Summer on Kendall Farm (10 page)

“There are only two mares there now. Ari and I ride them. But nothing like you and I used to.”

“How long are you planning to stay at the Kendall?” Doug asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Dad, we’re staying, right?” Each time someone mentioned them leaving, Ari was afraid it might be true.

“Yes, Ari, we’re staying.” His son had bonded so quickly to the Kendall. Jace knew it was the stability that the Kendall represented that appealed so strongly to Ari; he understood that staying here would mean a better life than wandering the world.

“Doug, you might just be the person I’m looking for.”

“How’s that?” Doug asked.

“I need a lawyer.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

S
LEEPING
WAS
SOMETHING
Jace never had a problem with. But for the past few days, he’d found it hard to slip into the familiar darkness and rest. His childhood came back. It was the letter Kelly had given him from Sheldon. Why would he write it? What could he want after all this time? The area where the letter was posted was a notoriously rich community. While Sheldon had lost the Kendall, he’d obviously landed on his feet.

Jace imagined him living high and hearty, sailing on the cruisers that dotted the bay like huge dollar signs. He wanted to feel good about his brother having taken the time to write to him. But maybe Sheldon just wanted to rub in his new wealth?

Flipping over in bed, Jace punched the pillow hard. He tried several times to find a comfortable place, but sleep was not on his agenda that night.

What should he do? Now that the opportunity was there, now that Jace knew where to contact his brother, why was he hesitating? Why didn’t he respond? Why didn’t he tell his brother that he never wanted to see him again? Or why didn’t he tell him he wanted to know how to get the Kendall back and wanted his help?

Images of Sheldon berating him in front of his friends came back. Thoughts of him refusing any request Jace made came back. But the worst was Laura. She was his girlfriend, Jace’s. Yet Sheldon was the one she chose. Jace had resolved this years ago and promised never to set foot in Windsor Heights again.

But now there was Ari. The child changed all that. Jace would do anything for his son. Even return to the Kendall. Jace knew where Sheldon was—he had to do something. He had to answer the letter. See what he wanted. Find out if he was still the conceited jerk he’d been when the two of them occupied space in this house that Kelly had restored so well.

Kicking the covers off, Jace got out of bed. There was a desk in the room, but no paper he could find. There was some in Kelly’s office. He went there and switched the light on. By the copier, he found paper with the Kendall logo on it. It must be part of the new image Kelly was making for the house and grounds.

He didn’t take time to wonder if he should use it. Putting the paper on the desk, he grabbed a pen and wrote the date on the top. Then
Dear Sheldon
. After that he paused. Jace could think of nothing else to say. He had no idea what his brother wanted. He couldn’t use his only reason for wanting to find Sheldon. The two weren’t brothers. They couldn’t depend on each other, couldn’t count on each other for anything. They’d never had that kind of relationship. So why would Sheldon help him retake the Kendall?

In the end he wrote,
I’m back. I live at the Kendall. Why are you looking for me?
He signed it with only a
J
. Pulling an envelope with the new logo, he addressed it to his brother and slipped the folded paper inside.

“Jace?”

Twisting around in a swivel chair, Jace saw Kelly standing in the doorway. She wore a nightgown covered with a robe. It was white and her red hair contrasted with it starkly. During the day, she pulled her hair back. Tonight it was loose and pretty, framing her face.

“What are you doing here?” Kelly asked.

He held up the envelope he’d just sealed.

“Have you answered Sheldon?” She took a step into the room.

“If I’m going to get any sleep, I have to find out what he wants.”

“He’s been keeping you awake?”

“His letter,” Jace said. “I can’t imagine why he wants me to contact him, but I’m willing to ask. He could want to put me in my place again.”

“You don’t believe that?” Kelly said.

“Can you think of why he’d want to find me? We were never friends, let alone brothers. He lives in a well-to-do area, which means he’s somehow got plenty of money. Why would he need to see me?”

Kelly shook her head. “I don’t know, but there are other reasons.”

“Give me one?”

“The olive branch,” she said.

Jace made a sound that was a combination of a laugh and a grunt. “I don’t think the olive branch was part of his education.”

Jace’s task completed, it was time to return to bed, but Kelly standing in front of him had him wanting to wrap his arms around her. His thoughts got worse when she came to the desk and reached over him for a stamp. He could feel her warmth. She was barely an inch from him as she moved back and handed him the postage to add to the letter.

“I’ll take it to the post box in the morning,” she said.

