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CHAPTER 9
Friday morning, anearly-fall snow fell in the valley, blanketing the mountains in pristine magic. Though it didn’t stick to the streets in town, there was a fresh, brisk bite to the air.
Jenna interrupted me at my desk in the front room of the Foundation’s offices. “Where did this weather come from?”
“Oh, you know, it will warm up this afternoon, and we’ll forget winter is coming.”
“It might change things for the photoshoots next week.” She leaned against the door frame.
I wrote on my notepad. “I’ll see if I can find some outdoor heaters.”
“This town never ceases to amaze me,” she sighed, crossing her arms. “A few weeks ago, you were rafting down the Snake River, and now the mountains are getting their first snow.”
“Was it only a few weeks ago?” I shook my head. “Crazy.”
Circling back to business, she asked, “Everything ready to go for Monday?”
I grabbed my project plan. “Yes! Mia and I are picking up a few of the athletes at the airport tomorrow morning. The rest will be in on Monday and Tuesday. Some of them are staying with John and Mia—his brother, I think. The rest are staying in town. Ford and Holly arrived a few days ago with their friends and they’ll stay at their house.”
“This is going to be a very profitable fundraiser, Camille. You did a great job securing the athletes for the calendar and coordinating all their schedules.”
“Thank you. Yeah, it was kind of crazy trying to get them all here at the same time. Logistics are always complicated.”
“And all the promoting you were able to do in such a short time…I’m really impressed.” Her smile was friendly.
I shrugged. “I really enjoy this kind of work. It makes me happy.”
She pushed off the door frame. “If you’d like to stay on after the project, we’d be happy to have you.”
Everyone seemed willing to help me. A potential job at the Foundation, John offering to build an arena for me, Lane willing to let me use theirs—but none of it was truly of my own doing. That part still rubbed me wrong around the edges.
“A paid position?” I asked. If I had an income, I could pay rent on an apartment, and get my teaching school up and running.
She stepped farther into the room, and smiled. “Yes, a paid position.”
I smiled back at her. I calmly said, “I would like that very much.”
She nodded. “I’m headed out for the weekend. Will you be long?”
“No. I want to go over the plans one more time to make sure each athlete is matched up to the right sport and maybe make some adjustments on their assigned months. I’ll head home after that.”
“Home?”
“I’m staying with Mia and John.”
She nodded and turned to leave. “Have a good weekend, Camille. I’ll see you Monday.”
I heard the front door shut, and watched her drive away. I moved Jacob back to August on the schedule and put Ford in December. Genetically gifted, the ladies would love to look at him at Christmas time—and he was a good sport. He wouldn’t mind showing off his amazing body.
When I finished, I pulled up the online loan application on my bank’s website. Even with a full-time job, it would take me forever to earn enough to start my business. I pulled up an Excel spreadsheet and quickly added up the expenses based on the research I’d done: insurance, permits, another horse or two, and more. My stomach churned at the number in front of me. It was well over $22,000. The knot in my stomach grew as I scrolled through the questions on the application. Address? Homeless. Occupation? Socialite. Income? Zero. It wasn’t looking good for me. I picked up the phone on the desk and called my dad. My head hurt. My shoulders tensed. I hated that I was going to resort to begging for money. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
His booming voice answered on the third ring. “Bradley, here!”
My throat closed. I couldn’t speak.
Impatiently, he asked, “Hello?” I knew that he wouldn’t recognize the Foundation’s phone number but I couldn’t help thinking that he suspected it was me.
I opened my mouth to talk, and still, nothing came out.
