Chapter 309 – Post Show and Supper part 1
James was not happy about the reporter ambushing Jack like that. He had gotten a message about the statement, but had not had a chance to sit down and actually read it. At the moment, he was very angry with his daughter and felt that she was ruining any chance she had of getting back on the farm. James was at the point that he just wanted to wash his hands of his daughter and cut contact completely.
"Mr Sims." A reporter shouted. "Do you have any comment or something to say about what your grandson did?"
"I have not seen the statement." James said. "So therefore I will not be commenting on it. However, my grandson and his friends did the right thing by walking away. They just won a competition and you wanted to focus on other things. This is not the time or place to ask those questions. I also want to say that it has been repeatedly said that my grandson's personal life is off limits. If you guys continue to push, I will not allow the boys to answer your questions after a show and actively work to keep you out of all future shows. So we are done here."
James then turned and walked away as the reports continued to shout questions and the photographers snapped photos as fast as they could. James was not happy and he needed to walk away before he said something that would make things worse. He knew that he was going to have to have a conversation with John about the Albany show.
… … … …
Jack got back to the trailer, he immediately went to care for Bandit. He grabbed a brush from his tack case and started to brush his horse that had been unsaddled already. Marco and Andy knew that Jack needed to calm down, so left him to be. They started to make sure that everything else was getting picked up as they had the canopies, coolers, chairs, fans and the like to all pack up.
It wasn't long before Doug, Nathan and Father Mark joined Jack. They were caring for their horses when Jack's phone rang. He looked at it and went into the trailer as he answered it.
"Yes, Grandpa." Jack said.
("First of all." John said. "Are you alright?")
"Yes, Sir." Jack said. "A little sore, but it will pass. Nathan won again with Doug getting third. Nathan only beat me by one one-thousandth of a second. It looked like a tie, but he was also one-hundredth of a second faster in the first round, so they gave him the win."
("Good job." John said. "I am happy for all of you. I have made a reservation at The Blue Mingo Grill for all of you. James and Margaret both know. If you want to invite anyone, just let them know. Use your black card and everything is under my name. Also, I want you thinking about next weekend. Andrew has been looking at places. He has a hold at the Barnsider if we want to go there. Or he can try to make arrangements with the Wellington or the Standard.")
"The Barnsider is great." Jack said. "I know that it has a more private area. I also know that it is one of your favorites."
("Then I will have Peter make arrangements." John said. "We will have the private room and I will see about if we can order off the standard menu or if they want us to have a limited menu.")
"Either way will work." Jack said. "Are you coming back today or tomorrow?"
("It will probably be tomorrow." John said. "I am dealing with some things here in Ocala.")
"Anything I need to worry about?" Jack asked.
("No." John said. "I will tell you about it later. We had a few fence jumpers and they tried to take a couple of the horses. The grooms were able to detain them, but Louis wanted me to come down here to talk about increased security.")
"Add motion detectors to the fence." Jack said. "I have already ordered to have them added to the fenceline on the Coal Creek properties. Security will get an alert when they are tripped. Will there be a number of them being tripped by animals?" Yes, but at least the security would be aware if there was movement."
("I will talk to Louis about that." John said. "Good idea. I will let you go and talk to you when I get back.")
"Thank you, Sir." Jack said. "Have a good time."
("Take it easy and have fun." John said.)
Jack hung up his phone and as he came out of the trailer, he saw Carson approaching with a young gal about Nathan's age.
"Jack." Carson said. "Is it okay that I came over?"
"Yes, of course." Jack said. "I told you to come over."
"This is my wife, Amber." Carson said.
"Jack Thornton." Jack said, holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you. Come meet everyone else. The rest of our group might not be down here quite yet."
"Nice to meet you." Amber said. "I am a big fan."
"Want to come meet my horse?" Jack asked. "The other two can be a bit temperamental, but Bandit generally loves everyone."
Amber went over and Jack let her feed Bandit another treat. As Amber was petting Bandit who was loving the attention, Jack stepped back to speak to Carson.
"Thank you for coming out." Jack said. "I didn't expect you to come all the way out here."
