Winning Odds Trilogy

by MaryAnn Myers

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dawn couldn’t sleep. Ben had scheduled All Together to work out of the gate three-eighths of a mile with two other horses. Today. She grew tired of lying awake staring at the ceiling, and got up and went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. She sat down in the living room to wait and listened to it perking. The apartment was quiet, too quiet lately. She turned the radio on, but couldn’t find a station she was happy with, and turned it off. She’d showered last night, but hadn’t washed her hair, so to kill time, she decided to wash it now. Four cups of coffee later, she left with her hair still damp and hanging loose to dry.

  Randy had just taken a five-and-a-half mile curve, commonly called a detour. He’d had been making good time up until then with the hopes of getting to Dawn’s apartment before she left for work. Not anymore. He glanced at his watch and headed for her favorite donut shop instead. With a little luck, he’d catch her there.

  Dawn paced back and forth in front of the counter, unable to make a decision. Blueberry or cranberry? Cinnamon? What? Randy parked two spaces down from the Jaguar, got out and walked over next to it. From where he was standing, he couldn’t see her. The windows of the shop were fogged from the ovens.

  Dawn started out the door and saw a tall, bearded man leaning against her car. She stepped back, the blood draining from her face, and glanced at the clerk, about to alert him, when suddenly she did a double take. A truck. She opened the door. “Randy...?”

  He smiled, shaking his head as he watched her walk toward him. Her hair was down, not in the braid, and hanging loose on her shoulders. When she reached him, he took the coffee from her, put it on the hood, wrapped her in his arms, held her tight and swung her around.

  “I love your beard! I almost didn’t recognize you!”

  Randy put her down, leaned back to get a good look at her, and threaded his fingers through her hair. “And I love your hair. When did you start wearing it this way?”

  “I didn’t. It was still wet when I left. I’m going to braid it when I get to the track.”

  Randy bent down to kiss her. “God, I missed you.”

  Dawn nodded, the past few weeks fading away in his arms. “When did you get back?”

  “Just now.” He picked her up and swung her around again, watching her hair. “You are so beautiful.”

  Dawn laughed. “Put me down, you’re making me dizzy. Come on, let’s sit in the car. I want to hear all about your family.” Inside, they each took a sip of coffee. Randy told her about the fire then and how it started, and about rebuilding the house.

  “The hard part,” he said, “was all the rewiring. It shorted everything. It all had to be done over.”

  Dawn listened intently, her attention averted only when she couldn’t stand it anymore and had to touch his beard again. Touch him. Randy kissed her, and then kissed her again.

  “Okay, so what’s been going on here?” he asked.

  Dawn smiled. “A lot. Linda moved in with Harland.” Randy raised his eyebrows at that, but Dawn seemed not to notice. “Beau’s at the farm and All Together’s at the track. Ben is really pleased with how she’s doing. Oh, and you were right, the Jaguar was burning oil. I had it tuned up and it’s running super.” She paused to take another sip of coffee. “Ben doesn’t look well to me, but he gets mad when I ask him anything about it. Charlie and Gloria’s wedding is just a few weeks away.” She paused again. “And I have really, really missed you. I called your house yesterday but no one answered.”

  Randy smiled. “My mom did, but you’d already hung up. I had a feeling that was you. It was right after that when I decided to leave. I finished up what I had to and drove through most of the night.”

  “So your mom and dad are all right?”

  Randy nodded. “They’re fine. Dad’s hands are going to be sore for a long time, but basically he’s okay. That reminds me, I forgot to tell you, Cindy’s getting married next weekend.”

  “You’ll be going back then?” Dawn asked, her disappointment obvious at the prospect of his leaving again so soon.

  Randy smiled, loving the look in her eyes. “Yes, and I was hoping you’d go with me. I want you to meet my parents, I think.”

  Dawn laughed. “I promise I’ll try not to embarrass you.”

  Randy smiled and traced his fingertips down the side of her breast. “Can you take the morning off?”

  “Not on your life. I can’t. Didn’t I tell you? Ben’s scheduled All Together for a work out of the gate with several other horses.”

