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.