Marriage At a Price

by Miranda Lee

  A hush came over the crowd as it did hi those tense moments in the Cup after the field had taken their place and the starter was on his stand, watching and waiting till the horses settled before he pressed the bell and the gates sprang open.

  Surprisingly, Courtney wasn't as nervous as she'd been the week before, when she'd watched the Werribee Cup on the TV. Just getting Big Brutus into the Cup had satisfied her, and hopefully satisfied her mother, if she was up there, watching.

  Courtney had felt very angry with her mother for quite a while after what Sean had told her, but it was hard to stay angry with a dead woman, especially when that woman was your mother. Besides, after all Courtney had recently been through, she realised it was impossible to judge another person's actions. Who knew what inner demons had fashioned her mother's thoughts and actions?

  The roar of the crowd had her snapping back to the race. They were off!

  Courtney stretched up on tiptoe and searched for Big Brutus's colours, amazed to find them not where she'd been looking, at the tail of the field, but out in front.

  'My God, he's leading!' she gasped as they flashed past the post the first time.

  Courtney shot a frowning glance over at Lois, who was standing on the other side of Jack, but Lois's eyes were glued on the track and she was clutching the arm of the man on the other side of her, a very handsome man in a very sexy black suit.

  Courtney smiled an amused smile. Sean hadn't wanted to come to Melbourne with them. He'd had to be persuaded, both into the trip and the suit. But the moment he'd seen Lois, dressed fit to kill today, he'd been bewitched, and slightly bewildered, Courtney thought Lois in raceday mode was a hard force to resist.

  'He's gone further in front,' Jack groaned, and Courtney's eyes reefed back to the track.

  He certainly had. Three lengths, in fact. Her stomach began to churn now as the butterflies of hope invaded. It wasn't impossible for a horse to lead all the way in the Cup, she reasoned. It had been done. And Big Brutus wasn't carrying much weight.

  Still, these were daring tactics. Lois must have told the jockey to do this. He wouldn't have taken it upon his shoulders to ride such a bold race without being instructed to.

  They were entering the back straight and Big Brutus went even further in front. Five...six lengths. Yet he was just loping along, his head on his chest.

  Emotion welled up in Courtney's chest

  Are you watching this, Mum? This is your horse out there. You bred him. Isn't he just magnificent?

  It wasn't till they swung into the straight, with Big Brutus still in front by four lengths, that the combination of hope and exhilaration overwhelmed Courtney. She started jumping up and down, screaming encouragement and instructions at the top of her lungs.

  'Go, big boy, go! No, don't whip him. Just ride him. Hands and heels. You can do it, big boy. Not much further now. Yes, that's it Stretch. Stick your, neck out. Don't let them get you. Don't stop. Don't look. You can do it. This is your race. Your year. Your time. Yes, yes, yesV As Big Brutus crossed the line, a gallant neck in front, Courtney threw her hands up into the air in victory.

  'He did it, Jack,' she cried, turning to her husband. 'He did it!'

  Jack's binoculars dropped back down onto his chest. 'My God, he did,' he rasped, looking a bit green around the gills. 'He really did.'

  Courtney laughed, then hugged him.

  People began tapping them on the shoulders, congratulating them. It reminded Courtney to do the same to Lois, but when she looked over at Big Brutus's trainer, Lois was otherwise occupied.

  Jack's pressing what looked like betting tickets into her hand turned her attention away from her trainer kissing her father.

  'What's this?' she asked.

  'I found them in a secret drawer in your mother's desk.'

  Courtney stared down at the tickets. Each was on Big Brutus to win the Melbourne Cup, placed months before, when Hilary had first entered the horse. Each was for thousands and thousands of dollars, and not for much outlay, either, since his price then had been huge.

  'Your mother's insurance policies,' Jack said.

  Courtney glanced up. A great big lump on her throat. 'Oh, Jack...'

  He nodded. 'I didn't want to tell you, in case the horse lost.'

  'You were protecting me,' she said, continually in awe of the many ways Jack showed her his love.

  'I didn't want you to think your mother a total fool.' He inclined his head in the direction of where Sean and Lois were still glued together. 'You can't blame her, you know, for not trusting your dad. He was way too young. And way too good-looking. She did what she thought she had to do to survive, Courtney.'

  'Yes,' she said, nodding. 'Yes, you're right.'

  'Their romance was nothing like ours. We're well matched, you and I. True equals. True partners.'

  Courtney knew what he meant. Now that she was secure in Jack's love, she wanted to share everything with him, even Crosswinds. She no longer saw his help as interference. Though he still had absolutely no horse sense.

  But he was very smart with money.

  'I was thinking, Jack, now that Goldplated's come good and I have all this spare cash, do you think you might like to become Crosswinds' financial manager? I mean...the stud's going to get pretty busy in the coming years, and I'm not going to have as much time once I become a mum.'

  He just looked at her. And then he smiled.

  'You are a wonderful woman", Courtney Falconer.'

  'Yes, I agree. But will you?'

  He grinned. 'I'd love to.'

  Lois finally descended upon them, looking flushed and excited. 'That was simply fantastic, wasn't it?'

  'Fantastic,' Courtney returned, not sure if Lois meant the race, or the kiss. 'And so are you, Lois.'

  'Oh, no. Big Brutus deserves all the praise. And your mum. She bred him. Shall we go lead him in together?'

  'I think the press might grab you first,' Courtney warned:

  'Mmm, yes, they probably will. Do I look all right?'

  'You look absolutely beautiful,' Sean said by her side, and Lois beamed up at him.

  Courtney and Jack exchanged looks, their eyes dancing with knowing amusement.

  'Guess who's not going to go to bed alone tonight?' Jack whispered in Courtney's ear as they pushed their way through the crowd.

  'Golly. Who?'

  'You, you sexy thing.'

  Courtney's eighteen-week ultrasound showed she was having a boy. Nicholas Preston Falconer was born five days late on the seventh of May, weighing nine pounds five ounces. Agnes delivered him, with Jack her willing but slightly anxious helper. Sean and Lois were married the same day the baby was christened.

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