding her. For a second, she swayed as she rested her head against his shoulder, against him, his hand holding her to him.

  “She okay?” Brad asked behind her, and she felt another hand touching her, but she didn’t want to nod.

  “Enough, just help me up the hill,” she said. As they started up, she watched Brad help Emily. She was climbing up, using her hands, pulling at roots. Brad had his hand on her bum, pushing her. Neil was still there, holding Candy.

  “Ready?” he said, taking in the hill. She could see he was trying to assess how to get her up, and she couldn’t help looking at him and all his handsomeness. He really was a catch. “I love you,” she said to him, and he gave her an odd look.

  “I know you do.” He seemed worried. “You scared the hell out of me, Candy.”

  She just looked at him and then started up the hill, her husband behind her, helping her up. Then she heard it again, that chilling sound, and Brad grabbed his rifle from behind his saddle, pointed it into the woods, and fired.

  Chapter 18

  The fire was going in the bedroom, and Candy could hear Neil down the hall, tucking in Michael. She was still shaken from their little ride and how horribly wrong the night had gone. They were lucky nothing more had happened, and Candy had escaped with three stitches in the back of her head, a mild concussion, and a bruise on her shoulder that would cause her some grief over the next few days.

  What had shaken Emily was the cougar that had been hunting them. When Brad shot the cat, it had landed just behind the horses, and he’d tossed it over Trudy’s back, then pulled his wife up with him and led the paint behind them. Candy had ridden behind Neil, her hands around his waist, resting her head against his back as he rode home.

  Brad had called Search and Rescue on his cell phone to let them know they’d found the women, and even though Neil was furious that Candy had been hurt, she’d been relieved to see Sable outside the barn, waiting, when they rode in. He definitely knew where home was. Neil had left the horses for Brad to unsaddle, carrying Candy to the SUV and then taking her to the hospital. Brad had swung by with the kids to drop them off after Candy was patched up, checked over, and sent home from the emergency room.

  “Hey, how’s your head?” Neil asked as he strode in, still wearing a serious look. He hadn’t smiled once that night.

  “Doesn’t hurt anymore. The pills worked a little too well,” she said, resting against the three plumped pillows behind her.

  “You scared the hell out of me tonight.” He looked away as he sat beside her on the bed, and when he looked back, she had to reach over and touch his hand.

  “Scared me, too. I didn’t stop to think about a cougar. It being spring time, with the sun going down, it was prime hunting time. Shouldn’t have been riding that late in the day, I guess,” she said.

  “Well, you’re off the horse for a while. You have a concussion, Candy. Maybe it’s time you think about wearing a helmet.”

  She couldn’t believe he of all people would say that. “Look, Neil, it was a freak thing that happened. Emily’s horse got away from her, and I was trying to catch her and hold her. I was caught off guard. I’d never lose my seat normally. I think Emily just needs a gentler horse until she becomes more confident.”

  Neil was already shaking his head. “Oh, I’m pretty sure Brad’s putting an end to her riding for the next little bit, anyway.”

  That didn’t surprise her. Brad, Neil, Jed, and even Andy were so overprotective, and something like this would push all of their protective instincts. She should have felt comforted, protected, but she couldn’t shake where her head had gone, what she had dreamed while unconscious. It had been an illusion, she didn’t know what, but it had seemed so real, and it haunted her. She wanted to weep, thinking of the woman who had turned her life, her feelings, and almost her marriage upside down.

  “What’s wrong?” Neil asked, facing her and reaching out, touching her face.

  She took a minute to just look at her husband watching her. She’d kept so much in for so long, putting all her hurt, her insecurities, her feelings into that journal and keeping it from him. “When I fell, I had this dream.” She was watching to see if he would dismiss her, but he didn’t look away. His expression was, if anything, that of a man interested in what she had to say. “We were back in Cancun, at my beach. I was standing in the ocean, and you were there, too, with Michael and Cat playing in the sand. It was so nice and warm, and I missed it.”

  His expression didn’t change, and he appeared to be thinking, but instead of talking or taking over the conversation, he listened.

  “Then there was something off. I got this unsettled feeling, a sadness, looking at your resort where my hou
se used to be, Dad’s house. Everything of mine was gone, wiped away as if it had never existed. Then I saw her.” She watched Neil closely for his reaction, and she could tell he was wondering, but he still said nothing as he continued to touch her leg. “Maria.”

