The afternoon was spent on a run around tour of Dublin, taking in Grafton Street with it’s long lines of shops, a visit to the Guinness Brewery at St. James’s Gate, and a jaunt around St. Stephen’s Green in a pony and trap. Jenn was amused at Steph’s infectious enthusiasm at all things Irish. She supposed having grown up in the country made her unaware of how many wonderful attractions the city held to a stranger. On their way back to the hotel that evening ,the bus rode past the RDS, Irelands location for it’s biggest international horse show. Steph, although tired at this stage sat up and looked with interest at the old stone fronted buildings.
“Wow, it looks nothing like that on the tv. Where’s the ring?”
“Inside, behind all those buildings is the large international arena but there are lots more smaller rings for showing classes and pony club games.”
“Did you ride at it Jenn?” Steph was as curious as her father about her trainer’s previous life.
“Sure did! A good few times as a teenager and then a good bit more as a professional. Best I could manage though was a second in the Grand Prix.” Jenn looked slightly rueful at her past memories.
“You could always try again though right?”
Jenn smiled a little sadly at the young woman beside her, “I don’t think so Steph but I reckon you’ll go one better than me some day! C’mon here’s our stop!”
Gathering their bags Jenn headed off down the aisle to the exit of the bus. Steph quickly followed wondering why Jenn was so uptight about her prior achievements. If she had half the success Jenn had enjoyed she’s be over the moon. ‘Maybe Dad can find out,’ she thought silently.
Once Jenn had seen her young protégé to the room of the suite she was sharing with her father, she returned to her own room gratefully flopping on the bed. Kicking off her runners she offered up a quick prayer in thanks for having had the sense for once to wear comfy shoes around the city. She’d forgotten how much fun it was to sight see and to just be a tourist, even if it was in her own country, Glancing at her watch she saw it was well after seven and wondered what to do about dinner plans. Steph had been exhausted when they got back and had said she’d probably just order in room service and get an early night. She supposed Jon would probably do the same and was just about to have a look at the service menu when the bedside phone trilled in her ear.
“Hello?”
“Well, I dunno what you’ve done to my daughter but she has talked non stop since she got back here. Something tells me that she enjoyed herself!”
Jenn laughed and sank back on the pillows, “She wasn’t the only one! We had fun!”
Jon chuckled down the phone and glanced across at his daughter who was panned out on the bed listening to her ipod. “Well she’s claiming exhaustion so it looks like it’s just the two of us for dinner…unless you’re whacked too?” He waited slightly anxiously for her reply, the thought of spending an evening with this woman was a pleasurable one.
“Great! I was just contemplating room service but if you’re not too jet lagged we could take a walk around the city. I know a great little Italian place or there’s always McDonalds if you’re feeling homesick?!” Jenn was surprised at herself for being so forward.
“Eh, I think I’ll give McDonalds a pass if you don’t mind, I’ve eaten way too many of those in my lifetime! An Italian sounds wonderful though, what time you wanna head out at?”
“Um, Let’s see….give me a half hour to freshen up and I’m good to go!” Jenn found her earlier tiredness mysteriously vanished. In fact she was feeling quite the opposite!
“Suits me perfect! I’ll call for you at your room!”
Hanging up Jenn sat upwards on the bed, her stomach performing twirls again. When was the last time she’d spent an evening alone with a man? Never mind an extremely attractive one at that. A long, long time ago she thought! Shit! What am I gonna wear?
Pulling out the contents of her suitcase she tossed a few suitable candidates on the bed. Hmmm, smart casual or smart fancy? Oh to hell with it she thought. Let’s go all out for a change! Picking out a simple yet chic off the shoulder black dress, teamed with her red trench coat she headed for a quick shower. Twenty minutes and lots of steam later, she was hurriedly blow drying her hair with her head turned upside down. Stepping into the dress after applying her make up, a critical examination of herself in the mirror proved satisfactory. Deciding to leave her dark hair down for once (It was too often crammed under a baseball cap) she added a dash of lip gloss and a spray of her favourite perfume. Right on cue came a knock at her door.
“Wow!” came the response from Jon when he was greeted with the sight of her at the door.
“Oh shit!” thought Jenn, “I’ve over-done it!”
“You look fabulous Jenn! Best looking horse trainer I’ve ever collected!” He joked with her sensing her nervousness.
“Well you don’t look too bad yourself Mr Bon Jovi, and I do believe I’m the only horse trainer you’ve ever collected!!”
She smiled back at him and took in the sight of him leaning against the doorway. Dressed in neatly fitted dark denim jeans, with a crisp white shirt under an extremely smart black suit jacket, he made a tasty sight to her eyes!
Laughing he held out his arm to her “Okay, you got me there! Ready?”
Ready as I’ll ever be, she said to herself! Taking a deep breath she shrugged on her coat and headed out the door with her arm tucked snugly inside his.
Enjoying the mild weather of the late autumn day, the pair strolled into the city centre, pausing occasionally to glance in shop windows. The streets were bustling with late night shoppers and nobody took any notice of the couple wandering through the streets arm in arm
Monday 30 March 2009
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Chapter Five
Three weeks later Jenn had just arrived back in Ireland following a whirlwind tour of Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Her trip had not been wasted and she had bought three horses on sight pending a full veterinary examination. There were a couple of dealers she wanted to visit in Ireland and Jon and Steph were due to fly in the following day to join her. Karen had been thrilled to see her best friend back and couldn’t get over the change in her . Jenn seemed relaxed and happy, two things she hadn’t totally been for quite some time. Karen had insisted Jenn stay with her until the Bongiovis arrived for then she would be staying at the hotel with them for convenience sake. Jenn had filled Karen in on the details of her new job over the phone but Karen still couldn’t believe she was mixing with rockstars!
“Where did I go wrong?” she moaned to Jenn over their second glass of wine. “I’ve worked my ass off to keep in shape all these years and where does it get me? A few leery looks off the smelly builders that hang around my café - not forgetting the balding suits with the bouncing beer guts - ugh! And there you go flouncing off to the U.S to get a job with a rock star! Not fair! Swap?”
“Mmmmm, smelly builders huh? Nah, think I’ll pass on that one thanks! Rock stars smell nice!” Jenn grinned and then blushed. Shit, the wine was making her lips loose.
“Do they indeed now?” Karen had picked up on her friends crimson cheeks. “I thought you said the man was nothing special?”
Jenn had played down Jon’s looks to Karen when she had first discussed him with her. It was hard enough trying to figure out her own emotions without giving her friend ammunition for teasing.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t special! He’s my boss Karen! I can’t help it if he smells good that’s all!” she shrugged.
“You like him don’t you?” Karen knew Jenn too well by now and could scarcely believe it. Jenn had never shown the slightest inkling of interest in any man since Steve had died so to see her friend feign disinterest in someone she obviously liked was a source of great excitement.
“Sure I like him, he’s a nice guy and devoted to his daughter but that’s as far as it goes Karen!”
“Uhuh, right, I believe you, millions wouldn’t though!” Her friend was enjoying the teasing. “So do I get to meet this rockstar who’s nothing special then?!” Karen couldn’t believe how calm Jenn was about the whole celebrity thing.
“Well, if you promise to behave yourself and don’t make a fool of either of us I’ll consider it!” Jenn was slightly wary about introducing her best friend to her boss purely because of Karen’s excitement if she even thought she was in the same building as a celebrity. Although to be fair in Ireland the chance to mix with A-listers didn’t really crop up that often.
“Oh goody! I’ll be on my best behaviour - honest!!”
“Yeah, well just you make sure you are! If you ask him for an autograph I’ll kick your ass!! Just remember he’s my boss okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, relax Jenn baby!! You know me!!”
Jenn rolled her eyes while smiling at the same time; “That’s the problem my dear girl - I know you all too well!!”
Both girls laughing gave each other a hug and proceeded to polish off the bottle of wine between them before heading to bed. A while later, Jenn lay in the comfy bed in Karen’s guest room and stared into the darkness mulling the earlier conversation over in her head. What the hell was she feeling when she thought about Jon, was it lust or did she just have a liking for the guy’s nature. Whatever it was it was driving her crazy. She couldn’t handle not being in control of her emotions and having not felt anything in so long for anybody other than Steve was unsettling to say the least. Closing her eyes she willed herself to sleep. Jon and Steph were landing in Dublin early in the morning and she had promised to pick them up personally with the chauffeur to take them to their hotel. Lord knows, she thought, the last thing I need is to wake up looking like a dead person! Forcing all further thoughts about her employer out of her head, Jenn drifted off to a restless sleep.
A few hours later Jon was awoken by his daughter digging him in the ribs.
“Ouch! Steph what the..?”
He blearily opened his eyes to see Steph looking excitedly out the window of the first class cabin.
“Look Dad! We’re nearly there! And it looks so nice! No rain - Jenn said it would be raining!!”
Looking over his daughter’s shoulder to gaze through the round window Jon took in the green fields below them. “Probably be Steph, she said probably be raining! I don’t think it rains here constantly honey!” Leaning back , he stretched his legs and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes yawning.
“Geez Dad! You better go to the bathroom, you look like Shrek on a bad day!!”
Steph laughed at her father’s scowl. Jon’s face was creased from sleep and his hair was standing on end.
“It’s a good thing I love ya kid!” he said shaking his head and smiling at her.
Getting up he headed to the bathroom to make himself presentable for their arrival. Glancing in the small mirror he realised Steph had been right, his hair just didn’t travel well! Splashing some water on his face and raking his hands through his hair he smiled at himself. It wouldn’t do to greet Jenn looking like a haggard old dog, he’d screw his chances up altogether! “WHOA Jon! Where the hell did that thought come from?” He looked himself in the eyes “Get a grip old man! Do you actually think you stand a chance with this woman? Do you even want to head in that direction?” God he was over analysing things again. He just needed to get his hormones in check that’s all. A loud knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“Excuse me sir but you need to go back to your seat, we’ll be landing in Dublin in ten minutes..” came the voice of the air hostess.
Jon’s stomach took a lurch,“Be right there ma’m.”
'Holy shit', Jon realised, he was actually nervous about meeting Jenn again. That’s what had him so crabby the last few days, he really did fancy this woman. Now why had it taken him so long to figure that one out? ‘Old age Jonny boy!’ That little voice in his head was back again!
Jenn stood anxiously in the arrivals hall of Dublin Airport scanning the incoming crowds for any sign of the Americans. She recognised Steph first who waved excitedly as soon as she caught sight of Jenn. Jenn laughed at the sight of the girl tugging her dad along behind her who was shuffling along with a baseball hat slung low on his head and a pair of dark glasses on. Nobody was taking any notice of the pair at all who were steadily making their way towards Jenn.
“Hi Jenn!! Thought we’d never get here! Dad’s so slow!” Steph gave Jenn a big hug and a smile.
“Hey! Good to see you!! Welcome to Ireland!”
Jenn returned the hug and offered her hand out to Jon. He smiled and hugged her back.
“Aw shucks Jenn! I think we’re past the whole hand shake thing now don’t you?”
Jenn looked at him and caught a hint of his blue eyes twinkling behind the glasses. Blushing furiously she returned,
“Sure thing boss!”
Ouch! Jon was taken aback by the slight rebuff and wondered had he over stepped the line. Jenn was furious with herself as she had seen the look of surprise on his face. She hadn’t meant it to come out like that at all - God the man was just being friendly for Christ’s sake! Straightening up she smiled at both of them,
“C’mon lets get out of here and I can show you some of the sights on the way into the city!” Pushing the previous discomfort to the back of their minds, both Jon and Jenn made their out to the waiting limo with Steph leading the way.
On the way to the hotel Jenn enjoyed pointing out the interesting aspects of the city to Steph who was eager to take it all in. Jon having played the city many times before just relaxed back into his seat and enjoyed the banter between the pair sitting in front of him. He noticed how genuinely interested Jenn was in showing Steph the sights and the way his daughter clearly already worshipped the ground she walked upon. He refused to let his mind wander back to the earlier awkwardness in the airport. Just a glitch he thought to himself, will be all fine!!
A few hours later Jon and Steph had checked into their suite with Jenn just a few doors down. They had agreed to meeting up for lunch in the hotel restaurant and then Jenn was taking Steph sightseeing. Jon had opted to stay behind as he had calls to make and a few business matters to take care of so that the next few days would be clear to spend as he wished.
Conversation flowed easily over lunch with Jenn filling her two visitors in on her exploits in Europe. She showed them pictures of the horses she had already bought with Stephanie getting more wide eyed by the minute while Jon looked them over thoughtfully.
“You know Jenn, you could show me a picture of an ass and I’d know no different!”
“Of an ass?” Jenn looked over at him a wry grin on her face. Steph laughed getting the joke straight away. Jon on the other hand looked slightly confused.
“What’s the joke ladies?”
“Are you referring to a human ass or a certain type of animal? Surely you’d know the difference Jon?!” Jenn smiled sweetly at him over the photographs. Jon buried his face in his hands and groaned;
“Oh God, the Irish wit is showing itself! Paul warned me about that, didn’t think I’d fall for it that easy though!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you for a while! My sense of humour can take a bit of getting used to! You’ll see!” Jenn was amazed at how relaxed she’d become in his presence, he was just so easy to chat to. Nothing pretentious or egotistic about the man, just a regular guy she mused.
“Oh bring it on Miss O’Neill! I’m up for the challenge!” Jon’s blue eyes twinkled back at her, a mischievous smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. He was really enjoying being in her company, she obviously didn’t have a clue how likeable she was, hell, how attractive she was. Sitting across the table from him sat a confident woman, casually yet smartly dressed in a light blue fitted shirt showing just a hint of bosum. A simple uni-stone chain sat around her slender neck, glinting occasionally in the sunlight. Her hair was pulled back in a simple French twist with a few tendrils tucked behind her ears. He found it refreshing that she spoke to him in a professional yet easy going manner, not mincing her words for the fear of offending him.
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you! Right, c’mon Steph, lets get this show on the road, I believe there’s a big green tour bus we should be catching! And don’t worry Jon, it sure as hell isn’t a rockstar’s tour bus!”
“Better not be! I grew up on one of them things and I know what goes on in them and my gal sure as hell ain’t go anywhere near one of them for a long time!” He growled affectionately at his daughter who was staring at him, a frustrated look on her face.
“Yeah, yeah whatever Dad! Who says I haven’t been on one already !!” Grinning she ducked to avoid a swipe from Jon and grabbed Jenn’s arm, “C’mon Jenn! Lets go before Dad has the heavies follow us!”
Jenn threw her coat on and glanced at Jon, “Think you’ve got more than my Irish wit to contend with there mister!!”
He threw his eyes up to the heavens and folded his arms shaking his head slowly! “Girls! Who’d have them! Enjoy yourselves!”
“We will!”
“Where did I go wrong?” she moaned to Jenn over their second glass of wine. “I’ve worked my ass off to keep in shape all these years and where does it get me? A few leery looks off the smelly builders that hang around my café - not forgetting the balding suits with the bouncing beer guts - ugh! And there you go flouncing off to the U.S to get a job with a rock star! Not fair! Swap?”
