I shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter to me how much it costs,” I said. “I’ll give you as much money as it takes to make this place fit to be a prosperous home for the family that I’ve created.”
Clara looked like she was holding her breath in anticipation. I could see her staring between the two of us and hoping that Scott would take the offer. It would be everything they would need, and I would keep the money coming for as long as it was necessary. This was the ultimate test of whether or not he would accept my help. I could tell that he was hesitating. I knew that it was a lot for him to concede to taking the job that he had wanted, but declined all of these times, and to go from barely accepting any help to accepting a huge amount of help. I needed to sweeten the deal again.
“Tell you what,” I said. “If you decide that you hate it or that you don’t want the job anymore, you can leave at any time. No strings attached. And I’ll keep the money coming to the farm no matter what.”
I had never seen Scott get teary-eyed before. He just wasn’t the kind of guy who got emotional. It just wasn’t him. But when he looked over at me now, I thought I could see a reflection in the wet corners of his eyes.
“Thank you,” was all that he said to me as he extended his hand.
I took his hand and shook it, and the smile on his face was contagious. The two of us grinned at each other like we had when we were teenagers in the midst of coming up with some crazy, entrepreneurial idea that we both knew would be a hell of a lot of fun, even if it was a little bit nuts.
“Best friends, brothers, and now partners, too,” I said as I gave his hand a hearty shake. This was exciting for all of us in so many ways. I turned to Clara, who was also beaming from ear to ear. What a change in the mood was now from just one short day ago. “I am going to ask you something that I have wanted to ask you since your freshman year of high school,” I said. “Remember that time when you came home from school, and I was already here hanging out with Scott when you walked in with that little denim mini-skirt and that dandelion yellow crop top?”
Clara laughed. “Yeah,” she said. “I actually do remember that day and that outfit. You were sitting on the couch, and when I walked in, you spilled your soda all down your pants when the sunlight from the open door blinded you. How could I forget? It took my mom half the day to scrub the soda out of the upholstery.”
I smiled at her and reached out to take her hand. “It wasn’t the sunlight that blinded me that day,” I said. “It was you. I spilled that drink all over because of how bad my hand shook when you walked in the door. I had never before wanted to ask you out so badly.”
I could feel Scott staring at me as I spoke. He was probably thinking back on all the times that we were kids and wondering how many of those times I had played something off when really it was me being completely obsessed with his sister.
“Clara,” I said as I finally worked up the courage to do what I had wanted to do for a lifetime. “Will you go out on a date with me?”
“A date?” she said.
“Yeah, a date. An actual, formal, out-in-the-open type of date. The kind that two people who like each other and want to be together go on. Let me take you out to dinner and spoil you and treat you to a fun evening that you have deserved for as long as I have known you. Let me officially take you out on a date,” I said.
I felt as nervous as I did in high school, probably even more so since the last time that I had asked her to go out to dinner with me, she had said no. But this time, she didn’t hesitate at all.
“I would love to,” she smiled. “Thank you.”
I was so happy that I couldn’t stand it. I leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. And when I sat back in my seat, even though