“Very nice,” Missy called out to the girl. “Walk for a few minutes to catch your breath.”
She’d obviously seen me standing there slumped over the rail and walked in my direction.
“Nice horse,” I said. “I haven’t seen him before, did she trailer in?”
“Yes,” Missy said. “One of her friends takes lessons here and raved about how great I was.”
“That’s awesome,” I said.
Missy looked at her watch. “Did you need something?”
“It doesn’t matter. I can ask you later.”
“I’m busy all day so you might as well ask me now.”
“Well this came in the mail,” I said, handing her the letter. “And I wanted to make sure that it was okay with you. After all Socks is your horse.”
Missy read the letter over.
“Emily, this is great,” she finally said. “They are giving you a second chance.”
“I know,” I said.
“Well you don’t seem very happy about it.”
“I just wish I could take Bluebird.” I sighed.
“There will be lots of other times that you’ll get to ride your pony. You can’t miss out on this chance just because you have to leave him behind and I’m not going to let you either.”
“So it’s okay if I take Socks?”
“Of course it is,” Missy said, leaning over the rail and giving me a hug. “He’s more your horse than mine now anyway.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Don’t mention it,” she said. “Just don’t tell your father that I said yes so easily. I don’t want him to think that he is winning the war.” She winked at me.
“I won’t,” I said.
I wandered back into the barn feeling all mixed up. Things in my horse life were just getting back to normal. I was looking forward to riding on the winter circuit and winning my divisions with Bluebird. Doing my own thing just like I was used to. But getting on the Junior Olympic team would change all that. It would mean going to shows with the team. Competing in classes that they told me to. Being around Jess all the time because I knew that with the way she had been riding and with as talented as her new horse was, there was no way she wasn’t getting on that team. I could do without all that pressure. But Junior Olympic team members often went on to be actual Olympic team members. Was I really willing to throw my dreams away just because I didn’t want to be around Jess? People who were two faced and entitled, throwing their richness in other people’s faces and staring down their noses at the people who didn’t have as much money as they did?
It shouldn’t have mattered. There shouldn’t have been a divide between us. Rich riders and poor should be allowed to compete together and no one should have been able to tell the difference but there was always going to be that divide. It existed in our sport just like it did in all sports. Money made the world go round and it especially made the equestrian world go round. And I was still stuck trying to claw my way out of the poor pit and prove that money didn’t buy talent. And now I had another chance to do just that. Missy was right, I was going to have to forget about my pony for a weekend and concentrate on proving myself.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
I rode Socks every day and tried to ignore the pitiful looks my pony gave me as I took another horse out to the ring. But this time I made sure he was always in his stall and couldn’t get into any trouble. I hadn’t forgotten the time we had to take the whole gate off when he rolled and got his legs stuck under it after being silly because he saw me riding another horse. He was just as possessive as I was and I wasn’t going to let anything else happen to him. If I had to wrap him in bubble wrap, I would.
Socks seemed to enjoy the work. Dad had taken it on as his mission in life to make sure I was ready for the training clinic and he thought he could do that by drilling us relentlessly. He set up all these gymnastic exercises for us in the ring and then had us out in the field jumping courses that were quite big and technical. I thought Socks and I handled it all well but it was getting to be a bit much.
“I thought we were going to the clinic to get trained,” I said as Dad let us walk and take a breather. “If you drill us like this before we go, what will we learn when we get there?”
“You’re not there to learn,” Dad said. “You are there to show off your skills.”
“And learn, Dad,” I said.
“Fine, you’re there to learn as well but I can’t have my daughter looking all sloppy up in the saddle.”
“When was the last time you saw me looking sloppy?” I asked him.
“Oh there have been times I’ve caught you slouching when you thought no one was looking,” he replied.
“Name one,” I said.
But we were both laughing, our lessons bringing us back together again. It was a start in mending the strained relationship we’d developed and it had probably helped that he didn’t talk about my mother any more. It was like she wasn’t even there in town, waiting. But she was and waiting for what? I wanted to know what her plans were but I wasn’t brave enough to ask.
“Fine,” I said. “But Socks is getting tomorrow off and so am I. If I don’t get one day of rest before we go I will fall out of the saddle from exhaustion.”
“Chicken,” Dad said but he nodded his agreement.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
I used my one day off to go to the tack store. Dad was right. I needed to look my best at the Talent Scout training weekend and some of my things were looking a little shabby. Dad had offered to pay but I told him that I was going to use my winnings to get what I needed. He didn’t fight me on the matter too hard and I got the feeling he was kind of relieved. I knew that money was tight. His hospital bills had started arriving and so far he hadn’t even opened them. They’d piled up on his desk until they started spilling onto the floor and then he just shoved them in a drawer. I didn’t know what he was going to do with them after that but it wasn’t like he could pay them. Not all of them anyway.