  Randy just looked at her, then glanced away. You should’ve known better than to ask, he told himself. You’re not first in her priorities. Ever. And never will be.

  Dawn sensed his mood change and started rambling in an attempt to head it off. “Cajun won and had two seconds since you left. Son of Royalty’s in tomorrow. And you should see Charlie, he is so nervous about the wedding. While Gloria...”

  Randy interrupted her. “What about you, Dawn? What have you been doing?”

  She sighed. “I’ve been writing and eating a lot of Chinese food. That’s about it.”

  “Oh?” Randy sat back. “And how’s the precious book coming?”

  Dawn hesitated and chose to ignore his tone. The best thing to do, she decided, was to get going before it got worse. “I’m having some trouble with it, writer’s block I guess.” She leaned over to kiss him, though he hardly warmed to it. “With you gone, what did I have to write about?”

  Randy glanced away again, doing a slow burn, and looked back only when she touched his arm. “I really do love your beard, but right now, I have to go.” She frowned when all he did was open the door and turn to get out. “Are you going straight to the track? Maybe you can catch her work.”

  Randy shook his head. “No, I’m going to go home and shower and maybe take a nap. I’ll see you later.” As he drove to his apartment, he argued with her in his mind. Back and forth. At one point, he cursed her so vehemently, he smacked the steering wheel and startled himself when the horn sounded. Apparently, he’d fallen asleep.

  After the allowed time to clean up breakfast, the horses’ feed tubs were pulled, and training began. The walkers as usual were done first, two horses tracked then, and were bathed and cooled out. One ponied. He got a bath too. And Dawn was glad to be busy. Every time she thought about All Together’s upcoming work, her stomach started turning flip-flops. Finally the time came. Johnny was due any minute.

  “Whew! Talk about hustling ass,” Tom said. “I’ve been working my chapped balls off. You’d swear it was a race. The whole damned track’s talking about it. We ought to charge admission.”

  Dawn smiled and stroked All Together’s forehead, as she stood in front of her stall and held onto her reins. She was tacked and ready to go. Randy came down the shedrow then and walked right past her as he and Tom greeted one another.

  “Hey, Doc. You’re back.”

  Randy shook Tom’s hand, smiled, and glanced at Ben as he rose from his chair.

  “Good to see you back,” Ben said. “How are things at home?”

  “Everything’s fine.”

  “House all back to normal?”

  Randy nodded. “Just about.”

  Tom motioned to Dawn. “Yeah, well she ain’t been the same since you left.”

  Randy glanced at her, then followed Ben into the tack room. Tom, never one to let anything pass, ambled over to Dawn. “Odd how Randy didn’t say hi to you, don’t you think?”

  “I saw him earlier,” Dawn replied, regretting it as soon as she said it.

  “I thought as much.” Tom nodded knowingly, and headed out to the road between the barns to see if Johnny was coming.

  Randy talked to Ben a moment and was just about to leave the tack room when he noticed Ginney walking toward Dawn and calling her by name. He backed up, stared, and sat down next to Ben, then looked out again, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. He touched Ben on the shoulder, pointing to them, but Ben just shrugged. He never cared
for the Ginneys at the racetrack and wasn’t too thrilled with Dawn’s involvement with the girl, noble as it was, and was keeping his opinion to himself.

  Randy crossed his arms and sat back, listening.

  “We’re working one of my dad’s colts with her,” Ginney said, reaching up to straighten All Together’s forelock. “Goddamn, she’s pretty.”

  Dawn smiled. “Has the colt run before?”

  “Last year as a two-year old. He win all three races. But then he popped osselets so we pin-fired him and sent him home. He was shin-bucking too.”

  Randy stared at the floor in amazement, face in his hands, elbows on his knees. What gives? They’re talking like they’re old friends.

  “How’s he doing this year?”

  “Good, real good. This’ll be his third work. Dad’s schooling him out of the gate to see how he’ll behave. He was a real son of a bitch last year.” There was a momentary silence, before Ginney said, “I go to court Friday.”

