Chapter 3 #2
After all, I hadn’t dyed my hair black to offer a warm welcome to those who got on my bad side. And if the dragon didn’t approve of my piercings, choice of hair color, or way of life, he’d learn in a hurry that he could deal with it or find a different executive secretary.
Pleased with my decision, I began the process of picking and choosing which races I’d enter Alligator Bait in.
Because I had a check worth writing home about, I’d give my parents a call to check in with them and go on the hunt for a truck and trailer worthy of my precious filly and our mutual ambitions.
* * *
I waited for the storm to ease before heading to my office and making use of my landline to call my father.
Of my parents, my father was the one I could trust to listen before deciding if he would be snide or supportive.
It could go either way, but with a new job secured, my expenses check being processed through mobile banking, and good times ahead, I suspected we’d have a better talk than normal.
“Hey, baby girl. What’s up?” my father answered, and judging from the background noise, he’d decided to be domestic and cook my mother dinner.
Domestic meant supportive, and I resisted the urge to cheer over my good fortune. “I got a job,” I announced.
“Well done. I thought you weren’t going to be looking for a while? Earned, just like I told you when you quit your old job. I’m impressed you got a house for a reasonable amount, though. The market’s rough. You’d budgeted for a year off.”
While I disliked lying, I’d left out some details about my purchase to my parents, who believed I had gotten a project house I would make habitable over the next few months before returning to work. “The job offer came knocking at my new door, and it was too good to refuse.”
“Better than your old place?”
In some ways, I regretted having told my parents about the nature of my employment agreement. On one hand, they’d been proud of my negotiation abilities. On the other, they had been disappointed I’d only looked ahead ten years.
“It’s significantly better for similar work,” I confirmed. “There will be performance bonuses, and my salary is higher. I’ll have to travel, but I’ll be paid additional for any traveling I need to do. For the moment, it’s remote work, so I don’t even have a commute.”
If the dragon did come calling, my commute would be to the lakefront, something I could tolerate with grace. If the castle did prove inhabitable, my work would be living right down the hall.
After I got off the phone with my father, I’d select the races I would enter Alligator Bait into before preparing the nicest of my guest rooms for my future boss.
“Congratulations. I know you hated your last commute. How is fixing up your new place going? Your mother and I can take some time off if you’d like to show us.”
Hm. Perhaps I’d work on picking my races before I got off the phone and go on a trip to the races with my parents, giving them a look at my new mare before taking them to my slice of heaven.
I popped open my laptop and checked the races, plugged in my horse’s record from her last race, and discovered she needed to be two to enter.
In what had to be the blessing of some god, there was still a slot in the first of the Kentucky Derby prep races.
“How would you feel about heading to Louisville, Kentucky, with me to watch a race?”
I went about filing my submission to enter my mare, thanking my lucky stars she was registered with the Jockey Club, I’d paid my dues to be eligible to ride, and a no-name owner could enter the race.
Paying the entry fee, the supplemental nomination fee, and the starter fee would set me back almost three thousand dollars, which I paid online without regret.
“The Iroquois Stakes?” he asked in a curious tone.
“That’s the one. It’s coming up in September, which makes it easy for me to get the time off.
I’ll drive up.” Not only would I be driving, I’d have my precious cargo in the trailer with me, and I’d dip my toes into my savings to get the nicest rig possible for my hoofed daughter.
“I’ll even pick you up on the way if you want to road trip with me. ”
I’d love seeing their expressions when I pulled into their driveway with a big truck and a horse trailer.
“Your car won’t make it,” my father announced. “But you can park it in my driveway and you can drive ours.”
I smiled; tricking my father into believing I’d be driving his car would lead to an even better reaction.
“Then we’re agreed. We’ll do a family trip to Louisville, where we’ll watch horses race.
I’ll even cover the hotel since the trip is my idea.
You can buy me a nice dinner while we’re there in exchange. ”
If I had my way, it would be my celebratory dinner, and they’d be giving my mare treats to celebrate her victory.
“That sounds fair. Wear and tear on my car and dinner, and we’ll share a room just like when you were little.” My father made a pleased sound. “I’ll look up the race schedule so we can book the time off. Do you mind if we stay at your place for a few days after the race?”
“I don’t mind at all. I got lucky with this place. I have a guest bedroom and everything.”
The plan might change if I actually manage to win the race, but if I did, I’d bring them to my home another time. If I won, I’d be staying in Kentucky for a day or two to celebrate, which would screw up their ability to see my place before returning to work.
If I lost, I’d love showing them the reality of my life. Until I illuminated them on the nature of my purchase, I would maintain the ruse I had a decent house in a nice area.
“There has to be something wrong with that place for how little you got it for and it being lakefront.”
I laughed. “There are gators in the water, but I’ve already had the place charmed so the gators won’t bother anybody.
I wouldn’t trust them off my property, though.
The reason I got it so cheap is because of superstitions and the maintenance requirements.
It’s large for its price, and it has a lot of acres somebody has to care for. I hired landscapers.”
“You hired landscapers?”
“Yeah. Some of them are cows, and three of them are horses, and they eat the lawn,” I confessed.
“I even got some chickens for the eggs. Nobody wanted the place because it’s got a barn, it’s on a lake with hungry alligators, and it isn’t racehorse fancy.
It’s perfect for me, though, and I’ve been enjoying fixing it up since buying. ”
My father burst into laughter. “From the first time you saw horses, you wanted one. What kind did you get?”
“Two are thoroughbreds nobody wanted, and David is my Clydesdale, who has a hobby of pretending he is a carcass in my pasture. I went to one of those auctions for horses and got three for cheap. It seemed a shame to let them be turned to meat.”
“I see. You just want to go to the race so you can get your fix of racehorses while you watch your animals mow down your grass.”
Oh, I would have a wonderful time showing my father, like everybody else, that Alligator Bait could go the distance if given a chance.
“It’s true. I’ll let you go so you can tell Mom we’re going on a family trip.
I’ll go ahead and book the hotel for our stay.
We’ll plan on arriving the night before the race and leave the morning after the race. ”
“That sounds good. The house is working out for you?”
“It is. I may have planted too many zucchini plants, though.”
“One is too many,” my father grumbled.
I laughed at his complaint, as my mother tended to have at least three in her garden every year, resulting in my father wishing he never had to see another squash by the end of the harvest. “How many did she do this year?”
“Five. She wants to put a bunch in the freezer. She made me buy another whole freezer for her gardening activities. I’m going to turn into a vegetable at this rate.”
“Remind her that zucchini bread is real and you actually like it. Call me if you find out you can’t come to the race. I’ll go ahead and make certain we have tickets and a room. Love you!” I hung up before he could say another word, thus winning the right to buy their tickets to the race.
I then went to my contact list, found Lucifer’s number, and tapped the icon to connect the call.
“Are you about to engage in an act of selfishness?” my new boss asked.
I laughed. “Actually, yes.”
“Go on. How can I help you?”
“I’m going to be entering Alligator Bait in the Iroquois Stakes.
I already have my Jockey Club registration, I paid my verification fees, and I paid the owner-rider penalty upon registration.
I’m also registered as a trainer, but I know jack shit about what trainers actually do, so I’m winging it.
If I’m going to get any wins, I need to learn how to actually ride my horse.
Alligator Bait won last time because she was the biggest and fastest horse on the track.
I know I got a lot of calls about jockeying for others, but I don’t actually have any skill. ”