“Mmmmm, smelly builders huh? Nah, think I’ll pass on that one thanks! Rock stars smell nice!” Jenn grinned and then blushed. Shit, the wine was making her lips loose.
“Do they indeed now?” Karen had picked up on her friends crimson cheeks. “I thought you said the man was nothing special?”
Jenn had played down Jon’s looks to Karen when she had first discussed him with her. It was hard enough trying to figure out her own emotions without giving her friend ammunition for teasing.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t special! He’s my boss Karen! I can’t help it if he smells good that’s all!” she shrugged.
“You like him don’t you?” Karen knew Jenn too well by now and could scarcely believe it. Jenn had never shown the slightest inkling of interest in any man since Steve had died so to see her friend feign disinterest in someone she obviously liked was a source of great excitement.
“Sure I like him, he’s a nice guy and devoted to his daughter but that’s as far as it goes Karen!”
“Uhuh, right, I believe you, millions wouldn’t though!” Her friend was enjoying the teasing. “So do I get to meet this rockstar who’s nothing special then?!” Karen couldn’t believe how calm Jenn was about the whole celebrity thing.
“Well, if you promise to behave yourself and don’t make a fool of either of us I’ll consider it!” Jenn was slightly wary about introducing her best friend to her boss purely because of Karen’s excitement if she even thought she was in the same building as a celebrity. Although to be fair in Ireland the chance to mix with A-listers didn’t really crop up that often.
“Oh goody! I’ll be on my best behaviour - honest!!”
“Yeah, well just you make sure you are! If you ask him for an autograph I’ll kick your ass!! Just remember he’s my boss okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, relax Jenn baby!! You know me!!”
Jenn rolled her eyes while smiling at the same time; “That’s the problem my dear girl - I know you all too well!!”
Both girls laughing gave each other a hug and proceeded to polish off the bottle of wine between them before heading to bed. A while later, Jenn lay in the comfy bed in Karen’s guest room and stared into the darkness mulling the earlier conversation over in her head. What the hell was she feeling when she thought about Jon, was it lust or did she just have a liking for the guy’s nature. Whatever it was it was driving her crazy. She couldn’t handle not being in control of her emotions and having not felt anything in so long for anybody other than Steve was unsettling to say the least. Closing her eyes she willed herself to sleep. Jon and Steph were landing in Dublin early in the morning and she had promised to pick them up personally with the chauffeur to take them to their hotel. Lord knows, she thought, the last thing I need is to wake up looking like a dead person! Forcing all further thoughts about her employer out of her head, Jenn drifted off to a restless sleep.
A few hours later Jon was awoken by his daughter digging him in the ribs.
“Ouch! Steph what the..?”
He blearily opened his eyes to see Steph looking excitedly out the window of the first class cabin.
“Look Dad! We’re nearly there! And it looks so nice! No rain - Jenn said it would be raining!!”
Looking over his daughter’s shoulder to gaze through the round window Jon took in the green fields below them. “Probably be Steph, she said probably be raining! I don’t think it rains here constantly honey!” Leaning back , he stretched his legs and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes yawning.
“Geez Dad! You better go to the bathroom, you look like Shrek on a bad day!!”
Steph laughed at her father’s scowl. Jon’s face was creased from sleep and his hair was standing on end.
“It’s a good thing I love ya kid!” he said shaking his head and smiling at her.
Getting up he headed to the bathroom to make himself presentable for their arrival. Glancing in the small mirror he realised Steph had been right, his hair just didn’t travel well! Splashing some water on his face and raking his hands through his hair he smiled at himself. It wouldn’t do to greet Jenn looking like a haggard old dog, he’d screw his chances up altogether! “WHOA Jon! Where the hell did that thought come from?” He looked himself in the eyes “Get a grip old man! Do you actually think you stand a chance with this woman? Do you even want to head in that direction?” God he was over analysing things again. He just needed to get his hormones in check that’s all. A loud knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“Excuse me sir but you need to go back to your seat, we’ll be landing in Dublin in ten minutes..” came the voice of the air hostess.
Jon’s stomach took a lurch,“Be right there ma’m.”
'Holy shit', Jon realised, he was actually nervous about meeting Jenn again. That’s what had him so crabby the last few days, he really did fancy this woman. Now why had it taken him so long to figure that one out? ‘Old age Jonny boy!’ That little voice in his head was back again!
Jenn stood anxiously in the arrivals hall of Dublin Airport scanning the incoming crowds for any sign of the Americans. She recognised Steph first who waved excitedly as soon as she caught sight of Jenn. Jenn laughed at the sight of the girl tugging her dad along behind her who was shuffling along with a baseball hat slung low on his head and a pair of dark glasses on. Nobody was taking any notice of the pair at all who were steadily making their way towards Jenn.
“Hi Jenn!! Thought we’d never get here! Dad’s so slow!” Steph gave Jenn a big hug and a smile.
“Hey! Good to see you!! Welcome to Ireland!”
Jenn returned the hug and offered her hand out to Jon. He smiled and hugged her back.
“Aw shucks Jenn! I think we’re past the whole hand shake thing now don’t you?”
Jenn looked at him and caught a hint of his blue eyes twinkling behind the glasses. Blushing furiously she returned,
“Sure thing boss!”
Ouch! Jon was taken aback by the slight rebuff and wondered had he over stepped the line. Jenn was furious with herself as she had seen the look of surprise on his face. She hadn’t meant it to come out like that at all - God the man was just being friendly for Christ’s sake! Straightening up she smiled at both of them,
“C’mon lets get out of here and I can show you some of the sights on the way into the city!” Pushing the previous discomfort to the back of their minds, both Jon and Jenn made their out to the waiting limo with Steph leading the way.
On the way to the hotel Jenn enjoyed pointing out the interesting aspects of the city to Steph who was eager to take it all in. Jon having played the city many times before just relaxed back into his seat and enjoyed the banter between the pair sitting in front of him. He noticed how genuinely interested Jenn was in showing Steph the sights and the way his daughter clearly already worshipped the ground she walked upon. He refused to let his mind wander back to the earlier awkwardness in the airport. Just a glitch he thought to himself, will be all fine!!
A few hours later Jon and Steph had checked into their suite with Jenn just a few doors down. They had agreed to meeting up for lunch in the hotel restaurant and then Jenn was taking Steph sightseeing. Jon had opted to stay behind as he had calls to make and a few business matters to take care of so that the next few days would be clear to spend as he wished.
Conversation flowed easily over lunch with Jenn filling her two visitors in on her exploits in Europe. She showed them pictures of the horses she had already bought with Stephanie getting more wide eyed by the minute while Jon looked them over thoughtfully.
“You know Jenn, you could show me a picture of an ass and I’d know no different!”
“Of an ass?” Jenn looked over at him a wry grin on her face. Steph laughed getting the joke straight away. Jon on the other hand looked slightly confused.
“What’s the joke ladies?”
“Are you referring to a human ass or a certain type of animal? Surely you’d know the difference Jon?!” Jenn smiled sweetly at him over the photographs. Jon buried his face in his hands and groaned;
“Oh God, the Irish wit is showing itself! Paul warned me about that, didn’t think I’d fall for it that easy though!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you for a while! My sense of humour can take a bit of getting used to! You’ll see!” Jenn was amazed at how relaxed she’d become in his presence, he was just so easy to chat to. Nothing pretentious or egotistic about the man, just a regular guy she mused.
“Oh bring it on Miss O’Neill! I’m up for the challenge!” Jon’s blue eyes twinkled back at her, a mischievous smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. He was really enjoying being in her company, she obviously didn’t have a clue how likeable she was, hell, how attractive she was. Sitting across the table from him sat a confident woman, casually yet smartly dressed in a light blue fitted shirt showing just a hint of bosum. A simple uni-stone chain sat around her slender neck, glinting occasionally in the sunlight. Her hair was pulled back in a simple French twist with a few tendrils tucked behind her ears. He found it refreshing that she spoke to him in a professional yet easy going manner, not mincing her words for the fear of offending him.
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you! Right, c’mon Steph, lets get this show on the road, I believe there’s a big green tour bus we should be catching! And don’t worry Jon, it sure as hell isn’t a rockstar’s tour bus!”
“Better not be! I grew up on one of them things and I know what goes on in them and my gal sure as hell ain’t go anywhere near one of them for a long time!” He growled affectionately at his daughter who was staring at him, a frustrated look on her face.
“Yeah, yeah whatever Dad! Who says I haven’t been on one already !!” Grinning she ducked to avoid a swipe from Jon and grabbed Jenn’s arm, “C’mon Jenn! Lets go before Dad has the heavies follow us!”
Jenn threw her coat on and glanced at Jon, “Think you’ve got more than my Irish wit to contend with there mister!!”
He threw his eyes up to the heavens and folded his arms shaking his head slowly! “Girls! Who’d have them! Enjoy yourselves!”
“We will!”
Sunday 15 March 2009
Chapter Four
A couple of days later, plans for purchasing the horses were well underway and Jenn and Steph had spent a lot of time getting to know one another. Jenn found the young girl to be quietly determined with a definite focus on her career. She was glad to see that Steph happily immersed herself in all aspects of the farm and didn’t just show up when it was time to ride. This was fortunate as Jenn would never have taken on somebody who wasn’t willing to get stuck in. Digging up a few of her European contacts, Jenn was busy scheduling flights to go source some new horses when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket.
“Hello?”
“Hey Jenn, howya doin? It’s Jon.”
She could not believe her stomach was doing flips again.
“Hey Jon! Am good thanks, what can I do for you?”
“Well Steph has been bugging me non stop about going to Europe to see these horses and so I was kinda wondering if you’d mind having her tag along with you?” Jon wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea but Steph had been driving him crazy about it and Dorothea didn’t see a problem with it as long as she was with her trainer.
“Oh right…em…let me see….” Jenn’s mind went into overdrive.
“If it’s a problem Jenn I understand” Jon cut in on her thoughts.
“No, no, it’s not a problem at all it’s just I’ll be covering a lot of places in a short space of time and I just don’t think Steph will get a lot out of it” she explained hurriedly. “I did have an idea the other day and actually needed to run it by you first before I mentioned it to Steph”
“Fire ahead!” came back the reply on the other end of the phone.
“Well, I’m gonna spend ten days or so back home in Ireland when I’m done in Germany and was thinking it’d be great if Steph could come and stay with me there. She’s get a taste for how we do things at home and her riding would definitely benefit. So, what do you think?” She’d been tossing this idea around in her head the past day or so and the more she thought about it, the better it sounded.
“Gee, that sounds like a great plan! Wonder would she mind her old man tagging along with her!” Jon laughed down the phone, “I’ve always loved stopping in Ireland on our tours. There’s just something about that country of yours!” He stopped himself “Shit, Jon, you just invited yourself, what the hell are you thinking?” Shaking his head he waited for her reaction.
Jenn wasn’t quite sure how to react. Was he serious? Did her really want to visit or was he just being nice? “Well we’ve got great beer, maybe that’s the attraction!” she laughed nervously. Why the hell was she so nervous! For God’s sake the man was just interested in his daughter, not her. There was a pause between both of them.
“Why don’t you run the idea past Steph and see what she thinks?” suggested Jenn. “Maybe she won’t want to do it?” Jon chuckled, “If I know my daughter, she’ll already have her bag packed!” Clearing his throat nervously, “Would it be okay if I came along? He had this feeling in his gut every time he talked to her, he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Of course you’re welcome to come along Jon, it might get kinda boring for you though! Horses, more horses and probably lots of rain!” Jenn had a million and one thoughts crashing around her head, was she really gonna bring a rockstar home? Karen would drop dead with the excitement! Stopping herself in her tracks she reminded herself that this was her employer she was thinking about and to get a grip!
“Well, I’ve a few meetings scheduled in the U.K so I could probably combine work with a vacation with Steph,” Jon paused “It’s been a while since we spent any quality time together and I’d like to rectify that situation.” His hectic touring schedule with the band over the years hadn’t allowed for much family time, something which had been a constant argument with his wife. She had been right of course but Jon just couldn’t sit still for long and he had allowed work to come before his family too often.
“Oh right! Of course!” Jenn stuttered over her words blushing fiercely down the phone. The man simply wanted to spend time with his daughter, he didn’t care who he was doing it with or where. ‘God Jenn, what has gotten into you’, she thought to herself.
“Great! That’s settled then! You just work out the details and let me know when you’d like us to join you and we’ll fly over for a few days!”
“Sure thing. It’ll probably be in a couple of weeks if that suits? Hopefully my work visa will be through by then and we can get started properly when we get back.” She started to relax back into business mode, jotting down a few details on the notepad in front of her. “Uhuh, lovely, okay Jon, talk to you then.” Hanging up she sank back into the chair at her desk. Life was going to get complicated if she couldn’t keep her hormones in check.
Jon shoved his phone back in his pocket and looked out over the New York skyline. The view from his penthouse apartment was fabulous and well worth the mega bucks he’d handed over when he bought the place a little over a year ago. Since the split this had become his base, leaving Dot and the kids in the estate in Middletown. It had made the most sense from every point of view but Jon had loved that house. Moving out hadn’t been easy and he missed the peace and quiet of the countryside.
Slouching down on the couch he kicked off his well worn leather boots and thought about his conversation with Jenn. There was something about the woman that had him intrigued, her self confidence was enchanting yet he could see she had a wall built up around her. When Paul had first mentioned her to him he’d had his people to do a little background search. All purely precautionary but when it came to his family there was nothing he wouldn’t stop at to protect them from any nut jobs that were around. The search had come up with very little about her personal life, mainly centring on her career achievements. These looked impressive even to Jon who knew precious little about the world of show jumping but when he had shown the file to Steph she’d lost the plot with excitement altogether! Steph knew her stuff and this lady according to his daughter was the hottest thing going a few years back in the show jumping world before she had retired. Steph didn’t seem to know why Jenn had retired so early and Jon was curious to know what had made such a talented lady step down from a sport she was clearly very much in love with. Paul had told him that he wasn’t prepared to discuss Jenn’s reasoning behind it as it had nothing to do with her profession and suggested Jon ask her himself if he really wanted to know. Jon had decided that wouldn’t be a great move on his behalf or at least until he got to know her a little better. Something was telling him however that he seriously intended on doing that at least!
“Hello?”
“Hey Jenn, howya doin? It’s Jon.”
She could not believe her stomach was doing flips again.
“Hey Jon! Am good thanks, what can I do for you?”
“Well Steph has been bugging me non stop about going to Europe to see these horses and so I was kinda wondering if you’d mind having her tag along with you?” Jon wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea but Steph had been driving him crazy about it and Dorothea didn’t see a problem with it as long as she was with her trainer.
“Oh right…em…let me see….” Jenn’s mind went into overdrive.
“If it’s a problem Jenn I understand” Jon cut in on her thoughts.
