Pole Position (5 page)

I wasn’t needed at the racetrack until Saturday afternoon, so I lay in bed later than usual, thinking about Anita and her crazy housemates.

When that bloke was staring at us, for a second I thought she’d called
me
Danny
, but then I realized she was looking outside. That had been creepy. She said he was her housemate. And the drunken pixie, Colette. She had a temper on her, judging by all the yelling that ensued.

Kissing Anita had been a revelation. She drove everything else out of my head. For a blissfully short period, I didn’t think about Susie, or wonder what her next demand would be, and how much it would cost.

The impending divorce was always at the back of my mind, and it nagged at me that I still couldn’t pinpoint the moment our marriage had floundered. I knew the headlines—Susie’s casual infidelities—but
why
remained a mystery. Was she unhappy with me? Or bored? If I started dating, would the same happen again? Would Anita be as faithless as my wife? No, I didn’t believe that for a minute.

I wandered around the house, getting on my mother’s nerves and in the way of her excellent housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce. My great mood had vanished and been replaced by a low-level anxiety. As I stared out the kitchen window, I admitted the problem to myself. I wanted to see Anita again, today. I tried to rationalize it. I wanted to be sure that she was okay after leaving her to that chaotic scene last night. I also wanted to hold her again. It had been too long since I’d felt anything like this physical connection, if ever.

I knew I’d meet her on Sunday, but I wanted to see her somewhere quiet, some place I could ask her about Danny. I knew we’d only been on one date, but I needed to know if he was a part of her life before I got any more involved.

Taking a deep breath, I dug out her phone number and dialed. A gruff male voice answered.

“Hi, I was looking for Anita.”

There was a pause. “Who is it?”

“Tell her it’s Jon.”

“You’ve got the wrong number, there’s no Anita here.”

The rapid reply caught me unaware. That didn’t make sense—he’d already asked who I was.

I checked the number with him; he confirmed that I’d dialed the number she’d written down, and then he hung up.

What the fuck?
Did she not want to speak to me?
Shit
. He
must
be her boyfriend after all. I sat down, and replayed our conversations in my head.

My mother walked into the kitchen, saw my face, and sighed. “Jon darling, why don’t you go out? I understand you’re probably anxious about the race this weekend, but you’re not going to do your best if you keep winding yourself up. Go and have a wander round the shops or something.”

What a brilliant idea, why didn’t I think of that?

I lurked for ages in the bookshop, watching assistants come and go, and then asked the woman behind the counter if Anita was working.

“She doesn’t usually work Saturdays. Sorry. Can anyone else help?”

I contemplated going back to her house, but the prospect of seeing either the drunken pixie or the potential boyfriend deterred me. So where else might she be?

Of course, it was obvious really. She’d be at the stables.

****

To my frustration and disappointment, she didn’t appear to be at the stables either. I could see plenty of activity, a group lesson in progress and children of all ages hanging around, but no Anita. I found an office full of assorted tack, hats, and jackets, but no people. There were three stable blocks. I’d start looking for Sam, although it was entirely possible she’d gone out riding. It was certainly a lovely day for it.

As I left the office, a young girl bumped into me on her way in. She carried a pile of blankets—they completely blocked her vision—and as they tumbled to the floor she cursed, and tried to grab them.

“Here, let me help.” We picked them up, and as she thanked me profusely, we stacked them on a shelf, and then she stared at me.

“You’re Jonathan Craigowan!”

There was no point trying to deny it. I nodded and smiled back. Perhaps she might know where I could find Anita. As I opened my mouth to ask, she spoke again, excited.

“Are you looking for Anita? You were here last week. I remember you asking about Sam.”

“Yes. Is she here today?”

“Well yes, but not at the moment. She had lessons, but then she went to the feed merchant. She’ll be back later; do you want to leave a message?”

Okay, so she wasn’t with the maybe boyfriend, and that was a good start. “What time do you think she’ll be back?”

