Maybe Baby Lite (11 page)

The stables and paddock
area at the Belle were much larger than those over at the Sinclair
estate. The Belle boarded a lot of horses that were not owned by
the Sinclair family. This track held races for quarter horses,
paints, and appaloosas. No thoroughbred racing was done there. The
straight track was turf instead of dirt. I was glad because turf
was much safer for the horses than a dirt track
.

I strolled through the
paddock area to see some of the horses that would be competing in
this weekend’s race. I found a preliminary line-up sheet posted on
the bulletin board for the eight races that were scheduled for the
Kick-Off Stakes on Saturday evening. This marked the official
opening of race season for Le Vie Belle track. I glanced through
the line-up and saw that between Sinclair Stables and the Belle,
the Sinclair's had a horse competing in each of the eight races.
Ariel, Socrates, Witches’ Streak, and Runaway Jessie were entered
from Sinclair Stables; Eyewear, Hail to Patsy, Junebug, and Jezebel
were entrants from Le Vie Belle.

As I continued scanning, I
noticed Jezebel didn’t have a jockey assigned. I was unfamiliar
with Jezebel but the sheet listed Andy Graham as her trainer. I'd
seen Andy around with Jenna. Maybe it was time to pull in a favor
from Jenna; the trashy underwear was small compensation for my
stint in the hospital.

I went back over to the
laundry and transferred my clothes from the washer to the dryer. I
got my phone out and called Jenna.

“
Hey Ty! How are you doing
girl?” she asked almost too cheerfully.

I decided to work the
guilt; she owed me not only for the near-death experience, but that
awful slut underwear from Fred-X of Follywood had added insult to
injury.

“
Cut the shit, Jenna,” I
replied dryly.

I heard a gasp at the
other end of the phone. Before she could utter another word, I got
to the point.

“
Look, you’re friends or
whatever with Andy Graham, Jezebel’s trainer, right?”

“
Yeah, so?” she
countered.

“
So, this is how you're
going to make it up to me for missing a whole week’s
pay.”

“
Go on,” she replied,
piqued.

“
I noticed that there
wasn’t a jockey listed for tomorrow evening’s fourth race for
Jezebel. What’s the story?”

“
All I know is that Andy’s
ex-girlfriend was the jockey and once they broke up she told him to
go flip shit. As of yesterday he believed they'd have to scratch
Jezebel from the race because she won't reconsider. It’s no big
deal; the horse is a long shot. Andy’s only worried the Sinclair's
will be pissed because he didn’t have a back-up plan.”

“
He does now,” I said.
“Jenna, you call your friend, Andy. Tell him he has his jockey for
Saturday night.”

“
Who?” Jenna
asked.

“
Me!”

“
You’ve got to be
kidding!” she exclaimed. “Tylar, you're not a jockey. Besides,
don’t you have to be certified or something?”

“
Jenna, I’ve jockeyed,
don’t worry about my credentials. Worst case scenario is even if
Jezebel finishes last, I still get the $75 jockey fee which only
recoups a small portion of the money I lost because of your stupid
stunt last week.”

“
Well, I don’t know,” she
hesitated.

“
Look, let Andy know that
I’m within the weight requirement. If he wants to see me practice
with Jezebel today have him call me. I want you to call me back one
way or another.”

“
Oh, all right,” she
finally agreed.

I was still in the laundry
room folding up my clean laundry when my cell phone rang. It was
Jenna.

“
Andy said to be at the
practice track around two this afternoon. He'll spend no more than
an hour with you to see if you and Jezebel can clock some decent
times on the quarter. Then he'll decide whether you ride or he
scratches her. Best I could do."

“
Good enough,
Jenna.”

