Just then she heard the clatter of hooves. Glancing down the aisle, she saw Javier leading Summer’s horse toward the wash stalls. Summer was wandering along behind them, peeling off her crochet-back gloves.
As the groom disappeared around the corner, Summer spotted Tommi and Alex. “Hi, Tommi,” she said, sizing up Alex with naked interest as she hurried over. “What’s up?”
“Not much,” Tommi said. “Just showing Alex around. Alex, this is Summer. Summer, my friend Alex.”
“Friend?” Summer said.
Alex stepped up behind Tommi and wrapped both arms around her waist. “Yeah,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “We’re really good friends.”
“Oh.” Summer’s face dropped. “Nice to meet you. I’d better go check on my horse.”
Tommi waited until Summer scurried off to laugh. “That wasn’t very nice,” she chided jokingly. “She was ready to jump your bones.”
“I know, I was kind of scared.” Alex grinned. “Now come on—are you going to teach me to ride, or what?”
“Sure, let’s go.” Tommi led him to a stall farther down the aisle.
Alex looked dubious when he saw the slightly swaybacked chestnut dozing inside. “This is the horse I’m going to ride?” he said. “He looks kind of small.”
“That’s Sir. He’s not as tall as my horses, but he’s plenty big enough, trust me,” Tommi said. Sir belonged to one of the barn’s adult clients, who allowed Jamie to use the steady older gelding as a lesson and lease horse for newer riders. He was leased out to a pre-children’s rider this summer, but the kid was on vacation with her family in Maine this week, and so Jamie had given Tommi permission to use Sir for Alex’s riding lesson.
She tacked up quickly, then led Sir and Alex outside to the flatwork ring, which was unoccupied at the moment. The sweet old gelding stood quietly at the mounting block as Tommi tossed the reins over his head and checked the girth.
“Put your left foot in the stirrup and grab a hunk of his mane,” Tommi instructed Alex. “Then swing your—oh, okay. You’ve got it.”
Alex vaulted on, landing in the saddle with a thump. “Okay,” he said with a grin. “Now what? Do I just say ‘Hi-ho, Silver!’ and give him a kick?”
“No!” Tommi said quickly. “I mean, please don’t. Sir might look quiet, and he is, but he’s also pretty well tuned. He’ll walk on if you just give him a little nudge with your heels.”
“Got it.” Alex grabbed the reins and poked the horse in the gut with both heels. Sir lifted his head, then stepped off.
“Good boy,” Tommi told the horse. “Walk on.” Then she glanced at Alex. “You’re not holding the reins right,” she said. “Turn your hands like this.” She lifted her own hands to demonstrate. “And keep your heels down.”
He adjusted his grip and jammed his heels down. “Got it. When do I get to canter?”
Tommi laughed. “You haven’t even learned to trot yet.”
“What’s to learn? Come on, boy—let’s trot!” Alex gave Sir a kick.
The horse flicked an ear back, seeming uncertain, but broke into a slow, lumbering trot. Tommi winced as she saw Alex’s seat bounce out of the saddle and slam down again at the next stride. She’d sort of forgotten that Sir was famous for two things—his sweet temperament and his jarring trot. He was the one Jamie used to test the cocky advanced beginners who were convinced that they had the sitting trot down.
“Push your heels down!” Tommi called. “Pull on the reins and he’ll slow back down to a walk.”
Alex didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure he’d even heard her. He was still bouncing around in the saddle, and as Sir bent to follow the curve of the ring fence, Alex’s left foot flew out of the stirrup.
“Whoa!” he cried, slipping to the side. Dropping the reins, he grabbed the front of the saddle to keep himself in place.
“Easy, boy!” Tommi called to the horse. “Walk, Sir. Walk on.”
The horse slowed immediately, giving Alex the chance to haul himself back into position and jam his foot back in the stirrup. “Thanks,” he said with a sheepish grin. “This riding stuff’s harder than it looks in the movies.”
“Yeah.” Tommi couldn’t help smirking. “Now you know why I take all those lessons.”
He laughed good-naturedly. “Guess so,” he agreed. “Can I blame it on being totally distracted by my hot riding teacher?”
“Nice try. Want to give it another go?”
“Sure. Maybe a little slower this time.”