“No, no, it’s not a problem at all it’s just I’ll be covering a lot of places in a short space of time and I just don’t think Steph will get a lot out of it” she explained hurriedly. “I did have an idea the other day and actually needed to run it by you first before I mentioned it to Steph”
“Fire ahead!” came back the reply on the other end of the phone.
“Well, I’m gonna spend ten days or so back home in Ireland when I’m done in Germany and was thinking it’d be great if Steph could come and stay with me there. She’s get a taste for how we do things at home and her riding would definitely benefit. So, what do you think?” She’d been tossing this idea around in her head the past day or so and the more she thought about it, the better it sounded.
“Gee, that sounds like a great plan! Wonder would she mind her old man tagging along with her!” Jon laughed down the phone, “I’ve always loved stopping in Ireland on our tours. There’s just something about that country of yours!” He stopped himself “Shit, Jon, you just invited yourself, what the hell are you thinking?” Shaking his head he waited for her reaction.
Jenn wasn’t quite sure how to react. Was he serious? Did her really want to visit or was he just being nice? “Well we’ve got great beer, maybe that’s the attraction!” she laughed nervously. Why the hell was she so nervous! For God’s sake the man was just interested in his daughter, not her. There was a pause between both of them.
“Why don’t you run the idea past Steph and see what she thinks?” suggested Jenn. “Maybe she won’t want to do it?” Jon chuckled, “If I know my daughter, she’ll already have her bag packed!” Clearing his throat nervously, “Would it be okay if I came along? He had this feeling in his gut every time he talked to her, he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Of course you’re welcome to come along Jon, it might get kinda boring for you though! Horses, more horses and probably lots of rain!” Jenn had a million and one thoughts crashing around her head, was she really gonna bring a rockstar home? Karen would drop dead with the excitement! Stopping herself in her tracks she reminded herself that this was her employer she was thinking about and to get a grip!
“Well, I’ve a few meetings scheduled in the U.K so I could probably combine work with a vacation with Steph,” Jon paused “It’s been a while since we spent any quality time together and I’d like to rectify that situation.” His hectic touring schedule with the band over the years hadn’t allowed for much family time, something which had been a constant argument with his wife. She had been right of course but Jon just couldn’t sit still for long and he had allowed work to come before his family too often.
“Oh right! Of course!” Jenn stuttered over her words blushing fiercely down the phone. The man simply wanted to spend time with his daughter, he didn’t care who he was doing it with or where. ‘God Jenn, what has gotten into you’, she thought to herself.
“Great! That’s settled then! You just work out the details and let me know when you’d like us to join you and we’ll fly over for a few days!”
“Sure thing. It’ll probably be in a couple of weeks if that suits? Hopefully my work visa will be through by then and we can get started properly when we get back.” She started to relax back into business mode, jotting down a few details on the notepad in front of her. “Uhuh, lovely, okay Jon, talk to you then.” Hanging up she sank back into the chair at her desk. Life was going to get complicated if she couldn’t keep her hormones in check.
Jon shoved his phone back in his pocket and looked out over the New York skyline. The view from his penthouse apartment was fabulous and well worth the mega bucks he’d handed over when he bought the place a little over a year ago. Since the split this had become his base, leaving Dot and the kids in the estate in Middletown. It had made the most sense from every point of view but Jon had loved that house. Moving out hadn’t been easy and he missed the peace and quiet of the countryside.
Slouching down on the couch he kicked off his well worn leather boots and thought about his conversation with Jenn. There was something about the woman that had him intrigued, her self confidence was enchanting yet he could see she had a wall built up around her. When Paul had first mentioned her to him he’d had his people to do a little background search. All purely precautionary but when it came to his family there was nothing he wouldn’t stop at to protect them from any nut jobs that were around. The search had come up with very little about her personal life, mainly centring on her career achievements. These looked impressive even to Jon who knew precious little about the world of show jumping but when he had shown the file to Steph she’d lost the plot with excitement altogether! Steph knew her stuff and this lady according to his daughter was the hottest thing going a few years back in the show jumping world before she had retired. Steph didn’t seem to know why Jenn had retired so early and Jon was curious to know what had made such a talented lady step down from a sport she was clearly very much in love with. Paul had told him that he wasn’t prepared to discuss Jenn’s reasoning behind it as it had nothing to do with her profession and suggested Jon ask her himself if he really wanted to know. Jon had decided that wouldn’t be a great move on his behalf or at least until he got to know her a little better. Something was telling him however that he seriously intended on doing that at least!
Monday 9 March 2009
Chapter Three
Paul brought Jenn out around the side of the barn and the two of them walked down a narrow pathway which curved in around a pocket of trees. Upon rounding the curve, a large cottage stood in front of them with more hanging baskets and shrubbery decorating the front of it.
“Wow Paul, this is beautiful! You sure this is just the guest house?”
“Oh good you like it! Yeah, I only use it occasionally for visiting clients so it’s about time someone lived in it properly. There’s a master bedroom ensuite, a guest bedroom with a bath down the hall, kitchen, dining room, living room and a study. I’ve had someone in to clean it up for you so everything should be in working order and the kitchen should be fully stocked. I also took the liberty of providing you with a small bar, fully stocked!”, he added with a little smile.
“You have such a bad opinion of me! Anyone would think I had an alcohol problem!” she laughingly accused him!
“What?” Paul feigned innocence. “You might want to do a spot of entertaining occasionally you know! Unless you’re planning on being a hermit?”, he eyed her warily. Lowering his voice and putting his hand on her shoulder, he looked her in the eye, “I know it’s been tough and you had to try heal yourself but this is a fresh start for you. Stevie would be happy for you.”
Sighing, Jenn took his hand, “I know Paul. You lost your best friend too and we both know it hasn’t been easy but I got a feeling he’s organised this you know? I like to think he’s looking out for me, for both of us. So I’m back in life again, and I have you to thank for it”. Wiping away a solitary tear that had slid down her cheek, she hugged Paul.
“Girlie, you’ll have me going in a minute and that wouldn’t do my street credit around here any good!”, he said glancing around at the yard behind them. Smiling he squeezed her hand and told her he’d leave her to get settled in and if she fancied dinner later to call up to the main house at the other side of the barn. Thanking him, Jenn made her way into the house finding her luggage had already been delivered. The house was tastefully decorated and she instantly felt at home in her new surroundings. Finding her bedroom at the back of the house she was impressed at the size of it. Large bay windows filled the room with natural light, a king size bed sat in the centre of the room with two doors leading off the main bedroom. These she discovered lead to a massive ensuite bathroom complete with shower and Jacuzzi bath tub and to a seriously large walk in wardrobe. ‘I have lots of shopping to do to fill this place’, she thought to herself.
Sitting down on the comfortable bed, Jenn pulled her shoes off and laid back for a moment. Suddenly she felt very tired and decided to have a little snooze before dinner. Closing her eyes, she slipped off into a dreamless sleep.
When she awoke, the house was in darkness. ‘Shit, how long was I asleep for?’ she asked herself fumbling for the bedside lamp. Squinting in the bright light, she checked her wristwatch which said it was six o clock. Am or pm she wondered. Totally confused by both the time difference and jet lag, she got up and wandered into the living room switching on the large t.v. Flicking onto a news channel she was greeted by the breakfast news show. ‘OH MY GOD!! I slept through the entire night! CRAP!!’ Panicking slightly she thought Paul must have thought awful things when she hadn’t bothered showing up for dinner. Going into the kitchen she noticed a sheet of paper lying on the island countertop.
Morning sleepy head! don’t worry I checked in on you last night and you were fast asleep so I left you to it. Hope you are feeling rested and well. Have scheduled appt with the Bongiovis for lunch time - thought it would be less formal around a meal!! I’ll be in barn whenever you’re ready to face the world!!! Paul xx
Relaxing again, Jenn picked up the paper and smiled ‘Once a smartass, always a smart ass!’
Looking around the kitchen, she spotted a coffee maker and set to work brewing some fresh coffee. Leaving it brewing, she went back to the bedroom to unpack and take a shower, having never quite made it that far the previous evening. By 8am she was showered, dressed and having breakfast. The sun was making good headway in the cloudless sky by this point and sensing it was gonna be a hot one, she had pulled on her light blue levis and a cool polo shirt. With sunglasses and baseball hat on, she sat on the step outside the house to have a quick cigarette before pulling on her leather work boots. This being done, a short walk up the path brought her back around to the barn. Inside was a bustle of activity. In the main section were about twenty five box stalls most of which were occupied. Two wash bays stood side by side at one end with a pair of solarium stalls at the other. Large fans hung above each box and doorway making the temperature comfortable inside the barn for the horses. Two girls were busy in each of the wash bays cleaning off two horses which had just been exercised. The slightly older looking of the pair turned and saw Jenn standing in the doorway;
“Hey! You must be Jenn! Paul told me to look out for you - I’m Karla, Paul’s head girl and this is Sandy our junior groom. Did you get a good rest?”
Shaking the girls extended hand, jenn smiled at both of them.
“I sure did, wasn’t quite planning on such a long one though!!”
“Aw don’t worry about it!”, Karla laughed, “Anytime I fly I’m knocked out for hours after!!”
“Have you worked for Paul long?”
“Just over three years now ever since he set this place up. I love it! Paul’s a great guy to work for and we get a lot of training here so it’s a win-win situation I guess!” The tall girl smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Jenn instantly warmed to the pretty brunette and replied, “I know what you mean. It’s great when you have a job that you’re happy in because you sure as hell couldn’t do this job if you weren’t!!”
“You got that right! You used to compete with Paul right?”
Jenn’s face momentarily clouded over but just as quickly she smiled at the girl, “Yeah a long time ago now, I’ve moved onto training since.” Changing the subject quickly she asked, “Any idea where I might find Paul?” Sensing her discomfort Karla smoothly pointed her in the direction of the outdoor schooling ring. Watching her walk away, Karla sensed there was more than a little history surrounding the Irish woman.
Jenn found Paul outside cantering around on a young horse. Leaning against the rails she watched as Paul patiently taught the horse how to canter smoothly over a pole, changing direction every time. Catching sight of her he yelled;
“Aha! The dead arose and appeared to many!”
“Piss off! You didn’t fly a few thousand miles yesterday did you?” she threw back him laughing.
“Well I suppose you’d get away with that one! Fancy helping me out with a few rides?”
“Be better than standing here watching your sorry ass anyway!”
Laughing, Paul pulled up on the horse beside her and called Karla out of the barn. Asking her to tack up a certain horse, he told Jenn to join him in the ring when she was ready. Jenn followed Karla back into the barn and taking the tack off her assured her that she was perfectly capable of tacking up her own horse, unlike some men she could mention! Grinning Karla pointed her in the direction of the particular horse and went back to her work.
Paul and Jenn spent the next couple of hours schooling various horses between them. Jenn, who hadn’t ridden properly in quite a while was pleasantly surprised to discover that she was still quite fit. Losing track of time she suddenly noticed that it was nearly lunch time.
“What time are the Bongiovis arriving at Paul?”
Paul removed his head from under the tap where he’d been gulping water, stood up and glanced at his watch; “Shit! That would be in like ten minutes or so! I didn’t realise it had got so late!” Just then his cell phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Yeah?…………Oh lord! Ok honey, tell them we’ll be right with them!”
Looking at Jenn he said, “That was Sue, they’ve arrived! We better get up there!” Sue was Paul’s wife of two years, a slim attractive woman in her mid thirties, she had been dating Paul for five years before finally agreeing to marry him when he settled down after years of competing internationally. Jenn had met her quite a few times at shows and was looking forward to seeing her again. She looked down at herself and said, “Well now! A great first impression I’m gonna give them, all sweaty and smelly!!” A morning of riding out in the heat had both riders looking less that desirable.
“Here Jenn”, Karla offered, “Have a quick spray of deodorant and you’ll be fine. At least they’ll know you’re the real deal!!” Taking the can from her and giving herself a quick spray, Jenn agreed with her saying, “They might as well see the worst of me now!”
“Girls, I’d love to stay here and chat but we kind of have important guests waiting for us!”, Paul gestured impatiently.
“Alright, alright! I’m coming! God, anyone would think you were going to meet a rockstar!”
Playfully swatting her on the shoulder, Paul turned and headed off towards the house with Jenn following behind. Karla grinned and thought to herself that things should be fun if Jenn stayed around.
Paul and Sue’s house was a large two storey modern build with old stonework frontage. It stood in a beautiful garden dotted with shrubbery and rose bushes and a large wooden deck ran right around the perimeter of the house. Kicking off their boots at the back door, they entered the kitchen where Sue and their cook were busily preparing lunch.
“Jenn! Welcome honey! So good to see you!” Sue rushed forward and pulled a delighted Jenn into her arms. “Thanks Sue! It’s great to be here and you look great!” Sue laughed and thanked her, returning the compliment.
“Eh…ladies…..” Paul was attempting to hurry along the greetings. Sue threw her eyes up to heaven as she looked at her husband, “Horses, horses, horses! There are more important things you know!”
Laughing Jenn said “It’s okay Sue, I guess we can catch up later. We better get this thing started!”
Sue nodded, and turned to Paul, “ I showed the two of them into the study. Stephanie sure is getting tall!”
“The two of them?” Paul looked at her questioningly, “Yes, just Stephanie and her father” she told him.
“Strange, she normally has both her parents with her.” Paul muttered to Jenn. “Well, lets go then!”
Crossing over the hall, Paul opened a door which lead into a large study. Standing with their backs to them, a man in his forties with short but attractive brown hair was examining the photographs on the wall with his daughter who was tall and slim but with long brown hair.
“Jon! Steph! Sorry to keep you guys waiting!” Paul swept into the room with a slightly nervous Jenn in tow.
“No sweat Paul, we were just admiring your pictures.” Jon turned around and smiled at Paul, giving him a firm hand shake.
Jenn did a double take. She never recalled anyone mentioning to her just how attractive Jon Bon Jovi was. She’d had visions of him with long hair as he’d sported in his younger days. Dressed in dark blue fitted jeans with a black shirt rolled up to his elbows, his tanned skin glowed. His face had soft features and when he smiled his blue eyes twinkled.
Standing aside Paul made the introductions;
“Jon meet Jennifer O’Neill. Jenn meet Jon Bongiovi and his daughter Stephanie.”
Jenn swallowed hard and stepped forward offering her hand to both of them. “Hi, pleased to meet you both!” Jon’s handshake was firm yet gentle while Stephanie smiled shyly and gave her a slightly softer shake.
Paul motioned for them all to sit on the sofas in front of the fireplace. Jenn sat beside Paul directly across from Jon. She was suddenly uncomfortably conscious of how she must look to the neatly dressed pair sitting across from her.
“You’ll have to excuse my appearance, we kinda lost track of time this morning!”
“You look fine Jennifer, as for the guy sitting beside you, well I’m not so sure about him!” Jon joked.
“Hey, just because I get my hands dirty Bongiovi, doesn’t make me fair game!” retorted Paul. Stephanie giggled and said “Don’t worry Paul, Dad wouldn’t last half an hour in your barn!”
Jon looked at his daughter in mock indignation and then shrugged his shoulders saying “Alright kid, you got me there!”
