Chapter Text
It had been five weeks since Wonder had won the Breeder's Cup Classic. The filly was getting a long and much deserved rest before scheduling her four-year-old campaign. Mr. Townsend had discussed retiring her from racing after the Breeder's Cup but Ashleigh and Charlie had convinced him to keep racing her another year. Wonder was at the top of her game and there was absolutely no reason for her to head to the breeding shed already. Ashleigh had so many plans for her and Wonder. There were so many great races on tracks all across America and she was so excited about the upcoming year. She and Charlie had finished the morning workouts hours ago and she wandered around Townsend Acres in a dreamlike state and there was nothing that could destroy her cheerful mood. Almost nothing. She almost ran into Brad as she entered the training barn.
"Watch where you're going!" Brad said, scowling angrily at her. He was wearing the latest attire in obnoxious men's stable wear, his hair was freshly cut and not a single hair was out of place.
"Sorry, I didn't see you," she mumbled as she shot him a look of annoyance.
"Fucking open your eyes. Or is that too difficult?" Brad said, arrogantly. His eyes darted over her work jeans, muddy boots and sporty riding jacket with distaste.
"I said I was sorry. What's your problem?" Ashleigh asked. She immediately felt her temper rising.
"My problem?" Brad snorted, rolling his eyes. "You can't be that stupid. Ever since my father so generously gave you half-interest in the filly, you've been walking around like you own the goddamn place. Well let me bring you back to reality–you don't and you never will!"
Ashleigh was momentarily taken aback by his harsh words. She stood stunned for a couple of seconds before saying, "What the hell are you talking about? I don't walk around like I own Townsend Acres, but I do live here so fucking deal with it!"
Brad shot her an angry stare and said, "Yeah, unfortunately for me!"
"And for me," she said. Brad looked at her with confusion and she added, "It's unfortunate for me that you live here but I deal with that just fine." Brad was about to say something else but Ashleigh had already hurried off and to her satisfaction she noticed Mr. Townsend was walking down the barn aisle toward her. Perfect timing. There was no way that Brad would yell something nasty at her in his father's presence.
"Hello, Ashleigh. How are you?" Mr. Townsend greeted her with a pleasant smile. He was looking professional as usual in a dark blue suit, light blue shirt and tie. His graying hair was combed neatly in place and he had an expensive looking watch on his wrist.
"Hello Mr. Townsend, very good, thank you. How are you?" she said in a polite manner, while smiling at him.
"I'm very well too, thank you for asking," Mr. Townsend said. "I was hoping that we could discuss Wonder's next race sometime this weekend–perhaps this afternoon? If you and Charlie can stop by my office?"
"Yes, of course! We'll stop by later!" she said eagerly.
Mr. Townsend chuckled at her enthusiasm and said, "Good, I'll see you later."
Ashleigh found Charlie by Smart Nation's stall. He was a bay three-year-old colt with a star on his forehead who Maddock had offered Charlie to train since he had too many racehorses to train at the moment. Charlie had also taken over the training of a chestnut colt named Sallowon who everyone on the farm called Salmon and two grays–a colt and a filly named Palau and Miami Rain. The three last mentioned had not shown any promise yet and it was only Smart Nation, who went by the nickname Smarty, who had slowly begun to make a lot of progress while Charlie and Ashleigh had worked with him. The colt had won an allowance race a month before and Charlie was pointing him toward a grade three stakes race in mid-December. It would be the colt's first race in stakes competition. It was a risk given his inexperience but Ashleigh knew that Charlie would never consider it if he didn't think the colt had a shot at winning.
"Hi Charlie!" Ashleigh greeted the trainer cheerfully. Smarty pricked his ears and stepped toward her and she stroked him on the forehead. "Hey Smarty, beautiful boy," she said, lovingly.
Charlie nodded to her and said, "Hey missy. You look like you've got some good news." He eyed her quickly before turning his attention back to Smarty.
"Mr. Townsend wants us to come by his office this afternoon to discuss Wonder's next race! Isn't it exciting?" she said with sparkling hazel eyes which could have lit up an entire valley of darkness.
Charlie almost chuckled but managed to keep a straight face. His blue eyes shone with amusement as he said in a gruff voice, "Is that right? Well then we best do as we're told. You given it any thought?"
"A little," she admitted. "Have you?" She had considered the Donn Handicap at the beginning of February.
"Yup. Meet me by his office at around three," Charlie said.