In reply, the girl turned to the desk and looked at a huge diary. She ran a grubby finger along a list of names before looking up with a smile. “She has lessons again this afternoon, but should be finished at five. Then she’s taking Sam out, so I’d say if you wanted to catch her, your best bet would be between six and seven.”

I thought rapidly. I’d be at the racetrack all afternoon, but I could get back here by seven. I smiled at the girl and held out my hand to her. “Thanks, I’ll come back at seven. Will you tell her I was looking for her?”

She shook my hand, blushing under a coating of fine dust. “Definitely. She’ll be so excited.”

At last.
I might finally get to speak to Anita today. She was certainly elusive. I thanked the girl and set off for Oulton Park whistling softly, a new spring in my step.

It had been another busy day at the stables. After running a series of errands for Clare, it was a rush to get all the afternoon’s lessons started on schedule, then getting each class finished in time to ready myself for the next group. It was exhausting, but it left me no time to think about Jon. I’d lain awake most of the night, thinking about him—about us—and worrying what he thought of me, especially after Colette and Danny’s behavior last night.

I waved off my last class of the day, and then sank into a seat in the little office, and pushed the booking diary closed. I could have happily put my head on the desk and slept.

I took a few moments to think some more about Jon. When he looked at me, what did he see? An innocent lamb? Or damaged goods? I pushed that idea away, with some effort. I’d spent most of the last two years drifting along, scared of making plans, but somewhere over the recent months, I’d begun to relax.

Did I want to go back to University one day? Finish my degree? Or was I happy to stay working in the bookshop forever?

It suited me right now. Baby steps.

The quiet was interrupted by Shelley. She came dashing up, hopping from one foot to the other in excitement. Sensibly, she’d waited until the last pupil had left, but now she perched on the edge of the desk, obviously bursting to tell me something.

At that moment, Clare walked in, and sank into the other chair with a huge sigh. “I’m knackered,” she announced, while opening a can of lemonade. She took a long drink. “God, that’s better, although I wish I had some vodka in it.” She glanced at Shelley, and held up a finger to pause her. “Hang on a minute, Shell.”

Turning to me, she took another swig from her can before speaking. “Anita, what the hell is the matter with Danny today? He has the worst mood I’ve seen in years, and that’s saying something.”

Shelley broke into the conversation. “Sorry, Clare, I have to tell Anita.
He
was here again. Looking for
you
.”

“He?”

“Jonathan Craigowan,” she squeaked, her cheeks bright pink.

I sat up straight, only vaguely aware of Clare’s interest. “Here? Today?”

Shelley nodded. “He’s coming back later. I told him you’d be free at seven.”

“Seven? It’s six o’clock now.”

Clare looked puzzled. “Hang on. I thought you saw him last night? Hells teeth, I completely forgot to ask you how it went.” She leaned forward. “So come on then, how was it? And my guess is, it must have been good if he’s already coming back to see you.”

My cheeks burned and I tried to play down my excitement. “I had a wonderful evening. He took me to some big, posh restaurant somewhere out toward Cranage, I wasn’t really paying attention where.” I shrugged, and smiled at their rapt expressions. “And yeah. We had dinner.” And kissed, but I wasn’t sharing that.

I remembered the strange events at home and frowned. “But Danny acted really weird. He was horrid to me when he found out I was seeing Jon. And then when we came back, as Jon was saying goodnight, I saw Danny watching us from the kitchen window.”

Clare paused for a moment, her brow furrowed, then swung into action. “Right. Anita, you go and exercise Sam. Shell and I will sort out his bed and feed. When Jon arrives, I’ll send him out back to find you. I left the practice jumps out for you, by the way.”

“What about Danny? Do you know where he is?”

“Right here,” said a voice from the doorway. He scowled at me. “Where did you expect me to be?”

“Go on,” said Clare. “Danny and I need to have a little chat.”

