Chapter 99 – A Tense Lunch

Charlotte, Tommy and James quickly washed up. Tommy came back and plopped down in his seat. He reached to grab a cookie that was on the platter, but his father moved it.

"Not until you have eaten." Thomas said.

Tommy glared at his father, but didn't say anything.

"Don't start." Thomas whispered.

Charlotte was quickly back and made a sandwich for Tommy. She had added some fruit and veggies. She then set a glass of water in front of him. She went back to the kitchen to make her lunch. James quickly made his lunch and sat down. After a quick prayer, he looked around the table.

"How was the trip to town this morning?" James asked.

"Lots of press." Jack said.

Thomas and James both looked at Jack.

"Any problems?" James asked.

"No." Nathan said. "Glad that Marcus sent some state police. I think they still might have gotten our pictures taken, but we didn't engage with them. We were able to get all the things done that we needed. But we all need to sit down and talk about tomorrow."

"I agree." James said. "But let's wait until the other security gets here as well as John. I have talked to him and he said that he would be here about five."

"You talked to my father?" Thomas asked.

"Yes." James said. "He was one of my first calls at six this morning. He said he was planning to call and talk, but I beat him to it. I filled him in on what I knew and he said that he would be in meetings all day, but he was coming and his security team would drop him off here around five. He is bringing two with him and there will be four to six more at the track tomorrow with us for the event. He also has talked to Marcus and arranged for two state police to be assigned to the roped off section for us tomorrow. I arranged that with the coordinators yesterday. With everything going on, they agreed to do that for us."

"Thank you." Jack said. "That makes me feel better."

"You're welcome." James said. "JP, Thomas, so you both know. I have promoted Kevin to lead security. I have also informed all employees that all gates are to remain closed and locked at all times until further notice. I have brought Mason over from transport and talked to Devin about adding six team members for the remainder of the summer. I also talked to him about the show in a few weeks. He said to let us know what we will need and he will do what he can to accommodate us. John also said he would send a few security members for that weekend if we wanted. Lee, that reminds me."

"Yes, Sir." Lee said.

"John said that he might be interested in coming that weekend." James said. "He said to let him know if there was anything that he could help with. I told him that you and Elizabeth were handling everything."

"I will make a point to sit down with him and show him what we have." Lee said.

"Thank you." James said.

"I don't think that having a show right now is a good idea." Charlotte said.

Jack took a deep breath before speaking.

"It is already up and I am not canceling it." Jack said.

"I think we will be okay." Doug said. "Major Thompson said he was going to have a booth so we will have a state police presence. I also talked to Dad and he was going to talk to a few people and the NYPD might be interested in having a booth as well. He also thought that he could arrange to have a few of their mounted police up here. He thought the kids might like to see them up close. He felt it was worth it with everything going on. He has no problem sending half a dozen officers and horses up here for the weekend."

"That would be so cool." Elizabeth said. "As of this morning we had over fifty registered across all the classes. I have ordered ribbons for each class. I got first through tenth. The lady also said that since I went with the standard ribbon, any unused ones could be returned. I went with a horse head on each and just the place. First through third are rosette ribbons and the others are a straight plain ribbon. The lady knew exactly what I needed and what colors I needed."

"So you didn't order them with the Coal Creek name on them?" Charlotte asked.

"No." Elizabeth said. "I went with the standard ribbons, but I have designed a certificate with the Coal Creek logo on it to go with each ribbon. The guy that I talked to at Quad Graphics gave us a good deal. He said to let us know on the Thursday before and he will print them that day, so we don't waste any. The registration for the event is set to close on that Wednesday before, so we will know how many are registered for each class. I will be able to hand letter each certificate before we hand them out. I will just need to pick up a couple markers, but we have plenty of time."

"Well done, Elizabeth." James said.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "The guy at Quad Graphics also suggested that maybe we have a special certificate for anyone who is showing for the first time. I agreed with him. He was going to design something using our logo as well as the one from the jumping association. He was going to send some samples for us to look at next week. We just have to let him know which one and how many we will need."

"That was very thoughtful." Jack said, leaning over and giving Elizabeth a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said, smiling at Jack.

"Did you cap any of the classes?" Gran asked.

"No." Jack said. "I mean not really. I set each one to twenty-five, but we can easily change it. I also made a way for people to contact us if a class is full so they can see if we have room. I am glad that I added the line about previous shows. That way we'll know about the certificates."

Elizabeth smiled at Jack.

"That is why the guy asked about those." Elizabeth said. "He had pulled up the event page as we were speaking."

"Do you really think that you will get that many?" Charlotte asked.

"Maybe not the upper levels." Lee said. "But I can easily see the younger levels filling up, especially since they don't have that many shows."

"So is it a schooling show or regular?" Charlotte asked.

"It is a combination." Jack said. "The lower four levels will have a schooling show with a more relaxed dress code – they will only be required to have a vest and helmet with appropriate riding clothes – breeches, shirt and boots. I didn't get specific about color. The entry fee was only fifty dollars. The upper three levels will be a regular show with a standard two hundred dollar fee. They will also be required to have white or tan breeches, jacket and helmet."

"I talked to a contact." Nathan said. "We will have three air conditioned tents for riders to change or be in. We will just have to have someone stationed at each tent so only riders are allowed in. I have also contacted a few people I know that have put on some horse shows, both jumping and rodeo. They are willing to come help for the weekend if we want. They have already called and reserved spots for their motorhomes for the weekend. If we chose not to use them, they thought it would be fun to come watch anyway."

