As she leaned into Vicente for a kiss, she said, “Only if dinner is like the first time we dined in front of the fire at the cabin. I can’t recall eating very much, but I was somehow exhausted at the end of the meal.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Ah, mi amore, our first night! It was perfect—I certainly was satisfied. Weren’t you? He slipped his tongue in her mouth and probed, teasing her lips. “Well then, I will make sure that you are satisfied tonight, in stomach, soul, and body.”
He held her until they reluctantly broke apart and walked out of the house toward her truck. He kissed her good-bye again before she drove off toward the hospital, a ten-minute drive.
Honor Creek Veterinary Services occupied a good portion of a one-hundred-acre farm, a few miles from Annapolis. The property had been in Georgie’s late husband Dash’s family, and when he died, it became hers. A big operation, it had a hospital with several treatment stalls, a large X-ray facility, surgical suites, and rehabilitation center including a pool that could accommodate the rehab of four horses simultaneously and lots of very specialized equipment for the care and treatment of sick horses. Georgie and Dash had built the practice together and now she had concluded that it was time for her to start a new life that was hers, perhaps with Vicente.
She ruminated that their relationship was still new, but it felt solid and true. She wanted to travel with him to Spain, to see where he came from, what taught him and who was important in his life. She wanted to become a force in the horse world an advocate for training and competing that was safer for all kinds of horses. And she could not do any of those things while trying to maintain a very large veterinary practice.
Her decision to sell was hard, but Dash’s mother had given her blessing, and Georgie felt it was time. She had placed a discreet ad in a recent equine veterinary journal and had gotten several inquiries. A few had sounded promising, and today was her first occasion to actually reveal how much the practice made and how much it cost to run. She hoped that she would like the potential buyer. She couldn’t imagine selling to someone she didn’t care for. She pulled into the lot and walked toward her office. “Good morning, Janice! I need some coffee and let’s get this dog and pony show on the road.”
As Georgie sat in her office reviewing paperwork, her desk phone buzzed. “Doctor Faris.”
“Georgie, it’s Teegan. How are you?”
She sounded bubbling over with happiness and excitement.
“Do you have time to talk now?” Teegan launched, talking rapidly. “Misty introduced me to a couple of wonderful people from Europe who are looking to expand their business in Florida. I met them at a function in Wellington. They are really great. She’s a dressage rider, very elegant and pretty, and he’s a trainer. They apparently have great connections all over the world. Anyway, they have invited me to work with them. I’d be able to continue my competitions and I’d do some training of up and coming riders. I would have a sponsor! Isn’t that great?”
“That is great, Teegs. You sound so happy.” Georgie’s mind was elsewhere, thinking about Vicente, about his arms around her, and about the fabulous lovemaking of early that morning.
“I thought you would be ecstatic for me, Georgie! You sound like you’re a million miles away.”
“I am fine, just a little distracted. There are a lot of things going on here. I’m getting ready to sell the practice, so I am worried about that. Anyway, I’m very happy for you. It sounds promising. Make sure you do your due diligence and check these people out before you sign anything.”
“Of course! You always give such good advice, Georgie. That’s only one of the reasons why I called. I wanted to talk about Bonnie. I’d like to purchase her from you. Now that I have a permanent place to train and keep her, and the means to pay for it, I’d like to talk seriously about this. What do you think?”
“Wow, this is a surprise. Give me a minute to think.” She paused. “So, you propose to buy her, move her to Florida, and live and train there. You do remember what I paid you for her, don’t you? She is an expensive, well-trained horse, as you well know. I do know that you belong together, though. I’ll tell you what. Let’s both think about this and develop proposals for how this would work. I assume that you don’t have the cash on hand to pay for her outright, so you’ll want to do some sort of financing for her? You come up with what you can do and I’ll come up with my proposal and then we can negotiate.”
Georgie had made a significant shift with Teegan, from lover to business associate. As she was talking, Georgie realized this and she felt calmness about Teegan she had never felt before.
“Okay. That works for me. I’m so excited, Georgie. I’ll give you a call tomorrow with my proposal. Will that work?”
“Perfect. I’m glad that things are working out for you.” Georgie was anxious to get off the phone. She didn’t want to delve into her deepening relationship with Vicente.
“Thanks so much, Georgie! We will talk tomorrow. Big hugs.”
“Big hugs. Bye.”
* * * *
After Georgie had left, Vicente went to the big barn in search of Osvaldo, the Honor Creek Farm manager, and his longtime friend. Osvaldo was so happy that his dear friend seemed to have found love with Miss Georgie. He respected her, what she had built, and for all the grace and goodness with which she handled life. So, Osvaldo was happy on two counts, one for Miss Georgie and one for Vicente. He wondered when it would be his turn to find a love like that. As Vicente walked up to him, Osvaldo could tell that the man was well fed, well fucked, and happy. He almost said this aloud to Vicente, but thought better of it, fearing that Vicente’s formal way would find that vulgar. Instead he said, “¡Buenas días, mi amigo! Beautiful day, eh?” They clasped forearms in the old Spanish way and pounded each other on the back.