Jenn cleared her throat and addressed Stephanie;
“So Stephanie, I hear you would like to give top level show jumping a go?”
“Call me Steph please! I only get called my full name when I’m in trouble with Mom or Dad!”
Jon laughed and put his arm around his daughter. Steph continued;
“I want to get serious about it. I’ve done all the equitation stuff which was fine when I was a kid but I really want to compete properly and be taken seriously.” The young girls face was etched with determination and sincerity. Jenn looked closely at her, her face equally serious.
“You know it takes a hell of a lot of work to get to the top and even more to stay at the top?”
Steph nodded, “I’ve seen how hard Paul and his staff work and I love it. I’ve taken two years out of school to focus on it.”
Jenn looked at Jon who was looking grimly at his daughter.
“And Mr. Bongiovi, how do u feel about Steph’s plans?”
“Oh Jon please Jennifer, call me Jon”, he told her. “Well in that case you can call me Jenn!” she looked sideways at Steph “I only get called my full name when I’m in trouble too!” They all laughed and then Jenn asked Jon her question again.
“Well, to be brutally honest, I wasn’t overly thrilled when she first talked about it. But I guess I can see how important it is to her and I’ll give her my full support so we can see where this leads.”
Jenn could see the pride and love in Jon’s eyes when he spoke about his daughter and felt a warm glow in her stomach. It was easy to see how much this man cared about his daughter. She looked at them both and took a deep breath.
“Well, I’m gonna be straight with both of you right here. Unless I honestly think you’ve got what it takes Steph, I won’t take this on. It wouldn’t be fair to tell you that I can just get you to the top. It doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to be able to produce horses to the highest level and then be competitive. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”, she looked at Steph.
Steph nodded. “I can do it, I honestly think I can.”
Jenn nodded and looked at Paul, “Think we can delay lunch a little?” Paul looked at her confused. “I’d like to see Steph ride before we discuss this any further. That okay with you Steph?”
“Sure thing! I’ve got my riding gear in the car!”, the young girl grinned.
“My wife is gonna kill me because of you!” Paul looked nervously toward the kitchen. “I’ll go tell her we’ll be ready in about an hour.” He got up and headed off to find Sue.
“Steph, why don’t you head out to the barn and tack up Heraldo while your dad and I talk business. We’ll meet you in the ring in a short while.” Jenn smiled encouragingly at her.
Steph nodded and jumped up saying she’d be ready in a few minutes. Jon smiled at her enthusiasm and when she was gone leaned forward and looked Jenn in the eye.
“I want the best for my daughter but I don’t want her hopes to be dashed either. I appreciate your honesty. I know a few guys who have told me they can make her into a superstar overnight. I know all too well that ain’t real and I don’t want Steph to become that.”
“Jon I can assure you that won’t happen. Hell if it did we’d all have Olympic medals!”
She stood up and faced Jon, “If we decide to do this I’ll need 100% commitment from Steph and that means both you and your wife will have to be behind her all the way.” She paused and added, “I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to meet your wife yet. I’d like to discuss all of this with her as well…..”
She stopped because at the mention of his wife, Jon had risen from the sofa and walked to the window. Staring out at the paddocks beyond the garden he spoke softly;
“ My wife and I have recently separated……so…this is kinda me and Steph’s project. We have three other kids too and her time is pretty much all taken up with them.”
Jenn felt her face burning, ‘way to go Jenn’, she silently thought. “I’m sorry to hear that. It can’t be easy for any of you. Perhaps this will be a good focus point for Steph then?”
“I’m hoping it will be for both of us”, he replied, his voice tinged with sadness.
Jon sighed and raked his hand through his hair. Turning around he saw Jenn standing awkwardly looking down at her hands. Christ she was a good looking woman, he thought. Looking her over he took in her tousled hair pulled back into an untidy ponytail, her lean body showing off her fitness. He imagined how toned her legs were under her jeans and took in the string vest she was wearing showing just a glimpse of a firm bust and lean, muscled arms. All in all, he thought to himself, not a bad little package then instantly berated himself for checking her out. Seriously, what is wrong with my hormones, he said to himself. Ever since his split from Dot, it was like he had an addiction to seriously checking out every woman he met.
Looking up from the floor, Jenn caught him gazing at her and cleared her throat, snapping him back to reality. “Lets head out to Steph, shall we?” she asked somewhat icily. “Unbelievable” she thought to herself, “The guys just telling me about splitting from his wife and he’s already throwing his eye about!” She breezed out the door in front of him not waiting for a reply. “Damn Jonny boy! Caught rotten!”, said the little voice in Jon’s head. “She’s pissed at you now!” Shaking his head, he put his sunglasses on and headed after Jenn.
Steph was warming up on Heraldo, her recently purchased horse when they got to the ring. Glancing backwards at Jon as she strode into the centre of the ring she said “This won’t take too long, I just need to get an idea of where Steph’s at.” Jon nodded at her and leaned against the railings trying to concentrate on his daughter and not the woman with the most attractive ass he’d seen in a long while! Paul joined him as Jenn started giving Steph instructions on what she wanted her to do.
“Well Jon, what do you think?” he murmered quietly to him. Jon stared straight ahead and just nodded slowly. “If Steph likes her, I’ll just have to as well!” Paul noticed the pissed off look on his face and wondered what had gone on when he had left the room. Deciding to leave it he watched Jenn put Steph through her paces. Jenn had completely forgotten there was anyone watching and was completely focused on the girl in front of her.
“Okay Steph, all I’d like you to show me is a little flatwork and then I want you just to pop over a few fences for me.”
“Sure thing!” Steph was anxious to impress her, she had done her research and knew Jenn had been one of the best lady riders in the world when she was competing. Gathering up her reins, she proceeded to work her horse in around the arena. She didn’t have Heraldo long but he was so easy to ride, she really didn’t have to do much to look good. After a couple of minutes she started to jump over the low fences that Jenn was erecting for her. Watching her closely, Jenn started to ask a little more of Steph and started raising the fences. She knew the horse would have no problem but she wanted to see if Steph was a rider or a passenger. Raising the last part of a double oxer to a good 1m60, she turned to the rider circling around her.
“Alright Steph, I want two strides in the middle of this alright?”
Steph nodded and headed for the double of fences. Heraldo gaining momentum seeing the bigger fence, bounded forward. She had never jumped this high before and was nervous. The horse sensing this, grabbed a hold of the bit and took off for the fence.
“Hold him Steph! Sit deep, use your seat to slow him!” Jenn yelled.
Taking off a stride early at the first part of the fence, Heraldo put in a gigantic leap and landed too short to make the distance, sliding to an abrupt stop at the oxer. Steph, her balance gone out the window, neatly flew over his head and landed in the sand in front of him. “Great!”, she thought to herself “I’ve blown it!”
Jenn came running over to check she was ok and saw Steph sitting in the sand with a disgusted look on her face. “You okay?” she asked. “I am but my prides not!” Steph scowled. Laughing Jenn held out her hands and helped the girl to her feet.
“You know where it all went wrong?”
“Oh yeah right about where I let him take charge, my fault completely!” Steph glared at her horse then looked anxiously at Jenn “Am I not good enough then?”
Smiling Jenn put her arm around the girl and said “Half the battle is being able to see your mistakes and learn from them - so you’re halfway there without even trying! You want to try that again and be a rider this time?”
“Definitely!”
“Great. Now will you please just give your dad a thumbs up or something cause I think he’s gonna come over here any minute and kick my ass for trying to kill his daughter!”
When Steph had hit the ground Jon had gone to vault over the rail but Paul had held him back saying “Easy there big fellah! If Steph wants to do this there’s gonna be a lot more falls so you better get used to it!” Jon personally thought his daughter was crazy wanting to take part in such a dangerous sport but as Steph often reminded him football was worse. Asking would he rather she played that instead, Jon promptly went and bought her a horse. There was no way in hell his daughter was getting hammered on a football field as much as he loved the sport.
Second time around, Steph made a much better job of it and they called it a day. Jenn had seen enough. Steph went off to cool Heraldo down as Jenn headed over to the two men watching at the rail.
“Well?” Jon looked at her, “What do you think?”
“I think we better sit down and talk business sir! We got work to do and times a wasting!” Jenn smiled at him, her earlier thoughts of him gone.
Paul threw his arms in the air, “Hallelujah! Now can we please talk business over lunch before Sue gives it to the dogs?!”
Lunch was a pleasant affair with everyone seated around a large table in the dining room. Sue and their cook Mrs. Lomez had put on a fantastic spread and everyone tucked in hungrily. Conversation mainly centred around Paul’s business and Jon’s love of football at which point Steph started to yawn excessively much to Jenn’s amusement. After lunch was finished Paul took Steph out to the barn to give him a hand and left Jon and Jenn in the study to talk things over.
Looking with interest at the photographs on the wall, Jon suddenly said;
“Hey! Isn’t that you in this one?”
Walking over and looking at it she laughed and nodded, “Yeah, that’s Paul, myself and….Steve” she finished quietly. Jon turned to her and saw the sadness in her eyes as she looked at the picture. “It was taken in the bar at Hickstead in England about five years ago, I’d won the Queen’s Cup and the boys took me to celebrate straight after..” Pausing a small smile crept across her lips “Needless to say I was the one that had to escort them home!” Quickly changing the subject she walked over to Paul’s desk, “So we need to talk shop about horses for Steph.” Jon sensed he’d hit a nerve with the photograph and hoped he hadn’t upset her. He’d only met the woman a few hours earlier but he was liking her more every second he spent with her. Sitting down opposite her at the desk, he listened while she discussed her position with him.
“Basically Jon, I think your daughter’s got talent. She’s by no means anywhere near the top and there’s a serious amount of work ahead of us but she’s got the determination and the raw ability. Everything else will come in time. Now if you’re being serious about this, we’ve got to build a team of horses for Steph to work with. For the moment I’d like to start out with at least four if not five more. Now I don’t intend to find Steph four ready made Grand Prix horses, she’ll learn nothing that way. One more Grand Prix horse along with Heraldo will be plenty for that level”, she paused looking at Jon who was listening intently. “So I want to find her a couple of others that are at various stages in their competition careers so that they can progress to the top with her. That way she can build a relationship with them. Do you understand me on any of this?”
Jon nodded and with a wry grin said, “Sure! It’s kinda like setting up a band, you start off in the basements and the bars and you work your way up the arenas. I get it alright!”
Jenn laughed, “Well I suppose when you put it like that we’re on the same track! Now I presume you know this isn’t going to be cheap?”
“Yeah, I know all about that! It’s okay, I look at this as an investment in Steph’s future and you can’t put a price on that.” He rubbed his face with his hands and sat back to let her continue. Jenn couldn’t help noticing how her stomach did a little flip whenever he looked at her directly. She wasn’t sure if it was down to nerves or excitement but it was starting to piss her off. She was normally cool as a cucumber.
“Good. I must warn you though I’m not prepared to hand over huge amounts of your money to greedy dealers who bump up the price when they hear who the buyer is. So I think it’s in your best interests if we purchase the horses in Paul’s name and then we can transfer ownership once the deal is sealed. Otherwise we’ll have to deal with all sorts of bullshit.”
Jon was impressed, this lady had thought of everything. Jenn continued on outlining her plan to Jon who was fascinated at how thorough she was. When she had finished he leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs, “Phew, you don’t do things by half do you!! I think I should maybe get you on the bands management team!” he laughed shooting her a lopsided grin.
‘Holy Hell’, thought Jenn as her stomach did another quick flip. ‘This guy is creating havoc with my insides, cut it out Jenn! You are a professional!’ she reminded herself firmly.
“Um, I think I’ll stick to my area of expertise and you can stick to yours - deal?!” Looking at him with a grin on her face; “I don’t think your fan base would let me live if I screwed up their favourite band!”
Laughing, Jon stood up shaking his head, “No, probably not! Listen everything sounds good to me. As soon as the paperwork is done up I’ll have it sent over to you and then you can go horse shopping! Where exactly do you go shopping for a horse anyway?” he asked with a puzzled look.
“Simple!” Jenn stated, “Europe!”
He stared at her, “You mean to tell me that in this big ole country of mine there aren’t any horses for sale?”
“Oh sure there are but I only deal with the best. And the cream of the crop is in Europe, trust me!”
“Okay you’re the boss! Will you need Steph to go with you?” He wasn’t sure how he felt about Steph cavorting off round Europe.
“Not right away, no. I’ll spend a couple of weeks searching around by myself, then when I have a few definites I might have her come over and try them. Or if I really like them I’ll just buy them anyway!”
“Great, well look I gotta get going, It’s been a pleasure Ms O’Neill, I’m looking forward to this venture.” There was a twinkle in his eye as he flashed that killer smile at her.
Swallowing hard to calm her stomach down Jenn took his extended hand, “The pleasure was all mine. I’ll keep in touch and hopefully we’ll be up and running in no time!” God but his hand felt good.
Still smiling he turned and headed out the door, popping his head into the kitchen on the way out to thank Sue and Mrs. Lomez for the lunch. Walking outside his head was swirling. He’d been entranced watching Jenn talk, the way she was so passionate and exuberant in her ideas. She reminded him of herself - gee dunno if that’s such a good thing, he though grimacing. Sometimes he was his own worst enemy and he’d finally driven his wife away without even realising it.
“Wow Paul, this is beautiful! You sure this is just the guest house?”
“Oh good you like it! Yeah, I only use it occasionally for visiting clients so it’s about time someone lived in it properly. There’s a master bedroom ensuite, a guest bedroom with a bath down the hall, kitchen, dining room, living room and a study. I’ve had someone in to clean it up for you so everything should be in working order and the kitchen should be fully stocked. I also took the liberty of providing you with a small bar, fully stocked!”, he added with a little smile.
“You have such a bad opinion of me! Anyone would think I had an alcohol problem!” she laughingly accused him!
“What?” Paul feigned innocence. “You might want to do a spot of entertaining occasionally you know! Unless you’re planning on being a hermit?”, he eyed her warily. Lowering his voice and putting his hand on her shoulder, he looked her in the eye, “I know it’s been tough and you had to try heal yourself but this is a fresh start for you. Stevie would be happy for you.”
Sighing, Jenn took his hand, “I know Paul. You lost your best friend too and we both know it hasn’t been easy but I got a feeling he’s organised this you know? I like to think he’s looking out for me, for both of us. So I’m back in life again, and I have you to thank for it”. Wiping away a solitary tear that had slid down her cheek, she hugged Paul.
“Girlie, you’ll have me going in a minute and that wouldn’t do my street credit around here any good!”, he said glancing around at the yard behind them. Smiling he squeezed her hand and told her he’d leave her to get settled in and if she fancied dinner later to call up to the main house at the other side of the barn. Thanking him, Jenn made her way into the house finding her luggage had already been delivered. The house was tastefully decorated and she instantly felt at home in her new surroundings. Finding her bedroom at the back of the house she was impressed at the size of it. Large bay windows filled the room with natural light, a king size bed sat in the centre of the room with two doors leading off the main bedroom. These she discovered lead to a massive ensuite bathroom complete with shower and Jacuzzi bath tub and to a seriously large walk in wardrobe. ‘I have lots of shopping to do to fill this place’, she thought to herself.
