Chapter Six

"Every Night is Another Story"

I'd always thought it was strange how fast Brad could change. How he could go from being sweet and the man that I fell in love with to the man that I'd spent the last several years hating. I stood with my arms wrapped around my chest next to Samantha as he stood in a group off in the corner of a room, with Lavinia staring adoringly into his eyes. I remembered the way that he had wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close last night. The way that we'd made love with a surprising tenderness. How he'd still been there in the morning and whispered to me that he loved me more than anything.

Today we'd gone shopping in Louisville , buying things for the baby. We'd already happily blurted the news and had heard hundreds of congratulations coming from all directions. I'd called my parents and told them and listened as my mother cried a little into the phone. She swore it was in happiness but for a second there I wondered. Brad had picked out a car seat, joking that he or she would need it for all the long trips we'd be taking to different race tracks. I'd picked out a few other things and we'd already decided on a crib that we were having shipped to Lexington.

"If you weren't pregnant, I'd get you drunk just so you wouldn't have to think about him for a few hours." Samantha said to me as she took a sip of champagne. She'd be staying with me that night and I'd promised not to tell her father as long as she didn't get too drunk. Morning came early and tomorrow was the Kentucky Derby, the biggest day we'd see for awhile. "Or maybe I'll just go kick his ass and then you and I can get our own hotel room and laugh about how shocked he looked for a few hours."

"I have enough on my mind. I don't need to be thinking about another fight with my husband that was made worse when you went and chewed him out." I rubbed the back of my neck, looked at him again and then promptly turned my back to him. Why did we always seem to be fighting now? Tomorrow would be our one month anniversary and he'd already threatened divorce. I closed my eyes wearily.

"Tor's coming down tomorrow morning." Samantha said cheerfully with another healthy gulp of wine. I opened my eyes to see her own bright green ones, staring back at me.

"What time?"

"He said he should be here by ten. I was kind of hoping he'd get here sooner but he promised to meet us at the track." She surveyed the room and I could tell how much she missed him. In the past few days, she'd spent a fair amount of time on the phone with him. I'd even heard her call him her boyfriend to someone the other day. It'd made me smile and glance over at Brad, remembering the first time that I'd called him my boyfriend.

"Ashleigh, you did not just say that." Samantha said, staring disbelieving at me. "Please, God, tell me you did not just say that so that I can just go on with my life and let everything be normal. Please, Ashleigh."

I glanced up at her, my hazel eyes irritated before diving back into the tack case, looking for Pride's hoof cleaner. "Samantha, not now." I said and then, "Where the hell is it?"

"Just tell me you didn't say that and then we'll just move on with our lives. I'm sure that with enough concentration I get that awful image out of my head. Eventually. What are you looking for anyway?"

"Pride's hoof cleaner." I said through clenched teeth. "God, why can't anyone just put something back where they found it?"

"You were the last to use it."

"Shut up." I growled. "And what's it to you if Brad was my boyfriend, anyways? It's my life."

"Ashleigh, really." She said, blowing her bangs out of her face and looking at me as if I were two. "I shouldn't have to explain this one."

"I mean, have you ever even given him a chance? He really is a great guy and I-" I paused for a second, placing my hands on my hips and realizing, for the first time, what I was about to say. "I like him. I really do."

"Oh my God!" She bellowed. "You did not just say that. From day one here, you have always instructed me, very sternly to hate Brad Townsend with all that I am. That he was just a rich, arrogant, jerk who whined and cried till he got his way. You cannot like him. More than that, you cannot date him. I won't accept it."

"Samantha," I said, trying to be patient with her as I bent down to shove things out of Pride's tack chest once more. "Get over it. It's not like I'm going to marry him or anything. I mean, let's get real here. We're just…" I paused again, smiling a little this time. "dating."

She groaned as I held up Pride's hoof cleaner triumphantly.

"I really need a drink." I said.

She grabbed a Shirley Temple off a nearby tray and handed it to me. "No alcohol but it'll have to do. It'll be months before I can get you something stronger."

