“Would you like some lunch?” she asked, in a sultry voice. “Mr. Richmond is at the office and I’m all alone, except for some mute-like servants who see nothing.” She slipped her hand under his shirt and ran it across his back.
Randy reached up to close the compartment door, which afforded her the opportunity to duck under his arm. She pressed up against him, arching her thigh between his legs.
Randy smiled. “I’ve got a full afternoon. I’m sorry. Maybe some other time.”
Mrs. Richmond wrapped her arms around his neck, moving her breasts back and forth across his chest. “I’ll make you anything you like.”
Still smiling, Randy gave it some thought. Certain parts of his anatomy gave it equal thought. Why not, he said to himself. Mrs. Richmond pulled his face to hers, kissing him as she detected the stirrings of his interest, and ran her hand down the front of his pants.
Dawn was just about to order up Chinese when the intercom buzzed.
She pushed the button. “Yes?”
“Dr. Iredell to see you. Shall I send him up?”
“No.”
The attendant covered the phone, for Randy to respond, and came back with, “He says it’s important. It’s about a Ginney Meyers.”
“Okay, fine. Send him up.” Dawn ran across the room to look in the mirror, stared at her reflection, and drew a deep breath before she opened the door. “I thought you weren’t coming over.”
Randy just stood there a moment. Her arm blocked his entry. “Are you going to let me in?”
Dawn stepped aside, taking him in entirely with her eyes as he walked past her. “So what’s this about Ginney?”
“I just figured it out,” Randy said, “and came over to see if I’m right. She’s a character in your book, right?”
Dawn closed the door. “What?”
“In your book. She’s just one of your characters, one of your many characters.”
Dawn watched him as he sat down and crossed his arms, then walked over and sat down next to him. “No, she’s not a character in my book. Not really.”
“What is it? No, or not really?”
Dawn sighed. “You can’t write a book about the racetrack without a Ginney, is what I meant. But it’s not actually her.”
“Someone a lot like her?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure yet.”
“Are you using her for research?”
Dawn stood up. Using her? “You know, I’m getting tired of you drilling me all the time. If it’s not about my book, it’s about my money. Honestly, Randy, I don’t like you sometimes. In fact, most of the time lately.”
Randy’s face reddened, embarrassed that she would think he was interested in her money. “I haven’t been around lately, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Forgotten?” Forgotten? “No, I haven’t forgotten.” Dawn looked at him and sighed. “I missed you terribly, though right about now, I’m not sure why.” She sat back down next to him and reached for his hand. “Please don’t do this...”
Randy just looked at her.
“Let’s start over.”
Randy smiled faintly. “From where?”
“From where I said I loved your beard.”
Randy laughed and pulled her close. “You mean this morning, when I told you how much I loved your hair before you put it in that stinking braid.”
Dawn leaned back, frowning.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s so beautiful. I can’t understand why you braid it all the time.” He pulled her onto his lap. “Undo it,” he said. And it was then, Dawn noticed something.
She sat up. “Since when did you start wearing Vanderbilt cologne?”
Randy stared. “What?” This was a new expression, one he hadn’t seen on her before. He’d found her weakness. “What do you mean?”
Dawn got up off his lap and took a step back. “You smell like Vanderbilt cologne.”
Randy glanced away, looking guilty. But instead of feeling caught red-handed, he wanted to jump up and down and shout. She was jealous and he was loving it. It was the first time she’d shown any signs of being possessive, of caring. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Right.” Dawn shook her head and turned and walked to the terrace, her back to him as she stared out into the night. Every time she started to feel really close to him, he reminded her he was only playing a game. One he was good at. She wondered how many times he’d played already that day. She looked at him, perhaps to see if she could tell, to see it in his face. And there he sat, pretending to be innocent. It couldn’t have hurt more if she were watching him in the act.
Randy stood up and walked over then, feeling he’d allowed enough time to sufficiently irritate her. “I was at Richmond’s today for a farm call,” he confessed. “And she was coming on to me.”