"Okay, great! Do you need help with anything?" she asked.
"Nah, I'm just finishing up here," Charlie answered. He brushed his hands on his pants and let himself out of Smarty's stall.
"Okay, see you at three, Charlie!" Ashleigh said.
She decided to head up to the cottage in the meantime. She entered the hall, took off her boots and jacket and ran up to her bedroom. Her parents were in the broodmare barn and she heard loud rap music from Rory's bedroom. She threw herself down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. A thought that she had tried to avoid thinking about was creeping into her mind. The Christmas Dance. Ashleigh closed her eyes as she thought about the dance. It was the highlight of the year for sophomores at her high school and she didn't have a date. The problem wasn't that she didn't have a date–it was that she hadn't gathered the courage to ask Mike if he wanted to go with her. Lance, a really nice guy from her English class, had actually asked her a couple of weeks ago if she had a date for the dance. She had been completely honest with him and told him that she had plans to ask someone else but thanked him for asking her. Now she might end up going to the dance without a date after all, because she was too afraid to ask Mike. It's probably too damn late now anyway, she thought, hopelessly. The dance was in six days. Mike was a very popular and outgoing guy and probably already had plans for next weekend.
I guess I just won't go to the stupid dance. That'll solve all my problems. Ashleigh was quite frankly a bit confused when it came to her and Mike. They had been out a few times after the Breeder's Cup and he had stopped by Townsend Acres to see her on several occasions. He had kissed her on the cheek. Four times. But she didn't know if they were on their way to become a couple or if Mike dated other girls. He was very nice and very good-looking and she felt more attracted to him every passing day.
Time flew by even when it seemed like she had been doing absolutely nothing at all and she suddenly noticed that the time was almost three p.m. She sprinted down the stairs, fetched her boots and jacket and jogged across the large impressive parking lot of Townsend Acres, through the stable yard and toward the training barn. The door to Mr. Townsend's office was left ajar and she knocked before peering in to see Charlie and Mr. Townsend, already sitting in the office.
"Com on in, Ashleigh," Mr. Townsend said.
"Thanks," she said, as she closed the door behind her. Mr. Townsend's office was beautifully furnished with a large mahogany desk, a broad leather desk chair, a seating area with leather furniture that looked more like it had been chosen because of the design rather than comfort. She took a seat in the chair next to Charlie. Mr. Townsend sat in his desk chair opposite the desk.
Mr. Townsend and Charlie completed their small talk about the other racehorses that Charlie was training. Mr. Townsend nodded with satisfaction after Charlie had updated him on each one and turned his gaze to Ashleigh. "Thank you for coming by–both of you. As you know I'd like to discuss Wonder's next start and I'd like to hear if you have given it any thought?" he said.
"I have, yes," she said, pausing for a second to glance at Charlie. "I've considered the Donn Handicap in February." She looked at Mr. Townsend with a flicker of uncertainty. He was a very powerful man and that had an intimidating impact on her at certain times. This was definitely one of those times.
"I see," Mr. Townsend said. His eyes sparkled and he smiled at her, which she returned. "I guess great minds think alike. How about you, Charlie?" he asked the trainer.
"Sounds good to me," Charlie said, nodding once.
Ashleigh felt a rush of relief and joy. She had pictured herself and Mr. Townsend discussing Wonder's future but never in a million years had she pictured it being this easy. She smiled broadly at both of them. "Well, that was easy," she said, grinning lightly.
Mr. Townsend chuckled and said, "Let's hope it stays that way. I like the way the two of you have prepared the filly for her races in the past. I'd like a weekly report nonetheless on her progress. I'll deal with the paperwork and entry fees when we get closer to the date."
"Yes, sir," Charlie said, getting up from the chair and shaking Mr. Townsend's hand.
"Thank you, Mr. Townsend!" Ashleigh said cheerfully, copying Charlie's behavior and shaking Mr. Townsend's hand.
"Thank you," Mr. Townsend said, pleasantly.
"Great, huh, Charlie?" Ashleigh said, grinning from ear to ear when they were at least fifteen yards away from Mr. Townsend's office.
All Charlie said was, "Yup," but Ashleigh could see that his eyes were sparkling.
The next afternoon Mike stopped by for a couple of hours. Ashleigh walked across the stable yard when she heard his beaten-up pickup truck entering the parking lot. He flashed her a bright smile when he saw her and Ashleigh's heart skipped a beat.
