Bluegrass State of Mind (29 page)

Will brought his lips to hers and a
gentle kiss turned desperate. Both of them were desperate to show
how much their love meant. “You were the first girl I ever loved
and I love you so very much.” His voice became husky and his eyes
darkened before he took her mouth again in another passionate kiss.
Kenna could feel warmth spreading across her body as a certain
peace and excitement settled into her that only love could
bring.

“
Come on, let’s get you
some lunch and some fresh air. You feel up to eating on the porch,
or do you want me to bring a tray up here?” Will asked as he
brushed a strand of hair back from her forehead and placed it
behind her ear.

“
Let’s go
outside.”

Will took her hand and helped her down
the stairs. The more she moved, the better she felt. Miss Lily
brought a tray outside and scurried back to the kitchen. It was
Sunday and she still had a couple guests coming in that afternoon
set to stay through Derby.

They ate lunch in silence and Kenna
took the time to debate telling Will the whole truth. She knew this
was the time. They loved each other and she wanted a life with him.
The only way she could honestly have that was to tell him what
really brought her to Kentucky.

“
Will, there is something
we need to talk about.” She took a deep breath and had trouble
meeting his gaze when he looked up from his sandwich. When she
finally dragged her eyes to his face, she realized he was not
looking at her, but rather at the street. Kenna turned her head and
followed his gaze to a massive limo pulling to a stop in front of
the bed and breakfast.

“
I wonder who that is?”
Will mumbled.

The door was opened and out stepped
Mo’s mother. “Oh, that’s Fatima, Mo’s mom.” Kenna and Will rose to
greet her.

“
I heard of your accident.
I am so sorry, I hope you are recovering,” Fatima said as she gave
Kenna a quick kiss on the cheek.

“
Thank you, I am. I would
like to introduce you to Will Ashton. Will, this is Fatima Ali
Rahman.”

Will bowed his head briefly, “Ma’am,
it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“
Thank you. I have brought
this for you both,” she said as she handed Kenna a gold encrusted
envelope.

“
What is it?” Kenna broke
the red wax seal and opened the envelope.

“
It is an invitation to
our Derby Ball on Friday evening. I hope you both can
attend.”

“
Thank you, Fatima. It was
so nice of you to think of us. Will, does our schedule allow for us
to go?”

“
We’ll be honored to be
there, Mrs. Rahman,” Will said as he wrapped his arm around her
waist.

“
Wonderful. I am sure
Mohtadi will be pleased as well. I will let you get some rest.”
With that Fatima walked back to her limo.

“
This should be a lot of
fun. Last year, their party boasted many foreign dignitaries and
was a who’s who of the international rich and powerful.” Will moved
back and let Kenna sit back down on the swing.

“
I guess it’s a good thing
I went ahead and bought a formal gown,” Kenna paused. “Will, as I
was saying before, there is something I need to tell you. You see,
when I was in New York...”

“
What the hell?” Will cut
her off and stood up. She, too, had heard the sirens, but didn’t
realize until now they were heading toward her. In New York, you
tuned out sirens. Here, people looked out windows and came outside
to see what happened.

Noodle came to a screeching halt in
front of Miss Lily’s and jumped out. “Will, there’s been another
incident. Someone put a copperhead into Boots’ stall.”

“
Is he injured?” Will was
already running to his car.

“
I don’t know. I got a
report that a groom heard Boots cry and managed to kill it with a
pitchfork, but I don’t know anything else.” Noodle jumped back into
his car and started to turn around.

“
I am sorry, Kenna. I have
to deal with this. I’ll meet you at the cafe for dinner at six,
okay?” Before Kenna had a chance to respond, Will was already
driving off with Noodle’s sirens leading the way.

“
Miss Lily, what’s a
copperhead?” Kenna didn’t even bother turning around to see if she
was standing there. She knew at the first wail of the siren Miss
Lily would be at the door to see what happened.

