Bluegrass State of Mind (36 page)

“
Boots, no. I am not doing
it.” Kenna tried to turn away, but her heels kept sinking into the
soft track.

“
Come on. Just once, for
luck. You don’t want to jinx us,” Art pleaded.

She looked at Will who nodded in all
seriousness and to Rodrigo who pleaded in Portuguese to
her.

“
Aw, come on guys. The
jumbo screen is on us,” Kenna complained.

Boots grabbed her hat with his teeth
and yanked it off her head.

“
Boots!” said Kenna as she
reached for her hat.

One hundred and fifty thousand people
roared with laughter and her face felt like it was on
fire.

“
Boots, give it back.” She
hissed.

Boots just whinnied and tossed his
head in the air, all while her beautiful hat lay dangling from his
lips.

“
Fine. I’ll do
it.”

“
You hear that bud, she’ll
do it.” Rodrigo purred to him as he nudged Boots closer to
Kenna.

Boots brought his head down and
nuzzled into her so that she could place a bright red kiss on his
nose. The lipstick stood out against the white surrounding his nose
and perfectly matched the similar stain about a foot up on his
forehead. The crowd cheered and Boots bucked. Apparently is was a
good sign, since both Will and Art let out a breath as if safe from
all jinxes.

* * *

Art led the way to the box as the
horses warmed up on the track. They passed Mo’s box where Ahmed was
absent, and descended into their box seat. William and Betsy stood
to give everyone handshakes and hugs.

“
He looks good out there,
Son. Of course any man getting a kiss in front of millions of
people puts a little extra kick to his step,” William said as he
shook Will’s hand.

Kenna flushed red again and was now
paranoid about her face appearing on the jumbo screen. But, as soon
as the call to post sounded, she forgot all about the
cameras.

That little guy had wormed his way
into her heart and his owner's, too. She felt like it was her horse
out there and wished him a safe journey to the finish
line.

She gripped Will’s hand when Boots was
led into the starting gate. She feared she had broken his finger
when the bell sounded and the horses charged out.

“
Oh no. I jinxed him. Look
at him, he’s in the back,” Kenna cried as she watched the horses
pass the first quarter mile.

“
No, it’s okay. That’s the
best spot for him. Rodrigo is holding him back. It frustrates
Boots. When he is finally given his head, he flies. It also wears
out the leaders while Boots isn’t being pushed.”

She looked at the jumbo screen to see
that Boots, the number fourteen horse, was in sixteenth place out
of the twenty horse field. She had nearly admitted defeat as Boots
stayed in position past the half mile marker. A little over one
half mile and about a minute to go and the race would be
over.

“
And there he goes,” Will
said smugly.

Kenna looked up and saw Boots tearing
down the field.

“
And here comes Naked Boot
Leg! He’s coming on strong! He’s in tenth, ninth, eighth, and
gaining ground,” the announcer screamed.

“
Go Boots!” Betsy screamed
and she grabbed Kenna’s left hand. Kenna grabbed back and held onto
Will with her right.

“
Come on, Boots, come on.
You can do it boy!” She shouted, hoping her cheers would be heard
by him.

“
As they reach the last
quarter mile, it’s still Devil’s Own Fun out in front and All That
Jazz gaining ground on the outside in second. But it’s Naked Boot
Leg flying up the rail in third” the announcer relayed. “Naked Boot
Leg passes All That Jazz. Devil’s Own Fun is still out front by a
length, but Naked Boot Leg is closing the gap. Devil’s Own Fun out
front by a half, by a neck, by a nose. It’s nose to nose! It’s
Devil’s Own Fun and Naked Boot Leg racing side by side!”

“
GO BOOTS! GO BOOTS!”
Betsy and Kenna screamed as they clung to each other.

“
Back and forth between
Naked Boot Leg and Devil’s Own Fun as they come down to the wire
and it’s...Naked Boot Leg by a nose!”

The screams from the crowd and
celebration that erupted in the box drowned out the rest of the
announcer's call. Will grabbed Kenna and kissed her hard and fast.
He released her to grasp his Dad in fierce hug. Betsy turned Kenna
and hugged her. Tears running down her face, before turning to
embrace Art.

“
I think you owe Boots a
lot more kisses and even an apple after today!” Will laughed as he
grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the box. “Come on. Let’s
get to the winner’s circle!”

They stopped by Mo’s box to exchange
more congratulations and hugs.

“
I am looking forward to
our new partnership. Very much!” Mo laughed as he shook Will’s
hand.

“
I am, too. Between Desert
Girl’s spunk and Boots’ drive, I feel sorry for Art!”

Will started forward again and William
caught up to him at the elevator down to the track.

“
What partnership, Will?”
William inquired.

“
Mo and I are going to
co-own Boots’ first breeding to Desert Girl,” Will explained to his
father.

“
The filly that finished
second at the Oaks yesterday?”

“
That’s the one.” Kenna
could feel Will’s hand start to sweat in hers. If she didn’t know
better, she would have seen only the calm and confident persona
Will projected. But she did know him better. He wanted his father’s
approval.

“
Damn good breeding those
two will make.”

Kenna felt his hand relax in hers and
his body began to hum with excitement again. The elevator doors
opened and the crowd’s cheers for Boots fell on them. Kentucky
State Troopers helped clear the way onto the track as Rodrigo
finished his interview.

Boots saw Will and tossed his head. He
put his head down and snorted against his coat pocket. Will fed him
a sugar cube before the reporter descended upon him.

“
Will Ashton, two for two!
How does it feel?” The female reporter asked.

“
Wonderful! I can’t even
describe it.”

“
Better than your Super
Bowl appearance?

Will laughed. “Much better since I won
this one!”

