Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill (20 page)

"
Just say hello the way I taught you and you can just listen if it would make
it easier for you
.
"

All of the jockeys were there and
Patrick
smoothly
guided
her around to meet them.    They were dressed in tuxedos similar to
Patrick
'
s and all of them had warm handshake
s
and congratulations for Jolene. 

Patrick
let her have a few sips of his
sparkling wine
and pretty soon she found herself in animated conversation with several different people.

There was a
notable
band
at the party and it wasn
'
t lon
g
after alcohol began to flow that people were hitting the dance floor to
wiggle, wave and shake
in time with the pop songs that everyone knew and loved.

Patrick
tugged her arm. 
"
Come dance w
ith me
Jolene.
"
 

Jolene
'
s heart
went to a
gallop
as she was closed in
Patrick
'
s arms and he looked at her with his beautiful blue eyes sparkling mischief
.  While he twirled her around smiling
, Jolene felt his intense heat
sifting
through her dress and left her skin tingling. 
It felt like a steam iron everywhere he touched her…only not too hot…just hot enough.

Patrick
'
s
dark blue eyes were shining like the sun while
he
swept her around the room laughing and sending her heart soaring.

When the song ended he tugged her
tenderly
from the dance floor. 
"
Jolene yer a good dancer.
"

"
I practiced a lot when Aunt Paula had her parties.
"

Patrick
'
s
eyes
went dark
and he gripped her arm
.
"
Yer were dancing with
those
men
like I saw at your aunt's house?
"

Jolene
'
s heart quickened
and the awful incident of being
pinned down
by
Chad
ran headless and painful through her head
.  Shame suffused her entire being. 
"
Oh no
Patrick
, I danced in my own room by myself.
"

Patrick
picked up a slow grin
. 
"
Sounds like something yer would do.
"

The evening was magic.  Jolene met
so many famous and glamorous people
. 
A number of guests
asked for her autograph.  She posed for a thousand pictures
, some with
Patrick
, but many with complete strangers
. 

She danced so many times
that her feet
and her injured leg really began to
hurt
.  Most of
those dances were
with
Patrick
. 
By midnight she was exhausted and barely able to keep on her feet
or lift her eyelids
.

When she emerged from the ladies room
Patrick
caught her eye
.  The low lights shadowed his face and accented the angles of his cheekbones and jaw.  He made his way over to her. 
"
Time to go home sleepy.
"

He
t
ucked her into the car with great care and started the drive home before he launched his missile. 
"
So then
Jolene, I have been thinking and talking to a couple of people
after the race
.  I
'
ve made a decision that
Calvin Brock will be riding Big Storm in Preakness and you
'
ll be sitting pretty in a box.
"

Jolene
bolted up
from her
lazy
position
,
with her head
lying
back on the seat
,
rubbing her throbbing leg
.
"
What do you mean
Patrick
?
"

Patrick
grazed her with his eyes
then looked back at the road. 
"
What I mean is that you won
'
t be
riding
Storm in any more races.
"

Jolene stared at his profile now fully awake with blood pounding in her ears
. 
"
Y
ou have got to be kidding me?  I am tired
Patrick
so I must have heard you wrong. 
Storm
could be a
Triple Crown
winner and I need to ride him!
"

Patrick
gripped the wheel tighter
. 
"
No,
Little
Red
you
'
ll not be
riding
him
any
more.  You almost got v
e
ry hurt today
.  As
it is your leg is really going to hurt you for a while
and I
'
ll have no more of that…you wanted to run the Derby, you ran the Derby.  That was our deal. 
From h
ere on out it is Calvin.
"

She rose
further
up in her seat leaning closer to him. P
anic and hurt rac
ed
each other
inside of
her heart. 
"
You can
'
t mean that
Patrick
, you just can
'
t….that isn
'
t fair, we just got a little caught up in the gate
…just like Man O
'
War…you know that story…best race horse ever.
…it could happen to anyone.
"
  Jolene
grabbed his arm
. 
"
Did you already talk to him?
"

"
Yes.
"

"
How could you?
"
  Jolene whispered harshly. 