Shelley looked relieved to escape, and so was I. When I led Sam past the office, just a few minutes later, they were already yelling at each other.

I started working Sam, warming him up for some serious exercise. He felt lively tonight, and I had to concentrate. Round the arena we trotted, then cantered. I waited patiently for the moment in which we’d click and start working together.

After tossing his head for a while and shying at the slightest distraction, he dropped his head, and began listening to all my signals. “Good boy.” I patted the side of his neck and cantered a few more figure eights.

Of all the horses I’d ever ridden, Sam had the most potential. It took only the tiniest hand or leg movement, a slight shift in my weight distribution in the saddle, and he would respond. Showjumping would only ever be a hobby for me. Without sponsorship, it was impossible to get into the big competitions, but there was still a long way I could go with the right horse.

Shelley appeared at the gate, and I slowed down to listen on my way past. “They’re still yelling at each other, it sounds serious.”

“That’s normal for them. It’ll blow over.” I pulled Sam back to a walk and guided him to the practice jumps so he could take a look at them. “Any sign of Jon yet?” I tried to sound casual, despite the anxious lump in my throat.

“No, but I’ll watch out for him.” Shelley checked her watch. “It’s only six thirty five.”

I flashed her a smile and kicked Sam back into a trot. For the next twenty minutes or so we practiced approaching the jumps from a variety of angles, working on our turns, starts, and stops. Shelley disappeared, and I focused on Sam. It came as a surprise when I looked up and saw Clare sitting on the fence with Jon standing beside her.

I slowed Sam to a walk, and while slipping my feet out of the stirrups, let the reins go slack, and guided him with just the pressure of my knees. It meant he could relax, and he tossed his head and blew noisily as if to say thank you.

“Hey.” I felt shy now Jon was here.

He gave me a glorious smile. “We didn’t want to interrupt. You looked miles away.”

“Anyway.” Clare hopped from the fence. “I’ll go and find Shelley, and she can come round to help with Sam.” She strode off, and I gazed at Jon as I gently walked Sam back and forth to cool him down. Jon had come back after all. After last night’s fireworks with Danny and Colette, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I never heard from him again.

I reached the gate and dropped out of the saddle to land opposite Jon. I looked up at him. Did I dare to steal a kiss?

He didn’t hesitate—he just bent down and brushed his lips over mine. “I know it’s short notice,” he said, “but I wondered if you had any plans for tonight?”

Tonight?
I had to fight to keep the delight from my face. “No, not after I’ve finished here. I need to feed Sam and settle him for the night, and I need a shower. But after that, I’m good.” I babbled in my excitement. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I’ve an early start tomorrow, so nothing too exciting. I don’t suppose you fancy coming back to my parents do you? Mum and Dad are out for the evening. We’d have the house to ourselves for a few hours.”

I thought about it. If his parents were coming back, I should be safe enough with him. The kissing so far had been intense. Would he be looking to take things further? Again, my emotions tossed around. I took a quick breath. He’d been a perfect gentleman so far. Despite everything, I felt I could trust him.

“Do you want to give me their address, and I’ll come down later? Save you waiting?”

I heard footsteps and turned to see Clare with Shelley in tow. The junior took Sam by the bridle, to walk him slowly until he was cool, while Clare strolled back to the stable block with Jon and myself.

“You could,” said Jon. “Or I could come back to your house and wait while you get washed and changed.” His suggestion made sense, but I still had the small problem of Danny. I wanted to ask him why he was being such an ass, but not in front of Jon.

I glanced across at Clare and she understood my discomfort. Her eyes gleamed, and she winked at me. “I’ll divert Danny for an hour or so. Shell and I will look after Sam, so you may as well go.”

“Thanks Clare. I’ll return the favor some time.” I gave her a brief hug. I’d noticed Jon’s frown at the mention of Danny, so I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. His fingers tightened around mine. I’d explain later about Danny.