by Leslie North
“See, there you go, sugar, I didn’t make you wait all that long. We’re here.”
Virginia made her eyes focus on what was in front of her instead of what was sitting beside her in the driver’s seat. When she realized where she was, she gasped, then laughed with utter surprise.
“The racetrack? You brought me to the racetrack?”
“I did,” he affirmed, climbing out of his truck and coming around to open the passenger’s side door, “is that okay? You seem surprised.”
“I am,” she laughed, “I’m very surprised.”
“In a good way or a bad way?” he asked, sounding nervous.
“Oh, it’s definitely a good way. I can’t even tell you how excited I am to be here! I don’t remember the last time I came. This definitely makes my list of top five first dates.”
“Oh yeah? Want to tell me which ranking I took?”
“Nope,” she smiled as they walked through the gates and headed towards the tracks, “not at all.”
“I’ll get it out of you, I can promise you that. I’m pretty damn good at getting what I want.”
“Wanna bet?” she challenged, hands on hips.
“Yeah, actually, I do. Betting sounds like a fantastic idea. What’re the terms?”
Virginia looked around her and breathed in deeply, taking in a scent that she would know anywhere. The smell of the track was an integral part of her childhood, and it brought back the sweetest memories that only that particular lens could provide.
Virginia's love of horses had begun almost as early as she could remember. She had always loved the beauty and grace of the animals, and the older she had grown, the more her obsession developed. Now, she loved not only the horses themselves but appreciated their history; their special breeding and lineage. It was one of the reasons it had been so easy for her to come up with the idea of teaming up with Jonah. If there was one thing she could get behind, it was supporting a business like his. The fact that he would bring her to a place like this for their first date, whether or not he knew how much she loved it, made her feel giddy all over.
“So, what’s our bet?” she asked, clinking the neck of her bottle of beer with the one he held in his hands.
“We’re at a horse track,” he laughed, “seems like the betting is pretty obvious.”
“Sure, if you want to be obvious about it.”
“So then you’ve got a better idea?” he challenged, leaning against the hightop table and looking at her appraisingly.
“As a matter of fact, I think I do.”
“Lay it on me, then.”
“Fine,” she said, hoping she looked more confident than she felt, “I will. How many races are there this afternoon?”
"Five, I think. How come?"
“Great! So here’s what I propose. If I pick more of the winning horses, we go on another date after this one.”
“And if I win?” he asked, studying her closely.
“Um, I don’t know? What do you want?” she asked uncertainly.
“Another kiss.”
“That’s all?” she asked, trying and she thought probably failing to hide her pleasure.
“Don’t sell yourself short, sweetheart. A kiss from you is definitely something to gamble for.”
“Okay then,” she said happily, holding her beer out for another cheers, “you’ve got yourself a bet.”
“So, correct me if I’m wrong, but by my estimation, we’re even. A dead heat.”
Virginia rolled her eyes dramatically and took another swig of her beer. Truthfully, she had no idea which one she wanted more; a win for herself or a win for Jonah. She was seriously competitive by nature, and losing wasn’t something she took to easily. That being said, she felt like she’d have to be crazy not to want to kiss Jonah again. It was pretty much all she had been thinking about since she’d first felt his lips on hers.
"Um, I wouldn't get too cocky, mister. We've still got another race to sit through. When we finish these beers, we're going to go right back out there, and I'm going to wipe the floor with you. You know, with love," she finished with a smirk.
"Are you now?" he asked genially enough. Virginia had met plenty of men who couldn't stomach her overly competitive side, but Jonah almost seemed to be enjoying it.
"I'm sorry to butt in, but I just have to say, you two are just the cutest couple. Charlie, aren't they just the cutest together?"
Virginia looked up to see a couple sitting to the right of Jonah, perched on their own set of bar stools. She did a quick scan—noticing the diamond on the woman’s left ring finger—and determined that more likely than not, the two of them were newly engaged. It was funny how that kind of thing happened. Now that she was technically a newlywed, she seemed to find people about to be in the same boat effortlessly.
“You’ll have to excuse her,” Charlie said with a grin, resting his hand comfortably on the unnamed woman’s knee, “she has a nearly pathological attraction to romance. She sees it everywhere.”
“That’s perfectly all right,” Virginia said happily, “speaking for myself, I never mind getting a compliment.”
“I’m Dolores,” the woman said, leaning across Charlie to shake Virginia and Jonah’s hands, “and I’m pleased as punch to meet you because I just have to know, have you guys been together long? Because you seem like you’re so in love and I just need to have your secret!”
"We actually just got married," Virginia answered, blushing from the tips of her fingers to the roots of her hair. She supposed she should have felt worse about deceiving them, but the thing was, it didn't really feel like a lie. They were technically recently married, and the sense of excitement she felt over whatever new territory they were entering was real.
“I knew it!” Dolores crowed victoriously, “Didn’t I tell you? I knew the two of you must’ve just gotten hitched! You have to tell me how the two of you met.”
