“Oh yes, Rif Raf.”
“Rafa.”
“Whatever,” she said as she dabbed at her lipstick. “Well, the least you could have done was bring Chloe. She always loved the Derby.”
Mason didn’t reply, and I was left sitting between them wondering if I had developed a super power of invisibility. I thought Chloe was just a friend of Mason’s, but the way his mother spoke about her, I wondered if she was more.
Even as my head spun with my questions about Chloe, I couldn’t help but wonder what my expiration date with Mason was. I knew he had plans to go to Germany, but in the two months we had been together, we had never discussed his leaving.
As the limo approached Churchill Downs’ front entrance gate, Mason’s father leaned over to look out the window.
“Mason, before I lose you for the rest of the day to your lovely date, I’d like to introduce you to some friends of mine.”
Mason turned to look at me and I nodded, letting him know I was fine.
“Don’t worry about her, dear,” Iris said. “I’ll keep her company.”
I forced a smile at Mason, hoping he would be reassured. He squeezed my hand then leaned closer to me, dipping his head underneath my hat.
“I promise I’ll only be a few minutes,” he whispered.
I got out of the car and watched as Mason’s father introduced him to several men. Just beyond them I saw their wives talking together like they were all old friends. Each of them was dressed to impress.
“You know, you should have told my son you couldn’t come,” Iris said.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you don’t belong here. I’m glad Mason has found slumming it to be a nice enough distraction that he’s still at home, but don’t forget where you come from.”
My first instinct was to say nothing and just take however she treated me. But the devil on my shoulder smacked that instinct away and told me to stand up for myself.
“Excuse me?” I said.
I met her gaze straight on, daring her to turn away from me.
“I’ll just remind you that my son needed to dress you up like a Barbie for you to even attend. Or maybe that’s why you’re here. You found a way to get your raise after all.”
She turned and walked away, but I stormed after her.
“How dare you talk to me that way. Don’t you walk away from me,” I said.
Iris joined the women I had been looking at earlier, and they greeted her with air kisses. I stopped myself and glared at her. She was right, I didn’t belong there.
“There you are,” Mason said as he slipped his arm around my waist. “Everything alright?”
I looked up at him, then back to his mother with her friends. She could think I was only interested in her son for his money all she wanted. I knew it wasn’t true, but what she said cut me deep. She hit all of my insecurities and her words echoed in my head.
“Everything’s fine,” I said, forcing a smile again.
“Let’s go look at the horses. I’m thinking about buying a couple.”
“From the race? No one is going to sell a winning horse.”
“I’m not looking for the winners, I like the losers.”
“Why would you want a loser?”
He pulled me closer to him as we walked.
“You know all of this is my father’s and it was his father’s before him. I love horses, they’re in my blood. But I don’t like how people treat them once that horse loses value to its owner. I know you know what I’m talking about. The life of a racehorse, for example, is a great one. Those horses live to race, it’s in their blood no different than raising horses is in mine. But that doesn’t mean they should be slaughtered just because they don’t earn money.”
“Of course I agree with you. You know I give just as much care to our pasture puffs as I do our Thoroughbreds. I’m always surprised at how many older horses we have on the ranch.”
“We should have more,” he said. “Abernathy Ranch will be mine one day and when it is, you’ll see how things will change. There’s no reason these horses should have nowhere to go once they’re retired.”
I admired him. Not many ranchers would think like that. Those old horses affect the bottom line, and I was glad to see that Mason cared more about the animals than his bank account.
As we walked along the backside, I felt more at home. The elegance and wealth that the Derby was known for wasn’t back here. All there was were the horses, their riders, and their owners. It reminded me of the ranch back home and Iris’s words echoed in my head again.
“When are you leaving?” I asked.
Mason stopped. He frowned as he gently touched my chin.
“Did my mother say something?”
I couldn't answer him. Despite everything, Iris was his mother and I couldn’t tell him the things she said to me. I wasn’t even sure if he would believe me.
“No, but you did say once Rafa was settled, you were going.”
“I did say that, but to tell you the truth, he’s been settled for some time. I’ve done what I can and his sister can take care of anything else with him. I haven’t left yet because I don’t want to. The past two months with you have meant more to me than anything. I was supposed to head to Germany in May, but I postponed it. The next start is October, but I don’t know. I don’t want to be so far from you.”
“That first day we spoke, you said it was what you really wanted. You have to do it.”
“When the time is right, I’ll go. Right now what I really want is right here in front of me.”
Present Day
Mason drove in silence towards Jefferson Manor. When he pulled up in front of the cottage, he moved the shifter into park but didn’t say a word. I knew he was leaving everything up to me. After my blow up, I couldn’t blame him. I felt bad about letting my emotions get the best of me.
“Why don’t you come in? We still need to catch up,” I said.