“
It’s a poisonous snake.
It’s a copper color so it would blend real easy in all that hay. I
hope that horse is okay. It would crush Will if something happened
to him,” Miss Lily tsked.

By dinner time, Kenna couldn’t sit
still. She had been so close to getting this weight off of her by
telling Will all about New York. Both times, she’d been
interrupted. Then, another boulder set itself down on her when Will
hadn’t called to tell her the status at the farm. She paced her
room waiting for some news but none came.

Luckily, Paige had shown up with an
array of locally made jewelry and distracted her by helping to pick
out pieces to wear to all of the week’s events.

Kenna looked down at her new watch,
“Oh, it’s almost six. Will wanted me to meet him at the cafe, but I
haven’t heard from him to know if I should still go.”

“
I’m starving. I’ll go
down with you. If he doesn’t show up, you can be my date for the
evening,” Paige said as she began to pack up her jewelry
boxes.

She and Paige walked into the cafe and
found a table in the back. They tried to avoid the mob of well
wishers and those who wanted Kenna to tell the story over and over
again.

“
I need to go.” Paige
turned to grab her purse and Kenna looked over her shoulder to see
what freaked her friend out.

“
Why, it’s just Will and
Agent Parker?” Kenna paused, “Oh, I get it. You have the hots for
Mr. FBI and don’t like that he makes you feel, how should I say it…
flushed.” Kenna grinned at her friend’s obvious discomfort. “I
thought with all those brothers, Parker would be putty in your
hands. I also didn’t take you for a coward.” Kenna sat back against
the booth and let her smile show. She knew she got Paige with that
one.

Paige put her purse down when Will and
Agent Parker approached. She scooted as close to the wall as she
could get. Both men said hello and Will sat next to Kenna. Agent
Parker sat next to Paige. Kenna smothered her laughter and had to
fight pounding on the table in hysterics as she watched Paige cling
to the wall. Likewise, Agent Parker sat so far to the edge of the
seat, he was about to fall out the booth. It just reminded her of
the second grade when boys and girls thought each other had
cooties. The side glances they gave each other was enough to
confirm that these two were hot for each other.

“
Well, Boots is okay and
so is the groom who killed the snake,” Will told the table. “I am
going to leave tomorrow morning with Boots and go to Louisville.
Hopefully, the increased security there will help prevent any
further attacks on him.” Will turned to Kenna, “I will be back
Friday to take you to Mo’s ball. The next morning, at ten, is the
Derby Breakfast at my farm. Then we’ll drive up for the
Derby.”

Kenna nodded her agreement to the
plan.

“
I will be meeting you up
there as well. Some of my men will be on the grounds dressed as
farm hands,” Agent Parker added. “I’ll also need a list of all the
events you are going to so that my team can be there. Just in case
this is personal and they try to make a move at one of these
shindigs.”

Will nodded and the two men continued
to discuss the case while dinner was eaten. As soon as he was able,
Agent Parker excused himself and Paige left soon after.

“
What was up with those
two?” Will asked.

“
I think there is some
major chemistry there and they don’t know what to do with it,”
Kenna laughed.

“
Well, I know what to do
with our chemistry. Come on, let me take you home.”

Chapter
Fifteen

“
It should be
down.”

“
No, it should be
up.”

“
What about swept
back?”

Kenna closed her eyes for a second and
asked for patience. Paige and Lily were about to come to blows over
the way she should style her hair for Mo’s ball that night. Daisy
was trying to find middle ground. Violet had conceded, and went in
search of a snack to prepare for the room filled with
women.

“
If I may interrupt for a
second,” Kenna put down her eyeliner. “I would like to wear my hair
down for the Ashton event and the Derby. Makes it easier to go from
one event to the other. It’s such a formal event tonight that I
think I would look strange if my hair was down. Besides, the back
of the dress is really neat. I would like to make sure everyone has
a good view of it. The trouble is, I have no idea how to do
anything other than a ponytail or a French twist.”

