Not Fake for Long by Weston Parker

39

HARRISON

Almost six months after Ashton’s death, Keira and I were on the farm. There was a lot of activity around there these days, and today was the day when we’d finally see all the hard work we’d put in starting to pay off.

She wrapped her arms around me from behind where I stood at the top of the driveway, peering around my back after kissing between my shoulder blades. “Are you excited for today?”

“I am,” I said, folding my hands over her arms around my waist. “It’s all I’ve wanted for a while now. I just hope it turns out okay.”

“It’s going to be perfect,” she said without an ounce of doubt in her voice. “We’ve done everything we possibly can to be ready and they’ll be here soon. It’s going to be quite the weekend.”

“Yeah.” I turned to face her, giving her a chaste kiss before I nodded toward the barn. “Should we go do a last walkthrough? I’m sure they’re going to want to head there first.”

“We’ve done three last walkthroughs,” she said, laughing as she nodded. “But sure. Let’s go do one more. I think we should go make sure everything is still fine at the dormitories as well, though. They probably have to go put their stuff down before we can take them to the barn.”

“Good point,” I agreed, taking her hand as we started walking. “We built the dorms in the right place, didn’t we? You’re sure we shouldn’t have built it closer to the stream?”

“I’m sure.” She glanced up at me. “All my research said it was better to build a little further away from any large bodies of water if possible. These are kids we’ll be dealing with. We don’t want to take any risks with one of them wandering off and falling in the stream.”

“It’s only knee deep there,” I said. “The view just would’ve been much better.”

“Now they’ll have that view from the mess hall,” she reasoned. “Besides, it’s a little too late to move it now. Don’t you think? They’ll be here in less than an hour.”

I sighed but grinned as I slung my arm around her shoulders. “You’re right. We might need more than an hour to move an entire camp that’s taken us months to build.”

“Of course, I’m right.” She laughed. “I usually am. One would think you’ve learned that by now.”

One of the new grooms I’d hired jogged up to us, grinning as he swiped his hat from his head. “We’ve rounded up all the ponies and all the tack has been polished. Is there anything else you need from us before they get here?”

I shook my head. “Just make sure there’s plenty of food and water for all the horses and all the ponies. You and the others are ready for when they get here?”

“We’re ready, sir,” he said.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get any of these kids to stop calling me sir. I liked to think we’d get there, though. The grooms and the extra staff I’d hired to help me run the camp were all kids who had aged out of the system and had a passion for animals and the outdoors.

The vetting process had been rough, and gaining their trust had been even more difficult, but things were going well at the moment. There had been a few hits and misses, and I’d almost given up on this plan more than once, but in the end, we’d powered through it all.

Keira had been with me every step of the way, and she’d really gained everybody’s respect around here as more than just my girlfriend. The groom nodded now while she spoke to him.

“Things are going to be chaotic until we can get everyone settled, so just try to stay calm, okay?”

“We will, Keira.” He smiled. “A lot of us have been to camps like this before.”

He went beet red and then shook his head as his gaze darted to me. “No, well, not like this. Just organized in this way. For kids in homes, you know? None of them were this nice and I definitely wasn’t given the opportunity to learn how to ride.”

She’d won the battle to get them to call her by her name. The same battle I was still losing. They also weren’t as scared of her anymore as they were of me.

I sighed, but there was no doubt about it. Her people skills were miles better than mine.

“I understood what you meant, Steven,” she said. “We’re just about to go check out the dorms. Can you do me a favor and take point on rounding everybody up when we see the buses?”

He gave a short salute. “I can do that. See you over there.”

“I’m really proud of you, you know?” she said, resting her head against my shoulder and looking up at me when we started walking again. “This was a massive undertaking, but you’ve done it. I still can’t believe you actually did it.”

“It meant a lot to me to get it done,” I replied. “It’s simple. Ashton was always talking about how the outdoors could save lives if people let it. He was passionate about teaching people how to ride and he hated it when they couldn’t. I’m only doing what I think he would’ve liked to do if he could’ve.”

“Well, I’m not sure Ashton would’ve dealt very well with three dozen kids for an entire weekend, but I get what you’re saying.”

I shrugged, but she was right. “We’re breaking them up into smaller groups for the actual lessons. He’d have been able to handle eight at a time. He was a really good teacher. Did you know he basically taught me?”