"
Yer could have killed yurself.
"

"
I didn
'
t get hurt….just a little bit
…just one
scratch
.
"

"
But it dunno happen to someone with experience…you could both
have
been v
e
ry hurt. 
You almost came off that horse going full speed. 
There
'
ll be no more and that is my final word, or he
doesn
'
t run at all
.
"

Jolene
'
s breath came in short
hot
bursts
. 
"
I hate you
Patrick
McCab
e
!
"
  She flattened back in her seat to put distance between them.

He
turned to her for an instant
,
his eyes intense
inside of the darkened truck.
"
And when Belmont is over, we
'
ll be look
ing
at
your
new
school and sending you
local
to get started on your lady training before studies start
,
so you
'
ll be ready for those mannered girls when they
arrive in the fall
.
"

"
No!
"
  She
pressed herself against the car door to gain distance between them
. 
"
I can
'
t believe you would do this!
"
 

He turned on the dark country road that was the last leg of their journey. 
"
We made a deal and that is my final word.
"

Angry silence and hurt filled the car for the remainder of the journey.  Jolene held back her sobs long enough to pull the handle and drop from the truck
when the
y
pulled into the long driveway and stopped in front of her home
. 

When she got to the
front door of her house
she stopped and turned and leveled him with a hateful glare
and yelled over the simmering motor of the SUV
. 
"
I hate you so much
Patrick
McCab
e
.
  I swear I am going to run away from here and never come back!
"

Patrick
shot out of the
truck
and caught her
just
as she got to the door.

"Where are you going to run to Jolene?  Back to your Aunt Paula?"

He was so close now she could smell his intoxicating scen
t
mingled with the faint aftershave that made her tremble.  "Just maybe I will!"

His eyes sparkled in the almost-
full
-
moon.  "What
about Travis and all those men?
"

"What about them...maybe I will meet someone nice
?
  Nicer than you.
"

He stepped closer to her and his heat reached out to climb around her senses and pull her closer.
 
"Yer not going to meet anyone nice there Jolene."

Jolene didn't know why she suddenly took off in this direction but her outrage and anger drove her like a bat out of hell.  "I saw you put that mare in with Coal Minor
last week
.  I started thinking I wanted to know what it was like."

He blinked several times then
blew out a low whistle.  "You mean like being covered by a stallion."

"No,
don't be an idiot...you know I mean
a man."

"Yer too young to be thinking those things Jolene."

"I am 19
Patrick
;
most girls have been doing it for several years now."

He tilted his head with merry speculation dancing in
to
his eyes. 
"
Surely, y
ou
don't
want to be covered by one of those men at your aunt Paula's?"

"It is making love
Patrick
and you know it
, you are just trying to turn me off from thinking of doing it
."

He laughed softly and touched her hair.  "You think one of those men are going to make love to you Jolene?"  He tugged her into his heat.  "You think they will be gentle and kind in the taking?"

Jolene was trembling so hard she could barely stand.  "I don't know.  But maybe it is not supposed to be like that...I mean, the mare was kicking up a fuss but she let him do it.
  I hear Aunt Paula screaming but she
claims she loves sex.
  Seems like a kind of hurt that the girl likes.
"

Patrick
closed her body into his.  "Yer have never been with a man have you Jolene?  Not even a pet?"

"Well, I mean Travis has tried to trap me in a corner grabbing me and stuff and I hated it so much, but seems like everybody likes it...and I was thinking of it when I saw Coal Minor and the mare and I imagined myself with a man that way and it made me all tickled in the nasty-girl spot."

"Jolene."  His voice was harsh and gravely.  "Don't say those kinds of things."

He had pulled her against him and she could feel his peepee hard against her tummy.  She instinctively rubbed herself against him.  He groaned.
  "Why not?  I am just telling you about..."