Chapter 66 – Doug and Nathan Talk

Lee and Elizabeth had gotten a good list of what needed to be done for the show going. As Elizabeth was entering things into the computer as they found out that she could type better then Lee, he was on the phone contacting business about setting up for a vendor fair at the show. A couple dozen calls and they had a growing list of people that were interested in setting up a booth. Between both of their phones and computers, they had booked a couple large tents and reserved some picnic tables so people would have a place to sit and eat. Elizabeth had booked four different food trucks for the show. She was excited that everything was coming together so fast. Elizabeth had also found a company that was willing to bring in the bounce houses for the children. It was amazing how many people jumped at being a part of a show at Coal Creek, as most people knew with the Sims and Thorntons behind something it would be a success.

Gran brought over a pitcher of fresh lemonade and sat at the table for a moment.

"So you guys having any luck?" Gran asked.

Elizabeth looked up and smiled at her.

"Lots." Elizabeth said.

"Care to share?" Gran asked.

"Well." Lee said. "We have two tents to put near the food as well as picnic tables from the parks department."

"I also have a group of bounce houses coming." Elizabeth said. "At least one or two specifically being little tykes so that will be nice for the little kids. I have an email in to both Catholic Churches asking for volunteers. I don't know about around here, but I remember that confirmation students were always looking for community service hours. I thought it might be helpful to at least ask."

"I have all four tack shops wanting to set up a booth." Lee added. "It sounds like Tractor Supply might also be interested. I also have interest from the race track, museum and the polo grounds. I also have at least two vet clinics that said that they would be interested in setting up booths. One is that new one that is going to be working with the race track. The other is …. let me look here."

"It is okay." Gran said. "Don't for get to ask Dr Matthews, especially since they are the vet that works with this farm. I would also maybe suggest contact Healthy Living and GNC and see if they want to set something up."

"Here it is." Lee said. "Root and Riddle."

"They are good." Gran said. "Glad that they want to set up."

"They sounded really excited." Lee said.

"I bet." Gran said. "I am sure that they are hoping that we move our contract over to them."

"Either way." Lee said. "Things are coming together."

"I have four food trucks and a call into a fifth." Elizabeth said.

"Who were you able to talk to?" Gran asked.

Elizabeth shuffled a few papers and pulled the list.

"Saratoga Awesome Dogs." Elizabeth said. "Air Stream Catering, Creative Caterers and Smoothies on Wheels. I have a call into Miller's Backyard BBQ."

"Impressive." Gran said.

After Gran finished her lemonade, she stood, but before heading back to the kitchen she turned to Lee and Elizabeth.

"You did remember to actually get word out to jumpers?" Gran asked.

"Yes." Lee said. "Jack set up the event online last night. He also sent out a massive email to everyone that he knew jumped and asked them to spread the word. We already have about twenty people registered and it has only been a few hours. He submitted it to the area website to have them add to their calendar and the Coal Creek website also has a banner up advertising the show."

"Very impressive." Gran said with a smile before heading back to the kitchen.

Before Gran could get back to the kitchen, there was a knock at the door. She looked at both Lee and Elizabeth, but both shook their heads. Gran went to the door and found that it was a courier with three packages for Jack. She signed for them and took them inside. She wasn't sure what was going on, but set them on the table.

"What are those?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know." Gran said. "They are for JP."

"Fun." Elizabeth said with a smile.

Lee grabbed one of the packages.

"Leland James Coulter." Gran said. "That doesn't have your name on it. Leave it alone."

"Yes, ma'am." Lee said with a bit of a smirk.

Jack, Doug and Nathan got out to the sand ring. Even though he knew that everything had been taken care of, Jack insisted on inspecting the entire ring before they brought the horses in.

"So how are we going to do this?" Doug asked.

"Me on Bandit." Jack said. "I assume you on Aphrodite and Nathan on Athena. Anyone wants to switch, they can ride Honey. I think we will leave Ghost for another day or so. I think we will take it easy today. We know the horses can jump, it is about getting to know them."

"I checked him this morning." Nathan said. "I think if we are careful and cover it, I think we can jump him tomorrow if we want."

"Okay." Jack said.

"Okay." Doug said. "That answers half of my question."

"Twice through and then we watch the others." Jack said. "No horse jumps with a second rider without at least a twenty minute break."

"Sounds like a plan." Nathan said. "I see you have the cameras set up. Do you have someone to run them?"

"I set them to motion sensors." Jack said. "They have been recording and streaming to our server since the moment that we walked into the ring. Figured that we are going to draw a crowd, might as well keep it to a minimum for the time being."

"Who is going first?" Doug asked.

Jack looked at him.

"How we always choose." Jack said with a grin.

