“Capp, Mr. Wembley,” she said, “did you enjoy the races?”
Wil waited for Capp to respond and was surprised when Capp didn’t. Wil slowed to a stop and grabbed his son by the shoulder, turning as he did to talk with the woman. “Yes, Capp and I enjoyed our day. You?”
“Oh yes, I did enjoy the races. I broke my heel, though.” She held the shoe in front of her and shrugged her shoulders. “Capp is always tellin’ me they ain’t sensible.” Capp shifted uncomfortably on his feet and clearly wished to continue on his way. “Hey, would you all come for dinner tonight? I asked Capp before, but I think it all slipped his mind.” She looked at Capp and smiled sweetly. “We have a nice post-Derby party every year. It’s a potluck but you don’t have to bring anything. There’ll be plenty. Lots of horse folks there. We have a lovely farm, Mr. Wembley. I’d love for you to see it.” Tilly dripped with Southern charm.
Capp, annoyed by her invitation, looked at his father and then turned to Tilly. “We can’t. We’ll be having dinner with the Glidewells. We have to run now or we will be late for our ride back to the hotel.”
“I see. Well, will the young lady I saw you with be joining you, Capp?” asked Tilly with one eyebrow raised.
“We have to run, Tilly,” said Capp. Before he could get Wil to leave, he saw the Glidewells walking toward them. Capp shifted again, taking his father’s arm, but Wil remained firmly planted. The Glidewells stopped politely, and Capp, feeling a sense of awkwardness in the encounter, said, “Mrs. Glidewell, Maizie, you remember Matilda Coombs. She works here in the backside office. She came to the match races last summer.”
Mary looked at Capp, who had his arms folded in front of his chest, his eyes displaying discomfort. With good social grace she simply said, “Yes, of course. Hello. You’ll excuse us please, Matilda. We are meeting our driver. We have a great deal to do this evening. Wil, Capp, you won’t be late now, will you?”
“We will be right there,” promised Wil. “Hold the car.” Capp felt his shoulders relax as the Glidewells moved away. He grabbed his father’s arm and nudged him toward the payout windows. Wil complied. Tilly was left standing alone, staring blankly, while the crowd moved around her. Securing her broken heel under her arm, she removed a pack of gum from her pocket, unwrapped a piece, and put it in her mouth.
Chapter 80
Brown Hotel
After spending an hour with the colonel at his celebration party at the Seelbach Hotel, James and the group from Glidewell returned to the Brown Hotel and enjoyed an elegant dinner in the rooftop restaurant. Later, a small orchestra provided music for dancing, and Mary and James happily took to the floor. Their years of dancing together were evident as they gracefully moved around the small dance floor. Capp sat talking with Maizie and his father about the wonderful opportunities that lay in front of them at Glidewell. Wil admitted his blood was stirring too, and the years ahead would be a challenge, one that he welcomed. “Just got to thank my lucky stars,” he said. “Without Glidewell I would have never had this opportunity.”
“I feel lucky too. There’s lots I wouldn’t have without Glidewell,” said Maizie. “Why if my mama hadn’t told me about Glidewell—”
“Your mother told you about Glidewell?” asked Wil.
“Not exactly, but she always said she was going to find us a ranch one day. When she died, I decided to find a ranch myself.”
“So you came to Glidewell because of your mother?” asked Wil.
“Yes, kind of. I didn’t know what else to do,” said Maizie. Capp and Wil looked at each other.
Mary and James were still dancing when Capp suddenly recognized the music. “Why, isn’t that the river song you sang with Meadowlark?”
Maizie put down her teacup and listened. Capp was right; it was “Up the Lazy River.”
“Maizie, let’s dance,” suggested Capp.
“But Capp, I can’t dance. Remember when we danced at Glidewell?”
“Yeah, but we were just having fun. Tilly taught me a little about dancing.”
“You danced with Tilly?”
“I did. She couldn’t quit laughing at me. So should we try? Get my confidence back?”
Maizie nodded and waited for Capp to help her out of her chair. As the young couple walked hand in hand to the dance floor, Wil watched with great interest. Capp and Maizie were friends, he knew that. But Capp had never seemed to show much more than brotherly interest.
The two danced slowly, just a shuffle of the feet. Capp leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I’m thinking you are the nicest person I know.”
“Why?” asked Maizie.
“You aren’t laughing.”
Maizie smiled. “You are doing good, Capp. Seems Tilly got it wrong.”
“Yeah, she got lots of things wrong, so did I,” said Capp.
As most guests at the Brown Hotel tucked themselves into bed, a blond, buxom, intoxicated woman pulled into the parking lot. Giving her keys to the valet, she said that she might be checking into the hotel. “If not, you’ll see me shortly,” she explained.
Walking up to the registration desk, she introduced herself as a friend of Mr. Capp Wembley. “He left word with you, I’m sure, that I would be joining him?” Tilly claimed, slurring a few of her words.
“No ma’am, he did not. He retired to his room about an hour ago. I don’t wish to disturb him.”
“Well, this is an emergency. One of his horses is colicky. He needs to come down to the lobby and get back to Churchill Downs.”
“Ma’am, I can’t just— ”
“Do you wish to