  “You’re going to be fine,” Dawn assured her.

  “I’m scared shitless.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “Thanks, I’d really appreciate it.” Ginney smiled and then shrugged. “Well, I guess I’ll see you up at the track.”

  Randy rose to his feet and rubbed a tense ache in the back of his neck. He’d just heard the whole conversation, and still it didn’t make any sense. Dawn and Ginney friends? Dawn, who worried about clean cotton underwear, and Ginney, who most of the time didn’t wear any.

  “Ben, what’s this all about?” he asked, practically whispering.

  Ben glanced at him. “Ginney was raped.”

  Randy just stared a few seconds, then leaned closer. “What’s that got to do with Dawn?”

  Ben shook his head. “You’re going to have to ask her that,” he said, thinking about how if Randy were his son, that now might be the time to sit him down for a good talking. It was obvious he was uncomfortable because of his relationship with both Dawn and Ginney. But he decided to remain quiet, thinking Randy just might learn more by stewing a bit.

  “Johnny’s here!”

  Ben gladly accepted a ride up to the racetrack in Randy’s truck. Dawn chose to walk; she was too nervous, and followed the filly. Randy knew he should probably start making rounds, but decided if it waited this long, it could wait a few more minutes. He wasn’t about to miss this.

  Tom was right. It was an event.

  Dawn stood on the bumper of Randy’s truck, bracing herself by holding onto his shoulder as she strained to see. The gate was at the end of the track, in the gap at the head of the stretch. Ginney and her father stood close by, along with thirty or forty other trainers and grooms anxious to watch.

  The first horse loaded easily, All Together was loaded next, then Bud Meyers’ colt. The colt went in quickly, banged his chest against the padding at the front of the gate, reared, and was brought back down by one of the gate crew.

  “Spring the latch...” Dawn whispered, squeezing Randy’s shoulder even tighter.

  Ben shook his head. “Make her stand.” She’d been schooled thoroughly in the gate on the farm, but had a nervous streak in her. “Make her stand.”

  All Together pulled back, digging in with her hind legs as she tossed her head, connecting hard with the side-bars again and again.

  Randy glanced at Ben. “She’s a bitch.”

  Ben nodded.

  One of the men on the gate crew jumped from stall to stall, calling out names, banging on the gate with his feet, making as much clatter as he could, while another banged on the poles in the back. Noise, noise, noise, that was the purpose. Prepare them for anything. More noise. Then all of a sudden, everything got quiet, eyes focused straight ahead. All Together stared and froze. The latch was sprung, and the bell sounded.

  From out of the gap, it was hard to tell who broke on top, since they were coming directly at them. All Together was running in a weaving pattern, bumping the horse on the left before going back to bounce off the colt to her right. She did this at least twice. But by the time they got to the main track, she’d settled down, started running straight, and it became a horse race. The three ran in a tight pack. The horse on the inside appeared to have the lead as they dropped down on the rail, passing the sixteenth pole. Johnny was riding low, his head barely visible behind the filly’s large neck. At the wire, the horse on the rail started to drop back, while the colt fought to stay within a length of the lead. Johnny clicked to All Together, waving his whip before he tapped her with it and she pinned her ears, shied a little and then dug in. When Johnny stood up on her at the seven-eighths pole, she was four lengths in front of the colt. The third horse was three lengths behind him.

  Ben was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at Dawn and Randy. Dawn pounded lightly on Randy’s back, knowing better than to display too much excitement, following in Ben’s footsteps. She leaned to look at Ben’s stop watch. Thirty-four and three-fifths seconds.

  Bud Meyers walked away in disgust over his horse’s performance, Ben got back in Randy’s truck, and Dawn and Ginney headed toward the barns. “I love it!” Ginney said, in a low voice so her father wouldn’t hear. “That was Dad’s best colt, and the filly outrun him.”

  Dawn noticed Randy standing by his truck looking at her, realized she should’ve said something before just walking away, and waved. He shook his head and got in behind the wheel.

