price.”
“Well, they’re excellent horses.” Dan replies. “Monty’s gonna be totally bald if he keeps shedding like that, but, otherwise….”
Molly laughs a little. “Well, as long as it doesn’t happen before midnight tonight, we’re okay.” She turns toward Dan a little, but he keeps staring out at the horses. “We wanted to thank you, Dan. For taking the job, making the deal happen….”
Karl interrupts gently. “We didn’t want Chris to tell you. We didn’t want you to feel at all obliged. But he said you needed to know all the information, that we’d gone wrong the last time by not telling you enough, not keeping you in the loop.”
Now it’s Dan’s turn to interrupt. “No, wait, it didn’t happen that way. Evan bought the horses because he wanted the horses. I told him I’d think about the job, but I didn’t commit to anything. I didn’t even say I’d do this month until after he’d already bought them.” Dan glances over at the others. “Seriously. I didn’t… they’re just good horses, and he wanted them.”
Karl and Molly exchange skeptical looks, and Dan sees them. “Don’t you think they’re good horses? I mean, he’d be crazy to not want them, right? And it’s not like he’s short on cash—and he’s got a pretty good plan for making the business work, I think.”
Molly raises an eyebrow, and Dan feels like an idiot. “I mean, obviously I don’t really know much about the business stuff. It was all spreadsheets and whatever… but a guy like Evan, he’d know what he was talking about, right?”
“Dan, I’m sure you could judge his plan! I wasn’t surprised by that, I was just… you seem to have spent a fair bit of time with him.” Molly gives him an inquisitive look, and Dan feels defensive again. Can she really think that he’d cheat on Justin, with Evan or anybody else?
“Not that much time, really.” Dan knows his voice sounds cold, and he really doesn’t care. “But he did mention that he’d talked to you about working out here for the next month, just keeping things running as they were.”
Molly seems to withdraw, so Karl steps up. “He mentioned it. We said we’d be happy to help out however you need.”
Dan doesn’t really like people thinking he needs charity. “Well, I’m sure we’ll be fine either way. Robyn’s staying, and she knows the system as well as anybody, so we can just hire some general laborers if we have to. I figured you might be busy packing up the house and finding a new place. But if you want to stay, of course the jobs are yours.” He pauses for breath. “I told Robyn she could do more riding, so we’d have to shuffle around a bit to share out the barn chores, but… yeah, if you want another month, that’d be great.” He hopes that was balanced enough. His spine is crawling at the thought of having conversations this awkward every day, but he knows that Karl and Molly would be really useful, and he knows that it would be rude to not give them the option.
“Well, we are going to be pretty busy getting the house packed up….” Dan starts to talk, to say it’s no problem, but Karl raises a hand to stop him. “But we’d like to see it through here, as well. I mean, this place is our life’s work. Those horses—I know you worked hard on them, Dan, but we did, too, and… well, it just doesn’t seem right, somehow, to have them all still here, without us being involved somehow.” Karl sounds a little choked up, and Dan is reminded that they had always planned to leave the farm to Justin. They’re sad to see it go, but that’s nothing compared how they must feel about the reason they’ve had to sell. “So, if it’s okay with you, we’d like to keep working here until the horses go.”
Molly steps around Karl and puts her hand on Dan’s forearm. “We’d really like to have some more time with you too. We know… we know we didn’t treat you fairly, deciding about Justin without talking to you. It
“Well, they’re excellent horses.” Dan replies. “Monty’s gonna be totally bald if he keeps shedding like that, but, otherwise….”
Molly laughs a little. “Well, as long as it doesn’t happen before midnight tonight, we’re okay.” She turns toward Dan a little, but he keeps staring out at the horses. “We wanted to thank you, Dan. For taking the job, making the deal happen….”
Karl interrupts gently. “We didn’t want Chris to tell you. We didn’t want you to feel at all obliged. But he said you needed to know all the information, that we’d gone wrong the last time by not telling you enough, not keeping you in the loop.”
Now it’s Dan’s turn to interrupt. “No, wait, it didn’t happen that way. Evan bought the horses because he wanted the horses. I told him I’d think about the job, but I didn’t commit to anything. I didn’t even say I’d do this month until after he’d already bought them.” Dan glances over at the others. “Seriously. I didn’t… they’re just good horses, and he wanted them.”
Karl and Molly exchange skeptical looks, and Dan sees them. “Don’t you think they’re good horses? I mean, he’d be crazy to not want them, right? And it’s not like he’s short on cash—and he’s got a pretty good plan for making the business work, I think.”
Molly raises an eyebrow, and Dan feels like an idiot. “I mean, obviously I don’t really know much about the business stuff. It was all spreadsheets and whatever… but a guy like Evan, he’d know what he was talking about, right?”
“Dan, I’m sure you could judge his plan! I wasn’t surprised by that, I was just… you seem to have spent a fair bit of time with him.” Molly gives him an inquisitive look, and Dan feels defensive again. Can she really think that he’d cheat on Justin, with Evan or anybody else?
“Not that much time, really.” Dan knows his voice sounds cold, and he really doesn’t care. “But he did mention that he’d talked to you about working out here for the next month, just keeping things running as they were.”
Molly seems to withdraw, so Karl steps up. “He mentioned it. We said we’d be happy to help out however you need.”
Dan doesn’t really like people thinking he needs charity. “Well, I’m sure we’ll be fine either way. Robyn’s staying, and she knows the system as well as anybody, so we can just hire some general laborers if we have to. I figured you might be busy packing up the house and finding a new place. But if you want to stay, of course the jobs are yours.” He pauses for breath. “I told Robyn she could do more riding, so we’d have to shuffle around a bit to share out the barn chores, but… yeah, if you want another month, that’d be great.” He hopes that was balanced enough. His spine is crawling at the thought of having conversations this awkward every day, but he knows that Karl and Molly would be really useful, and he knows that it would be rude to not give them the option.
“Well, we are going to be pretty busy getting the house packed up….” Dan starts to talk, to say it’s no problem, but Karl raises a hand to stop him. “But we’d like to see it through here, as well. I mean, this place is our life’s work. Those horses—I know you worked hard on them, Dan, but we did, too, and… well, it just doesn’t seem right, somehow, to have them all still here, without us being involved somehow.” Karl sounds a little choked up, and Dan is reminded that they had always planned to leave the farm to Justin. They’re sad to see it go, but that’s nothing compared how they must feel about the reason they’ve had to sell. “So, if it’s okay with you, we’d like to keep working here until the horses go.”
Molly steps around Karl and puts her hand on Dan’s forearm. “We’d really like to have some more time with you too. We know… we know we didn’t treat you fairly, deciding about Justin without talking to you. It
Similar Books
