Chapter 1
Dan
I guided the work ute down the familiar road to the equine hospital, one hand on the wheel, while I drank my morning coffee.
I’d driven this road so many times; I knew every bend and every property I passed.
But this time it felt different. This time I knew the early mornings were numbered.
In a few months, Curtis would own the equine hospital, and my days could start anytime I wanted them to.
Curtis is buying the hospital. I let out a long breath and smiled.
I’d repeated the same sentence over and over to myself the past couple of days, and my heart did a happy dance each time.
This result was better than I’d ever imagined.
The hospital wouldn’t go to a stranger who had no respect for what I’d built over the past forty years. It was going to someone I trusted.
Curtis was a man of few words, especially when he’d arrived from America a few months ago.
He listened more than he spoke, and I knew his brain was always turning things over.
But living with him, I saw him open up more and more.
I think what I liked about him most, other than how genuine he was, was how he loved horses.
Only the night staff’s cars were in the carpark when I arrived at the hospital.
It was too early for everyone else. I grabbed my coffee and walked through the side door, past the clinic rooms and down the hall toward the staff conference room.
Only days ago, I’d announced to the senior vets that I was selling the business. Today, I’d tell them I had a buyer.
Curtis would be doubting himself. So, to prove to him that he could do it, I was also going to tell them all that I was taking a long weekend for myself…at the start of breeding season. Everyone would have to rely on him.
I laughed to myself as I entered the conference room. Taking time off during breeding season was unheard of. I could barely believe I was doing it. I didn’t even give my staff permission to have time off when we were all so under the pump, unless it was a family emergency.
Four days to myself. And if she said yes, I was going to spend every minute of those four days with Lorraine. Just her. I didn’t care if it was cliché to say it, but I’d been waiting for this moment for all my life. Until now, I’d let everything else get in the way.
Chairs scraped softly against the floor as the senior vets filed in a few minutes before seven.
Lisa was first, as always, tablet in hand and already scrolling.
Brad settled his long frame into the seat beside her.
Sylvia, Matt, and Erin soon followed, chatting to each other as they sat down.
Curtis was last, coffee in one hand, the other shoved in his pocket, his brow furrowed.
I smiled, wondering what he could be thinking about so hard at this hour of the morning.
I glanced around the table. These vets were the best in the industry. Every single one of them had a hand in helping me build the equine hospital to what it was today—one of the most renowned in the country. I considered them more than colleagues; they were friends.
“I’ll keep it brief,” I said. “You all know I’ve been looking for the right person to take over the business.”
If I didn’t have their attention before, I certainly did now. They all watched me expectantly.
“Well, I’ve found him.”
I glanced towards Curtis, who was so still he may as well have been frozen. He’d hate all the attention on him, and it was going to be there any second.
“Curtis will be buying the hospital.”
Brad let out a breath. “Curtis?”
“Didn’t see that coming,” Lisa said.
Every head in the room turned to face him.
Curtis shifted in his seat. “I thought it was the best solution. We get to keep our jobs this way, and nothing needs to change.”
Brad smiled. The others soon followed suit, as I knew they would. I chuckled to myself when I realised Curtis still had his thinking face on.
“I couldn’t be happier with this outcome,” I said, drawing the attention away from Curtis. “I believe the hospital will be in good hands.”
Nods all around. Curtis had proven himself to them in one way or another over the past few months.
“And there’s no better time for him to start taking the reins than right now,” I continued. “I’m taking a long weekend.”
That earned a louder reaction.
“You? Take time off during breeding season?” Lisa asked, disbelief in her voice.
I shrugged. “Time to try something new.”
“Getting ready for retirement, are you?” Brad asked.
I nodded. Retirement and winning the heart of the woman I loved.
Curtis stared at me. I hoped this would show him that I had full confidence in him. I hoped this would give him confidence in himself.
“That’s it. You can go to work now.”
Now I had a different job—asking Lorraine to join me. I broke out in a sweat. Sixty-five years old and I felt like a schoolboy asking a girl out for the first time. Bloody hell.
I’d been waiting for this moment since I was fifteen years old. And maybe if I hadn’t been so shit scared of stuffing up, I’d have asked her back when we were teens, before we started on the path to our separate lives.
I’d asked her many times after our respective divorces. She’d denied me every time, until last week, when she said I could take her to Isabelle’s birthday party. We’d had two more dates since then—nothing fancy, just dinner at our respective houses.
I wanted more. I had no idea what that would look like at our age.
But I was sure of one thing—I wanted to find out.