by Tonya Kappes
“Bobby, this is Vivian Westwood.” Clay introduced me.
Bobby stood about five-foot-ten with a muscular build. His curly brown hair was in desperate need of a hair cut. The black two-piece suit hung on him. The jacket gapped open exposing a not-so-put-together Miami Vice look.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Bobby hoisted our suitcase into the trunk of the taxi. “We heading to your place?”
“Nah, I don’t live there no more. I moved to Kentucky.” Clay fiddled with his phone and asked me, “Where are you staying?”
“Me?” I asked. I dug in my bag for the itinerary. I whispered, “You aren’t staying with me?”
“Momma would kill me,” he whispered back and took the paper. “El Paisano.”
“I should’ve known since it’s the only hotel in town.” Bobby’s curious eyes appeared in the rearview. “What are you in town for?”
“I have some business with Infiniti Farms.” I smiled and patted Clay’s leg.
“Yeah, Kentucky. Horses. I should’ve known.” Bobby glanced at Clay and quickly looked away.
I looked up at Clay and he smiled. There was a little tension between the two of them.
“You are here right in time for the barn dance tonight,” Bobby said, breaking the silence as we neared Marfa. “Old man Huford is having one of his Cattleman’s Association burger stations there too.” Bobby smacked his lips together. “Good eats.”
“Oh, that sounds great.” My brows raised at the fun.
“We are having dinner with Momma tonight.” Clay’s voice was matter-of-fact.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Fine.”
The rest of the ride to the hotel, though not long, seemed like it took forever as the three of us rode in silence.
Marfa was adorable. The city was cozy and the main street dead-ended into the courthouse. El Paisano was on the left.
I could picture a good old Texas gun-slinging showdown right there back in the day.
“This is so neat,” I said when we pulled up to the hotel.
The old historic building oozed charm with the striped awning and wrought-iron fenced balconies on the front. The Spanish style design was perfect for the name.
Clay jumped out and opened my door. He held out his hand for me to take and I did.
“I’m going to go to Momma’s and let you get situated.” He pulled me tight.
“Oh.” Disappointment settled in my gut. This was not what I had planned. I whispered, “I thought we were going to make love?”
“We have plenty of time for that.” He kissed my ear. “I just want you to knock them dead and I’ll go visit with Momma.”
“You need me to take you to the farm?” Bobby rolled down his window and stuck his elbow out.
“No.” Clay beat me to agreeing to the ride. “Our boss has a ride for her. He will be here in about,” Clay looked at his watch, “forty minutes.”
“Okay.” I was happy to know he knew exactly what Leonard had planned for me.
“Knock ‘em dead.” He gave me one last vote of confidence before he hopped back into the taxi, only he sat up front.
“Okay, bye,” I muttered. “You could’ve kissed me bye.”
I felt a little orphaned on the side of the road with my bag next to my feet.
The inside of the hotel was magnificent. The woman working the front desk was so helpful.
“Welcome.” Her beautiful olive skin, long black straight hair and dark eyes told me she was from Spanish decent.
She easily could’ve been a model.
“Thank you.” I put the suitcase down.
“You must be Vivian Westwood.” She ticked away on her computer.
“How did you know?”
“Most people who stay here are couples or traveling through.” She noted my lack of a couple.
“I will have someone joining me later.” I smiled, feeling somewhat better that Clay was going to be here.
“Great.” She gave me the key and instructed me to go through the courtyard and my room was right beyond that. “If you need anything, I’m Bella. Don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you so much.” I took the key and went the way she told me to.
The courtyard was open to the air. There was a large fountain in the middle with café tables around for the guests to enjoy the amazing décor. If I didn’t have the meeting, I could see Clay and I enjoying each other with a couple beers while relaxed in each other’s arms listening to the trickling water.
The mini-suite Rosemary had booked was perfect. The view from the balcony overlooked the courtyard and fountain. Clay and I would definitely be enjoying our stay in the king bed.
I looked at my watch. There was plenty of time to grab a bite to eat for my growling stomach.
After grabbing my briefcase from my luggage and making sure the video of Brilliance and Clay was in there, I headed down to see where the delicious smell was coming from.
“Hi again.” I walked up to the lady at the counter. “Where is that delicious smell coming from?”
“Our hotel restaurant, Jett’s, is right through there.” She pointed. “There is a wonderful menu.”
“Thanks.” I checked my watch. There probably wasn’t enough time, but maybe they had a piece of fruit I could grab.
“Before you go,” she stopped me. “You said that you would have a guest joining you and your reservation doesn’t mention anyone else. I can get a room key for them.”
“Oh,” I bet Rosemary had forgotten to add Clay on the room. “Clay Preston.”
“Where?” She looked beyond my shoulder.
“My guest that will be staying with me is named Clay Preston,” I said.
“Clay Preston as in Clay from Marfa?” Her head tilted to the side, her long black hair flowed down like the water from the fountain.
“Yes.” I smiled. “He never told me about his local celebrity status.” I laughed.
“Marfa isn’t that big.” She typed away at her keyboard and didn’t look up.
“I guess you know him?” I asked.