Sitting down on the comfortable bed, Jenn pulled her shoes off and laid back for a moment. Suddenly she felt very tired and decided to have a little snooze before dinner. Closing her eyes, she slipped off into a dreamless sleep.
When she awoke, the house was in darkness. ‘Shit, how long was I asleep for?’ she asked herself fumbling for the bedside lamp. Squinting in the bright light, she checked her wristwatch which said it was six o clock. Am or pm she wondered. Totally confused by both the time difference and jet lag, she got up and wandered into the living room switching on the large t.v. Flicking onto a news channel she was greeted by the breakfast news show. ‘OH MY GOD!! I slept through the entire night! CRAP!!’ Panicking slightly she thought Paul must have thought awful things when she hadn’t bothered showing up for dinner. Going into the kitchen she noticed a sheet of paper lying on the island countertop.
Morning sleepy head! don’t worry I checked in on you last night and you were fast asleep so I left you to it. Hope you are feeling rested and well. Have scheduled appt with the Bongiovis for lunch time - thought it would be less formal around a meal!! I’ll be in barn whenever you’re ready to face the world!!! Paul xx
Relaxing again, Jenn picked up the paper and smiled ‘Once a smartass, always a smart ass!’
Looking around the kitchen, she spotted a coffee maker and set to work brewing some fresh coffee. Leaving it brewing, she went back to the bedroom to unpack and take a shower, having never quite made it that far the previous evening. By 8am she was showered, dressed and having breakfast. The sun was making good headway in the cloudless sky by this point and sensing it was gonna be a hot one, she had pulled on her light blue levis and a cool polo shirt. With sunglasses and baseball hat on, she sat on the step outside the house to have a quick cigarette before pulling on her leather work boots. This being done, a short walk up the path brought her back around to the barn. Inside was a bustle of activity. In the main section were about twenty five box stalls most of which were occupied. Two wash bays stood side by side at one end with a pair of solarium stalls at the other. Large fans hung above each box and doorway making the temperature comfortable inside the barn for the horses. Two girls were busy in each of the wash bays cleaning off two horses which had just been exercised. The slightly older looking of the pair turned and saw Jenn standing in the doorway;
“Hey! You must be Jenn! Paul told me to look out for you - I’m Karla, Paul’s head girl and this is Sandy our junior groom. Did you get a good rest?”
Shaking the girls extended hand, jenn smiled at both of them.
“I sure did, wasn’t quite planning on such a long one though!!”
“Aw don’t worry about it!”, Karla laughed, “Anytime I fly I’m knocked out for hours after!!”
“Have you worked for Paul long?”
“Just over three years now ever since he set this place up. I love it! Paul’s a great guy to work for and we get a lot of training here so it’s a win-win situation I guess!” The tall girl smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Jenn instantly warmed to the pretty brunette and replied, “I know what you mean. It’s great when you have a job that you’re happy in because you sure as hell couldn’t do this job if you weren’t!!”
“You got that right! You used to compete with Paul right?”
Jenn’s face momentarily clouded over but just as quickly she smiled at the girl, “Yeah a long time ago now, I’ve moved onto training since.” Changing the subject quickly she asked, “Any idea where I might find Paul?” Sensing her discomfort Karla smoothly pointed her in the direction of the outdoor schooling ring. Watching her walk away, Karla sensed there was more than a little history surrounding the Irish woman.
Jenn found Paul outside cantering around on a young horse. Leaning against the rails she watched as Paul patiently taught the horse how to canter smoothly over a pole, changing direction every time. Catching sight of her he yelled;
“Aha! The dead arose and appeared to many!”
“Piss off! You didn’t fly a few thousand miles yesterday did you?” she threw back him laughing.
“Well I suppose you’d get away with that one! Fancy helping me out with a few rides?”
“Be better than standing here watching your sorry ass anyway!”
Laughing, Paul pulled up on the horse beside her and called Karla out of the barn. Asking her to tack up a certain horse, he told Jenn to join him in the ring when she was ready. Jenn followed Karla back into the barn and taking the tack off her assured her that she was perfectly capable of tacking up her own horse, unlike some men she could mention! Grinning Karla pointed her in the direction of the particular horse and went back to her work.
Paul and Jenn spent the next couple of hours schooling various horses between them. Jenn, who hadn’t ridden properly in quite a while was pleasantly surprised to discover that she was still quite fit. Losing track of time she suddenly noticed that it was nearly lunch time.
“What time are the Bongiovis arriving at Paul?”
Paul removed his head from under the tap where he’d been gulping water, stood up and glanced at his watch; “Shit! That would be in like ten minutes or so! I didn’t realise it had got so late!” Just then his cell phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Yeah?…………Oh lord! Ok honey, tell them we’ll be right with them!”
Looking at Jenn he said, “That was Sue, they’ve arrived! We better get up there!” Sue was Paul’s wife of two years, a slim attractive woman in her mid thirties, she had been dating Paul for five years before finally agreeing to marry him when he settled down after years of competing internationally. Jenn had met her quite a few times at shows and was looking forward to seeing her again. She looked down at herself and said, “Well now! A great first impression I’m gonna give them, all sweaty and smelly!!” A morning of riding out in the heat had both riders looking less that desirable.
“Here Jenn”, Karla offered, “Have a quick spray of deodorant and you’ll be fine. At least they’ll know you’re the real deal!!” Taking the can from her and giving herself a quick spray, Jenn agreed with her saying, “They might as well see the worst of me now!”
“Girls, I’d love to stay here and chat but we kind of have important guests waiting for us!”, Paul gestured impatiently.
“Alright, alright! I’m coming! God, anyone would think you were going to meet a rockstar!”
Playfully swatting her on the shoulder, Paul turned and headed off towards the house with Jenn following behind. Karla grinned and thought to herself that things should be fun if Jenn stayed around.
Paul and Sue’s house was a large two storey modern build with old stonework frontage. It stood in a beautiful garden dotted with shrubbery and rose bushes and a large wooden deck ran right around the perimeter of the house. Kicking off their boots at the back door, they entered the kitchen where Sue and their cook were busily preparing lunch.
“Jenn! Welcome honey! So good to see you!” Sue rushed forward and pulled a delighted Jenn into her arms. “Thanks Sue! It’s great to be here and you look great!” Sue laughed and thanked her, returning the compliment.
“Eh…ladies…..” Paul was attempting to hurry along the greetings. Sue threw her eyes up to heaven as she looked at her husband, “Horses, horses, horses! There are more important things you know!”
Laughing Jenn said “It’s okay Sue, I guess we can catch up later. We better get this thing started!”
Sue nodded, and turned to Paul, “ I showed the two of them into the study. Stephanie sure is getting tall!”
“The two of them?” Paul looked at her questioningly, “Yes, just Stephanie and her father” she told him.
“Strange, she normally has both her parents with her.” Paul muttered to Jenn. “Well, lets go then!”
Crossing over the hall, Paul opened a door which lead into a large study. Standing with their backs to them, a man in his forties with short but attractive brown hair was examining the photographs on the wall with his daughter who was tall and slim but with long brown hair.
“Jon! Steph! Sorry to keep you guys waiting!” Paul swept into the room with a slightly nervous Jenn in tow.
“No sweat Paul, we were just admiring your pictures.” Jon turned around and smiled at Paul, giving him a firm hand shake.
Jenn did a double take. She never recalled anyone mentioning to her just how attractive Jon Bon Jovi was. She’d had visions of him with long hair as he’d sported in his younger days. Dressed in dark blue fitted jeans with a black shirt rolled up to his elbows, his tanned skin glowed. His face had soft features and when he smiled his blue eyes twinkled.
Standing aside Paul made the introductions;
“Jon meet Jennifer O’Neill. Jenn meet Jon Bongiovi and his daughter Stephanie.”
Jenn swallowed hard and stepped forward offering her hand to both of them. “Hi, pleased to meet you both!” Jon’s handshake was firm yet gentle while Stephanie smiled shyly and gave her a slightly softer shake.
Paul motioned for them all to sit on the sofas in front of the fireplace. Jenn sat beside Paul directly across from Jon. She was suddenly uncomfortably conscious of how she must look to the neatly dressed pair sitting across from her.
“You’ll have to excuse my appearance, we kinda lost track of time this morning!”
“You look fine Jennifer, as for the guy sitting beside you, well I’m not so sure about him!” Jon joked.
“Hey, just because I get my hands dirty Bongiovi, doesn’t make me fair game!” retorted Paul. Stephanie giggled and said “Don’t worry Paul, Dad wouldn’t last half an hour in your barn!”
Jon looked at his daughter in mock indignation and then shrugged his shoulders saying “Alright kid, you got me there!”
Jenn cleared her throat and addressed Stephanie;
“So Stephanie, I hear you would like to give top level show jumping a go?”
“Call me Steph please! I only get called my full name when I’m in trouble with Mom or Dad!”
Jon laughed and put his arm around his daughter. Steph continued;
“I want to get serious about it. I’ve done all the equitation stuff which was fine when I was a kid but I really want to compete properly and be taken seriously.” The young girls face was etched with determination and sincerity. Jenn looked closely at her, her face equally serious.
“You know it takes a hell of a lot of work to get to the top and even more to stay at the top?”
Steph nodded, “I’ve seen how hard Paul and his staff work and I love it. I’ve taken two years out of school to focus on it.”
Jenn looked at Jon who was looking grimly at his daughter.
“And Mr. Bongiovi, how do u feel about Steph’s plans?”
“Oh Jon please Jennifer, call me Jon”, he told her. “Well in that case you can call me Jenn!” she looked sideways at Steph “I only get called my full name when I’m in trouble too!” They all laughed and then Jenn asked Jon her question again.
“Well, to be brutally honest, I wasn’t overly thrilled when she first talked about it. But I guess I can see how important it is to her and I’ll give her my full support so we can see where this leads.”
Jenn could see the pride and love in Jon’s eyes when he spoke about his daughter and felt a warm glow in her stomach. It was easy to see how much this man cared about his daughter. She looked at them both and took a deep breath.
“Well, I’m gonna be straight with both of you right here. Unless I honestly think you’ve got what it takes Steph, I won’t take this on. It wouldn’t be fair to tell you that I can just get you to the top. It doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to be able to produce horses to the highest level and then be competitive. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”, she looked at Steph.
Steph nodded. “I can do it, I honestly think I can.”
Jenn nodded and looked at Paul, “Think we can delay lunch a little?” Paul looked at her confused. “I’d like to see Steph ride before we discuss this any further. That okay with you Steph?”
“Sure thing! I’ve got my riding gear in the car!”, the young girl grinned.
“My wife is gonna kill me because of you!” Paul looked nervously toward the kitchen. “I’ll go tell her we’ll be ready in about an hour.” He got up and headed off to find Sue.
“Steph, why don’t you head out to the barn and tack up Heraldo while your dad and I talk business. We’ll meet you in the ring in a short while.” Jenn smiled encouragingly at her.
Steph nodded and jumped up saying she’d be ready in a few minutes. Jon smiled at her enthusiasm and when she was gone leaned forward and looked Jenn in the eye.
“I want the best for my daughter but I don’t want her hopes to be dashed either. I appreciate your honesty. I know a few guys who have told me they can make her into a superstar overnight. I know all too well that ain’t real and I don’t want Steph to become that.”
“Jon I can assure you that won’t happen. Hell if it did we’d all have Olympic medals!”
She stood up and faced Jon, “If we decide to do this I’ll need 100% commitment from Steph and that means both you and your wife will have to be behind her all the way.” She paused and added, “I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to meet your wife yet. I’d like to discuss all of this with her as well…..”
She stopped because at the mention of his wife, Jon had risen from the sofa and walked to the window. Staring out at the paddocks beyond the garden he spoke softly;
“ My wife and I have recently separated……so…this is kinda me and Steph’s project. We have three other kids too and her time is pretty much all taken up with them.”
Jenn felt her face burning, ‘way to go Jenn’, she silently thought. “I’m sorry to hear that. It can’t be easy for any of you. Perhaps this will be a good focus point for Steph then?”
“I’m hoping it will be for both of us”, he replied, his voice tinged with sadness.
Jon sighed and raked his hand through his hair. Turning around he saw Jenn standing awkwardly looking down at her hands. Christ she was a good looking woman, he thought. Looking her over he took in her tousled hair pulled back into an untidy ponytail, her lean body showing off her fitness. He imagined how toned her legs were under her jeans and took in the string vest she was wearing showing just a glimpse of a firm bust and lean, muscled arms. All in all, he thought to himself, not a bad little package then instantly berated himself for checking her out. Seriously, what is wrong with my hormones, he said to himself. Ever since his split from Dot, it was like he had an addiction to seriously checking out every woman he met.
Looking up from the floor, Jenn caught him gazing at her and cleared her throat, snapping him back to reality. “Lets head out to Steph, shall we?” she asked somewhat icily. “Unbelievable” she thought to herself, “The guys just telling me about splitting from his wife and he’s already throwing his eye about!” She breezed out the door in front of him not waiting for a reply. “Damn Jonny boy! Caught rotten!”, said the little voice in Jon’s head. “She’s pissed at you now!” Shaking his head, he put his sunglasses on and headed after Jenn.
Steph was warming up on Heraldo, her recently purchased horse when they got to the ring. Glancing backwards at Jon as she strode into the centre of the ring she said “This won’t take too long, I just need to get an idea of where Steph’s at.” Jon nodded at her and leaned against the railings trying to concentrate on his daughter and not the woman with the most attractive ass he’d seen in a long while! Paul joined him as Jenn started giving Steph instructions on what she wanted her to do.
“Well Jon, what do you think?” he murmered quietly to him. Jon stared straight ahead and just nodded slowly. “If Steph likes her, I’ll just have to as well!” Paul noticed the pissed off look on his face and wondered what had gone on when he had left the room. Deciding to leave it he watched Jenn put Steph through her paces. Jenn had completely forgotten there was anyone watching and was completely focused on the girl in front of her.
“Okay Steph, all I’d like you to show me is a little flatwork and then I want you just to pop over a few fences for me.”
“Sure thing!” Steph was anxious to impress her, she had done her research and knew Jenn had been one of the best lady riders in the world when she was competing. Gathering up her reins, she proceeded to work her horse in around the arena. She didn’t have Heraldo long but he was so easy to ride, she really didn’t have to do much to look good. After a couple of minutes she started to jump over the low fences that Jenn was erecting for her. Watching her closely, Jenn started to ask a little more of Steph and started raising the fences. She knew the horse would have no problem but she wanted to see if Steph was a rider or a passenger. Raising the last part of a double oxer to a good 1m60, she turned to the rider circling around her.
“Alright Steph, I want two strides in the middle of this alright?”
