Chapter Twenty Four

It was a little after five pm as Paul finished up the horses for the evening, pulling closed the barn doors he wondered what Jenn had gotten up to for the day after her mysterious lunch date. She had reminded him this morning of the old Jenn he had once known, the carefree and fun girl that his best buddy Steve had fallen for. Hell if he hadn’t had already been dating Sue by the time they met her, he might well have given Steve some tough competition. Steve had been crazy about her and Paul had never seen the guy so settled. Showjumping being the sport it is, there was never any shortage of cute girls hanging around and the two of them had enjoyed their fair share of screwing around in their younger years. Then Paul had been introduced to Sue through a mutual friend and they had begun dating. Steve hadn’t exactly been thrilled to discover his partner in crime was now firmly ‘under the thumb’ as he had so subtly put it but once he had discovered Sue was as much fun as she was he had happily accepted her into the fold.



Wandering around the front of the barn, Paul breathed in a sigh of contentment as he viewed his surroundings. He had done good here, built the whole place up from scratch with the help of Sue of course. Originally it was meant to have been a partnership with Steve, something for them to build up over time, a training and dealing base for them to fall back on when they retired from competing. Smiling ruefully to himself he plucked a few leaves off a shrub next to him. This place was everything they had both dreamt it would be, except Steve was missing. He had never even set foot in the place as it had only come on the market a few weeks before he died. Sure he had viewed it online and had been as excited about it as Paul had, even drawing diagrams on scraps of paper laying out potential barns and arenas. They had been booked to fly home from Europe to meet with the estate agent the day after Steve had his accident but then of course everything had been turned upside down.



The minutes, hours and days after Steve’s death had been the darkest ones Paul had ever had to endure. One minute they were having a few drinks together enjoying the friendly banter, the next Steve had been lain at his feet, dark blood pouring from beneath his head. Shaking his head to rid himself of the image he tried so hard to erase from his memory he continued his walk on the path around the barn. Rounding the corner, the guest house or ‘Jenn’s house’ as everyone was now referring to it as came into view. Just as she had done with their own house, Sue had designed it hence the warm, homely feel about it. Nestled amongst some of the tallest Pin Oak trees on the farm, it blended in nicely with it’s surroundings. Just as he was about to continue on his way, he spotted the edge of a dark SUV parked around the corner of the house just out of view. Narrowing his eyes to get a better look , he retraced a few steps and started grinning to himself. He’d be damned if that car didn’t look awful similar to one he knew a certain rock star around these parts owned.



His mood suitably lightened he sauntered on down the path to his own house grinning all the while. Kicking off his boots at the back door he found Sue in the kitchen perched on a stool at her laptop. Grabbing her, he swept her off her feet and twirled her around the island counter a few times laughing and smiling. She squealed and pinched him playfully.



“What’s gotten into you?”



“Romance is in the air my love!” he declared, “A certain lady friend of ours is currently entertaining a certain ROCKSTAR friend of ours!”



He triumphantly set his wife down as she stared at him in confusion.



“What on earth are you harping on about?”



Throwing his eyes up, Paul sighed and plonked himself down on Sue’s seat.



“JENN and JON are together! Over there!! In Jenn’s house! Right now!!”



“And??” Sue was smirking now and leaned back against the kitchen counter watching her husband in amusement.



“What do you mean ‘and?’ !! It’s pretty obvious isn’t it??” Paul rolled his eyes and spread his arms out gesticulating wildly. “They’re t..o..g..e..t..h..e..r!!”



“Sorry to burst your bubble dearest but have you forgotten the fact that Jenn is currently WORKING for Jon and they are more than likely talking shop about the horses?” She shot Paul an exasperated look. “What makes you think they’re up to anything else other than that?!



“Eh…….the fact that they only got back from an oversees trip less than TWO days ago and he’s at her place on a Sunday!!” Getting up to grab a beer from the fridge he wagged his finger at her, “Mark my words my darling, romance is most definitely in the air!”



Laughing Sue went and sat back down at her laptop, “Well my DARLING….if there is romance going on you just make sure you keep that big nose of yours out of it! Lord knows that girl could do with some spark in her life!”



Swigging from his beer, Paul faked indignation and pouted, “I have no intention of prying into either of their lives! But it is a little exciting don’t you think! It’s about time she moved on, found herself someone special again!”



Moving around to beside his wife, he peered over her shoulder to see what she was working on.



“Cars? Are we changing again? Thought you liked your Toyota?”



“It’s not for us you goose, Jenn’s gonna need a car soon enough so I thought I’d do a little research and see what’s out there for her.”



Paul smiled and nuzzled into her neck giving her a soft kiss,



“That’s my Sue, thoughtful as always!”



Swatting him away affectionately she sighed and shut down the laptop. Swivelling around to face him she smiled and wrapped her arms around him.



“We got lucky us two, you know?”



Leaning down and kissing her forehead, he smoothed back her hair,



“We sure did, lets hope Jenn’s luck has finally turned around, although I’m not sure a rock star is the answer?” he frowned slightly.



“Well that’s up to her to decide honey, not us. Although things might get a little complicated if it doesn’t go well?” Sue looked up worriedly at him.



“Hmmm, lets hope it DOES go well then!” pausing for a moment he smirked, “Thought you said there’s nothing going on anyway??”



“YOU put the idea in my head! When you have proof get back to me! Until then I shall reserve judgement!” She gave him another quick kiss and then a smart tap on the forehead, “Now out of my way Mr. Conspiracy, I need to go call my Mom!”



Jumping quickly aside, Paul raised his arms up in defence grinning mischievously.



“Go quick! I know better than to keep your dear sweet Mama waiting!”



She stuck her tongue out and strutted out of the kitchen leaving him grinning after her. He turned to look out the window, Jenn’s house couldn’t be seen from here although he had a good view of the driveway out. He mused over what Sue had said and quietly wondered about the same. From what he had gathered from Jon, his marriage to Dorothea was over, just needed to take care of the legalities. He hoped for both Jenn and Jon’s sakes that it was sorted as quickly as possible, if there was anything between them a bitter divorce sure as hell wasn’t going to make life any easier.