"You are welcome." Carson said. "When I mentioned something to Amber yesterday, she loved the idea. Thank you for letting Amber pet your horse. I think she misses riding."
"You should come out to the ranch to ride." Jack said. "We offer trail rides."
"Maybe." Carson said. "Amber would love that. I can ride, but it has been awhile."
"Well, she can ride." Jack said. "If we are still around, we can visit. We have internal trails as well as points we can connect to the county trails that run between the different ranches and through the parks."
"I will think about it." Carson said. "I don't get a lot of time off and money is always tight with Amber in school."
"We can deal with that." Jack said. "So I was talking to my Grandpa John, who is in Florida right now, and he told me that he made supper reservations for all of us. Why don't you join us? Counting security we are already at fifteen, so it is fine."
"I don't know." Carson said. "I don't want to intrude on your family time."
"It is fine." Jack said. "It is going to be my grandparents, Doug's mother and twin sisters. My cousin Father Mark, two other friends – Frank and Lee, my girlfriend, Doug and Nathan."
"The twins were the ones that won the first group?" Carson asked.
"Yes." Jack said.
"I don't know." Carson said. "Like said, Amber and I don't have a lot of extra money right now."
"You misunderstood." Jack said. "My grandfather is treating everyone. He would never allow you to pay if I invited you to join us."
"Are you sure?" Carson said. "Like I said, we don't want to intrude on your family time."
"I insist." Jack said. "We are a loud group who love to have more people. If you are still unsure, you can try to argue with my grandmother."
"Good luck with that." Nathan snickered. "I have tried, but she is an Irish force to be reckoned with."
Amber turned around and looked at Carson with pleading eyes.
"Please." Amber said. "This will be the first time we have been out since we moved to Albany six weeks ago and prior to that, we were in Syracuse and you were busy with school."
Carson nodded and Amber came over to hug him.
"Glad that you are happy." Carson said.
"Here, Jack, let me take Bandit." Marco said. "Margaret just texted they are close and we want to get going as soon as the rest of the group gets here. We have already loaded the other horses and we need to get back to the ranch."
"Thank you." Jack said. "Are you sure that you don't want to join us at the restaurant?"
"Thank you, but no thank you." Marco said. "It is far too hot to leave the horses in the trailer and according to the message that I got, we need to set up a quarantine for horses arriving sometime tomorrow."
"Horses coming tomorrow?" Jack asked.
"The message from your Grandpa John was to set up a quarantine for six horses." Marco said. "He said to break it up into three, two and one, so I guess they are coming from different spots."
"Where are you going to set it?" Jack asked.
"I am going to access it once we get back." Marco said. "We need to keep clear of the thoroughbreds over at the track. So maybe over near the arena. We could also set it up near the main site. It will depend on how many of my panels Manny has taken."
"If you need more panels." Jack said. "Check over at Uncle Chris's place. We stored a whole trailer over there. There might also be some over at Uncle Conrad's."
"I will thank you." Marco said. "I will talk to you when you get back. Depending on where the horses are set up, it will determine who is helping with them."
"Of course." Jack said. "If you need more room, take the trail horses back over to the extra stable and leave room for our jumpers in the main stable."
"Of course." Marco said. "Talk to you soon."
"Have a good drive back." Jack said. "And tell Carlo no more treats for Bandit, he had plenty today."
"I will try." Marco said. "But you know that he spoils those horses."
"I know." Jack said with a smile.
Before Marco left, he looked at Jack.
"Did you want to change quickly?" Marco said. "I haven't raised the trailer."
"Yes, I should." Jack said.
Jack turned to Carson.
"Stick around, I will be right back." Jack said.
"Go." Carson said.
Jack went to change in the sleeper part of the trailer. It didn't take him long to change into jeans, his Coal Creek polo and regular boots. Jack grabbed his phone and wallet and put a couple of ice packs in the small backpack he had his clothes in. He debated putting the immobilizer back on, but opted not to because the press might find them.
When Jack stepped out, he saw that Nathan and Doug had also changed. Nathan was also introducing Carson and Amber to the rest of the group that had joined them. Jack happened to hear Gran insist that Carson and Amber join them for supper and Carson didn't even protest. When Carson said they were parked over a few rows, James told him to go get the car and come over while they all got situated. Carson did just that. By the time that Carson had returned, Marco, Andy and Carlo had left with the two trailers.