“Did the tulips arrive yesterday?” Vicente asked quickly.
“Yes and I hid them beneath the desk in my office. That is a big box, my friend. How many did you buy?”
“One thousand for this first planting. I need to gauge how long it takes me to plant a thousand tulip bulbs without getting caught by Georgie. She cannot know that I am doing this. I want it to be a surprise when they bloom.”
Georgie’s late husband Dash had a thing for tulips and had re-created the beds of one of his ancestors, William Faris. The tulips and the sheep were both Dash’s hobbies and with enthusiasm she had not seen in a while, Vicente had taken on both.
“I need to get up to the magic number of two thousand two hundred thirty-nine tulips, plus some backups because of bugs. That is the number Dash was striving for and that is the number I want to hit. According to Dash’s records, he has one thousand five hundred fifty in the ground now. These new ones need to be in the ground in two weeks, by the end of the month, to catch this growing cycle.”
“Well, let me know if you need any help, I am sure that I could spare a couple of the guys for some planting time if you need it. In the meantime, you look happy, my friend. And I noticed that you came from the main house and not the cabin. So, have you moved in with Miss Georgie?”
“Yes. I believe we are ‘a couple,’ as you say. She asked me last week and I brought my things from the cabin on Friday. This was our first weekend together. Hmm, and I am a bit tired, I must say.”
Both Vicente and Osvaldo chucked. His friend might be elegant and formal, but he signaled that he was well fed and well fucked, after all! They went on to talk of many things at the barn, with Vicente offering to help with training and workouts for some of the larger horses. He also offered to take the pony Martini, do some flat work with him, and then teach the pony’s owner some of the techniques.
“I plan to work with the tulips first, today, so that I can be done and cleaned up when Georgie gets home from the hospital.”
The two men agreed to check in again and got to their work, Osvaldo managing the farm and the horses and Vicente going into the office to sort tulip bulbs. As he sorted the bulbs by color and type
, he began to see Dash’s vision of a big multicolored field with row upon row of tulips. Vicente studied Dash’s design and decided that a few additions of his own would enhance the overall picture. He wanted it to look like a sunrise or a sunset when all of the colors of the spectrum blended in, like a painting.
Vicente’s love for Georgie was driving this need to please her and to make her happy. He was realizing that never had there been a woman with such command of him, body and soul. His beautiful ex-wife, Angelica, certainly had his body but had been unwilling to commit fully to him and their relationship, which had led to her cheating and ultimately their divorce. He could not tolerate the idea of Georgie with another, but somehow he drew comfort from the stories he had heard about Dash, and he wanted to complete his project for her out of love and as a symbol of his commitment to her. He was not jealous of Dash. No. He wanted to finish Dash’s project to prove to Georgie how he felt about her.
Vicente worked in the tulip garden until about eleven, when two of Osvaldo’s guys came up and offered to plant for a while, too. All three worked in companionable silence for another two hours. They sighed and took big swigs of water as Vicente put the last bulb in the hole. In Spanish, Vicente said, “Solamente, five hundred to go!”
The two other men rolled their eyes, twirling their fingers near their heads and laughing.
As the afternoon drew on, Vicente worked with the pony, teaching him on the lunge line to hold his head in a better position. He had the opportunity to ride one of the Thoroughbred stallions, just to get him some exercise. Although he was a big horse, Vicente handled him with the ease of a master, riding over the fields on the property, up past the cabin and back. It was an exhilarating ride on a huge and beautiful mount. He had never stopped loving the feeling of freedom while riding a huge horse at a gallop over an open field. And now, living here, he realized he could have that feeling every day. As he was replacing the equipment in the tack room, he said to Osvaldo, “Is this one a serious prospect? Is he spoken for? He jumps beautifully and has nice manners on the ground. I may speak to Georgie about buying him for myself.”
Osvaldo and Vicente said their quick good-byes and Vicente went into the house to prepare dinner.
As Georgie entered the house though the barn-side door, her nose picked up the scent of garlic, onions and chorizo. Vicente was behind the stove, stirring in a big pot. A small, low table had been set in front of the fireplace, with bowls, plates, candles and wine glasses.
“Ah, my sweet Georgiana. You are here. I am so happy to see you. I have missed you today, all day.” He drew her into his arms. She wrapped hers around his neck and they kissed passionately for several minutes before breaking apart. He continued kissing her face, her hands, and her hair.
She looked him deep in the eyes. “I missed you today, too. I imagined you standing behind me, giving me strength as I had to sit there and listen to their criticisms of my practice.”
He held her away from him and stared at her. “Cara, surely you realize that this is a very old tactic to try to get you to drop your price? No doubt they told you the buildings were old and that there would soon be major expenses for plumbing or electrical or septic or some other major aspect of a facility like yours.”
She nodded.
“And they probably said that you paid the staff too much and that they could see no reason to have that many. And, finally, they probably made comparisons of your hospital to some of the university hospitals on the East Coast, making you question what you have been doing. Yes? Am I right?”