Tommi smiled, glad that he was being such a good sport. A lot of guys who came out to ride with their girlfriends started off just like he had—convinced that riding was no big deal, that all you had to do was sit there. Most of them never got any farther than that. But she already knew Alex wasn’t like most guys.
By the end of half an hour or so, Alex was looking pretty competent at the walk and learning to post Sir’s trot. He was pretty athletic, and once he started listening to Tommi’s instructions, he learned fast.
“That was fun,” he said as he watched Tommi untack Sir in the cross-ties. “Maybe we can do it again sometime.”
Tommi grinned. “You might not say that tomorrow,” she said. “You’ll be sore in muscles you didn’t even know existed. Trust me on that.”
Alex didn’t answer. He was staring down the aisle. Following his gaze, Tommi saw that Zara had just appeared around the corner. She’d unbuttoned her tight polo shirt so her cleavage was on full display, and at first Tommi assumed that was what had caught Alex’s attention. He was a guy, after all.
Then he glanced over at her. “Isn’t that Zac Trask’s daughter?” he said. “I’d love to meet her.”
Zara was already wandering over. “Hey,” she said, her green eyes sweeping up and down Alex’s body. “So you found another hottie to bring out to the barn, huh, Tommi?”
Tommi wondered if that meant she had something going with Grant. She hadn’t mentioned it on their shopping trip yesterday, but then again, Tommi hadn’t asked.
“This is Alex,” she said. “Alex, Zara Trask.”
“I know. It’s cool to meet you, Zara—I’m a big fan of your dad’s,” Alex said eagerly. “Tommi told me you rode here. That’s cool. So does your dad ever come to watch you ride?”
“He’s not going to show up today, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Zara rolled her eyes. “He’s in Europe for most of the summer.”
“Oh, I know. I read all about it on his Facebook fan page.” Alex laughed self-consciously. “I know, I know, totally geeky, right? But I can’t help it—the guy’s a genius. But I guess you know that if he’s your own father!”
“Yeah,” Zara said dryly. “Total genius.”
Tommi finished grooming Sir as Alex continued to shoot questions and comments at Zara. It was pretty obvious that Zara was getting kind of annoyed, but Alex didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he was pretty much inviting himself to hang out with Zac once he was back in the country.
Okay, obnoxious. But hey, the guy was a total music freak. So he was geeked about maybe meeting his idol. So what? Tommi wasn’t going to hold something like that against him when everything else about him was so amazing. It was actually kind of refreshing to find out that he might have a flaw or two. Because up until now, he’d seemed so perfect that she’d almost started to wonder if he could possibly be for real.
THIRTEEN
“So this is him,” Natalie said. “My boy. What do you think?”
She’d just led Kate and Fitz outside to the hitching rail behind the barn. A tall, thin chestnut gelding was tied there. Kate estimated the horse at 16’3” at least, which was kind of surprising. Happy Acres specialized in kids’ lessons, and it was rare to find a horse on the place that was much over 15’2”, aside from a couple of Belgians used for carriage rides.
“He’s a tall one,” Fitz said. Kate guessed that the horse’s height might be the only thing he felt safe commenting on. He probably wasn’t so impressed with the gelding’s rib
biness or his rough, dirty coat.
But Kate was kind of impressed. She’d been expecting some kind of weedy little downhill sprinter type with big ankles and an upside-down neck. But this horse actually had pretty good structure under his unkempt exterior.
“He’s cute,” Kate told Natalie. “I can see why you call him Flame. His color’s really flashy.”
“Oh, it’s not because of that.” Natalie hoisted the saddle she was carrying onto the rail. “His racing name’s Open Flame. It works in more ways than one, actually—he’s pretty hot to ride.” She grabbed one of the brushes Kate had picked up in the tack room on their way out of the barn. “Come on, help me knock the dirt off him.”
In this case, that wasn’t just a figure of speech. It looked as if Flame had been rolling in the mud—a lot—and probably hadn’t had a bath since he’d left the track. Kate set to work with a curry, loosening the ground-in dirt as best she could.
“Good boy,” she murmured as the horse twisted his head to stare at her curiously. Her fingers were itching to reach up and start pulling his mane, which was uneven and a little long. But there probably wasn’t time for that, plus she wasn’t sure Nat would appreciate it. She’d probably think it was just one of those habits Kate had picked up at her “snobby big-time show barn.”