  “Seriously, Candy?” Neil pulled away and went to stand up, but she didn’t want him to dismiss her, not over this.

  “Neil, this is important. You talked about me not sharing, so I’m sharing.” She touched his arm, and this time when he glanced back at her, she realized that Maria brought out a vulnerability in Neil that she’d never seen before. “She was walking toward you, toward the water, wearing a bikini and a skirt, dressed for the beach. She was happy, smiling, and Michael saw her and ran to her. He knew who she was, and he called her Mama, and he was so happy. Then you walked toward her, and she was pregnant again with your child, another child. I was calling to you, and you didn’t answer. You kissed her, and you were so happy, and my heart was breaking even though it wasn’t real…but it seemed to be.”

  She just watched as he tried to digest what she was saying. He reached out and slid his hand over her cheek, allowing her to lean in.

  “You look at me, Candy Friessen. There isn’t a chance in hell I could ever be happy without you. There’s no other woman, there can never be another woman. You are and will always be Michael’s mother. I’d walk through fire for you and walk away from everything for us.”

  It was the tears in his eyes, the passion for her as he leaned in, pressing his head to hers, that told her it was time to let go of the fear she’d been holding on to for so long.

  She said, “I know.”

  Chapter 19

  He’d hovered most of the night, listening to Candy breathe in and out, her soft moans as she turned in her sleep. In the morning, he helped her up for a hot bath as she stiffened. She was lying down again, sleeping, just as Neil finished up a second cup of coffee and had the kids playing quietly, Cat with her dolls and Michael with his big toy box, filled with an abundance of toys that would occupy him for the next little bit.

  What Candy had shared had kept waking him. She had voiced her worst fears through her dream. He didn’t believe in premonitions or anything like that, but he did believe that she’d mixed up a whole bunch of things and pictured an outcome that would destroy her, a fear that she couldn’t shake. That was something he’d done to her. It was a picture that had rolled through his mind over and over repeatedly through the night, and by morning he swore he’d do anything to help her get to a place where she’d never, ever have to worry about Maria again.

  Her fears were real, so he needed to find a way to reassure her it couldn’t happen—it wouldn’t happen. He had his children, Cat and Michael. He had a wife he loved more than his next breath, a woman who couldn’t be replaced because she was the one in every sense, even though he’d once tried to mold her, before and after they were married, into someone she wasn’t.

  It hadn’t been realistic, because Candy was complicated, thoughtful, deeply devoted, intuitive, quiet at times, filled with passion. She didn’t fit in with the black-tie crowd and couldn’t cook if her life depended on it. He smiled at that thought. How could he get her to believe that all her quirks and everything about her that made them both compatible and not in so many ways also made her the perfect woman for him?

  She challenged him, she excited him, and he couldn’t live without her.

  There was a knock at the door, and Neil hurried over before it woke Candy. He pulled it open to see Brad and Emily with the kids.

  “Hey, guys, come on in,” he said. He ruffled the girls’ hair and Trevor’s as they passed, and of course Michael and Cat were excited to see their cousins. Katy lifted Michael, who blabbered away in his baby talk to her, and little Becky was talking to Cat. Then they were both on the floor with their dolls.

  “How’re you doing, Emily?” He touched her shoulders and looked at the cut above her eye, which had to have come from a bush or stick while she made her way down the hill to Candy.

  “Just tired is all, but we were worried about Candy.”

  Brad looked a little worse for wear, and he stepped inside, taking Emily’s coat from her and tossing it over the chair. Trevor was hanging his in the closet. “Trevor, go and play with the girls,” Brad said.

  “They’re playing with dolls, Dad. I don’t play with Barbies.”

  Neil nearly laughed at the comment. “Don’t blame you, Trevor. Why don’t you go in my office and play on my computer if your dad says it’s okay? I have that Star Wars videogame you love.”

  “Oh, thanks, Uncle Neil!” Trevor sounded so excited as he started across the room to the back of the house, where Neil’s office was.

  “Hey, Trevor, your uncle said only if it was okay with me. Did you ask me yet?” Brad called out to him, and Trevor stopped and turned.

