Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (24 page)

Natasha
shook her head
. 
"
Sounds like a big crush to me.
  That is how I felt about Neil too
..in the beginning I mean
.  Now we are just so in love
.
"

Helen laughed. 
"
Well you have come to the right place, because me and Natasha have experience in these matters.  We
'
ll just help each other get through our tim
e here and teach you a thing or
two about how to get a man
.  It will be a project to help us pass the time
.
"

Natasha went to sit down on her own bed, thoughtful. 
"
I think you might need a little polish if you want to attract your
Patrick
, though his own speech leaves much open for criticism.
"

Jolene began pacing. 
"
He cannot help his funny talk, he is Irish.
"

"
I gathered that.
"
  Natasha smiled
. 
"
But we won
'
t hold that against him.
"

Helen stepped away from Jolene and went to sit on her own bed.
"
Natasha
really
!
  As if Jolene needs that baggage as well…baggage that is yours alone.
"

Natasha
giggled. 
"
I was only teasing. Neil
'
s mother is Irish too.  And I love her like
my own
mother.
"

Jolene warmed to the topic. 
"
Patrick
is
an Earl…I think that is like a prince in Ireland. 

Natasha fell back on her bed
laughing
. 
"
An earl is not a prince!
"

Helen
went over and swatted Natasha
. 
"
Don
'
t pick Nat, she doesn
'
t know.
"
  Then she turned to Jolene. 
"
An Earl is a royal, well, in a way,
but it is a much lesser title than a prince.  I am curious, however, what is his title
exactly
.
"

"
Earl of
Meath
.
"

Natasha sat up her big gold eyes bulging. 
"
Earl of
Meath
you say!  Well, that is pretty interesting.  I have heard he is a real
hot
looker.  His home is in southeast Ireland in the shadow of the Little Sugar Loaf Mountain in a place called Killruddery House.  I read something in the London Times about him going to the US
and getting involved with horses.
  He was on my father
'
s prospect list
but in the end love found me so father never made the introductions
.
"

Jolene jogged her memory for details
Patrick
had shared with her. 
"
He went to some fancy school in London called Harrow then he came back to Dublin to a school he calls Trinity.  He then went on to get a
PhD
but I can
'
t remember where he said he got that.  My head was still spinning when thinking of all that schooling.
"

Helen plopped down next to Natasha. 
"
I remember about him!  He runs a big company in Lexington that makes organic feed for animals.
"

"
And beer!
"
  Natasha whispered dramatically.

Jolene smiled. 
"
Yup, that
'
s him.
"

Helen and Natasha stared at her. 
"
How did you end up living with him
? 
I mean, you aren
'
t having sex with him or anything are you?
"

Jolene scowled. 
"
Well, just a little kissing and touching that did feel awfully good.
  But he got upset after that, real upset.  So, e
ven if I ever thought of getting into bed with him h
e would not be interested in me, that part is not hard to figure out. 
He
'
s got women smelling around him everywhere he goes.  He has fancy parties sometimes, but he doesn
'
t make me go
'
cause I don
'
t want to.
"
   Jolene stood up and started to pace
again
. 
"
Of c
ourse, now he is going to make me start going to those fancy parties when I get back.
"
 

Helen shook her head. 
"
But you like him a whole lot.
"
 

Natasha sighed. 
"
A whole lot.
"

Jolene wanted to scream.  Instead she stopped in front of her new roommates. 
"
Maybe I
do
get all funny inside when I
see
him
and I really
liked his kissing and touching
but look at what he did to me!
"

Natasha pulled her down to sit between her and Helen. 
"
He looked at you with shining eyes Jolene.
"

Helen wriggled her eyebrows. 
"
Maybe he just wants you to go to finishing school because if he is the Earl of
Meath
, h
e
has to make sure you can talk right and have a proper education.
"

"
There is nothing wrong with my talking.
"

Natasha tilted her head and smiled. 
"
I am sorry to tell
you my new friend that your spee
ch is horrible.
"

Jolene gave a lopsided smile. 
"
That is what
Patrick
says.
"

Helen slapped her knee. 
"
See!  I know I am right.  I mean, no man takes in a woman unless he wants something.
"

Jolene looked at her hands deciding just how much to reveal. 
"
He just felt sorry for me and he knew that I could take care of Storm.
"

Natasha looked skeptical. 
"
Ri
ght.  Well, if you like the guy
you can work really hard here so that you can show him that you can talk right and maybe he might consider you as a possible wife.
"

"
I don
'
t really want a husband.
"

Helen laughed. 
"
Not ever?
"

"
Well maybe someday I guess.
 
