My Favorite Mistake (11 page)

Dani's horse was a Thoroughbred ex-racer, and he could be a pistol. Luckily that suited Dani just fine. She had always been a lot more comfortable in the jumpers than in the hunters.

“He's feeling good today,” Dani told Tommi, patting her horse. “A little
too
good, maybe.”

Tommi smiled briefly, then glanced over at Jamie, who was fiddling with the warm-up fence. What did he think about her decision to skip out on that Wednesday class? He hadn't really said anything when she'd told him. Then again, she hadn't really asked for his opinion.

Just then Zara rode over to join them. “Hey, girls,” Zara sang out. “Ready to watch me and Keeper beat the breeches off all the rest of you in this class?”

“In your dreams, Trask,” Dani said with a laugh. “That blue ribbon is mine. Deal with it.”

Zara grinned, then glanced over at Tommi. “What about you? You ready to fight Dani for second place, or what?”

“Whatever.” Tommi rolled her eyes. She wasn't usually one to hold a grudge, but she was still a little pissed off at Zara for keeping her waiting yesterday. Way to thank her for doing her a favor.

“Oh, so you admit it?” Zara grinned and patted her horse. “Hear that, Keeper? At least these East Coast princesses know when they're in over their heads.”

“Who you callin' princess, princess?” Dani joked.

But Tommi just muttered something about starting her warm-up, then turned Legs away from the other two. She wasn't in the mood for trash talking. She had more important things on her mind. Besides, she was better off just keeping quiet and then putting Zara in her place where it counted—in the show ring. After yesterday morning, that would be pretty satisfying, actually.

She sent Legs into a trot to loosen up. Weaving expertly in and out among the warm-up bedlam, she finally found an open spot on the rail and pushed him forward. He opened up his stride willingly, as always. But Tommi frowned slightly. Had she just felt something—a tiny hitch in his step?

She pushed harder, seeing if he'd work out of it. After all, he'd spent a lot more time than usual in a stall lately. No wonder if he was a little stiff.

But even after a good five minutes, that little …
something
… was still there. Not all the time, not every stride or even every five strides. But often enough for Tommi to feel that something wasn't quite right. She shot a look at the rail. Kara Parodi was over there, watching. Could she see it?

Jamie was talking to the other two girls about the course. Tommi rode over and told him what was going on. He looked concerned.

“Let me see,” he said.

Tommi trotted several circles around him. “It's just every once in a while,” she said. “Sort of a tiny hesitation, or something. Might be in his hind end—stifles, maybe?”

Jamie watched intently, but finally shrugged. “Sorry, I can't see anything,” he said. “Are you sure he's not just tense?”

Tommi bit her lip and shot another look at the rail, where the other trainer was still watching. She wasn't the only one, either. Zara and Dani were both staring curiously.

Now what? Tommi was tempted to trust Jamie's eye, just go ahead and ride the class. The trouble was, she couldn't deny what she felt. She knew Legs pretty well by now, and she knew something wasn't right with him today. It wasn't worth risking his soundness just for one class.

“Sorry,” she said slowly. “I think maybe I'd better scratch. I don't want to take any chances.”

Jamie was silent for a moment, then nodded. “All right. If you think that's what's best. I'll go tell Kara.”

He strode toward the rail as Tommi rode toward the gate. “Never mind, bud,” she whispered, giving Legs a pat. “We'll get 'em next time.”

She tried not to overhear Jamie giving the other trainer the news, but Parodi wasn't exactly a shrinking violet. The woman's voice carried, and Tommi couldn't help catching some of her annoyed reaction. Something about rich amateurs playing pro.

Yeah, that stung. But Tommi was careful not to let it show.

“Hey!” Zara called, catching up to her right before the gate. “What happened? Sorry, didn't mean to make you choke.”

Tommi knew she was only joking. But she
so
wasn't in the mood.

“As if,” she said icily, then steered Legs out of the ring without looking back.

Zara leaned on the rail and stared at the overfed bay warm-blood loping along at a snail's pace and heaving itself over tiny fences. Adult hunters. Talk about boring.

She turned and wandered away toward the temporary stalls. It was Saturday, and the show was going well so far. She and Keeper had come in fourth in the Junior Jumpers yesterday, beating out Dani, who'd pinned sixth. Too bad Tommi had scratched. It would've been fun to beat her, too, especially after how snotty she'd been about Zara oversleeping.

Oh, well. Maybe next show. Zara was in too good a mood to worry about it. She and Ellie had done well in their hunter rounds earlier today. Now she was just hanging out, waiting for the hack. Unfortunately there wasn't much going on at the moment aside from those boring pre-adult hunters. The grounds crew was setting up the Big Eq course in one ring, some ponies were milling around getting ready to hack in another, and that was pretty much it.

When she reached Pelham Lane's stalls, the only person around was Kate. She was making like a busy little bee, as always, rushing toward the tack stall with an armful of saddle pads.

“Where is everybody?” Zara asked.

Kate blinked, staring around the empty aisle as if she'd just noticed it. “Oh!” she said. “Um, I don't know. I think Jamie's at the hunter ring, and Miguel just took Ms. Phillips's horse up there, and—”

“Whatever. I don't really care.” Zara grinned. “Hey, but aren't you supposed to ride in that eq class in a few?” She stared at Kate's grungy jeans-and-T ensemble. “Because I'm not sure the judge is going to appreciate the casual look.”

