Randy Senior took another sip and then stared into the cup. “Can you at least make it a little stronger next time?”
Dawn chuckled. She had no complaints about her in-laws. They were both such nice people, so easygoing. After they had a light snack, Randy Senior sat down in front of the television and promptly fell asleep. Liz took a nap with D.R. and Maeve. When Randy came home, Dawn met him out on the porch and motioned for him to be quiet.
“They’re all asleep.”
He walked with her to the foaling barn. It was time to turn the ponies out. All six dogs came running from the back of the house where they’d been napping on the deck and followed along. Poncho could care less about the dogs, but Biscuit didn’t want anything to do with them. He stepped back and snorted.
“They’re putting on weight,” Randy said.
“Not fast enough. Yes, I know, I know,” she added, when he started to say something about slow being better. “Still….”
Randy smiled. “If everyone’s asleep, do you want to go up in the hayloft?”
“No,” she said, laughing when he pulled her close.
He kissed her. “But I love you,” he said.
“I love you better,” Dawn said, imitating D.R.
Randy sighed, holding her. “How’s Dad look?”
“Actually I think he looks really good.” They both turned when the dogs started barking. A strange car. Poncho and Biscuit ran to the gate. “You’re kidding me,” Dawn said.
Randy stared. It was Linda Dillon. “What’s she doing here?”
“I don’t know.” Dawn waved. “Be nice,” she said.
Randy just looked at her.
When Linda parked her car and got out, both ponies nickered.
“Hello,” Dawn said.
“Hi, Dawn,” Linda said. “Randy.”
He nodded.
“What’s going on?” Dawn asked. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, I’m just passing through. I got a job up in Canada. I’m going to be a clocker at Archbine.” She smiled, looking at the ponies. “Do you mind…?” she asked, wanting to go over and pet them. Poncho had taken to pawing.
“No, go ahead,” Dawn said.
Both ponies seemed happy to see her. “I didn’t realize you were going to keep them. I thought you’d sell them.”
Dawn walked over, shaking her head. “No, this is their forever home.”
Linda smiled, rubbing both horses on their foreheads. “They’re good boys. They’d have to be, to put up with me.”
Dawn studied her expression. “Are you okay?”
Linda nodded. “I haven’t had a cigarette in two weeks and I’m off Oxyfil. I found I didn’t need it. I’m not in pain now that I’m not riding. The nightmares are gone too.”
Dawn smiled. “How’s Maria?”
Linda turned. “She’s fine.” She was asleep in her car seat.
“Daddy!” D.R. screamed, running toward them. Grandma and Grandpa Iredell were right behind him with Maeve. “Daddy!”
Randy picked him up and gave him a kiss. “How’s my little man?”
“Grandma Grandpa is here!”
“I see,” Randy said. He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and shook his dad’s hand. “How was the trip?” he asked, leaning down and picking Maeve up with his free arm. “Give Daddy kiss.”
Maeve kissed him on the nose, and Randy laughed. They all laughed, and then all looked at Linda. “Oh,” Dawn said. “Sorry. This is Randy’s mom and dad, Randy Senior and Liz, and this is our son D.R.”
“Short for doctor,” Randy Senior said.
“This is our daughter Maeve.”
“Hellwo,” Maeve said.
Linda smiled.
“And this is our friend, Linda Dillon.”
Everyone smiled. Even Randy smiled, out of politeness. Our friend?
Maria woke to the sound of their voices and started crying. “That’s my little girl, Maria,” Linda said, walking toward the car. By now, Poncho and Biscuit had gone back to grazing. As far as Randy was concerned, the visit was over. He glanced down the drive. Ben’s truck had just turned in off the road. Tom was right behind him.
“Baby, baby!” Maeve said, clapping her hands and squirming out of Randy’s arms.
Wendy pulled in right behind Tom.
When Linda took Maria out of her car seat and put her down, they all laughed when Maeve hugged her tight. “My baby! My baby!”