“
I guess that makes sense,
wearing it up for tonight. I can help you put it up,” Paige said as
she plugged in the curling iron. “I know exactly what I want to
do.”

“
Here we go!” Violet
opened the door and brought in a tray of fruit of
cheese.

Kenna grabbed a piece of cheese before
Paige started attacking her hair with lots of hairspray and the
curling iron.

Daisy pulled out the royal blue Armani
silk dress. “Which shoes do you want for this?”

“
The strappy bronze
sandals in the trunk.” She heard Daisy open the trunk and
gasp.

“
This whole thing is
filled with shoes! I didn’t know one person could own so many
shoes. You might have to be more specific, dear. How will I know
which shoes I am looking for?” Daisy asked as she started pulling
shoe after shoe out of the trunk.

“
They have a four inch
heel, they’re made by Ralph Lauren, and they have an ankle strap.”
She heard more grunting and saw more shoes being dropped onto the
ground before she heard Daisy mumble something.

“
What did you
say?”

“
I said, I think these are
the ones. You have a couple of pairs that look similar.” She saw
Daisy walk toward her and hold out the pair of shoes she wanted to
wear.

“
That’s them! Thanks for
finding them. How are you doing Paige?”

“
Pretty good. Almost
done.”

“
My head feels like it
weighs ten pounds, what’s going on back there?”

“
It’s the bobby pins. You
have to use a ton of them to pin the wavy pieces down.” Paige
mumbled, yanked and then stabbed another bobby pin into Kenna's
head. “There. I think I got it.”

Kenna heard the accented murmurs and
turned to the mirror. “Oh, I love it! Thank you Paige!” Kenna
turned her head back and forth and hardly recognized herself. Her
normally straight hair had a gentle curl and was swept back to the
nape of her neck. Tiny strands were then curled and pinned in a
chignon, forming a whimsical look to the classic up
style.

“
Oh my gosh, look at the
time! Will is set to arrive any minute,” Lily said as she looked at
her watch. “Come on girls, we’ll go down and wait for him while
Paige helps Kenna finish up.”

Paige helped Kenna step into the gown
and zip it up. The royal blue silk slinked over her skin, gently
caressing it as she moved.

“
This dress feels so
good!” Kenna said as she twirled in front of the mirror. The silk
hugged her silhouette while the draping emphasized her bust and
then fell to the ground. In the back the draping fell away to form
a short train that would be only slightly noticeable once she put
on her heels. Sliding her feet into her strapped sandals, she heard
Will pull up. Paige and Kenna rushed to finish getting the shoes on
and applying the final round of lipstick before heading
downstairs.

Will stood outside on the porch in a
custom made tuxedo looking every bit the star athlete he was. There
was something about men in tuxes that sent Kenna’s heart pounding.
But something about this man in a tux was enough to make her thank
the Lord every day and twice on Sundays, as Miss Lily would
say.

He was talking to the Roses and didn’t
look up until she opened the screen door. She smiled when he looked
up. It made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world
when he let his face show pleasure in her appearance.

“
You look beautiful. Now I
am going to have to spend the night fighting off the men in the
room.” She took his arm when he offered it to lead her to a
limousine he had rented for the weekend. “Ladies.” He tipped his
head to Paige and the Roses. “Don’t wait up.” He winked as he
opened the door for Kenna.

Kenna turned and waved goodbye to her
friends. As they got into the limo, Kenna turned to him. “This is
great, Will.” She slid next to him and ran her hand up his thigh.
She couldn’t stop herself. The tux was calling to her and it was
saying ‘touch me’.

“
There’s more.” Will
leaned over and brushed his hand across her breasts as he reached
for a little refrigerator door. He pulled out a bottle of
champagne. “I thought we could sip some champagne as we drive out
to the farm. Then we’ll have to wait in a long line to get to the
door. Whatever will we do to fill the time?” He popped the cork and
poured two glasses.