Chapter One
Phillip could tell Joe was a bit put out. As a matter of fact, in his 26 years there
were few weeks that went by where Joe wasn’t pissed, angry, annoyed, insulted,
livid, irate or one of many, many more versions of not being happy with his
dad. Phillip took it in stride. Part of a father’s burden to bare, he
supposed.
“Really Father.
I think you have gone over the edge this time. Horseback riding lessons? As a job requirement? How can you possibly expect me to take that
seriously? Any idiot can ride a
horse. Just hop on and don’t fall
off. It’s not hard. Couldn’t we just skip the lessons and just go
on the trip? I’m sure I’m smart enough
to figure it out on the way.
“I do have two PhD’s and a third in the making and an
I.Q. of over 145. I think that qualifies
me for the over-achiever’s award. What’s
so hard about riding a horse that I couldn’t figure it out?”
Phillip chuckled.
Joe was about the smartest person he knew. Probably smarter than Joe even knew but some
things he just didn’t get. He loved his
son but drastic measures were sometimes called for and this was one of those
times. Joe was 26 and had never had a serious
girl friend. All the girls Phillip and
his wife Amy would bring home for Joe to meet would either turn out to be his
next lab partner or a new friend. Joe
never took women seriously and, darn it all, Phillip wanted to be a
grandfather!
Hence the forced horseback riding lessons and the trip
to the outback that would follow.
Phillip planned to have so many beautiful, attractive, smart and utterly
amazing women on this safari Joe would have to find someone. Guaranteed.
At this point, Phillip would have been happy with just
about anyone. But heaven forbid if Joe
found out that was Phillip’s purpose.
Despite the scientific achievements that will be learned on this trip,
Joe would flat refuse to go and once Joe made up his mind, dynamite wouldn’t
change it.
“Sorry Joe. This
is non-negotiable. We are going to have
some of the most renowned scientists and professors in the world on this
expedition and I am not going to have my son fumbling around trying to figure
out how to ride a horse while talking eight syllable words to fellow
doctorates. You’d come off looking like
an idiot.
“You take care of the science and let me take care of
the social. I insist. Here’s the name and phone number of the
stables. They are expecting you. Lessons are all paid for. You will have six weeks to figure out which
end of the horse you feed and which you avoid.
Don’t disappoint me. I will know
if you aren’t attending or putting forth an effort and I will pull your last
grant.
“Cheer up. At
least you can learn what sunshine feels like.
Oh and just to warn you … part of the lesson is learning to take care of
the horse so don’t wear a suit. Now get
out of my office and get to work. You
have a scientific review in front of the committee due in three days if I’m not
mistaken. Scoot.”
Phillip frowned.
Was he asking too much? The
expedition for which Joe was learning to ride would take them well into the Australian
outback following a rumor of an unexplored valley where there might be preserved
artifacts proving the existence of fish-eating dinosaurs.
Madison Scientific currently jointly owned by Phillip
and Amy Rice was one of the most renowned research and development facilities
of the world. Phillip’s father, Keith,
started the
business during the First World War to provide
alternative energy sources. Thanks to
his research, gasoline was refined and made a much more viable fuel source and
in the process made the Rice family one of the wealthiest families in the world.
Now, Phillip was doing more research into
pharmaceuticals then pursing his love of archeology. When he was approached by the people heading
the expedition because of his expertise in the Cretaceous period he happily
agreed to head the scientific portion of the expedition and quickly started
assembling his team, including his son, Joe.
Now they were seven weeks from start and Phillip was just beginning to
finalize plans …. starting with his son learning to ride.
Joe fumed all afternoon. Seriously?
Horseback riding? He wasn’t
worried about taking the lessons or looking like a fool as his dad seemed to
think he would. He just hated wasting
time. His mind worked several
conversations past most of the people he knew and ninety percent of the
population couldn’t keep up with him and he absolutely had no tolerance for
idiots.
He closed down his station early because he couldn’t
focus anyway. Before he left, he called
the stables to find out the particulars and found his first lesson was
pre-scheduled for tomorrow morning at eight am.
That would have been nice to know, Dad.
Thanks.