Dawn swallowed hard, thinking back to the time she’d gone there with him. “And?”
“And nothing,” Randy said, in earnest. “That’s it.”
Dawn searched his eyes, believing him. “I knew she wanted you. It was so obvious.”
Randy put his arms around her, relishing the feel of her body against his.
“Have you been with her before?” Dawn asked.
Randy stared, hesitating. He wasn’t ready for that, nor was he ready for the instant turn-off of the jealousy. He shook his head in disbelief. How foolish to have thought she was jealous in the first place. Had he forgotten he was the one being used? “No, I haven’t been with her before, not that I haven’t thought about it. But her husband was always there. This was the first opportunity,” he added, sounding disappointed with himself for not following through.
“So why not today? Why didn’t you?”
Randy gazed into her eyes, helpless to look away. “Because it wasn’t her I wanted.”
Dawn warmed in his arms. “How did you say no?”
“What?”
“Mrs. Richmond. How did you turn her down?”
Randy turned her loose and stepped back. “What, do you want to write it down?”
Dawn laughed. “No, I was just wondering. You know, like what she said, what you said.”
Randy shook his head and laughed. “Well she didn’t exactly come right out and say let’s screw, if that’s what you mean.” Jealous? Yeah, sure. “She just kept rubbing on me.” He drew her close to show her how. “She rubbed my leg and stroked my back. Then she told me her husband was gone, and...”
Dawn looked distracted all of a sudden.
“What?”
“I just thought of something. Wait, I do have to write it down.” She pulled free and headed down the hall. “If you want a beer, get it.”
Randy stood watching her in amazement. “Write what down? What Mrs. Richmond did?” He laughed at the way he’d said Mrs. Richmond. He’d almost screwed Mrs. Richmond. He felt like Dustin Hoffman. “Come on, what are you writing down?”
Dawn called something to him from the library, which he couldn’t quite make out, and did as she initially suggested. He helped himself to a beer. “Where’s mine?” Dawn said, glancing up from the typewriter when he joined her.
Randy stared. “I didn’t know you wanted one, here.”
Dawn shook her head, typed out another sentence, backed up, corrected it, and got up to get one herself. “I’ll be right back.”
Randy almost insisted she take his, that he’d go get another, but he wanted to see what she’d just typed. He stepped aside, waited a second or two, and sat down at her desk.
“His good looks far outweighed his lack of breeding,” she’d written, “his strength giving in only to his childlike enthusiasm. I was taken by him the moment I laid eyes on him and had to have him, if just for a short time.”
Dawn came in and looked over his shoulder.
“Who’s this about?” he asked.
“A horse.”
Randy slugged a mouthful of beer. He didn’t believe her. “What’s his name?”
Dawn shrugged. “I d
on’t know. I haven’t thought of one yet.”
Randy downed the rest of his beer and turned to face her. “What made you think to come in here and write this now?”
“Who knows?” Dawn said. “Sometimes I think and think and think, and nothing comes. And then I don’t think about it, and it pops into my head.”
Randy nodded. What did it matter, he only had a short time. “I thought it was about me,” he said.
Dawn laughed. “Why? Because of the good looks?”
“No.” Randy blushed.
Dawn glanced at the page. “I probably should have said conformation.”
Randy looked at her. She’d leaned close. “Correct it tomorrow,” he said, and Dawn smiled, gazing into his eyes.
He had more urgent things on his mind at the moment. “When Linda moved, did she take the pact with her?”
Dawn laughed, a gigglish laugh. “We’re on our own.”
“Good,” he said, reaching for her.
Dawn’s eyes widened. In here?
“Turn out the light.”
Much later, Dawn woke and glanced at the clock. “Randy, your truck. Wake up, it’s past ten.”
Randy wrapped his arm around her and tucked her back in. “It’s in Linda’s parking space, go back to sleep.”