“Do I know Clay Preston?” She cocked her head back and laughed.
“You must be Vivian Westwood,” a gentleman that had walked in the hotel interrupted.
“Well Jim,” Bella came from behind the counter. “This is Clay Preston’s friend all the way from Kentucky.”
“I’m Jim Bellomy with Infiniti Farms.” He took off his baseball cap that clearly had their logo plastered all over it. “I went to school with Clay Preston. Nice to meet you.” He stuck out his hand.
There was a little tension in the air.
“I see you met Bella. She runs the hotel here in Marfa and she’s a old friend to us all.” He slid his eyes toward her and she planted the biggest fake grin on her face.
Before I could say anything, Jim had his hand on the small of my back, guiding me out of the hotel. I glanced over my shoulder at Bella. Her beautiful eyes had narrowed, her arms were crossed and slowly she shook her head.
There was something going on and it seemed everyone knew it but me.
I had a hard time keeping up with Jim as he chattered on and on about the Sheikh and how he was excited and proud for Infiniti to be considered in the same league as the Lady B, but I couldn’t shake Bella’s pissed-off face from my memory.
“May the best man win. . .er. . .man or woman win.” Jim stopped in front of a cement building that looked nothing like a barn or farm.
I didn’t dare open my mouth or give away any secrets until I had the Sheikh right in front of me.
The building was three stories high with an atrium in the middle. There were people milling around on all three floors. More employees than the Lady B had ever seen.
Jim took me into the first room after a round of introductions of people I would never remember, but I did my best to smile and nod.
“Here is where we would hook Brilliance up and get a reading of his muscle mass, heart rate, brain waves. Here we would determine t
he amount of stress he could go through before doing the bucking and misbehaving the Sheikh claims is making it hard from him to be broken.”
My mouth dropped. There were horse-sized treadmills with all sorts of electrodes hanging from the ceiling. There was one horse hooked up and walking just as if it was exercising.
Jim made a phone call.
“Now look.” He pointed toward the horse.
The horse was in a full dead sprint on the treadmill. The readouts on the monitors were off the chart.
“He has the ability to go twenty furlongs until he starts bucking. Today we are shooting for twenty-four.” He pointed to the monitor that clearly read Furlongs on the top.
There were hoots and hollers throughout the room as the thoroughbred made it up to the twenty-four furlongs. But they didn’t go over that. Slowly they brought the thoroughbred down to a slow trot.
“Here we like to use technology. As you can see, the horse never got stressed and never started all the bucking crap where you have to stop and let the horse rest.” Jim was pretty proud of himself.
He tugged on his pants and looked up at a bunch of windows that looked down into the room.
I glanced up there and saw Birdie and the Sheikh looking down on us. Birdie and I locked eyes.
Her head dropped. Her eyes closed. Right then and there, I knew I was going to have to really perform tomorrow in front of them or Brilliance was going to be hooked up to a bunch of machines just like this horse was.
“What about natural environment?” It seemed like a good question to me. “If a horse is used to running in here and not getting spooked, what happens when the horse goes outside? The wind blows. Horns honk. Birds chirp.”
“Thank you for coming by.” Jim graciously avoided my questions.
I looked back up at Birdie. There was a smile as big as the Grand Canyon planted on her face.
“The Lady B takes the entire environment into a horse’s training. From breaking all the way up to the jockey. A horse is very adaptable and if you don’t adapt him from the beginning—” Jim cut me off.
“Again, thank you for taking a tour with us. I’m sure you’d like to get some sleep.” He opened the door of the big building. “Bobby is out there to take you back to your hotel. Have a wonderful evening with Mr. Preston.”
The nerve. I glared at him and didn’t bother saying goodbye. It was his tactic to get me alone and show off in front of the Sheikh.
“That sonofabitch!” I slammed the taxi door. “I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “That wasn’t ladylike, but if that man thinks he can snow me, he has never met a born-and-bred Kentucky girl.”
I bit my lip from saying anything else.
“I know they can be a little—”
“Arrogant?” I interrupted Bobby.
“Full of themselves. But they are a prideful family.” Bobby kept his eyes straight.
“So are you the only taxi in town?” I asked.
“Yep. I’m the ears and eyes of everything going on in Marfa.” He glanced back. His eyes twitched.
“Are you trying to tell me something?” I couldn’t help but get the feeling something just wasn’t right.
“Just watch your back while you’re here. That’s all.” He put the car in gear. “We are here.”
“That didn’t take long,” I muttered under my breath.
“I hope to see you at the dance.” Bobby refused the money I offered to pay for the ride. “Jim already paid.”
“That’s the one stand-up thing the guy has done today.” I slammed the door.
I tried to put the fiasco and embarrassment behind me. I had to see Bella and find out what all the gibberish she was spouting off about Clay was.
“Excuse me.” I tapped my finger on the front desk. “Is Bella here?”
“No, ma’am,” the guy answered. “She’s gone for the day.”
“Will she be back tomorrow?” I asked.
“No. It’s her day off.” He smiled and looked past me.
I turned around.
