Bluegrass State of Mind (4 page)

"Well, I guess you are close to
knowing who I am. We haven't seen each other in seventeen years.
And we only saw each other for one week up in New York."

"McKenna Mason," his smile grew to a
full grin. "My, my you have grown up well". His smile faded and he
turned serious, “I sure am sorry about your grandmother and your
parents."

"Thank you," she said with a slight
bob of her head in acknowledgement of the sympathies.

His grin came back and his eyes went
straight to hers, "That sure was one fun week though. I remember
your grandmother catching me kissing you in the garden." Seventeen
years later and the thought still brought a blush to Will's face.
"I thought it was bad enough she interrupted my first kiss, but
then she went and told my Granny. And before you knew, I was being
dragged into her apartment with one grandma on each ear giving me a
lecture on the birds and the bees." Will faked a shudder, "A sex
lecture from two senior citizens… It was worth it to get that kiss
from you."

Remembering the incident made Kenna
laugh hard. It was the first real laugh in a month and she found it
hard to stop. She remembered the look on Will's face when he had
left his Granny's kitchen after all these years. His head hung low
and his feet shuffled as both his Granny and Kenna's Nana had
followed him out the door still lecturing him. Kenna felt a tear of
joy start to roll down her cheek, "You wouldn't be laughing if you
had been giving that lecture. I didn't have sex for years after
that. Every time I tried to get lucky, the picture of our
grandmothers popped into my head. It was like they were lecturing
me again," Will laughed. It caused Kenna to laugh even
harder.

"Sure, sure, laugh it up,” Will
teased. He didn't give her a break though, "Do you know what they
told me? Of course not, because they said it was the man's role to
control the situation. You were completely innocent in their eyes.
And if I remember correctly, you were not all that innocent," he
said as he winked at her.

Kenna slowed her laughter enough to
answer him, "That's right. It wasn't like I dared you to kiss me...
Okay, so I did dare you. But you were enough of a gentleman not to
tell Nana."

"I remember that week so well. It
truly was one of the best of my life".

It was Kenna's turn to blush at the
compliment. "It was for me too."

"Our Grandmothers were something else.
I still can't believe you took down a whole room of seniors in
bingo that first night. I thought you were going to be lynched with
support hose."

"Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have gotten
on the table and told them they got whipped by a kid. Probably not
the smartest move on my part," Kenna said, remembering being twelve
and thinking she knew everything.

"That was the night I had gotten
there. There you were, up on the table yelling bingo and jumping
around for winning sixty bucks. I knew right then I wanted to kiss
you, but was much too shy," Will admitted.

"That, and our Grandmothers always got
us into trouble. We couldn’t have any privacy. You remember how
they snuck us into the cafeteria that night for a celebratory ice
cream? And we got busted by security since no one was allowed in
there after seven?" Kenna asked.

"Then your Grandmother said, 'Officer,
our dear grandchildren came in here not knowing the rules. We just
came to bring them back to bed. All the while, she was hiding a
pint of ice cream behind her back." Both Will and Kenna broke out
into a new round of laughter. Yup, their Grandmothers were hell on
wheels, wheels being the rascals they occasionally
drove.

Will placed his hand over Kenna’s and
looked down at her. Kenna's laughter died in her throat as she
looked at Will. She saw him looking at her lips and had to admit,
all the talk about their first meeting and their first kiss sure
got her in the mood to do just that.

Will cleared his throat and shook his
head just a bit as if coming out of a trance. "So, what brings you
to Keeneston?"

Kenna bit the side of her lower lip
before she caught herself. "Well, I am actually here to apply for a
job. I am applying for the Assistant District Attorney opening. I
know how the legal world can be a men's club, so I was hoping you
could help me get my foot in the door. I also needed to find a
place to stay, but I think I got that worked out".

"Yes, I know about the old guards’
clubs around here. Dad plays golf with the D.A. and I am sure he'll
put in a good word. It is hard for outsiders to work their way into
a job like that. But I know Mr. Burns pretty well. I'll tell him my
Granny approved of you, and that should make you a shoo
in."

"Thanks"

"I know you said you worked something
out, but I can help you find a place to stay if you want. There is
plenty of room out at the farm."

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"I am staying with Miss Lily, and my room is perfect. Thank you for
the generous offer though."

"Miss Lily will look out for you real
well. I am glad you are there. I was worried you were staying by
yourself at some hotel." His kindness made her heart melt a little.
It was possible to find those kinds of manners in New York, but she
was beginning to notice that it was bred into men down
here.

"Actually, the other guests staying
there gave me a ride today, Julius and June Kranski. Do you know
them?" she asked.

"Of course. Nice people. They come up
every year for the sales and then back for Derby every now and
then.”

“
I was supposed to meet up
with them again, but I have no idea how to even find them. This
place is so crowded,” she said as she started to scan the people
walking around the various barn areas.

“
Come on, I will help you
find them. It’s actually pretty easy to find people, you just start
asking,” he said with a grin. He reached down and took her hand and
walked her out of the barn toward the paddock area where the horses
were parading around. Every couple of yards, Will would stop and
ask someone if they knew where Julius was. It seemed Will knew
everyone there. It also seemed Julius and June knew everyone there
since all the people asked pointed in the same direction. In no
time at all, they found Julius and June looking at a horse about to
go into the sales arena.

“
Will, darling, how are
you doing?” June asked as she gave him a peck on the
cheek.

“
June, Julius. It’s good
to see you again,” Will said as he shook Julius’ hand.

“
I see McKenna found you.
Are you ready to go back to Miss Lily’s dear?” June asked as she
turned to Kenna.