"Thanks." I muttered, taking a big drink. "God, why are men so frustrating? We didn't have nearly as much drama while we were dating. We had fun while we were dating but the minute he put a ring on my finger he changed completely? Why should he be allowed to do that? I mean, I'm pregnant I have enough on my mind without him piling more on."

"I know, sweetie." Samantha repeated for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Funny, she didn't seem to sound so sympathetic about it anymore. She sounded like one of those voice recordings. "Hey, look whose here."

I glanced up to see Mike Reese making his way across the room. He was alone, dressed in an expensive tux. By the way that he kept tugging at the collar, I knew he was uncomfortable. He smiled when he saw me, a flash of white as he made his way across the room towards us. "You know," Samantha said. "I see Jilly over there. I think I'll go chat with her for a bit. If you don't' mind, of course."

"Sam," I said helplessly as Mike closed in.

"Hi, Mike." she said. "Bye, Mike!"

"See you, Sammy." He said and then to me, "Hi, Ashleigh."

"Mike," I said, forcing a smile as I turned my head to see Brad watching us. Perfect, I decided and then turned back to him. "It's been awhile, how are you?"

He nodded, returning my smile with much more warmth than I'd offered him. "I've been all right. It's been busy around the farm lately, getting ready for the Derby and all. How about you?"

"Great." I answered. "I'm just waiting for things to settle down. We were so busy with the wedding and now it's the Triple Crown. Hopefully after this, I can just relax a little."

"You relax?" He said, raising his brow at me. "I was going to see if I could convince you to come over and ride a few horses for me."

"Actually, tomorrow is going to be my last race for a little while." When he looked at me with obvious confusion, I explained. "Brad and I are expecting a baby. I'm due in early November."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Congratulations, I guess."

"I'm happy, Mike." I said, meeting his eye.

"Are you, Ashleigh?" For a moment, his blue eyes were intertwined with my own hazel ones, and I took in the memories as they came. The ones of Mike and me, the man that had ultimately led me to Brad. "I've heard a lot of stuff about the two of you over the past little while. I never meant to hurt you and I guess I always regretted letting you go. I guess I just always assumed that we'd take a break and then we'd end up being together."

"That's why you brought someone else to my sisters wedding?"

"Ashleigh." He said, closing his eyes briefly and running his finger through his blond hair.

"No, Mike, don't. I really don't want to hear it. It doesn't matter to me what you say. I'm married now to Brad. You might not want to believe it but you better. I'm happy now. I'm in love and I can't wait to be the mother of his child. Things aren't always perfect over here but life isn't meant to be perfect."

He didn't say anything when I walked away but I caught Brad's eye and I saw his satisfied smile.

*

I guess looking back on all of it, It'll always be just flashes here. Some last longer than others but in the end, they're only flashes. Barely enough o piece anything together. It always seems to strange to me that three years of work just to lead up to a minute and a half race that'll determine his place in history. I remembered watching Wonder race this race with Jilly on her back. How happy I was when she won that day.

I knew right away that something wasn't right with Pride. Brad brushed it off, saying it was just nerves from both him and me because of all the pressure. He said horses were smart animals and Pride knew this was a big day. He'd settle down. But I knew this horse, I knew him just as well as myself. Something wasn't right but I trusted Brad. I believed it was all going to be okay.

Until it wasn't.

It started the way all races start. Those few, tense moments in the starting gate. Every noise seems exaggerated, ten times louder than it actually is. I took a deep breath, swallowing my nervous energy and forcing myself to be calm. "It's all right boy."

I'd been riding horses all my life and I should of known better than to allow Pride to race that day. He wasn't moving the way he usually did, he was acting strange but everyone, including Charlie, had told me he was fine. I respected Charlie, more than anyone else, so I allowed Brad to boost me into the saddle, smiling down at him as he kissed me fingers and told me to take care of our baby out there.

I promised him that I would.

I wish I could tell you the exact moment that it all went wrong. The moment when fate turned against us and took away my whole world. But to me, it was all going fine. Pride was closing in on third and we were doing great. I could feel my excitement growing and I imagined telling my son or daughter that I won the Kentucky Derby on Wonder's Pride while pregnant with them. I was so happy.

And then he fell.