Chapter Six

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