Saving the Sheikh (The Legacy Collection) (31 page)

old again. Since her parents had died, no one had hugged her like this and she missed it greatly. 

"Before she passed away, Alda told us that your parents were killed in an accident. Bless your heart. You've had it rough, haven't you?"

His question was more rhetorical so she just nodded and buried her head deeper into his shirt. He smelled like horses and hay with a slight whiff of cologne - he smelled fatherly. She took a deep breath and reluctantly pulled away once she had collected herself. Kenna looked up and found Mr. Ashton's kind eyes looking down at her as he patted her head like she was a good little girl.

"I'm pretty sure Will is in the barn. He'll be back in just a second." He stopped scanning the barn area and turned to Kenna. "What brings you to our neck of the woods?" he asked with a great amount of interest.

She wanted to answer that fear and running for her life brought her here. Instead she worked up a fake smile and answered, "Actually, I'm interviewing for the assistant D.A. job with Thomas Burns. I might become a Southerner after all these years of cold winters in the North."

"That would be great. I'll tell Tom he should hire you when I see him for our weekly golf game tomorrow morning," William said. "After all, you're practically family."

Kenna's smile widened into one of genuine warmth as she looked at Mr. Ashton. Well, that was fortunate. Guess some old boys’ clubs could work for me instead of against me, she thought.

Mr. Ashton's eyes lit as he focused on something over her shoulder. “Will! Over here! I got a surprise for you. You'll never guess who's here," Mr. Ashton yelled while waving his arm in the air.

Kenna took a deep breath as she heard strong, booted footfalls coming nearer. She turned around slowly with a wobbly smile on her lips, prepared for the embarrassment of not being remembered. Suddenly the deep breath she was taking got stuck, and her green eyes widened at the sight of the grown up version of Will Ashton. He was gorgeous: strong, masculine, and with an air of good humor about him. He had a boyish smile on his face, showing off one dimpled cheek. His dark brown hair matched his eyes that vibrated with energy. Gone was the scarecrow of a boy she knew as a fifteen-year-old teenager, replaced with a thirty-two year old man's body. He was easily six feet two inches and muscled, very muscled from the way his thighs looked as they filled out a pair of worn jeans. His wide shoulders looked squeezed into his white, button-up shirt. His square jaw was starting to show a slight amount of stubble from a long day. But he still looked like he had enough energy to play a football game.

Will strode up to Kenna, stopped right in front of her, and smiled with genuine happiness. "Hi."

"Hello, Will." She lifted her head to look him in the eyes. When she did, their eyes met and she felt her smile falter. She just knew he had no idea who she was. Why would he? She had just turned twelve the last time he had seen her. She was shaped like a boy and had a mass of untamed red hair. Over the past seventeen years, her hair had turned more auburn with strong red highlights. And she was definitely not shaped like a boy. She was both top and bottom heavy, with a well-defined waist she had obtained through running multiple hours a week. She wasn't a stick thin model, but she always felt that her size ten jeans fit perfectly and showed off those curves rather well.

Just when she was gathering the courage to embarrassingly introduce herself, his father cut in. "Will, I need to steal you for just a moment before you get caught up with your old friend here if you don't mind. Nice to see you again, dear. Remember, you're family. Stop on by anytime," Mr. Ashton said with a slight smirk. She thought she caught sight of a quick flash of mischief across his face. But when she looked again it was gone. "Sure, Dad. Excuse me for just a moment," Will said before turning and walking off a few feet with his dad.

Kenna took the time to collect herself. Little Will had turned into a gorgeous man. He probably had so many women in his life that there would be no way he remembered her.

Will finished the conversation with his dad and walked back to Kenna. "Sorry about that. I guess I also better apologize that I don't seem to know you as well as you seem to know me, although you do remind me of someone I knew when I was just a teenager," he said with a cocky smile that showed he wasn't embarrassed in the least about not being sure if he knew who she was.

"Well, I guess you're 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. After all these years, she still remembered the look on Will's face when he had left his granny's kitchen. 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 given 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 weren't 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'm actually here to apply for a job. I'm 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 guard’s clubs around here. Dad plays golf with the D.A. and I'm sure he'll put in a good word. It's 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's plenty of room out at the farm."

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I'm 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'm glad you're 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'll 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's 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 thick book that held Kentucky’s criminal law and procedures. She needed to read it before her meeting with Mr. Burns. She needed to 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'm 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 your way,” Kenna said.

Will’s grip on her elbow tightened as they said their good-bye’s 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.

……….

Bluegrass State of Mind
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Saving the Sheikh

By Ruth Cardello

Copyright © 2012 Ruth Cardello

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