After the press has melted away and while Jack is attempting to smooth things over with his mother, who is super agitated that her son was making out in front of a crowd, Mr. Goodwin walks up to me and Dad with a gentleman I don’t recognize.
“Danny and Savannah, meet Thomas Alexander. He runs the Kentucky Thoroughbred Village in Lexington.”
Mr. Alexander shakes Dad’s hand first and then mine. “You’re quite talented, Savannah.”
“Thank you.”
He hands me his card. “We have a jockey-training program at the Village you might be interested in. We offer college credit that’s accepted at the University of Kentucky. You’d have to spend several hours a week exercising the horses, and you’d work as a sort of apprentice instructor, teaching younger kids how to be a jockey. If you’re interested, I can have my assistant get in touch with you to discuss the details.”
Mr. Goodwin smiles down at me. I peek up at Dad, who’s picking at the inside of his eye with his thumb, trying to act manly by pretending he’s not tearing up.
“I’m very interested, thank you.” I bounce on my toes.
I give Mr. Alexander my phone number and email address, and after he’s gone, Mr. Goodwin pats my shoulder.
“Thank you for doing that for me,” I tell Mr. Goodwin, cradling the man’s card in my hands.
“Don’t thank me. Jack asked me to make the introduction. It was all his idea.”
I lounge in a cushy chair on the patio, watching Jack work the grill. Wearing an apron, he whistles as he flips the burgers. The smell of cooking meat wafts over along with the sound of the radio. He likes listening to college football games. I never knew that about him until tonight. What else don’t I know?
“What are you smiling at?” he asks.
“Wondering if you have any secrets.”
The edge of his mouth lifts into a smirk. “I won’t keep any secrets from you…except…”
“Except what?”
His grin is full of mischief as he abandons the grill to come give me a kiss. “I can’t tell you what I want to do to you later in private. It’s a secret.”
Stomach butterflies flutter up into my chest and heart, leaving me breathless. Smiling, he returns to his position at the grill, and I pull my knees to my chest, incredibly content. It’s a chilly autumn night, and I’m cozy in one of Jack’s extra large sweatshirts. He gave me a guest bedroom with a queen-size bed, with a fluffy white duvet and pillows made of lace. When I sleep there tonight, I’ll feel like a princess…who’s also a horse jockey. Bad. Ass.
“I told you I could grill,” he murmurs, smiling as he serves me a cheeseburger.
After dinner, and after a crazy make-out session in the hot tub where he let me in on the secret things he wanted to do to me, we curl up in the hammock together. His parents won’t be home from some fancy dinner for a while, and his sister and the housekeeper are inside, so it’s almost like we’re in our own little world. Except for Jack’s hounds resting on the ground below us. Thor is a big snorer.
“This is my favorite place,” Jack says, wrapping his hands behind his head, staring at the stars.
“It could easily become mine too.” I love the soft sounds of the crisp night. Crickets. A stream babbling in the distance. My boyfriend’s steady breathing.
“Thank you for supporting me today,” I say, curling up against his chest.
He kisses the top of my head. “Thank you for believing in me.”
Future Plans
The little bell on the door jingles as we walk into Tennessee Ballers.
Jack and Rory head straight for the counter but Vanessa grabs my elbow. She loops her arm through mine.
“Tell me everything,” she whispers.
Jack took me on a day date to Fall Creek Falls today, where we went horseback riding around the waterfalls and did some hiking that involved lunch in a deserted meadow. And lunch led to dessert which led to more. Red and gold leaves fell around us as we stretched out on the picnic blanket, taking our time.
“We did it,” I whisper back, and Vanessa squeals.
“Details!”
“It was great…well, until Jasper—Jack’s dog—stole my shirt,” I say, laughing. “But I do have some questions…”
She pats my arm. “Let’s talk more later.”
I don’t regret giving myself to him, not one bit, but there’s stuff I need to know, and I’d rather sing a solo in the school musical than ask Rory stuff about sex. Like, what in the world are you supposed to do with your hands? And am I supposed to help him put the condom on?
“What do you want to eat?” Jack asks me.
“Cheese quesadillas and tortilla chips.”
He grins. “Stake out a seat for us.”
I weave around the tables, saying hi to kids from school, then grab the corner booth. While Jack collects our food and brings it to the table, Rory pushes Vanessa up against the counter and kisses her so passionately I have to look away.
“Whitfield! I’m sure that’s a health-code violation. Stop!”
My head pops up to find a humongous guy pointing at Rory, who keeps on kissing Vanessa like he can’t hear a thing.
“Who’s that?” I ask Jack.
“Joe Carter. He used to play football for Hundred Oaks and now he owns Tennessee Ballers.”
“I’ll kick you out of here, I swear, Whitfield, and you’ll never eat my tacos again,” Joe Carter says. “No tacos for you!”
Rory grins as he kisses Vanessa.
