Legends Lake

by JoAnn Ross

  “He’s in the cave,” Michael, who’d taken the lead position on the very edge of the cliff, called out.

  Kate bit her lip and reminded herself that no good would come from screaming.

  The trip down the cliff had been the longest few minutes of his life. Alec figured he’d have to wait until he got Jamie to the top, safe and sound before having the heart attack he’d thus far managed to stave off. He turned on the light on the helmet one of Kate’s neighbors had provided, then ducked into the opening that had been carved into the cliff, momentarily blinded by going from the glare of the floodlight into the inky black of the cave.

  “Hey, Jamie,” he shouted over the water surging into the cave.

  “Alec?”

  Relief flooded through him. “Yeah, it’s me. Keep talking, so I can find you.”

  He began trailing the beam along the wall near the roof of the cave.

  “I came here to think,” Jamie said. “But I forgot about the tide.”

  “That’s okay. We’re going to get you out of here.” Where the hell was he?

  “Is Ma mad?”

  “Of course not. She’s worried. But I told her you’d be fine.”

  “I was afraid I was going to drown…. I’m to the left,” he tacked on helpfully. “And up a bit.”

  “Hey!” Another obstacle overcome. “There you are.” He waded through the roiling surf. “Now, what we’re going to do first is put this life jacket on you,” he said, unfastening it from the fluorescent orange one Kate had insisted he wear in case the rope broke. Since he didn’t want her to contemplate the very real possibility that if that actually happened, he’d break his neck and a life jacket wouldn’t do him a helluva lot of good, he hadn’t wasted time arguing.

  “Good boy. Next we’re going to tie this rope around you.” He lifted the end of the rope that was around his waist and attached Jamie to him. “Now, put your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist and we’ll go home to your mom.”

  Jamie did as instructed.

  “Alec?” he asked as they waded back toward the entrance.

  “Yeah?” Alec lifted him higher as a huge tidal surge plowed into them. “Did Ma cry?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sure she knows that, sport.”

  “Do you think I’ll be punished?”

  “Maybe not. Since there are extenuating circumstances involved.” They were back in the circle of light, which while offering a lot of illumination, was also blinding.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that some people might argue that you had a pretty good reason to need to get away to think. Still, you’ll have a harder case to make for eavesdropping on your mom and me.”

  “I won’t be doing that again.”

  “Well, she’ll be glad to hear that.” Thankfully, it was actually easier climbing back up than it had been going down. Or perhaps, Alec thought, now that he’d gotten Jamie out of the cave, his heart had slowed down enough that he could actually envision skipping the heart attack.

  “My spy kit got washed away.”

  “That is a bummer. But perhaps it’s for the best.”

  “I decided, while I was in the cave, that I didn’t want to be a spy when I grow up, after all.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you want to know what I’m going to be?”

  “Sure.”

  “A racehorse trainer.”

  “It’s a grand occupation. And I’ve no doubt you’ve got the talent for it in your genes.”

  “Because of my real da?”

  “Well, yeah. Sure. And your mom’s certainly no slouch when it comes to horses, either.”

  “I know. But they’re not why I want to become a trainer.”

  “Oh?” His boot slipped. As he wavered a bit on the edge, Alec felt the hitch on the rope and was grateful that the men above him were paying close attention.

  “I want to grow up to be like you.”

  He’d made it a good eight feet off the beach and was eager to get to the top of the cliff. But Jamie’s declaration had Alec pausing for a minute. There was no other career that he’d want. But he’d never actually chosen the work, it had simply been what the MacKenna men of Inverness Farms did. He’d been expected to go into the family business the same way the sons of Sheehan and Sons had undoubtedly been expected to become butchers.

  But Jamie was choosing to follow in his footsteps. Whether or not the kid actually became a Thoroughbred trainer remained to be seen, but right now, as they were getting pounded by rain, and buffeted by what felt like gale force winds, hearing those words felt damn good.

  “I’d be proud to work with you, Jamie lad.”

