Kentucky Rich

by Fern Michaels

  salt and pepper

  Clean shrimp thoroughly. Chop garlic into fine bits. Mix in bowl brown sugar, garlic, chili powder, hot chili pepper flakes, lime juice, soy sauce, and two to three teaspoons of olive oil. Add shrimp and be sure to coat each piece. Let marinate thirty minutes.

  Preheat your broiler.

  Cut and peel avocado. Cut into pieces (I like chunks). Remove shrimp from marinade and place in broiler pan in one layer only. Broil about 4 to 5 inches away from heat for approximately two minutes. Turn shrimp at end of two minutes. Broil two more minutes. Transfer to another bowl. Add avocado and lemon juice, coriander, and rest of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste and gently toss in bowl.

  Serves two nicely.

  For a sneak preview of the next novel in this series, now available from Zebra Books, just turn the page . . .

  1

  Nealy staggered to the corner of Misty Blue’s birthing stall, leaned against the slatted wall, then slid to the ground. She wrapped her arms around her knees to stop the trembling in her arms and legs. She’d had no sleep at all for the past forty-eight hours and was operating on pure adrenaline. She wanted to sleep, needed to sleep, but she didn’t dare close her eyes in case the fragile newborn colt needed her. A wan smile tugged at the corners of her mouth when she heard Flyby whicker softly. “I hear you, big guy. Your son is doing just fine, and so is his mama. It was touch-and-go there for a while, but then I guess you know that. I don’t want you worrying one little bit.” A second whicker, this one softer, echoed in Nealy’s ears. “All’s right with your world, eh, Flyby?”

  As if in answer, Flyby whinnied.

  “Everything is all right with his world, but it sure isn’t right with mine right now. I think this straw has bugs in it.”

  “Ruby! Are you awake? Are you okay?”

  “I’m as okay as I can be for going without sleep for forty-eight hours,” Ruby said in a hoarse voice as she peeked through the slats into Misty Blue’s stall. “Ah, look at him, Nealy, he’s so gorgeous he takes my breath away.” She gazed at the colt adoringly. “Metaxas is going to go over the moon when he gets here later today.”

  Nealy yawned. “I hope we’re both awake to see his reaction.” She groaned as she struggled to her feet. Every muscle in her body ached with the exertions of the last two days. She was getting too old to wrestle an eleven-hundred-pound mare to lie down or hold still. Even though she was still in good physical condition, it was too much. Still, it was the bed she’d chosen to lie in, so to speak, so lie in it she would, straw and all, for as long as she could.

  Nealy raised her arm toward the light so she could read her watch. “When I get my hands on my two kids, I am going to strangle them,” she said, stretching her aching back. “They know the first rule on this farm is someone is always here. I let them convince me that a week’s vacation for everyone wasn’t going to make the world come to an end. Yes, we have good help; yes, we left everything in capable hands, but there are always the what-ifs. What if I had decided to stay an extra few days with Ken? It’s a damn good thing I didn’t. I had this really weird feeling I should come home early. Don’t ask me why because I can’t explain it. Am I the only responsible family member around here? If I hadn’t come back when I did, God only knows what would have happened. I’m so angry I could chew nails and spit rust. Not even a phone call from either of them. Two weeks, Ruby. They each took an extra week and didn’t say boo to me. No calls, no nothing. It’s unconscionable.”

  “I’m sure there’s a good reason,” Ruby said wearily. “Why don’t you go up to the house and take a shower. I’ll call you if anything goes wrong. Will you trust me with the colt, Nealy?”

  “Of course I trust you. I would trust you with my life, for God’s sake.” Nealy picked up her Stetson out of the straw and hit it against her leg to shake off the straw cleaving to the soft felt. Ruby was right. A shower was just what she needed. A long, hot, wonderful shower. She’d always thought she did some of her best thinking in the shower and right now there were some hard decisions she had to make. “The vet will be back in about an hour. Just talk to them, Ruby. Try not to fall asleep till I get back, then I’ll spell you. This is the most crucial time for this little guy. God, we almost lost this beautiful baby.” She straightened her hat. “Look at him, curious as all get-out. Okay, I’m outta here for some clean clothes and fresh coffee.”

  A voice boomed from the far end of the barn. “Ma! We’re home!”

  Nealy froze. Not now, she thought. Not now. I need to think things through a little more to know what I need to do.

