Call Me Softly

by D. Jackson Leigh

  “Just you and the guys?” she asked, staring down at her hands.

  Swain folded one of Lillie’s hands in hers. “Just me and the guys. We’ll stay right here until it’s over, then load up the horses and go home.”

  “We should be back by then, whipping up a menu for tomorrow.”

  “Then I’ll join you at the house.”

  “I’d love that, but you must be tired. You don’t have to cook, too.”

  “Who said anything about cooking? You two just ate all the good stuff Susan brought for me. You owe me.” Swain wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “I’m coming up to the house to be your taster.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lillie adjusted her stylish Tilley plantation hat with its rolled brim. “What do you think?”

  “Wow.” The minute Swain walked up to the Wetherington tent, she was afraid she’d never be able to concentrate on the match scheduled to start in an hour. She devoured the vision before her, from Lillie’s tan linen slacks and pale green blouse to soft blond curls pulled back in a green ribbon and topped with the jaunty hat.

  “Wow? That’s the best you can do?” Lillie’s smile softened her taunt.

  Swain swallowed and nodded. Her mind and mouth were paralyzed. Too bad other parts of her weren’t. She put her hands in her pockets and shifted her feet to relieve the pressure on the throbbing between her legs. She felt her cheeks flush when Lillie’s smile broadened knowingly.

  Bonner’s wife, Charlotte, daintily popped another lobster scampi puff in her mouth and hummed her approval. “Lillie, darling, this is fabulous. No wonder everyone is over here at your tent.”

  Swain was relieved at the reprieve when Lillie greeted her guest. “Thank you, Charlotte. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

  “I must have the name of your caterer. I’ve been desperate to find someone exceptional for Susan and Jason’s wedding in the spring. Everyone around here offers the same old thing.” Charlotte held up a tidbit. “What is this? It’s delicious.”

  “Edamame dumpling. I’m afraid we’re getting a little low on these. Somebody I know has eaten their weight in them already,” Catherine said, swatting Swain’s hand away from them. She motioned for the tuxedoed cooking-school student they’d hired to refill the platter from one of the coolers in Catherine’s SUV.

  Swain scowled at Catherine, just for effect, but abandoned her snacking and stepped over to Lillie’s side. The town’s upper echelon was a tank full of sharks who might make several harmless passes before biting. She’d never cared that they rarely acknowledged her presence, even when she was with Abigail. But she wouldn’t tolerate them treating Lillie that way.

  Lillie subtly touched her shoulder against Swain’s, acknowledging and accepting her support, before waving her hand nonchalantly toward the feast.

  “Have you met my friend Catherine?” she asked Charlotte. “She’s the master of this little feast.”

  Actually, Catherine had called in a lot of favors the day before to put the menu together. She and Lillie did cook several items, but the rest came from an afternoon class of cooking students, two of Catherine’s fellow cooking-school graduates, and a visit to a specialty bakery in Columbia.

  “Catherine, dear, please tell me that you cater. You must do my daughter’s wedding on the twenty-fifth of March. I won’t take no for an answer. Name your price and my husband will pay it.”

  Lillie interceded. “Oh, I’m afraid Catherine doesn’t do this on a regular basis. I took advantage of our friendship to persuade her to help me today. She’s such a gifted chef. If she caters just one event, she’s flooded with requests. You wouldn’t believe how insistent people can be.” Her thinly veiled admonishment hit its mark.

  Charlotte’s horrified expression nearly made Swain choke on the water she was drinking. She could relax. Lillie obviously knew how to handle the high-born.

  “I’m so sorry if I offended. Of course, a talent such as yours would be in high demand. Please forgive me if I overstepped.” Charlotte took Catherine’s hand and, for a moment, Swain thought she might kneel and kiss it. “However, I would be forever indebted if you would consider my offer. I’ll never get to plan another wedding. Susan is my only daughter, and, well, I want everything to be perfect.”

