Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (4 page)

Panic hit Jolene swift and sure. 
"
No!  Please Aunt Paula
.
I could not live without Finnegan and Oliver.
"

Paula glared warning into the bathroom mirror. 
"
Well then you need to stop your
bitching
and let me finish your hair.  My friend Danny says that if you will agree to go they will pay us a tidy sum.  Though why they didn
'
t ask me
to go
is insult
'
in.  You ain
'
t nothing but a skinny kid, but he says they like skinny kids.
"

Jolene was immediately suspicious. 
"
Like them for what?
 
And Mamma would not like that word
'bitch'
so you should not say it Aunt Paula…you might go to hell
for saying those kinds of words
.
"

"
Shut up
about your mamma....always thought she was a goodie-goodie with
that religious stuff.
 

"Don't talk that way about mamma."

Paula blew a suffering sigh and continued on her mission.  "All you gotta do is just some sweet talking.  Those rich guys'll just be giving you a few kisses and maybe just feeling you a little."

Jolene
'
s heart accelerated. 
Would they smell as horrible as Travis? 
"
Aunt Paula, please don
'
t make me do this.  I don
'
t want to be ki
ssing no men…and having them feeling
...
M
y
what
?
…W
hat do you mean?
"
  Jolene
'
s voice dropped to a whisper,
"
You mean the nasty-girl way?  Now wait a minute Aunt Paula.
"

Aunt Paula smiled wide and batted her mascara
coated
eyes
in the mirror
'
s reflection
. 
"
Don
'
t be silly Jolene, nothing nasty, just maybe a rub on your arm or back or something.
"

Aunt Paula unrolled the curling iron
tilting her head
and let
ting
a spiral copper curl drop to Jolen
e
'
s head with a satisfied grin. 
"
You mighty pretty so I think I am going to tell Danny they gotta pay you an extra price.  Besides, I had to buy you that new dress
and red pumps
at Wal
-
mart.  You should appreciate all that I do and return in kind.
"

Jolene
'
s chest
tightened in sham
e
.  H
er
mamma and daddy
would never accept charity from anybody.  T
he tears
of frustration and worry
stung behind her eyes. 
But she could not cry. 
If that sticky mascara ran Aunt Paula would be super-mad. 
"
I do appreciate it,
but it is just that I am scared.
I don
'
t know what to do with a bunch of old men wanting to kiss me like they do in th
e
movies.
"

Travis cackled. 

Aunt Paula sent him an angry glare. 
"
They are not old!  Travis is filling your head
with stupid ideas
. 
Lots of them are young and handsome.  Besides, w
e need you to go.  M
aybe if you would work for a change rather than studying all the time, we migh
t could afford a
new big screen
TV
from the Wal
-
mart Store.
  
If you ever watched
TV
.
you might learn something.  Y
ou could see that the young girls are kissing and loving on men all the time.
"

"
Are
the men clean
?
"

It was Aunt Paula
'
s turn to cackle. 
"
A lot cleaner than Travis!
"

"
Hey, what is that about?
"
  Travis yelled
punching the door jam
. 
"
Shit. What do you want from a man who works all the time?
"
  He turned and stomped back into the living room where the television was blaring.  Jolene heard a beer can pop
a
second later.

Opening a beer made him sweat.  He considered that
hard work?

"
I want to go to college Aunt Paula and my counselor at school says we can fill out applications and get money to go to school.  Besides, I do work at the farm store cleaning up at night.
"

Aunt Paula pulled out the
hairspray that came in a
purple can
that
she used when she was getting ready for a party and sprayed it liberally all over Jolene
'
s head
,
causing Jolene to sputter
in the sticky cloud
.

Aunt Paula glared at her in the mirror. 
"
You don
'
t need college and never do I see a dime of that money you earn at the farm store.
"

"
You know that I use it to buy food for Oliver and Finnegan and for their vet visits.
  You get the money from
d
addy
'
s service in Vietnam
Aunt Paula
.
"

Aunt Paula
'
s
over-
plucked brows came together in a frown. 
"
If you don
'
t do a good job today at the races, I
'
ll be giving those mutts away.  We need to keep the money from the farm store for
other more important things tha
n feeding those
pain in the ass
dogs.
"

Jolene gasped in horror and Oliver and Finnegan growled
as if
they knew
their names on Paula
'
s lips meant bad things
.