  Ruby dashed out into the breezeway and caught Nealy just as she was leaving Misty Blue’s stall. “Ask questions before you say anything,” she said, wiggling her finger in warning. “You might be surprised at the answers. That means take it easy, Nealy.”

  Nealy took a deep breath, exhaling it in an angry swoosh. She jammed her hands into her pockets so they would stop shaking.

  “Ma . . .” His eyes took in the blood on Nealy’s shirt. “What happened? Oh my God, the colt came early. Jeez, Ma, I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” He was tall, his lanky form casting a shadow in the breezeway, Willow at his side. Nealy saw him squeeze her hand and knew he knew he was in deep trouble. Good, she thought. His eyes took on a wary look as he shuffled his feet on the concrete.

  “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it, Nick? The colt came early, and we damn near lost him.” She paused to let her words sink in before asking, “Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be here a week ago. Wipe that sappy look off your face. This is a working farm in case you didn’t know that. You have responsibilities like the rest of us. I let you talk me into a week, Nick. A week is seven days, not fourteen. You knew the deal. The workers who spelled us got their time off the day after New Year’s. That left us shorthanded. Did you know and do you care? Bradley broke a leg on New Year’s Eve. Donald is in the hospital undergoing an emergency gallbladder operation, and we have six men out with the flu as of yesterday. Everyone has been pulling double shifts, and they’re tired. We all did your work while you frolicked in the snow and your sister is sunning herself on some luxury ocean liner God only knows where. If it wasn’t for me and Ruby, this colt would be dead. Neither one of us has had any sleep for two days, and for days before that an hour here and there when we were able to snatch one. You were supposed to be here. I agreed to a week’s vacation. You took two weeks. Why didn’t you call me? This would be a very good time to offer up an explanation, Nick.”

  “I thought Emmie . . .”

  “You thought Emmie would cover for you, I know. And she might have if she wasn’t off sunning herself on some luxury cruise ship on God only knows what ocean.” Her son’s look of surprise told her he had thought Emmie was at the farm. It was no excuse.

  Ruby had reached out to touch Nealy’s shaking shoulder. Nealy shrugged it off as she stalked toward her son. Willow, the household cook and Nick’s skiing companion, cowered behind him as Nealy jabbed a finger into her son’s chest, forcing him backward. Flyby snorted his displeasure. Ruby cringed against the stall. “Is there a reason why you didn’t call, Nick?” She sounded angry even to her own ears. Angry, hurt, and disappointed. He wasn’t the young man she thought he was. Maybe someday he would be, but not now.

  Ruby’s hand reached out again to touch Nealy’s shaking shoulders, but again she shrugged it off and walked toward her son.

  “I got married, Ma. Willow and I went to Vegas and tied the knot after our ski trip. That’s why I’m late.”

  “You what?”

  “We got married,” Nick said, his eyes wary at the expression on his mother’s face. Willow, his new bride, still cowered behind him.

  Nealy closed her eyes to let his words sink in. If she’d been angry, hurt, and disappointed before, she was doubly so now. Stung to the quick by her son’s words, she retaliated. “Pack your bags and get out. Now!”

  Nick’s gaze ricocheted first to Willow and then to his mothe
r. “Ma! What the hell? Ruby, do something. Say something.”

  “You heard me. What part of pack your bags and get out don’t you understand?” The only thing that could save her from breaking down was to walk away.

  “You’re fired, Willow,” Nealy shot over her shoulder as she stalked out of the barn.

  “Ruby . . .”

  Ruby stared helplessly at the young man and his frightened bride. She shook her head as she tried to soothe Flyby, who was pawing the gate to his stall. She was only a few feet from his stall when he kicked the stall door so hard that splinters of wood flew in every direction. A second kick sent the door flying off its hinges. The big horse charged out into the breezeway, ears back, nostrils flaring.

  Ruby screamed when she saw him heading for Nick. She’d learned enough about horses since coming here to Blue Diamond Farms to know that stallions could be extremely dangerous.

  “Flyby!” Nick shouted in an attempt to control the horse, but Flyby wasn’t listening. Snorting and tossing his head, the stallion pushed Nick into the tack room opposite his stall, pushed him so hard that Nick lost his balance and fell.

  Willow screamed.

  Ruby gasped.

  Satisfied that he’d had his say, Flyby whinnied before he ran after Nealy.

