Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
“Hey is this all your bag?” Joe Don called from my SUV.
“Yeah, I think so…hold on…”Alexa yelled back, “Oh wait, and this one.” She added as she handed him the bag.
“How much clothes do you need for four days?” he asked sarcastically.
“She needs a lot! She’ll change like three times every day.” I said to him as walked out of the condo.
Joe Don looked at Alexa and smiled innocently.
“Oh come on, stop flirting. We gotta leave.” I said as I got in the car and started the ignition.
*~*~*~*~*
My POV
“Hey man! What’s up?” Joe Don said to Justin and he gave him the typical guy greeting. I looked at them completely confused.
“Wait, you two know each other?”
“Yeah, I know your brother form when me ant the guys sang the National Anthem at the Titans vs. Falcons game last October.
“And you didn’t tell me you knew Justin!?” I said.
“Nope, didn’t feel like it. I thought it would be funny when you introduced as and we already knew each other.” He laughed.
“Ugh…you need to stop hanging out with Jay. You’re more and more like him everyday.” I said, “And that’s not a compliment.” I added with a laugh.
“So anyways, we should be taking off in about 10 minutes.” Justin said
“Okay. Where’s Jessica?” I asked.
“She couldn’t get off work so it’s just me.”
“Great, now you’re gonna be really obnoxious” I said under my breath.
“Yeah I know.” Justin said as he sat down it the plane seat across from me.
*~*~*~*~*
Saturday morning
The sound of horse hooves pounding on the dirt track was refreshing. I hadn’t been to Arlington Racecourse since last August so I was glad to be back. I couldn’t wait to find out how sore I was going to be after this morning. It was 5:30 a.m. and I, my mom, and Kati were all at the track. I was extremely excited because I was going to exercise two horses this morning. My mom came out the side barn with “my boy” Strut a.k.a.
Strut the Bar. I got a leg up on him and rode through the tunnel to the track.
“Okay, warm him up, then ‘breeze’ him around to the far turn, the turn him loose. Then in a little bit we’ll time 5 furlongs at a ‘breeze’.”
“Okay that’s it for him?” I asked.
“Yeah, he races before you silly filly so I don’t want him to work too hard.” She replied
“Yeah and don’t get thrown into the fence!” Kati yelled from the bleacher section.
“Shhhh! Don’t give him any ideas…” I laughed pointing at Strut.
I proceeded to get him through his workout. He didn’t throw me…but he did try. Strut could be notorious for throwing his riders. Last summer when I was working as an outrider I had to chase him down when he threw his jockey and broke through the gate during loading.
I rode him back to the tunnel where I got off and handed Strut to a stable hand. Now I had to work the new filly, She’s Got Faith, or Faithy as we called her at home. She fun to ride because she’s very fast.
*~*~*~*~*
Kati’s POV
“Is that her?” Joe Don asked as his eyes followed the horse running by.
Justin and I just looked at him like ‘Are you kidding?’
“You’re dating Alexa, but you don’t recognize her? I’m pretty sure that’s a bad thing” I said to him.
“I was talking about the horse”
“Oh, yep that’s her.” I said.
*~*~*~*~*
My POV
I rode Faithy back through the tunnel where Joe Don met me. I hopped off and put on her lead and walked over to Joe Don.
“I’m surprised you’re up.” I said.
“Well, you know, I wanted to see the place empty” he said as we walked towards the barn.
“Yeah, right, sure you did.” I laughed.
I put Faithy in the cross ties, untacked her, and groomed her. I and Joe Don talked about pretty much anything…the races, possible plans for tonight, tomorrow… Just as we started talking about today’s race card my mom came up to us.
“Hey ‘Lex…would you be willing to outride for the first half of the race card?” she asked
“Ummm, sure, I guess.” I said as I looked over to Joe Don.
“It’s fine, I can find my way around without you” he said.
“Thanks, that makes me feel important.” I said sarcastically. They both laughed when I said that.
“Awww…I’m just saying. And besides Justin and Kati can helped me if I get lost.” He said as he pulled me into a hug.
“You guys are too cute.” My mom cooed.
“Yeah, well, I knew you’d like him.” I replied back
*~*~*~*~*
Joe Don’s POV
“That was outrider, Alexa Belotti, singing the National Anthem” the announcer said.
“We she sounds amazing.” I said.
“Yeah, I can’t even count how many times she sang at my high school football games” Justin replied.
With that the first race began. Every time Alexa would ride by she would look over and smile. There were a couple of freak incidents, for example, tow runaway horses in just the first eight races. Finally she was done working for the day. She quickly came through the tunnel, gave a quick was from the paddock, and ran to the employee clubhouse to change.
*~*~*~*~*
My POV
“Hey!” I said as I ran up to rail between Joe Don and Kati.
“Hey, interesting day so far huh?” Joe Don said.
“Yeah, considering I had to catch my own horse”
“Does he do that often? I mean throw his rider…”
“Ummm…yeah. This is the second time he’s done it a race.” I replied, “But he’s thrown me quite a few times in training.”
“Wow, and you’ll still ride him?”
“Yep. Why not?” I laughed
The next race was Faithy’s. I was extremely nervous. And it just got worse as the race went on. At least up until the final turn when she sprinted up to battle for the lead. I think that’s probably the loudest I’ve ever screamed as they raced head to head down the stretch. I and Kati were jumping up and down when Faithy won the race.
*~*~*~*~*
After all the races we all went home to get change and go out to dinner to celebrate the win. Afterwards, I and Joe Don decided to go for a walk along Lake Michigan. That was something I hadn’t done since high school.
“So did you have fun today?” I asked him.
“Yeah, it was pretty intense.” It would have been better if it wasn’t so hot.”
“Quit complaining” I said as we sat down of some of the huge rocks. “You weren’t wearing a wool coat…plus you had the option of going inside.”
“Awww…poor baby!” he said with a laugh.
“Shut up!” we both laughed at that.
Finally when we stopped laughing it was silent for a while. Suddenly Joe Don reached over and turned my head to face him. We just looked into each other’s eyes. Then he leaned in and kissed me. I was surprised but very happy at the same time. He pulled out and just smiled at me and I couldn’t help but smile back. We sat there listening to the waves and talked for a little bit.
We decided we had to head home. We walked back to the car and when we got home we went and sat down on the couch and watch some footage from the CMA Music Festival on GAC.
“Alright, well I’m gonna head to bead.” I said.
“Okay, goodnight.” Joe Don said as he gave me another kiss.
I smiled, stood up, and headed up the stair to my room. I smiled thinking about how great the day had been.
lead me home!
