His hand moves to my face, thumb smoothing out the skin on my forehead. "Why do you look confused? Shocked to find out I'm not completely useless after all?"
I clear my throat, fighting the urge to squirm. It's suddenly very hot in here. "Actually, I'm wondering if you're about to tell me you've set up an expense account for me to draw from to pay for groceries and such," I blurt out the first words that come to me.
"Would you let me if I tried?"
I almost laugh. "No."
"Exactly." He takes a step back, one hand lingering around my wrist, loosely encircling it with his fingers. "Real talk? I'm not made of money either. If I were, I'd have bailed us out of this mess already. But I have made steady investments over the years. Set up school funds. Savings. Retirement funds. And I have equity in my house. If things start going to shit, I have places I can take from to save us from going under."
I shake my head. "I don't want you to have to do that." I square my shoulders, lifting my head. "You shouldn't have to put in everything you've built for yourself. We're in this together. Yes, I had a mini-meltdown, but if I don't have to worry about big things like car and school, I can sort out the small ones. My business is going to have to go through some changes with this move anyway. I'll just have to make sure they're changes that increase the cashflow."
He smiles. "There she is." He gives my wrist a playful shake. "Determinator Liz."
A noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh escapes me. "Excuse me?"
"You don't know I used to call you that?" He grins. "First time the name came to me was right after Lena told you Mr. Suffick had accused her of cheating during a pop quiz in physics. Gave her an automatic fail and three days of detention. We were all standing by the lockers when you stopped by to ask her how her quiz went between classes. Instead of going to your next period, you spun on your heel and marched off to Mr. Suffick's room like a you were on a warpath. I knew as I watched you leave, Lena's A would be restored and there'd be no detention for her by the time school got out that afternoon."
He squeezes me softly. "Determinator Liz. Once she decides something, nothing can stop her."
I remember the day he's talking about. I never stopped to consider how crazy it was for a teenager to go and confront a teacher and demand he rectify his error. Mr. Suffick did more than restore her grade. He apologized to Lena too. In front of the whole class.
Truth is, that version of me hasn't made an appearance in a long time. I'm starting to think she only existed because Lena needed her to. Maybe now she'll make a comeback because her kids do.
"Alright, now that my issues have been addressed," I say, sidestepping him to remove myself from his space and his touch. "Anything you'd like to discuss before we bring our first official meeting to a close?"
JOVI
My hand feels empty as soon as she pulls her wrist from it. I didn't realize I was still holding it until she removed it from my grip. Fuck if I know what came over me touching her in the first place.The skill to comfort Liz has never been in my wheelhouse. Or at least I never thought it was. I'm starting to see that line of thinking has no space here.
"Actually, there is something I want to run by you," I say, bringing my thoughts back in order. "I've been thinking about how I can best apply my skills to the services Trent was offering here. I always excelled in the messy stuff, behavioral issues due to broken trust and shit communication between horse and human. Trent did the fine-tuning. His mastery was in the details, making the partnership between horse and rider shine."
She nods, listening, even though I may as well be talking another language right now. Despite her sister diving headfirst into this life, I don't think Liz has ever ridden a horse. Whether it's lack of interest, fear or just a matter of never thinking there was time for it, I don't know. It doesn't matter. She's giving me her attention, letting me talk it out, knowing I'll sort it out for myself if she gives me the space to.
So, I keep talking.
"I've got three horses coming this week for training. Roping horses for rodeoing and working cattle." I tap my fingers on the counter. "And the only way I know to train is to do. So, I want to open up the arena for rodeo nights. Not real rodeo, but practice. A place for the locals to gather, work their horses, hone their own skills. I think it could be an added cashflow opportunity too. We could charge a few bucks for each rider who wants to come. We'd have to pay someone for use of their steers, but I think I could work something out with Sam's dad next door. Maybe barter with them on something." I pause, thinking over my points. "Far as I know, we're the only place with an indoor arena this large. Which means we cando this year-round. When other places have to start making concessions to the weather, we'll still be up and running."
"How often would you want to do this?" she asks, taking another drink of her coffee. I can tell by the way her eyes shift, her mind is working now. Taking the pieces of my plan she can make sense of and looking for ways to execute it. She's excellent at that. Creative thinking, building outside of the box. It's why her own business, something she built out of nothing, has done so well.
She may worry about her income at the moment, but I think the real reason she hasn't made more before now, is because she didn't need to. She was comfortable. And to be honest, I don't think she knows how to play big unless it's for someone else. Liz got so used to getting by with whatever life had left over after Lena's needs and desires were met, I think she forgot how to want more.
"Once a week," I say, the decisions being made as I speak. "Friday nights."
"Only roping?" she asks.
"We could do barrel racing too," I add, thinking out loud. "And other games to test the skills of horse and rider."
She nods. "How many riders do you think you could get to turn up regularly?"
I pause, thinking it over. It's been ages since I was involved in the horse community. I've heard mention of familiar names from Trent over the years, but I don't really know who's doing what where these days. "I'll have to make some calls. But I want at least a dozen. If we all ride multiple times, we could get a couple of hours in."
"Think people would turn up to watch?" she asks, fingertip dancing along the rim of her cup while she thinks.
"I do." And that idea...it fucking excites me. "When Trent and I were kids, we used to trailer two horses out to Miller's Arenaevery other month or so. The place is three counties over, so we couldn't go more than that, but fuck, we lived for those nights. The community. The riding. The animals. It was everything we loved about this life."
"Then I think opening up the arena for rodeo nights is exactly what you should do."
"Yeah?" I bite my lip, trying to read her eyes.