Once we were inside, I busied myself with readying a pot of tea. I had ordered some pastries from Mirabella’s just in case I invited Mason in, so I set them out on a plate. The cottage was small, but it was open, with no walls separating the great room and the kitchen. While I got everything ready, Mason looked at my family photos on the fireplace.
“Are your parents still alive?” he asked as he held up a photo. “When was this taken?”
From across the room I recognized a photo from Medieval Times, the family dinner and show theater.
“That was five years ago, just before I started working here. I did a lot of different jobs after I left Abernathy.” I set the small round table and we sat down across from each other. “My father passed away a month after that picture was taken.”
“What about your mom?”
“She’s good. Something happened when he died and she changed. I think she realized how short life really is and thought she was missing out on a lot. She travels all the time now. I never know where she is until she calls, and she never stays anywhere for very long.
“What about your parents? I’ve heard that after all these years of dying, your father is still alive.”
Mason laughed as he nodded. “He is and surprisingly well. He’s very frail, but since my mother left him, he’s a new man. They both still live at Abernathy Ranch, but they live separate lives.”
“What about you? Did you ever marry? Are you living at the ranch too?”
“No,” he said.
I waited for him to continue. Instead he squeezed lemon into his tea and took a sip.
“No? No what?”
“No to everything. I never married. I never lived at the ranch.”
I stared at him blankly as I tried to make sense of his words. I wanted to know what happened to him since I last saw him, but he wasn’t telling me enough. I needed details and I hated to ask for them, but he wasn’t giving me much choice.
“Then what did you do for all these years?”
“I’ve traveled a lot. I
never went back to North Carolina. I stayed on the road and moved from hotel to hotel, staying wherever I needed to do business. I put everything into my work and never married.”
“I never got married either.”
“You didn’t?” He looked away and then his face hardened. He clenched and unclenched his jaw before standing. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
“What do you mean? What just happened? Did I say something wrong?”
“I have to get going. Thank you for joining me for dinner.”
As I stood from the table, Mason crossed the room and walked out the door. I raced to the door, but by the time I opened it, I saw his taillights moving up the long driveway towards the road.
I didn’t know what happened. I thought again about what I said and was left with only my confusion.
“If only I could read minds,” I said.
Closing the door, I heard my cell phone chime.
Mason: I’m sorry. I owe you an explanation, but right now I’m the one who needs a little time.
I stared at the message for a while but didn’t know how to respond. It was an emotional day. Maybe we both needed a break.
Chapter Six
Mason
She never got married?
I spent all these years without her, not even looking for her because I thought she was happily married. Had I known she wasn’t, I would have moved mountains to find her.
Arriving at the hotel, I looked towards the bar and thought about having a drink to cool off. Instead I pushed that thought out of my mind. I wanted to be angry at the time we lost. Most of all, I wanted to be furious with myself for not looking for the one woman I had always loved.
Fifteen Years Ago
“I am not staying. I’ll be here for a couple of months and then I’m going to Germany,” I said. “Deutschland Industrial is doing some very advanced environmental things. They have very set guidelines for when investors can visit, and I don’t want to lose out on this opportunity.”
My mother’s face dropped and for a moment I thought she was going to cry. It was the usual emotional blackmail I had dealt with my entire life and the reason I hadn’t been home in six years.
On the other hand, my father stared at me blankly from behind his desk. The enormity of it made him appear that much smaller and frail. It was a look he used to his advantage far too often.
“Then you’ll have a couple of months working here,” he said.
“You realize I have my own company now. I don't have the time to do your grunt work as some sort of proving ground for a job I don’t want.”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t want it, one day all of Abernathy Ranch will be yours. You need to learn everything about it just like I did and--”
“And your father did before you. I know, Dad, I’ve heard this all before.”
“Mason, I don’t think you understand. A lot is at stake with the ranch, and I won’t be around forever. I don’t have much time left.”
I sat down and pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. I loved my parents, I really did, but they drove me crazy. The longer I had been away from home, the more eccentric they became.
“Did Doctor Elias say that?” I asked.
“No, but anything can happen. I am not a young man.”
For as long as I could remember, my father was dying. It was how he guilted me into doing things for the ranch and learning how it operated. There wasn’t a job I hadn’t done at the ranch. My parents didn’t care that I had started my own business or that it had nothing to do with horses.
Rubbing my fingertips along the scruff on my chin, I looked from my father, to my mother, and then back again. The least amount of time I had to spend there, the better.
“Fine, I’ll stay, but on two conditions. Rafa York can have a part-time job here, and you accept that I’m only here for two months.”
“No, absolutely not,” Mother said. “You’ve been gone long enough. You never came home during breaks, not even holidays. You can’t leave after only two months. When will I see you again?”
