The first three horses cleared the brush, their hooves tipping the top of the synthetic cedar, making an odd swishing sound, then she heard the reassuring thump-thump as those front hooves reached the earth followed by the hind. The three leaders pulled away, and the remainder of the pack cleared the jump, a Degas painting come to life.
She breathed a sigh of relief. No one went down at her fence. No fouls. As the hoofbeats died away, moving back up the hill toward the last several jumps and the homestretch, the crowd screamed while the announcer called out the positions of the horses.
"Closing hard, Ransom Mine, but Devil Fox hanging on to the lead, and here they come down the stretch, and Ransom Mine is two strides out, but oh, what a burst of speed, it's Devil Fox under the wire!"
"Hurray for Mim!" Harry whispered. "A strong second."
Boom Boom drew alongside her. "She didn't expect much from Ransom Mine, did she?"
"She's only had him about six months. Picked him up in Maryland, I think."
"Changing trainers helped," Boom Boom said, "Chark is working out really well for her."
"Will and Linda Forloines are still going around telling horror stories about how much they did for Mim, and how vile she was to fire them." Harry shook her head, recalling Mim's former trainer and his wife, a jockey. "Will couldn't find his ass with both hands."
"No, but he sure found the checkbook," Boom Boom said. "And I don't think Will has a clue as to how much Linda makes selling cocaine or how much she takes herself."
"They're lucky Big Mim didn't prosecute them, padding the stable budget the way they did."
"She'd spend thousands of dollars in court and still never see a penny back. They've squandered all of it. Her revenge will be watching them blow out. Mim's too smart to directly cross druggies. She'll let them kill themselves—or take the cure. Thank God Addie took the cure."
"Yes," Harry said succinctly. She hated people who took advantage of others and justified it by saying the people they were stealing from were rich. If she remembered her Ten Commandments, one said, Thou Shalt Not Steal. It didn't say, Thou Shalt Not Steal Except When the Employer is Wealthy. Will and Linda Forloines still hung around the edges of the steeplechase world. The previous year Will had been reduced to working in a convenience store outside of Middleburg. Finally they had latched on to a rich doctor who moved down from New Jersey and who wanted to "get into horses." Poor man.
"They're here."
"Here?" Harry said. Boom Boom's deep voice could lull one, it was so lovely, she thought.
"You'd think they'd have the sense not to show their faces."
"Will never was the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree." Harry peeled off her down vest as Boom Boom changed the subject.
"I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry I had a fling with Fair, but it was after your divorce. He's a sweet man, but we weren't the right two people. I hadn't dated anyone seriously since Kelly died, and I needed to put my toes in the water."
Harry didn't think it was Boom Boom's toes that had fascinated Fair, but she resisted the urge to make a comment. Also, she didn't believe for one minute that the relationship had magically started right after the divorce. "Can you understand how it would upset me?"
"No. You divorced him."
"That didn't mean I was over him, dammit." Harry decided not to try to pinpoint the exact date of Boom Boom's liaison with Fair. At least they hadn't appeared in public until after the divorce.
"Why take it out on me? Take it out on him."
"I did, sorta."
"Well, Harry, what about the women, uh, while you were married? Those were your enemies, not me."
"Did I ever say I was emotionally mature?" Harry crossed her arms over her chest as Tucker followed the conversation closely.
"No."
"So."
"So what?"
"So, I could see you. I couldn't see those affairettes he was having while we were married. I got mad at you for all of them, I guess. I never said I was right to get mad at you but I did."
"You're still mad at me."
"No, I'm not." Harry half lied.
"You certainly never go out of your way to be nice to me."
"I'm cordial."
"Harry, we're both born and raised in Virginia. You know exactly what I mean." And Boom Boom was right. One could be correct but cool. Virginians practiced cutting one another with precise elegance.
"Yeah, well, since we were both raised in Virginia, we know how to avoid subjects like this, Boom Boom. I have no desire to explore my emotions with you or anybody."
"Exactly!"
Harry squinted at the triumphant face. "Don't start with me."
"We've got to grow beyond our conditioning. We've got to cast aside or break through our repression. You can't hold your emotions in, they'll eat away at you until you become ill or dry up like some people I could mention."
"I'm very healthy."
"You're also not twenty anymore. You've been holding these emotions in for too long."
"Now, look." Harry's voice oozed reasonableness. "What you call repressed, I call disciplined. I am not teetering on the brink of self-annihilation. I don't drink. I don't take drugs. I don't even smoke. I like my life. I'd like a little more money maybe, but I like my life."
"You're in denial."
"Denial is a river in Egypt."
"Harry," her voice lowered, "that joke's got gray hairs. You don't fool me with your quips. I want you to come with me to Lifeline. It's changed my life, absolutely. Six months ago I would never have been able to approach you, I would have held on to my own anger, but now I want to reach out. I want us to be friends. Lifeline teaches you to take responsibility for yourself. For your own emotions. It's a structured process, and I know you like structure. You can learn these things, learn new ways to be with people in a group that will encourage you. You'll feel safe. Trust me, Harry, it will make you happy."
Trusting Boom Boom was the last thing Harry would ever do. "I'm not the type."
"I'll even pay for it."
"What?"
"I mean it. I'll pay for it. I feel so bad that you're still mad at me. I want us to be friends. Please consider my offer."
"I—" Harry, caught off guard, stuttered, "I, I—Jesus, Boom Boom."
"Think about it. I know you'll find a thousand reasons not to do this, but why don't you take out a pad of paper and list the pros and cons? You might find more reasons to engage in Lifeline than you know."
"Uh—I'll think about it."
"One other little thing."
"Oh, God."
"Think about the fact that you're still in love with Fair."
"I am not! I love him but I'm not in love with him."
"Lifeline." Boom Boom smiled seraphically, moving off.
Harry breathed deeply, conscious of her heart pounding. Jim Sanburne's midnight-blue Land Rover hove into view. She collected herself.
"News?" Larry inquired.
"Clean as a whistle," Harry said.
"Are you all right?" the doctor asked, observing her flushed face and rapid breathing.
"I'm fine. How long till the next race?"
"Half hour. Just about," Jim answered her.
"I need a co—cola."
"You need something," Larry joked. "You're breathing like a freight train. Why don't you come to my office Monday? How long's it been since you had a checkup?"
"Larry, I'm fine. I had a little tête-à-tête with Boom Boom."
"Say no more." He smiled and as the two men drove off, Jim said, "Did she say tit a tat?"
"No." Larry laughed loudly. "Jim, you're just a redneck with money."
Jim grunted. "Sounded like body parts to me, good buddy."
"Mom, I'm hungry."
"Tucker, stop yapping, you're getting on my nerves."
"You've had a ham biscuit and I haven't had anything since breakfast." The aroma from the food tents drove Tucker to distraction.