Clay Morrow is starting a new phase in his life. After being married to Gemma for years, he's now faced with being alone for the first time in a long time. Gemma has moved on, and though it's amicable, he still has the memories.
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Gemma walked out of the house and paused beside the chair that Clay was sitting in on the porch. She put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile.
"You gonna be ok?"
Clay nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Don't get me wrong, it's going to be strange to be the only one here every morning." He smirked as he watched Gemma's new boyfriend, Nero Padilla, cursing her bird as he tried to stash the birdcage in the back of the U-Haul. "One thing I won't miss is that fucking bird, Gem." He stood up and held his arms open, sighing just a little as she stepped in for one last hug. When they parted, he looked down at her with a serious face as he tilted his head in Nero's direction. "You sure about this guy? He it for you?"
Gemma grinned and shrugged as she reached up to straighten the collar of his kutte. "Who knows, but I'm having fun right now." She sighed and patted him on the chest before stepping back and toward the porch steps. "We haven't been happy with each other for a while now, Clay. It's time."
Clay nodded and grinned. "You were always right, Gem." He cleared his throat. "Have a good life, ok?"
Gemma nodded as she stepped off of the porch. "I will. You do the same, Clay. If you need me, I'm just a phone call away."
Clay nodded once more then stood watching as they backed out of the drive and headed down the street. As they drove out of sight, he had to agree with what Gemma had said. They hadn't been happy for a long time and had finally called it quits. The divorce had been finalized the week before, with Gemma accepting half of the profits from Teller-Morrow in lieu of alimony. Clay felt that it had been a fair deal for everyone involved.
As he slipped on his sunglasses and walked down the sidewalk to his bike, he sighed once more before putting Gemma away and heading to work. As always, the club was and would continue to be the one constant in his life, at least until his arthritis made it impossible to ride. Until then, he'd continue to take care of business.
Michael watched from her front porch as her farm manager Travis loaded the last of the horses into a trailer. Her husband John had died the year before, and they were finally through all of the legalities of the probate court and settling his affairs. She hadn't had to sell the horses, but they had been John's passion and not hers, and she felt that they needed to go to someone who would love them as her husband had. She had kept John's favorite horse, Sky Spirit, two of the mares, and most of the other livestock.
She had been left with a generous amount of money and stocks, as well as John's share in Oswald Construction, so she had plenty of time to decide what she wanted to do with her time now that she was alone. She took a sip of her coffee and grinned at Travis as he joined her on the porch.
"Well, that's the last of them. Are you sure you don't want to sell Sky Spirit as well? He'd do well as a stud horse."
Michael shrugged. "We could always look into that ourselves. Stud service may be lucrative." She frowned then. "Besides, I feel like I need to keep him here with me. I've been worried about Sky since John passed."
Travis rolled his eyes and grinned at her, making Michael lift one brow. Travis had always been John's friend, and since he'd passed, he'd tried, with little to no subtlety, to tell her how to run the ranch. "Mike, I realize that John treated that horse like his child, but he's an animal. I think you give him too much credit for pining away for John."
Michael shrugged and grinned as she stood up to walk inside the house, causing Travis to follow behind. "Perhaps you don't give him enough credit. Animals have feelings and sense things that humans don't." She gestured down the hall. "How about some breakfast?"
As they walked into the kitchen and Michael set about getting the meal together, Travis took a seat at the kitchen island. "You need to decide what to do with the barn down by the old corral. If you want my opinion, I say tear it down."
Michael frowned thoughtfully as she scrambled some eggs. "I'm not a huge fan of tearing down perfectly good buildings. While I understand that we no longer have a need for such a large barn, I can't help but think we could get some use out of it somehow." She snapped her fingers as an idea came to her. "Why can't we rent it out?"
Travis frowned. "What, like a rental unit?"
Michael shrugged. "Why not? It's near the South entrance, has its own driveway."
Travis shook his head. "I don't think it's a good idea to have strangers on the property just anytime they want to be, Mike."
Michael shook her head. "It's at the back of the property, Travis. We won't even know anyone is back there. Besides, rental space in Charming is at a premium. We can do something good to help someone out at a fair price." She nodded her head and Travis knew that she had made her mind up. "Put an ad in the Charming Times."
Travis sighed, mentally disagreeing with her but also knowing that she now signed his paycheck. "Yes, ma'am. I'll do it this afternoon."