Two o’clock couldn't come
fast enough for me. I'd taken my laundry back to the cottage then
walked to the market. I bought fresh carrots for Derringer. I
planned to keep my date with him later. I went to my cabin and
sorted through the small trunk in my bedroom. I pulled several
ribbons, a couple of trophies, and some news clippings off the top
of the pile. I located a pair of nylon riding pants, patent leather
riding boots, safety vest, and my cap and goggles. It had been
awhile, but everything was still in good shape. At 108 pounds,
everything would fit me just fine. I placed it all into my backpack
and made the trek back over to the racetrack.

I spotted Andy in the
infield with Jezebel, a three-year-old bay. I'd only been around
Andy a few times this summer. He was a personable guy, a little
green as a trainer, but that worked to my advantage. We spent an
hour going through the paces. It didn’t take long for me to build a
rapport with Jezebel. Andy explained her racing history along with
her strengths and weaknesses. He handed me a DVD of her races last
season to review.

Andy explained that in the
Kick-Off Stakes Saturday, a bonus race was scheduled about 45
minutes after the last race concluded. This was a special incentive
purse that Sinclair Stables had put up for $75,000. Each winner of
the eight previous races would contend for the purse in the bonus
race. The jockeys would get a 20% cut of the purse instead of the
usual 10%. The purse in the other races was only $10,000 each. If
Jezebel won the fourth race, I'd get my $75 riding fee, plus 10% of
the purse, or $1,000. If Jezebel went on to win the bonus race—that
would be $15,000 in my pocket!

Andy and I worked with
Jezebel for another hour, timing her sprints. She was consistently
clocking in at 30 to 33 seconds. I let Andy know that I'd work with
her again in the morning after I had a chance to review the DVD. He
agreed. I'd not been back at my cottage for more than an hour when
Ray was tapping at my door.

“
Hi Ray,” I smiled opening
the door for him.

“
How ya feeling, Ty?” he
asked, concerned. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to stop by. I
know Trey will be pissed when he calls later.”

Then don’t tell him,” I
said with a grin. “I’ve been fine. Got my laundry caught up today,
cleaned the cottage, and took a walk. Just kind of, hung out, ya
know?”

“
So you know that you
start Monday at the Belle, right?”

“
Yeah, so I've been
told.”

“
Now that’s just a
temporary assignment Ty,” he explained.

“
I know Ray. Don’t worry
about it. I can survive for a couple of weeks over there. Who do I
report to and when?”

“
Report at 9 a.m. to Mrs.
Johnson over in the main office. She'll give you the rundown
okay?”

“
Sure enough, Ray,” I
replied pleasantly.

“
Okay, I won’t keep you
then. You take it easy ya’hear?”

“
You got it. Bye
Ray,”

I kept my promise to
Derringer, taking some carrots to him at the stables. As I passed
Jenna’s cottage, her usual Friday evening lingerie show was in full
display on the clothesline on her porch. I could hear some music
blasting inside from her stereo. Distracted, I hadn’t noticed
someone closing in behind me on the path. Suddenly from behind, a
body lunged at me.

“
Gotcha!”

I nearly had a coronary
right then and there. Instinct took over. I whirled around, my
right arm rigid and extended and landed my fist across his broad
chest.

“
Ummph,” Luke moaned as I
knocked the wind out of him.

“
Holy shit, Luke!” I
yelled, “What were you thinking coming up on me like
that?”

“
Christ, Tylar! You pack a
punch for a little gal,” he laughed. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to
catch you off guard like that." He was a grinning fool; I knew
why.

“
Gonna help Jenna take in
her laundry?” I asked nonchalantly.

“
Maybe,” he replied with a
grin. “Hey, how ya feeling? Hear they got you scheduled over at the
Belle with the old ladies next week. Drag, right?”

“
I’m feeling back to
normal and to answer your second question, ‘yes’ and ‘definitely’
on the third one. I’m hoping to shorten that assignment some when
Trey gets back.”

“
I wouldn’t count on that
too much.”

“
Why?” I asked.

“
He's been a royal pain in
our asses ever since what happened last Friday with you and all.
That man, for all we’ve seen him in the last three years, has
outdone himself this last week, giving us all extra projects. But,
most of his time was spent at the hospital with you. How
did
he find the
time?”

