The A Circuit 04- Rein It In

by Georgina Bloomberg

  “Bummer,” Tommi murmured.

  “Hey, you should be happy—makes your round look better, right?” Zara shot Tommi a wicked grin.

  Tommi laughed. “Thanks a lot, pal.” Not wanting to stare at the poor girl in the ring, who was steering her still-agitated horse in a lopsided circle in front of the jump, she turned and glanced up at the stands. “So where’s everybody else? Should we go find them?”

  “Let’s not and say we did.” Zara was watching the action in the ring with interest. “They’re a total snoozefest. Marissa is all panicked about some history paper she’s supposed to turn in when we get back, and Summer just keeps forcing everybody to talk to her in French so she can practice her verb conjugations or whatever.”

  Tommi didn’t answer. The girl on the gray had finally booted him over the last two jumps, and a male rider was entering the ring as she left. Even the boring eq uniform of navy jacket, dark tie, and Samshield helmet couldn’t hide how good-looking he was.

  “Who’s that?” Tommi asked.

  Zara turned to look. “Yeah, he’s hot, isn’t he?” she said. “I used to see him at some of the West Coast shows. Sadly never up close, if you know what I mean.” She waggled her eyebrows. “His name starts with an S, I think—Steve, maybe? No, wait—Scott. I’m pretty sure that’s it, Scott. I never paid much attention to the eq, but I think he used to win a lot.”

  “I can see why. He’s good.” Tommi watched as the guy sent his mount, a nervy jet-black horse, over the first fence. It didn’t look easy, and Tommi suspected it wouldn’t win many points with the judge, but she could tell it had taken some serious riding.

  Zara shot her a sidelong look. “Careful, you don’t want to drool all over your good jacket.”

  “Very funny.” Tommi kept her eyes on the ring.

  “How long has it been since you dumped Alex, anyway?” Zara smirked. “Too long, I guess.”

  Tommi didn’t bother to answer. She held her breath as the guy’s horse spooked at an advertising sign on the rail and almost ran past his distance. The rider hauled him back into line just in time, and they sailed over with inches to spare. Yeah, this guy could ride.

  When the round was over, Tommi glanced at the scoreboard, where each rider’s name and number were posted. “Scott Papadakis,” she read aloud. “You were right.”

  “I’m always right.” Zara was still smirking.

  Tommi’s gaze followed the guy down the alley leading out of the ring. The next rider was already heading to her first fence, but in the shadows of the alley Tommi spotted Jamie talking to Fitz.

  “Looks like Fitz is on deck,” Tommi said, forgetting all about the cute guy. “Do you see Kate anywhere? I know she wanted to see his round.”

  Zara glanced up toward the stands behind them. “Don’t see her up there with the others. She’s probably back at the stalls trying to do three things at once and lost track of the time. The girl is seriously type A.”

  “Yeah.” Tommi pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket. “I’d better text her so she doesn’t miss it.”

  Kate was helping Miguel, the head groom, scrub buckets when her cell phone buzzed. Blowing out an annoyed breath—why did the phone always go off when she was elbow deep in water?—she grabbed it and scanned the text that had just come in.

  “Who’s that?” Miguel asked.

  “Tommi.” Kate felt a flash of guilt, realizing she’d totally forgotten to go watch her friend’s eq round. “She says Fitz is riding any minute now.”

  “Go.” Miguel grabbed the bucket out of her hand and added it to his pile. “Hurry.”

  “But—” Kate began.

  “Go!” Miguel urged.

  Kate hesitated for another second, her gaze wavering between the buckets and Miguel’s face. Then she smiled her thanks and took off at a jog, trying not to think about the million other things she should be doing right now. The show had only officially started yesterday, and Kate was already stressed. Mrs. Walsh’s mare hadn’t finished her breakfast that morning and was on colic watch, someone had forgotten to pack the extra clipper blades, and a dog tied up over by the next set of stalls was driving everyone crazy with its nonstop barking. Grooming at Indoors was turning out to be just like doing it at a regular show—times ten.

