by Diana Palmer
“It’s a great business plan you’re developing,” Steve murmured, caressing her back. “And I like it. But in reality, it could take decades to build.”
“I’m not going to come in here and pull the rug out from under your parents. I figure it will take me many years to learn the ranch business. I’m already starting to create a long-range business plan for the valley, like you said. Your parents want to retire at sixty years old. It will be a gentle handoff from them to us.” She gave him a hopeful look. “And while I know you are planning on having your company office on the ranch, you will stay here in-between the architecture projects that take you away. And while you’re out of the country for months at a time, I will be managing this huge ranch by myself. I feel fully capable of running it without you around.”
“Mom and Dad want to retire to Tucson, Arizona, where there’s no snow during the winter, but they’ll be available by phone in case you have a question. I know they’ll support you. And yes, you’re fully capable, Maud. I have no worries whatsoever.”
“We’ll be fine,” she said, giving him a tender look. “You and I have big dreams, but there’s nothing wrong with that. We can both have them and fulfill them. I know we can. Love will support us and give us the wings we need to fly.”
* * *
Maud wasn’t sure what would happen at dinner as they gathered around a large, round table made of oak. She sat next to Steve, with Lydia on her right and Sam across from her. The scent of spaghetti, and garlic toast, wafted through the air.
“Mom,” Steve said, standing next to her chair, “come sit down for a minute? Maud and I have something to share with you two.”
Sam, dressed in a clean white cowboy shirt, grinned up at his son. “A surprise?”
Lydia hurried in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her blue apron. “The spaghetti has about ten minutes before it’s ready to take up.” She smiled and thanked her son as he pulled the chair out for her.
“Good timing,” Steve murmured, sitting down next to Maud, giving her a look that he hoped made her feel calm. He could feel the tension radiating off her, her hands clasped tightly beneath the pink tablecloth, hidden from sight. He looked first at his mother and then his father.
“I’ve asked Maud to marry me,” he told them quietly.
Maud pulled her hand above the tablecloth, showing them the engagement ring.
“Oh! My!” Lydia said, beaming. “Oh! Wonderful!” and she looked at her husband. “Sam, this is wonderful!”
He smiled proudly, looked at Maud, and said, “You okay marrying this hombre?”
Laughing a bit nervously, Maud said, “Very much so. I love your son, Sam. I think I started falling in love with him the day I met him.”
Lydia pushed away, coming around, capturing Maud’s hand, looking at the ring closely. “That’s so beautiful, Maud! Do you like it?” she asked, and she looked at her, flushed with happiness.
“I love it. I love this guy sitting next to me.”
Releasing her hand, Lydia hugged her fiercely. “Welcome to our family, Maud! I was so hoping this would happen!” She released her, embarrassed by tears running down her cheeks. Turning, she gave her son a fierce hug and big kiss on the cheek. “I’m so glad! She’s the right girl for you.”
Touched, Steve smiled up at this mother, who was taking the edges of her apron and dabbing her eyes, giving them a look of apology. “I think so too, Mom.”
Sam got up, came around, and gave Maud a quick hug. He then extended his hand to Steve. “You do realize this filly is gonna be wild for the rest of her life. She’s not someone you can tame.”
Shaking his father’s hand, Steve grinned up at him. “Yeah, I got that the day she came in the door of the soup kitchen where I was volunteering. We’ve been the best of friends the last two years and I think we’ve stood the test of time. And I don’t want her tamed. I want her to follow her dreams just like she’s allowing me to follow mine. We’re a good team.”
Nodding, Sam pushed his fingers through his gray and blond hair, giving his wife a tender smile before he sat down. “You know, Lydia and I were born here in Wind River. We became the best of friends in the first grade and she’s still my best friend to this day.” He turned to Maud. “We married at eighteen, shortly after graduating from high school. She made my life complete. I can lean on her when I’m weak, and she can lean on me at those times she feels that way.”