  He continued up on a cautious snail-like pace, step by step, and had made it another two feet when a swift gust of wind came swirling up from the beach, like a small tornado. Alec muttered what was half oath, half prayer as they were thrown off the step to dangle in the air. He kicked his legs, struggling for purchase while Jamie’s arms tightened around his neck in a near choke hold.

  He felt the rope straining as the wind gusted at them, flinging them back in the direction of the cliff wall. Alec braced, then hit the wall with the soles of his boots, feeling every bone in his body jolt at the impact. He’d just managed to stand again when yet another, stronger gust threatened to blow them out over the water.

  “Don’t worry,” he ground out as he struggled not to fall over backward and pull a dozen of Castle-lough’s best men down with him. “I’m not going to let you fall.”

  “I know,” Jamie said with remarkable calm as they picked up the pace. “Are you going to marry her?”

  “You bet. But let’s keep that our guy secret for now, okay?”

  “Aye.” Jamie’s face was pressed against Alec’s neck, but he could feel the kid’s smile.

  When they finally reached the top, Kate was crying and laughing and hugging them both before Alec could even remove the rope.

  “I told you,” he said, feeling pretty damn invincible, as he put Jamie back onto firm ground, “piece of cake.” This magical green island had gotten to him, he decided, grinning at his own outrageous Irish understatement. He tangled his hands in her wet hair and pulled her to him for a hard kiss.

  The excitement over for the night, people left to return to their homes where, Alec figured, the tale would be told and retold and elaborated upon from now until doomsday. Fortunately, Brigid had slept through the entire adventure.

  After a long talk with her son, Kate peeled off her soaked jeans and sweater, changed into a new short silk nightgown and robe she’d bought with Alec in mind and went into the bathroom where Alec was soaking his aching muscles and joints in a hot bath.

  “How’s he doing?”

  “Fine. Thanks to you.” She sat down on the edge of the bathtub.

  “I didn’t do anything any dad wouldn’t do.”

  “You’re not his dad.”

  “Funny. It doesn’t feel that way.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for saving my son.” She shook her head, still marveling that he’d risked his life for Jamie. And for her. Tears she hadn’t dare shed earlier filled her eyes.

  “Hey.” He reached up and brushed the moisture trailing down her cheek away with a damp fingertip. “Don’t cry now. It’s all over.”

  “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

  In an obvious ploy to lighten the mood Alec flashed her a bold, cocky masculine grin. “Don’t worry, sugar. If we put our heads together, I’m sure we’ll think of a few ways.” He snagged her wrist and pulled her into the tub.

  “We’ll drown,” she said on a laugh when he unfastened the now drenched silk robe and pulled the lovely new nightgown over her head. The frantic mother had vanished, and in her place was the gorgeous Irish druid witch who, despite her assertions that she did not cast spells, had certainly managed to bewitch him.

  “Just hold your breath,” Alec suggested as
he captured her mouth. “And hang on.”

  34

  KATE DIDN’T HESITATE when Alec asked her to go to America with him for the Derby. Fortunately, since she’d taken the children with her to the Glorious Goodwood last year, where a horse she’d bred had won the illustrious race, their passports were up to date and Devlin, declaring that a seaside holiday with his wife would be no hardship, promised to look after the stud while she was away.

  Despite having grown up around racehorses, Kate discovered that the racing fever surrounding the Kentucky Derby festival was definitely contagious. The Derby was more than the two most exciting minutes in racing, as its promoters liked to boast. Much, much more. There were parties and balls, a parade, a glorious hot air balloon glow, which Kate suspected Brigid would still be talking about ten years from now, a balloon race, a fireworks display dubbed Thunder Over Louisville, which, as her ringing ears could attest, it indeed was, and Jamie’s favorite event, a steamboat race that seemed to draw nearly as many bettors as the horserace that was, of course, the jewel in the gilded festival crown.

