Page 9 of Lady of Fortune
Knowing she was trapped, the woman finally relented, meeting his gaze with very familiar crystal blue eyes.
All Eddie could do was stare.
CHAPTER5
No.
No, no, no. This could not be happening.
Julia was still attempting to process all that had just occurred on the racecourse, determine the possible repercussions of her actions, and lament how she was ever supposed to be happy once more by simply owning a horse and not racing her.
But now… at Eddie Francis’s face in front of her, it was difficult to think at all.
“Eddie?”
It was the only word she managed to formulate, that emerged of its own accord through her tight lips at the man who stared back at her, clearly as astonished as she was.
“Julia?”
They stood there for what seemed like hours staring at one another until Julia finally realized that her short, tight jacket was nearly entirely undone with only her chemise beneath it, and she kept herself respectable solely due to the dress she held in front of her.
But none of that mattered at the moment. For seeing Eddie again changed everything within her. She had hardly realized how her heart had barely been beating for the past few years until this moment when it jumped back to life upon seeing his face in front of hers.
Eddie Francis. He looked nearly the same as he always had. He was not overly tall, of course, but he was the perfect height for her own petite frame — at least, that’s what she had always thought as a girl and she realized now that she had been right. He was slender, but powerfully built with wiry muscles that she remembered from when he had worked outside at her family’s home.
His eyes, hazel with gold flecks in them, were wide as they roved over her face and the purple-and-white silks she wore, as well as the dress she held in front of her. His hair was slightly shorter than she remembered, though a dark lock still hung rather low over his temple. And when he finally seemed to reclaim his wits, his grin was as cheeky as ever.
“Well,” he said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “This is certainly a surprise.”
She took a step toward him, more drawn to him then she had ever been.
“I thought I’d never see you again.”
“No? I’m something of a fixture on the racecourse now. Did you not know I was racing?”
“Well, yes, of course, but I never thought I would see you, that is, you as a person and not a jockey — well, not that you are not a jockey as of course you are, and clearly you are also a person, but —”
She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. Why was she turning into a blathering idiot? You’re a smart woman, Julia, she told herself, now act like it. When she re-opened her eyes, Eddie’s lips were turned up in the slightest of grins, and she knew he was trying not to laugh at her, which made her feel like even more of an idiot.
“Well, I’m here now — as a jockey and a person. And you, clearly, are not Sam Abney.”
“No,” she said swallowing, finally seeing beyond her shock of Eddie’s return to her life. “I am not.”
“I wondered how Abney’s style had completely changed in a night — and how he managed to do it while utterly intoxicated.”
“I didn’t know what to do,” Julia’s words came out in a rush. “Father allowed me to manage Orianna, and I trusted Mr. Abney, but clearly that trust was misplaced. Then it was right before the race, and I knew Father had bet a large sum of money on Orianna, and I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. I didn’t think, I just dressed in the silks and away we went. But, oh Eddie…”
Despite the passing of eight years since they had last spoken, it seemed so natural to be able to tell him how she felt about the race, and for a brief moment, she was actually relieved that he had found her, so that she was able to describe to someone the thrill she had just experienced, for who would better understand than him?
“It was magnificent. Sure, I didn’t completely know what I was doing and had Orianna an experienced, expert rider on her back, she likely would have won. I bungled things and am slightly embarrassed about that, but at the same time, the race was unlike anything I have ever experienced before, and I do not know how I shall ever find that thrill again.”
He nodded knowingly as he studied her, his head tilted to the side, the gold in his eyes seeming to sparkle at her.
“It’s why I do what I do,” he agreed. “Not for the money, nor for the notoriety. There are many jockeys who race for the pay, for the bribes, who try to cheat the system — that’s something that as a horse owner you must learn to understand. Trust no one. But, when you look past the more unsavory parts of horse racing, there is the purest of thrills that is so difficult to put into words. You raced well today, though you made some errors.”
“How do you know? I barely knew what was happening with Orianna, let alone had any ability to see what the other jockeys were doing.”
“Your senses become sharpened with some experience, and you’ll have a better idea of how to manage the race itself,” he said. “Though I am assuming this was a one-time race for you.”