"
Aunt Paula, you know I
'
ll not stand for you doing something
with my
pups
.
"

"
Get on with you then, if you want to keep those mutts
.
Dan
ny
is here to pick you up and take you down to the Gates of Churchill Downs.  He has a special ticket he will give you and directions on where you are to go.
"

****

Jolene had a little trouble finding the
"
box
"
where she was suppose to go. 
But her trip there was difficult on her qua
king ankles trying to support her on the high heels.

After she passed through the crowded gate s
everal nice attendants directed her along the way.  There was even an attendant in the elevator who knew which floor she should go to by looking at her ticket.

She found the door that matched the number on her ticket and cautiously opened
it to a very big room with a giant plate glass window that offered a stunning view of the finish line of the track.

She wobbled in
to the crowded room
on her tall red he
e
ls that matched the red
Wal
-
mart
dress that was way too short in Jolene
'
s opinion. 
She just wasn't use
d
to wearing tall pumps and her knees kept hitting together when she walked, pushing the heels outward. 
Jolene pulled on
the skirt
every so often in the back to make sure it was not hiked up any higher.  She received a great deal of attention as she came in, especially from the men. 
She
went
pink under the close
inspection of so many eyes
.

She pulled the dress down
again
with shaking fingers
while she attempted to stilt-
walk
further into the room
.  She knew her shoulders were slumping
.  T
he fake pearls that Aunt Paula let her wear swung back and
forth as she attempted to walk. 

The
"
box
"
as they called it was a fine room indeed.  The furnishings were all brand sparkling new
.  Everything looked clean and smelled heavenly.
  Comfortable leather chairs
and
a few hard wood tables teaming with food of every variety
were
scattered liberally throughout the room
.
Countless
red roses in
gleaming
vases
appointing
the room
completed
the Derby M
agazine
look
.  Jolene
was dizzy
just from the luxurious perfume that drifted from those big red buds.

A very handsome young blond man
approached her smiling
. 
"
Come on in and join the fun.
"
  He was dressed in a white suit with light blue pin stripes and
sprinkled with little embroidered horses
. 
"My name is Chad."

He took her hand
into his perfectly manicured fingers
and pulled her forward on her quivering legs. 
"
You must be new at this.
"
  He winked at her. 
"What is your name
?
"

His hands were so soft.

Jolene
'
s heart
patted
fast in her chest
.  S
he was not sure if it was because he was so handsome or
because
she was so scared.
 
"
I am Jolene and
I have
never been to the Derby
like this
before. 
I mean, I use
d
to go with m
amma and
d
addy…bu
t we never had a box sea
t
.  I
t is a wonderful view from here…can I go see
out the window
?
"

Anything to put a distance between her and those aggressive light eyes that were
assessing her as if she was
an apple pie at a Fourth of July picnic. 

A tall, athletic graying man stepped forward
also shining with a big smile
and took her other arm. 
"
Of course, come and get a close look, the races are just starting.  Some
sparkling wine
?  Or wine?
"

Jolene shook her head. 
"
No thank you.
"

"My name is Mel."  He purred close to her ear.

S
low
panic
and an urgency in her chest
increased
as they moved her closer to the window. 
Under the smothering gaze of her two companions s
he looked around the room
for some other escape
and her eyes clashed with eyes the color of morning glories blooming full
on a summer morning
…so blue they were almost purple. 
They were eyes she would never forget.

It was that Irish that owned her family farm!
 

He was not smiling thi
s time.  His eyes flashed angry-
blue
-
fire as he took in her attire with something akin
to
disgust that ended with her wobbling legs and high heels as s
he progressed toward the window.  She
no longer hear
d her companions
'
words
.