“
The photo finish showed
Naked Boot Leg winning by a nose. There has been some question on
if Boots was being pushed too hard to win the race as evidenced by
the blood on his nose.”

“
The what?”

“
In the photo finish
picture, you can clearly see bright red blood on his
nose.”

Will paused. Kenna thought he was
trying to remember every moment of the race to see if he noticed
the nose bleed. Kenna, who stood with William and Betsy behind the
camera man, waved her arms to get Will’s attention. When Will
looked up, she blew him a kiss. It took only a second for Will’s
worried look to fade and he burst out into laughter. The reporter
who was clearly confused just stood there holding the microphone
out towards Will’s face.

“
Come here,
Kenna.”

Kenna smiled shyly and walked into the
frame. “This is my girlfriend, McKenna Mason. In the pre-race, she
kissed Boots on the star of his forehead and then the
nose.”

Kenna’s face turned red again and Will
slipped his arm around her.

“
Apparently the tradition
works! Will you be going to The Preakness with Boots as
well?”

“
Yes, she will. We will
all be going and you better believe Boots will be getting his
pre-race kiss!” Will thanked the reporter and led the group to the
winner’s circle for the official picture.

The winner’s circle is a strip of
perfectly manicured grass surrounded by a horseshoe of red blooming
roses. Boots was walked in and Will reached up to shake Rodrigo’s
hand again as he patted Boots on the neck.

Kenna felt somewhat like an outsider
among the Ashton family and all those who trained and made Boots a
Derby winner. She tried to move to the back of the crowd. But Boots
snickered and tossed his head back. Kenna stopped and looked over
to Boots who was now stomping the ground with his front
hooves.

Boots took a step toward her and Art
yelled over to her, “You better get up there to see him or we’ll
never make it to The Preakness!”

Kenna stepped forward and stood next
to Will at Boots’ head. Boots gave her a shot with his red nose and
she scratched the white star between his eyes while the Kentucky
National Guard appeared carrying a massive blanket of red
roses.

The heavy blanket was placed over
Rodrigo’s lap and everyone got ready for the picture. Kenna stood
next to Boots who kept nuzzling her for another sugar cube. Will
stood next to her with his arm around her waist. His parents
completed the first row. Art and some of the other farm personnel
stood in the second row.

“
Boots, stop it. It’s time
for your picture,” Kenna whispered to him. Boots responded with a
snort.

“
Okay, get ready and
smile!” The photographer shouted.

She smiled and felt Boots stop nudging
her hand a second before she felt her hat being yanked from her
head. She saw the flash from the camera and laughter filled the
track as everyone watching on the jumbo screens saw the official
Kentucky Derby win photo of Naked Boot Leg standing tall and proud
with his blanket of roses and a beautiful Derby hat hanging from
his teeth.

* * *

Kenna had never felt sexier in her
life. She stood to the side of the dance floor at the Derby Ball in
her black lace single shouldered Valentino and watched Will talking
to some owners of different farms.

He kept glancing over to her as if
making sure she didn’t disappear. The way his chocolate eyes turned
almost black when he looked at her sent shivers down her back and
straight to her core.

“
How was your first
Derby?” Mo asked as he came to stand next to her.

“
All in all, it was pretty
amazing. Do you have any news?”

“
Yes. Ahmed got the
location of where Chad was staying from Whitney within minutes. He
took some of my men and tried to get him. They estimated they
missed him by five minutes. He left in a hurry, though. He left
some papers behind. Ahmed is reviewing them and will probably want
to go over them with you.”

“
And Whitney?”

“
Turned over to Agent
Parker just an hour ago. She was telling everything she knew to
Agent Parker about her father’s involvement and also naming some
other big names. Agent Parker should have some very good leads to
follow now.”

“
How is Agent Parker going
to explain having a Senator’s daughter in his custody?”

“
Agent Parker? If it comes
up, he's going to tell his commanding officer he was at the Derby
with me, providing protection on his day off. Whitney came up to
him to turn herself in. She knew he was an FBI agent from his
investigation of the accidents on Will’s farm. She just couldn’t
handle the guilt of what she had done to the person she loved.” Mo
rolled his eyes, but Kenna could see Whitney pulling it
off.

“
Thanks Mo. You weren’t
obligated to help me in any way. But I am forever grateful you
did.” Kenna leaned over and gave him a hug.

“
You’re welcome. Now, I
have a sleepy Paige in the limo waiting to be taken home. I’ll fill
her in before she falls asleep. She wanted to remind you about your
lunch tomorrow at Blossom’s.”

Kenna softly laughed, “You know,
having a girlfriend suits you. Why don’t you join us
tomorrow?”

“
Would love to. But my
father wants to parade some more women in front of me while we
pretend to have a business meeting. Good night, and tell Will
congratulations for me,” Mo said as he turned and waved to Will
before exiting the room.

She spotted June across the room and
waved. June looked fabulous as always in a red Carolina
Herrera.

“
Kenna, dear. Fill me in
one everything that has been going on. I see you here with Will and
just now talking to the Sheik.” June gave a wink and Kenna
laughed.

“
We better have another
drink because it is one heck of a story!” Kenna looped her hand
through June’s arm as they grabbed two more glasses of
champagne.

She was embarrassed to admit it, but
she did not hear a word of what June said. She had filled June in
on the ups and downs of her relationship with Will and the
happening in Keeneston when Will caught her eye and
smiled.

He finished his conversation without
ever taking his eyes off of hers. She couldn’t help the
appreciative glance she gave him when he walked across the room
towards her in his tux.

“
Excuse me, June, but I
believe Kenna owes me a dance.” He slid his hand into hers as he
led her to the dance floor.

“
Did I mention you look
breathtaking tonight?”