It was determined that Jack would first, Nathan second and Doug last. After double checking his saddle and stirrups, Jack mounted Bandit and warmed him up a little in the side ring. When Jack was ready, Nathan and Doug both sat at the in gate and watched Jack go through the course that Marco had set the evening before. Jack dropped one rail on the first go around and it was only because he had cut a corner really close and Bandit clipped it just right. The second time through, Jack still cut the corner, but not quite as tight and kept the rail up. Jack wasn't running at competition speed and Nathan knew it.

"Very good." Nathan said as Jack rode over to him.

"Thank you." Jack said. "I decided not to run full out, but feel free. It is more about building a bond with the horse and getting some exercise."

"No, I agree." Nathan said. "We will run at competition speed on one tomorrow and then again next week."

Each rode through with the horse that they originally were on. Nathan was surprised at how much he had to hold Athena back after the first couple of fences. She took a few down, but by the second run, she was sailing over the jumps and wanting her head. Doug had a good ride on Aphrodite and also had a better second run. By the time that Doug got done, Nathan was ready on Honey.

"You going to run her?" Doug asked.

"Why not." Nathan said. "I need to practice. After this we will get the horses settled, then head to the gym. I was thinking of just getting some riding in this afternoon without the jumps."

"Good." Jack said. "I also want to get Elizabeth on a horse. I also assume that Lee will be down here to ride as well. I am having a couple of our trail horses brought over, but feel free to ride whoever you want."

"Okay." Nathan said.

Nathan ran though the course with Honey, she was great and didn't even clip a rail. After Nathan was done, they cooled all four horses down and took them in. They brushed them all down and turned them out in a grazing meadow. They put Bandit with Ghost and the other three together. Jack checked a few things in the office, saved the videos to a file that he could access from his laptop, messaged Marco and then headed to change. By the time that Jack came back out, Nathan and Doug were talking to a couple of the hands and already changed out of their riding gear. Jack was playing on his phone as they headed to house and to the gym. Doug and Nathan exchanged looks while following Jack up to the house. They both knew that he was up to something and just hoped that he hadn't done something stupid. Doug was still amazed, he had never seen Jack on his phone as much as he had been that morning.

The minute that Jack's foot hit the top of the stairs and was on the pool deck, he stopped and looked around. Instead of heading in the back door of the house, he headed around the side and went in downstairs. Doug and Nathan followed, but they weren't sure what Jack was thinking. Then it dawned on Doug that Jack was avoiding his father just a little while longer. They passed the gym and quickly went to the their room to throw on some workout clothes. Jack stopped in the sitting area to deal with something on his phone.

"Go ahead." Jack said. "I will be in in a moment."

As Doug walked away, he heard Jack say hello to his other grandfather. Doug stopped in his tracks and Nathan looked at him.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"It is just that Jack is talking to his other grandfather." Doug said. "If John in involved whatever Jack is up to must be big. I mean I know he said he talked to him, but this …."

"Why do you say that?" Nathan asked.

"You do know who his grandfather is, right?" Doug asked.

"Yes." Nathan said. "Former state Senator, a hedge fund manager and all around billionaire."

"Exactly." Doug said. "John doesn't do small. So whatever is going on is going to be big."

"I wonder if this has anything to do with that property that Jack was interested in?" Nathan said.

"Property?" Doug said.

"Yes." Nathan said. "There is a foreclosure happening and some of the land is adjacent to this property. Jack was interested, but James wasn't sure about it. I told James that land was always worth it if it stopped the developers from encroaching on them."

"Well." Doug said. "I would agree with you. I just don't think that Jack would actually do that without talking to his father. Then again, I am not sure that the Jack that I have seen of the last few months is the Jack that I have been best friends with for years. Not that the Jack of the last few months had been bad, just different. I would say more focused on business and things like that."

"Care to share more?" Nathan asked. "I am still at a bit of a disadvantage here. I know what I have read in reports and what I have seen over the last week or so, but even what I have read to what I have seen doesn't match."

Doug and Nathan went into the gym and got set up lifting leg weights before Doug went on to explain what he meant.

"Sorry." Doug said. "I forgot that you haven't been around."

"Don't be sorry." Nathan said. "You were instructed to treat me like a friend and that is what you have been doing. I am just really concerned."

"You aren't the only one." Doug said. "Let me back up here. Jack, Lee and I all meet when we were about thirteen at some charity function. We were inseparable from the beginning. It was apparent that we were so close that both my parents and Lee's moved us to the same school as Jack so we would be there for each other."

"Where were you going to school before that?" Nathan asked.

"I was in a different private school." Doug said. "Lee mostly had tutors. When Lee started at La Salle Academy, it was the first time that he had been in regular school since he had been a small child. Lee's mother is stay at home mother and after they lost his little brother, she homeschooled Lee."

"Okay thanks." Nathan said.

"No problem." Doug said. "Don't feel bad about asking about background information if you need it. So anyway, the three of us were super close and when Jack was up here for jumping, we were usually with him, we shared tutors when we were here. Things started to changed with Jack after Laura got hurt, you know about that right?"

"Yes." Nathan said.