“Wish we had the vacuum,” Fitz said, coughing as he raised a cloud of dust with his curry.
Natalie shot him a look. “Ha-ha, very funny. Kate didn’t tell me you were a comedian.”
“He’s not joking,” Kate said quickly, wanting to head off any potential tension between Nat and Fitz. “Jamie’s got this, like, special horse vacuum. It’s really helpful for getting all the ground-in dirt and loose hair off a horse.”
“Seriously?” Nat looked kind of suspicious, as if she still didn’t quite believe them. “Okay, guess he had to spend all that money his rich-ass clients are paying him on something.”
Kate winced, hoping Fitz didn’t take offense. But when she glanced over at him, he was grinning.
“True,” he said. “But he totally refuses to shell out for a pinball machine, no matter how much I beg. Says it’ll spook the horses.”
That made Nat laugh, then start chattering about how Flame had spooked at something or other the last time she rode him. Kate let out a silent breath, grateful for once that Fitz didn’t take anything too seriously.
The horse still wasn’t exactly up to Pelham Lane standards when Nat started tacking up, but he looked better. Kate could tell that his bright chestnut coat was healthy, and would probably shine like a copper penny with just a little more elbow grease. Not to mention how nice his four white socks and big, symmetrical blaze would look if they were shampooed and chalked.
“Wish me luck!” Natalie said, breaking into Kate’s thoughts. The saddle and bridle were on, and Nat was leading the horse over toward the sturdy wooden mounting block just outside the grass paddock that served as a warm-up ring. Fitz held Flame’s head while Natalie swung aboard.
“Good luck,” Kate said as her friend rode off through the gate. There were only a few kids on ponies in there, clustered around a woman Kate didn’t recognize. One of the barn’s newer instructors, maybe? Kate felt a pang as she realized how much had changed since she’d left. A few short years ago, she would have known everyone at this show. Now, aside from Nat and the Tanners, she only recognized a handful of faces. Even many of the horses and ponies were new to her.
As she stepped forward to join Fitz, who was leaning on the rail, Kate shifted her gaze to Natalie. She’d just kicked Flame forward. He tossed his head and skittered sideways, then stepped into a flat-kneed, ground-covering trot.
“Wow,” Kate said, impressed anew. “He’s a really nice mover.”
“You mean Mr. Ribs? You think so?” Fitz sounded dubious. “I mean, yeah, I guess compared to the fat little ponies.”
“No, seriously.” Kate kept her eyes on the horse. “I already noticed his conformation was pretty good—great shoulder, level topline, just good angles all around. He could be a real diamond in the rough in the right hands.”
“Like yours?” Fitz glanced over with a smile.
“I was thinking of Jamie, actually.” Kate watched as Nat struggled to slow the horse down, yanking on the reins and growling as Flame tossed his head in protest. “If this guy can jump at all, I bet Jamie could turn him into an A-quality hunter with just a little bit of work. All he needs is some weight and TLC and good training.”
Fitz shrugged, not looking fully convinced. “If you say so,” he said. “But Natalie said he’s pretty hot, right? Maybe too hot to make a hunter.”
Kate didn’t respond to that. She already had her doubts about how hot this horse really was. So far he wasn’t giving Nat much real trouble, though it was clear he didn’t know much beyond his track training.
“He’s not sure what to do with the bit yet,” she said as Nat finally wrestled the horse back to a jiggy walk. “If it were up to me, I’d just let him go long and low for a while until he relaxes and learns he can trust his rider.”
“Sounds good, Jamie Junior,” Fitz said with a laugh. “Maybe you can give Natalie a few lessons.”
“No way.” Kate shuddered at the thought. “She already thinks I’m a know-it-all since I moved to Jamie’s barn. If I tried to tell her how to train her new project, she’d probably bite my head off.”
Fitz looked surprised. “Really? But she must realize what an awesome rider you are, right?”
Kate just shrugged. “Anyway, it’s too bad,” she said, talking more to herself than to Fitz now. “That horse could really be something special.”
“You know, maybe you’re right.” Fitz turned to watch Natalie ride past again. “I mean, I didn’t really see it at first. But you’ve got a great eye, Kate.” He reached over and gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder.