  “This is unbelievable,” Ginney said, again keeping her voice low. “Dad hates fillies. He calls them cunts. He says they’re always too busy horsin’ to amount to anything. Says they’re common.” She glanced ahead. “I think he hates women, period. Sometimes I think he hates me.”

  Dawn looked at her. She didn’t say anything; she just looked at her, and Ginney nodded. “It’s a fact. Ever since mom left him for some jock a few years ago. He hates them. We’re all alike, he says. We’re all cunts. Hell, if I didn’t know how to clean a stall, he probably wouldn’t have me around.”

  Dawn frowned. “Come on, your father wouldn’t have you around unless he cared.”

  “You kidding? He doesn’t trust a fucking soul. He wouldn’t let anyone but his own daughter work for him. Besides, he don’t pay shit!” Ginney laughed and shook her head. “Like I said, mom did him in when she left.”

  “Do you ever see your mom?” Dawn asked. All Together was almost to the gap, Johnny was smiling in their direction. She smiled back and turned to Ginney.

  “Yeah, once...” Ginney said, her voice saddening. “She wanted money.”

  “Did you give it to her?” Dawn asked, having a feeling what her answer would be.

  “Yeah.” She headed toward her barn, but stopped to look over her shoulder. “I gave her everything I had.”

  Tom, astride Red, led All Together and Johnny off the track. And was pumped. “Did you see her? She yanked the balls right out of those two colts! Shit, they’re probably little peas rolling around back at the quarter pole!”

  Dawn laughed, but didn’t appreciate Tom’s humor half as much as Johnny. He’d been laughing so much, he had tears in his eyes. All the jocks liked Tom. He was a living legend. Ain’t no horse too tough for Tom. And he was funnier than hell.

  Johnny jumped off then and hopped onto the running boards of Randy’s truck as it passed by so he could talk to Ben. His youthful eyes were big as silver dollars. “Did you see her? Did you see her?”

  Ben laughed. “Yeah, I saw her.”

  “She ducked in and out all over the place at first. But once she took to running...”

  Ben nodded, listening.

  “You’re gonna let me ride her, aren’t you, Ben?”

  “I’d planned on it. I want to take all the weight I can get.”

  “But I’m about to lose my bug.”

  Ben looked at him and smiled. The kid had been winning races left and right lately. “Well in that case, I’m going to have to think about it then.”

  Randy spent the rest of the morning trailing
around behind Dr. Raffin, holding instruments, retrieving supplies, and just plain feeling useless. Though he was thankful to have several farm calls to make, he called and scheduled them for the following day.

  Driving toward the Miller barn, he caught a glimpse of Dawn as she was almost to the stable gate. He pulled up next to her. “Were you going to leave without letting me know?”

  Dawn was taken aback with his tone. Damn him and his moods. “I thought you’d be busy, or I would’ve checked in.”

  Randy shook his head and drove off, then stopped, and backed up. “So where are you going?”

  Dawn was in a mood now. “Home.”

  Randy put the truck in drive again, trying to think fast. “The filly worked good.”

  Dawn brightened. “She really did, didn’t she?”

  He nodded.

  “Thanks for coming back to see her.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Randy said, adding foolishly, “If I hadn’t, you probably would never speak to me again.”

  Dawn shook her head and walked on. “Is that the only reason you came back?”

  “No,” Randy said, keeping up with her. “I mainly came back to see you, not that you’ve had any time for me.” He hated the tone of his voice, feeling like a love-sick teenager begging for a date. But damn it, he wanted her. He wanted her. “I was hoping we could get together. I’d like to come over.”

  “Suit yourself,” Dawn said.

  Suit yourself...? What, he thought, is this a one-way thing? “Hey, don’t let me put you out. Never mind, I don’t want to come over now anyway.” He drove on, pulled past the guard shack, and out onto the highway. “Fuck her!” he said. At the light, he glanced at his clipboard. “Okay, Mrs. Richmond. Here I come.”

  The woman hovered on Randy’s every move, even followed him out to his truck, and especially liked it when he had to lean in to put supplies away. With his body angled to one side, his shirt hiked up, exposing his bare muscled abdomen and all this dark luscious hair.