style="font-size:15px;"> “Is this about family? About our fathers not getting along?”
She winced. “It’s kind of hard to ignore.”
“We did just fine ignoring it last night.”
They’d met at a glitzy Saratoga Springs charity event held at a well-known venue. An hour in, needing a break from the hype, Veda had wandered out onto a balcony. Wearing a tux that fit his dynamite build to perfection, Ajax had been standing by the railing, finishing a call. Veda had swallowed her breath and promptly turned on her silver high heel. But he was already putting the phone away and asking in a rumbling voice that reduced her to mush, “Haven’t we met somewhere before?”
Lamest pickup line in the playbook. Except he wasn’t playing. While they had never spoken, of course she might look familiar. For years, at various horse races she’d gone to with her dad, she had been a shadow hovering in the background, fawning over Ajax.
So, had they met before?
Feeling like a tongue-tied teen again, Veda had murmured, “Not, uh, physically.” Those beautiful blue eyes crinkled at the corners as he chuckled and replied, “Well then, pleased to make your acquaintance—physically.”
After an exchange of names, of course the penny had dropped. She was a Darnel, he was a Rawson. Veda also mentioned that she had recently become friends with Lanie Rawson, his sister. Small world…and getting smaller.
With Ajax doing most of the talking, they had gotten to know each other more. Then had come the dancing and the kissing and, after midnight, this. The entire time, neither one had touched on the Darnel-Rawson feud. Frankly, Veda didn’t want to spoil the mesmerizing mood. Apparently Ajax hadn’t given the matter a whole lot of thought.
“Drake and Hux have butted heads over the years,” Ajax reflected now, “but I can’t remember the last time Dad even mentioned his name.”
Was he joking? “I hear my father going on about Hux Rawson all the time.”
“Wait. Didn’t you say you’re in New Jersey now?”
He was right. She hadn’t lived here in New York with her father for years. “We keep in touch…phone calls, emails. I visit when I can.”
Like this weekend. In fact, she was meant to have been her father’s plus-one last night. Feeling under the weather, he’d backed out at the last minute.
Way to go, fate.
“Oh. Well…” Running a hand through his delectably mussed dark blond hair, Ajax blew out a breath. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Sorry to hear that we keep in touch?”
“Sorry that your dad hasn’t moved on. Must be tough holding on to a grudge like that.”
Veda’s cheeks heated up more. Drake Darnel was a whole bunch of things. But c’mon now. Let’s be fair.
“I guess it would be difficult to move on when someone swoops in to steal the love of your life. The woman you’d planned to marry.”
Ajax’s tilted his cleft chin. “Did you say steal?”
“My father gave her a ring. Then Hux made his move and voilà.” Game over.
“Uh, Drake offered a ring, which my mom declined. I heard that directly from her, by the way. And with regard to Dad casting some kind of a spell… Veda, it takes two to tango.”
He gave the room a sweeping gaze, as if to say “case in point.”
Veda wasn’t finished. If they were doing this, she wanted to make the connection between then and now. Between player father and chip off the old block. Just one more reason last night had been a bad idea.
“I believe Hux had quite a reputation in those days.”
Ajax frowned slightly. “He was a dude who dated before finding the right one and settling down.”
Drake preferred to explain Hux’s bachelor past in terms like skirt-chaser, Casanova, cheat, although that last dig was aimed more at the Rawsons’ questionable business ethics. On top of the issue of how Hux had stolen Drake’s would-be bride, the Rawsons and Darnels owned competing Thoroughbred stables. More often than not, Drake’s horses were beaten by a nose by a Rawson ride.
Better training? Sporting luck? Or was something more going on behind the scenes with regard to performance?
As far as Veda was concerned, the entire horse racing industry was unethical. Cruel. That didn’t even touch on the social pitfalls of gambling, where in some cases, entire paychecks were burned practically every week, leaving families in crisis. Long ago she had made a promise to herself. The day her father passed on, a for-sale sign would go up outside the front gates of the Darnel Stables and every horse would find a home without the threat of whips, injury or being shipped off to the glue factory when it was past its use-by date.
Shuddering, Veda refocused. Ajax was still talking about his folks.
“My mother and father were deeply in love. They were committed to each other and their family. Mom made a choice all those years ago. One she wouldn’t hesitate to stand by if she was alive today.”
Veda was sorry that Mrs. Rawson had died when Ajax was still a boy. Losing a parent at a young age changed who you were, how you coped. Every day Veda wished that her own mom was still around. She wished her childhood had been different—normal—rather than the screwup she had muddled and struggled through.
But now was not the time to go down that particular rabbit hole. She was vulnerable enough as it was.
Veda wound her hands tighter into the bedsheet she was holding close to her breasts. “I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree,” she said.
“I guess we will.” Ajax’s gaze dropped to her lips as he added, “And if you want to leave… I get it. I do. Just please know that I don’t have anything personal against your dad.”
She wasn’t done with being ticked off. The Rawsons had a lot to answer for. Still, Ajax’s olive branch seemed so genuine, and the apologetic expression in his eyes looked so real… It wouldn’t hurt to concede at least a small point.
“I don’t hate your dad, either. I haven’t even met the man.”
“But you will. I presume Lanie invited you to her big birthday bash at home next month.”
She nodded. “Should be good.”
Though she wasn’t looking forward to her father’s reaction when he heard the news. While Drake knew that she and Lanie Rawson were more than acquaintances now, he was far from happy about it. He wouldn’t care to hear that his daughter was looking forward to celebrating with her friend at her party.
And, of course, Ajax would be there, too, looking as magma-hot as he did right now.
His smile was just so easy and inviting.
“Wow. The Darnels and Rawsons finally coming together,” he said.