Ben walked over to greet everyone. Tom waited for Wendy and followed. More introductions. Tom smiled. “This is my friend, Wendy. Nottingham Downs’ Assistant General Manager and the love of my life.”
Wendy blushed. Then here came Dusty, and right behind him, Glenda and George with all the food. “Would you like to join us for dinner?” Dawn asked Linda. “There’s plenty. I ordered enough Chinese food for an army.”
“Uh, thank you,” Linda said, glanced at everyone self-consciously. “But I uh….”
Little Maeve had hold of Maria’s hand and was already leading her toward the house.
“You’ve been outvoted,” Randy Senior said.
The two little girls looked so cute walking together.
“Horsey,” one would say.
“Horsey,” the other would add.
“Doggies!”
“Doggies!”
“Doggies, no!”
“Doggies, no!”
Dog kisses all over their faces, little arms flailing, giggling.
“No, no, doggies! No! No!”
Everyone carted several bags of Chinese food, Linda included. Tom carried the carrot cake. Wendy looked inside the cellophane lid. “I love carrot cake.”
Tom smiled. “I love you.”
Wendy nodded, say it. Say it, she told herself. Say it. “I love you too.”
Tom leaded down and kissed her. ‘Thank you,” he said.
“For what?” she asked, walking alongside him.
“For loving me, for coming into my life, for having such fine sons.”
“Did you like them, really? They really liked you.”
Tom nodded. “They’re good boys.”
Wendy smiled, thinking; I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming, and any moment now, I’m going to wake up. The two of them had lagged back and were relatively alone. Tears welled up in her eyes as she recalled something her husband had said as he lay dying in her arms.
“I can’t love you any more than I already do and you can’t love me any less. I wouldn’t take you with me even if I could. Live….”
She looked up at Tom, with happy tears trickling down her face.
“What are you doing crying?” he asked.
“I’m living,” she said, smiling. “I’m living.”
The food was set up on the kitchen island. Dawn had the plates and silverware all set out, glasses, ice, juice, water. She made a fresh pot of coffee, stronger this time. Everyone helped themselves.
“Did you get me and D.R. our worms?” Tom asked.
Dawn chuckled. “They’re rice noodles.”
“That’s what you think,” Tom said, holding one up and swallowing it little by little.
D.R. did the same. “Worms.”
There were enough chairs combined between the kitchen table and dining room table to seat everyone. Liz fed Maeve. Linda fed her daughter Maria.
It was a homey scene the likes of which Linda hadn’t seen in a long, long time. “Thank you, Dawn,” she said. “This is very nice of you.” She and Liz talked about the children’s ages, food likes and dislikes, habits. They talked about the weather in Florida. “Too hot for me,” Linda said.
They talked about the weather in Illinois. “It’s the best time of year,” Liz said. Everyone was relaxed, everyone was happy. “D.R., what are you doing?”
He had his ear to his plate. “Listening to the worms,” he said.
Randy shook his head and cast a glance at Tom. “Those are not worms, son. Don’t listen to Uncle Tom.” He paused. “They’re eels!”
<
br /> Everyone laughed when D.R. squealed in delight!
Linda sighed. There wasn’t a person at the table with a care in the world. They all had nice big houses: they all had secure lives.
“So what time are your tests tomorrow?” Ben asked Randy Senior
“Nine.”
“Do you have to fast?” Dawn asked.
Linda looked from one to the other. Liz explained. “He’s having tests on his heart tomorrow at The Clinic. Back home they said he needed surgery, otherwise….”
“Otherwise, hell,” Randy Senior said. “Who’ll run the farm?”
“Me, and we’ll hire help?”
“What do you farm?” Wendy asked.
“Pigs, Whiteshires,” Randy Senior said. “I’ve farmed pigs all my life.”
Randy smiled. “That’s why the two of us, me and my sister Linda, grew up to be vets.”
“You sister’s named Linda?”
Liz nodded. “I love that name.”
“My mother’s name was Linda,” Dusty said.
Dawn went back for another serving of cashew chicken. “My cousin’s name is Linda.”
