The Glory Game Read Free Page A

over the formal introductions. “Audra, I’d like you to meet the newest member of my staff, Miss Claudia Baines. This is Audra Kincaid.”
    â€œIt is a privilege to meet you, Mrs. Kincaid.” Claudia Baines extended a hand in greeting, not showing any awe of the Kincaid dowager. Luz wondered if she knew how closely she was being inspected, her scarlet-and-white slack suit judged as to line and fit, the soft cut of her dark hair examined for faddish extreme. The appraisal points were numerous, but all reviewed in the sweep of an eye.
    â€œAnd, of course, you remember Phil Eberly from the firm.” Drew stepped aside to allow room for the young lawyer to present himself to Audra Kincaid.
    â€œYes, we’ve met before.” And her comment to Luz had been that the young man was “too full of himself.”
    That had been her opinion of Drew twenty-two years ago. At the time, the Bridgeport Thomases were an old and socially acceptable family with little money and a lot of hubris.Determined to make it on his own, he had refused Jake Kincaid’s offer to work in the legal department of his investment banking company. Over the years, Luz had often wondered if Drew ever guessed how many of his high-paying clients in those earlier years had been referred to him by Jake Kincaid. Not that they had ever struggled, since she had her own money, her own inheritance from her grandfather—and even more now that Jake was gone.
    Then it was her turn to meet Claudia Baines. The sparkling zest in those wide hazel eyes made it easy for Luz to smile back at her. She reminded Luz of her daughter; that youthful optimism was contagious. After the usual exchange of pleasantries, with the rumble of pounding hoofbeats and the crack of locking mallets in the background, Drew started to extend the introductions to the back row of the boxed area, where Mary, her husband, and three of their children were seated. She waved aside the attempt with a good natured “Down in front. It can wait until this first chukkar is over.”
    â€œSit in the front row.” Luz motioned to the empty chairs one level down from the ones she and her mother occupied. “You’ll be able to see better.”
    The chair on her immediate right was vacant. Drew paused beside it, bending toward her and nodding his head in the direction of his two guests taking their seats in front of her. “I’d better sit with them so I can explain the rudiments of the game.”
    â€œOf course.” Her attention was already attempting to shift to the action on the field, but Drew was blocking her line of sight and Rob’s team appeared to be near the goal. Behind her, Mary groaned in disappointment. “What happened?”
    â€œRob’s shot went wide of the goal. That Argie forced him to take a bad angle.” The ball had gone out of bounds along the backline, and the riders were pulling in their ponies to regroup. “Black Oak will have the knock-in.”
    â€œWhere’s Trisha?” Drew turned in his chair to ask about their daughter.
    â€œAt the picket line, where else?” Luz glanced toward the end of the field, where the additional polo ponies waited for their chukkar of play. “As Rob says, who needs a groom when you have a sister?”
    â€œOur seventeen-year-old is horse-crazy,” Drew explained tohis guests, and Luz noticed that the brunette occupied the middle chair, between the two men. “I suppose I shouldn’t complain. The time to start worrying is when she discovers boys.”
    â€œShe knows about them.” Luz didn’t doubt that for a minute, although she refrained from reminding Drew that Trisha would be eighteen in a short two months. And Trisha wasn’t horsecrazy. It was the action on the sideline she preferred to the inaction of the grandstand seats. “If you’re going to worry, worry about when she discovers men.”
    â€œThat’s not fair,