“Thank God you are here!” I was never so happy to see someone in my life. I flung my arms around Clay and didn’t want to let go. “It was awful. Those people at Infiniti were awful.”
“Let’s go up to your room and I want to hear all about it.” He squeezed.
I led him across the courtyard and yammered on and on about Jim and how he tried to make a fool of me.
“But I wasn’t going to get out of there without having the last word.” I didn’t tell Clay, but I knew there were microphones in that fancy room and the Sheikh had heard every word I had said.
“I’m sure you were fabulous.” Clay took my key and opened the door to the suite.
The smell of fresh rose petals rushed out the door when I stepped inside. They lay all over the floor and all over the bed. Candles were lit everywhere. A bottle of champagne chilled over ice. Two flutes sat on a silver tray next to a dozen chocolate-covered strawberries.
“Welcome to Marfa.” He drew me into his arms.
All the stress melted away.
My heartbeat skipped again, and again with the anticipation of what was coming next.
Chapter Fourteen
“My momma is going to love you.” Clay played with a strand of my hair, curling it around his fingers. We lay facing each other. “She is so excited to have you for dinner.”
“Did you tell her that you have to stay with me?”
“Darlin’, I can’t do that. Momma knows.” He grinned and ran his hand over my shoulder, down my arm, and rested it on my hip. “Momma is going to know I’m crazy about you when she sees us together.”
“Did you tell your momma that we are in love?” I didn’t want this moment to end. “Better yet, why don’t you call your momma and tell her that we have other plans right here. Doing this.”
I rolled up on top of him. Starting with his eyes, I kissed down his face, finally capturing his lips.
“Baby,” he gasped between breaths. “We have to go.”
“You are a momma’s boy,” I teased and stared into his big blue eyes.
“I’m yours.” The throbbing of his lips caused me to shift closer and closer to him. “Momma who?” he asked before we let ourselves go back to finding our pleasure points.
Before we knew it, we were already thirty minutes late to dinner and I still needed to shower.
“You are going to have to hurry.” He sat on the edge of the bed tapping his fingers together.
“Are you nervous about bringing home a girl?” I called out from the bathroom while trying to put on one of Luvie’s dresses.
It was a sundress with all sorts of straps in the back, only I didn’t know which was an arm strap and they were all tangled.
I took a quick look out at Clay. His nervousness was apparent and cute.
“I might be a little nervous.” He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “I’ve never brought a girl home before.”
“You? Local celebrity?” I laughed. “I don’t believe it. By the way,” I cocked my head to the side to shift my hair so I could get an earring in. “Do you know a Bella that works here?”
I went back into the bathroom to look in the mirror.
“Long dark hair. Beautiful girl. I mean model beautiful!” I hollered out.
“Have you looked in the mirror?” he asked and came into the bathroom. He put his arms around me and rested them at my waist. “Look at you.” We stared in the mirror. “Viv, babe, you are model beautiful.”
I tilted my head to the side. He swept my hair from my shoulders and replaced it with his lips. They made a path along my shoulder, up my neck and I turned around to capture them on my own lips.
“We have to go,” I coaxed him because I knew if I didn’t, I would never get to meet his momma and I wanted to shake her hand for giving birth to someone who made me this happy.
“Fine. Fine.” He dropped his arms and I followed him out of the bathroom.
Bobby was waiting for us outside of
the hotel when we came out.
“You are late and your momma is going to kill you.” Bobby tapped his watch before he opened the door.
“I have a secret charmer.” Clay wiggled his brows my way.
“Oh, I think your momma knows you are the real charmer.” I tweaked the tip of his nose with my finger and got into the taxi.
Clay and Bobby had some idle chit-chat about people I didn’t know so I just sat back and enjoyed the scenery.
“Looks like we are here.” Clay pointed out to the home behind the gated fence.
“Beautiful.” I noticed the cream stucco home was a pretty good size.
Bobby pulled up to the gate and pushed the button to buzz us in. He stopped the taxi just shy of the large stone walkway that led up to a cream wall with a wrought-iron gate. Behind the gate was a little garden with a koi pond and waterfall.
“My mom loves her fish.” Clay gestured for me to walk over the arched bridge as the koi swam beneath us.
The large black wooden door opened right before we approached.
“My baby!” A woman outstretched her arms.
Immediately I could see where Clay had gotten his eyes, skin color, and great looks. She wore a long skirt and a white v-neck tee with a pair of casual jeweled sandals.
The first hug was given to Clay before he stepped out of the way and grabbed my hand.
“Momma, this is Vivian Westwood.” The pride on his face made me feel all warm inside.
“Welcome to our home, Vivian.” Mrs. Preston’s eyes squinted as her lips formed a big smile. “Thank you for keeping my son company in Lexington while he is there on business.”
“You are welcome. Thank you for having me in your home.” I looked at Clay. “Business?”
He shrugged. His mom disappeared into the home. He bent down and whispered, “She refuses to believe that I’ve moved. She calls it business.”
“Oh.” I laughed. It sounded like something my momma would say.
“Come on in, kids!” Mrs. Preston yelled.
The home was a large, open floor plan with the most beautiful Kiva fireplace. The bright tiles illuminated the house.