He had to admit he still realized there was a Creator of all this, but that was as far as his faith went these days. The God he used to believe in heard prayers and answered them; he didn’t turn a deaf ear to his children’s pleas.
When he reached the cabin, he put his horses in the stable. It was quite large since it had been constructed to hold all the horses for the groups he took out. Sometime during the ride today, he changed his mind about this being a one-day trip and made the decision to stay overnight at the cabin. After relieving the horses of saddles and supplies, he brushed them and as always, he talked to them as he worked.
“Well, Jasper, does this bring back memories for you like it does for me? Yeah? I know, those were good times, huh? You and Jesse and me…we worked good together. You know, I wouldn’t have had to bring you both today… but I wanted to have this last outing with just the three of us.” Jace continued talking in a soft voice. “This is going to kill me, Jasper, but we’re going to have to part ways, Buddy. Soon, I’m afraid. I can barely afford to feed one horse and I will keep Jesse with me. But if it’s any consolation, you’ll be going back to your first home in Texas. I spoke to the ranch owner and he said he would take you back and give you a good home for the rest of your life. Now, I have to figure out a way to get you there.” Jace laid his head on Jasper’s neck and unashamedly shed a few tears.
Turning to look at both horses, he told them, “We’ll wander around out here for a couple of days, okay, boys? I told Maggie and Mitch where I was going. I’m sure they can take care of things.”
CHAPTER 5
CAMILLE MADE CERTAIN she was more than early for the next ‘meeting of the minds.’ She didn’t want to be admonished for her tardiness again, even if it was in jest.
When the staff was gathered in the conference room, she asked each one for their ideas about the romance concept and the online dating idea or any other new proposals. She didn’t give her two cents worth yet as she liked to hear everyone else’s take on things first. That way they would be truthful and not swayed by her opinions.
It seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to reach a decision about combining the two ideas. Some, like Dory, insisted it couldn’t be done successfully and still interest the readers.
“I appreciate all the ideas and I believe we can combine many of them into a viable project. It will take some doing and many loose ends will need to be tied up, but yes, I think the online dating diary option is the way we’ll go. Now I need to know, truthfully, how many of you have any experience with online dating?”
They all looked at each other, expecting someone to say something. No one said anything. They only shook their heads.
“Oh, come on,” Camille admonished. “This is no time to be bashful. It’s not like I’m asking for a show of hands of which one of you robbed a bank last week.”
Drake finally spoke. “My girlfriend signed me up once as a joke but I didn’t renew the membership. And I never contacted any of the women who contacted me. But we had some laughs while reading their profiles.”
“Wow.” Camille said. “That’s about all I can think of to say. Just wow. I thought with this many people, it would be a slam dunk to find the right sites and work out the details. Maybe this isn’t a good idea, after all.”
Allie shook her head, saying, “No, no, don’t stop before we even get started. You don’t have to be a professional dating site subscriber to figure this out, Camille. It’s people looking to hook up with other people…not rocket science.”
Most of them agreed with her and were
anxious to get the ball rolling. They discussed a title for the series of installments and made the decision to publish one each month for six months. The readers would be promised ‘real-life’ scenarios from a woman who would be actively subscribed to a dating site and who would write about the men who contacted her and also any meetings or dates that might be the results of those meetings.
Allie added, “You know, there are all kinds of dating sites and some of them even cater to ‘senior’ people. I think our mystery dater should be the same age as our readers. That way there will be some credibility to her encounters. Our readers don’t want to read about 20-year-olds dating; I think they will love it if it’s someone they can relate to.”
They all heartily agreed with her. They were researching the best sites on their phones when Drake stopped and said, with some concern in his voice, “We’re all forgetting one thing. Where are we going to find a middle-aged woman who will go along with this scheme? She has to be single, obviously…attractive, savvy enough to keep herself safe, have a background in journalism…I mean, we don’t want to spend all our time re-writing the things she sends us… and can afford to spend six months on a project that will most likely, have no future after that time?”
Camille had been pacing around the room during the discussion. She had stopped pacing and was looking out the window. Her back was to the group when Drake posed the question. It suddenly became so quiet you could hear the proverbial pin drop. She turned to see what was going on to find every person in the room looking directly at her.
“What?” she asked, frowning. “I think that was a legitimate question and while it may take a bit of searching, I don’t think it’s impossible to find that person.”
Each of them had a rather conspiratorial smile tugging at their lips when she finally realized what they were proposing. “Oh no. Oh, hell, no!” was her retort. “That is not going to happen. There are too many people in and around St Louis who know me. Where would I ever go out with someone and not run into an acquaintance? And if my little bit of research is correct, you have to put a place of residence on a site, right? I thought we agreed this would take place many miles from Missouri. And I have a magazine to run and…and I would have to find a house-sitter.”
“Wait…just wait a minute. We can surely overcome her objections somehow, can’t we?” Allie asked the group. “Let’s tear this apart and work on one aspect at a time.”
Camille sat down and let them discuss all possibilities, knowing they would never be able to convince her to do this. She couldn’t leave town for six months…or could she? It might be a nice adventure. She could see herself with her laptop, writing while enjoying the beaches in California or Florida or anywhere sunny and warm. Still, could she stay out of the loop and not contact anyone for that long? Who could she trust enough to run things?
She was pulled out of her reverie by Allie’s voice. “Doesn’t your mother own a house in Montana, Camille?”
She nodded. “Yes, she does but she’s never there. She spends nearly all her time in Paris.”
“Perfect!” was the reply from several staffers.
“Wait! Just wait a minute. I don’t even speak to my mother and you want me to nonchalantly say, ‘Oh, gee, Mom, can I live in your house for half a year?’”
They ignored her objection and continued as though she hadn’t spoken.
“Now we need to find you a new identity. It shouldn’t be too difficult; fake drivers’ licenses are easily obtained. You can use one of your pictures from several years ago when you had blond hair and we can make up a great profile for you. You’ve been saying you need some time away since Will is home all day, every day and getting on your last nerve. And since he is home, he can house-sit for you. See? Problem solved.”
“Don’t you think the person I meet…if I do meet someone…is going to notice I’m not exactly forty-five as I was when I was a blond? I mean, come on…that was ummm…several years ago.” She grinned, unwilling to tell them she was now 56. She never thought of herself as being 56 years old, so why admit it?