I rode the bus into town, keeping a wary eye out for my mother or Cat. For all I knew they were still lurking around or maybe they’d given up and moved on. Mom always had lots of friends. I didn’t know why she had to come back here. She could have gone somewhere else, started fresh and besides, if Derek really was going to come looking for her, wouldn’t here be the first place he would look? It was kind of dumb to hide in the town you came from. But as soon as I got to Taylors Tack Emporium, I forgot all about my mother and Cat because Jordan was out front polishing a shiny red and black motorbike.
“You didn’t,” I said. “You bought another one?”
“Well you didn’t think I could keep driving the mom-mobile forever, did you?” he said with a grin.
His white t-shirt was stained with grease and so were his hands. The bike may have been shiny but Jordan was not. Trouble was that it only made him look better than ever. Mickey had been right all along. I did feel something for him. I just didn’t have time to figure out what it was.
“Well just try and keep this one and yourself in one piece, okay?” I said.
I still had nightmares about the last time Jordan crashed his bike, smashing it into a tree and ending up in the hospital. I had enough things to worry about. I didn’t need to worry about him as well.
“Yes mother,” Jordan replied with a wink, mocking me.
“Very funny,” I said, sitting down on the curb. “How is Wizard?”
“Bored,” Jordan said. “Mom says if I don’t start riding him again then she is going to sell him.”
“She can’t do that,” I said.
“I don’t really care,” he said with a shrug. “I only wanted to start showing so that I could see you more.”
“You didn’t,” I said.
“I did.”
He was teasing me, I could tell. His eyes were full of mischief.
“Well, if your mom sells him then how are you ever going to see me?”
“The thing is,” he said, pull
ing me to my feet. “I can see you whenever I want now.”
“Oh you can, can you?” I said.
We were standing close to each other, our bodies only inches away. I could feel the heat coming off him and the scent of his cologne. He was still holding my hands and I wanted to pull them away but I also didn’t. For a moment I thought maybe he was going to lean in and kiss me. My heart started pounding in my chest. Part of me wanted to but the other part of me wanted to remember why I was here in the first place. Something about a new breastplate? I couldn’t think. My brain was scrambled. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. And then there was a bang.
I jumped about a foot back from Jordan, tripping over the curb and landing on my butt in the most ungraceful fall ever.
“Mom,” Jordan yelled. “Cut it out.”
There was Taylor, her face pressed against the glass at the front of her store, staring at us like we’d just broken about fifty laws or something.
“Are you okay?” he asked, offering me his hand.
This time I didn’t take it.
“I’m fine,” I said, getting to my feet without his help.
“I need you in the stock room,” Taylor said. She’d opened the door and was standing there with her arms crossed, glaring at us.
“In a minute,” Jordan said.
No, now,” his mother replied. “Or I’ll send that bike right back to the shop.”
Jordan waved her away with his hand and Taylor closed the door but I could still feel her eyes burning into our backs.
“What is her problem?” I asked.
I’d always liked Taylor and she’d been nice to me in the past but since Jordan and I had been hanging out more she’d been acting really weird.
“She still thinks I’m seven,” Jordan said. “That is her problem and if she doesn’t knock it off I’ll be moving out.”
“She’s probably just worried about you,” I said.
“Doing what?” he said. “Standing here talking to you? Yes its very dangerous business. I might get seriously hurt.”
“You might,” I said, giving him a sly wink. “Look, I’d better go and get what I need before your mom refuses to let me in her store.”
“Alright,” he said. “If you must.”
“Where else am I going to get my supplies from? She’s the only tack store in town.”
“And she knows it,” Jordan said with a sigh. “Don’t let her rip you off.”
“She wouldn’t do that, would she?” I said.
“I’m pretty sure she wants to scare you off so yeah,” he said. “I think she would.”
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
“That will be three hundred dollars,” Taylor said.
I’d laid all my stuff on the counter and counted it up in my head as I went along so that I didn’t spend too much. I knew that it was nowhere near that much. Jordan was right, his mom was totally trying to rip me off.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
For a moment Taylor looked at me, squinting her eyes. Her hair was still short and spiky and the ends were bleached. She had a pierced eyebrow. She didn’t look old enough to be Jordan’s mother. In fact she looked like his older sister or maybe a cool aunt or something. She must have had him when she was really young. Maybe that was why she was trying to keep us apart, because she didn’t want me to make the same mistakes she had.
“I already added it up. Look at the tags,” I said.
“Fine, you caught me,” she said. “One fifty nine, ninety nine then.”
“Have I done something wrong?” I asked Taylor as I laid out my cash on the counter.
It was funny. I was totally afraid to talk to my mother and yet I had no problems calling Taylor out on her behavior.
“No,” she said, snatching the cash up. “Why would you think that?”
“Hello?” I said, pointing to my stuff. “And the stalking.”
“Don’t say ‘hello’ like I’m some kind of imbecile,” she said. “I’m not one of your school friends.”