“Come on, D,” Charlie said placatingly, “they don’t have to. They may not want to.”
“No,” Virginia said, the wheels in her mind turning as to what she should say, “that’s all right. It’s the kind of thing people want to know, isn’t it?”
“It’s actually kind of a nice story, I guess. I don’t mind telling it,” Jonah said easily. It took all of Virginia’s considerable effort to keep a straight face at his words, especially when she was screaming on the inside for him to shut up and let her do the talking. She would be the first one to admit that she had underestimated him with the barn consultation the other day, but if there was ever something that fell into her territory, it was fielding a question like this. If Dolores and Charlie noticed her distress, though, they didn’t let on. They were both too fixated on Jonah, waiting to hear whatever crazy story he was going to tell.
"The first time I saw Virginia, she must have been five years old. She was wearing a blue dress, and she was so small that even then, I thought I could almost pick her up and put her in my pocket for safe keeping."
“Oh my word,” Dolores breathed, “I’m going to cry. I just know it. This is the kind of story that’s going to make me cry.”
“She was always around, you know?” Jonah continued, almost like he had forgotten that there were other people there and listening to him, “she was always there, and I was too young and dumb to realize how lucky that made me. It’s a mistake I won’t make again.”
“See?” Dolores said, clearly affected by the story, “That’s the kind of love everyone wishes they had. Charlie, don’t you wish we had found each other earlier? I wish we had a story like theirs.”
“Are the two of you newlyweds as well?” Virginia asked, trying to shrug off the shaken feeling Jonah’s words had left her with.
“No, not yet,” Dolores beamed, “We’re actually newly engaged. We’re just trying to figure out how to attack the whole wedding thing. We don’t even have the first clue where to start!”
"It's a lot to wrap your head around," Virginia said sympathetically. She hadn't been thro
ugh that whole thing with Jonah, of course. The advantage of a sham, courthouse marriage was minimal planning required, but she'd been deep in the trenches with her engagement to Tom, and she understood the kind of overwhelming pressure a wedding could present.
“Like, how are you supposed to choose a venue? How do you even do that?” Dolores said, clearly exasperated, “Where did you guys get married?”
“You know, it’s funny you mention that,” Jonah laughed.
“Funny? Funny why?”
“Well, we actually have a wedding venue,” he answered simply, with no fanfare and no obvious plug for their business.
“But that’s perfect!” Dolores shrieked, “We already know we like you guys!”
“Thank you, that’s very kind,” Virginia started, “but I don’t want to give you an unrealistic idea of what to expect. We just started our business together and we’re still in the process of fixing the place up. It’ll be really lovely when it’s done, but—”
"But nothing," Charlie interrupted, looking almost as excited as his fiancée, "can we come take a look at it? I've got a good feeling about you two, and for me, that goes a long way."
“Of course you can!” Virginia said happily. As Charlie and Jonah exchanged contact information, Virginia watched, surprised and happy. It would never have occurred to her in a million years that Jonah would be so good at this, nor would it have occurred to her how sexy she would find it. By the time Dolores and Charlie stood and made their cheerful goodbyes, Virginia was practically salivating with the temptation of kissing him again. Unfortunately, a quick glance at the televisions showing the race in the bar told her that might not be coming as soon as she would have liked.
“The last race is over,” she said conversationally, only a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“So it is,” he said, just as noncommittal as he ever was.
“Looks like I won.”
“You’re right. It looks like you did.”
Then his hand was on her knee, and he was kissing her right there in the bar, deeply enough that one of the bartenders gave a low whistle. When he finally broke away, she was light-headed, feeling like she'd been turned upside down and inside out.
“What was that?” she asked stupidly, fighting an overwhelming urge to break into giggles.
“Darlin, if you have to ask, I must not be doing it right.”
“But I’m the one who won the bet,” she stammered, “that means you’re supposed to take me on another date.”
“And I will. The thing is, I’m kind of a sore loser. And you know what? I’m not even sorry about it.”
He grinned impishly, and after a moment's more struggle, Virginia lost her battle with her laughter.
9
“Jonah? Can you come over here, please?” Virginia called over her shoulder, crouched beside the place they had designated as the photo booth wall. As planned, it was now completely covered in paint and filth. Some of it was manufactured filth from the zombie set, and some of it was from digging around in the muck all day, but the end result was the same. She was absolutely filthy, one of her least favorite ways to be. She glanced at the bottle of ketchup beside her, waiting for Jonah's shadow to come up behind her. When no shadow appeared, she stood up, ruffling with irritation.
"Hey, Jonah? Did you not hear me or something?" she called again. This time, her voice not as polite as before. She could see him fiddling around with something at the open barn doors, and it was all she could do not to march over there and tap him on the shoulder. When he turned to glance at her, shielding his eyes from the sun, it was pretty plain that his mood wasn't much better than hers.