Kate's eyes widened, and she let out a squeak. “Oh no!” she said. “You're right, I totally lost track of the time, and I told the guys I'd tack up Fable myself—”

“Want me to help you get ready?” Zara offered. It wasn't like she had anything better to do.

“That's okay,” Kate tossed over her shoulder as she rushed away. “I've got it.”

“Whatever,” Zara muttered, even though the other girl was already gone.

So now what? She wandered back out of the barn. Okay, so she was kind of starting to get used to her new East Coast scene. But at times like this, she was way too aware that her whole life had changed. Back in LA she never would have been hanging around by herself at a show. There were always friends around to entertain her between classes. Well, maybe “friends” was too strong a word. But people, anyway. Groupies. Suck-ups. Hangers-on. Whatever.

Not here. It was nice in a way, being anonymous. Different. But mostly kind of boring.

Deciding it was time to make her own fun, she pulled out her phone and texted Grant to say hi. He texted back within seconds:

Hey! Good to hear from u. What are u doing?

Zara glanced at the eq rings just ahead. There were some people in the warm-up by now, but still nothing happening in the ring.

So she leaned against a handy tree as she responded:
Nothing, I'm bored. Wish u were here to entertain me.

This time his reply was even faster:
Me too! I would entertain u however u wanted!

She grinned. Yeah, the guy was definitely hooked. She typed back quickly.
Really? Tell me what u would do.

His response came quickly again:
First I would grab & kiss u, & then
…

There was more, but Zara wasn't paying attention anymore. A guy had just let himself out the rear door of one of the food kiosks nearby. Cute. Tall. Scruffy dark hair and a couple of tattoos. Maybe her age or a little older.

He glanced over and caught her looking. Zara didn't turn away, instead locking eyes with him. He looked surprised. Then his eyes slid down her body and back up, and he smiled.

Zara smiled back, wetting her lips. Yeah, suddenly she wasn't feeling so bored anymore.

Realizing her phone was still in her hand, she texted Grant back with a quick
gtg!
Then she stuck her phone in her pocket and waited for Mr. Tall, Dark, and Interesting to reach her.

Kate took a few deep breaths as she rode Fable into the ring. She hadn't stopped moving since Zara had reminded her she needed to get ready for her Big Eq class, and even so she'd barely made it to the ring on time. Her warm-up was pretty much a blur, though she did remember Jamie commenting that Fable seemed especially full of beans today.

She shot a look at Jamie now. He was leaning on the rail by the gate watching her. He gave her a thumbs-up as she rode past. “Relax,” he called. “You've got this.”

Kate was glad someone thought so. “Here goes nothing,” she murmured as she aimed Fable at the first jump.

The early part of the course went fine. Fable was jumping well and responding instantly to her aids.

But by the time they reached the halfway point, she could feel him building speed and energy. She half-halted strongly a few times, trying to keep his impulsion in check.

“Not too fast,” she murmured under her breath. “Whoa, big fella.”

She squeezed the reins and held with her seat as his stride
started to open up too much. He responded a little sluggishly, almost running past the distance to a big oxer. But they pulled it off.

Three jumps left. Suddenly that seemed like way too many. Kate felt sweat beading on her face as they made the turn to the next one. Fable's ears pricked toward it, and he spurted forward again.

“No!” Kate hissed, half-halting again to get his attention back and balance him. Her arms and legs were starting to feel like rubber noodles from trying to control the strong, frisky horse.

Once again he reluctantly obeyed, rocking back on his hocks and settling into stride as they finished the approach. He sailed over easily. Two to go.

The next jump was another oxer, this one set off a long gallop halfway down the ring. Kate let Fable open up a little, figuring that might settle him.

But the plan backfired. He sped up quickly, hurtling toward the big oxer like a steeplechaser. Or at least it felt that way.

Kate half-halted frantically, willing her tired muscles to hold out just a little longer. Equitation was supposed to be all about making a tricky ride look invisible, but she stopped worrying about that, just doing whatever she could to regain control.

Fable finally responded, sort of, but it was too little too late. He met the jump on an awkward half-stride and had to twist himself sideways in the air to get over it. Luckily he was athletic enough to manage it, but Kate got jostled and the reins slipped through her hands.

As soon as he landed, Fable charged forward toward the last fence on the course. It was supposed to ride in a quiet six strides, but Kate knew there was no way that was happening. The big gray ended up doing it in five and almost chipping in again even at that. Once again he made it over, but as she pulled up, Kate knew they'd just blown any chance of pinning.

She reached forward automatically to give the horse a pat as they rode toward the gate. But inside, she was furious. Not at Fable—at herself. How could she have lost control like that?

Jamie was waiting outside the ring. “You okay?” he asked. “Looked like he got pretty strong.”

“Yeah, and I couldn't do much to stop him,” Kate said grimly. “Sorry, Jamie. That was totally pathetic. I don't know what happened—it was like I couldn't even half-halt well enough to get him to listen.”

Jamie gave Fable a pat, then peered up at her. “Yeah, it looked like you ran out of steam toward the end of the course. That's not normal for you. I'm wondering if maybe you've been working too hard this week. Eating and sleeping too little. You do a great job taking care of things around the barn, Kate. But you've got to take care of yourself, too. I probably shouldn't have let you stick around for that colic the other night.”