Chapter Five #4
“And I’ve got ten more on the nose.”
With a laugh, he accepted the hand she held out. “Let’s go get a seat.”
The stands were already filling up. In them, Erin indeed saw many faces, tanned and sunburned ones, faces with lines spreading out from the eyes and more with skin as smooth as new cream. Some people pored over racing forms, others smoked fat cigars or sipped from plastic cups.
But in the boxes was elegance, the kind that spoke of confidence and poise.
Sheer summer dresses in pastels mixed well with light cotton suits and straw hats.
She saw more than one tanned, slender woman tilt a head in Burke’s direction.
Now and then he lifted a hand, but he made no effort to mix with them.
From Burke’s box in the front, she could see the wide brown oval where the horses would run and the lush green infield filled with tropical flowers and pink flamingos. Still farther away were more stands with more people. Every minute, more were filing in.
“I’ve never seen so many people in one place at one time. And they’re all here to watch the race.”
“Want a beer?”
Erin nodded absently and continued to take in everything as Burke left her.
She spotted Durnam not far away, talking to a woman in the tiniest pair of shorts Erin had ever seen.
Erin passed over him and looked at the electronic board that was beginning to flash with numbers and odds for the first race.
“I want you to explain to me what it all means up there,” Erin began before Burke had a chance to sit down again. “So I’ll know best how to bet.”
“If you want a tip, you’ll wait for the third race, bet on number five.”
“Why?”
“The horse is out of Royal Meadows. Sentiment aside, he’s a strong runner. Record’s a little shaky, but he looks good today. First race is anybody’s game. So far the odds aren’t spectacular.”
“Are you betting on it?”
“No.”
“I thought you were a gambler.”
“I like to pick my own game.”
Erin sat back and listened to the announcements for the first race. “Crystal Maiden sounds pretty.”
“Pretty names don’t win races. Hold on to your money, Irish.”
She settled back and contented herself with absorbing the sounds and sights around her. By the time the horses were brought to the starting gate, she was leaning forward in her chair. “They are beautiful,” she said, but she felt a great deal better when Burke’s hand rested lightly on hers.
Her pulse was hammering. He gauged it to be almost as much from excitement as nerves. He’d been right about the contradictions in her. As the gates opened, her fingers linked hard with his, but she didn’t cringe.
“What a noise,” she murmured, while her heart beat almost as loudly as hooves on turf.
As they rounded the first turn, she strained to keep following them.
That was power, she thought, both raw and controlled.
They might well have made it a business, but she could see why it had been and was still the sport of kings.
When it was over, she laid a hand on her breast. “My heart’s still pounding. Don’t smile at me like that,” she warned, but laughed with it. “It’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen. All those colors, all that energy. Can you imagine doing this every day?”
“There are plenty who do.”
But she only shook her head. Today was special, a once-in-a-lifetime day. “I want to bet on the next one.”
“Third race,” Burke repeated, and sipped his beer.
When her time came, she insisted on betting herself. Erin put the stub in the pocket of her shirt, then changed her mind and tucked it carefully in her billfold. Seated beside Burke again, she fretted until the horses were brought to the gate.
“I don’t mind losing,” she said with a quick grin, “but I’d sure as hell like to win better.”
When they were off, she stood and leaned against the rail. “Which one is he?” she demanded, grabbing Burke’s hand to drag him forward with her.
“Fourth back on the inside. Red-and-gold silks.”
“Aye.” She watched, urging him on. “He runs well, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, look, he’s moving up.”
“Better hang on, Irish. They’ve got half a mile to go.”
“But he’s moving up.” She gave a hoot of laughter as she pointed. “He’s in second now.”
There was shouting all around her, competing with the announcer and the thundering of hooves. Erin strained to hear all three as she grabbed Burke’s shirt and tugged.
“He’s taken the lead. Look at him!” She spun away from the rail and into Burke’s arms as he finished half a length ahead. “He won! I won!” Laughing, she kissed Burke hard. “How much?”
“Mercenary little witch.”
“It’s nothing to do with mercenary and everything to do with winning. I’m going home and tell Dee I bet on her horse and won. How much?”
“The odds were five to one.”
“Fifty dollars?” She gave another peal of laughter. “I’ll buy the next beer.” She took him by the hand. “When does your horse race?”
“In the fifth.”
“Thank goodness. It’ll give me time to recover.”
She bought him a beer, then went one better and bought them both hot dogs.
The only time she could remember spending such a frivolous day was at a fair.
This seemed like one to her, with the noise and smells and colors.
She had another ticket in her pocket and Burke’s sunglasses on by the time the fifth race was announced.
“I really hope he wins,” she told him with her mouth full. “Not just because I bet on him, either.”
“That makes two of us.”
“How does it feel to own one?” she wondered. “Not just a horse, but a horse from a great line.”
“Most of the time it’s like having an expensive lover, one you have to keep happy and lavish money on for moments of intense gratification.”
Erin turned and, tipping the glasses down, looked at him over them. “You’re full of blarney.”
“At the very least.”
He turned and watched his horse charge through the gate.
How did it feel? Burke asked himself. How did it feel for a dirt-poor bastard from New Mexico to sit and watch his six-figure horse come flying by?
Incredible. So incredible he couldn’t begin to describe it and wasn’t sure he wanted to. It could all be gone tomorrow.
And what of it?
He’d taught himself long ago that when you held on to something too tightly it squeezed through your fingers.
He was giving Three Aces the best he had, though he’d never intended to get involved with the running of it.
He’d certainly never intended to get attached to it.
He worked better on the move. Yet he’d been in one place for four years.
Just recently he’d been telling himself that maybe it was time for him to get a manager for the place and take an extended vacation. Monte Carlo, San Juan, Tahoe. If a man stuck with one game too long, didn’t he get stale? But then he’d gone to Ireland. And had come back with Erin.
The damnedest thing was, he wasn’t thinking about Monte Carlo or playing the wheel anymore. It was becoming easier and easier to stay in one place. And think about one woman.
“You won!” Suddenly she was laughing and her arms were around his neck. “You won by two lengths, maybe three, I couldn’t tell. Oh, Burke, I’m so pleased for you.”
“Are you?” He’d forgotten the race, the horse and the bet.
“Of course I am. It’s wonderful that your horse won, and he looked so beautiful doing it. And I’m happy for me, too.” She grinned. “The odds were eight to five.”
Then he stunned her by dragging her closer and kissing her with a power and passion that left her limp. She didn’t protest but, held trapped in his arms, allowed herself to be buffeted by the storm.
“The hell with the odds,” Burke muttered, and kissed her again.