by Arianna Hart
“That’s wonderful. Where do you do the trail rides, if I may ask?”
“Are you a rider?” Lloyd asked.
“I have no idea. I’ve never been around horses.”
“That’s a shame. You’re a horsewoman on both sides of your family tree. Maybe one day when you’re not dressed so nice you can come back and visit the barn.”
“I’d like that.”
“You asked about the trail rides. We haven’t worked out all the logistics of that yet. It’s one thing to have lessons on site. Getting a trailer of horses and enough personnel to lead a group is a whole different problem. There’s also the problem of where to ride. We’ve had a lot of folks interested, but we just don’t have the time or personnel to devote to finding a suitable location.”
“I think I know a mutually beneficial solution, gentlemen.” She could feel J.T.’s eyes on her. This wasn’t something they’d talked about before coming here. “As you may or may not know, the town of Dale has been hit hard by the recession. When the building market collapsed, so did the mill and many of the men who worked there have been unemployed ever since. The woods around Dale are rife with trails from all the hunting that was done in years past. I don’t have all the details figured out yet, but if you have the business, I bet I could not only come up with hard-working employees for you, I could find you a place to stable the trail horses so you wouldn’t have to trailer them back and forth, and guides who know the area.”
Nadya leaned back in her chair and tried not to show how nervous she was to hear their answer. The idea had holes big enough to drive a truck through, but it could quite possibly work. If people had to drive up to Dale to go on the trail rides, they’d stop in the general store for lunch and buy gas at Al’s and get ice cream at the Tasty Treat. Maybe other businesses would want to make a go of it in Dale because there’d be a rotating customer base.
It might not save Dale, but it couldn’t hurt.
“It’s an interesting concept. Send us a proposal and we’ll toss it around.” Winston handed her a business card with both of their email addresses on it.
“Thanks, I will.” She stood and offered her hand. “I won’t take up any more of your time. Thank you for meeting with me, and I’ll send you that proposal as soon as I can.”
“I’m…we’re glad you came,” Winston said. “And if you ever want to see if you have a knack for horses, we’d love to show you around the stables. It’d be a shame to waste the gift if you have it.”
Nadya recognized it for the olive branch it was and grasped it. “Thanks, I’ll take you up on that soon. I’m looking for office space in Canton, so I’m in the area a lot.”
“We’ll look forward to it.” Lloyd opened the door for her. “When’s the wedding, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“November. We have to wait for the matron of honor to have her baby.”
“That’s coming up soon. So you’re planning a wedding, renting office space and coming up with a business plan too? You’re one busy lady.”
“It keeps her out of trouble,” J.T. said.
“Oh, Miss Sarov, Nadya,” Winston stopped her as she was about to walk down the hall.
“Yes?”
“Your middle name is Grace, right?”
“Yes, it is. Why?”
“That was our grandmother’s name. Daddy always said she had a way with horses too. I guess your mama knew that and named you after her.”
Her throat clogged with tears. “Thank you.”
J.T. kept quiet on the ride home, and she appreciated the opportunity to collect herself. Finally, she said, “I guess my mama wanted me to have a little bit of my father, after all.”
“That was pretty thoughtful of her considering how he treated her.”
“I know. I always thought she picked Grace because it went with the meaning of my name.”
“What does Nadya mean?”
“Nadezhda is Russian for hope. Get it, hope and grace?”
“It fits. You’ve brought grace into my life and hope into Dale.”
“Who knows, maybe if this works they’ll even reopen the secondary school.”
“Then we’d better go make out behind the bleachers while we still can.” J.T. kissed her hand as they crossed the town line.
Sometimes you really could come home.
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About the Author
Arianna Hart lives in Connecticut with her husband of 20 years and their three teenage daughters. She has a Siberian Husky who is almost never on the right side of a door and two Bengal cats who only want attention when she is trying to write. She spends her days teaching high school English to students who have either dropped out or have been kicked out of school and spends her nights driving her children to dance classes and wherever their busy social lives take them. Despite living in the Northeast, she has no interest in any sport that makes her go out in the cold and can be found by the fireplace with a book most of the winter. Coincidentally, being on the beach with a book is her favorite place to be in the summer.
Arianna loves to hear from readers but admits she is terrible about keeping up on social media and checking her email.
Contact Arianna online via:
Website: http://sizzlingscribes.com/home/arianna-hart/
Facebook: Arianna Hart
Twitter: @AriannaHart212
Discover the Dale series by Arianna Hart...
Going Home
Book 1
Giving it All
Book 2
Storming the Castle
Book 3
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