He spent the evening as he did all others. He still lived with his parents. Had never found a reason to get his own
place. He had his own wing of the massive
house just outside of Portland so rarely saw his parents except when they or he
sought each other out. Tonight, he grabbed
some to-go food, ate at his desk while answering emails from his friends all
over the world. He was writing an
article for one of the scientific journals on some work he completed a few
years ago so continued working on that.
He rarely watched television except to catch the news,
which he did just before turning in at about eleven.
The next morning he stood in front of his wardrobe
considering what he should wear. He
didn’t own a pair of jeans nor any really casual pants so he settled for a pair
of Dockers, his loafers and a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Weather in Oregon was mild in the morning and
hot in the afternoons this time of year.
His lesson was scheduled for a couple of hours then he could head back
to the lab and air conditioning.
Chapter Two
Jennifer Rose always got up before sunrise to feed
chickens, cows and the horses. Her whole
life, all 23 years of it, had been spent at her family’s ranch just outside of
North Plains, Oregon. They had over
twenty acres now, down from the hundred and fifty that was the original
homestead. Over the years, her family
had sold the acreage to raise money for additional ventures, including the
automated milking machine installed last year.
They had a few beef cows they kept mostly for
themselves and a few locals but most of their income now came from the milk
cows to which her grandpa catered. Hence
the new milking machine he paid way too much for, in her opinion. He was always out in the barns talking to
them and spoiling them, trying out new grains, etc, to boost their milk
production. The rest of their farm was used
now for growing mostly grains, which was something she hoped to change.
She was getting used to her grandpa changing things
up. For an old geezer he sure loved the
modern contraptions. JR, as she was
known by family and friends, was a country girl from head to foot. If she didn’t see anything metal for the rest
of her life, she was good. Her ma had
runoff with the traveling salesman when she was three so she didn’t really
remember her. She was raised by her
grandpa and her dad while he was around.
He died a couple years ago in a mower accident trying to bring in the
last of the hay harvest.
But she’d been used to fending for herself for many
years now. After high school, she went
to the community college for a while and got her associates degree in
agriculture and that’s all she needed to keep the farm working. She got a few of her own ideas through
grandpa’s approval process and the farm was rewarded with a better than average
harvest for the last three years. She
was hoping to modernize the irrigation system this year but was having a hard
time convincing grandpa to not get an automated feeding machine for the calves
instead.
By far her favorite part of farming was the
horses. She lived, breathed, and died
horses. Every spare second she could she
was out in the horse barn cleaning stalls, washing or combing down the four
horses her grandpa allowed her to keep.
Not many horses yet, but she loved every one and each had their own
personality which she more than catered to.
She thought about training Trixie and entering her in
barrel racing competitions especially since she was a fast little quarter horse
but JR knew she couldn’t take the time away from the farm to train her properly.
Last year JR decided to try to make the horses pay for
themselves so grandpa would stop harping on her to get rid of them. She put an ad in the local paper and the Oregonian offering riding lessons and
horses for rent. During the summer, she
was inundated with people wanting to book her horses for riding and she had a
full schedule for lessons. She only
allowed herself afternoon lessons so as not to interfere with her feeding the
livestock first thing in the mornings.
She made enough this year to almost buy another horse. At least she got to show grandpa that the
horses could pay for themselves to which he replied, “humph.”
Her summer sessions were done now as it was coming on
fall so a week ago when she got a call from Phillip Rice wanting to book
lessons for his son in the mornings she wasn’t as hesitant as she probably
should have been. The extra money would
put her over the top and allow her to buy the mare she’d been thinking
about. Because it was so late in the
season, she had refused at first but he offered to pay double. He said he needed the lessons to be in the
morning so as not to interrupt his son’s work schedule. She gave in.
That was a lot of money for only six weeks of inconvenience on her part
and he was her only lesson now. She
would just have to get up earlier to feed the livestock before the lessons.
She forgot to ask Phillip how old his son was, in fact
she forgot to ask his name, too. Not
that it mattered anyway. She was a
patient teacher and was able to rein in the most rowdy child. She was sure she could handle a spoiled
little rich kid that probably wouldn’t take horseback riding serious
anyway. As long as he didn’t mistreat
her horses, she didn’t care what kind of temper tantrum he had.
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