  “Oops, sorry, Dad. Can I?” he asked.

  “Yeah, go, but just the game, no YouTube,” he called out as Trevor hurried away before Brad could change his mind again.

  “Sorry, I thought considering we’re all a little tired, it would be okay,” Neil said. “There’s still coffee. Do either of you want any?” he asked.

  “Sure, could always use another,” Brad said.

  “None for me, Neil,” Emily said just as there was a squeak on the stairs.

  Candy was coming down, wearing black sweatpants and a white long-sleeved T-shirt. She was moving slowly, and her hair was tucked behind her ears, hanging straight down her back. It was a mess, and she looked absolutely gorgeous. She was carrying a brush as she stepped off the last step barefoot, looking exhausted and beautiful at the same time. “Thought I heard you two.” She was moving slowly, being stiff and sore. She couldn’t hide it from Neil.

  “You want me to brush your hair?” Neil was touching her and holding her elbow.

  She slid her arm around his waist and leaned against him, maybe to steady herself. “No, I’ll get Emily to. If you wouldn’t mind getting me a coffee, it may help clear my head a bit.”

  “Of course,” Emily said, taking the brush. Candy didn’t move for another second, then took a breath before pushing away from him. She did glance up, and he could tell too by the frown that her head was hurting. “How about another Advil?” Neil said.

  “Yeah.” She smiled, looking over at him, and he didn’t miss the shell-shocked expression on Emily’s face.

  “You scared me to death, Candy,” Emily said, tapping the brush in her palm.

  Brad was watching both women and then looking over to the children as if he wouldn’t let anyone out of his sight. “You’re both lucky you weren’t hurt worse,” he said. “Candy, you may be a good rider, but things happen out on the trail. I knew I should have put my foot down and said no, it wasn’t a good time to go out.”

  Candy was looking at Neil. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, as her expression softened as she looked over to Brad. Emily just shut her eyes as if she’d already heard this lecture.

  “Maybe you’re right, Brad, but we’re okay. All’s well,” Candy said.

  For a minute, Neil watched his brother and wondered whether he was going to add something else.

  “You’re lucky is all, Candy. Last night could very well have had a very different outcome. One with either of you…” Brad stopped, and Neil stepped in and pressed his hand to Candy’s lower back.

  “Go sit down and I’ll get you some coffee, Brad,” Neil said. He was just as tired and frustrated, but this wasn’t the time. Once, he’d have lit into Candy, but listening to her open up the night before to him after finding her lying in the woods with blood on the back of her head, it had been humbling and had scared the hell out of him.

  Neil walked into the kitchen and pulled out two more mugs, then splashed coffee in one for Candy and the other for Brad.

  “Sounds like you got about as much sleep as I did,” Neil added as Brad grunted and picked up the milk carton to dump some in his mug. Neil handed him a spoon, whic
h he took.

  “I yelled at Emily last night,” Brad said as he stirred and set the spoon in a puddle of spilled coffee on the counter. He took a swallow, standing off to the side where they could see into the living room. Candy was perched on the sectional, her arm resting over the back of a cushion, and Emily was brushing her hair carefully. She’d have to be mindful of the stitches.

  “Can understand why. I would’ve yelled at Candy if it accomplished anything, but it wouldn’t have. They’re okay, Brad. They’re home.” He stepped around Brad and didn’t miss him wince at whatever he’d been thinking as Neil carried Candy’s coffee out and handed it to her. She took it, offering him a smile in thanks.

  Brad was still watching the women and the kids as he drank, his hand resting on his hip. He was wearing blue jeans and a faded green T-shirt. “I’m surprised at you, Neil. You’re rather calm. I thought you of anyone would have laid down the law with Candy. You seem unusually supportive.”

  “Have you to thank for that,” he said as he stood beside his brother. He didn’t miss how confused Brad seemed.

  “You lost me, Neil. How am I responsible for you suddenly becoming reasonable?”

  Neil wanted to laugh. “Oh, I’d say it’s brotherly love lately and the fact you’ve been my wife’s closest confidant, telling me in not so many words that I’ve pushed too hard with her. Last night was the first time she opened up to me instead of running off to her journal and writing down her feelings, her thoughts, her worries, or confiding in you. She talked to me.”