Maud gave them both a warm look, placing her hands on top of the table. “Lydia told me one day about how you two just fell all over each other in the first grade, how you were her hero. She always called you ‘twinkle toes’ because your blue eyes sparkled like stars in the sky.”
Snorting, Sam colored. “Lydia? Did you have to tell her that?”
Tittering, Lydia arched an eyebrow imperiously. “I know you don’t like that name I gave you then, but it was the truth. Heck,” she said, waving her hand in his direction, “to this day you have the most beautiful, sparkling blue eyes that I’ve EVER seen. And, you still are, to this day, MY knight in shining armor!”
“Oh,” Sam demurred, embarrassed, “when you fell head over heels for Paul Newman, you said his eyes were as pretty as mine were.”
“And who did I marry, Mr. Samuel Whitcomb?”
Laughing with Steve, Maud felt comforted when he placed his hand over hers. “I once was on a plane, in first class, a United flight, and Paul Newman was sitting across the aisle from me,” she told them. “And Sam, I have to tell you, the first time I met you? I was so struck by the beautiful color of your eyes, how they shined with such life, that I almost told you this story of meeting Mr. Newman, and that your eyes were better looking than his.”
Ruddiness tinged Sam’s cheeks and he raised his thick brows over her compliment. “That’s a right nice compliment, Maud. Thank you.”
“See?” Lydia teased unmercifully. “See? I was RIGHT! Now? Will you finally, after all these years, believe me?”
Steve grinned at his parents. “So, you two are okay with Maud and me being engaged?”
Sighing, Lydia clasped her hands beneath her chin, giving them a joyous look. “This is so funny, because last night before I fell asleep, I told Sam that you two were meant to marry each other. Everything you do, there’s a kindness shared between you. And I love that you support each other’s dreams. That’s so rare. It’s something precious that you two have.”
“And respect,” Sam said in a gravelly tone, nodding. “Both of you are truly the best of friends and there’s respect between you. I can’t tell you how many times and situations, Maud, when you come for a visit to see us, that Lydia and I would sometimes sit back, shocked, at how much you reminded us of us,” he said, and he placed a thumb against his barrel chest. “I couldn’t be happier to hear this. I believe you were meant for each other, just as Lydia and I were.”
“Sam! I got five minutes till I gotta get that spaghetti out of the stockpot! Let’s ask them about when they want to get married after I sit back down!”
Steve laughed. Maud smiled.
“It’s going to be a very long, Victorian era engagement, Mom. We want to get married shortly after we graduate from getting our degrees.”
“Oh,” Lydia whined, “that’s YEARS AWAY!!!!” She pushed the chair away, smoothing her apron.
“Now, Lydia,” Sam said gently, “the kids are right. It’s not a bad idea. They are in very demanding fields, and if they got married sooner, it might detour one or both of ’em from finishing up their degrees. Don’t you think?” and he gave his distraught wife a gentle look.
“Oh . . . oh, well, I guess.”
Maud’s heart fell, seeing her disappointment. And it was real. “Lydia, I think we have some good news.” She turned to Steve, and he nodded.
Steve squeezed his mother’s hand. “Our summer vacations will be spent out here and divided up between being with Maud’s parents for a month. And then the rest of the time, we’ll be out here in Wind River. Maud, tell them wh
at you’d like to do with your time spent here with us.”
“I want to learn all about how to run the ranch, Lydia. I know that you two want to retire and go to Tucson, Arizona, at age sixty. Steve and I want to take over the ranch, understanding that it belongs to you until you pass it on to us. But we can caretake it until that time. I know nothing about ranching, so I wanted to spend the time with you and learn. Really learn. That way, I can carry on all your wonderful ideas that are making you a lot more money, as a result.”
“That’s a wise plan,” Sam congratulated. “Don’t you think, Lydia?”
Lydia lightened up a bit, feeling somewhat better. “Well, yes, yes, that sounds like a good plan, Maud. I’d love to teach you what I know.”