God, he looks cute. He had on a pair of faded jeans, a crisp white t-shirt and a varsity jacket, his blond hair looked partly damp and slightly tousled. She instantly felt butterflies as she walked toward him.
"Hey Ash," Mike said as he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. Five times.
Ashleigh blushed and looked briefly away before looking at him. "Hey yourself," she said, smiling at him. His blue eyes were magical and so intense it was almost too much. She had never seen eyes like his before and she felt mesmerized every time she gazed into them.
They walked side by side into the training barn where Mike said hello to Wonder and Charlie. Ashleigh told Mike excitedly about Wonder's next start, immediately forgetting the nerves and butterflies she had felt a few minutes ago. The three of them talked easily about racing and training techniques for half an hour while Ashleigh gave Wonder her share of demanded attention.
Afterwards she and Mike took a stroll around the farm's beautiful pastures. They stopped to admire the dozen weanlings who were running and playing. The weanlings trotted to the fence when they spotted Ashleigh and Mike.
"They're growing up so fast," she said, leaning on the white paddock fence and scratching one of the chestnut weanlings behind the ears.
"Yeah, soon they'll be yearlings," Mike said. He stroked one of the dark bay weanlings on the neck.
Ashleigh nodded. All Thoroughbreds shared January 1st as their official birthday even though some foals were born as late as May. She was about to move on to the next paddock when Mike cleared his throat.
"I was wondering what your plans are next weekend?" Mike asked her. He gazed at her with a soft but confident expression. Ashleigh wished she was able to act just half as confident around him as he did around her.
She felt her cheeks heating up and she hoped that Mike would think it was because of the cool air. "I don't really have anything planned," she answered. Now would be a good time to ask him to the dance, she instructed herself, but her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest. "How about you?" she managed to add.
Mike flashed her a smile and said, "Nope, nothing. Yet."
She returned his smile. "Okay." She looked away but she felt his gaze burning on her. It didn't make sense how her hands were getting clammy in the cool air. "I–uh…" her voice trailed off and her eyes met his gaze again. She felt incredibly intimidated by him. "Never mind," she said.
"No worries," Mike said. He looked so confident and even slightly amused? Is he playing with me? she thought as her cheeks felt even hotter than before.
They wandered toward the next paddock where the broodmares grazed peacefully. Neither of them said anything. Ashleigh wasn't comfortable with the awkward silence that surrounded them. She frantically thought of something to say.
"So I guess Christmas is coming up," she said, lamely.
Mike shot her a surprised look. "Yeah, I guess." He added slowly, "I've heard there's a Christmas event at school on Friday. Have you heard about that?"
"Uh, yes. It's like a dance… A Christmas Dance," Ashleigh said.
"Oh, okay, that sounds fun. Are you going?" Mike asked, smiling crookedly.
"I–uh, I don't know. Are you?" she asked him.
Mike laughed and said, "It's for sophomores, so unless a sophomore invites me, I can't go."
"Oh, right," she said, momentarily feeling like a fool. Mike looked away and she took a deep breath through her nose before saying, "Would you like to go if someone were to ask you?"
Mike flashed her a smile and said, "Sure, I'm sure we would have fun."
"Okay," she said. A few seconds passed. "Would you… maybe like to go with me to the dance?" she said, softly.
Mike flashed her another bright smile, a smile that had Ashleigh feeling pretty goofy that she'd been so nervous to ask him in the first place. "I'd love to go with you," he said.
"Great!" she exclaimed, feeling relieved, happy and somewhat exhausted at the same time. She started to walk toward the next paddock but Mike grabbed her gently by the elbow.
"Ash, wait a sec" he said softly. He stepped toward her, their bodies were almost touching. She could smell the scent of his cologne and his shampoo. It smelled incredible. She felt his fingertips travelling slowly from her elbow down the length of her underarm where they intertwined with her fingers. He leaned down and his lips gently grazed hers.
The kiss had caught Ashleigh completely with surprise. She felt the hair on her arms rise and a warm sensation flowed through her body as Mike kissed her. It was her first kiss on the lips–ever. She hadn't really imagined what her first kiss would be like but this was really nice.
"That was really nice," she almost whispered as Mike pulled back and she opened her eyes. Her cheeks were burning as she smiled at him.
"Uh-huh. Might have to do it again sometime," Mike winked at her and Ashleigh's heart soared.
I hope so, Ashleigh thought, but she didn't have the guts to say it.