  “Son of a bitch!” Nick groaned as he struggled to pick himself up off the floor. “I think that damn horse broke my ribs.”

  “Then you better see a doctor,” Ruby said, not unkindly. “The vet is due any minute. He can look you over and maybe strap up your chest.”

  “Ruby . . .”

  “No, Nick, I can’t intervene. Nealy told me the first time I met her that this farm, these horses, take precedence over everything. Maud and Jess instilled that creed in her, and she abides by it. Otherwise, it doesn’t work. She was always so proud of the way you and Emmie adapted to it. Your mother was right, there are telephones. How could you have been so selfish, so uncaring? If I were you, I’d do what she says until she cools down.”

  Nick’s eyes almost popped from their sockets. “Are you saying I should leave here? This is my home. Where am I supposed to go?”

  “It was your home,” Ruby said quietly.

  “I . . . I . . . have a contract,” Willow whispered.

  Ruby guffawed as she offered up a withering look. “I would imagine, knowing Nealy, that when you go up to the house, there will be a check waiting and your pots and pans will be on the porch. I don’t think this is a good time to try to negotiate. What were you thinking, Nick? You don’t get married and not tell your mother.”

  “I guess I . . . come on, Willow, let’s get your stuff and get out of here. Thanks for nothing, Ruby.”

  “Just a damn minute, Nick. You’re the one at fault here, not me. Don’t take your anger out on me. Like everyone else on this farm, I covered for you and Emmie. In case you haven’t noticed, your mother and I both look like death warmed over, as does every other person working here. I haven’t had any sleep either. Your mother and I did what the four of us should have done because that’s what you do when a crisis arises. Look to yourself before you start blaming others.”

  “Bullshit!” Nick snapped.

  “Wrong animal,” Ruby snapped in return. She brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the bright morning sun invading the breezeway to see Nealy trying to soothe Flyby as he gently pushed her toward the back porch steps that would allow her the height to heft herself onto his back. She could only imagine what Nealy was saying to her prize stallion.

  She continued to watch as a Dodge Durango, Emmie and Buddy’s 4-by-4, skidded to a stop in the courtyard next to the back porch. She continued to watch as Nick wrapped his arms around his middle and hobbled over to Emmie’s SUV, Willow close behind. And then all hell broke loose. Flyby reared up on his hind legs as Nealy grabbed his mane to secure her seat on the stallion. She could hear angry sounds but couldn’t distinguish the words.

  “I hope your excuse is a lot better than your brother’s, Emmie. You’re a week late. Misty Blue birthed early.” She took a deep, sobering breath so she could say what she needed to say. “Make it good, girl, because you aren’t going to get up to bat again. I can’t believe how irresponsible the two of you are. I’m waiting, Emmie.”

  “Buddy left me. He went to Ohio. He left me stranded at the ship. Stranded, Mom.”

  Nealy clenched her teeth. “I gave you a week because you and your brother convinced me it would be okay. One week, not two. There are telephones. If you think so little of this farm and me, so be it. We have rules here, and you and your brother know what they are. You both broke those rules. If your husband left you, it is something you have to deal with. I have a farm to run here.”

  “Mom, didn’t you hear what I just said? Buddy left me. He said I’m normal, and he can’t handle it.”

  Nealy clenched and unclenched her teeth again. “When did this happen, Emmie?”

  “Last week. I didn’t know what to do,” she said miserably.

  Nealy nodded. Any other time she would have opened her arms to her daughter and offered comfort. Maybe that was part of the problem. Maybe she’d been too available through the years, offered a little too much comfort. “Last week, and you’re just now getting around to coming here?” she forced herself to say, knowing where the question would lead, wishing there was another way. “Doesn’t your telephone work?”

  “I . . . I spent the whole week crying. I didn’t see this coming, Mom.”

  “I’ll leave it up to your brother and his new wife to explain things to you. Your services are no longer required, Emmie. That means you’re fired and off the payroll. If I can’t depend on you, what good are you to me? Now, you have something to cry about.” Her heels kicked the stallion gently as she headed back toward the foaling barn and Ruby.

  “Mom . . .” Emmie wailed after her.

  Nick put his arm around his sister’s shoulder. “Save your breath, Emmie, and go home. She just booted my ass out of here, too. We broke the cardinal rule. Now we have to stand up and take our punishment like the big boys and girls we’re supposed to be. Do you mind if Willow and I bunk with you until I can find someplace for us to live?”