Steph nodded and headed for the double of fences. Heraldo gaining momentum seeing the bigger fence, bounded forward. She had never jumped this high before and was nervous. The horse sensing this, grabbed a hold of the bit and took off for the fence.
“Hold him Steph! Sit deep, use your seat to slow him!” Jenn yelled.
Taking off a stride early at the first part of the fence, Heraldo put in a gigantic leap and landed too short to make the distance, sliding to an abrupt stop at the oxer. Steph, her balance gone out the window, neatly flew over his head and landed in the sand in front of him. “Great!”, she thought to herself “I’ve blown it!”
Jenn came running over to check she was ok and saw Steph sitting in the sand with a disgusted look on her face. “You okay?” she asked. “I am but my prides not!” Steph scowled. Laughing Jenn held out her hands and helped the girl to her feet.
“You know where it all went wrong?”
“Oh yeah right about where I let him take charge, my fault completely!” Steph glared at her horse then looked anxiously at Jenn “Am I not good enough then?”
Smiling Jenn put her arm around the girl and said “Half the battle is being able to see your mistakes and learn from them - so you’re halfway there without even trying! You want to try that again and be a rider this time?”
“Definitely!”
“Great. Now will you please just give your dad a thumbs up or something cause I think he’s gonna come over here any minute and kick my ass for trying to kill his daughter!”
When Steph had hit the ground Jon had gone to vault over the rail but Paul had held him back saying “Easy there big fellah! If Steph wants to do this there’s gonna be a lot more falls so you better get used to it!” Jon personally thought his daughter was crazy wanting to take part in such a dangerous sport but as Steph often reminded him football was worse. Asking would he rather she played that instead, Jon promptly went and bought her a horse. There was no way in hell his daughter was getting hammered on a football field as much as he loved the sport.
Second time around, Steph made a much better job of it and they called it a day. Jenn had seen enough. Steph went off to cool Heraldo down as Jenn headed over to the two men watching at the rail.
“Well?” Jon looked at her, “What do you think?”
“I think we better sit down and talk business sir! We got work to do and times a wasting!” Jenn smiled at him, her earlier thoughts of him gone.
Paul threw his arms in the air, “Hallelujah! Now can we please talk business over lunch before Sue gives it to the dogs?!”
Lunch was a pleasant affair with everyone seated around a large table in the dining room. Sue and their cook Mrs. Lomez had put on a fantastic spread and everyone tucked in hungrily. Conversation mainly centred around Paul’s business and Jon’s love of football at which point Steph started to yawn excessively much to Jenn’s amusement. After lunch was finished Paul took Steph out to the barn to give him a hand and left Jon and Jenn in the study to talk things over.
Looking with interest at the photographs on the wall, Jon suddenly said;
“Hey! Isn’t that you in this one?”
Walking over and looking at it she laughed and nodded, “Yeah, that’s Paul, myself and….Steve” she finished quietly. Jon turned to her and saw the sadness in her eyes as she looked at the picture. “It was taken in the bar at Hickstead in England about five years ago, I’d won the Queen’s Cup and the boys took me to celebrate straight after..” Pausing a small smile crept across her lips “Needless to say I was the one that had to escort them home!” Quickly changing the subject she walked over to Paul’s desk, “So we need to talk shop about horses for Steph.” Jon sensed he’d hit a nerve with the photograph and hoped he hadn’t upset her. He’d only met the woman a few hours earlier but he was liking her more every second he spent with her. Sitting down opposite her at the desk, he listened while she discussed her position with him.
“Basically Jon, I think your daughter’s got talent. She’s by no means anywhere near the top and there’s a serious amount of work ahead of us but she’s got the determination and the raw ability. Everything else will come in time. Now if you’re being serious about this, we’ve got to build a team of horses for Steph to work with. For the moment I’d like to start out with at least four if not five more. Now I don’t intend to find Steph four ready made Grand Prix horses, she’ll learn nothing that way. One more Grand Prix horse along with Heraldo will be plenty for that level”, she paused looking at Jon who was listening intently. “So I want to find her a couple of others that are at various stages in their competition careers so that they can progress to the top with her. That way she can build a relationship with them. Do you understand me on any of this?”
Jon nodded and with a wry grin said, “Sure! It’s kinda like setting up a band, you start off in the basements and the bars and you work your way up the arenas. I get it alright!”
Jenn laughed, “Well I suppose when you put it like that we’re on the same track! Now I presume you know this isn’t going to be cheap?”
“Yeah, I know all about that! It’s okay, I look at this as an investment in Steph’s future and you can’t put a price on that.” He rubbed his face with his hands and sat back to let her continue. Jenn couldn’t help noticing how her stomach did a little flip whenever he looked at her directly. She wasn’t sure if it was down to nerves or excitement but it was starting to piss her off. She was normally cool as a cucumber.
“Good. I must warn you though I’m not prepared to hand over huge amounts of your money to greedy dealers who bump up the price when they hear who the buyer is. So I think it’s in your best interests if we purchase the horses in Paul’s name and then we can transfer ownership once the deal is sealed. Otherwise we’ll have to deal with all sorts of bullshit.”
Jon was impressed, this lady had thought of everything. Jenn continued on outlining her plan to Jon who was fascinated at how thorough she was. When she had finished he leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs, “Phew, you don’t do things by half do you!! I think I should maybe get you on the bands management team!” he laughed shooting her a lopsided grin.
‘Holy Hell’, thought Jenn as her stomach did another quick flip. ‘This guy is creating havoc with my insides, cut it out Jenn! You are a professional!’ she reminded herself firmly.
“Um, I think I’ll stick to my area of expertise and you can stick to yours - deal?!” Looking at him with a grin on her face; “I don’t think your fan base would let me live if I screwed up their favourite band!”
Laughing, Jon stood up shaking his head, “No, probably not! Listen everything sounds good to me. As soon as the paperwork is done up I’ll have it sent over to you and then you can go horse shopping! Where exactly do you go shopping for a horse anyway?” he asked with a puzzled look.
“Simple!” Jenn stated, “Europe!”
He stared at her, “You mean to tell me that in this big ole country of mine there aren’t any horses for sale?”
“Oh sure there are but I only deal with the best. And the cream of the crop is in Europe, trust me!”
“Okay you’re the boss! Will you need Steph to go with you?” He wasn’t sure how he felt about Steph cavorting off round Europe.
“Not right away, no. I’ll spend a couple of weeks searching around by myself, then when I have a few definites I might have her come over and try them. Or if I really like them I’ll just buy them anyway!”
“Great, well look I gotta get going, It’s been a pleasure Ms O’Neill, I’m looking forward to this venture.” There was a twinkle in his eye as he flashed that killer smile at her.
Swallowing hard to calm her stomach down Jenn took his extended hand, “The pleasure was all mine. I’ll keep in touch and hopefully we’ll be up and running in no time!” God but his hand felt good.
Still smiling he turned and headed out the door, popping his head into the kitchen on the way out to thank Sue and Mrs. Lomez for the lunch. Walking outside his head was swirling. He’d been entranced watching Jenn talk, the way she was so passionate and exuberant in her ideas. She reminded him of herself - gee dunno if that’s such a good thing, he though grimacing. Sometimes he was his own worst enemy and he’d finally driven his wife away without even realising it.
Sunday 8 March 2009
Chapter Two
Not long after take off, tiredness from the previous nights activities had overcome her and Jenn had drifted off to sleep. She awoke to the air hostess gently tapping her shoulder.
“Excuse me madam, sorry to wake you but we’re serving lunch shortly. May I take your order?”
Realising she hadn’t eaten anything since sometime yesterday, Jenn nodded gratefully. “I’ll just have whatever you recommend - I’m not fussy. But can I please get a really large glass of water, I’ve a banging headache!! She laughed at herself and the young woman serving her smiled knowingly and said “No problem madam!”
Yawning and stretching, Jenn reached into her bag and pulled out a folder. I may as well get some research done she thought. Opening the folder she smiled at the handwritten note tucked inside the first page.
Dear Jenn, I am so pleased you have finally decided to take a chance on me! I know this is a big jump for you and I’m grateful! When I was first contacted about this project, I knew you were the only gal for the job! I’ve enclosed all the details as we discussed on the phone and will fill you in on everything else when we meet up. A driver will be waiting for you at the airport and will bring you to the farm, see you soon! Paul
Smiling to herself, Jenn thought about the first time she’d met Paul. It was years ago, back when Steve had been doggedly pursuing her at every show. The night she’d finally relented and agreed to have a drink with him, Paul had appeared at Steve’s side introducing himself as Batman and Steve as Robin. Jenn therefore, he had informed her, had to be Catwoman otherwise the trio would be incomplete. Jenn decided that Catwoman was at least better than Ice Queen so joined in on the little play for the night. It had turned out to be one of the best nights she’d ever had, filled with fun and laughter.
Turning her attention to the first sheet in the folder she quickly scanned down the list of achievements of her perspective client. They included numerous wins at championship level in hunter equitation classes and junior showing. Noting there were no pure show jumping placings included she read through the brief description Paul had provided.
Name: Stephanie
Age: 17
Stephanie has ridden since a young child. Is from a wealthy background but is a very genuine young lady. She has competed in junior equitation classes successfully on a variety of ponies and horses. She has expressed a genuine desire to train on to international level in pure show jumping however her competition experience in this area is limited. Her parents have requested that I find her a personal trainer that she can base herself with. This trainer will be responsible for sourcing and purchasing of suitable competition horses, the schooling of such horses and touring with Stephanie on the show circuit.
Current Horse:
Heraldo IV - 11 y old, 16.1hh Dutch Warmblood. Purchased a month ago, competed at Grand Prix level for three seasons.
Stephanie would like to have a few different horses to train and compete on. At the moment she is training on a few of my own horses however the sooner suitable horses can be sourced for her the better. I have a ten stall barn available at my farm for Stephanie and her trainer with all of the farms other facilities e.g. horse walker, paddocks, arenas etc freely available for use. I also have arranged for a groom to commence work full time once the yard of horses is established.
Well, he sure isn’t leaving anything to chance anyway, thought Jenn. This could be just what I need right now! Closing her eyes, Jenn settled back in her sear for another nap, content in the knowledge that she was taking a big step in the right direction.
A few hours later, Jenn’s plane had touched down in New York. It was a clear, crisp afternoon with bright sunshine bouncing off the tarmac. Upon clearing immigration and obtaining her luggage, she walked out into arrivals and saw a limo driver holding a sign with her name on it. Walking over, she introduced herself to the driver who welcomed her to the U.S and took her bags out to the waiting limo. I could get used to this, thought Jenn!
A while later they were driving through the picturesque countryside of New Jersey. The green fields reminded Jenn of Ireland and made her think she would certainly settle in with her surroundings well at least. The limo turned off the main road onto a smaller one and shortly after pulled up to an impressive set of electronic gates, set under a high stone arch. The name Navesink Farm stood out in bold letters in the centre of the arch with a symbol of a horse and rider clearing a fence standing either side of the name.
After driving up a seemingly never - ending driveway lined with elm trees and paddocks, the farm came into view. Wow, Jenn thought, Paul you have really set yourself up well here. An impressive looking barn came into view with what looked to be offices at either side of the main barn entrance. There were flower baskets and troughs filled with colourful flowers decorating the exterior of the barn complete with a stunning water feature set in the middle of the courtyard. As the limo swung round to stop in front of the archway, a tall, good looking guy in his thirties came striding out with a broad smile on his face.
“I thought you’d never get here!!” he said as he pulled open the limo door. Smiling, Jenn got out and gave the man a huge hug. “God, it’s so good to see you Paul!” Chuckling, returning the hug strongly he pecked her on the cheek. “Well you sure aren’t a sight for sore eyes either honey! I’m so glad you’re here!” Slinging his arm around her shoulder, he guided her forward, “Come on, lets get you a drink and we can catch up!”
Paul brought Jenn into his office at the side of the barn. A light, spacious room, it had framed photographs of Paul competing all over the world hanging on the walls. At the top end of the room was a desk with a computer and files scattered randomly about. A comfy sofa sat in front of the desk which Jenn gratefully slumped down onto.
“Nice Paul, real nice!!”
“Aw thanks, it’s comfy and practical but wait till you see the farm. That’s my real pride and joy!”
“I can tell”, replied Jenn, the look of pride on Paul’s face was evident. “So how many acres are we talking?”
“About two hundred in all. I like to have big paddocks for the horses when they’re on holidays, so they take up a good bit of it. How was your flight?”
“Not bad at all once I got rid of my hangover!” She grinned sheepishly. “My friends thought it would be a good idea to take me out for a few farewell drinks last night, but of course you know what a few always turns out to be!”
Laughing, he agreed with her, “I do indeed, and I know what you Irish are capable of drinking in a night too so I’m not surprised you were feeling a little rough!” Pausing, he turned to her, “A few farewell drinks eh? So you’re staying then?”
Smiling, Jenn took the coffee Paul handed her and settled back into the sofa.
“Well, the job sounds attractive and right up my alley so I’m hoping it’s gonna work out, yeah.”
Paul smiled and said “Phew! That was easy, I was thinking I was gonna have some persuading to do!”
“Why? What’s there not to like? I love teaching, especially on a one to one basis and with these kind of facilities I’d be mad not to!” Taking a drink from her mug, she watched the look on Pauls face turn slightly apprehensive. “Uhoh, there’s a catch isn’t there? God damn, I knew it was too good to be true!”, she swore, putting her mug down on the coffee table.
“No, no, there’s no catch!! I just haven’t gone into detail with you yet about Stephanie and her background.” Paul hastily told her.
“Background? That sounds suspect! She got a criminal record or something?” Jenn joked.
Smiling Paul went on to explain;
“Steph’s a real nice kid, a talented one actually. And I really think she could go all the way on the right horses. What I mean by her background, is that she’s not from your typical American family. She’s kinda high profile”, he paused trying to gauge Jenn’s reaction.
“Go on”
“Well you see, obviously she’s from a wealthy family, otherwise all of this could never be afforded, but her family is more than wealthy.”
“Oh God, you’re gonna tell me she’s the president’s daughter or something, aren’t you?”, Jenn demanded.
“Nope!”
“Well, who then Paul? C’mon I’ve had a bitchin headace all day, I can’t do guessing games now!” Jenn was starting to get impatient as she had a growing feeling of nervousness in her stomach.
“Alright, her dad is kinda famous around Jersey. Actually world famous - he’s a rock star!”
“NO WAY!” Jenn yelled! “SPRINGSTEEN? I’m gonna be training THE BOSS’S daughter??”
Jumping at her enthusiasm, Paul waved his hands at her grinning, “No not that rock star, I already train her, you can’t poach her off me!!”
Slumping back, Jenn frowned. “Well who else is a rock star in these parts then?”
“Are you telling me that you don’t know of any other rock star from New Jersy?”, Paul asked her, his eyebrows rising high in his forehead so he looked at her incredously.
“God, em, well you know me Paul, I’m not real big into music, never had much time for it growing up I suppose!” Jenn shrugged her shoulders at him.
