“Yeah, I’d say I do. Except five years ago, I got married to Jenn. I thought she and I had a lot in common, but it turned out that she was only really interested in the horses. She’s a world-class jumper and might have gone to the Olympics. By the time I figured out that what Jenn wanted was for me to do all the work so she could go to events and get all the glory, we had had Jameson, our son. I filed for divorce a year and a half after he was born. And Greg helped me though the process.”
“I take it you got custody of your son,” Lucas said.
“Yes. Jenn has almost no relationship with him, and she makes little effort. She’s begged off on a number of her weekends to take Jameson. I documented all of them with Greg. My son and I have a good life together, and I love him with everything I have. I might have had to endure a marriage to his mother to have him, but he’s worth it.”
Lucas nodded. “Okay. So what do you need me for?” He alternately glanced at Greg and then back at Brendan.
“Jenn has taken to causing trouble. Fences were pulled down last week, and just this morning, I found nails spread on the barn floor. Thank God I saw them before any of the horses were let out. They could get under their shoes and really hurt them. I can’t prove it’s Jenn doing this, but I know it’s her. She’s petty and mean when she doesn’t get what she wants.” He leanedforward. “See, when I filed for divorce, she thought she would get half the land and business and that I’d have to buy her out. But I inherited the land, and my father stipulated in his will that Jenn was never to get any part of the land or anything on it. So she got nothing. She worked before and during the marriage, but decided to quit just before the breakup, so she had to get a job. I paid her an allowance for a year, but after that, she was on her own.” This seemed really hard for Brendan to talk about.
Greg cleared his throat. “Jenn has filed a motion to reopen the custody agreement, but I doubt that is going to go anywhere. Her appeal will take months, and she has no grounds. I’m handling that part of things. It’s the issues at the farm that have me concerned both for the property as well as Brendan and Jameson’s safety. So I thought that maybe you could help them.”
“Ummm, yeah. I have the budget for someone to help at the business. I had a guy up until a few months ago, but he moved to New Mexico with his girlfriend. I don’t know if you have any experience with horses, but I really need someone who can help me protect the place. If I can’t keep the horses safe, my clients are going to start looking for other places to board them, and if the business collapses….” He swallowed hard. “I need to know that Jameson is safe.”
“You want me to work on a horse farm?” Lucas asked. “I don’t know anything about them. I’ve never ridden one or even been around them. I’m a city kind of guy.”
“I get that. But what I need most of all is someone big and intimidating. Jenn is going to take one look at you and stop messing with the farm. You also know things about security and stuff like that.”
“You handled all that sort of stuff at the club,” Greg said smoothly.
Lucas was between jobs, and while he had spoken to other club owners, they didn’t need anyone at the moment, and if hedidn’t bring in some money his meager savings was not going to last very long. “Let me think about it.”
Greg grabbed a Post-it note and wrote something down before handing it to him. “This is Brendan’s address and phone number. Go ahead and take a look at the place, see what he’s offering.”
Lucas met Greg’s gaze. “You were always too good at getting people to do what you wanted.”
Greg rolled his eyes. “Only when there’s an opportunity that they just aren’t seeing. Take a look and talk to Brendan about what’s going on. He needs help, and you want a job. It’s that simple.” Greg always had this way of making it seem like whatever argument he was making was so logical and reasonable. That was probably why he was such a damned good lawyer.
“I have space at the farm if you’d like to stay there,” Brendan said.
Lucas nodded. His current place was above the club where he’d worked, and Lucas suspected that his tenancy was about to end at any time. “Okay. I’ll stop by to check things out, and we can talk later today. About five?”
“Sure. You have the address. Come on out and see the place.”
Lucas stood, but then paused. “You don’t really know me from Adam. Why would you want me living at your place?”
“Greg knows you, and I trust him,” Brendan explained.
“Yeah, I get that. But there’s one thing niggling at the back of my mind. You’ve been divorced for a while. So why is she causing trouble now?”
Brendan sighed. “She has this idea in her head that I’m seeing someone. Her mother saw me with my friend Dwayne and told her we were on date or something. It seems Jenn could take me dating another woman, but the thought of me seeinga guy has her pitching a fit. She knew I had dated both men and women before we got married, but Jenn has this habit of ignoring things that she doesn’t want to deal with. Is that a problem?”
Lucas shook his head. “I’ve been bouncing at gay clubs almost since I was legal to drink. Before that, I snuck into them with a fake ID.” He smiled, and damned if Brendan didn’t seem to finally let himself relax a little bit.
“Cool. I’m assuming that the two of you have things to talk about, so I’ll see you at five.” He met Brendan’s gaze, and his breath caught in his throat. He had been so in his own head over this that he hadn’t taken the time to actually see him, and when he did… damn. Brendan had amazing eyes, and his tanned face showed years of working outside. There was something authentic about him. After spending years in clubs where everyone was trying to project an image and be something they weren’t, Brendan was a breath of fresh air.
“Thank you,” Brendan said.
Lucas left the room.
“How did it go?” Aunt Anita asked. “Did you get the job?”
“Dang, do you know everything?” he asked her.
His aunt smirked. “Of course I do. Who do you think reminded Greg that you needed a job and that something like this might be good for you?”
Lucas didn’t get it. “How is this going to be good for me?”
“It will get you out of these clubs with those posers and let you work with real people. There is something special about folks who work the land. They are diligent and honest, and what you see is what you get. Your mother and I think maybe you need that, especially after Julio. He was the world’s biggest poser.”