Small tears began to fall from her eyes. She nodded. “All of our work…” She trailed off and then picked up again. “They made me feel like it was a terrible place. Do you really mean that they do that deliberately so they could get a lower price? So, that’s why Doctor Richards came with a lawyer today. Doctor Richards hardly said a word about the finances. He let the lawyer take the lead for that. He was initially very complementary about the hospital and all of our recognitions and awards. Oh my. I don’t think I can go thru another day like that. I certainly need to rethink my way of handling those meetings because I’ll have to do more before we find the right buyer. Doctor Richards certainly is not it.”
Vicente nodded in agreement. “Well, I made Albondigas and soup. That will fill you with comfort. Go change and then come and sit by the fire.”
As Georgie left the kitchen, Vicente shook his head, knowing that it would get harder rather than easier to sell a major family operation. He had done it, and it had not gone well, for anyone. All sides had lost money, respect, honor, and, finally, their family business. When he signed the sales papers was the last time he had seen Angelica. It had been several years now, and his family had regained their place in the Andalusian horse breeding world through hard work and hundreds of years of breeding knowledge. Their operation may be small, but its reputation was growing with each foal and with each medal won in international competition on one of their horses.
Georgie and Vicente sat on the floor in front of the fire and had their soup with spicy meatballs. The broth was indeed comforting, like a good chicken soup should be. Vicente helped Georgie work through how she felt dealing with the broker, and she resolved to ask her attorney to help her with the process. They talked more about Vicente’s business, and he told her about Angelica and a bit more about their marriage and divorce.
“She was money-hungry—always wanting to buy, buy, buy. Of course, her riding was beautiful to watch, but I never sensed that she was in love with her horses. They merely took her to level after level where she could win more and be entertained by wealthier people. Gradually, dancing and drinking at all hours got in the way of her practice. And if I did not go with her on a particular trip, she would take up with other men, outside of our wedding vows. She began to decline in the standings and when she did not make the Spanish dressage team for the Olympics, she declared that she was retiring to have a family and to work with me to train at our combined family farm. I did not know any of this. She had not wanted me to go with her on that trip for the Olympic trials.
“I found out later that she had a lover with whom she spent the month, drinking, gambling, and abusing herself. It is no wonder she did not make the team. I came back from my trip to Saudi Arabia to find my family and hers planning to join the businesses together. Because my father had died, my brother was in charge of the farm. He made all of these decisions without consulting me, declaring that as the oldest, it was his right to make those decisions. They were terrible decisions, unfair to our family, but he and she pushed and pushed, each caught up in their own delusions about how to run a business like that. I stayed, committing to be there, committing to my marriage, my family and now our joint family business.
“Eventually, we started to make progress, but Angelica is not a person of personal discipline or good self-control. She is a person of impulse and selfish greed. She began to cheat on me again, with a wealthy Frenchman she knew on the circuit. I could not and would not be cuckolded, so I demanded a divorce and a dissolution of the business. I got my demands then and left. I have not seen her or heard from her for many years. And I traveled the world, always making horses a focus. My brother left after stealing many family heirlooms and jewelry. My sister and her husband took up our family breeding program, and I would send her funds when I had extra. She has built it back and is making a nice living for her family but most importantly, breeding healthy Andalusians.” He paused. “And then I met you.”
Georgie stared at the wine glass in her hands and twirled it around in her fingers. “Thank you for telling me those details. It must have been so hard for you to persevere through all of that turmoil, with your wife and with your brother. I hope you’ve found your home and meaningful work here.”
Vicente looked at Georgie, who was developing tears in her eyes. “Yes, my love. I have found you and where you are is my home.” They held each other for a while, each in their own thoughts, staring at the fire. “I love a big
fire, don’t you?” Vicente nodded silently. “So, you know what I like best about the spring here on the Chesapeake? It’s cool enough for a fire inside until the end of April, but below the cold ground, beautiful flowers are starting to grow. I love how the farm looks in the spring. You’ll love it, especially the tulips.” Vicente laughed to himself. “Yes, I am anxious to see the tulips in bloom, too.”
Georgie shifted to face Vicente. “I could sit here with you forever, but I have some studying to do tonight and today made me very tired. Do you mind if I go to bed early?”
“Do you mind if I take you to bed early? How about this—I will clean the kitchen and take the dogs, and then I will make us tea for while we both read. Then we can see what pops up!”
“You’re incorrigible!”
“Encourageable! Why yes, you may encourage me, Georgiana!” Vicente leered at her deliberately. “I will see you in a bit.”
Vicente had locked the door and set the alarm, and carrying two cups of hot tea, he walked into the bedroom to find Georgiana fast asleep, her glasses on her face. Gently he removed the heavy surgical text from her arms, and took her reading glasses off her head. He got into the bed, turned off the light and kissed her gently, saying, “Good night my love. Where you are I am home.”
* * * *
By the end of the week, Georgie had met with two other potential buyers for her practice. She was exhausted. She called Freddie, hoping that they could get together soon, and go up to the cabin for a few days as Georgie had promised. Freddie answered the phone on the first ring.
“Hey there, Georgie girl,” she sang. “How are you?”
Through the Red Gate [Honor Creek Farm] (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 10