Her voice felt distant as he tried to concentrate on her words, but her hair fell over her shoulder and brushed his arm as she moved. He inhaled deeply. His hand shook as he put the stamp in place. It was crooked on the top of the envelope when he finished.

* * *

T
HE
NEXT
MORNING
the routine began. Jace and Ari were up at dawn and riding the fences. Ari sat in front of Jace and pretended to have control. He was too short and the horse too big for him, but Kelly remembered this was the way she’d started. She remembered her dad holding her as they rode, keeping her safe. She knew exactly what Ari was feeling.

And she envied him.

Even though Jace added his daily rides with his son to his schedule, he didn’t shirk his duties. He and Ari repaired, replaced and made new the items on Kelly’s list. He even added tasks that needed attention without her asking him to.

Kelly often heard the horses whinnying from the barn. The sound was like a siren’s draw. She wanted to go out riding. She wanted to feel the horse under her, the gentle rhythm of its cadence. She wanted to guide it over the grounds and look at all the Kendall had and what it could be—would be.

Taking her mind off the horses, Kelly turned to go back to the books.

“Wanna go for a ride?” Jace was standing in the doorway. “How about it?”

“I’m very busy here,” she said. She looked around the office. Surprisingly the room was clear of clutter and didn’t seem like anyone needed to be working there.

“I saw you,” he said.

“Saw me? Where?”

“In the window.” He indicated the one that looked out on the back lawn.

Kelly glanced at the sunny pane.

“I saw you standing there watching us. You wanted to go for a ride. I could see it. So don’t act like you’re indifferent to the horses.”

The color rose in her face. The word
indifferent
had been used before and from his mouth. After he’d had it on hers. Jace extended his hand. “Come on, ride with me.”

“Where’s Ari?”

“I’ve hired a baker to be on-site to prepare cookies and cakes, and other sweets for sale when the guests are here. She’s showing Ari how to make cookies.”

Jace offered his hand. Kelly stared at it for a long time before she covered the distance between them and put her hand in his. Within minutes they were cantering across the lawn. After a while, both of them stepped up the pace until they were galloping along the white fence where she used to sit and watch.

This was exactly as Kelly knew it would be. She felt the wind pulling her hair loose. It blew her blouse against her breasts and it billowed out the back like a sail. She raced the wind and Jace. In all these years, she hadn’t forgotten how to handle a horse. She loved this feeling, the freedom of riding, of not having to worry about anything except the exhilaration of connecting with such an amazing animal.

They’d ridden a long distance from the house. The lawn had turned into a rolling landscape of lush trees. Kelly pulled the horse to a stop and got down. She tied the reins to a low branch. The animals needed to rest.

Walking to the fence, she climbed up to sit on the top rung. Jace tied his horse to the same branch and came over. He didn’t climb up, but stood next to her, facing the road. Kelly would pay for this ride tomorrow. Already she could feel the unaccustomed muscles tightening. But she wouldn’t mind. It was worth it just to be on a horse again.

“Is this your spot?” Jace repeated.

“My spot?” she asked.

“Your place? The one that you go to when you’re alone and afraid. The place you use to think things over.”

She nodded. How did he know? “I used to come here often when I lived in Short Hills.”

“Why?”

“After my mother died, my father changed. He drank. A lot. I felt lost, like no one wanted me.”

“How old were you when your mother died?”

Kelly let her breath out slowly. A surge of emotion gathered in her chest and cut off her ability to speak, at first. “I was fourteen.” She glanced in the direction from which they had come. “If it wasn’t for the horses, I don’t think I’d be here today.”

“How did they help?”

It would be hard for her to explain. “They were there,” she said simply.

“Did you whisper to them?”

She shook her head. “I just watched them.” Kelly stared in the direction of the spot where she used to get off the school bus. She was really looking into the past. “They were huge, gorgeous, proud animals. I loved watching them. I could get lost in their movements. After a while I thought they’d miss me if I wasn’t on the fence. I knew I’d miss them. So I watched them every day.”

“And you found peace.”

“Some measure of it.” That had been so long ago. Kelly thought it could have happened to a different person. No one she knew had lost their mother. Some kids had divorced parents, but they were alive and they either knew where they were or they visited them. She felt so alone. And what was even worse was that her father went from the loving man who’d held her safe in his lap to a stranger who could only be consoled by a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon.

“Who taught you to ride?” Jace asked.

“My dad. He put me on a horse when I was five years old. After that I pestered him every day to let me ride again. Eventually, I got to ride the quarter horses and exercise some of the others.”