  Catherine squeezed Charlotte’s hand, but her smile was noncommittal. “Of course you do. I completely understand. I’ll check my calendar and let you know.”

  Swain wanted to laugh aloud. Lillie and Catherine certainly didn’t need her protection. If anything, someone needed to watch out for Charlotte’s interests. They had her begging like Beau at dinnertime.

  “You are so kind. I’ll look forward to hearing from you.” She shoved her empty plate into Swain’s hands and refilled her glass with the wine punch. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to find Frances and send her over here. She’ll just die for those lobster puffs.”

  They watched Charlotte hurry away toward the Hitchcock tents, holding her cup carefully so her wine punch didn’t slosh.

  Swain chuckled. “That poor woman never stood a chance against you two.”

  “Give that to me,” Lillie said angrily as she took Charlotte’s abandoned plate from Swain and handed it to the server for disposal. “She’s obviously too stupid to know the difference between a polo jersey and a serving uniform.”

  She turned to Catherine, her voice tight. “If you agree to cater that wedding, you better charge them at least three times the going rate. Mr. Whitney has certainly been a great help to me, but he has a bitch of a daughter and a dim-witted wife.”

  Swain blinked, surprised. The furious, incredibly beautiful Lillie had just become the protector rather than the protected. Swain hadn’t had time to digest that shift before Lillie’s hands were on her collar, straightening and smoothing it.

  “Why are you still hanging around here?” she said softly, her previous anger still flushing her cheeks. “The match starts in thirty minutes, and you can’t win that trophy for me standing here to guard us from the local piranha.”

  “If I was worried before, I’m not now.” Swain moved close enough that Lillie’s faint scent of magnolias made her ovaries clinch. “You’re as dangerous as you are beautiful,” she murmured.

  “Ah, I see you’ve found that silver tongue you seemed to have lost earlier.” Now Lillie’s expression was soft and affectionate. She brushed her lips along Swain’s cheek. “For luck.”

  *

  The opposing team was from a well-funded New York stable, having stopped off to play the tournament on their way to Florida for the winter polo season. Although they were unable to keep Swain from scoring, their experience gave them an edge over the rest of the Raiders. So, what developed was a primarily offensive game, pushing the halftime score abnormally high at seven to seven.

  The five-minute halftime break was bedlam at the Wetherington trailers where the team was changing horses and gulping water.

  Javier was speaking rapid Spanish to Swain, who was nodding as she handed off a very exhausted Black Astor to one of the stable’s grooms. Rob was swearing as he dug through a pile of mallets to select a different one for the second half. Julia, the fourth member of the team, gave up her struggle to refasten the broken strap on her knee guard and threw it on the ground, disgusted.

  Swain held her hands up, palms out. “Whoa, whoa. Everybody just calm down. Javier, speak English so Rob and Julia can understand, too. Rob, get the stick with the blue grip. I need you hooking more. Julia, I’ve got another set of knee guards you can use.” She turned to John. “Will you get them from the trailer?”

  The group quieted and looked at Swain, their captain, expectantly.

  “Yes, they’re tougher than we thought. But not so good that we can’t beat ’em. We’re keeping up with them offensively, but we need to pump up our defense. So, I’m going to work a little harder to help Javier out on that end.” She held up her hand again to stop Rob as he opened his mouth to interrupt. “In the next two chukkers, I just want to
hold our own, play things safe and clean. Rob, since I’ll be helping Javier, I’m depending on you to do more to feed the ball to Julia for points.”

  Rob shook his head. “We need you scoring, boss. That’s the only reason we’re tied with them now.”

  Swain leveled a stern stare at him. “You can do this, Rob. Your job in the number-two position is primarily offense. Julia’s job in the number-one position is offense. If Javier and I do well on defense, you won’t have to score that much to keep up with them.”

  Julia looked doubtful. “We’ve always believed the best defense is a good offense. We’re an offensive team. Do you think it’s a good idea to change that in the middle of a match?”