Dawn sighed and burrowed next to him, then turned slightly. “You know the whole time you were gone,” she said, “when you were at your parents...” She trailed off, turning back.
“Yes…” Randy nuzzled her neck, wrapping his arms tighter around her. “Go on.”
She hesitated and shook her head softly.
“Dawn please, come on. Finish what you were going to say.”
When Dawn remained silent, Randy propped himself on one elbow and turned her to face him. “Tell me, goddamn it,” he said, his voice a whisper. “I want to hear it, whatever it was. I need to hear it. Tell me...”
Dawn hesitated still, but only for a second. “I love you, Randy. Tom was right. I wasn’t the same without you.”
Randy smiled, gazing into the sleepiness of her eyes. “And I love you too, Dawn. God help me, I do. Just don’t break my heart, okay?”
Chapter Nineteen
Ginney was standing in front of one of the stalls, talking to Dawn, when Randy started around the corner of the barn, well within hearing distance.
“Do you think they’ll bring up my friggin’ reputation?”
Dawn drew a breath and sighed. “Legally, it has nothing to do with it, but I’m sure it’ll come up in some way at one point or other, so count on it. Go in there expecting it, and it won’t catch you off guard.”
Ginney nodded. “God, I’m glad you’re coming with me.”
“What time is the hearing?”
“Two.”
“All right. I’ll have to go home and change, but I’ll meet you back here at one-thirty.”
Randy approached them. “Good morning.”
Ginney smiled and walked past him, waving over her shoulder to Dawn as she left.
Randy leaned against the doorway of the stall. Dawn was brushing Son of Royalty. He motioned to the horse. “He’s got your hair color.”
Dawn looked at him and laughed. It was close. Son of Royalty was liver chestnut, a shade quite similar to auburn.
“So what’s going on?” Randy asked, glancing in the direction Ginney had taken. “What was that about?”
Dawn shrugged. She didn’t want to talk about it.
“Something to do with the rape?”
She nodded.
“How do you figure in this?”
Dawn hesitated. “I don’t know. I just offered some help.”
“I see. Do you have experience in that field, rape counseling?”
Dawn shook her head. Oh, this man and his quirks. “I don’t think there’s a woman alive who can’t relate to what Ginney’s going through. If you want to call that experience, then suit yourself.”
Randy crossed his arms. “Did you ever write about anything like that?”
Dawn buried her face against Son of Royalty’s neck. “Hide me,” she said. “It’s the FBI.” And Randy laughed.
“All right. So what are we going to do tonight?”
Dawn shrugged. “I don’t know, what do you want to do?”
Randy smiled, a very definitive smile, and Dawn chuckled. “That’s fine, but first I thought we might go to the club.”
“What time?”
“Five or so. I’m going with Ginney at two, but it’s a preliminary, so I don’t think it’ll take long.”
Randy glanced at his watch. “Let’s make it more like six.”
Dawn confirmed that with a kiss and went back to brushing Son of Royalty. “Do you have a lot of farm calls?”
“No, not that many. But I have a pin-fire to do here first.”
Dawn cringed. Pin-firing in her opinion, was a cruel operation. It was a quick fix when a long layup was pending.
“I’ll see you around six, okay?”
Dawn nodded, and stuck her head out of the stall when he started to walk away. “I’ll either be at the pool or in the sauna. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to tell Jeremy you’re coming.”
“Name?”
“Virginia Meyers.”
“Citizenship?”
“American.” Ginney’s voice cracked.
“According to the report filed on your medical examination, you showed evident signs of sexual intercourse with multiple contusions of the labia, vagina and cervix. Also on the report, you had multiple contusions on your face and right arm, and a laceration on the upper lip. Is this correct?”
Ginney nodded.
“Is this correct?” the judge repeated. “Counsel, would you advise your client to verbally answer all questions.”
When Ginney’s lawyer nudged her arm, Ginney cleared her throat, close to tears. “Yes, that’s correct.”
Dawn moved uncomfortably in her seat.
