I look around the deck that has pink and beige accents and the lights strung on the string poles that he’s now pointing at. “Decorations.”
“And what are you decorating for?” he asks, arms crossed over his broad chest.
“A party.” I smile broader, climbing up on the ladder. “Can you help me reach this spot?”
He grumbles. “Tessa, what party are you having and why is Gary wearing a pink hat that says: ‘Buck Wild’?”
“Oh, that’s the name of the new division that does bachelorettes, birthdays, and women-run events. Our first gig is tonight.”
“I said no to that.” The warning in his voice should worry me, but it’s too late to turn back now and, really, there are no other options available.
I sigh, ready for the fight I knew was coming. “Yes, I heard that, but you brought me here to make you money, right? Well, in order to accomplish that, I have to actually do something that will…make money. You didn’t do great at the auction, and this is a guaranteed flat fee. Gary is on board to take the girls out to the falls, let them have a little trot, and come back here where they can drink, eat, and have fun. Do you know how much this little outing is going to make you in revenue?”
His jaw clenches, and I take that as a no.
“It’s three thousand dollars. In one night. Now, I know that’s nowhere near what you would make on a horse, but it’s something. We need supplementation.” I grab the hat that I had made for him, kiss his cheek, and put it on his head. “Here, now, can you help me reach up there please?”
I’m not sure if Killian is going to do it, but he grumbles and then reaches to the spot I couldn’t get, putting the string light on the pole. “This is…absolutely ridiculous.”
“No, what’s ridiculous is hoping that somehow, this is just going to fix itself. It’s been almost two weeks and you’re losing money and sales. So, we’re going to stop the bleeding and this is just one way.”
He pulls the hat off, looking at it. “Buck Wild, really?”
I grin. “I was between that and Lady Lopers. I figured Buck Wild is a little more open ended. We can have bachelor parties too with that name.”
He rolls his eyes and looks heavenward. “Deliver me.”
“I’d rather you just trust me and let me do my job. I know you were very strongly against the kids’ parties, so I didn’t do that. And the rodeo is going to take a few weeks to organize, but I’m already on top of that.”
Killian shakes his head, sighing heavily. “I can’t believe this is the situation I’m in.”
“Well, now we have a place to start fixing the rumors. We know they’re being spread by your rival farm that you coaxed his best trainer from. Owen probably lost a ton of money after that, so we’re going to work on repairing your reputation. I think having Everett pull all the horses’ records and showing that there is no history of doping is the first step. Next, we’ll work on getting you into more auctions as we do what we can to quell the rumors so you can keep selling and hopefully getting new boarding clients. Then, hopefully, we’ll find Travis and get some answers there. For now, we are going to get cash flow going.”
I hate this for him. I can see the worry growing with each day that passes. He wants this to be over, but we’re nowhere near that yet. There’s damage that’s being done and I need to work on fixing it.
When I spoke with Brynlee about it, I expressed that I thought bringing people, even if it’s just in the form of parties, onto the property would go a long way. It shows that Killian isn’t afraid of people seeing his facilities. Word of mouth is what got him here—now we need to do something to get people to refute the rumors.
I move to him, and he lifts his gaze to me. “I’m going to keep doing what I can to make this work. I have money from my other business, and it’ll keep me afloat here, but at some point, if we’re not bringing in real income, I’ll have to make some tough choices.”
“I understand.”
“If I ever heard that Travis was harming the horses…”
“I know,” I say, truly meaning it. He would never allow it.
“I knew he trained them hard, but he backed off when he needed to.”
I give him a sad smile, my hand moving to his scruffy cheek. “You’ll get through this. I’m right by your side. We’ll show the people in the town how wrong they were.”
He sighs and takes his baseball hat, slipping it on backward, causing me to smile widely.
Killian looks ridiculously hot with that hat on. The pink corduroy not doing a thing to dampen it. “I’m not walking around town with a hat that says Buck Wild on it.”
I lift up on my toes and kiss him effortlessly. “Maybe you can wear it tonight.”
He pulls me against him, rocking his hips forward. “Maybe you’ll show me just how buck wild you can be while you ride me.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