“And you stood in for him when he was too drunk to work,” Jace said.

Kelly whipped around to focus on him. “How did you know?”

“I observed a little, too.”

“But he didn’t work here.”

“And I didn’t confine my antics to this farm, either,” Jace said.

“You saw me?” Kelly frowned.

“I didn’t know it was you. I saw your hair.” He gave her a big smile.

Suddenly self-conscious, Kelly used her hand to smooth down her hair.

She’d never noticed him glancing in her direction when she was working in place of her father. Kelly had her foot wrapped around the fence post, and her balance was off. She moved to get down.

Jace stepped back and reached over to help her. Her hands went to his shoulders and his caught her around the waist. Jace set her on the ground, but didn’t release her immediately. Kelly looked up at him, her hands still on his shoulders.

“We’ve been here before,” she said.

“Yes, we have.”

“And we decided you wouldn’t confuse me.”

“Not we,” he said.
“You.”

Jace slipped his arms around her, drawing her closer to him. His head dipped and he kissed her. She didn’t try to stop him. His mouth was warm on hers and it had been a long time since someone had held her. She let herself relax and enjoy the sensation. But she had to stop this. Slowly she pushed him away.

“This is more confusing than I thought it would be.” She wanted to leave, but she was pressed up against the fence. Jace must have sensed her wishes. He moved away, putting more distance between them.

“We’d better get back,” he said. “I need to try Ari’s cookies.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

F
INALLY
,
AFTER
MONTHS
of preparation, it was the day before the Kendall would be open to the public. Kelly was preoccupied with checking that everything was in order.

“Any questions?” she asked the college students who’d been hired to escort the visitors around the main house and property. One young woman raised her hand.

“What time are we to be here?”

“The tours begin at ten. Please be here by nine to get dressed in your costumes.”

The woman nodded.

“For those posted along the tour, does everyone know where their station is?” She noted the nodding heads. “Is there a problem with anyone’s costume? Bad fit? Items missing?” Again the nodding. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow at nine.”

They dispersed, returning to cars and vans parked in the lot on the opposite side of the road. Kelly ran her hands down her pants. She was nervous about the next day. So much was riding on it. Her entire future was at stake. And there was one more task she needed to do for the benefit of the Kendall’s opening.

And she wasn’t looking forward to it.

Kelly headed for the kitchen. She’d get a soft drink and go out to find Jace. The kitchen was hot and filled with people, all preparing for tomorrow.

“How is everything,” she asked the head baker, Mrs. Templeton. They would have homemade baked goods to not only make the house smell delicious, but also for people to purchase to eat while visiting or to take with them.

Grabbing three colas from the fridge, she went out the back door. She didn’t see Jace anywhere, and she didn’t hear Ari’s laughter. They were usually with the horses when they weren’t fixing anything. Kelly headed in that direction. The barn was empty when she got there except for the two horses.

Where could they be? she wondered. Returning to the house, she looked in all the rooms, but they weren’t there. Then she heard the unmistakable sound of the truck. Kelly had been so busy with the students that she hadn’t realized Jace had left the property. Going to the porch, she watched Ari get out of the cabin as soon as the vehicle stopped. “Kelly! Kelly!” he called her name as he sprinted toward her.

She came down a few steps to meet him. “Not so fast, Ari.”

“You should see what I got. Dad bought me a...a...” He looked to his father for further explanation.

Jace got out of the truck carrying a box from Hector’s Riding Store. It was a local shop that sold boots and riding gear.

“A habit,” Jace said.

“That’s it,” Ari went on, still as excited as a four-year-old could be. “And we got boots, too. I can’t wait to ride with them. I saw this picture in the store of a boy on a horse. He looked just like me in my boots.”

Kelly smiled. Ari was so exuberant. She couldn’t be anything but happy around him. Jace, however, was a different story. He walked slowly to the stairs, but didn’t climb them. He put a foot on the bottom step and leaned forward, looking at her.

“Ari, why don’t you go to the kitchen and ask Mrs. Templeton to open this for you.” She handed him one of the soft drinks.

“I can tell her about my hat...”

“Habit,” Kelly corrected.

Taking the can, he ran up the stairs and into the house. Kelly could hear him calling the baker’s name as he headed for the kitchen.

“I brought one for you, too,” Kelly said, extending the can to him. Jace took it and moved back. She only realized she wanted him to come forward when he retreated. If he was adhering to her wishes that she not be confused by his kisses, he was already too late.

“Why were you waiting for us?” he asked. “Is there something we need to do?”

