Chapter 10 - The Master Deal
Five years later.
The autumn leaves were turning bright shade of orange and gold across the forty acres of the Reed Estate.
I sat on the wooden bench beside the large pond at the back of the property, watching eleven-year-old Lila ride her brown quarter horse along the wooden fence line of the paddock. She rode with complete confidence—bold, strong, and utterly fearless.
I was forty-eight now. The dark hair at my temples had turned completely silver, and I wore simple linen shirts instead of tailored three-thousand-dollar suits.
I reached into my pocket, pulling out a small leather wallet.
Inside, protected by a clear plastic sleeve, was the yellowed scrap of paper Clara had written twelve years ago. Beside it sat a framed, beautifully preserved, crumpled fifty-dollar bill.
The eighty-seven dollars and twenty-three cents that had bought back a gold bracelet—and saved a man's soul.
A light footstep sounded on the grass behind me.
Frankie—now serving as the chief managing director of the Reed Legitimate Holdings Corporation—walked up, holding a single folder.
"Afternoon, Jonathan," Frankie said softly, sitting on the bench beside me.
"Afternoon, Frankie," I replied, keeping my eyes on Lila as she trotted her horse around the far corner of the field. "How are the hospital expansions in Detroit going?"
"Ahead of schedule," Frankie smiled. "The board approved the new pediatric wing yesterday. We're breaking ground in the spring."
"Good."
Frankie looked at the small wallet in my hand, catching a glimpse of the worn fifty-dollar bill.
"You still carry that around?" Frankie asked gently.
"Every single day," I said.
I closed the wallet and slipped it back into my breast pocket, right over my heart.
"In my old life, Frankie," I murmured, watching my daughter laugh as her horse tossed its mane into the wind, "I thought I was the best negotiator in the country. I thought I knew how to price power, respect, and fear."
Frankie grinned. "And now?"
"And now I know I was an idiot," I said softly, a profound, unshakable peace washing over me. "The best deal I ever made in my entire life cost me eighty-seven dollars and twenty-three cents."
Lila spotted us sitting on the bench. She waved excitedly, pulling her horse to a stop near the paddock gate, dismounting gracefully, and running across the grass toward us, her laughter floating on the autumn breeze like music.
"Daddy! Did you see how fast we went?" she shouted, running straight into my open arms.
May you like
I caught her, spinning her around in the gold autumn sunlight, holding my daughter—my legacy, my heart, my life—tightly against my chest.
"I saw, sweet heart," I laughed, setting her down and tucking a stray lock of dark hair behind her ear, where her gold bracelet glinted in the sun. "I saw every single second."
