“You know what, Nate,” Katy said briskly into her cell phone, “I’ve been inside this hospital for four straight days working my butt off. You have been here all of one shift during the entire fire. One shift! Wrap your mind around that. So you can figure out how to take care of Gordon until I’m off.”
“Katy, be reasonable,” Nate pleaded. “I’m catching all kinds of heat for not being at the hospital now that the evacuation order is lifted.” He tried to keep his tone measured to avoid upsetting Gordon, who was listening in to his end of the conversation.
“Really? You’re taking heat, are you?” Katy huffed. “I’m so sorry that being a parent is complicating your career. But since this is the first time that has ever happened to you, frankly, I’m underwhelmed.” She hung up.
Nate considered his options. Gordon’s school would not reopen for another day and he could not take him to the hospital. He would either have to work from home or go to ZIFIX. With Gordon there, working from home would be largely unproductive. But if he took Gordon to ZIFIX he would have to face his employees, who were urging him to provide clarity about the company’s future. Nate had not yet informed them that the investment from Rios Capital had turned into an outright sale of the company. He felt guilty that he had not been completely candid with the people who worked for him.
Gordon had finished putting his PJs and a few small toys that he had received from the Red Cross into his backpack. Exhibit Hall B was now almost completely empty except for a few workers who were loading folded cots onto palettes for storage. Nate decided to go to ZIFIX. He would tell his employees that he was still working with Rios Capital on the terms of the deal, which was technically correct, he told himself.
Nate and Gordon left the hall and joined the throng moving towards the parking lot. Gordon was full of questions about where they were going and when was he going to see Mommy again. Nate was distracted and did not answer him.
As he drove along the coast road towards the startup Nate ruminated on his increasingly precarious situation. Was Adela going to buy ZIFIX, or was she going to cut him loose? And if there was no deal, what other options did he have? Feeling unsettled, he pulled over at a beach. While Gordon ran ahead, dodging the waves that splashed up onto the sand, Nate mulled over the events of the past few days. He had never before felt so adrift. He was used to being focused, to knowing what his next step was going to be. Up until now his life had unfolded largely according to his own dictates. But Katy’s harsh words that morning had reminded him how much his life had changed.
At first, after the divorce, Nate had held out hope that he and Katy would reconcile. But over the last year, as Katy’s demeanor towards him grew more distant, he had reluctantly concluded that she was only interested in him as a co-parent to Gordon. The new man in her life was even more evidence that Katy had moved on. But Katy had always been his anchor, the one who cleared the decks for him so that he could pursue whatever was most important to him at the time. Without her, his life had become disordered. He felt as if he were falling through a series of tiny fissures in the fabric of reality, in a fully disorienting, downward spiral.
Nate’s cell phone rang. It was Georgina.
“Have you left the Fairgrounds yet?” she inquired.
“We have,” Nate replied. “In fact, Gordon and I are at the beach. What’s up?”
“Mark wants you to have dinner with us tonight to discuss the deal,” Georgina said. “We’re going to present it to Adela in the morning.”
“That’s terrific,” Nate said. “Just tell me when and where.”
“Do you know Martin’s?”
Martin’s was Katy’s favorite restaurant, the place where Nate had always taken her to celebrate their anniversary. “Sure do,” he said. “What time?”
“Let’s make it seven thirty,” Georgina said.
“Seven thirty it is.”
Nate called out to Gordon that it was time to go. Gordon made a mischievous face and scampered off. Nate chased after him, following him to a rocky outcropping that lay at the base of a low cliff. Gordon crawled up the rock. Nate watched with amusement while his son taunted him from his lofty perch, four feet above the beach. When Gordon failed to comply when he was asked to climb down, Nate said goodbye to him and began to walk slowly towards the car. Gordon quickly appeared at his side.
Nate left the coast road and drove up a pine-forested bluff that rose up from the ocean. At the top of the bluff he turned into a technology park. He entered the plain, two-story stucco building that housed ZIFIX, along with several other scientific businesses. Nate settled Gordon into the break room, leaving him with a stack of blank copy paper and some pencils. Avoiding his employees for the moment, he went directly to his office and called Katy. He asked if by chance she would be home before 7 p.m., and, if so, would it be convenient for him to drop Gordon off? He was relieved when Katy said that she would be home by six.
Nate leaned back in his chair and pondered his next move. From what Georgina had said, Mark Webber was a tough customer. He would need to be in top form at dinner. But he had one thing going for him, he thought. Georgina. If anyone could convince Mark that the deal should go forward, she was it. After all, she had persuaded him to take the offer from Rios Capital in the first place. He recalled how angry he had been with her that first night when she had handed him the offer letter over dinner. But Nate’s anger towards Georgina had long since dissipated.