“I want you to leave,” Kelly said.

Jace’s eyes grew wide.

“Now?”

“Tomorrow,” Kelly clarified. “The first open house is tomorrow. Everything is ready. You said you didn’t...wouldn’t,” she corrected, “wouldn’t be part of the open house. So tomorrow will you take Ari out until the event is over? It’s from ten to six.”

“Ari wants to be here. He’s very excited about the
guests
coming. That’s Ari’s word. He believes it’ll be a party and it’ll be his first.”

“You know it’s not a party. Why didn’t you explain it to him.”

“I tried, but he still thinks that if a lot of people are coming and all those cakes are baking in the kitchen, there must be a party.”

“I see he’s becoming very accustomed to things around here,” Kelly said with a smile.

“I thought it would be harder, but with the horses and you.” Jace stopped while she processed that.

“I haven’t been around small children much,” she said, “but Ari is such a ball of energy. Everything is new and exciting to him.”

“He loves you like a— Well, all the while we were shopping, he was insisting he had to show you his new clothes.”

Kelly felt her entire body suffuse with color. “I like Ari, too.”

A long moment passed between them and Kelly wondered if they were still only talking about the child. She couldn’t imagine the house without Ari scampering through it.

“About tomorrow,” Kelly went back to her task.

“Ari has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. He understands we’ll be away for most of the day. I’m sure we can find something else to do until after six.”

Jace’s voice seemed to hold an angry note, but he was fighting to conceal it. Without opening the soft drink, he went up the porch steps and into the house, leaving her alone.

Kelly wasn’t supposed to feel this way. She wasn’t usurping his place in the Kendall. The farm belonged to her. It was her domain. And she had no choice about the open house. This was the only solution. She wished Jace would embrace it.

* * *

T
HE
NEXT
DAY
arrived sunny and warm. Mrs. Templeton and her assistants were already busy in the kitchen. The smells permeating through the air were bound to make people want to purchase the cakes and cookies on offer. Kelly hadn’t heard Ari or Jace that morning. She looked out the window where they often rode, but saw only empty lawn. For a split second, she wished she was with them. She wanted to go to Ari’s doctor’s appointment, wanted to know if he would get better.

The clock in the hall read nine-thirty. All the students were in their places.
Suppose no one comes?
The thought crossed her mind. She clenched her teeth. She’d spent so much money on this venture. The first car pulled into the lot at nine forty-five. Five people got out of it and went to the ticket booth. Kelly let out a breath. “This might work,” she said to no one.

Kelly’s day was filled with small accidents, things that needed to be fixed, questions that needed answering, places she needed to keep the public away from. She didn’t have enough hands to cover everything.

“The china is authentic to the house,” she told a woman wearing jeans and heels high enough that her back should hurt. Opening the cabinet, she took out a dinner plate and turned it over. Imprinted there was the date and name of the pattern.

“My,” she said. “I’m impressed. My grandmother had this pattern and I’ve lost a lot of them. Would you be willing to sell any of these.”

Kelly could truly use the money, but she couldn’t part with the history of the house. Smiling sweetly at the woman, she said, “I’m sorry, but they are part of the Kendall. The house wouldn’t be the same without them.”

The woman smiled, handed her a card and said, “If you change your mind, I’m interested.”

Kelly slipped the card in a pocket, said good day and went off to the next emergency. By noon, the place was crowded, but the college students she’d hired seemed to be handling the traffic with skill. Kelly had to rush out to the ticket counter and provide more money to make change for entry fees. By one o’clock they were running low on pastries.

Kelly didn’t see Jace and Ari return. She was too busy. As she came down the stairs with an armload of flyers, she stumbled at seeing Jace. His arms came out and quickly caught her.

“Where do you want these?” he asked, taking the flyers from her hands.

“Gift shop, by the exit,” she said.

He left her, heading for the door with Exit written over it. Stunned for only a moment, before someone called for her attention, she wondered what had brought him back early. And where was Ari?

Jace turned and looked at her from the doorway. She silently thanked him with a smile and a nod. Surprisingly, several of the people she used to work with at the PR firm in New York, including her ex, Perry Streeter, showed up. “Your big debut! We’ve been anticipating this for some time now,” Perry said.

“Oh, have you?” Kelly asked flatly. The small group of six were standing in the front parlor as crowds milled around them.

“Certainly,” Perry said.

Kelly’s frustration was growing. She had no wish to encourage Perry on any level.