"Let's just go in a group." James said. "Nathan, can you lead the way?"
"Of course." Nathan said. "As long as someone has the address to put into the GPS."
"Already pulling it up." Doug said.
As the group made their way to the Blue Mingo Grill, Jack was excited. They had eaten there before and it was a good place. It was known for its creative grill cuisine and offered fresh and innovative menus along with breathtaking views of Lake Otsego and as well as the surrounding hillside. When the group arrived, James had Jack step forward since things were under John's name.
"Group for Thornton." Jack said. "My grandfather, John Thornton, Sr said he called ahead."
"Yes, Sir." The hostess said. "He said you would have a final count as well fine with the regular menu."
"Yes." Jack said. "We are seventeen and whatever he arranged will be fine."
The hostess picked up a stack of menus and looked at Jack.
"Please follow me." She said.
Once the group was seated, Jack looked at everyone.
"Please get whatever you want." Jack said. "Grandpa John said this is to celebrate another win and he didn't care what people ordered."
The group started looking at the menu while the waitress got them started with ice water. Jack sat Carson next to Frank and Maddie on the other side of Amber. He also had Father Mark sit across from Carson. Jack was at the head of the table and Nathan was next to Father Mark.
After some conversation up and down the table it was decided they would get a number of starters to share. They got chicken potstickers, coconut shrimp and fried pickles. Jack got several orders for everyone to share. Once Jack had ordered the starters, he went back to looking at the menu, although he knew what he wanted. He wanted to check out the other options.
Once they were ready, the waitress came back and got everyone's order. James ended up getting the New York strip steak, medium. It came with roasted green beans and fries. He also added some of the maple bacon jam. James ordered a Manhattan to have with food. Both Gran and Trish got the lobster pasta which was fresh fettuccine with a creamy herb sauce and fresh lobster. They also each got a glass of Jordan Russian River Chardonnay from Sonoma. It was a delicately elegant wine that was filled with subtle fruit and oak nuances to seduce the palate; aromas of fresh green and fuji apples lead seamlessly to an elegant palate framed by lively acidity and a hint of the french oak in which it was aged for five months; apple crispness lingers in the long, graceful finish.
Jack went with the Sleeping Lion Burger. It came with bacon bourbon jam, arugula and goat cheese. It was served with fries. Jack left the goat cheese off, but added American cheese. He opted for lemonade to drink. Elizabeth went with the Mingo Club. It was a grilled chicken breast with bacon, melted American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and garlic mayo on a roll. It was served with fries and Elizabeth opted for iced tea to drink. Nathan got steak frites with maple bacon jam. He opted for coconut rice on the side and chose coffee to drink. Lee got the Sleeping Lion Burger. He also subbed American cheese for the goat cheese. He also opted for lemonade to drink.
Frank decided to have crab cakes. It was three lump crab cakes, asparagus, fries and tartar sauce. He opted for a Mingo Indian Summer cocktail with the food. It was Kentucky bourbon, fresh lemonade, local maple syrup, garnished with local mint. Doug also went with the steak frites. He also opted for the maple bacon jam and coffee. Maddie and Missy both got chicken strips and fries. Maddie got root beer to drink and Missy got Sprite. Father Mark decided on the salmon with miso glaze, coconut rice and asparagus. He thought that the Mingo Indian Summer sounded good and got one as well.
Carson got the New York Strip, medium. He also got the coconut rice knowing that Amber would steal his fries. He was debating whether or not to have a drink and in the end opted for a Coke. Amber got the Corn on the Cob salad. It was grilled chicken, bacon, egg, blue cheese crumbles, cherry tomato and roasted corn on romaine, topped with crispy red onion and creamy ranch dressing. She got a Diet Coke to drink. Chris and Rob also opted for the New York strip, medium and coffee. Katie got the Caribbean Mango Shrimp wrap. It was crunchy breaded shrimp, cucumber, carrots, toasted coconut, tossed in a mango sambal, which was a spicy mango relish, rolled in a wrap. It came with fries and she got coffee to drink.