Jason pushed his back against the chair. “Well who is going to report me? Sister? You?”
“She’ll wait for you to come to your senses today. If you do, she will explain to the president of the MFHA that you were unaware of the rule and you will never ride with Crawford again. If you don’t call today she will report you, or I will. We have no choice.”
Jason slammed down his coffee cup. “It was supposed to be fun. I’ve all but bought Paradise.”
Fortunately, the cup was heavy.
“You don’t own it yet.” Walter stated the obvious.
He’d driven to Jason’s spacious brick house downtown. Jason had bought it as an investment, declaring he’d sell it as soon as he found the country property he wanted.
The fireplace in the kitchen had Delft tiles around it. Jason had paid a decorator who mixed antiques with modern pieces, to lovely effect.
“I don’t need Sister’s help or your help. I’ll call the MFHA myself.”
“That will make matters worse,” Walter grimly predicted. “Apologize to Sister, then let us handle it.”
“I suppose she’s mad at me?”
“We’re all mad at you. And let me tell you why you’ll need her help. It’s a small world, and most foxhunters recognize why we can’t countenance outlaw packs. You’re going to be on everybody’s shit list, not just Jefferson Hunt’s.”
“Countenance? You sound like a preacher.”
“A Virginian, at least,” Walter half smiled. “We grow up on the King James version.” He leaned across the rectangular table. “Look, I’m upset that you rode out with Crawford, who means us no good. But I’m your colleague, you know. The hospital is a small world—like foxhunting. I’d like things on an even keel.”
Jason listened, holding his cup with both hands. “Tell that to Margaret.”
“She has every right to be angry with you. You need to apologize to her, to Binky and Millie and Alfred.”
His dark eyebrows raised, then lowered. “I will. I’ll smooth the waters. But you know, if they don’t sign that contract next week, I’ll buy another property. They’ll never ever get a deal like mine. Seven million dollars. No financing.”
Walter, though the sum was impressive, wasn’t impressed. “The DuCharmes have owned Paradise for just about two hundred years. You aren’t from here, Jason. It’s hard for you to realize the pull of blood and time. It truly outweighs money.”
Jason’s voice dripped sarcasm. “Two old men without a pot to piss in. They live off Margaret and cutting timber every five years. They have to agree to my terms, which are very generous.” When Walter didn’t respond out of good manners, Jason, exasperated, announced, “I offered them seven million dollars for a bunch of Corinthian columns.”
Walter glanced down at his cup, then up at Jason. “And five thousand acres, much of it in good Davis loam. The timber program is good. You sell Alfred short. He’s managed the farm wisely, and Binky has had the sense to stay out of his way and run his little gas station. They may be pathetic, battling old men to you, but they aren’t stupid. And Margaret is smarter than both of them put together.”
Jason flared up. “I saved Alfred.”
“You have a remarkable record as a doctor. I respect that. Your patients, cured or in remission, are walking advertisements. But this is different. If you don’t apologize to Sister Jane, you’re cooked. If you don’t back off from Crawford, you’re cooked. Am I clear?”
Silence followed. The stainless steel wall clock ticked loudly.
“If I back off from Crawford, I’m cooked.” At last, a genuine emotion, worry, played on Jason’s face.
“You’re in the tank?” Walter used the old political expression, meaning you’ve been bought off in one respect or another.
“Yes.”
“How deep?”
“He’s my silent partner in purchasing Paradise.”
“I can’t imagine Crawford wants to see you restore Paradise to its former glory. So you are going to develop Paradise?” Walter clamped his mouth shut. “You lied.”
As Jason had bandied about some of his plans for Paradise, Walter knew he’d made a big to-do about respecting the past, allowing no development, and other such pious statements.
“Not exactly.”
“Oh, is this like Clinton saying a blow job isn’t really sex?”
Jason’s face darkened. “We’d wait a year. We’d develop one thousand acres as an equestrian paradise. It would be impeccably done.”
“And you’d both make double-digit millions—and you get to live in Paradise as well.”
“Oh,” Jason corrected him, missing Walter’s sly comment. “We’d generate jobs and revenue for the county.”
“No doubt. That does put you over a barrel. Do you want to hunt with an outlaw pack, or do you want to make even more money than you already do?”
“I’ll bring Crawford around to registering his pack.”
“Good luck. He’s publicly derided the MFHA. Crawford’s not one to reverse a public position.”
“If it’s in his extreme self-interest, I’ll bet he will.”
“Like I said, good luck,” Walter admonished. “I know you don’t want to get on the bad side of Crawford. I understand, but you don’t want Sister angry at you. She can take you down.”
“She knows how to throw a punch,” Jason nodded. Then he leaned nearly halfway across the table. “Is it true her husband was your father?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t upset her?”
“No.”
“Does it upset you?”
“For my father, it did. But Big Ray was one of those men who walked into a room and women’s heads swiveled around. Whatever he had, if we could have bottled it, we’d be worth billions.” He exhaled. “Things just happened around Big Ray. ’Course they happened around Sister, too.” He shrugged. “Ancient history. I love her. I’ve always loved Sister. When I was a kid I wanted to ride like her. Working with her is one of the joys of my life. I just wish I knew what she forgot.”
“Plenty of good foxhunters out there.”
“She’s beyond good.”
“Look, I’ll concede that Crawford doesn’t know shit. Those hounds running all over proves that, but it’s not rocket science.”
“Exactly.” Now Walter leaned forward. “It’s an art woven into primeval instinct. She has it. Sister has horse sense, hound sense, game sense, and that something extra. You can’t teach it. You can’t buy it. I’m learning hounds and game, but I also know that what she has I’ll never have. What I have is a sharp political sense. I’m useful to her for that. And I love hunting. I’d lose my mind without hunting.”
“Suppose I would, too. That’s why I want to whip-in. I don’t want to be in the field watching everyone’s ass over a jump.”
“Some of those asses are mighty fine.”
Jason leered. “Well, yes.”
“Jason, we’d all like to whip-in to this pack. To whip-in at Jefferson Hunt is to be taken seriously by other foxhunters. None of us are immune to that kind of attention. I can’t do it, but I wish I could.”
“Why?”
“I’m not that good a rider, and I don’t have much hound sense, although I like the hounds. But I have people sense.”
“I can ride,” Jason boasted.
“What about the rest of it? She’s right to make you walk-out. And I don’t know if she’ll keep that offer after what you did yesterday.”
Jason shifted in his seat. “If I bow to Sister, I lose Crawford. I have to find another way.” He exhaled. “Or accept that I’ll not be hunting with you.”
“Jason, I wish I knew what the middle way might be. Until you, I, or someone else can think of it, you’ve got to calm the waters. You’d better apologize to Sister.”
Jason’s cell phone rang. He flipped open the cover to see the caller’s number displayed. “Damn. Excuse me.” He pressed the talk button. “Hello.”
Iffy bellowed, “Jason, where are you?”
“I’m in a meeting.” He didn’t mention that he wasn’t in his office.