“Let him go, Iris.” My dad raised his hand as if he was directing traffic. “That’s exactly why he doesn’t want to stay. Two months is good enough for me. You can learn a lot in that amount of time. You’ll be managing the stables here. I have some good people working for me and they’ll show you the ropes.”
“Fine, I’ll start tomorrow,” I said.
I yanked open the door and a pretty blonde girl tripped forward. My instincts kicked in and quickly caught her before she landed on the floor.
She had curves in all the right places and fit in my arms perfectly. As I steadied her, my hand brushed against her soft skin. Hmm...maybe staying for a couple of months isn’t such a bad idea.
“You should watch where you’re going, sweetheart. I might not always be around to catch you,” I said.
“My name isn’t sweetheart, and the last thing I need is for you to catch me,” she said.
“If you say so, but that’s not how it looked to me.”
I felt her eyes on me as I walked away. I always loved a good challenge and she would be a great one.
* * *
I never realized how much one person could change everything. Being with Tara made my life worth something, and the time we spent together meant more to me anything. But I couldn’t stay at the ranch anymore. And despite how many times I asked her to go with me, she refused.
I postponed my trip to Germany until October, more than six months after Tara and I had met. She never said anything to me about my leaving, but she didn't have to. It was all over her face, in her sad eyes, and on her tear-stained cheek. It broke my heart to leave her, but I convinced myself it was only for a short time.
I spent my time in Germany focused on business. I learned what I needed to and when the day was over, I went to my hotel room and tried to reach Tara. But every night gave me the same result.
“Abernathy Ranch.”
I didn’t recognize the woman’s voice on the other end of the line, but it wasn’t uncommon for my mother to bring in new help.
“This is Mason Abernathy. Connect me to Tara Murphy. She’s in the stables.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Abernathy, but I’m unable to reach her.”
The line went dead before I could speak.
“Goddammit,” I roared as I threw a glass of water across the room.
Every night there was less time between my asking for Tara and the voice saying she was unable to reach her. I knew something was going on, but I couldn’t figure it out. I wasn’t sure who I could trust at the ranch so I called the only person I thought might know something.
“Chloe, it’s Mason.”
“Well hello, stranger,” she said. “Been a long time. Where are you?”
“Germany. I’ve been here almost a month. I’m sorry, I didn’t call to be sociable. I was wondering if Rafa has said anything about the ranch lately.”
“Rafa? I don’t think he’s been to the ranch all week.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “He’s pretty upset. I think he was fired.”
“Fired? That’s impossible.”
“Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know what happened, but he refuses to talk about it. One night I overheard him on the phone saying something about a bitch.”
My mother. I hated that that was the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard that word.
“I’m sorry to hear about that. I’ll talk to my father about it.”
“How’s your girlfriend? I’m surprised she didn’t tell you about Rafa.”
“I haven’t spoken to her.”
“What? Why not?”
“It’s the time difference. I’ve been calling her at the ranch, but someone new is answering the phones and won’t put Tara on the phone.”
“Then call her at home,” she said.
“By the time she gets home and takes care of her parents, it’s so late out here that I’ve passed out. I hate being so far away. Hopefully this b
usiness moves quickly so I can get back to her.”
“Have you tried calling the personal line?”
“You know my mother answers that.”
“And?”
I sighed. “I just don’t want to deal with her.”
“Well, you know this is just me, but if the guy I loved went away and then never called me, I’d be really pissed.”
“I know. You’re right.”
“I’m always right,” she said with a laugh.
“Sorry to cut this short, but I’m going to see if I can get Tara before she leaves work.”
“Go! We can talk any time.”
I hung up the phone and immediately dialed the private Abernathy line. While my mother was the last person I wanted to speak to, she might be my only chance.
“Abernathy residence.”
“Hello, Mother.”
“Ahh, Mason. I can’t remember the last time you called this number.”
She was baiting me into an argument. I needed to stay focused and not let her get the better of me.
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of Tara.”
“I saw Chloe with her parents at brunch at the country club the other day. She’s looking lovely. I really think you should take her out sometime.”
“Mother, you know she and I are just friends, nothing more.”
“I think you'd make a good couple. You’re both from the same background and--”
“Mother, can you get Tara for me?”
“Tara? Oh her.” Disappointment dripped from her voice. “I thought you’d get that out of your system by now. It’s time you settled down.”
“I want to settle down with Tara. Can you put her on?”
“You and Tara are from two different worlds. Chloe is really more your type. She can trace her ancestry back for generations.”
“Good for Chloe, but she will never be my type. Really, Mother, I never ask you for anything. Can you just do this one thing for me? Get Tara on the phone.”
“Well, now you’re just being rude. If you want to talk to Tara then you shouldn’t be calling the private line.”
Won’t Fall Again Page 7