"I heard ya. I'm working on something," he answered, his tone clipped and short. Virginia stood up and put both of her hands on her hips. It was the classic "you're in trouble" stance for when a woman was pissed at a man, and she knew it. Part of her was screaming to let it go, to stop acting like a nagging wife and leave him in peace. Unfortunately, the other part of her was louder, and it was telling her to stand up and demand that he come and help her right now. The louder voice won.
"I can see that, Jonah. I wouldn't have called for you if I didn't need your opinion. Now, can you just come over here, please? I need you to take a look at this."
He rose to his feet, his knees cracking loudly, looking over the pergola he was in the middle of putting together. It looked to Virginia like it was completely done, anyhow, which made her feel all the more justified in drawing him away from it. She felt another flare of irritation at the sheer stubbornness in him and willed herself to keep her cool as he approached.
“Okay. I’m here. What’s so important that you needed me to come over right now?”
"I need you to take a look at this stupid zombie thing, that's what. It’s so totally out of my comfort zone that I don't even know where to start. Zombies are definitely not why I wanted to get involved in the wedding business."
“Stupid zombie thing, huh?” he said coldly, “The couple didn’t seem to think it was so stupid.”
"Fine, you're right. I know they did, and that's great, but now I'm standing here trying to figure out how to make it look like this backdrop is splattered with blood. I want you to tell me what you think," she finished, indicating her best attempt at a Jackson Pollock-style display of blood splatter.
“What is it?” he asked, annoyingly direct and to the point.
“What do you mean?”
“That stuff you used for blood. What is it?”
“Oh! It’s ketchup. I think it looks good enough, don’t you?”
“Nope,” he answered immediately and without any tact whatsoever, “it won’t work.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, “would you mind telling me why not?”
“Because it’s food and that’s exactly what it looks like. It’s not realistic. It looks fake.”
“So then what would you like me to do, Jonah? You want me to splatter real blood on the thing? Because I can tell you right now, that’s never going to happen.”
“Don’t be willfully dense,” he said irritably, “you know I wouldn’t suggest that. But what we can do is buy some fake blood from one of those costume stores. Some of that really looks like the genuine article. It’s the kind of thing they use in the movies.”
“Right,” she retorted, “and the cost reflects that. Do you realize how much cheaper just using ketchup would be?”
“I do. And the look reflects that.”
Virginia opened her mouth, ready to say all kinds of things, none of which were even approaching nice. At that exact moment, though, the pergola she had been so sure was rock solid decided to collapse into several large pieces on the ground. Jonah took one look at it and exploded into a string of curse words so foul it was all Virginia could do not to cover her ears.
What she couldn't figure out was how exactly they had gotten here. Both of them had just been off today, almost from the very start, and it hadn't gotten any better. She supposed a lot of it had to do with stress and the pressure of their first wedding rapidly approaching. They had only been married for a couple of months, and they had managed to get all of the structural repairs finished, but there was still so much to do! The money was running out as they made all the necessary purchases of lights, chairs, decorations, and everything else, and because this was their first wedding, they had yet to see any big paydays start rolling in.
No matter how much they worked, Virginia never felt like they were getting enough done, and she had a feeling that Jonah was starting to get good and tired of being the resident workhorse. The worst part about it was that if he did resent all the work she’d loaded on to him, she couldn't exactly blame him for it. The more time he spent helping her, the less time he spent on his own work, and all of that after she had promised that their two businesses would be separate. Realizing that should have made Virginia more understanding, but instead, it only made her feel guilty, which in turn only made the anger worse.
“Jonah!�
� she yelled, “You don’t have to talk that way! I’ve told you how much I hate that filthy language.”
"Yeah? Well, I'm not always going to do what you want me to, Virginia. And guess what? I don't have to. Your shit isn't the only stuff I have on my plate. I've got my horses, and just to make this whole funhouse a little more exciting, taking care of them is going to cost more than I thought. So excuse me if I'm a little pissy while I'm trying to keep the whole world rotating on the head on a pin. I'm fucking sorry, okay?"
“So then stop, why don’t you?” Virginia shot back. She could feel hot, salty tears coating the inside of her throat as it tightened, making it more difficult for her to speak. No matter how much she wanted to, though, she would not cry in front of him. She would not. There was no way she was going to allow herself to look that weak in front of Jonah, at least not if she could help it.
“I can’t stop,” he said in a low, strained voice, “that’s not how things work. I’m not the kind of man to just walk away from my responsibilities.”
“Newsflash, Jonah, I’m not your responsibility.”
"Yeah? Well, it sure feels like it sometimes. I'm involved now. You know that as well as I do."
“You know what?” she asked, her head positively ringing with all the nasty things she wanted to say.
“Nope, but it looks like you’re going to tell me.”
She wanted to, Lord knew she did, but when she looked into his eyes and saw the stress and pain there, she felt some of her anger die away. What she was starting to feel was just tired. Wrung out and tired and sorely in need of a tactical retreat.
“I need a break. I’m going back to the house, all right? Please just don’t follow me. I need to be alone right now so just don’t.”