“We’ll be honored to be there, Mrs. Rahman,” Will said as he wrapped his arm around Kenna’s waist.
“Wonderful. I'm sure Mohtadi will be pleased as well. I will let you get some rest.” With that Fatima walked back to her limo.
“This should be a lot of fun. Last year, their party boasted many foreign dignitaries and was a who’s who of the international rich and powerful.” Will moved back and let Kenna sit back down on the swing.
“I guess it’s a good thing I went ahead and bought a formal gown.” Kenna paused, “Will, as I was saying before, there is something I need to tell you. You see, when I was in New York....”
“What the hell?” Will cut her off and stood up. She, too, had heard the sirens but didn’t realize until now they were heading toward her. In New York, you tuned out sirens. Here, people looked out windows and came outside to see what happened.
Noodle came to a screeching halt in front of Miss Lily’s and jumped out. “Will, there’s been another incident. Someone put a copperhead into Boots’s stall.”
“Is he injured?” Will was already running to his car.
“I don’t know. I got a report that a groom heard Boots cry and managed to kill it with a pitchfork, but I don’t know anything else.” Noodle jumped back into his car and started to turn around.
“I'm sorry, Kenna. I have to deal with this. I’ll meet you at the cafe for dinner at six, okay?” Before Kenna had a chance to respond, Will was already driving off with Noodle’s sirens leading the way.
“Miss Lily, what’s a copperhead?” Kenna didn’t even bother turning around to see if she was standing there. She knew at the first wail of the siren Miss Lily would be at the door to see what happened.
“It’s a poisonous snake. It’s a copper color so it would blend real easy in all that hay. I hope that horse is okay. It would crush Will if something happened to him,” Miss Lily tsked.
By dinner time, Kenna couldn’t sit still. She had been so close to getting this weight off of her by telling Will all about New York. Both times, she’d been interrupted. Then, another boulder set itself down on her when Will hadn’t called to tell her the status at the farm. She paced her room, waiting for some news but none came.
Luckily, Paige had shown up with an array of locally made jewelry and distracted her by helping to pick out pieces to wear to all of the week’s events.
Kenna looked down at her new watch. “Oh, it’s almost six. Will wanted me to meet him at the cafe, but I haven’t heard from him to know if I should still go.”
“I’m starving. I’ll go down with you. If he doesn’t show up, you can be my date for the evening,” Paige said as she began to pack up her jewelry boxes.
She and Paige walked into the cafe and found a table in the back. They tried to avoid the mob of well-wishers and those who wanted Kenna to tell the story over and over again.
“I need to go.” Paige turned to grab her purse, and Kenna looked over her shoulder to see what had freaked her friend out.
“Why, it’s just Will and Agent Parker?” Kenna paused, “Oh, I get it. You have the hots for Mr. FBI and don’t like that he makes you feel, how should I say it… flushed.” Kenna grinned at her friend’s obvious discomfort. “I thought with all those brothers, Parker would be putty in your hands. I also didn’t take you for a coward.” Kenna sat back against the booth and let her smile show. She knew she got Paige with that one.
Paige put her purse down when Will and Agent Parker approached. She scooted as close to the wall as she could get. Both men said hello as Will sat next to Kenna. Agent Parker sat next to Paige. Kenna smothered her laughter and had to fight pounding on the table in hysterics as she watched Paige cling to the wall. Likewise, Agent Parker sat so far on the edge of the seat, he was about to fall out of the booth. It just reminded her of the second grade when boys and girls thought each other had cooties. The side glances they gave each other was enough to confirm that these two were hot for each other.
“Well, Boots is okay and so is the groom who killed the snake,” Will told the table. “I'm going to leave tomorrow morning with Boots and go to Louisville. Hopefully, the increased security there will help prevent any further attacks on him.” Will turned to Kenna. “I'll be back Friday to take you to Mo’s ball. The next morning, at ten, is the Derby Breakfast at my farm. Then we’ll drive up for the Derby.”
Kenna nodded her agreement to the plan.
“I'll be meeting you up there as well. Some of my men will be on the grounds dressed as farm hands,” Agent Parker added. “I’ll also need a list of all the events you're going to so that my team can be there, just in case this is personal and they try to make a move at one of these shindigs.”