Several miles down the road, Regan was with people she knew cared about her.
"Guess what?" Regan said as she picked up her glass of wine. "Has the Cardozos' told you that they are moving?" She asked the small group before she took a sip of her wine.
Jennyfrowned, "Moving?" Jenny and her husband Thomas were visiting with Lucy, at the family home, on the property neighbouring Regan's farm.
"Yes, Caro's cousin's father-in-law, a Mr Richards, I think Gray said, offered Gray a job as a manager, cause he'd heard what a great job he'd done at my place. Word is, they met him at the fundraiser that Caro organised last week." Althoughher voice remained calm on the inside she was panicking. Thingswere moving fast. Lore was so excited about having a house to them and what shecould do there, Sam was busy collecting boxes to help them pack up their stuff,and Gray was busy on the farm, claiming he was fixing things so ensure that heleft the farm in good nick. But for Regan, she thought every problem wasstopping at her door.
"Oh." Jenny scowled as the implications began to sink in. Things had not gone to plan.
"They get their own house. A bungalow or something." Regan continued, then added with a grimace, "Three weeks to go." Regan looked over at Jenny then said, with an obvious grimace, "And did Lucy tell you, they found out that I've been paying Gray a pittance as a manager. Mr Richards is going to pay him ten times what he earns at the moment."
"You didn't pay him a pittance. This is awful news. I mean, don't get me wrong, that's great for Gray, getting a hefty pay rise." Lucy frowned and corrected. "But what about you?"
"Me?"
"What are you going to do?" Jenny asked quietly.
Regan shrugged, and tried to keep her tone light, "Gray is showing me what he does. I'll figure something out."
"You are learning from him? But you are working."
"I know. But don't worry."
"But..."
"Jen, it's fine. You'll see. It's for the best." Regan wished she had managed to convince herself that was the case. But the truth was that she was panicking. On the inside she was gradually starting to realise that life as she had known it was about to step up from difficult to nearly impossible.
"Regan..."
"Jen, I'd rather not talk about it." Regan stated with finality. She looked straight at Jenny, hoping Jenny would take the hint. If they continued to talk about it, Regan knew she would crack. Probably fall apart crying. That was the last thing she needed to do.
Jenny got to her feet. "Um, ok, I'll, excuse me, I'll just go check the kids. They should both be about ready to be tucked in and Thomas is probably still playing with them."
By the time she'd reached the bedroom they'd decided to use for the children, Thomas had finished reading to Shonna and Neil, had automatically switched on the baby monitor and the nightlight and was in the process of checking everything when Jenny stepped into the room.
"Everything ok?" She asked routinely.
He glanced over at his wife, when her heard the question. It was the tone that had him narrowing his eyes. She sounded worried. Then he spotted the furrowed brow and the anxiety in her eyes. Jen was clearly upset. "Out like lights." He replied and picked up one of Shonna's toys as he put it into the toy basket that they'd brought down, he caught his wife's expression. "What's up?" She shrugged as she tucked the blanket around their sleeping son. Thomas came closer and waited for her to look at him, "Jen, hon?"
She sighed and her face crumpled as tears appeared in her eyes. "I've botched things." She brushed a lock of hair off her baby son's face and felt a surge of happiness when she heard his little snore. But even that could not lift her spirits. She had made a huge mistake and now poor Regan was paying for it.
"Botched what?" Thomas could tell from her voice that she was more than upset.
"Regan. And the farm." She said quietly.
Thomas frowned. She looked closer to tears. Which was odd, because Jen and Regan were great friends.
She turned to face Thomas. "Gray has a new job." Jenny straightened and he saw the worry in her eyes even as she brushed away the tears that now tracked down her cheeks. He moved to take her in his arms. He held her tight, offering comfort and solace. They stayed together for several long seconds.
"Well, ok, I guess congratulations is apt."
"A better paid, and better conditions, job."
Then, with her still within the bands of his arms, he tipped his head, looked her in the eyes and said, "Come on Jen. What's this about?"
She pulled her self together. "I'm such an idiot." She moved out of his arms and started to tidy up the room.
"We both know that isn't true." He started to put together her previous statements. He recapped, "Gray has work. That's great. So what's the problem?" Thomas put the lid on the toy basket.
"Regan." Jenny closed her eyes and sighed before she could start tearing up again. "I practically forced her to take them on."
"That is not true, Jen. You said that Gray had done great things at the farm. Regan said he has made a huge difference to the place. Your dad was the one who suggested the idea."
"But I sold the idea to Regan." Jenny sighed.
"Jen, hon. He's done a great job at the farm." He collected the book he'd read and returned it to the small corner unit by the bed. It was an old book that Barbara must have read, for it was her room they were using for the two children. "We've been there a couple of times, and you have to admit, he's done a brilliant job. So, no wonder that people heard about him and his skill."
"Yes. But Regan has a huge debt because of the pace of things. I know, she would have taken things slowly. Done things as and when she could afford. Instead she took them in, gave them a home. In essence, increased her debt. Now he's just bailing on her, leaving her to run the place with huge debts, while he swans off to a good job and good pay!"
"What do you mean? Increased debt?" He looked at Jenny then checked the room. It looked fairly tidy until he spotted the nappy bag.
"You know she inherited debts." She reminded her husband.
"Yes. But what's that got to do with employing Gray." He collected the nappy bag, and put it in the hold all they'd brought down for the weekend.
Jenny blew out a long sad sigh. "She took out a loan, extended it to cover renovations for them to move in, and then she had to get stock that he wanted and..."
"Which she would need to do if she wanted the farm to operate." He came toward Jenny as he started to see what had eaten away at her composure.
"Yes, but she was doing things slowly. At her pace with appropriate finances when she has enough cash. Bit by bit. When she could afford it. She's organised and methodical. That's why she hadn't redecorated or anything, she was getting by as it was. Just getting by. The last thing she needed was me forcing her to take more on. But I honestly thought that having the three of them there would help her. And them too. It would be mutually beneficial. Win-win."
"It was. Regan's farm is on its feet. She gave him and his family a roof."
She shrugged, closed her eyes and said, "I got it wrong. I should never have interfered." She looked over at Thomas. "The bank refused to increase her loan." She looked as if she really angry with herself. "So Regan took on locum work because she needed to be able to pay him." Jenny told her husband.
"Oh, Jen." He gave the room one last glance, then gently steered his wife out of the door. He kept his arm around her waist and tugged her closer, knowing that she needed him.
"When he goes, she's going to have livestock and if she could barely afford to pay Gray the minimum wage, there's no way she'd be able to hire a manager or anyone." Jenny turned, "I should have left well alone. I've landed her right in it."