Chapter 21

Ann put the last of their things in the BMW. They had spent the last four days doing all of their Christmas shopping before they started for the farm. Brenda was excited to see the horses. She had never been on a Tennessee Walker but she was anxious to try it.

After they were underway, Brenda asked her mother, "Anything going on between you and Bob Long that I ought to know about?"

"No Brenda. Bob Long has always been very professional around me."

"I don't know, Mom. This trip to Paris puzzles me. Why didn't he just stick some cash in an envelope? It sounds to me like he was hoping that something would develop out of that trip."

"Brenda, don't go reading anything into this that isn't there."

"Come on Mom. Two days in Paris and he doesn't even try to kiss you?"

Ann didn't answer. After a minute Brenda looked at her mother. Suddenly Brenda started to smile and poked her mother in the arm.

"So, there was a little more to Paris than you told me. Come on; tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened, Brenda. We went out to a nightclub and danced a few dances. After the dance we went back to our rooms and he kissed me goodnight. That's all... nothing to it. He apologized for kissing me the next day."

"Gosh Mom, are you getting senile? He's your employer. He was probably afraid that you were going to file a sexual harassment suit against him. He showed you that he's interested. Mom, think... please... you have to give him some kind of signal that it's Ok to make a pass at you. This is the twenty-first century Mom."

"Ok Brenda, let's drop it. Nothing happened in Paris."

Brenda moved over and hugged her mother while she was driving, "I have to watch out for you Mom. I don't want you to be alone anymore. One of these days I'll want to have a husband and children and I want to know that you're going to be Ok."

Ann was quiet the rest of the trip. Brenda followed the map that Bob had sent to her. They pulled into the driveway of Bob Long's farm at two in the afternoon.

Bob walked out on the porch as the car came to a stop, "Just leave your bags in the car. I'll have Hans take them up to your rooms. I want to show you around the farm."

Ann and Brenda got out of the car and stretched. Bob walked over to them and hugged Ann and then hugged Brenda.

"Let's go to the stable. I know that Brenda wants to see the horses."

Bob led the way to the stable. As with all of the buildings that she could see, the stable was well-built and new. The roads in front of all of the buildings were made of gravel.

Bob opened the door to the stable and held the door until Ann and Brenda were inside. He waited until they saw the horses and then walked beside them.

"I thought that you only had two horses," Brenda said.

"I do only have two horses," Bob smiled, "The mare is yours."

Brenda looked at him as if he had two heads, "I don't understand."

"Merry Christmas, Brenda. I know that it's not Christmas yet but I thought that maybe you'd get more time to ride it if I gave it to you now."

Brenda had tears in her eyes, "I don't... where can I keep her?"

"What's wrong with keeping her here? Hans can look after her while he looks after mine. You can ride her whenever you get some time off of school. I'll make sure that she's exercised and taken care off. She's a Tennessee Walker and she has a natural running walk gait just like mine. I think that you'll enjoy her. I didn't know if you prefer a western saddle or and English saddle so I thought that I'd let you pick your own out. We can go to the tack shop tomorrow."

Ann finally got her voice back, "Bob, we can't accept that horse. God only knows how much it cost you."

Bob pulled some papers out of his pocket, "It's a little too late to take it back. I have the papers here and Brenda is listed as the owner."

Brenda still seemed to be in a daze, "Does she have a name?"

"Well, the people that I bought her from called her Miss Betty. I guess that you could call her whatever you want."

Brenda shook her head, "Miss Betty is just fine."

Bob took Ann's hand and led her out of the stable, "Are you out of your mind Bob? Why did you spend so much on that horse?"

"What else do I have to spend my money on? After the money that you made us this month I had to do something. If I gave you an additional bonus I'd make everyone else mad. We have our bonus system in place but no one has ever made us millions on just one piece of a contract. I had to find some other way to compensate you for what you did for the company. This is something that I wanted to do. Let her have the horse. I can see from the way she's acting that the horse will be in good hands."

Brenda caught up with them as they walked away from the barn, "She's beautiful. Is she really mine?"

Bob laughed, "Look at the receipt. Whose name is on it?"

Brenda let out a loud scream, "Yes!"

Bob took Ann and Brenda on a short tour of the farm. He pointed out the garage but didn't open the door. The garage would hold five cars. The building that housed the helicopter was farther way from the house. He took them into the building to see the helicopter and Brenda walked around it and touching everything on the craft.