“
Anytime you are, June. If
there is something else you need to do, like buy a horse, I can
wait,” Kenna said with a smile. They had been so kind to her and
she didn’t want to hurry them. She had a meeting with the Green
Book, a four inch think book that held Kentucky’s criminal law and
procedures. She needed to read it before her meeting with Mr.
Burns. She needed prove to Mr. Burns that she was very capable of
picking up Kentucky law.

“
Well, we were hoping to
buy one more and he isn’t up for probably another hour," Julius
told her.

“
I can take her home. I am
done for the day,” Will said, his hand moving to gently cup her
elbow in a subtle show of possessiveness.

“
That would be great. Is
that okay with you, Kenna?” June asked her.

“
Sure, as long as it isn’t
out of you way,” Kenna said.

Will’s grip on her elbow tightened as
they said their goodbyes and walked back to his barn. “If you don’t
mind, let me just check on things one last time to make sure
everything is in order" he said heading into the barn.

Chapter Three

As Will went to check on things at the
barn, Kenna took a breath and felt more of the rock lifting from
her shoulders. She was pretty lucky that both Will and his father
would put in a good word for her with the job. She knew her
previous experience and grades spoke for themselves, but that did
not mean much if the D.A.'s best friend's cousin wanted the job.
Sometimes you had to get dirty, just enough to get your foot in the
door.

Kenna looked around at the bustle of
people moving around the sales. She was over seven hundred miles
from New York, but she still felt so nervous that they would find
her. And then what? She had no idea, and that was part of the
problem. Taking on a case at trial was one thing, but taking on the
unknown with your life at stake was another. She just couldn't
quite get rid of the feeling that things were not as safe as they
appeared.

She heard Will approaching and turned
around to see that he had a set of car keys in one hand and
briefcase in the other.

"Everything okay with the
horses?"

"Yeah. I just had to get the files on
the horses we were interested in and make sure our night manager
had enough people to patrol the barn. We like to make sure the
horses are not only well looked after in the terms of care, but
also in the terms of safety." Will stood beside her and took one
last look at his army of blue polo wearing workers. "Are you ready
to head back? If you'd like, we could stop and get dinner together.
I know a great home cooking type place just a couple of blocks from
Miss Lily's.”

Will looked so eager that Kenna
couldn't refuse. Besides, now that she had worked herself up when
she was scanning the crowd she thought some company for a while
longer would be a good distraction. "That would be lovely," Kenna
said as she and Will locked eyes. He smiled at her, showing the
dimple in this cheek. Then he gently placed his hand at the small
of her back and applied slight pressure to move her in the
direction of the car.

‘
Car’ would not be the
proper term for the vehicle she approached. It was a shiny and new,
with a huge metal grill. As she looked at the Ford F-250 truck, she
was very glad she had decided on pants. She wasn't entirely sure
how she could gracefully climb into the truck if she had worn a
skirt.

Will's hand dropped from the small of
her back and reached around her to open the door. He held out his
hand and helped her in the cab just as if she were getting into a
carriage in regency England, a smile tugging on her lips at the
thought. She took in the clean interior with lots of knobs and the
soft leather seats. She was surprised to find the luxury of the
interior was almost equal to her BMW. It just all appeared larger,
especially the man who climbed in with the natural grace of getting
in and out of a pick up for his whole life. She certainly did not
have anything like him in her BMW.

Will started the truck and angled out
of the barn area and headed toward Keeneston Road. Will turned and
asked her, "What is your career plan here? I thought I should warn
you that the Mayor’s nephew, Wayne Givens, is being pushed to take
the spot. He’s sitting for the bar for the third time next month.
Are you signed up to take the bar exam?"

"Yes, I signed up before I came down
with the hopes of getting the job and needing to pass the Kentucky
portion. Luckily, I don't have to take both parts again, as I
already passed the federal section when I took the exam three years
ago now. I will have a lot of studying to do, but first I have to
get the job." She turned her head and focused out the
window.

"And, if you don't get it?" he asked
softly.

"Well, if I don't get it, then I will
start looking at other states. Probably move out west someplace."
She opened her mouth wanting to say more, but then closed it. They
sat in companionable silence for another couple of minutes until
they arrived downtown.

"We're going to the Blossom Cafe,"
Will said as he pointed to the cafe across the street from the old
courthouse. Standing beside the courthouse was an old church, both
had historical markers. As Kenna waited for Will to come around to
open her door, she saw both were built in the late seventeen
hundreds; it looked like the stained glass rose window over the
massive wood double doors of the church was original. The four
story courthouse was built with Kentucky limestone and framed by
massive white pillars along the street side main entrance. A single
massive chandelier hung directly over the front doors, casting a
warm glow over the entrance way. Two statues stood out front, a
white marble statue of lady justice astride a massive horse and a
monument to the local heroes listed as POW and MIA from foreign
wars. It was entirely different from the imposing Greek
Parthenon-like courthouse in New York. The courthouse seemed
welcoming instead of intimidating. Flowers and plants surrounded it
compared to the concrete jungle of the big city. She was still
staring at the courthouse when Will opened the door and took her
hand. His hand was warm and slightly calloused from the work on the
farm. His grip was gentle, yet full of contained power. Will helped
her down from the truck and moved her hand to the crook of his arm
as he escorted her across the street to Blossom Cafe.

Blossom Cafe stood on Main Street in a
historical building, three stories high with tall arching windows
painted off white. Beneath each window was a box filled with
flowers, potted plants, and small trees with twinkling lights. The
whole first floor was open to Main Street by giant plate glass
windows. Inside was awash in light. Booths with tablecloths covered
in glass and tables with mismatched chairs gave the cafe a clean,
down-home feel.