  Kate felt as if she and Alec were in a fishbowl. Wherever he went, he was peppered with questions from reporters and racing fans. When asked about what the press all seemed to be referring to as “The Incident,” Alec responded that he only regretted his actions because violence never solved anything. But the tragic death of Lady Justice revealed what could happen when people made the mistake of forgetting that horseracing was, first and foremost, all about horses, not profits.

  He went on to answer the same old questions about Legends Lake’s problems, assuring the reporters—and the viewers all over the world—that thanks to the talents of the Thoroughbred’s breeder, Kate Fitzpatrick, that little glitch had been solved.

  Kate could only hope that was true.

  “Did you read this morning’s paper?” one of the reporters called out as they left the trainers’ dinner together.

  “I’ve been a bit busy,” he responded.

  “The latest line has Wellesley’s Litigator as the favorite,” another revealed. “And your horse a thirty-five-to-one long shot.”

  Kate felt a spark of temper on Legends Lake’s behalf, but Alec, she noted, remained steadfastly calm. “Now that doesn’t much disturb me,” he said on the slow drawl that had become more pronounced since returning to his home. “Since Legends Lake can’t read.”

  Finally, the day they’d been waiting, and working for, arrived. Kate and the children were in the owners’ box with Pete Campbell and Winnie Tarlington, whom Kate had taken to immediately. The elderly owner was wearing a watermelon pink suit with white piping—the color of her racing silks—and a matching pink hat swathed in clouds of white tulle. Assuring Kate that there were certain traditions surrounding the Derby that must not be violated, one of which was the wearing of a hat—the more spectacular the better—she’d taken her shopping at the Mad Hatter.

  The red roses surrounding the crown of the wide-brimmed straw hat Kate had fallen in love with matched the flowers that bloomed on the cream silk sundress Alec had insisted on buying for her in one of the pricey boutiques in the hotel lobby. It had been terribly dear, costing more than Kate had ever imagined paying for a single dress, yet when she’d gotten ready for the race today, in her new Derby hat and dress, she’d known exactly how Cinderella must have felt just before she left for the ball.

  “Riders up!” boomed the paddock judge over the loudspeaker, instructing the trainers to give a leg up to the jockeys and send them out through the tunnel onto the famed oval track. When the band struck up “My Old Kentucky Home,” the entire crowd—from the lofty environs of Millionaire’s Row through the quarter mile long grandstand, down to those shorts and T-shirt clad spectactors lounging on the infield grass—began singing along, emotion riding with the notes on the warm spring air.

  “I don’t think Legends Lake is so ugly as you said, Dad,” the high voice of a small boy sitting behind them piped up as the colt walked past in the post parade, a healthy, glowing sheen to his coat.

  Zoe, who’d opted for a black and pink zebra-striped hat, turned around and speared the man sitting beside the boy with a look. “Of course he isn’t,” she said on a flare of heat. “He’s beautiful. He’s also the sweetest horse in the entire world. And the fastest.” She turned around again and folded her arms over the front of her hot pink spandex top in a “So there” gesture.

  Legends Lake paused, turned toward the familiar voice, and with a kind look in his gentle brown eyes—and although there’d be much arguing about the matter after the race—appeared to wink at his defender before continuing on.

  “Jesus,” a dark-haired man sitting in front of them said. “Did you see that? The horse knew what she was saying.”

  “He did, didn’t he, Ma?” Jamie asked Kate.

  “Why, of course,” she agreed without hesitation. She turned to Alec, who, having done all he could to prepare the colt for the race, had joined them. “Wouldn’t you say?”

  “Sure. The horse is as smart as a whip. Brains and looks,” he added, raising his voice to ensure it would be heard by the boy’s father behind them, “is a winning combination.”

  Legends Lake moved into his position in the starting gate with ease.

  “I wasn’t this nervous when I went to see Blair Witch Project Two,” Zoe muttered as the ten horses awaited their send-off.

  “He’ll do fine,” Winnie assured her, patting her hand. “In less than five minutes, the darling will be wearing roses.”

  A hush came over the stands as everyone held their collective breath.

  The field of the world’s best Thoroughbreds exploded through the gate. “They’re off!” the crowd shouted in unison, eager to watch history in the making.

