“We lease them the third floor,” Richard said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Everyone looked from him to Ben and back.
“It’s empty.”
Everyone just stared.
“We turn it from a liability into an asset.”
“How would that work?” Ben asked.
“They come in and redo the entire floor themselves. They access it from inside the grandstand. They cover all the costs. We lease them the floor and they not only pay us for the space; we get a percentage of the revenue.”
Ben sat for a moment, thinking. “What’s the catch?” he said.
“Well, there is one,” Richard conceded. “From that point on and for however long we are associated with RJR Enterprises, we’d be known as Nottingham Downs and Casino.”
“It would be on the program that way?” Dawn asked.
Richard nodded. “I tried, Dawn. That’s the deal.”
Ben stared down at the floor and sighed. “I’m going to have to think about this. When do you have to let them know?”
“As soon as possible.”
Ben nodded. “All right.” He looked around at his friends, his family, his loved ones. “Give me a couple of hours.” He walked to the door.
Tom stood up. “Are you going to the barn?”
“No,” Ben said. “I’m going home.” He waved over his shoulder, boarded the elevator, and was gone, leaving them all behind.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ben drove past Glenda and George’s, past T-Bone’s Place, and into his driveway. He looked back and was glad no one had been on the porch at T-Bone’s, as he was so preoccupied, he didn’t even look that way or wave. He parked and got out, walked into the main barn, and was happy no one was there. He didn’t want to talk. He didn’t want to debate the issue. He didn’t want to listen. He just wanted to be left alone. He sat down on the bench outside the tack room and leaned his head back.
“Ah, Meg,” he said. “What am I going to do?”
“You’re going to do the right thing,” he could hear her say. “You always do.”
“Yes, but what’s right for me, might not be right for everyone else. What would this place be like if Dawn and Randy weren’t here anymore? Or Tom and Wendy and the boys? Glenda and George? Randy’s parents? There’s plans to build a large animal vet hospital here someday. What would be the point if there’s no place to race close by?”
He sat in the quiet of the barn, so many memories, so many horses over the years. He thought about the good times and the bad, the endings and new beginnings. He thought about the day Dawn came home.
“Maybe I should let them make the decision. Maybe I should just back away.”
“Could you live with that?” Meg asked.
“I don’t know.” He turned when he heard a noise and smiled at Mim, standing just inside the barn aisle way supporting herself with her cane. “Hey, Mim.”
“Ben.” She hesitated walking any further. “I’m just out for a ride if you want to join me.” When she turned and slowly made her way back to her golf cart, Ben stood up and walked outside.
“Where we going?” he asked, climbing aboard.
“Oh, everywhere,” Mim said.
Ben enjoyed the ride. They didn’t talk. They just rode all around the property, down between the pastures, up over the hills. She’d even forged a trail on the tree line separating his farm from the rest of the world. She motioned to Matthew sitting in the pasture with Poncho, Biscuit, and Bonnie Bee. Ben smiled.
They rode up to the training track and drove slowly around the outside rail. “This is a nice track, Ben.”
He nodded.
“Junior says you’ll be running Bo-T off the farm in the Burgundy Blue.”
Ben nodded again. “That’s what I hear.”
Mim smiled. “We’re looking forward to that. We’ll all be up here watching.”
“Save room for me,” Ben said.
Mim looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“Oh. Slots.”
Mim sighed, the two of them looking out at the training track. “It’s a sign of the times,” she said. “There’s not much you can do.”
“I can say no.”
“What will that accomplish?” she asked.
“Nothing.” He told her about Richard’s proposal and sat dreading her response. He knew she’d agree with him and that would make his decision even harder.
“So, basically they would run the slots and everything else will go on as usual at Nottingham Downs but for sharing the space and a name?”
Ben nodded.
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“And you trust Richard Spears?”
“Yes.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Well…when you put it that way, I don’t know.”
Mim laughed and so did Ben.
“Oh, it’s not about us anymore, Ben,” Mim said. “Not really. It’s about the next generation. It’s about the babies; the hopes for them and the dreams. They’ve got to have a place to go. You want to send them all away? You don’t want to do that, do you?”
Ben shook his head.
“Well then.” She pressed her foot to the pedal. “It’s time for my nap.” She dropped him off at his house and with a wave, took the new path back to T-Bone’s Place. Ben climbed the steps and sat down on the porch glider. The dogs had apparently been waiting for Mim’s return and all milled around her. She must have treats for them, he decided, because each dog approached her and then ran off. Lucy came outside to help her get off the cart and then helped her climb the ramp.
Ben smiled. He was seeing pretty good, and in more ways than one. He took out his cellphone and speed-dialed Dawn.
“Tell Richard go ahead,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Tell everyone to keep it to themselves until it’s a done deal. We’ll make an announcement at the banquet.”
~ * ~
Ben rarely spent leisurely time at the farm during racing season. Since the horse racing business operated seven days a week, most full-time trainers and grooms were at the track all day, each and every day. Some went home for a few hours on dark days or when they didn’t have a horse in that day. But for the most part, the option of Ben having the afternoon to lounge around and do anything he so desired was a treat.
