Chapter 27

As Tom rose to his feet, so did everyone else in the room to give him a standing ovation. He motioned them to take their seats and then began, “Folks, I’ll give you the good news first: There’s not going to be any speech. The primary reason for this is that as late as six this evening I had no idea this was going to happen.

“With respect to the Firm, though, except for me trying to fill the very big shoes left by Jeremy Braxton, things will be as before. At least I hope they will be.” Turning to Josh, “Joshua Barrett, I certainly hope you’re willing to continue as managing partner. You’ve done a brilliant job herding all the cats in this place, and I hope you are willing to continue. Will you? Please?”

From his demeanor, it was obvious to Jill that a load had been lifted from Josh Barrett. It was clear he wanted to keep his management position and was delighted to do so.

Tom continued, “There’s one more thing: I gather that it’s traditional for the senior partner to be married. But I’m not. At least I’m not yet. I would like you all to meet the love of my life, the girl of my dreams — except I never even had dreams as good as she is — the woman I hope to marry ... Jill Barnes!” Turning toward her he said softly, “Jill, please stand so they all can see you.”

Jill stood, waved at the people and then went into Tom’s arms. The ovation following their searing kiss almost took the roof off the building.

While they were still locked in their embrace, the wait staff was flooding through the room serving champagne to everyone. And someone had the presence of mind to wrap the Dom Pérignon bottles being poured at the head table, although they proudly displayed the Cordon Rouge bottles being poured elsewhere.

When everyone had been served, it was Henry Clay’s turn. Rising to his feet he said, “I would like to offer a toast: To Tom Brady who will provide the leadership for our Firm into the new century, and to Jill Barnes, who I sincerely hope will soon be his wife and inspiration!

“Tom and Jill, we love you!”

With that everyone drank the toast and finally the meal got underway. Jill found herself seated between Tom to her left and Josh Barrett to her right. Beyond Josh was his wife, Amy. Leaning across her husband, Amy said, “Jill, never have I seen a woman as perfect as you. How do you do it?”

At that point they were between courses, so Jill stood, suggesting it would be easier to talk if they were together rather than talking over Josh. When they rose and moved to a corner, Harriet Clay, Henry’s wife, joined them.

“You asked about getting in shape,” Jill began. “It’s really easy. It’s The Body Shop.”

“I’ve heard about that!” Harriet enthused. But then her face fell as she added, “But I hear they have a waiting list a mile long!”

“And they do everything!” Amy Barrett added. “I mean ... they even shave down there!”

Jill couldn’t control her laughter, but she did manage to keep the volume down. “I guess I might as well lay it all out,” she said. “First of all, just for the record, they don’t shave, they remove hair with a laser ... and it’s permanent. But second, if you don’t already know, you will soon enough: Until mid-December I was a featured dancer at The Girl Spot. And I’m totally bare.”

“Wow!” Harriet exclaimed. “You are? I mean ... what’s it feel like?”

“Harriet, I’ve been bare for so long I don’t even remember ever having any pubic hair. So my answer to your question is it feels fine ... normal.”

“But, you mean you took your clothes off on stage?” Amy asked with her eyes wide. “In public? In front of all of those people?”

“No, Amy, I didn’t take off my clothes in public. I — and my sister — were exotics. That means we start off naked and just stay that way.”

Harriet Clay looked thoughtful and then mused, “I went to a modern dance recital a year or so ago, and all the women were naked on stage.” She looked puzzled as she added, “But that was called art.”

Jill couldn’t control her laughter. “One of our girls, Connie Stevens, might have been in that group. It’s really funny as she’s the first to admit. Until a short time ago, without her glasses — real Coke bottles — she was blind as a bat. Yet she had the weird idea in her head that if she couldn’t see the faces in the audience, they couldn’t see hers either. She finally joined us, figuring that if she’s going to dance naked she might as well get paid for it.

“She’ll get her doctorate in June and will be married to a really great guy right afterwards. Then they’re just going to honeymoon until she’s ready to deliver their first child.”

“Her doctorate?” Amy gasped in amazement.

“I guess The Girl Spot really is a bit odd as a strip club,” Jill admitted. “Except for my sister Melanie and me, all the dancers have at least one degree or will have one very soon. The fact is that we found that very intelligent girls make the very best entertainers. They just seem to be more aware of their audience.”

“But The Body Shop?” Amy reminded, getting the conversation back on track.

“You’re both in starting tomorrow, but there’s one condition...”

“Which is... ?” Harriet prompted.

“You both have to really work at it. None of this an-hour-or-so-a-week nonsense. And it really is work! But if you work at it, we guarantee results.”

With that they returned to their seats.

After the main course was served, again they were waiting when Jill snapped her fingers. “Damn! I nearly forgot. Next weekend is the first Saturday in May, and that means there’s activity of some sort or other over at Churchill Downs.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tom responded, playing along. “It has something to do with horses, doesn’t it?”

“I guess so,” Jill admitted. “Anyway, would you folks like to go? My treat.”

“Unless you want to be in the mob scene,” Tom observed, “you have to get tickets years in advance.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Jill replied. “We have dozens of seats ... in the owners’ box.”

Tom just gaped. “Owners’ box? You’re an owner, Jill?”

“I’m not, but our daughters are. And both are riding next Saturday.”

Josh Barrett and Henry Clay were both listening attentively. Although she was speaking to Tom, Jill was making no effort to keep her voice down, so clearly her conversation wasn’t private. Furthermore, while Tom knew next to nothing about horses or racing and had read no stories on the upcoming Derby, the other two had.

Speaking very slowly, Henry Clay said, “I was reading a story in the Herald-Leader earlier this week ... It focused on a pair of Lexington horses entered in the Derby. And they’re horses from ... Bluegrass Farm!” Looking at his partners he added, “And guess who owns Bluegrass? Our most important client, the Corcorans.”

Proudly beaming, Jill announced, “My daughter, Tanya, will be riding King of Bluegrass Farm, while Mel’s daughter, my niece Natasha, will be riding Black Silk.”

Clay continued, “The story was pretty interesting. It was written by the paper’s turf writer, and he seems to be pretty knowledgeable. While he saw both horses, he neither saw them run nor even ridden. Apparently the rumor is true: The only people those horses will allow on their backs for any reason at all are their owners, Tatiana and Natasha Corcoran. And the girls will be riding them in the Derby.

“And that’s the primary problem, according to the writer. In the first place, both girls are very young: only 15. Furthermore, not only are the girls not licensed jockeys, they’ve never ridden in a horse race in their lives. And the Derby being the Derby, they’ll be competing against the world’s top riders.

“But that’s not all. Beyond all of that, those horses will be carrying at least 10 pounds more weight than any of the others. Incidentally, the writer checked: It’s quite legal for an owner to handicap his own horse with more weight if he chooses.” Then he looked at Jill with a question obvious in his eyes.

“Henry, everything you just said is absolutely true.” Then with a big grin she added, “With all of that being said, I’m offering even money that Bluegrass Farm wins the Derby. Now how much of that check I wrote to you earlier do you want to give back?”

Clay and Barrett were both stunned. “You’re kidding!” Josh Barrett managed to gasp.

“The hell I am!” Jill immediately responded. “In fact, I’ll make the same offer to everyone here tonight. Furthermore, I’ll cover any amount anyone wants to wager on the same basis.”