“Thanks.” She smiled at him, her shoulder tingling. She hadn’t been sure it was a good idea for him to come today. To say the least. But now she was glad he was here.
Soon it was time for Nat and her mount to head into the show ring. They were entered in a division called Beginner Horse, for green horses and those new to showing, consisting of three classes: walk-trot, walk-trot-canter, and jumping a course of two-foot fences. When she was riding at Happy Acres, Kate had taken countless potential lesson horses and ponies in the same division for their first show-ring experience, fresh from the auction or Craigslist.
Nat and Flame rode in along with six or seven others, mostly tween kids on bratty-looking ponies. Everyone walked along on the rail until Mr. Tanner arrived with his portable microphone to start the class.
“Riders, you’re now being judged,” he said, perching the speaker on a fence post. “Walk please—all walk.”
It was kind of a disaster from the start. In the walk-trot class, Flame’s stride was so much longer that he ended up lapping everyone else in the ring. That seemed to excite him—racetrack flashback, Kate figured—and he just kept getting faster and more strung out. In the walk-trot-canter class, he leaped into a near-gallop and almost ran over a couple of ponies as Nat wrestled to slow him down.
Still, everyone survived. Kate half expected Nat to bow out of the jumping—that was what Kate herself would have done under the circumstances—but no. She went in, executed a lopsided opening circle at a skittering half trot, half canter, and aimed the horse at the first fence.
“Yikes,” Fitz said as Flame left from a super long spot.
Luckily the fence was small enough that it wasn’t a problem, though the horse’s hind foot clunked the rail. That spooked him, sending him spurting forward so quickly that he almost crashed right through the next jump in the line. He noticed it just in time and planted his feet, skidding to a near stop before Natalie let out a shout and booted him forward. He sprang over the fence with his head in the air and a startled look in his eyes.
Kate could hardly stand to watch as Nat manhandled the gelding around the rest of the co
urse. But again, everyone survived. And Natalie was actually grinning as she rode out of the ring.
“Wow, that was an adventure,” she said, riding over to where Kate and Fitz were standing. “I don’t know, riding a hot horse like this guy kind of makes normal horses seem boring.”
Fitz chuckled politely, and Kate forced a smile as she reached out to give the sweaty gelding a pat. Okay, so he hadn’t exactly clocked around like a children’s hunter. That didn’t mean he was “hot,” as Nat seemed to think. Just green and confused.
But she wasn’t about to say so. Not now, when she and Nat were finally back on track.
“Wow!” Dani let out a wolf whistle as Zara wandered into the tack room. “Hello, sexy! You’re sure not dressed for mucking stalls.”
She and Marissa were lounging on the bandage trunk sharing a bag of Doritos. Zara glanced down at her low-cut beaded cami and short shorts.
“What, this old thing?” she joked. “Yeah, actually I kind of have a date. Lucky I forgot this in my tack trunk after the last show so I didn’t have to go in boots and breeches.” She shrugged. “Although some guys dig that look, I guess.”
Marissa grinned, her gossip radar zeroing in on Zara. “A date? Spill it!” she demanded. “Who is he? Anyone we know?”
“Remember that guy Grant, from the Hounds Hollow party?”
“You mean that preppy friend of Tommi’s?” Dani said. “The one who was all over you in the pool?”
“That’s the guy.” Zara smiled. “He’s kind of been after me ever since.”
“Lucky,” Marissa declared. “He’s totally hot. Where do I sign up for next dibs on Tommi’s leftovers? Because I wouldn’t mind getting to know that guy she brought out today. Did you guys get a load of him?”
Leftovers? Um, so not. But Zara was in too good a mood to let the other girl’s stupid comment bother her.
“Anyway,” she said, “Grant called and wanted to see me, and I wasn’t sure I was in the mood. So I told him we could only get together if he came up here.” She smiled as she remembered how quickly that return text had come. Okay, so she usually liked her guys a little wilder, a little edgier, a little more dangerous. But it was always nice to be wanted. “Guess he really wanted to see me, because we’re going to the diner. He’s picking me up out front in like—” She checked her watch. “Oops, ten minutes ago. Got to go, girls.”
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