He searched the kitchen cupboard for a can of potted meat, checked the date, and made himself a sandwich. It didn’t taste as good as he remembered. He ate about half of it, and then made a pot of coffee and sat down on the porch to wait while it perked.
“Hey, Ben,” George said, tooling by on the tractor.
Ben waved. “What’s for dinner tonight?”
“Beef stew. Liz’s making it. We’re eating there.”
What a life I have, Ben thought. And so many years, I was alone. “Not good to live alone,” he said to himself. “It makes you too set in your ways.” He felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. He still didn’t like the idea of slots at Nottingham Downs, but once he’d made the decision, he resigned himself to it.
He closed his eyes and breathed in the farm air. Horses. He’d had a lifetime of horses and he would never tire of them. “Ever.” Well, so what do I do now?
He’d already toured the farm with Mim. Everything was in good order. He wished he had a horse to ride. Maybe Poncho or Biscuit? “Nah, no sense falling on my head.” How long had it been since he’d ridden? He laughed, recalling, it was right about the time Tom started ponying for him on a regular basis.
He propped his feet on the old wicker couch table, hunkered down, and leaned his head back on the chair. Maybe I’ll take a nap. He opened his eyes when he heard Matthew come up the steps. Matthew gave him the peace sign and Ben went back to snoozing.
Matthew closed the screen door quietly and laid his sketchbook and pencils on the table, searched the fridge for a snack, and smelled the opened can of pot
ted meat. “Ew.” He made a face. Out the kitchen window he saw Ben stir. He made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, poured a glass of milk, and went out to join him.
“Hey,” he said.
Ben nodded. “What are you eating?”
“PB&J. You want half?”
“Yeah.” Ben reached for the half sandwich. “You feel like bringing me a glass of milk?”
“Sure.” Matthew handed him his and went and got another one and came back out.
The two sat eating and drinking their milk. “Like Romper Room,” Ben said.
Matthew looked at him.
“Never mind. It was before your time.” Ben smiled.
They watched the horses in the pastures grazing. Watched the birds perched on the fence, preening. Watched a plane overhead. Ben had no idea how much of anything Matthew was seeing, but he seemed to be enjoying the view as well.
“I’ve been thinking,” Matthew said.
“Oh? About what?”
“The Appalachian Trail. I’m thinking when I go down with Liz and Señor that I’m going to hike the trail back.”
“By yourself?”
“Well, yes, unless you want to come along.”
Ben laughed. “We wouldn’t get very far.”
“I think you’d be surprised,” Matthew said.
They both sat quietly for a moment.
“Yes, by myself,” Matthew said.
“Your mother is going to have a fit. You might want to go see the doctor first and get clearance. That way….”
Matthew nodded. “Good idea.”
Another moment of quiet passed.
“What if he says no?”
“Then you’ll have to rethink your plan.”
Matthew smiled. “What about if I just say I went?”
“What? You don’t think she’ll check?”
“I’m twenty-two years old, Ben. She can’t, not really.”
“Then off you’d go with a lie.”
“Oh geez,” Matthew said. “Why’d you have to go and say that?”
“Because it’s true.”
“Fine, I’ll go see him.”
Ben nodded. “Don’t be lying to the doctor either.”
~ * ~
Tom followed Dusty’s truck out of the parking lot and headed home. Not a mile down the road, he noticed Joe Feigler following along behind them. He didn’t think much of it at first, but the closer he got to home, the more it started to bother him. He phoned Dusty.
“What the fuck?” he said. “Joe’s following us. Did you invite him to dinner or something?”
“No.” Dusty glanced out his sidemirror. “I’ll be damned.”
“Let’s separate and see what he does.”
Tom put his blinker on and turned right. Dusty put his blinker on and turned left. Joe drove straight ahead. “I guess the guy has me paranoid now,” Tom said, laughing.
They hung up, doubled back around and there sat Joe in a parking lot ahead. Dusty phoned Tom. “Don’t look. Just keep driving.”
“I see him. What the hell is wrong with him?”
Dusty and Tom drove on by, both looking in the opposite direction and Joe pulled out and started following them again. “All right, that did it.” Tom hit the brakes.
Joe screeched to a stop and just missed slamming into the back of the truck. “Oh my God!”
Tom got out and stormed back to Joe’s car. “Are you following me? What are you following me for?”
“I’m not following you!”
“Don’t give me that shit!”
Dusty backed up and parked in front of Tom’s truck, got out and walked back. “What’s going on? Joe, what are you doing?”
Cars and trucks slowed and drove around them. Then a cop car pulled in behind them, lights flashing. The officer got out of his car. “Everything all right?”
“Yes,” Tom said. “There’s no damage. He hit me, but it’s nothing.”
The officer took a look. “Yep, don’t see any damage. Ya’ll need to just get off the road now. We’re about to get into rush hour.”