“I had an Aunt Linda,” Tom said.
“I have an Aunt Linda,” Glenda said.
Linda smiled. Something as simple as having the same name as some of their loved ones, made her feel at home in a way. When it came time to cut the carrot cake, she felt welcome enough to take on the task. Wendy passed each slice down the table.
By the time they’d finished dessert, Randy Senior was yawning.
“I’d better go bring the ponies in,” Dawn said, glancing at the clock.
“I’ll go with you,” Linda said, picking up Maria to carry her along.
“I’ll watch her,” Liz said.
Linda hesitated. She was hoping just to make a discreet exit. “Okay. Thank you.”
She and Dawn walked to the foaling barn, with all six dogs weaving in and out around them. “I’ve never seen a Standard Poodle as a farm dog,” Linda said.
“He’s a rescue,” Dawn said.
The ponies picked their heads up from grazing. When Dawn opened the gate and turned her back, they both walked over to her. “It’s a game we play,” Dawn said.
Linda smiled. Dawn handed her a lead shank. Linda took Poncho, Dawn took Biscuit. Their hay and grain was already set up in their stalls. Dawn motioned which stall was Poncho’s. They led the horses in, took off their halters, and stood outside their stalls watching them eat for a moment.
“I fed them a box of Quaker oatmeal once,” Linda said in a sad soft voice.
Dawn looked at her.
“It’s all I had.”
“What did you eat?”
“That night, nothing.”
They both stared in at the horses. “Is everything all right? Are you looking forward to your new job?”
Linda nodded. “The pay is good, and I’m told there’s affordable housing and daycares nearby.”
Dawn looked at her.
“And if I can’t clock a horse, then who can?”
Dawn chuckled.
“I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.” Linda said, and paused. “Maria’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m not going to let her down.”
The two of them walked back up to the house. “It’s getting dark earlier and earlier,” Dawn said.
“I wonder if they have daylight savings time in Canada?”
“I think so,” Dawn said.
Randy Senior and Ben were sitting on the porch. Apparently Ben was bringing him up to date about the racetrack. Dusty and Tom came out to join them, and then Randy. “Mom’s insisting on doing the dishes. I told her to use the dishwasher, but she said that it takes longer.”
“Let her do it,” his dad said. “She’s a nervous wreck. I’ll be glad when tomorrow’s over, for her sake more than anything.”
Randy nodded.
“And by the way, son.” His dad lowered his voice. “I know there’s nothing wrong with me, but if something happens, have your mom sell the farm and move her here. All right?”
Randy looked at him. “All right.”
Linda slipped past them, as sad as if it were her father saying that, and went to check on Maria. She and Maeve were watching cartoons, wearing headsets. Dawn walked in behind her. “Oh those,” she said, from the look on Linda’s face. “Our nanny Carol insists on them.”
They laughed.
Liz had most of the dishes washed. Wendy was drying silverware. She handed another towel to Linda, Dawn wiped the tables off, and they were done in no time.
When the dogs all ran up onto the porch, barking, Maeve and Maria threw off their headsets and took off running. More kisses, more squealing, more, “No, doggies, no!”
The women all walked outside. “Well, we’d better get going,” Linda said, picking up Maria. “Thank you for dinner. Thank you for everything.”
“You’ll keep in touch, right?” Dawn said.
Linda nodded.
“How far are you going tonight?” Wendy asked.
“Till I get sleepy,” she said, yawning.
Ben looked at her. “There’s a room at the house, if you want to stay the night. We’re up early. You can get an early start in the morning.”
“Thanks, but I….” She looked at them, all of them. What she wouldn’t give to have a family like this, even if it was for just one night. The way they were all awaiting her answer, the caring looks in their eyes. It was as if she was family. “If you don’t think we’d be a bother.”
“No, no bother,” Ben said.
“Thank you.”