  Legends Lake had leapt forward the instant the gate opened and, long lanky legs stretching, led easily into the first turn.

  “Come on, big boy.” Alec was still secretly concerned with how the horse would do in an actual race situation, with the roar of the crowd, the distractions of the fluttering flags surrounding the racetrack, the press of the other Thoroughbreds straining to gain the lead.

  “Come on, darling,” Kate coaxed as well. Nerves had her squeezing her fingernails into Alec’s hand.

  When they turned into the backside stretch, Litigator, the huge jet-black colt Alec had once intended to take to the Derby, managed to draw even, then get a nose ahead.

  “I can’t stand this,” Zoe moaned as she covered her eyes, continuing, nevertheless, to watch the race through spread fingers as the two silks—Wellesley Farms’ royal purple and Tarlington Farms’ white diamonds on a field of watermelon—broke away from the rainbow-colored pack.

  “It’s okay,” Alec assured her. “So long as Legends Lake is in position by the track kitchen, he can win.”

  “The kitchen?” Kate’s heart seemed to have taken up residence in her throat.

  “The stretch is long here. From the kitchen on, there’s a little less than half a mile to go. The key is to be in place there, with enough in the tank to come home.”

  “Go, Legends Lake!” Brigid was jumping up and down on her seat as their colt regained the lead. “Go, go, go!”

  It wasn’t proving easy. Litigator surged forward again and the two horses were neck and neck in the far turn.

  Alec bent down to Kate’s ear, to be heard over the roar of the crowd. “Did you see that?”

  “Aye.” Not only had she seen Litigator’s jockey use the whip, within inches of Legends Lake, she’d feared she’d forgotten how to breathe. “He didn’t bolt.”

  “He’s ahead again!” Jamie shouted above the din of the crowd as the two horses thundered past the red brick building just outside the rail.

  Again Litigator closed the lead. The two Thoroughbreds were now running stride to stride. As they tore down the stretch toward the finish line, Litigator’s jockey continued to use the crop on the black stallion’s flanks, but intent on winning, Legends Lake appeared to nei
ther notice, or, Alec hoped, no longer care.

  There was pandemonium as Legends Lake accelerated, putting an extra burst of speed, stretching, digging down deep inside himself to increase the distance to a neck. Then more. The crowd went apoplectic as he crossed the line a full length ahead of his nearest rival.

  “The brave, darling horse won!” Kate threw her arms around Alec. She kissed him. Kissed the children. And Winnie, whose eyes were bright with tears of joy. Then kissed Pete. Then Alec again.

  “I told you,” a triumphant Zoe shot the words at the man sitting behind her, who had torn his betting stubs into confetti.

  The rest of the day passed in a blur. Kate could barely remember standing in the Winner’s Circle with Alec and Winnie as they accepted the tall gold cup topped with the horse and rider and Legends Lake received the famed blanket of fresh crimson roses. She had no memory of waiting out the results of the testing, or returning to the hotel. She’d merely sipped the frosty mint julep someone had shoved into her hand, but her adrenaline high was so strong, she didn’t need the alcohol buzz.

  “I can see why you do it,” she said when they were finally alone in the living room of their suite. Winnie, demonstrating far more energy than those half her age, was making the rounds of post-Derby parties; Brigid and Jamie had fallen asleep the moment their heads had hit the fluffy down pillows, and Zoe, seeming to understand their need for some time alone, had declared a pressing desire to read the paperback romance novel she’d bought in the hotel gift shop.

  “Watching Legends Lake win that race was nearly the most exciting thing I’ve ever experienced.”

  Alec lifted an amused brow. “Nearly?”

  “Well, it doesn’t quite come up to bringing my children into the world,” she admitted.

  “I shouldn’t think it would,” he agreed.

  “Or making love with you.”

  His eyes darkened in that way that always made her feel warm all over. But he wasn’t smiling. Indeed, Kate thought, with a little prickle of nerves, his wonderful mouth that could create such havoc to her body was drawn into a frown.