Bluegrass State of Mind(44)

"No, he doesn't know that. I do, though," he said before she had a chance to go off on a women's rights tangent.

"But, for a bride to be considered eligible, she has to pass a physical and mental examination to make sure she can have children and to make sure she will not pass on any deformities or genetic diseases." She and Mo turned to see the taxi door open and a woman in a beautiful, navy silk, flowing pantsuit and a fuchsia silk head wrap step out. She was stunning with high cheekbones and a slim figure.

"Geez, Mo, you must hate having beautiful women mailed to you. I wonder what the postage is on that." She saw the corners of his lips tip up. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Thanks for a great lunch," she said as he waved good-bye as she climbed into the limo with Ahmed.





* * *





Three weeks after lunch with Mo and Ahmed, Kenna sat on the porch at Miss Lily's, staring at the envelope from the Kentucky Bar Association. The mail came about an hour before, but she was too nervous to open it. June and Julius had gone back to Florida a couple of weeks ago, promising to stay in touch. She had spent long hours studying and then sat for the six-hour state portion of the bar exam two week ago. After taking the bar, she had filled her time putting her office together, drafting an announcement for the paper, and slipping in to watch Tom in court. She was also lucky enough to be able to see Will every day. She cherished every moment she had with him. She was falling hard and she knew it. But she couldn’t help but enjoy the newness of the relationship: the laughing, the small touches, the talking.

Kenna heard footsteps running up the path. She looked up to find Paige running toward her. "Well, did you pass?" Paige asked, sucking in a deep breath.

"How did you know I got it today? And no, I'm too nervous." Kenna turned the envelope over and over in her hands.

"Ronnie told me he gave it to you." Upon seeing Kenna's confusion, Paige clarified, "Ronnie, the weekday mailman."

"Oh, here." She shoved the envelope at Paige. "Open it and put me out of my misery." Unlike Kenna, Paige didn't hesitate for a moment and ripped it open. Kenna watched as Paige pulled out a sheet of paper.

"You passed!"

Kenna jumped up and joined Paige for a little dance. "You get sworn in next Friday up in Frankfort by the Kentucky Supreme Court. How cool! I totally want to come."

"Me too!" Miss Lily opened the screen door and came out to do her own little dance.

"We must celebrate!" she said to Paige and Lily.

"Don't worry one bit about that. Paige and I have already been spreading the word that it came in the mail today. We were all confident you'd pass, so there's going to be a party at my sisters’ tonight at six."

"Ronnie needs to keep his mouth shut. What if I had failed?"

"Then you'd definitely need a party to get drunk at," Paige joked.

Kenna nodded. What could she say, Paige was right. "Make sure you invite Mo."

"Who?" Lily asked.

"The sheik. Mohtadi is his first name, but he wants to be easier to approach. So he thought to go with Mo. That, and he said it sounded more American. Paige, he's really nice. And make sure to tell him to bring Ahmed, his head of security. I'll give you the phone number."

"I'll call him, but do you think that's wise with the Ashtons coming?" Paige asked.

"I know you all don't believe it, but I believe it is someone else causing the problems at Will's farm. They're both really nice and I consider them friends. I really want you all to meet them."

Paige nodded, "Fine, I'll invite them, and I'll be nice just because you like them. After all, they can't be worse than Whitney." At her name, all three women shivered.

At five thirty, Will showed up at Miss Lily’s to pick Kenna up. She walked down the sweeping staircase and saw his smile beaming up at her. Her stomach flipped, and even though her heart sped up, she felt a wave of calm and rightness settle over her. Will met her at the bottom of the stairs and extended his hand to take hers. His thumb rubbed gentle circles on her skin.

“Congratulations, honey! I knew you'd have no problem with passing the test. Sorry it took me so long to get here. I was detained for a bit of business.”

Dread filled her. “Not another accident?” She noticed his normally confident gaze had turned to examining his shoes. “Will, was it bad?”

His chocolate eyes moved up from his shoes to look her in the eyes once again, “Yeah, it was bad. One of the groundsmen got hurt by one of the bailers. Someone had loosened a blade. When it was turned on, the blade collapsed on him. Cut up one of his legs pretty bad. I'm sorry, McKenna, I wanted today to be all about you and celebrating your accomplishments.”