Diamante whinnied at the sight of Adela. “Oh, Mom, that’s just too much,” Consuelo laughed. “You must be spoiling him.”
“He’s just happy to see me,” Adela said, rubbing her horse’s neck affectionately. “Now I want to make sure that he gets to our little barn as soon as possible. Let’s go find Jose and make that happen, shall we?” Adela and her daughters poked around the temporary stalls until they found Jose. He was kneeling over a bale of hay, engrossed in cutting away the twine. When Adela called out his name, he startled. He stammered out a greeting as he rose to his feet. “Sorry to give you a scare,” Adela apologized. “The girls and I decided to check on the horses on our way home.”
Jose hastily pocketed the knife that he was using to cut the twine. He wiped his hands on the side of his jeans. Respectfully, he shook Adela’s hand. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for your loss,” he said.
“Thank you,” Adela replied. “And thank you for saving the horses, especially Diamante.”
“He’s a great one, that Diamante,” Jose said. “But I have to tell you, since he’s been here he’s been off his food. Probably it’s from being in strange surroundings.”
“If you can manage it, Jose, let’s get him and the girls’ horses moved to my house today,” Adela said. “My barn has only three stalls, but they will be more comfortable there. I’ll get the vet out tomorrow to check on Diamante. And send over some feed with them, will you?”
“I’ll get right on it,” Jose promised. “We can keep the rest of the horses here for another week but after that, we’ll have to relocate them. There’s a pasture that I have my eye on that would be a good place to keep them, while you decide what you want to do with them.”
Recalling her father’s caution about Jose, Adela chose her words carefully. “I’ll want to talk more to you and to Jake before I decide what to do with the horses,” she said. “Where’s Jake anyway?”
“He’s here.” Jose said. “He’s had bad news. The place he was renting burned, so he’s calling around trying to find somewhere to stay.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Adela said, immediately concerned for Sonia’s welfare. “Why, I have an idea. They can stay in my guesthouse. It’s perfect. Jake can look after the horses and Sonia can get to know my daughters better. She already knows Consuelo.”
“What a generous offer,” Jose murmured.
Adela found Jake and Sonia on the track, working out two thoroughbreds. Jake was thrilled by Adela's offer; he proposed that he would continue to work with the rac
ehorses at the track while also caring for her family horses at her estate. Adela invited Sonia to come along with her and the girls. As she drove home Adela listened to her daughters chat with Sonia. What a stroke of luck, she thought. The distraction of someone their own age would be useful for her girls, since her own time would now be consumed with preparations for her father’s memorial service and with taking over Rios Capital. The arrangement would also allow her to better assess Jake, away from Jose’s prying eyes.
Adela and her daughters showed Sonia around the guesthouse. Adela and Carlos had purchased it as newlyweds and had lived there while they designed a larger house for the property. They had not anticipated that finding a suitable site for the larger house would be difficult. But as they grew more familiar with the land, they had realized that the existing house stood on the very best site. They had decided to demolish it. Their decision had not been simple to implement. Since the original architect of Rancho Secreto had designed the house, it had historic significance in the eyes of the committee that approved new structures in the community. Bowing to the committee’s strong opposition to its demolition, Adela had arranged to have the house moved, intact, to another site on the property. Although at the time she had been exasperated about the expense involved, later she had come to describe this turn of events as providential. She had grown to appreciate the elegant Spanish design of the old house and its link to the community’s past. The guesthouse had become especially important to her after Carlos died, as a visible reminder of the happy days of their early-married life.
Adela and Sonia were standing in the guesthouse’s small library. Adela asked Sonia if she was a reader. “My two things in life are riding and reading,” Sonia said. She looked over the crowded bookshelves with interest. “When I’m not at school or on a horse I have my nose in a book.” Adela was pleased to learn that Sonia shared not only her love of horses but also of literature. If only she could have inspired her daughters to love reading, she thought. While they embraced everything equestrian her girls came up short when it came to intellectual interests.
After inviting Sonia to join them for dinner, Adela and her daughters walked the short distance to their house. The girls retreated to their rooms. Adela went into the kitchen to find Lupe, who presented her with a basket overflowing with messages. Sighing, Adela went to her office. But before she could return any calls her cell phone rang. It was Detective Mori. Adela felt a chill.
Chapter Seventeen