The Glory Game Read Online Free PDF Page A

the resumption of play.
    The strategy of the Blue Chips team was apparent to Luz the minute they gained possession of the ball and she saw the Number Four player join the attack, instead of cautiously lagging behind his teammates in case their opponents stole the ball. The role of the Number Four player was defensive. If he made an offensive play, then another rider temporarily assumed his defensive position. But not this time. Her son’s team was going all out, taking risks in a desperate attempt to even up the score.
    The pace was fast and furious, and the Black Oak team appeared rattled, committing three fouls during the chukkar,which gave the blue team two penalty shots from the forty-yard line and the third from the sixty.
    By the end of the fourth period, the Kincaid team had closed the gap until only two points separated them. Luz thought Rob and his teammates had a good chance.
    But the rally was broken in the fifth. Luz gave most of the credit for the Black Oak team’s resurgence to the blood bay horse the Argentine player rode. Its reflexes were lightning-quick, and its speed left the other horses far behind. More than once during that next-to-last period, Luz saw the gleaming bay come streaking out of nowhere and overtake a blue rider to spoil a goal shot or a pass.
    The final chukkar was anticlimactic. Black Oak had won the game in the fifth, but they wound up with a score of fourteen to nine. Luz could taste Rob’s bitter disappointment as he congratulated the winners, then rode off the field. He had wanted to win the Kincaid Trophy. She knew he’d blame himself for his own inadequacies in the game and not make any allowances for his youth. To him, a Kincaid should win the Kincaid Trophy. Losing it was like losing the family honor.
    â€œPoor Rob.” Her sister laid a consoling hand on Luz’s shoulder.
    â€œI know. He’ll be practicing his swing and hitting balls every spare minute for the next two weeks.” Luz knew the way he punished himself when he failed at whatever he set out to do.
    â€œBe sure to tell Rob for me that he played very well, Luz.” Audra Kincaid stood up, her action prompting the others to do the same. “He didn’t let us down at all. Now it’s my dubious privilege to present the trophy to the winners. Ross, would you escort me to the circle?” It was a command, not a request, as they all knew, and Mary’s husband moved forward to take her arm and guide her out of the box.
    Luz wasn’t interested in watching the presentation ceremony, so she turned her back on it to gather her purse, binoculars, and camera. She knew Chester Martin would be gloating over the victory. The polo rivalry between Martin and Jake Kincaid had bordered on a feud these last years before her father’s stroke. Now Martin had won.
    A hand touched her arm. “Excuse me, Mrs. Thomas.” The voice belonged to Claudia Baines. Luz swung around, adjusting the knotted sleeves of the teal-blue sweater tied around herneck. “I know your mother will be tied up for a while with the presentation and pictures. Please tell her how honored I was to have met her. Phil and I must be going. I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed this afternoon, and I’m sorry your son’s team didn’t win.”
    â€œWhy don’t you and Phil have drinks with us at the club, then dinner later?” Drew suggested as he moved to Luz’s side.
    A playful mockery glittered in the look Claudia directed at Luz. “He asks, knowing that tomorrow morning he’s going to want to review the final draft of a complicated merger contract.” She smiled at him. “I’d like to join you, but I have a lot of work waiting for me. I promise I will attend your party next Saturday night, though. Thank you for the invitation, Mrs. Thomas.”
    â€œNot at all.” Luz had no recollection of Claudia Baines’s name on the invitation list, but she concealed