The Longest Ride

out of the way right now. How do I hire you? In case I want to talk to Mr. Lehman here?”

“You’d need to provide me with a retainer.”

“How much would that be?” Luke wrinkled his brow in concern.

“For now,” Sanders said, “I think a single dollar would be sufficient.”

Luke drew a long breath, finally coming to terms with the enormity of it all. The wealth. The ranch. The life he could create with Sophia.

With that, Luke pulled out his wallet and inspected its contents. There wasn’t much left after purchasing the portrait, just enough to buy a couple of gallons of gasoline.

Or maybe less, since he used part of it to retain Howie Sanders.

Epilogue
    I n the months that followed the auction, Luke sometimes felt himself to be acting out a part in a fantasy that someone else had scripted for him. On David Lehman’s recommendation, another auction had been scheduled for mid-June, this time in New York. Yet another had been scheduled for mid-July, and another in September. The sales would include the majority of the collection, more than enough to cover any taxes that were due.
    On that first day, with Gabrielle and David Lehman in the room, Luke also explained the situation with the ranch, watching as Sanders took notes. When Luke asked if there was any way he could access the money he needed to pay off the mortgage, Sanders excused himself from the room, only to return fifteen minutes later, where he calmly explained to Luke that the senior vice president of the bank with whom he had spoken was open to extending the lower payments for another year and perhaps even deferring the interest payments entirely for the time being, if that was Luke’s preference. And in light of Luke’s newly affluent circumstances, the bank would consider extending a line of credit for any improvements he wanted to make as well.
    All Luke could do was choke out a couple of words. “But… how?”
    Sanders smiled, that glint of mischief surfacing again in his eyes. “Let’s just say that they would like to strengthen their relationship with a loyal customer who has suddenly come into means.”
    Sanders also introduced him to a number of money managers and other advisers, sitting next to him during the interviews, asking questions that Luke barely understood, much less thought to ask. He helped Luke begin to grasp the complexities that went along with wealth, reassuring him that he would be there to assist him in all that he would need to learn.
    Despite how overwhelmed he sometimes felt, Luke was the first to admit there were far worse problems to have.
     

     
    Initially, his mom didn’t believe him, nor would she believe Sophia. First she scoffed, then after he reiterated what had happened, she grew angry. It wasn’t until he called their local bank and asked for the senior vice president that she began to accept that he might not be kidding.
    He put her on the phone with the bank officer, who reassured her that she needn’t worry about the loan for the time being. While she showed little emotion during the call, answering in monosyllables, after she hung up she drew Luke into her arms and wept a little.
    When she pulled back, however, the stoic mother he knew was once again in place.
    “They’re being generous now, but where were they when I really needed them?”
    Luke shrugged. “Good question.”
    “I’m going to take them up on their offer,” she announced, wheeling around. “But once that loan is paid back in full? I want you to find another bank.”
    Sanders helped him with that, too.
     

     
    Sophia’s family came down from New Jersey for her graduation, and Luke sat with them on that warm spring day, cheering as she crossed the stage. Afterward, they went out to dinner, and to his surprise, they asked if they could visit the ranch the following day.
    Luke’s mom put him to work all morning, both inside and outside the house, tidying up while she made lunch. They ate at the picnic table in the backyard, Sophia’s sisters alternately gaping at their surroundings and staring at Sophia, no doubt still trying to figure out how Luke and Sophia had ended up together.
    Yet they all seemed remarkably comfortable together, especially Sophia’s mom and Linda. They talked and laughed as they toured the ranch, and when Luke turned toward the garden, it warmed his heart to see the straight, neat rows of vegetables that his mom had just planted.
     

     
    “You could live anywhere, Mom,” Luke said to