Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (30 page)

And that is what really galled her the most.
  She owed him despite how
livid
she was.

Now,
she had
worked hard and
graduated those few weeks early to make it back for the Derby. 
Patrick
had said,
"
If ye
r promise me to make your best grades
in this last term
, I
'
ll get your tests early for yer
and we
'
ll bring you home early for the Derby to see Summer Storm run.  Summer Storm was Big Storm
'
s colt. 

Oh she would be at the Derby alright.  Flirting with every man in sight in front of him
and that hateful picked bride of his,
Leona Mason.

She had learned a lot about Leona from
Friendface
. 
Leona Mason came from a snobby family in Lexington. 

Ugh.

Just four years her senior Leona was the toast of
Lexington
and toast of the
Friendface
world.  Jolene had followed the romance on Leona
'
s
Friendface
like an obsessed woman
that whole last school year
. 
Each posting had been a
sharp shard of glass penetrating her heart. 
Everything from Leona's platinum blonde hair to her fake laughter had made Jolene furious.

She had
barely spoken to
Patrick
when he called
that last year
.
  She imagined that when she did talk to him that she could hear Leona in the background laughing.
 

Of course Leona also had lots of advice for Jolene
that last summer to add insult to so much injury...her advice was
on everything from her clothing to her need to cut off long locks of red sausage curls that everyone else admired, even strangers. 

Patrick
had been hurt and embarrassed by her mulish behavior and Jolene was certain both h
e and his fake-smile
-spray-on-tan
fiancé were more than happy to see her return to school.
So she
was
relieved that
Patrick
had sent
her to
France for the holidays
even though his ease of ridding himself of her pr
esence hu
rt like a
thousand bee stings to
her heart
. 
But it was better than putting up with the pair of them.

Jolene had a lot of time to think and she had formulated a plan
with Natasha and Helen
.  She refused to appear inexperienced, unsophisticated and clumsy next to the plastic woman that had so neatly inserted herself into
Patrick
'
s life.

Now
Jolene walked tall with the elegance she had learned in these last years at the Vance
Catholic
Boarding School. 
She would make sure that
Patrick
knew he got his money
'
s worth.

And she had learned how to flirt with men. 

She learned how to wear make-up just so.

And
how to wear
the clothes that made her look her best.

S
he wasn
'
t going to be set up with some young man of
Patrick
'
s approval.

Most important of all
,
she
would indeed
make him pay for everything he had done….starting with not letting her run Storm in the
Preakness or Belmonte.  That he won the Triple Crown
without her.  She had let all of that go...until Leona
brought her anger back over all his past acts of unfairness
.

When she had
Patrick
right where he deserved, s
he was going to have to leave the farm forever.

She would go onto vet school at a school of her own choosing
, probably UK
. 
No matter what she did, she would make a very specific life choice to n
ever see
Patrick
again. 

She walked through the security area to the baggage claim.  She loved traveling to the Lexington Airport though she had traveled to airports all over the world.  It was easy to find the baggage claim in Lexington and the party you were meeting because there were only two baggage claims.

And of course her favorite thing was the bathrooms in Lexington Airport.  They had plastic seat covers that rotated around when you pushed a button.  Talk about being clean…it was the cleanest airport she had ever
flown into
.

Patrick
was standing
at the baggage claim...attracting too much female attention
wearing his Levi
'
s and a
polo shirt with the farm
'
s logo.

Dammit
, h
e took her breath away
.  His midnight hair contrasting his morning glory eyes was enough to make any girl topple on her hee
ls.  But she would not act over-
eager…she would not let her crush show this time.
 

Correction...her "not anymore" crush.

"
Little
Red
!
"
 

Jolene smiled
bright and
sweet.
"
Patrick
, how nice to see you.
"
 

He tried to hug her but she forestalled his intent by tipping her face forward and kissing him on both cheeks. 

He growled.
"
Now I
will no'
have any of that from my girl.
"
  He pulled her into a bear hug that gave her a complete body-feel of him. 
His l
ean muscles…t
hat special spicy scent that
mingled and danced with her every nerve ending
…
his heat that she wanted to shrink into…

Just as she mentally allowed the sensations to seep through her and sing through her
sanity
he
set her
back on her feet. 

She remained cool des
pite the moment of weakness,
smoothed out her suit with an elegant hand and pushed her shoulders back.  Would he notice she had filled out?

