She had even been flashed. Well, not really her. As a group of infielders went into the tunnel, a girl saw Will and flashed him. Will bought Kenna a soft serve ice cream cone and stood as close as he could to the rail. “Come stand in front of me. If you thought it was exciting upstairs, wait until you see a race from the cheap seats.”
The trumpet sounded and the horses lined up in the gate right in front of Kenna. She was so absorbed in the sounds of the horses and clicking of the gates being shut, she didn’t notice Will had been busy taking photos and signing autographs.
The bell rang and the gates slammed open. The feel of the horses breaking free of the start was so exhilarating Kenna couldn’t help but be awed.
“You enjoying it?” Will had to yell.
“This is amazing although I hate that I can’t see them when they are on the backstretch!” She turned to watch the jumbo screen of the horses racing down the backstretch. She then peered over to her left, waiting for them to make the corner to the final quarter mile. Being in the crowd as opposed to above it gave her a whole new experience. The noise was deafening as cheers welcomed the horses coming into sight.
She felt Will step up behind her. His arms rested on her shoulders as she cheered for every horse to win. They came thundering down upon her as they strove toward the finish line. Cheers went up from those who had won and sighs went up from those who had lost. The quiet that follows the end of a close race was so strange to Kenna.
“Come on, let’s go up to the box.” Will took her hand and led her toward the middle of the grandstand.
His hand was warm and secure around hers. She loved the feel of her soft skin against his callused palms. She gave his hand a little squeeze and Will smiled back at her. It was the type of smile that made her heart swell. It was such an intimate communication between two people who loved one another. She smiled back, and they slowly made their way through the crowd to the elevators.
They rode to the third floor where they were greeted by security guards. After flashing their owners’ badge, they made their way past a series of boxes filled with eight chairs each. On the outside rail of every box was the engraved name of various farms. They passed Desert Sun, Mo’s farm, and went down a couple of stairs to a box on the first row. Kenna had a direct view of the start/finish line and was able to lean over the rail to see the mass of humanity they had just walked through.
“Kenna! Will! Oh, look at you two together!”
“June! It’s so good to see you again.” Kenna raced over to the box across from the Ashton Farm box. “I thought you weren’t going to make it to the Derby this year.”
June kissed both cheeks as Julius shook Will’s hand.
“We didn’t think we were, but a friend from Florida has a horse racing in the Derby and asked us to come with them. Of course we agreed! You look divine. I want to hear all about what’s been going on while we were in Florida. Will you be going to the ball tonight?”
“Yes, we are planning to be there.”
“Great! We’ll talk there.” June lowered her voice and with a grin said, “When we can have some girl talk.”
“It’s a date!”
Will escorted her down a step and across the aisle to the Ashton Farm box.
“This next race should be a good one. It’s one of the biggest in turf.” Will pointed to the infield. “See where the gate is?”
“It’s in the grass. Why is it there?”
“It’s for a turf race. The horses run on the grass. After every turf race, tons of workers go out there and put the divots back into place, just like in polo.” Will rested his arm around the back of his chair as he continued to point out the people around them.
The owners of all the Derby contenders were close together. The other boxes were owned by prominent farms such as Mo’s.
Throughout the races, people stopped by the box to chat. Some would sit down and talk football, horses, and anything else until the next race began.
The box cleared out right as another race was set to begin and Will leaned over to her. “Are you having fun?”
“This is just amazing.” She looked below at the people hurrying to place their bets and the people mingling about the other owners’ boxes. Smiles were as plentiful as hats.
“After this race, I need to go down to the barn and help get Boots ready for the race. It’s a tradition we have. After I walk him out for the on-track warmup, I'll come back up here. If you’d like, you can come down with me, or you can stay up here and watch the next couple of races.”
“No, I'd love to go down to the barn with you.”