Her smile turned sad. “No, I didn’t know that. It’s incredible that you’re doing this in his memory. You’ve accomplished so much already, but you seem to be most proud of this. Even though you won’t be making any money from it.”

“I don’t need to make any more money,” I said, making a face at her when she rolled her eyes. “What? I’m being serious. I’m not trying to sound like a prick or an asshole. It’s just the truth.”

“I know it is. I’m just not sure I’m ever going to get used to hearing you say that so matter-of-fact.”

I smirked before pulling her closer to my side. “Well, if I play my cards right, you might just have a good, long time to get used to it.”

“You think?” she asked, a teasing note to her voice. “I was actually just sticking around for the camp to open up. I’m leaving later.”

“No, you’re not.” I laughed, my fingers digging in to tickle her while we walked. She doubled over, laughing as she tried to get away from me. “Take it back, woman. Say you’ll never leave.”

“Fine,” she shrieked. “I’ll never leave. Let me go.”

I stopped tickling her but didn’t let her go. Whenever she could get out to the farm, I couldn’t stop touching her. We were working on a plan to get her out here a lot more often, but it was still in the works. Along with a few others I didn’t have time to think about today.

The dorms consisted of six cabins, sleeping six children each. They’d been constructed out of wood by local builders, who had also helped me to build the mess hall and to extend the barn and stables.

Where we’d had space for eight horses before, we could now keep sixteen. Hence the necessity for extra full-time help. I’d also bought six ponies at an auction on a whim. They’d sold for nearly nothing and I didn’t trust the look of the other guy who’d been eyeing them. I could’ve sworn I’d seen him around the cattle auctions before and that he worked in the meat industry.

Right or wrong about who he was, I’d bought the ponies anyway. I figured some of the groups might have some smaller kids in them who’d prefer a pony to a horse, and that some kids might not want to ride when they got here at all. If they didn’t want to, they could always just hang out with the ponies.

Temporary and permanent staff hustled around the dorms and mess hall, making sure everything was set up for the arrival of our first group of visitors. Mariana winked at me from the deck of the mess hall. She stood with a clipboard in her hand and seemed to be relishing her role as coordinator, a role she had assigned to herself, but I was grateful for her help.

The scent of hamburgers grilling for lunch permeated the air, and Keira moaned softly. “Wow. That smells delicious. Do you think the kids will mind if we eat with them?”

“Probably. I think one of the things they’re going to be looking forward to about being here is the freedom. There’s not much freedom if we’re constantly around.”

“Oh, so we’re worse than the counselors and the chaperones coming with them from the homes?” She wriggled her nose at me. “I don’t think we would bother them. We’re cool, right?”

I smacked a kiss on her forehead but shook my head. “No, we’re not cool. The camp counselors and chaperones are necessary to make sure they don’t get hurt. We’d just be here because we’re after their food.”

“Well, if you put it like that,” she grumbled, then winked up at me. “I have some pretty fond memories of a cookout at your place, though. We could always have one of our own.”

Her words spoke right to my cock, and it stirred at the thought of those memories of our first cookout together. I breathed through it, reminding myself that now was not the time.

“We’ll have one of our own,” I promised.

A quick tour of the cabins and mess hall proved that everybody was doing what they were supposed to and that we were ready to receive our first guests. The kids were coming from various orphanages and group homes in and around the city. It was important to me and to Keira that their stay here was both memorable and educational.

When I’d really started thinking about what I wanted to do after the company had been sold, the only thing I’d been sure of was that I wanted to do something with the space I had. It had gotten me thinking about some of the stories Ashton had told about teaching people how to ride. His wife had even been an instructor in town when they’d been young.

One thing had led to another, and here we were. Doing something good in his memory. Something I was sure he would’ve approved of, even if he hadn’t been the biggest fan of people.

Someone shouted from behind us, and when we turned around, the buses became visible in between the clouds of dust they were kicking up. Keira turned to me and grinned.

“Well, are you ready to go welcome the kids to Ashton’s Riding Ranch?” she asked, looping her arm through mine.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said. “Let’s just pray this goes well. If it doesn’t, I’m going to owe Ashton a lot of explanations and apologies for linking his name to a failure.”

I glanced up at the sky as we walked, taking in the clear, perfect blue without a cloud in sight. This is for you, old man. Thanks for teaching me everything I know. Let’s hope I live up to your standards now that I’m trying to pay it forward.