"How are you going to do that?" Charlotte asked. "Are you going to charge for people to come watch? How will we control it? How are you going to pay for all this help?"

"My friends are coming to help for free, they like me." Nathan said. "I called in a couple favors for the tents. It isn't costing us anything for the weekend."

Jack smiled at Nathan. It wasn't that Jack wasn't willing to pay, but he felt honored that Nathan called in a few favors. Lee got up and grabbed the laptop. He opened it up and pulled up the website that they had created.

"See." Lee said. "It is open to the public, but we did state that there would be limited seating and everyone entering would have to show an ID at security."

"Good idea." Gran said. "Were you planning indoors or outdoors?"

"We went with indoors." Jack said. "I have talked to Ed and he will have the large arena set. He said that they will open the large side doors and have bleachers set up there. He was going to arrange to have a few sets brought in from the high school like before. We will use the outdoor rings to warm up and cool down."

"If you do it right." James said. "You can get three of those large sections of bleachers and still have spots for people to sit with lawn chairs. Ed knows how to set it up."

"I still don't think that this is a good idea." Charlotte said.

"We have all heard you." Gran said. "However, we are doing a show. The kids have done well with planning. I am impressed with how much they have done."

"Thank you, Gran." Lee said. "It wasn't hard. We all have done our part. From what I could tell last night, it sounded like several of the employees were excited about a show since it has been a few years since the last one."

"Glad to hear that." James said.

"Depending on how this goes." Jack said. "I would like it to become an annual event. It would be good for business and despite being a lot of work, they are fun."

Charlotte scowled at Jack and muttered something that no one quite heard.

"Charlotte." Gran said. "Did you have something to say?"

"I have plenty to say." Charlotte said. "But apparently, you don't want to hear it."

"Charlotte." Thomas said. "We agreed to table things until Monday."

"No, you agreed." Charlotte huffed. "If you would actually be around more, you would see how things really are."

"I am not getting into this right now." Thomas said. "Not here, not in front of everyone."

"Fine, this is what is going to happen." James said standing up. "Doug, will you please escort Tommy to the arena, tell Ed that he is to continue cleaning tack and he is not to leave until we come and get him."

"Yes, Sir." Doug said.

Doug stood up and moved next to Tommy.

"Let's go." Doug said.

"I am not going anywhere." Tommy said, crossing his arms. "If you are all going to be here talking, I am staying."

Doug grabbed Tommy's arm and pulled him out of the chair.

"Either you walk, or I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you down." Doug said. "Don't try me, you know I can do it."

"I will help you." Lee said, jumping up.

Lee came around and stood near Doug.

"Your choice." Doug said.

Tommy didn't say anything, but scrunched up his face and made to spit on Doug. Doug quickly grabbed him up and threw him over his shoulder. Tommy started screaming.

"Lee, grab his boots." Doug said.

"Got them." Lee said.

"Then let's go." Doug said. "We will be back in a bit."

Everyone else watched Doug carry a screaming Tommy out of the house. Once they were down the back steps. James turned to the rest of the people sitting at the table.

"I know that I was the one that said we would table this." James said. "But I can't stand the snipping or the tension. We are going to hash this out now once and for all. This ends today! We have additional guests coming and I am not going to subject them to the behavior that I have seen the last few days. This is still my house, my property and my rules."

"This is a family matter." Charlotte said. "Those two (pointing to Nathan and Elizabeth) don't need to be here so they can leave."

Neither made a move to leave. Charlotte looked at her father like he should make them leave.

"No." Gran said. "They are staying. I am not going to allow you to attack someone who is not here to defend themselves. Besides that, Elizabeth is almost family and this also involves Nathan."

"Over my dead body she will be family." Charlotte muttered.

"Charlotte Lucille!" Gran snapped.

Elizabeth moved to get up, but Jack grabbed her hand. She looked at him, not sure what to do.

"Please stay." Jack said. "You are going to be my wife and this affects you. You have every right to be here."

"You are not marrying her!" Charlotte said. "I will cut you off and you can find somewhere else to stable your horses."

"Charlotte." Thomas said.

"No!" Charlotte said. "He wants to be an adult then he can be an adult. He can either pay to stable his horses here or find somewhere else to take them. I am not going to let some gold digging tramp come in here and destroy what my family had worked hard to build."

Jack squeezed Elizabeth's hand. Nathan reached behind Jack and put his hand on her shoulder as a show of support.

"Charlotte." Thomas said. "You don't know what you are doing. Please stop this."

Thomas turned to James.

"Can I take my wife to the office and talk to her for a moment?" Thomas asked.

James nodded. Thomas grabbed Charlotte's arm and practically drug her to the office. They all heard the door slam. They looked at each other, but no one said anything. After a moment, Jack stood and pulled Elizabeth up and into his arms. Jack wanted to make sure that Elizabeth was okay. He knew that she was upset, but he wasn't going to let his mother drive her away.

"I don't care what she thinks." Jack said. "I love you and we are going to be together. Nothing will change that. Nothing is going to change the papers that we signed today. Ma is just going to have to learn to deal. She is the one that is going to lose if she keeps it up. Elizabeth, sweetheart, I love you. Please look at me."

It took a few moments before Elizabeth leaned back and looked Jack in the eyes.

"Do you trust me?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Elizabeth said softly.

"Then everything is going to be okay." Jack said.

Jack leaned his forehead against Elizabeth's forehead.

"She can spew all hate and anger she wants." Jack said softly. "It doesn't change the way that I feel nor does it change our future together."

"But …." Elizabeth said.

"No buts." Jack said.

Jack then leaned forward and kissed Elizabeth softly.