  “That’s exactly why we need to lay back but not down…just for the next two chukkers. Hopefully, they’ll think we’ve used up our energy and best horses.” She paused for effect. “Then, in the final chukker, we’ll open up a big can of offense whoop-ass on them. Javier, you’ll be guarding the goal pretty much by yourself, so I want you mounted on Domino.”

  “You already rode him in the first chukker,” Julia pointed out.

  “Domino’s good for another,” John said as he returned with the extra knee guards.

  “He can stop and turn on a dime, and Javier’s going to need that to intercept their shots,” Swain said. Domino was also Javier’s favorite in the stable, even though Swain normally rode him. Hopefully, riding him would give Javier the confidence he needed do an exceptional job.

  “Rob, I want you up on Hard Knox for the last chukker. Any time we get in a bunch-up, use his size to bump right through the middle and kick that ball out. I’ll be on Nor’easter. Julia, save Flash for the last period. We’re going to run that ball downfield so fast, they won’t know what hit ’em until it’s already between the goalposts.”

  By the time Swain finished laying out the plan, the others were all agreeing.

  “We’re going to win this one for Abigail. We’re going to win it for Lillie,” she declared.

  “Huelo la victoria. Es un buen día para ganar,” Javier crowed.

  Swain grinned and translated for the others. “I smell victory, too, Javier. It is a good day to win.”

  *

  Lillie paced in front of their seats. “Where are they?” The officials were looking at their watches. “We don’t need to start the second half with a penalty.”

  Catherine laughed. “One tournament and you’re becoming a fussy sponsor.”

  Lillie laughed at herself. “I guess I just get caught up in it.” She filled her cup from the punch bowl and plopped down in the chair next to Catherine’s. “I think it’s important to Swain to win this one…for Grandmum.”

  Catherine gave her a pointed look. “I think it’s important to her to win it for you.”

  Flushing, she searched out Swain as the Raiders burst onto the field, narrowly missing a penalty for being tardy. “We aren’t…we haven’t—”

  “I’m sorry,” Catherine said quickly. “I had just gotten the impression…I don’t even know if you date women.”

  “Exclusively.” Lillie smiled. “Your instincts are correct. It’s just that Swain and I…well, it’s complicated.”

  Catherine was contemplative. “I’m not sure what the complications are, Lillie, but the attraction between the two of you is obvious. Neither of you do a good job of hiding it.”

  Lillie took off her hat and nervously brushed back a curl with her fingers. “I kissed her once, though she hasn’t initiated anything in return.”

  “Swain’s a complex person. She seems to take everything in stride. But the waters run deep under that laid-back act. Although she makes friends easily, she doesn’t trust easily.”

  The opposing team won the throw-in and hammered the ball downfield. Swain wheeled to ride her opponent off the line of play while Javier neatly intercepted the ball and hit it to Rob, who whizzed it toward Julia. Unfortunately the other team intercepted it, so Swain and Javier prepared to defend again.

  “Perhaps that’s the complication between us. Until Grandmum’s will is read, neither of us can trust what the future holds.” That was it. Swain trusted her with her past, but not her future. She wished she could promise Swain more.

  Catherine squeezed Lillie’s hand. “I’m sure everything will work out fine.”

  The ball was again rocketing toward Javier, but Swain had her pony in a dead run toward it. With perfect timing, she stretched far forward and swung her mallet under her steed’s neck. It connected with a loud crack to reverse the direction of the ball back toward her offensive players. Lillie and Catherine jumped to their feet and cheered loudly. The ball, however, was intercepted again and immediately surrounded by a knot of players who jostled for position while it ricocheted among the ponies’ hooves. They sat back down to watch.

  “So…you date women exclusively? You never switch-hit?” Catherine asked.

  “No. I’ve never met a man who made me want to.”

  “Does it bother you that I do?”

  “Not at all.” She patted Catherine’s arm. “I know some very nice men. I just don’t want to kiss them.”

  Catherine laughed. “Well, I don’t find too many attractive that way, but Reid is different. He and I clicked the first time we met. I told him about my past with Swain and he’s fine with it.”