The judge proceeded. “You are aware the accused has pled innocent to the charge of rape and assault?”
Ginney was silent, until her attorney whispered something to her. “Yes, your honor.”
“Has your attorney informed you of all circumstances and options available to you?”
Ginney looked at her attorney. He nodded. “Yes, your honor,” she said.
“And is it your wish to proceed?” the judge asked.
Ginney didn’t have to look at her attorney this time. “Yes, your honor. It is.”
Out in the hall afterwards and in a hurry, Ginney’s attorney glanced at his watch. “There, now that wasn’t so difficult, was it?”
Ginney shrugged, visibly trembling, as Dawn stared critically at the man. She’d taken an instant dislike to him in the courtroom. Not only had he been late, he obviously had not spent any time beforehand to prepare Ginney in the least.
“Does it get any easier?” Ginney asked.
Her attorney shook his head. “I’m afraid not. It gets worse.” He glanced at his watch again. “I’ll be in touch. I’ve got to run.” He started down the hall. “I’ll be contacting you in a few days.”
Dawn called after him, waited until he stopped, and approached him. He glanced yet again at his watch, sighing impatiently. “Yes?”
Dawn didn’t mince words. “I trust you’ll prepare her better for the next phase.”
The man stared. “Yes, and your name again?”
“My name is not the issue here,” Dawn said. “All I’m asking is for you to pay a little more attention.”
The man’s mouth hung open as she nodded curtly and walked away.
“What did you say?” Ginney asked. “What did he say?”
“Nothing. I just had a question,” Dawn replied, seething inside. “Come on, let’s go get some coffee.”
“Coffee? How about a beer?”
Dawn smiled. They chose a pub a block from the courthouse, and sat at a table in the corner. “Jesus, fuck...I had no idea,” Ginney said, referring to the proceedings.
/>
“Don’t worry. You’ll be okay.”
Ginney rolled her eyes and downed a mouthful of beer. “What a day.”
Dawn smiled, agreeing, and for a second or two, they both stared into their glasses. Ginney raised her eyes. “Are you seeing Randy?”
Dawn hesitated. A raw nerve. She didn’t like discussing her relationships with anyone, let alone with a woman who’d slept with the same man. “Yes. I am.”
Ginney nodded agreeably. “He’s a good fuck.”
Dawn gasped. “Ginney!”
“Well he is,” Ginney said, shrugging and without the slightest catty intent. “What’s the big deal?”
Dawn shook her head and sighed, glancing away and then looking back to shake her head again.
“Wanna compare notes?”
“No...” Dawn said, and in spite of herself, laughed. Ginney had an almost child-like expression on her face. It was no big deal to her. “You know, you and Tom ought to get together.”
Ginney snickered. “Ought to? We do. At least three times a year. And when it comes to fucking...”
This really got them to laughing, so much so, several people from the bar, glanced in their direction.
“Stop!” Dawn sputtered, whispering. “Enough.”
They both laughed still, then finally wound down. It was then that Ginney got very serious. “I didn’t mean anything about Randy. When it came to me and him, I was just a convenience. He sorta made that clear.” She shrugged. “He’s looking for more out of life, not somebody like me. More like you. Someone with some class.”
Dawn stared, and then lowered her eyes to the table. Ginney was being sincere, she didn’t mean any harm. But her comment about Randy’s ambitions struck a cord. “Why do you do it, Ginney? Why do you sleep around?”
Ginney sat back and crossed her arms. “Dad says it’s in my blood. Says I take after my mom, the slut.”
Dawn shook her head. She was tired of hearing this already. She could only imagine how Ginney must feel after years of it. “He’s been pretty hard on you, hasn’t he?”
Ginney shrugged, hesitated, and nodded. She took a drink then, put the glass back down and wrapped both hands around it, holding on. “Shortly after my mom left, Dad caught me jerking-off Timmy Dobbs.”
Winning Odds Trilogy Page 24