“I noticed a brochure in the Maryland House as I was traveling several weeks ago,” Cass Martin said. She was good at what she did. And Kelly had called her a friend while they’d worked together. But since Kelly had bought the Kendall, Cass hadn’t so much as called her cell phone. “You’ll have to excuse me,” Kelly said. “I have a lot to do.”

“No problem, we’ll talk after the tour,” Perry said.

“Enjoy yourselves,” Kelly called as she left them. What could they want? They didn’t travel all the way from New York to see the Kendall. Did they expect her to fall on her face? And wanted to bear witness to the deed?

“Who are they?” Jace asked indicating the group from New York.

“My former colleagues from the advertising firm where I used to work.”

“What do they want?”

“I haven’t any idea,” she said. “I’m more surprised than you that they showed up here. I can’t imagine there’s anything to gain.”

“Maybe they’re here to see you fail,” Jace suggested.

Kelly’s head came up quickly. She’d had the same thought.

“Don’t worry. We won’t let that happen.” He winked at her and left to go see to whatever was needed.

We
, Kelly thought. Are we a
we
?

She didn’t have time to ponder that. One of the guests came up to her, a very tall statuesque woman with dark hair. She wore long pants, a short-sleeve blouse and a man’s vest. On her feet were expensive leather boots.She looked every bit the horsewoman.

“You’re the new owner, right?”

“Kelly Ashton.” She offered her hand and the woman shook it.

“I knew your father. He’d be so proud of what you’ve done with the Kendall.”

“I’m sorry. Your name?” Kelly asked.

“Oh, Susan Johnson. I used to work at the same farm where he worked.” Susan’s smile was warm and affectionate. “I was one of the people who exercised the horses. Of course, they never let me race one, but I always wanted to.”

“I know what you mean,” Kelly confided. “I love the feel of the wind when I ride.”

“One night just as the sun was setting, your dad came to me and said one of the horses needed exercising. I thought it was strange, since I usually did this in the morning. But he led me to the track. There was a horse already there. It was Silver, a golden palomino. I’ll never forget it. He told me to get in the saddle and to ride it as fast as I could all the way around the track three times.”

Kelly was smiling and tears collected in the corners of her eyes.

“Do you still ride?”

“I own a horse farm in Kentucky, but when I heard the Kendall was opening and an Ashton was responsible, I couldn’t stay away.”

“Thank you,” Kelly said.

“No, thank you. And thanks to your father. I’ll never forget him.” She patted Kelly’s hand, kissed her on the cheek. “I signed the guest book. You’re ever in Kentucky,
please
come and see me.”

She sounded sincere. “I will,” Kelly told her. With a smile, she went back to her tour.

The crowd began to thin around five. Kelly was dead tired, but she was also exhilarated. She didn’t know if they’d broken even according to her budget for day one, but she’d made at least five trips to the ticket counters to provide change for the entry fees. People left smiling and carrying boxes of the baked pastries to their cars.

As Kelly waved at a couple leaving, she was surprised to find her New York friends still there.

“I thought you’d gone hours ago,” Kelly said, going to where they stood.

“We wanted to talk to you,” Perry said.

“About what?”

He looked around. “Do you think there is a more private place we can go?”

“My office,” Kelly said. It was clean and clear of any debris. She wanted them to know that she had a neat mind and a neat office, even though six people would make it crowded.

Cass closed the door after the last of them came inside.

“I apologize for the space. I rarely have more than a couple of people in here at a time.” She rarely had anyone in there. Jace had come and Ari. The modeling agency sent a crew, but they wanted to walk the property and scout locations. Mainly the place was her sanctuary.

“All right,” Kelly began. “Let’s have it.”

“What?” Perry asked.

“What’s the real reason you’re here. This is an awfully long way from Madison Avenue. And you six didn’t make this trip to look at an old house.”

“You’ve done wonders with it,” Cass complimented. “From what I hear the place was a relic and you’ve brought it back to life.”

“And I love the costumes,” Alex Wheatly said. Alex had been her friend, giving her advice and keeping her abreast of the office gossip. It was Alex who informed her of Perry Streeter’s promotion over her. And it was Alex who let her know that the account she’d been working on was leaving the agency.

“So you like what I’ve done with the place,” she said, trying not to allow the sarcasm she felt to filter into her voice.

“We like the marketing ideas you used to get this place up and running,” Cass said.

“They were nothing short of brilliant,” Perry added.

“Thank you,” Kelly said.
There has to be a shoe ready to drop,
she reminded herself. Kelly looked at them, allowing her gaze to settle on each face before she responded.