Linda gathered hers and Maria’s overnight bags from her car. Wendy stood by, holding Maria, practically asleep and with her head resting on Wendy’s shoulder. Tom, Dusty, Glenda and George did night check in the barns. Ben walked on ahead to the house.
“I feel bad Ben thinking he has to put me up for the night,” Linda said.
“I don’t think Ben thinks he has to do anything. He wants to.”
After being inside Dawn and Randy’s huge Colonial house for the evening, Ben’s farmhouse wasn’t quite what Linda had expected. It was as if she’d stepped back in time. Low ceilings, wide open-arch rooms, large eat-in kitchen, sink and cabinets all on one wall, an ancient refrigerator, old fashioned hardwood plank floors. It reminded her of her Nana’s house, her Nana’s kitchen.
“The spare room’s just down the hall,” Ben said.
It was a small room, a double bed against the wall, a dresser and chest of drawers. The bed had a yellow chenille spread and two pillows with shams matching the sheets. “Like I said, it’s not much,” Ben said, looking around.
“It’s heaven,” Linda said.
Wendy put Maria down gently on the bed. She was sound asleep, so precious the way she curled herself into a little ball, making soft nestling noises, little sighs. Ben smiled, shook his head, and walked on down the hall. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Wendy and Linda said.
Ben’s house was a quiet house, even with the hardwood floors. Wendy and Linda tiptoed back down the hall when they heard Tom come in the back door. “All is well,” he said, in a normal tone of voice.
“Shhhh…” Wendy said. “Maria’s sleeping and Ben went to bed too.
Tom smiled and lowered his voice. “Ben can’t hear a thing when he goes to sleep. You could have a party out here.” He reached into the fridge for a bottled water - held it up to see if they wanted one. Both shook their heads no, both said, “I’m stuffed,” at the same time and both chuckled.
A slightly awkward moment descended upon them. What to do? It was obvious Tom didn’t want Wendy to leave. It was also obvious Linda didn’t want Wendy to leave. Tom walked into the living room and reached for the remote. “Let’s see if there’s a Larry Levinson movie on. I love that guy’s movies, I always cry at the end.”
Linda laughed. “You…cry?”
“Yeah, sit down. You’ll see. I don’t cry a little either> I cry a
lot.”
When the three of them laughed, Wendy glanced down the hall towards Maria’s temporary room. “That’s all right. She’s used to noise,” Linda said. “We lived over a bar in Florida,” she added. “The rent was cheap.”
The three of them got comfortable on the couch, Tom and Wendy at one recliner end, Linda the other. One commercial, then another, and another, and Tom’s cell phone rang. It was Randy. “Yeah. What’s up?”
“One of the horses at Shifting Gears is down. I think I’m going to need your help.”
“All right, pick me up,” Tom said. He glanced at his watch. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Don’t go,” he told Wendy.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“A horse is down at a rescue farm. I’m going with Randy. It’s not far. It’s just up the road.”
“Down…?” Wendy asked.
Tom nodded. “Not good when they won’t get up.” He saw Randy’s truck coming up the drive, kissed Wendy good-bye, nodded to Linda, and left.
Wendy stared at the television for a moment. “I don’t want to cry at a movie.”
“I don’t either,” Linda said.
Wendy tossed her the remote. “Find something happy.”
Linda flipped through the channels. There weren’t that many. Apparently Ben didn’t have cable. There was an old rerun of an “I Love Lucy” episode playing. “Do you want to watch it?”
Wendy nodded. “Why not?” She glanced at the door.
“I think you’ve cast a spell on him,” Linda said. “Tom.”
Wendy smiled. “Actually I think he’s cast a spell on me.”
“You two seem good for one another.”
Wendy paused. “I never thought I’d love another man.”
Linda smiled. “I never thought Tom would love one woman.”
Wendy chuckled. “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up one day soon and he’s going to be the Tom everyone told me he used to be and not even remember my name.”
Linda shook her head. “I’d lay odds against that.”
Wendy looked at her. “That means the odds are in my favor, right?”
Linda smiled. “Right.”
Winning Odds Trilogy Page 74