"Okay." Doug said. "So things started then, which we understood, he basically lost her. He lost his training and competing partner that he had always had. Watching those two together, it was amazing. He pushed her just as much as she pushed him. There were many who thought that they both could have been at the Olympics in a few years."

"So was the plan for either to go on the pro circuit?" Nathan asked.

"Yes." Doug said. "Laura was looking forward to it and she had convinced Jack that was where he belonged as well. Jack was going to start competing at the same level as Laura when he was sixteen and join her on the A circuit or even the FEI circuit when he turned seventeen or eighteen. I think you have to be eighteen to be on the FEI circuit."

"Help me what is FEI?" Nathan asked.

"Federation Equestre Internationale." Doug said. "The main governing body for equestrian sports, especially the pro circuit."

"Got it." Nathan said.

Just then Jack walked in.

"Talking about me again." Jack said joining them near the leg weights.

"Only because we are concerned." Doug said. "Nathan was asking for a little background and I was explaining a few things to him."

"Sure you were." Jack said.

Jack turned to set his weights. Doug looked over at Nathan, mouthed 'later' and Nathan nodded knowing that they would finish talking later. The three did a good workout and took a few pictures of each other. Doug and Nathan finished first and headed to their room to grab clean clothes before jumping in the shower. While sitting in their room, Doug picked up where he had left off.

"So." Doug said. "What I was saying was no one thought much about Jack changing after Laura. Then after a few months, he was more back to normal. Then starting after Christmas this past year, Jack really started acting different. Not necessarily in a bad way, but asking more questions, more focused on the business side of things. I mean he has always been serious about the horses, but this was more then just the horses. Jack has been investing for years and tracking the investments. It started as something Thomas set up for him to introduce him to business. Jack worked with a broker and advisor that John at his company. Everything was in John's or Thomas' name, but the money went into a separate account for Jack. After Christmas, Jack started having weekly meetings with his Grandpa John about all things business. I don't even think that Thomas knows all of what Jack has dipped his fingers into.

A lot of us saw these changes as a good thing. Lee and I were both very excited when he broke up with his sort of girlfriend when she wanted to move half way across the country. We never thought that she was good for Jack. We were excited that we would be living together and going to school this fall. As much as Jack was focused on business, he was unsure about his future and what he wanted to do. Everyone in his family has been expecting him to go to law school and one day take over for his father. I am sure that politics were also in the discussion of things in the future. Jack is not sure that it is what he wants to do. And I don't blame him. I can't see Jack in politics and honestly, I can't even see Jack as a lawyer. I know that Jack had talked about doing other things, but I don't know that if anything has been decided. I know that Jack wants to become involved up here with the horses and all that entails.

Then last week, we meet Elizabeth and Jack has started talking marriage and settling down with her. He wants a future with her and nothing else. Honestly, Jack doesn't have to work, he could continue doing what he is doing right now and would be fine, but Jack would never been happy with that. Jack likes to be busy so I know that he will do something, but it freaked me out when Jack turned to me after we had dropped Elizabeth at her parents house. He literally told me that he was going to marry Elizabeth. I looked at him like he was crazy. He tried to explain it to me, but I don't really understand. What he told me, I told him it sounded like what my grandmother called soulmates, and that helped. Still, he is eighteen and I don't want him to make a choice he is going to regret. Don't get me wrong, I love Elizabeth, but I think that they both need to experience life a little. Elizabeth is going through a lot and Jack came in like a ton of bricks.

As far as I could tell, she didn't know about the money or his background when they were talking as I drove her home. When she called, asking for help. Well … lets say that Jack came down full force. He pulled out all the stops and I don't think that either one has stopped to process what happened."

"No, I agree with you there." Nathan said. "I have tried to talk to both of them, but they don't seem to want to deal with things. Elizabeth feels bad that Jack is spending money and having to rearrange his life for her, but they don't seem to really be talking about the important stuff. I don't think that they have talked much, at least alone, since we came up here and I think part of that is my fault. Jack admitted that he was struggling with his feelings and wasn't sure how long he could continue to be an gentleman. Because of that, I haven't left them alone for very long. It isn't that I don't trust them, but I know that it can be hard to put the breaks on when hormones take over."

"I don't know how much money Jack has spent." Doug said. "But I am sure that it is just a drop in the bucket. He paid cash for that Jeep of his and didn't think twice about turning down an extremely generous offer to buy Bandit. Money is not the problem. I understand what you are saying, but they have to talk at some point. I think we sit them down and make them talk."

"I gathered that." Nathan said. "He has it, she is not use to it so it will be a problem at some point. I think that might work, but what about his parents. Neither seem to want Elizabeth around."

"I agree." Doug said. "Let's get cleaned up and then head up so see how Lee and Elizabeth faired this morning. We will figure something out. I know that Jack is going to use the competition this weekend as an excuse to not deal with things, but we can't let it happen."

"Got it." Nathan said.