No but you are acting like one of them, I thought to myself.
“Fine but you have to admit that you are acting kind of weird,” I said instead. “I just want to know if I’ve offended you in some way or something.”
“Oh hun, you haven’t offended me,” she said, stuffing my things into a bag. “It’s just boys are trouble. You should concentrate on your riding.”
“And stay away from your son,” I said, grabbing my bag from her. “Right. Got it. Look we’re just friends. Nothing is going on between us.”
I knew that Taylor didn’t believe me. I didn’t even believe myself. I’d had what Mickey would call mini boy crushes before. Brief moments when I’d thought that maybe I liked a boy but the feeling had always passed as quickly as it had come. This one hadn’t. It was different because Jordan was different and I was different when I was around him.
“I’m not even going to be around much anyway,” I told Taylor. “I’m going away for a weekend training session and if things go well I might even get picked for the Junior Olympic team. That means I’ll be away all the time and I won’t be around to pester your son.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Taylor said. “You’re a nice girl. I like you. It’s just I know what boys are like.”
“Then shouldn’t you be talking to your son, not me?” I said.
I left the store feeling like someone had punched me in the stomach. Why was Taylor basically telling me to stay away from her son? Did I look like I was the sort of girl who would cause trouble? I was basically home schooled and spent all my free time riding and showing horses and she ran a tack store. I would have thought that I was the perfect girl for her son to hang around considering the rest of his friends were tattooed, pierced and mean.
I rode the bus home thinking about Jordan and how I knew he had almost kissed me. He’d wanted to and this time I’d wanted him to as well. And the more Taylor told me to stay away from him, the more I wanted to be with him.
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
“Did you get everything you needed in town?” Missy asked.
I was in the wash rack bathing Socks because his socks were anything but white. He looked disgusting. He’d been in the pond in the lower field and there was mud all the way up to his knees. He’d also had a very rigorous rolling session somewhere out in the long grass and I was scrubbing a particularly nasty green stain on his left hind when she came by.
“Yes,” I said. “But I think I’ll just order all my stuff online from now on.”
“Because you don’t want to go into town in case you run into your mother?” Missy asked.
“Well that and because Taylor is being weird. She basically told me to stay away from her son.”
I stood up, stretching out the cramp that had formed in my calf. Socks looked at the bubbles that were running under him and down the drain and snorted. I patted his neck to reassure him that they weren’t going to eat him.
“She wants you to stay away from Jordan?” Missy said, looking as confused as I was. “But why?”
“I have no idea?” I said. “I mean I know I’m not exactly a catch but I’m not repulsive or anything either.”
“Of course you’re not,” Missy said. “And it’s not really any of her business who you hang out with.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I don’t care. I have too much else to worry about right now and besides, I don’t think Jordan cares what his mother thinks anyway.”
“Good for him,” Missy said.
“So you don’t think that it is weird for him to want to hang out with me even though he is older than I am?” I said.
“You’ll be fifteen next month,” Missy said. “You are not a baby anymore. You should hang out with whoever you want.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Unless of course they are drug dealers or something,” Missy added.
“I’ll make a mental note of that,” I said with a grin.
I finished bathing Sock
s and left him in his stall to dry with a big pile of hay to keep him distracted. I was in the tack room packing up my stuff when I heard someone clear their voice in the doorway. I looked up to see Frankie standing there.
“Hey, you came,” I said. “I didn’t think you would.”
“I didn’t think I would either,” she replied. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay,” I said. “Do you want to go for a ride? We have a great trail. It goes all the way to the beach, not that we have to go that far. It’s just a great place to ride and talk, if you want.”
“No,” Frankie said, bursting into tears. “I can’t ride ever again because I killed my horse. I killed Quantum.”
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
I was supposed to be finishing up my packing for the weekend clinic, cleaning my tack and taking Bluebird for one last ride to reassure him that I wasn’t abandoning him forever, just for the weekend so that he wouldn’t miss me and do something stupid while I was gone. Instead I was sitting in the office with Frankie while she sobbed into a crumpled tissue.
“You didn’t kill your horse,” I told her. “You just miss him, that’s all.”
“You’re wrong,” she said with a strangled sob. “I did kill him. I didn’t mean to but I did.”
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Why do you think that you killed him?”
“I took him swimming in the lake by my house,” she said. “There is a trail down a dirt road, I ride it all the time but I’m not supposed to go swimming. The lake is on private property but no one has lived there in years. The house is falling down. It’s always quiet.” She paused and blew her nose.
“Go on,” I said. “I don’t see how swimming could have killed him. He was sick, that was all.”
“Because of the water,” she cried. “I saw something floating on the surface like an orange oil slick but it was at the other end and I was so hot. I made him go in anyway. Afterwards I found out that the land had been sold and they sprayed the whole place with pesticides and weed killers. That orange oil slick was poison and I swam my horse right into it.”
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