“Well I suppose I should be grateful that you won’t be dropping at his feet then I suppose, all the grooms do when he comes to visit with Steph. For some reason they all find him incredibly attractive!”
“PAUL!! Quit the bullshit! I give up - who is it?”
“Jon Bon Jovi”, Paul smirked looking at her, “Ever heard of him?”
“As in Bon Jovi, the band?” Jenn’s eyes widened in realisation.
“Aha! So you haven’t lived in a hole all your life then!”
“Well of course I’ve heard of them, who hasn’t?”
“You hadn’t apparently until a few moments ago!”, he quipped!
Jenn picked up a cushion and threw it him good naturedly. “Smartass! You just caught me off guard that’s all! Hell, I have jet lag!”
“Well, there you go then! Hopefully you’re gonna be training Bon Jovi’s daughter!”
“Hopefully?” Jenn had caught the look on his face.
“Well, it’s not exactly a done deal yet. Mr Bongiovi, to give him his full title, is quite protective when it comes to his family and as you would be working in close proximity to the family, he’s requested a few things as regards a trainer”
“Such as?”
“For one, the trainer has to be female. I don’t think he trusts us randy show jumpers around his teenage daughter”, he laughed. Jenn just threw her eyes up to heaven. “Secondly, they have to have a clean record, which you do obviously, and finally they have to know the band’s music inside out!”
Almost choking on her coffee, Jenn spluttered “WHAT?!”
“Just kiddin, just kiddin!!” chortled Paul, amused by the look of shock on Jenn’s face.
“You are such an ass!”She resisted the temptation to fling another cushion at him. “So whats the deal then?”
“O.K, I’ll be serious now! I’m pretty sure Mr & Mrs Bongiovi will love you as will Steph so it’s just a case of you sitting down with them and getting to know each other, that’s all. I didn’t want either of you signing a contract until both parties are sure about everything”, he finished.
“Well, that’s pretty normal. So when do we meet?”
“Is tomorrow too early for you? I didn’t schedule anything until you got here in case you were too tired” Paul looked at her, “There’s no rush.”
“No problem, the sooner I meet them, the sooner we can get to work. I’m bored already!!”
“Sheezh woman, you haven’t changed a bit, always on the go!” he smiled.
“Yep, that’s me! Now I don’t want to be rude or anything but I could really do with a shower! Jenn was starting to feel the effects of the flight.
“Oh hell! Where are my manners gone! Sorry honey, here I am loading information onto you and you’re not here five minutes! Come on, I’ll show you the guest house. It’s yours for as long as you’re here” He pulled her up out of the sofa and grinned at her “it’s really good to have you here at last, you know?”
Grinning back at him, Jenn hugged him “It really feels good to be here sweetie!”
“Excuse me madam, sorry to wake you but we’re serving lunch shortly. May I take your order?”
Realising she hadn’t eaten anything since sometime yesterday, Jenn nodded gratefully. “I’ll just have whatever you recommend - I’m not fussy. But can I please get a really large glass of water, I’ve a banging headache!! She laughed at herself and the young woman serving her smiled knowingly and said “No problem madam!”
Yawning and stretching, Jenn reached into her bag and pulled out a folder. I may as well get some research done she thought. Opening the folder she smiled at the handwritten note tucked inside the first page.
Dear Jenn, I am so pleased you have finally decided to take a chance on me! I know this is a big jump for you and I’m grateful! When I was first contacted about this project, I knew you were the only gal for the job! I’ve enclosed all the details as we discussed on the phone and will fill you in on everything else when we meet up. A driver will be waiting for you at the airport and will bring you to the farm, see you soon! Paul
Smiling to herself, Jenn thought about the first time she’d met Paul. It was years ago, back when Steve had been doggedly pursuing her at every show. The night she’d finally relented and agreed to have a drink with him, Paul had appeared at Steve’s side introducing himself as Batman and Steve as Robin. Jenn therefore, he had informed her, had to be Catwoman otherwise the trio would be incomplete. Jenn decided that Catwoman was at least better than Ice Queen so joined in on the little play for the night. It had turned out to be one of the best nights she’d ever had, filled with fun and laughter.
Turning her attention to the first sheet in the folder she quickly scanned down the list of achievements of her perspective client. They included numerous wins at championship level in hunter equitation classes and junior showing. Noting there were no pure show jumping placings included she read through the brief description Paul had provided.
Name: Stephanie
Age: 17
Stephanie has ridden since a young child. Is from a wealthy background but is a very genuine young lady. She has competed in junior equitation classes successfully on a variety of ponies and horses. She has expressed a genuine desire to train on to international level in pure show jumping however her competition experience in this area is limited. Her parents have requested that I find her a personal trainer that she can base herself with. This trainer will be responsible for sourcing and purchasing of suitable competition horses, the schooling of such horses and touring with Stephanie on the show circuit.
Current Horse:
Heraldo IV - 11 y old, 16.1hh Dutch Warmblood. Purchased a month ago, competed at Grand Prix level for three seasons.
Stephanie would like to have a few different horses to train and compete on. At the moment she is training on a few of my own horses however the sooner suitable horses can be sourced for her the better. I have a ten stall barn available at my farm for Stephanie and her trainer with all of the farms other facilities e.g. horse walker, paddocks, arenas etc freely available for use. I also have arranged for a groom to commence work full time once the yard of horses is established.
Well, he sure isn’t leaving anything to chance anyway, thought Jenn. This could be just what I need right now! Closing her eyes, Jenn settled back in her sear for another nap, content in the knowledge that she was taking a big step in the right direction.
A few hours later, Jenn’s plane had touched down in New York. It was a clear, crisp afternoon with bright sunshine bouncing off the tarmac. Upon clearing immigration and obtaining her luggage, she walked out into arrivals and saw a limo driver holding a sign with her name on it. Walking over, she introduced herself to the driver who welcomed her to the U.S and took her bags out to the waiting limo. I could get used to this, thought Jenn!
A while later they were driving through the picturesque countryside of New Jersey. The green fields reminded Jenn of Ireland and made her think she would certainly settle in with her surroundings well at least. The limo turned off the main road onto a smaller one and shortly after pulled up to an impressive set of electronic gates, set under a high stone arch. The name Navesink Farm stood out in bold letters in the centre of the arch with a symbol of a horse and rider clearing a fence standing either side of the name.
After driving up a seemingly never - ending driveway lined with elm trees and paddocks, the farm came into view. Wow, Jenn thought, Paul you have really set yourself up well here. An impressive looking barn came into view with what looked to be offices at either side of the main barn entrance. There were flower baskets and troughs filled with colourful flowers decorating the exterior of the barn complete with a stunning water feature set in the middle of the courtyard. As the limo swung round to stop in front of the archway, a tall, good looking guy in his thirties came striding out with a broad smile on his face.
“I thought you’d never get here!!” he said as he pulled open the limo door. Smiling, Jenn got out and gave the man a huge hug. “God, it’s so good to see you Paul!” Chuckling, returning the hug strongly he pecked her on the cheek. “Well you sure aren’t a sight for sore eyes either honey! I’m so glad you’re here!” Slinging his arm around her shoulder, he guided her forward, “Come on, lets get you a drink and we can catch up!”
Paul brought Jenn into his office at the side of the barn. A light, spacious room, it had framed photographs of Paul competing all over the world hanging on the walls. At the top end of the room was a desk with a computer and files scattered randomly about. A comfy sofa sat in front of the desk which Jenn gratefully slumped down onto.
“Nice Paul, real nice!!”
“Aw thanks, it’s comfy and practical but wait till you see the farm. That’s my real pride and joy!”
“I can tell”, replied Jenn, the look of pride on Paul’s face was evident. “So how many acres are we talking?”
“About two hundred in all. I like to have big paddocks for the horses when they’re on holidays, so they take up a good bit of it. How was your flight?”
“Not bad at all once I got rid of my hangover!” She grinned sheepishly. “My friends thought it would be a good idea to take me out for a few farewell drinks last night, but of course you know what a few always turns out to be!”
Laughing, he agreed with her, “I do indeed, and I know what you Irish are capable of drinking in a night too so I’m not surprised you were feeling a little rough!” Pausing, he turned to her, “A few farewell drinks eh? So you’re staying then?”
Smiling, Jenn took the coffee Paul handed her and settled back into the sofa.
“Well, the job sounds attractive and right up my alley so I’m hoping it’s gonna work out, yeah.”
Paul smiled and said “Phew! That was easy, I was thinking I was gonna have some persuading to do!”
“Why? What’s there not to like? I love teaching, especially on a one to one basis and with these kind of facilities I’d be mad not to!” Taking a drink from her mug, she watched the look on Pauls face turn slightly apprehensive. “Uhoh, there’s a catch isn’t there? God damn, I knew it was too good to be true!”, she swore, putting her mug down on the coffee table.
“No, no, there’s no catch!! I just haven’t gone into detail with you yet about Stephanie and her background.” Paul hastily told her.
“Background? That sounds suspect! She got a criminal record or something?” Jenn joked.
Smiling Paul went on to explain;
“Steph’s a real nice kid, a talented one actually. And I really think she could go all the way on the right horses. What I mean by her background, is that she’s not from your typical American family. She’s kinda high profile”, he paused trying to gauge Jenn’s reaction.
“Go on”
“Well you see, obviously she’s from a wealthy family, otherwise all of this could never be afforded, but her family is more than wealthy.”
“Oh God, you’re gonna tell me she’s the president’s daughter or something, aren’t you?”, Jenn demanded.
“Nope!”
“Well, who then Paul? C’mon I’ve had a bitchin headace all day, I can’t do guessing games now!” Jenn was starting to get impatient as she had a growing feeling of nervousness in her stomach.
“Alright, her dad is kinda famous around Jersey. Actually world famous - he’s a rock star!”
“NO WAY!” Jenn yelled! “SPRINGSTEEN? I’m gonna be training THE BOSS’S daughter??”
Jumping at her enthusiasm, Paul waved his hands at her grinning, “No not that rock star, I already train her, you can’t poach her off me!!”
Slumping back, Jenn frowned. “Well who else is a rock star in these parts then?”
“Are you telling me that you don’t know of any other rock star from New Jersy?”, Paul asked her, his eyebrows rising high in his forehead so he looked at her incredously.
“God, em, well you know me Paul, I’m not real big into music, never had much time for it growing up I suppose!” Jenn shrugged her shoulders at him.
“Well I suppose I should be grateful that you won’t be dropping at his feet then I suppose, all the grooms do when he comes to visit with Steph. For some reason they all find him incredibly attractive!”
“PAUL!! Quit the bullshit! I give up - who is it?”
“Jon Bon Jovi”, Paul smirked looking at her, “Ever heard of him?”
“As in Bon Jovi, the band?” Jenn’s eyes widened in realisation.
“Aha! So you haven’t lived in a hole all your life then!”
“Well of course I’ve heard of them, who hasn’t?”
“You hadn’t apparently until a few moments ago!”, he quipped!
Jenn picked up a cushion and threw it him good naturedly. “Smartass! You just caught me off guard that’s all! Hell, I have jet lag!”
“Well, there you go then! Hopefully you’re gonna be training Bon Jovi’s daughter!”
“Hopefully?” Jenn had caught the look on his face.
“Well, it’s not exactly a done deal yet. Mr Bongiovi, to give him his full title, is quite protective when it comes to his family and as you would be working in close proximity to the family, he’s requested a few things as regards a trainer”
“Such as?”
“For one, the trainer has to be female. I don’t think he trusts us randy show jumpers around his teenage daughter”, he laughed. Jenn just threw her eyes up to heaven. “Secondly, they have to have a clean record, which you do obviously, and finally they have to know the band’s music inside out!”
Almost choking on her coffee, Jenn spluttered “WHAT?!”
“Just kiddin, just kiddin!!” chortled Paul, amused by the look of shock on Jenn’s face.
“You are such an ass!”She resisted the temptation to fling another cushion at him. “So whats the deal then?”
“O.K, I’ll be serious now! I’m pretty sure Mr & Mrs Bongiovi will love you as will Steph so it’s just a case of you sitting down with them and getting to know each other, that’s all. I didn’t want either of you signing a contract until both parties are sure about everything”, he finished.
“Well, that’s pretty normal. So when do we meet?”
“Is tomorrow too early for you? I didn’t schedule anything until you got here in case you were too tired” Paul looked at her, “There’s no rush.”
“No problem, the sooner I meet them, the sooner we can get to work. I’m bored already!!”
“Sheezh woman, you haven’t changed a bit, always on the go!” he smiled.
“Yep, that’s me! Now I don’t want to be rude or anything but I could really do with a shower! Jenn was starting to feel the effects of the flight.
“Oh hell! Where are my manners gone! Sorry honey, here I am loading information onto you and you’re not here five minutes! Come on, I’ll show you the guest house. It’s yours for as long as you’re here” He pulled her up out of the sofa and grinned at her “it’s really good to have you here at last, you know?”
Grinning back at him, Jenn hugged him “It really feels good to be here sweetie!”
Chapter One
Jennifer O’Neill had been born and raised in a rural town in the southeast of Ireland. The youngest of three girls, she had a generally fun and carefree childhood and did reasonably well at school. School however was not at the top of Jenn’s list of priorities while she was growing up. What did figure prominently were horses, lots and lots of horses! Her parents often wondered where she’d picked up her love for the animal as neither had any background in horses but they encouraged her to follow her dream as much as they could. Not being a particularly wealthy family, unfortunately a pony or a horse did not feature in the household budget so Jenn helped out at the local riding school, working in exchange for lessons. Totally committed to her passion, she more often than not landed herself in hot water in school, homework having been forgotten about or conveniently lost! Nevertheless, Jenn worked hard at everything and managed to work through school while spending all her free time either riding or reading about horses and generally all things equestrian.
Following her graduation from school, Jenn started working full time for a local dealers yard. Riding anything that came into the yard, good, bad, wild, she dealt with them all in her stride. Impressed with both her natural ability and her commitment to the job, the owner of the yard found Jenn a job in England with one of the world’s best lady riders. It was the start Jenn needed in the business, as not six months into the job her new employer suffered a bad fall and was grounded for nearly a year. Jenn jumped at the opportunity to step into her idol’s boots and was rewarded with a very successful year on the British Show Jumping circuit. People started to sit up and take notice when she rode into a ring, always the same look of quiet determination on her face, whether it be a novice class or a Grand Prix jump off. All too soon thought the inevitable happened when her boss was deemed fit to ride again and she was once more relegated to stable jockey. Show jumping is a fickle business, there are very few who make it to the top and stay there. The main reason for this being the lack of funds available. Sponsors are few and far between and those that support the sport like to see return for their investment. Horses, however, are unpredictable creatures and even on the best of days, things can go horribly wrong.