“That’s it,” Joe says, clearly exasperated. “If you don’t stop right now, I’m calling Vanessa’s brother—”
“No!” Rory roars, ripping away from Vanessa. He picks up their tray and yells over his shoulder, “You’re evil, Carter.”
Vanessa and Rory slide into the booth with us. “If he calls your brother, I’m dead,” Rory says.
“If my brother kills you, can I have your Star Wars sheets?” Vanessa asks, smiling at him sideways as she bites into a chip.
“And I want your truck,” I say.
“I’m glad my friends care about my welfare,” Rory says.
“Can I have your dog, Ava?” Jack asks, wiping his mouth.
“I hate you all,” Rory replies.
Across the room, now Joe Carter is raising his voice to Sam Henry, the hot usher from the wedding, and his blond girlfriend. “Get out if you don’t like it!”
“What is this?” Sam Henry says, looking disgusted. “I’ve had better tacos at Taco Bell!”
“Oh, you did not,” Joe Carter replies.
“Did.”
“Out!” Joe roars, pointing at the door, but Sam Henry just waves a hand at him and goes right back to shoveling chips into his mouth.
“Jordan, you really gotta try these,” Sam says to the blond girl, talking through a mouthful of chips.
Joe steals the chip basket away from Sam and speeds into the kitchen as if he’s carrying a football. Sam leaps to his feet and chases after Joe, and then I hear raucous yelling and the sound of silverware and pans crashing to the floor.
“Morons.” Jordan shakes her head and starts playing with the salt and pepper shakers. She stacks the pepper on the top of the salt and yanks the salt out from under the pepper.
I smile.
“What are you thinking about?” Jack murmurs in my ear.
“I hope that we’re all still friends when we grow up.”
He softly kisses the skin under my earlobe. “My mom told me that Jordan Woods got a job at the school. She’s gonna help coach football.”
“Really?” I ask. “A girl coaching football?”
“It’s true,” Vanessa says. “She told my brother that she’s starting in the spring.”
That’s when Colton comes jogging up to our table. He squeezes in beside Rory and Vanessa. Kelsey pours in behind him and pulls a chair up to the table. She starts texting on her phone but Colton steals it from her, pocketing it. She gives him a look before digging into the tortilla chips.
“You’re late,” Vanessa says, throwing a chip at Colton.
He picks it off his shirt and eats it, shrugging. “I was watching this new show called I’ll Eat Anything. It’s disgusting! But I couldn’t look away. People win money based on how much weird shit they eat. Like, today, this one lady had to eat a coconut shell full of frog fallopian tubes!”
Vanessa chokes on her food and gives Colton the look of death, but he doesn’t notice because he’s eyeing Kelsey.
“Annnnywayyyy,” Rory says, talking with his mouth full. “I’ve been thinking. Do y’all want to go to that Halloween Haunted Forest thing up in Cookeville next weekend after the homecoming dance?”
“I’m in,” Jack says, squeezing my hand under the table. “As long as we take some fireworks with us.”
“And set them off in the Haunted Forest?” Rory asks.
Vanessa says, “That should definitely get us kicked out.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Jack says with a laugh. He faces Rory. “You’ll bring the fireworks?”
Rory grins. “Sure thing.”
Epilogue
June, eight months later
“What’s wrong with you?”
At dusk, I’m standing in Greenbriar pasture, lecturing the young filly that’s causing me all sorts of trouble. Cherry Lollipop, who Jack named after me, is a descendent of Secretariat. Lollipop should be faster than a bullet, but she’s too easily distracted. She loves chasing birds and butterflies and other fillies. One second she’ll be cantering along and the next she’s streaking off the track and into the gardens to chase a bunny rabbit. She’s also been known to terrorize a colt or two.
“You have to do better, young lady, understand?” I smooth the chestnut hair on the filly’s face. Jack plans to enter her in races starting next year, and I think she’ll be a winner. If I can get her trained up good, that is.
“What are you doing out here?”
I whip around to find Jack leaning against the white fence, wearing a tuxedo. His hair is slicked back with gel and he’s grinning. His smile speeds away with my heart.
“Just checking on Lollipop,” I say.
He opens the gate and walks over to us, scanning my dress appreciatively. I found this beautiful black gown at a thrift store in Nashville. It hugs me just right.
“My mother asked where you are,” Jack says, wrapping his hands around my waist. Our parents have sort of gotten used to the idea of us dating—they know our relationship isn’t a passing thing.
“Mom wants to introduce you to the governor’s daughters,” Jack goes on. “They want to meet the famous girl horse jockey, Savannah Barrow.”
“Oh hush.” I gaze at the white tent set up on the Goodwins’ lawn. Classical music rings across the countryside. Today is the 215th anniversary of Tennessee becoming a state, so the Goodwins are having a party. “Do we have to? I mean, we’re finally alone.”
My little sister Nina wails every time I leave her. She’s addicted to me like I’m addicted to candy. And even worse, even though she’s three months old, she likes grabbing at Jack’s cell phone. She cries every time he pockets it. I love her, but I love alone time with my boyfriend too.