“And I’ll teach you the rest of the work, Maud. I know Steve has already told us he’ll be in and out of the ranch, somewhere in the world building economy homes for third world countries from time to time. And you’ll be here at the helm by yourself. You’ll need ten or fifteen years to really learn it all and then build upon your experience.”
“Plus,” Maud said, anxious to make Lydia feel better, “Steve and I want to start taking Thanksgiving and Christmas break with you. We think it would be nice to split the holidays and we can be with my mom and dad, and we can be with you at the other time. We can switch them around every other year.”
“Plus,” Steve said, “during our spring break, we’ll be out here with you. Maud needs to see this ranch run in all four seasons.”
“Sound judgment, Son. That’s a fine idea,” Sam said, and gave his son a look of pride.
“But, won’t your parents be unhappy about that?” Lydia asked.
“I don’t think so. Honestly? I find myself not wanting to be in a big city anymore. I need to talk to my parents about the engagement, and our long-range plans. They lead SUCH a busy life, Lydia, they travel so much, that I don’t think they’ll miss having me in New York. I’m hoping my mother will understand why we’ll be out here with you two-thirds of the time. I have to learn how to keep the ranch solvent when Steve is away on business. And if nothing else, my mother is the ultimate businesswoman and she will understand that.”
“See?” Sam said archly to Lydia. “The kids are gonna spend most of their time with us. So, don’t look so glum, honeypot. This is all good.”
“Yes,” Steve said, “and I’m relying on you both to help Maud when I’m gone. We don’t like the idea of many months of separation when a new project starts up, and she’ll be lonely.”
Lydia reached across her son and patted Maud’s arm. “Don’t you worry, sweetheart, we will make SURE you aren’t lonely. We’ll take such good care of you! Now, I gotta get to that spaghetti!” She hurried toward the kitchen, a big smile on her face.
Steve winked at Maud, who nodded. This was going to work. He hid his worry over Maud’s parents and what they would think of it. That would be the next hurdle.
Chapter Three
August 29, 1966
Maud tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach as she and Steve rode in a taxi from the New York City airport into Manhattan where her parents had a multimillion-dollar penthouse apartment that overlooked the city. Steve had been here four times in the last two years, for a weekend each time. Like her, he was glad to get out of this bustling global city and into the quieter backwaters of Princeton and their apartment in New Jersey. Like all New York City taxi drivers, the man wove in and around traffic with a fierce passion whenever possible. She hated it and kept her eyes closed a lot, always afraid that someday, she would be killed in an accident caused by one of these kamikaze pilot drivers.
Steve placed his large hand over her fisted hand resting on her white linen slacks. His flesh was warm, skin roughened against hers, but it felt good. She appreciated his silent sensitivity to her hating this wild-eyed drive from airport into city. Her mother wanted to have her picked up in the company limo, but she declined the offer. It wouldn’t be any better in a limo, either.
“Do you think your parents will be there?” he asked her.
She opened her eyes, focusing on him. As always, Steve dressed the same for her parents as he did everyone else, the symbolic black Stetson on his head. “They said they were coming in from Paris, France, landing two hours ahead of us. I hope their plane hasn’t been delayed.”
“Well,” he said, looking out the window, watching the canyon of skyscrapers blur by, “if they are late, we’ll just make ourselves at home.” A teasing grin came to one corner of his mouth. “We’ve already been assigned two guest bedrooms, a hall apart from each other. We’ll get our luggage and put it in the bedrooms and wait for them.”
“Mom has a live-in maid, Selene, so she’ll have lunch waiting for us.”
“That’s right,” he said, “I forgot about that.” Giving her a smile, he said, “I guess that puts us in the maid’s place, right? We have to do all the daily stuff on our own. Make our own breakfast? Lunch? Dinner?”
“Well,” she muttered, “Mom tried to hire a cleaning service for my apartment before I met you. I told her no. She just doesn’t understand 99.9 percent of the people of the world can’t afford to have a maid living in their apartment like they do.”