As if hearing her thoughts his eyes rested on her breasts then he tore them away as if
it
near blinded him to look at them. 
"
Let us get your bags.
"
  His voice was raspy
.

She felt the happiness bubble up inside her. 
"
I just have the one.
"
  She smiled at him brightly thinking she would assault him with another evening of a braless tank top....now that she was a little fuller....

His eyes lingered on her lips. 

So, h
e wasn
'
t completely immune
despite Leona
.

The suit
cases were already making their journey around
the carousel.  Her big red hard
-
shell
crushed
through the flaps and made its way toward them. 
"
I think I see it here.
"
 
Patrick
picked up the bag and set it to the ground. 
"It has held up well."

She covered his hand with hers. 
Their eyes clashed
. 
"
I can roll it
Patrick
,
"
s
he
purred, with big
eyes, opening
her mouth slightly.  He jerked his hand back and placed it on the handle. 
"
Now what are yur up to girl?  Let me have that ba
g.
"
  He rolled it speedily ahead of her
and opened the door. 

Jolene followed him with a smile tugging her lips. 

Revenge was ever so sweet.
And it was going to get a lot sweeter.

He opened the car door and she deliberately caused her skirt to move up her thigh. 
Patrick
stood the
re
frozen for several seconds looking at her thigh before she moved it into the car. 
He found her eyes and she glimpsed his blue heat before he cleared
it
with a scowl and shut the door with more force than was necessary.

Her plan was working out just fine.

He slid into the seat next to her.  She touched the tan leather seat with a
slow
caress, her newly painted nails glimmering
in
the
overhead light
. 
"
New truck?
"
 

He stared at her hand for
a
split second then turned to the wheel and started the engine. 
"
Yes, we needed a second truck.  I hired three more people to help Bernie.  He supervises, Victor, Chuck and Larry.
"

She noticed an erection tenting his jeans.  Jolene almost exhaled a moan.  Instead
,
she deliberately looked out of the window at nothing.

"
Things must be going very well
,
"
she managed to choke out. 

Could she do this without dying of lust herself?

"
Very well.  But let us not talk about business and the farm.  I
'
ve planned a homecoming graduation party
for
yur tonight.
"
  His dark voice rumbled through her limbs. 

He pulled up the
traffic
light
on the road called
Man O
'
War and the story of Man O
'
War reminded her of Storm, sending the sharpness of loss cutting through her again.  The two of them had flown to victory. 

Only
for her to
be
prevented from racing again and then she was
sent away.

Oh
Patrick
would pay a very dear price for all that he had done…starting with stealing her family farm and ending with that moment, after the Derby
…
and
the moment he decided to forget her and fall in love with Leona
.

Jolene laughed softly
trying to add just a touch of husky
to her tone
that her friends had practiced with her
. 
"
A party?  Will Leona be there?  How wonderful and thoughtful of you
Patrick
.
  I can
'
t wait.
"

Patrick
shot her a surprised
and suspicious look but had to focus back on his driving before penetrating her façade.
 
"
You sound different.  A lot more grown up.  And w
hat are you cook
'
in up
Red
looking at me like that
?
  Did you already get your hands on moonshine or something?
"

"
Why
Patrick
!  How could you say such a thing?  I am so happy to be home…and before the Derby even!  I really have changed my mind about Leona…and I cannot wait for the party
tonight
.
"

Where I will just begin to extract my revenge for everything you have done
Patrick
McCabe, including breaking my heart for that bitch Leona.

Chapter
19

My grandparents moved to the coal fields of West Virginia where he became a contractor in the coal mines. Many of his friends followed him and worked for him. Sometimes he worked such long hours he didn’t see the sun for days. He did find time to fox hunt with his friends and join the Masons.

My grandfather saved his money and bought that farm! It was winter and I was about five when we moved with them to the farm. Until we bought coal and wood for the fireplaces and kitchen stove we stayed with grandfather’s father who lived on Cane Creek a few miles away. My great grandfather had a farm and his son John and wife Ethel and ten sons lived with him. A huge table filled one room. The sons would pound their tin cups on the table and say, “bread, bread, bread, bread,” loudly until their mother brought the food to the table. We, my sister Elizabeth and brother Charles, had never eaten corn bread. Elizabeth just could not swallow it no matter how hard she tried. It was a good thing our house was ready before she starved.