Maybe she shouldn’t worry about the future. Maybe she shouldn’t be concerned about how things would work out down the road. Maybe it was up to the Lord to work all that out, and she just had to step through the door He opened.
Although, on the other hand, she felt like it would be wise to think things through and make sure that she was making a wise decision. She should have safeguards in place for herself.
Of course, man’s wisdom wasn’t always God’s wisdom, and she needed to remember that.
“Who is that? Did he just give you his number?” Sunny came out of the back, and from the look on her face, Summer assumed that she’d been watching for quite a while.
“It’s the dude who bought the farm,” Summer said quietly, almost thoughtfully. The whole exchange seemed strange and left her with this odd feeling. This…strange desire to go running after him.
She didn’t quite get that, but she shook it off.
“Wow. So why did you give him your number?”
“Actually, he gave me his. He…invited me to live on the farm and start my equine therapy business back up again.”
“But you sold your horses,” Sunny said, setting the tray of muffins that she’d brought out from the back down and carefully putting them into the display case.
“I know. I know I could buy them all back, but… It would be weird, working with him, not owning the farm, I mean…would he kick me off anytime he wanted to?”
“That’s something you’d have to figure out. You have to have some kind of agreement in place and whatever rent he was going to charge you.”
She hesitated, and then she said, “He wasn’t going to charge me anything, because I’ve been giving his kids free therapy since before his wife died.”
She didn’t want to brag about that. She didn’t do it for the accolades or to have anyone think she was a good person. She justdid it because…she felt like they needed it, and she heard that his business was on the brink, so she wanted to do what she could to help.
She’d never refused anyone because they couldn’t pay. Although, she knew she had to run a business, and in order to do that, she had to make enough money to pay her bills.
So it wasn’t like she went around handing out free stuff all the time.
“Wow. I didn’t know that. So he’s not going to charge you?”
“No. But like you said, we still have to have some kind of agreement in place. If I am running a business out of there, he can’t just kick me out.”
“I don’t have any guarantees that I’m going to be able to renew my lease every year. They could just decide they want to sell the building and I’m out of the place to work. So, that wouldn’t be too much different than what I’ve got here.”
“All right. I guess… I’ve always worked on my own farm, and I didn’t really realize how those things work.”
“Typically you sign the lease, it could be six months or a year. I suppose there are longer leases, although I’ve never had one. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll get offered another six months or a year. And they can raise your monthly payment anytime they want to.”
“That hardly seems fair.”
“I know, right?”
“Yeah. Maybe this is a better offer than I thought.”
“I guess I just wouldn’t worry about whether or not he’s going to rip the rug out from underneath you. Doing equine therapy is what you were born for. You’re so good at it, and everyone says that, not that I want to lose the best worker I’ve ever had.”
“This is my first day.”
“I know. And this says something about the quality of workers I’ve had.” They laughed together.
“Well, I guess if you think it’s a good idea, that kinda sways myopinion a bit, because I was concerned about getting into something where I might end up getting the short end of the stick.”
“It’s totally up to you, of course, but I guess I wouldn’t let that bother me if I were you. After all, it could happen anywhere, not just with him. Although, with your horses it would be nice to have a little bit of advance notice, but maybe you could put that in the lease, that you needed a month’s notice if he’s going to sell the farm or not allow you to stay anymore.”
“Yeah. That’s smart. I suppose I ought to see a lawyer.”
“You could probably download something from online. I know a lawyer would be recommended, but I tend to avoid them.”