  Emmie nodded, her face miserable. “I have to get her to listen to me,” she said, starting after her mother.

  Nick pulled her back. “Don’t even think about it. Jesus! She sure can work fast when she wants to,” he said, referring to Smitty standing on the back porch with two white envelopes in her hands. Within minutes Willow’s pots and pans appeared in cardboard cartons as if by magic. “I’ll drive, Emmie, but first I have to pack Willow’s stuff in the cargo hold.”

  “What’s wrong with her, Smitty?” Emmie sobbed.

  Nick stopped long enough to hear the office manager’s reply. “You both broke the rules. As far as I can see there is absolutely no excuse for your behavior. You’re old enough to know better. There are telephones. If I were you, I wouldn’t drag my feet,” Smitty said coldly before she turned to enter the house.

  “I don’t understand,” Willow said.

  “With my mother there are no second chances when it comes to the horses. She gave us an inch and we took a yard. In plain English, we fucked up. She won’t bend either. Let’s get out of here. Stop bawling, Emmie. Life is going to go on whether Buddy left you or not.”

  “But not without Mom. I’m not going until I talk to her.”

  “It’s too late for talking. You should have called. I should have called. We didn’t. We’re selfish bastards thinking only of ourselves. Look, we both know that is not acceptable on this farm or any other farm. She bent enough to give us a week. The horses always have to come first.”

  “Just like that, we’re walking away?” Emmie sobbed.

  “Unless you want to crawl. It’s your call. Get in the truck, Emmie. We’ll talk when we get to your house.”

  Her shoulders shaking with her sobs, Emmie climbed into the truck and buckled her seat belt. She turned to look out the back windo
w to see her mother and Ruby staring at the truck. She cried harder.

  Nealy watched her children drive away, a lump in her throat. Did she do the right thing? Only time would tell, she thought. Time had a way of dealing with everything. She slid off Flyby’s back and led him to his stall.

  “Nealy, are you sure you didn’t overreact?” Ruby said, putting her arm around Nealy’s shoulders.

  Nealy’s shoulders sagged. “To your way of thinking, I suppose I did. The farm runs as well as it does because of the rules. When Maud and Jess were alive, my ass would have been on the road in seconds if I had done what those two did. I accepted those rules going in, and I made damn sure I never broke them. Emmie and Nick learned that same rule from the minute they were able to walk and talk. I gave us all a week. I realize now I shouldn’t even have done that.”

  “Is your heart breaking, Nealy?”

  “No,” Nealy lied. “I’m going up for that shower now. I won’t be long.”

  “What will they do?”

  Nealy stopped and stared down at the ground. “I have no idea. Don’t ask me that again, Ruby.”

  “Okay. Don’t forget the coffee when you come back.”

  “I’ll remember.”

  In the kitchen, Nealy headed to Smitty, who held out her arms. She stepped into them as the tears started to flow. “Don’t say it, okay, Smitty.”

  “You did what you had to do, Nealy. Now you have to live with it. I know what you’re thinking and how hard it was for you to do what you did. This isn’t like when you lit out with Emmie at the age of seventeen. There was no love there. You moved from darkness to sunshine. Don’t start comparing. It’s over, it’s done with, and you don’t look back. If you look back, Nealy, it’s all over.”

  “It hurts, Smitty. I feel like those two ripped my heart out. Nick got married. He got married, Smitty, and he didn’t think enough of me to invite me to his wedding or even call to tell me. I had no clue that he was serious about Willow. Flirting is one thing, marrying is something else entirely. And yes, I fired her. I had to. I sent my son packing, so how could I keep his wife around to cook for me? As for Emmie, we’ve always been so very close, and yet the one time when I could have consoled her, been with her, what does she do? She hangs me out to dry and stays home crying. I don’t understand that either. I don’t understand, Smitty, why she didn’t come to me this time. At Thanksgiving they were talking about having a baby, they went on this second honeymoon cruise, and then he dumps her and leaves her stranded when they got off the ship. What’s wrong with this picture, Smitty? Don’t answer that. I probably couldn’t handle it right now. I’d appreciate it if you would make some fresh coffee, and if you have time, call an agency and see about getting us a new cook. An all-round housekeeper might be better.”