pillow once again.
The pillow smelled faintly of aftershave and she was surprised she hadn’t noticed when she was using it before. She’d been so tired. At home she hadn’t slept well for who knew how many days. She hadn’t felt safe there for awhile. She didn’t know if she’d ever felt truly safe there. Her whole life she’d never known when Judd would act up.
She felt safe in this truck and drifted off to sleep wondering which of the two in the front had lent her his sweet smelling pillow.
****
Denzel Judd had no idea when he dragged himself out of bed late that June morning that his life had quietly turned itself inside out in the darkness of the night. Half hung over, he scrubbed at the stubble on his jaws with a hand that smelled of cigarettes and tried to focus. Memories of the day before deepened the scowl permanently etched into his forehead and compounded the headache between his eyes. After confronting Carrie two days ago, he and Deek had lost a lot of money yesterday. Now he owed his bookie even more. How had they blown it so thoroughly? That stupid horse in the third race was supposed to have been a sure thing! He’d just have to speed up collecting something on that monstrous, black demon horse of Carrie’s.
He tried to focus his eyes again on his watch to see the date. He thought there was supposed to be a broodmare arriving in the next day or two. What day was it anyway? He couldn’t remember. And where was Deek? He couldn’t recall him coming home with him, but then he couldn’t remember coming home. He dug through the medicine cabinet in search of some mouthwash. He could hardly stand himself.
In the kitchen he considered food and decided on a drink instead. He was sure he had a bottle here somewhere if he could figure out where he'd put it. He couldn’t recall that either.
A shower, shave, and Bloody Mary later, he was feeling marginally better. Sipping his drink, he watched out the kitchen window to the yards, wondering where everyone was. Typically there was more going on out there, and by this time he could usually smell Carrie cooking lunch. He could hear nothing from her house next door. Maybe he’d actually made it out of bed before lunch. He was still having trouble focusing on his watch.
Deek apparently hadn’t made it home. His car wasn’t out there and he didn’t think his bed had been slept in, although it was hard to tell from the stale pile of wadded bedding. He walked outside and seated himself at a patio table, then went back inside for a pair of sunglasses. This glare was killing him.
Dante led two of the colts out to the track rail and spoke to the Mexican riders for a minute or two before legging them up to the small exercise saddles. Then he stood at the rail to watch as they warmed up the horses on the back side of the track. Judd could occasionally see a glimpse of stable hands in the barns and runs as morning chores were finished and horses were brought out to exercise and then cool down.
The big oval paddock in front by the drive was conspicuously empty and he wondered why no one had brought Ebony Wind out to run loose there for the day. Now that was a horse, even if the animal did seem to hate him. Judd was the only one the horse had it in for. He never even tried to approach him anymore for fear the beast would come right over the fence at him. He’d take into him with a chain and teach that horse a lesson if he wasn’t so stinkin’ valuable.
Judd’s attitude soured further when he contemplated the fact that no one else had any trouble
The pillow smelled faintly of aftershave and she was surprised she hadn’t noticed when she was using it before. She’d been so tired. At home she hadn’t slept well for who knew how many days. She hadn’t felt safe there for awhile. She didn’t know if she’d ever felt truly safe there. Her whole life she’d never known when Judd would act up.
She felt safe in this truck and drifted off to sleep wondering which of the two in the front had lent her his sweet smelling pillow.
****
Denzel Judd had no idea when he dragged himself out of bed late that June morning that his life had quietly turned itself inside out in the darkness of the night. Half hung over, he scrubbed at the stubble on his jaws with a hand that smelled of cigarettes and tried to focus. Memories of the day before deepened the scowl permanently etched into his forehead and compounded the headache between his eyes. After confronting Carrie two days ago, he and Deek had lost a lot of money yesterday. Now he owed his bookie even more. How had they blown it so thoroughly? That stupid horse in the third race was supposed to have been a sure thing! He’d just have to speed up collecting something on that monstrous, black demon horse of Carrie’s.
He tried to focus his eyes again on his watch to see the date. He thought there was supposed to be a broodmare arriving in the next day or two. What day was it anyway? He couldn’t remember. And where was Deek? He couldn’t recall him coming home with him, but then he couldn’t remember coming home. He dug through the medicine cabinet in search of some mouthwash. He could hardly stand himself.
In the kitchen he considered food and decided on a drink instead. He was sure he had a bottle here somewhere if he could figure out where he'd put it. He couldn’t recall that either.
A shower, shave, and Bloody Mary later, he was feeling marginally better. Sipping his drink, he watched out the kitchen window to the yards, wondering where everyone was. Typically there was more going on out there, and by this time he could usually smell Carrie cooking lunch. He could hear nothing from her house next door. Maybe he’d actually made it out of bed before lunch. He was still having trouble focusing on his watch.
Deek apparently hadn’t made it home. His car wasn’t out there and he didn’t think his bed had been slept in, although it was hard to tell from the stale pile of wadded bedding. He walked outside and seated himself at a patio table, then went back inside for a pair of sunglasses. This glare was killing him.
Dante led two of the colts out to the track rail and spoke to the Mexican riders for a minute or two before legging them up to the small exercise saddles. Then he stood at the rail to watch as they warmed up the horses on the back side of the track. Judd could occasionally see a glimpse of stable hands in the barns and runs as morning chores were finished and horses were brought out to exercise and then cool down.
The big oval paddock in front by the drive was conspicuously empty and he wondered why no one had brought Ebony Wind out to run loose there for the day. Now that was a horse, even if the animal did seem to hate him. Judd was the only one the horse had it in for. He never even tried to approach him anymore for fear the beast would come right over the fence at him. He’d take into him with a chain and teach that horse a lesson if he wasn’t so stinkin’ valuable.
Judd’s attitude soured further when he contemplated the fact that no one else had any trouble
Similar Books
