It was Derby time and although we weren’t planning a party this year, we had been invited to several and had accepted one. The dogwood were blooming when we arrived home and Derby week was about to begin. We took Ford down to the Belvedeere and watched Thunder Over Louisville, the massive day of celebration that included fly-overs by the Thunderbirds. There were also parachuting military from helicopters, vintage aircraft, hot air balloons and once darkness fell, a tremendous fireworks show that included rockets off the old railroad bridge, coordinated with huge speakers on both river banks. It was the sort of thing that you never forgot and no matter how crowded it was, you still wanted to go back each year.
We opted for the Great Balloon Race and I managed to snag a couple of seats for us on the Belle of Louisville as she raced for a win. We attended the Derby but stayed in the shade as the day had grown quite warm and the heat made Auggie nauseous. After the Derby, we visited the party that, despite having gone on all day, was still in full swing with a Dixie Land Jazz band and dancing on a raised floor beneath colored lamps and the moon as a spotlight. I held Auggie close to me and it felt good to feel her bare skin, still tanned from the Florida beaches.
We met with Brandon, who had completed the paperwork and establishment of the foundation. It was now up to us how we wanted to organize it and what its purpose would be.
Auggie and I sat down one evening after Ford had gone to bed to discuss our plans.
“Worth, I really don’t want to live here on the estate any longer.” She was blunt.
“Why, sweetheart?”
“I can’t put my finger on it, but it seems we’ve had bad things happen to us while we’re here. It’s almost as if we weren’t intended to live here.”
I nodded, fully open to suggestions. “Well, we have the condo here in town and the one in Florida. Do either of those sound better?”
“Dad and your mother are already living down there. I think if we moved in full time, we’d probably be on top of one another and there wouldn’t be that much privacy. I think the winter months are fine, but I’d like somewhere here in Kentucky for the rest of the year. I want our next child to be raised here as we all were.”
“I take it the condo in town won’t do the trick?”
“It’s fine, but really not enough room. What would you say to this? What if we were to turn over the entire estate, track to house, to the foundation and allow Tyler Peterson to live here and be the director. I think he’s much better suited for that and quite frankly, with this next baby coming, I’m feeling a little selfish and want you to myself. Would that upset you too badly?”
I gave it some thought. “No, I can understand that. So, where would you like to live?”
“I’m thinking somewhere that neither of us have any connections to. A place that is brand new and would only have good, healthy memories. Do you still have Beverly Dexter’s number floating about?”
“I’m sure I can find it. I don’t know if she could whip something together in time for the baby, though. I think that might be pushing it a bit much.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “We can stay at the condo in town until the house is ready. There’s enough room for the three of us. It’s just four might be a bit much, especially if Betsy is with us.”
I nodded. “Do you want enough land for horses?” I asked and she threw me a look. “Of course, how stupid of me.”
She said, “I was thinking of ground that’s a bit closer to the river. Maybe in Oldham County. They have the best schools in the state and there’s money there. I think Ford would do better if he socialized with kids of his own financial group. I drove over there one day and I was quite impressed. There’s not much in the way of shopping, naturally, but it’s close to downtown and then there’s the river nearby. I think I would like water for a change.”
“Auggie, most of that land is already developed. At least the good, level ground.”
“I found a place,” she began. “It was owned by the Binghams.” I recognized the family who had owned all the media in town for decades. “I thought we could buy it and tear down the house and build our own. What do you think?”
“Let’s drive there tomorrow and you show me what you’re thinking.” She agreed and went out to the patio where Betsy was frying steaks on the grill.
We sat on lounge chairs until long after dark, looking at the sky and imagining what it would be like to be able to fly. Ford joined us and although he was quiet, he did chuckle once in a while, particularly when we suggested he might have pink wings and look like a flamingo.
“You wouldn’t like to be a flamingo?” I suggested to him in a mocking tone.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I want to be a hawk. I want to dive down and kill gophers and mice and small dogs,” he proclaimed as though this was an admirable point of view. I looked at Auggie and we exchanged worried looks.
“Let’s go look at that property first thing tomorrow,” I suggested and she nodded in agreement.
***
The next day began with tremendous humidity. I had never been particularly fond of humidity myself and I knew Auggie must be extra uncomfortable. Nevertheless, we climbed into her convertible, put the top down and drove the back country roads of Oldham County toward the River. We found the Bingham place and there was a for sale sign out front. It appeared to be otherwise vacant. I called the agent’s number on the sign and she agreed to meet us there.
The house was definitely past its prime and, therefore, was of no real purpose to us. It would be torn down and a brand new structure put in its place. There were also some horse barns, but none of these were state of the art, either. “Auggie, honey, I’m not sure what you want with this place. It would take forever to tear all this down and then we’d have to start all over. Wouldn’t you rather find some open ground and begin fresh? We’d never get this done in time for the birth and probably not for another year, at the earliest. I’m not even sure this area works. There are old houses all around us. I really don’t think this is for us.”
Auggie pouted a bit but in the spirit of our new commitment to one another, she accepted my judgment and we passed.