Patrick
did kiss me at
home before we left and at the airport.  Y
ou know
it was a
real smooch kiss.
  And there was that touching
bit
that felt so heavenly.
"

Natasha leaned forward. 
"
Really?  What was i
t
like?
"

"
I saw stars behind my eyes and my legs were all tingly…my tummy had
hundreds of
butterflies.
  I really can't explain it at all...getting all itchy...you know where.
"

Helen wriggled
her gold brows comically. 
"
Sounds like he is a good kisser.
"

"And a good toucher." 
Natasha nodded firmly. 
"
So, t
o that I say, a
nd why not
marry
the Earl of
Meath
with those pretty purple eyes?
  He has some British in him by the way.
"

Jolene felt her hear
t
flutter. 
Patrick
did have the most beautiful eyes. 
"
They look like morning glories.
  And his kiss was so
amazing.  I
'
ll say that much
.  I
'
ll never forget how it felt as long as I live
.
"

Helen laughed. 
"
You are in love girl!
"

Natasha took Jolene
'
s hand. 
"
Now all we have to do is get
Patrick
McCabe, the
Earl of
Meath
,
to fall in love with you.
"
  She giggled. 
"
Oh this is going to be sooo fun.
"

Jolene quelled the hope that sparked in her chest. 
"
Patrick
is so fine and so handsome.  He
ain
'
t never going to love a girl like me.
"

Chapter
14

Upon arrival in America, the Scotch-Irish at first usually referred to themselves simply as Irish, without the qualifier Scotch. It was not until a century later, following the surge in Irish immigration after the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s, that the descendants of the earlier arrivals began to commonly call themselves Scotch-Irish to distinguish them from the newer, largely destitute and predominantly Roman Catholic immigrants. The two groups had little interaction in America, as the Scotch-Irish had become settled years earlier primarily in the Appalachian region, while the new wave of Irish American families settled primarily in northern and midwestern port cities such as Boston, New York, or Chicago. However, many Irish migrated to the interior in the 19th century to work on large-scale infrastructure projects s
uch as canals and railroads.
  Famous Scotch-Irish Americans include Andrew Jackson, Elvis Presley,
Ul
ysses S. Grant,
John McCain
,  George S. Patton  and
John Wayne
.

May - Three years later...

"
I have missed you so much
Little
Red
.
"
 

Jolene folded herself into
Patrick
'
s outstretched arms, her heart tapping like civil war drums.  She pulled his
familiar
scent into her nose and savored the light, spicy sent of him and some mind blowing cologne that
combined
in an intoxicating aroma that
weakened her legs
.
 
"
Oh
Patrick
, I have missed you so much too!
"

She held him too long
, tears forming in her eyes
.  He gently set her away, his eyes turning to blue smoke. 
"
Now there, what y
er
doing?  Let us get on home so we can hear all about school.
"

Jolene laughed with bubbling joy. 
"
Like you don
'
t know how I have been, you call me every week.  How is Storm
?
"

It was already warm even though summer was still a month away.  She was home just in time for the Derby. 
Patrick
didn
'
t have a horse running
this year
but they would go.

"
Well, at least yer aren
'
t mad at me anymore.
"

"
I like school
.  I am learning so many amazing things. I
just wish it was closer so I could visit more often.
"

"
Yer were just home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Bea and Lacy are still riled up after making all those gingerbread men
with you
.
"

"
I cannot wait to see them.  I have a plan for us to pick the blackberries in the tree line behind the big pasture in back.
"