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“It’s okay, Wyatt. You know, I kind of know what it’s like to lose your head.” He lowered his voice lowered and put a hand on my shoulder. “If there’s anything you ever want to talk about, I’m here. Okay?”
“I know. Thank you.”
“No problem, brother. And you know what, dude? Everything works out the way it’s supposed to. I promise.”
“Okay. Let me go and get myself together, and I’ll meet everyone in the study in twenty minutes.”
“Sounds good,” he said.
I went to my room and closed the door behind me, leaning against it while I counted to twenty. Sadie was messing with my head. Her lips were messing with my head. Everything was messing with my head, and I didn’t know which side was up, but I could not allow that to affect me right now. I finally had a chance to pitch my idea, and I needed to make it work. I needed Beau to understand that this was something that could be great for the family. This was something that could help us.
I grabbed my paperwork and checked my reflection in the mirror. I looked like me, but I wanted to look like a businessman. I wanted to be taken seriously. My brothers saw me as the baby of the family, but I didn’t need to be taken care of. I needed to be seen as someone who was serious, who had good ideas, who was smart—because I was all of those things, and I needed them to realize that.
I quickly changed into a suit, chuckling a little at my reflection. I was completely overdressed for a meeting with my family, but I preferred to go in overdressed rather than underdressed.
A moment later, I walked into the study where most of my brothers were waiting. Knox’s jaw dropped, and Chet started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I said.
“Nothing.” He shook his head, but I could see that he was trying to hide a smile.
Mom and Dad walked into the study. Mom smiled at me lovingly, and I smiled back. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have a supportive mother like her. I knew I was lucky to be part of a family like this, but sometimes it felt like a curse being the youngest, like I wasn’t able to be my own man.
Finally, Beau and Austin walked into the room and closed the door behind them.
“And we sure we don’t want Olivia, Lucy, Arya, and Eloise in here?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
Beau just raised an eyebrow. “Come on now, Wyatt. You know this is a family business, and you know that I take you seriously.”
“So, I just want to ask, was it your idea for this meeting?”
“No, it was Mom’s.” Beau looked over at Mom. “She suggested that we have a family meeting because she’d heard that you had something you wanted to talk about.”
I glanced at my mom in surprise. I hadn’t thought I’d told her anything, but she had eyes and ears everywhere. She’d probably overheard something.
“Well, okay, then. Thank you. I’m glad that everyone is here.” I cleared my throat and walked to the front of the room. “Have a seat, everyone.”
“Okay.” Beau and Austin looked at each other. When everyone was seated, I took a deep breath.
“Hi, everyone knows me. My name is Wyatt Hamilton.”
Hawk burst out laughing. “Dude! Why are you telling us your name?”
“I’m going to ask for silence until the end of my presentation,” I said in my most diplomatic and assertive voice. “As I said, my name is Wyatt Hamilton. I am the youngest son of Amelia and Ranger Hamilton here on Horseshoe Ranch.
“As if we didn’t know that,” Knox said under his breath and then pressed his lips together as I glared at him.
“I am happy to have the opportunity to talk to you all today. Good afternoon, Ranger Hamilton and Amelia Hamilton.” My parents smiled benevolently. “Hello, Beau, Austin, Chet, Flint, Huck, Knox. It is great to see you all this afternoon. So today I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had for the ranch that I think would be a great business endeavor. As you know, there are thousands of investors who like to purchase and bet on racehorses. And as many of you might know, breeding and training racehorses is particularly lucrative if you have horses or studs that become winners. I have spent my entire life riding horses, training horses, and breaking horses, and I believe that I could become a top trainer. I would like the opportunity to purchase two to three yearlings that I can train and enter into races. If my horses do well, they’ll put Horseshoe Ranch on the map, and we will have investors coming to us, asking me to purchase and train yearlings for them. There’s an auction coming up within the next month.”
I stared at everyone to see what their reaction was, but no one said anything and their expressions gave nothing away. “I would like an initial investment of approximately two hundred thousand dollars.”
Beau spoke up finally. “Two hundred thousand? Are you joking, Wyatt? I thought you were going to say two thousand.”
“I can’t purchase any quality yearling for two thousand. I will need to purchase horses that already have a pedigree so that I can ensure that I have the best chances possible. Two hundred thousand is enough to purchase the sort of yearling that I think will be viable for the ranch—”
“No,” Beau said, shaking his head. “It’s not going to happen. We are not in a position to just give you two hundred grand to flush down the toilet.”
His words his me like a slap. “Excuse me?”
