I Run a Hedge Fund in Manhattan and Keep Horses in the Hamptons. My Riding Instructor’s Ex-Husband Thought Money Could Take Her Son

Josie’s ex-husband was a real estate developer named Craig. Very successful. Very angry. He’d remarried, bought a mansion in Greenwich and decided he wanted his son back.

His attorneys were arguing that Josie, a single mother working as a riding instructor and living in a small cottage on my farm, couldn’t provide a “stable financial environment.” They wanted Theo in a private school in Connecticut. They wanted Josie to have visitation every other weekend.

“He makes nine million dollars a year,” Josie said, wiping her eyes. “I make sixty thousand. My lawyer is a nice man in Riverhead who does wills and real estate closings.”

She laughed bitterly.

“He’s going to win, Alex. People like Craig always win.”

I sat down on the tack trunk next to her.

I could have told her right there. I could have said, “I’ll handle it.”

But I knew Josie. If she found out I’d been hiding who I was for five years, she’d never trust me again.

“Let me help,” I said carefully. “I know some people.”

She looked at me, confused.

“What kind of people does a guy who can’t ride a pony know?”