  Lillie was surprised. “He must be quite a guy, especially to let you continue to be friends.”

  “He is quite a guy. But speaking of guys, should I go over there and tell the one who’s been staring at you all day that he’s barking up the wrong tree?”

  Lillie went completely still, her heart freezing a beat. “Someone’s watching me?”

  “Right over there.” Catherine pointed toward the bleachers. “Well, he was there a minute ago.”

  “What’d he look like?”

  “Hard to tell. He had on a ball cap and sunglasses. But he had a nice build.”

  Like the guy at the racetrack. Lillie shuddered, wishing she’d told Swain about her stalker and her gut feeling that the cat didn’t get locked in the closet by accident. Her doubts had seemed silly at the time. She had nothing to go on but one e-mail and an odd feeling from the guy at the track. He could have been anybody. He could have been just some guy looking at pretty women. Now, the chill that ran through her told her to trust her instincts.

  Catherine looked at Lillie curiously. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes, of course. I just hadn’t noticed.”

  Catherine didn’t appear convinced, but Lillie didn’t feel like offering more of an explanation. She turned her attention back to the playing field so Catherine would do the same. Things weren’t going well there either.

  The ball broke from the bunch-up and an opposing player thumped it neatly between the goalposts before Javier could stop it.

  The Raiders were down by one.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Swain knocked softly on the back door of the main house, unsure why she’d walked up from the barn after dark, in the rain. Lillie was a siren she was finding impossible to resist. She smiled when Lillie opened the door and grabbed her arm to pull her inside.

  “You’re soaked to the skin,” Lillie said. “Haven’t you heard of an umbrella?”

  “I was already wet from unloading the ponies and equipment.” She had to raise her voice to be heard as Lillie ducked into the housekeeper’s suite to retrieve a towel from the bathroom. “I wanted to make sure you got back okay.”

  Lillie threw the towel over Swain’s head and began to rub her hair dry. Swain laughed under the onslaught, catching Lillie’s hands in hers. “I can do that myself,” she said.

  Lillie dropped her hands, but didn’t step back. When Swain finished drying off, Lillie finger-combed her hair into place. She submitted silently, relishing the feel of Lillie’s long fingers. Their eyes met and they smiled at each other.

  “Are you hungry?” Lillie asked. “We have some leftovers from the buffet.”

  “Famis
hed.”

  She was hungry, but she’d have professed to anything to spend time with Lillie. They had been surrounded with other people all day, and the pace had been hectic. Lillie was busy with the buffet preparations, playing hostess at the tent, then cleaning up the food and equipment to come home. Swain had been tied up with the details of hauling horses to the polo field, playing the match, the awards ceremony afterward, then trailering horses back to the farm.

  “Did you have fun today?” Swain asked.

  “I had a wonderful time. And you were magnificent, outscoring them four to one in the last chukker.” Lillie waved her hands as she talked, her eyes bright. “I was on the edge of my seat when it was tied with only a minute left. And when they got that shot off toward our goal, I was holding my breath and praying at the same time.”

  Swain understood. Watching had to be a lot harder than playing.

  The Raiders had played at the top of their game the entire match, but still were down by two goals at the start of the last chukker. Mounting their best ponies for the final period, they held the other team to one more goal. The other team’s ponies were no match for Nor’easter. Astride him, Swain seemed to be everywhere on the field—defending, riding off opposing players, stealing the ball, and firing in three goals with deadly accuracy. When the bell rang to signify only a minute left, the score was tied.

  Even so, all seemed lost when, in that final minute, an opposing player popped the ball loose out of a bunch-up and his teammate’s wide swing sent it flying airborne toward the goal. The other players seemed to freeze as Domino lunged toward it and Javier stretched to his fullest.

  His mallet nailed the ball in midair, dropping it to the ground several yards short of a goal. Domino instantly reared and whirled with all the agility of his desert ancestors, putting Javier in position for a clean swing to slam the ball back into the open field.