“It’s another reality,” he agreed. “I’m not surprised you turned her down.”
She turned her hand over, squeezing his. “I guess I’m embarrassed by my family’s wealth. Not that they didn’t earn it the hard way, they did. They worked for every penny they’ve made. But”—she shrugged—“I don’t look at money as buying a five-million-dollar penthouse apartment or hiring a live-in maid, as necessary. Even as a kid, when I could understand their wealth, I thought it was supposed to be given to those who had hardly anything in order to survive. I always asked my mom about that and eventually, when I was nine years old, she took me to a soup kitchen in the Bronx to show me that their donations kept it open to feed the hungry and poor. I loved my parents so much for that, and I loved being in that soup kitchen. From then on, she allowed me to go with her every Saturday, unless she was out of town on business, to work at the soup kitchen and help others.”
“Your parents have a big heart and they’re generous,” he said, nodding. “And kudos to your mother for seeing how you felt, and she showed you what money could do for the needy.”
“Yes, as I grew up, she showed me more and more of what her and my father’s hedge funds were doing to help the poor around the world. Instead of being forever embarrassed by rich parents, I began to change my attitude and be proud of all they did for others.”
“Did you ever lose your embarrassment over their penthouse apartment?”
“No . . . never did. I just don’t see extravagant use of money—just because you have it—to feather your own nest. All I had to do is walk anywhere in the Bronx and see horrible poverty. But I never said anything more about it to them. They have their lifestyle, and mine is different from theirs and that’s okay. They respect my choices and I respect theirs.”
“You said the other day that your parents donate millions of dollars a year to major charities around the world. That makes my head spin. I can’t imagine, first of all, making that kind of money.”
She snorted. “Tell me about it! Yet, my parents have MBAs and they were fascinated with finances. For them, it’s a challenge they love to pit themselves against. They’re both risk takers and if you own a hedge fund, you are the quintessential high stakes gambler. They both started up their own hedge funds and eventually moved back to their penthouse, had two offices with a staff, and made over a billion dollars a year at it. For them, they love to make or lose money. I’m not like that. I like putting money into something that isn’t so much as a risk, as it is a long-term investment that will eventually pay off.”
“I guess you didn’t get that enthusiastic money challenging gene?” he teased.
She laughed a little. “No. But I love what they DO with the money they make.”
“Oh, we’re here,” Steve said.
He paid the taxi driver and got out. He walked around and opened the door for Maud, holding out his hand to her. She gripped it and eased out of the yellow taxi as the driver got their luggage from the trunk and set it on the curb. The doorman to the apartments came out, tipped his hat to them, welcomed them, and picked up the two pieces of luggage. He smiled at Maud, knowing her by name. She went over and hugged the black man in a neat gray uniform.
“Henry! So good to see you again,” she said, releasing him, smiling up at the tall man who was Steve’s height.
“Thank you, Miss Maud. I’ll take your bags up to the lobby, and have Timmy, our new elevator boy, carry them into your parents’ penthouse apartment.” His brown eyes sparkled as Maud walked with him to the doors that whooshed open. “Your parents arrived an hour ago, just for your information.”
“Oh, good!” Maud said, walking inside the white marble entrance. Timmy tipped his hat, welcomed her. Henry asked the young man to take the luggage up to her parents’ apartment.
Maud smiled, shook Timmy’s hand because he was new, welcoming him to her parents’ world.
Turning, Maud gripped Henry’s hand. He was in his sixties now and had been a fixture in her life since she was born. He always had a stash of candy beneath his desk, on a particular shelf, and when she’d come down from the apartment, he’d sneak her a piece. Her mother wasn’t keen on a lot of sweets for her, but she forgave Henry. “How is your family doing? Is everyone well?”
“Yes, ma’am, they are. Everyone is fit, but my wife complains of being a tad overweight since I last saw you.”