“
Well, you don’t look any
worse for the wear."

“
Yeah, I got the stamina,”
he grinned, flexing his muscles for me. “I can take anything ‘ole
rich boy dishes out. Poor Clint though, he has him working 12-hour
days between here and the Belle. Clint’s busting his ass getting
ready for this weekend. Oh,” he added, “just so you know, his royal
highness didn’t permit any of us to go see you in the hospital. He
felt it might be upsetting to you. He made that damn clear to all
of us.”

“
Yeah? What was that was
about?” I murmured, clearly puzzled about Trey’s
motives.

“
Who knows? We all felt
bad and were worried. We wanted to come up.”

“
Don’t worry about it,
Luke. It’s all good.” I smiled at him.

“
You’re headed to the
barn, I see.”

“
Yes. I’m late for my date
with Derringer. Have fun Luke!”

I grinned devilishly in
the direction of Jenna’s cottage as I half turned away to continue
down the path.

“
Be careful,” he
warned.

“
You too.”

Derringer was pleased with
my visit. Someone had been taking good care of him. His stall was
clean and he'd been brushed to a glossy sheen. I spent several
minutes talking with him and rubbing his neck. I felt content
having visited him.

Once back at my cottage, I
made some microwave popcorn and sat down to watch Jezebel’s race
DVD. My cell phone rang. I snatched it off the kitchen counter,
noting the same phone number as the previous night.

“
Yes?” I answered in a
clipped tone.

“
Bad time?”

His soft, silky voice
always unnerved me. I could handle his ‘mad’ voice and his
‘attorney’ voice, but this one made me melt.

“
No, not really,” I
responded coolly. “I was just popping some corn, getting ready to
watch a DVD.”

“
What did you do today,
Tylar? Were you a good girl?”

Objection: Leading
the
witness!

“
If you're asking me if I
sat tight as ordered, then the answer's no, I didn't. I spoke with
Ray, got my assignment for next week. Let’s see, I did a couple of
loads of laundry and cleaned the cottage. Oh and I took some
carrots down to Derringer. There, satisfied?”

“
Not as satisfied as I’d
like,” he commented playfully.

Oh really?

“
Do you have enough food
to last in your fridge until I get back?” he questioned.

“
Oh, that was you? Yes,
thanks, Trey,” I replied. I could feel his smile over the phone. I
was betting that his dimple was showing. He liked it when I used
his first name.

"Are you still there?”
smooth and silky asked. “Our connection seems much better tonight,
don’t you agree?”

“
Hmm. Yeah...I mean,
yes.”

“
Is there anything you
need?”

“
I’m good, for
now.”

“
Well, all right then.
Please get your rest. And I'll see you soon.”

“
Okay then, see you soon…
Trey?”

“
Yes, Tylar?”

“
Never mind, it’s
nothing.”

I miss you,
Trey.

“
Okay then, sweet
dreams."

I miss you,
Tylar.

I spent the next three
hours studying last season’s races with Jezebel. I had her moves
down to a science by the time I finally collapsed into
bed.

The following day was full
of preparations for opening day at Le Belle Vie racetrack. I worked
out with Jezebel early in the morning. Her time was improving
steadily. Post positions were conducted prior to the race in a
draw. I was keeping my fingers crossed that Jezebel would get an
outside position. She tended to do better with fewer distractions
as what was more typical with a middle post position. Jezebel was a
late breaker, which meant an outside position would be to her
advantage.

Since most of the jockeys
were men, I dressed in the ladies’ restroom over in the paddock
area. Most of them were riding in a couple of the races this
evening on different horses; I only had to focus on Jezebel in the
fourth. Andy had given me the jockey silks for Jezebel; the
Sinclair Stable colors were purple and gold. I changed my cap cover
to purple to match the silks. I made my way into the paddock area
where Andy was tacking Jezebel. The post positions were in, we drew
number eight.