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“I want eight kids.”
Luke rubbed his jaw.
“Oh come on now. You know you want a few little Lukes running around.”
Luke fell against the chair behind him. “This is my point. You just come up with these random ideas and then decide they’re the greatest notions in the world. You expect everyone to follow suit. I don’t want eight kids. I may not even want a kid.
“I don’t know if you really want children, Lucy. I damn sure don’t think you want to hand over your company, the company you and your grandfather built from scratch, to my brother or anyone else.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” A beat later, she said, “I’ve been living this life for a while now. I’m ready to settle down. Stock car racing is a demanding sport. I never have time to breathe. It’s a burden to lie down and go to sleep.”
“And you love Rex so much that you want him to enjoy that lifestyle?”
“He seemed willing to take over. I’m not exactly going away indefinitely. I’m just stepping aside so he can be the front man while I take some time to enjoy life again.”
“Rex wants you at his beck and call. Don’t you see that? He doesn’t give a damn about racing. This isn’t a good idea, Lucy. Your company may very well fail.
“I’m not talking behind his back here. I will talk to him and tell him exactly what I’ve said to you.
“The reason you were able to build Mason Malone’s High Performance Group into a powerhouse is because you were passionate about what you were doing. Your grandfather was able to funnel money into the company, and you had the desire to learn all you could about stock car racing. You were interested in the business. Rex’s only interest is you.”
“That’s not true. Look at your situation here. The two of you are thought of as the brightest businessmen in agriculture.”
“Yes, but, Lucy, we’ve had years of experience in livestock, not stock car racing. We don’t just farm. We day-trade stocks, play the futures, and dabble in real estate—farmland mostly.
“We’ve inherited so much money that if we never wanted to work again, we wouldn’t have to, but if we needed to start over, we know our business. We grew up messing with cattle, going to the stockyard, and trading livestock. Rex is a good businessman because he knows his business. That doesn’t mean he can take over your company and keep MMHPG profitable.”
“I want a family, Luke.”
“Honey, if that’s what
you want, I want you to have children when the time is right, but timing is everything. Search your heart and make sure you know what you want.
“I wanna be sure before I start bringing kids in this world. Rex knows what he wants, but he’s a good bit older than us, too. He’s waited five years, day in and day out, for you to come home.”
“And you haven’t?” she asked. “Don’t you want me anymore?”
Luke put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Honey, I’ll always want you, but if loving me—or Rex—means you have to give up your dreams, what will you have?”
She smiled. “Eight children who look like you and Rex?”
When he didn’t respond she pushed away her breakfast tray. “I was an only child. My grandfather was the youngest of eight. He used to tell me stories about life on the farm with his brothers and sisters. From the time I was a little girl, I wanted eight children.
“Maybe I look like I’m all over the place. Sometimes I act like I don’t have any sense of direction, but at the end of my life when that checkered flag waves high in the sky, I want to know my life meant something.
“Not only do I want to live well, I want to love well. If I’m always waiting for a yellow flag, someone to throw out a caution, I’ll have a lot of regrets when this life is over. I never want to feel like I missed something important, something big.”
Luke touched her cheek. “Me either, Lucy.”
“Good,” she said, pointing toward the rise in his Levi’s. “Now get over here and get to work because I’m missing out on something huge at the moment. Let’s not waste one minute. We have kids to produce.”
“What?” he screeched.
“I’ve got to have sex several times a day if I’m going to get pregnant.”
“If you’re serious about eight kids, then Rex and I will put a lot of miles on these sheets.”
“I hope so,” she crooned, kissing his neck. “Because I plan to put a lot of miles on you!”