“Thank you,” Tom said. He and Dusty walked back to their trucks. Tom glared in his sidemirror at Joe. Joe looked away and then back, the two just staring at one another for a second. Tom motioned for Joe and Dusty to follow him. When they approached a fast-food restaurant, Tom put on his blinker and all three pulled in and parked to the back.
“Get out of your car,” Tom said. “I’m not talking to you sitting in there like some kind of idiot scared to death.” He yanked Joe’s door open. “Get out!”
Dusty glanced around the parking lot and tapped Tom on the arm. There were several people leaving the restaurant watching them. Tom stepped back.
“It’s your turn to treat,” Tom said, nudging Joe toward the restaurant entrance. “Come on, let’s go.”
The three walked into the restaurant and stood in line. “Three cokes,” Tom said.
“One diet,” Joe said.
Tom rolled his eyes, paid for the cokes, and the three of them went over to a table and sat down. “Now don’t be pissing me off,” Tom said, in a real low voice. “No bullshit. Why are you following us?”
“I’m being watched.”
“What?”
Joe nodded, wide-eyed. “I’m being watched. At first I thought it was my wife. She’s been acting really strange lately.”
“Stranger than you?” Tom asked.
Dusty kicked him under the table.
“Okay, so if it’s not your wife, who is it?”
“I don’t know. I thought it might have been you.”
“Me? Why the hell would I want to follow you? I can’t wait to get away from you every day. You’re turning into a loony tune.”
“I am not,” Joe said, apparently trying to convince himself by saying it with conviction. “It was after the day that guy started talking to me.”
“What guy?”
“I don’t know. That guy.”
Dusty and Tom exchanged glances.
Joe slurped his diet coke, eyes darting left and right. “He said he was there to apply for the racing secretary’s position. He was in the parking lot.”
“Where?”
“At the track. Where else?” Joe said.
Tom shrugged. “But we’re not looking for a secretary. Although we may be if you keep this shit up.”
Joe licked his lips, darting his eyes back and forth again. When he went to take another drink of his Coke, Tom took it away. “I think you’ve had enough caffeine for the day.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“That makes sense.”
“I pace all night.”
Dusty and Tom looked at one another.
“And then when I do fall asleep, it’s time to get up.”
Tom sat thinking. He loved a good story. “Why would you think your wife’s following you?”
“Because she’s going through the menopause.”
Tom stared.
“It’s not her though.”
“Good,” Tom said.
Joe reached across the table for his Coke.
“One sip and that’s it,” Tom said, handing it to him.
Dusty chuckled. Joe even cracked a jittery smile.
“The guy wouldn’t have made a good secretary. He didn’t know anything about horses.”
Tom and Dusty looked at one another long and hard, both thinking of Dawn’s comment about the Banter article.
“What?” Joe said. “What?”
“Nothing,” Tom said. “Don’t be talking to him anymore.”
“Yes, but if he’s following me…?”
“I’ll tell you what,” Tom said. “How about if we draw up a contract saying your job is secure, at least until the end of the meet and you get your act together.”
“But?”
“I know. Ben doesn’t like contracts, but we’ll talk to him.”
Dusty nodded.
“All right?”
“All right,” Joe said. “Tha
nk you.”
“And don’t talk to strangers.”
~ * ~
Everyone assembled for dinner expected Ben to be in a bad mood, considering the day’s decision on slots, but were pleasantly surprised when he and Matthew walked up to the Señor and Liz’s together. Ben was wearing his walking shoes and appeared to be on top of the world.
“It’s over. It’s done, I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. “Let’s eat.”
“We’re waiting for Pastor Mitchell,” Liz said. “He’s joining us this evening.”
No sooner said than Pastor Mitchell knocked on the door.
“Come in, come in,” Señor said. “Come on in.”
Pastor Mitchell shook all the men’s hands and gave all the women a hug. He’d eaten dinner with them before, but it had been a while. They all sat down. Also customary when he dined with them, was his saying grace. Everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes.
“Lord,” he said. “Bless this food and these lovely caring people. Guide us in our daily lives so that we may do your service. Guide us in the decisions we make in our everyday lives and here tonight.”
Ben opened an eye and looked at the man, then looked at Tom, who coincidently had opened one of his eyes and was looking at him. Tom shrugged.
“Thank you for the home provided for the old-timers. Thank you for this lovely farm.”
“Amen,” Maeve said.
“Amen” Everyone laughed. “I was just about done anyway, little one,” Pastor Mitchell said, smiling.
Everyone passed their bowls down and Señor ladled out the beef stew. “Smells good, Liz.” Platters of French bread and butter and jam were passed around.
“That was a fairly loaded prayer if you don’t mind my saying so, Pastor Mitchell,” Ben said. “Do you have something on your mind?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. It’s about Junior and Lucy’s wedding nuptials.”
“Their nuptials?”
“The wedding ceremony. As you all know, Tom is going to be the best man. Lucy’s best friend Judy is going to be her maid of honor.”
“Okay,” Ben said, dipping his bread in the stew.
“We need someone to walk Lucy down the aisle.”
“What aisle?” Ben said. “I thought they were getting married in the chapel at the track. That’s not much of an aisle.”
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