About a year or so later, Jenn was approached by a wealthy business man named Frank Leifer. Originally from Germany, he had married an English girl and settled in England with his family. The owner of many successful business enterprises, he was looking to own a team of horses and needed someone willing to start a yard from scratch and bring him international success - no small task. Jenn accepted without hesitation and delved head first into the job, sourcing horses from Germany, Belgium and Ireland. After a couple of years, things had progressed nicely and the horses were reaching the top level. Jenn worked tirelessly crisscrossing the country and indeed Europe attending all the major shows and doing quite well at many of them. Mr. Liefer was getting a nice return on his investment with all of the horses featuring his brand logo on their names and entries. He also gained immense enjoyment at attending all the international shows with his corporate pals and hosting huge parties whenever there was a win. However the parties didn’t interest Jenn. She was completely focused on her horses and her career. Her reputation was more important to her than any fame the wins brought to her.
There was however one subject that distracted her from her job. His name was Steve Gilder, an American show jumper who had chased her for a few shows and managed to work his charm on her. Jenn found herself falling in love for the first time and never imagined she could be so happy. For a while, life was wonderful for Jenn and her lover, who moved to the U.K semi-permanently when the season ended to be near her. Not everybody was happy for the young Irish girl though, some annoyed and jealous at her apparent good fortune in both her career and personal life. Jenn never took any notice of any apparent snide remarks and continued to focus on the horses and Steve. Steve however was not so relaxed about any negativity about the woman he had to come to care so deeply for and vowed to kill whoever tried to hurt Jenn, physically or mentally. His protective instincts for her were absolute and on their two year anniversary, he proposed to Jenn very simply just asking her to love him and marry him. Jenn joyfully accepted and thought her life was complete. Before they had even set a date however, tragedy struck.
At a party one night after a big show in Holland, Steve and his friends were relaxing in the bar. Jenn had gone back to the hotel, wanting a good nights sleep, as she was due to drive the horse lorry home to the U.K the next day. As the night progressed, a few revellers in the bar became a bit rowdy and insults started flying back and forth between the riders. Trivial ones at first, said in jest, but then one not so popular German rider took things too far. In front of the whole bar he sneered at Steve and asked him what was it like to be stable jockey for Jenn O’Neill, when she was obviously shagging Frank Liefer. How else could she have him so wrapped around her little finger? Now had Jenn been there, she would have shot back some smart comment, laughed it off and diffused the situation but Steve was not about to let some asshole insult his fiancé to his face! He launched himself off his stool at the laughing German, but having had one drink too many tried a drunken punch and landed on the floor beside him. As rage overtook him, he staggered to his feet and attempted to grab the edge of the bar but slipped on the wet ground and cracked his head off the foot rest bar just above the floor . Steve’s world went black and he died instantly from a massive haematoma at the base of his skull.
Jenn’s world collapsed around her from the moment Steve’s best friend who was due to be his best man, came hammering on the door of the lorry to tell her the dreadful news that her fiancé was dead. Her fiancé who she’d only kissed goodnight to a couple of hours ago, her fiancé who had promised to love her and protect her for the rest of her life. How was she to have known that the promise was only for the rest of his life.
The entire show jumping community went into shock and mourning. Steve was a well liked and respected guy, and as much as Jenn had a few enemies, her friends were far greater and rallied around her. His death was put down to misadventure and he was laid to rest in his family home in Florida. Jenn didn’t attend his American funeral, she was in pieces and sank into depression. For the first time in her life, horses were not a priority, they didn’t even feature on the list. Mr. Liefer was as supportive as he could be but there was only so long he could wait before he had to make a decision on the horses. When it became clear that Jenn was in no state to compete or indeed work, he made arrangements to have the horses transferred to different riders. While it broke his heart to see the young woman he’d come to regard as a daughter in such grief, he had to attend to business and dealt with matters in a way he thought to be appropriate. Jenn saw no need to return to work with no horses, although Frank repeatedly reassured her she’d have the rides back in a second, her heart was no longer in it. And so Jennifer O’Neill returned home to Ireland, to a life without horses and without Steve.
In the months following her return to Ireland, Jenn helped her friend Karen out in her café, unsure of what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Karen recognised that her friend needed time to grieve and left her to make her own decisions but she could see that Jenn needed to go back to her life with the horses. Jenn herself at some point in the following year realised that she missed horses however she was unsure what aspect of it she wanted to base herself in. She had no desire to return to competing, Steve had been too big a part of that part of her life for it ever to be the same again. She had received numerous offers from various riders in the country looking for stable jockeys but she refused to go back to that either. Karen had suggested teaching which Jenn at first laughed off but after consideration the idea became more appealing. So, doing a couple of days a week, she began teaching part-time at a local riding club who were only too thrilled to have an ex-international show jumper as their trainer. A couple of years passed quickly and Jenn realised she had found her niche. She gained immense enjoyment from seeing her students progress through the ranks and she had gained a reputation as an excellent trainer. She thought she was content with her life until an e-mail from an old friend brought about an unexpected but welcome offer.
Following her graduation from school, Jenn started working full time for a local dealers yard. Riding anything that came into the yard, good, bad, wild, she dealt with them all in her stride. Impressed with both her natural ability and her commitment to the job, the owner of the yard found Jenn a job in England with one of the world’s best lady riders. It was the start Jenn needed in the business, as not six months into the job her new employer suffered a bad fall and was grounded for nearly a year. Jenn jumped at the opportunity to step into her idol’s boots and was rewarded with a very successful year on the British Show Jumping circuit. People started to sit up and take notice when she rode into a ring, always the same look of quiet determination on her face, whether it be a novice class or a Grand Prix jump off. All too soon thought the inevitable happened when her boss was deemed fit to ride again and she was once more relegated to stable jockey. Show jumping is a fickle business, there are very few who make it to the top and stay there. The main reason for this being the lack of funds available. Sponsors are few and far between and those that support the sport like to see return for their investment. Horses, however, are unpredictable creatures and even on the best of days, things can go horribly wrong.
About a year or so later, Jenn was approached by a wealthy business man named Frank Leifer. Originally from Germany, he had married an English girl and settled in England with his family. The owner of many successful business enterprises, he was looking to own a team of horses and needed someone willing to start a yard from scratch and bring him international success - no small task. Jenn accepted without hesitation and delved head first into the job, sourcing horses from Germany, Belgium and Ireland. After a couple of years, things had progressed nicely and the horses were reaching the top level. Jenn worked tirelessly crisscrossing the country and indeed Europe attending all the major shows and doing quite well at many of them. Mr. Liefer was getting a nice return on his investment with all of the horses featuring his brand logo on their names and entries. He also gained immense enjoyment at attending all the international shows with his corporate pals and hosting huge parties whenever there was a win. However the parties didn’t interest Jenn. She was completely focused on her horses and her career. Her reputation was more important to her than any fame the wins brought to her.
There was however one subject that distracted her from her job. His name was Steve Gilder, an American show jumper who had chased her for a few shows and managed to work his charm on her. Jenn found herself falling in love for the first time and never imagined she could be so happy. For a while, life was wonderful for Jenn and her lover, who moved to the U.K semi-permanently when the season ended to be near her. Not everybody was happy for the young Irish girl though, some annoyed and jealous at her apparent good fortune in both her career and personal life. Jenn never took any notice of any apparent snide remarks and continued to focus on the horses and Steve. Steve however was not so relaxed about any negativity about the woman he had to come to care so deeply for and vowed to kill whoever tried to hurt Jenn, physically or mentally. His protective instincts for her were absolute and on their two year anniversary, he proposed to Jenn very simply just asking her to love him and marry him. Jenn joyfully accepted and thought her life was complete. Before they had even set a date however, tragedy struck.
At a party one night after a big show in Holland, Steve and his friends were relaxing in the bar. Jenn had gone back to the hotel, wanting a good nights sleep, as she was due to drive the horse lorry home to the U.K the next day. As the night progressed, a few revellers in the bar became a bit rowdy and insults started flying back and forth between the riders. Trivial ones at first, said in jest, but then one not so popular German rider took things too far. In front of the whole bar he sneered at Steve and asked him what was it like to be stable jockey for Jenn O’Neill, when she was obviously shagging Frank Liefer. How else could she have him so wrapped around her little finger? Now had Jenn been there, she would have shot back some smart comment, laughed it off and diffused the situation but Steve was not about to let some asshole insult his fiancé to his face! He launched himself off his stool at the laughing German, but having had one drink too many tried a drunken punch and landed on the floor beside him. As rage overtook him, he staggered to his feet and attempted to grab the edge of the bar but slipped on the wet ground and cracked his head off the foot rest bar just above the floor . Steve’s world went black and he died instantly from a massive haematoma at the base of his skull.
Jenn’s world collapsed around her from the moment Steve’s best friend who was due to be his best man, came hammering on the door of the lorry to tell her the dreadful news that her fiancé was dead. Her fiancé who she’d only kissed goodnight to a couple of hours ago, her fiancé who had promised to love her and protect her for the rest of her life. How was she to have known that the promise was only for the rest of his life.
The entire show jumping community went into shock and mourning. Steve was a well liked and respected guy, and as much as Jenn had a few enemies, her friends were far greater and rallied around her. His death was put down to misadventure and he was laid to rest in his family home in Florida. Jenn didn’t attend his American funeral, she was in pieces and sank into depression. For the first time in her life, horses were not a priority, they didn’t even feature on the list. Mr. Liefer was as supportive as he could be but there was only so long he could wait before he had to make a decision on the horses. When it became clear that Jenn was in no state to compete or indeed work, he made arrangements to have the horses transferred to different riders. While it broke his heart to see the young woman he’d come to regard as a daughter in such grief, he had to attend to business and dealt with matters in a way he thought to be appropriate. Jenn saw no need to return to work with no horses, although Frank repeatedly reassured her she’d have the rides back in a second, her heart was no longer in it. And so Jennifer O’Neill returned home to Ireland, to a life without horses and without Steve.
In the months following her return to Ireland, Jenn helped her friend Karen out in her café, unsure of what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Karen recognised that her friend needed time to grieve and left her to make her own decisions but she could see that Jenn needed to go back to her life with the horses. Jenn herself at some point in the following year realised that she missed horses however she was unsure what aspect of it she wanted to base herself in. She had no desire to return to competing, Steve had been too big a part of that part of her life for it ever to be the same again. She had received numerous offers from various riders in the country looking for stable jockeys but she refused to go back to that either. Karen had suggested teaching which Jenn at first laughed off but after consideration the idea became more appealing. So, doing a couple of days a week, she began teaching part-time at a local riding club who were only too thrilled to have an ex-international show jumper as their trainer. A couple of years passed quickly and Jenn realised she had found her niche. She gained immense enjoyment from seeing her students progress through the ranks and she had gained a reputation as an excellent trainer. She thought she was content with her life until an e-mail from an old friend brought about an unexpected but welcome offer.
Fields of Gold - Prologue
The following story is purely a work of fiction that has been forming in my head for quite some time. It is in no way intended to be taken as fact nor are any of the characters involved. Just a little story for entertainment purposes. No offence is intended to Jon Bon Jovi, his family or associates.
She slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the bright glare of the sun streaming in from the large bay window. Her throat felt like she’d swallowed a pack of scalpels and her lungs felt heavy and constricted, a sure sign she’d nearly smoked herself to death last night. Reaching down with the one arm that seemed willing to cooperate, she felt on the floor for her mobile. As she grasped it, she heaved herself over on her side to look down at the time on the screen, “HOLY SHIT!!” Jenn had less than an hour to get herself to the airport on time for checking in for her flight - this was one plane she definitely could not afford to miss!
Flying around the room frantically grabbing her stuff, she offered a quick prayer to God that her bags were already packed from the night before. That afforded her a few precious moments to jump in the shower and wash away the after effects of the night before. Why, oh why had she agreed to having a “few” good luck drinks with the girls? She should have known better. The word “few” did not exist in her best friend Karen’s vocabulary, at least not when it came to alcohol!
Jumping into a pair of comfy jeans and a light shirt, she slapped a bit of moisturiser on her face deciding that make up could be administered in the taxi. Gathering up her bags, quickly checking she had ticket, passport and wallet she left a scribbled note to Karen;
Next time we go for a few drinks can we please make sure that I DON’T have a nine hour transatlantic flight early in the morning??? Love ya babe!! Xxx
Thankfully traffic to the airport was light and Jenn arrived with time to spare. Only when she was relaxing in the business class lounge did her hangover start to kick in. This was gonna be a long flight she thought to herself grimly. Finding a couple of painkillers in her bag she swallowed them down hoping to God they’d ease the dull pounding in her head. Not long later, she was settling into her comfy seat with extra leg room ( a requirement that came from having a dodgy nerve in her back) and gladly accepting freshly squeezed orange juice from the air hostess. Starting to feel slightly better, she grimaced at the thought of having to do this journey stuck in economy, not a pleasant image. She raised her glass to herself at having the good fortune to secure herself nice, expensive contacts in the U.S. “Hell I deserve it! and I’m sure as hell gonna be earning it!”, she reasoned with herself. Secretly Jenn was very excited at the prospects of this opportunity. Somehow a feeling that her fortunes were about to change for the better had lodged in her brain, right alongside her subdued hangover!
She slowly opened her eyes, wincing against the bright glare of the sun streaming in from the large bay window. Her throat felt like she’d swallowed a pack of scalpels and her lungs felt heavy and constricted, a sure sign she’d nearly smoked herself to death last night. Reaching down with the one arm that seemed willing to cooperate, she felt on the floor for her mobile. As she grasped it, she heaved herself over on her side to look down at the time on the screen, “HOLY SHIT!!” Jenn had less than an hour to get herself to the airport on time for checking in for her flight - this was one plane she definitely could not afford to miss!
Flying around the room frantically grabbing her stuff, she offered a quick prayer to God that her bags were already packed from the night before. That afforded her a few precious moments to jump in the shower and wash away the after effects of the night before. Why, oh why had she agreed to having a “few” good luck drinks with the girls? She should have known better. The word “few” did not exist in her best friend Karen’s vocabulary, at least not when it came to alcohol!
Jumping into a pair of comfy jeans and a light shirt, she slapped a bit of moisturiser on her face deciding that make up could be administered in the taxi. Gathering up her bags, quickly checking she had ticket, passport and wallet she left a scribbled note to Karen;
Next time we go for a few drinks can we please make sure that I DON’T have a nine hour transatlantic flight early in the morning??? Love ya babe!! Xxx
Thankfully traffic to the airport was light and Jenn arrived with time to spare. Only when she was relaxing in the business class lounge did her hangover start to kick in. This was gonna be a long flight she thought to herself grimly. Finding a couple of painkillers in her bag she swallowed them down hoping to God they’d ease the dull pounding in her head. Not long later, she was settling into her comfy seat with extra leg room ( a requirement that came from having a dodgy nerve in her back) and gladly accepting freshly squeezed orange juice from the air hostess. Starting to feel slightly better, she grimaced at the thought of having to do this journey stuck in economy, not a pleasant image. She raised her glass to herself at having the good fortune to secure herself nice, expensive contacts in the U.S. “Hell I deserve it! and I’m sure as hell gonna be earning it!”, she reasoned with herself. Secretly Jenn was very excited at the prospects of this opportunity. Somehow a feeling that her fortunes were about to change for the better had lodged in her brain, right alongside her subdued hangover!
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