  Kate burst into the arena and glanced around. Fitz was on his horse watching the rider in the ring, but when he spotted her he gave her a thumbs-up and smiled. She smiled back, relieved. She’d made it!

  Hearing her name, she looked around and saw Tommi and Zara waving at her from a few rows up. She hurried to join them, sliding into the empty seat beside Zara just as Fitz rode into the ring.

  “Woo-hoo, go Fitz, you magnificent bastard!” Zara cheered, pumping her fist.

  Kate laughed nervously, leaning forward and keeping her gaze trained on Fitz as he picked up the canter. He looked calm and confident out there, not to mention handsome in his dark jacket and tall boots.

  “Hastings looks sharp,” Tommi commented. “Probably a good thing Fitz leased him for finals instead of making River do it again.”

  “Yeah,” Kate agreed, holding her breath as the big bay horse cleared the first fence in his usual smooth form.

  Fitz owned half a dozen horses, including an old warrior of an eq horse that had been jumping around at finals since Jamie was a junior. The previous year, River had helped Fitz come close to a ribbon in several of the finals. But over the past year, everyone had noticed that the old gelding was slowing down, the years and countless jumps finally catching up with him. Kate knew it couldn’t have been an easy decision to retire him from the big eq in Fitz’s second-to-last junior year, but that was what had happened. These days, River did a few easy lessons per week with the less experienced kids where the fences were lower, spending the rest of his time relaxing in turnout with Fitz’s semiretired children’s hunter. Kate knew that many riders would have sold both horses once they couldn’t perform at the level required, or at least sent them away to a cheaper retirement home. But Fitz was loyal to his old friends, and didn’t mind spending his money—well, his parents’ money—to keep them in the style to which they were accustomed. That was just one of the things Kate loved about him.

  Luckily, retiring his eq horse didn’t mean Fitz couldn’t be competitive. After all, the division was judged on the rider, not the horse. He’d qualified on a variety of mounts, including his multitalented junior jumper, the greenie intended as River’s replacement, and a couple of Jamie’s sale horses. When finals drew closer, he’d leased Hastings, an experienced eq horse owned by a friend of Jamie’s. Kate hadn’t asked how much the lease cost and didn’t really want to know, although HorseShowSecrets had speculated that the total cost for all four finals was somewhere in the six figures.

  Kate couldn’t imagine spending that much for a handful of shows, but she had to admit that the horse was giving Fitz his money’s worth so far. He cleared the next few fences just as easily as the first, making the tight turn after the combination with no problem at all. She held her breath as he approached the second-to-last obstacle, a weird-looking log vertical that she’d heard had been giving a lot of riders trouble.

  “Whee!” Zara said as the horse cleared it. “He made that look easy.”

  As the pair sailed over the final fence, Tommi leaped to her feet and let out a loud whoop, pumping her fist. Zara stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Kate stood and applauded, smiling with relief.

  “Wow, that looked great,” she said.

  “You’re telling me.” Tommi glanced at her. “If he rides his second round anything like that one, he’ll end up top twenty for sure.”

  Zara grinned. “And we can all say we knew him when. Come on, let’s go find Mr. Hot Stuff.”

  Kate followed the other two girls down the stairs. They reached the alley just as Fitz swung down from the saddle. He was grinning from ear to ear.

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” he cried when he saw them, rushing over, grabbing Kat
e, and swinging her around in a full circle before setting her back on her feet.

  She laughed breathlessly. “Careful, you’ll scare the horses!”

  “Nice job, Hall.” Tommi stepped forward and clapped Fitz on the back. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

  He grinned at her. “Yes you did, Aaronson,” he teased. “You’ve always known I was a superior specimen of studly equitationship.”

  Kate felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. “Hang on, Javier’s calling,” she told Fitz and the others. “Hello?” she said into the phone.

  “Kate? You busy?” The young groom sounded stressed. “Because the farrier just showed up to put that pony’s shoe back on, and I’m supposed to be lunging one of the other ponies right now—”

  “It’s okay, I’m on my way. Be there in three.” Kate hung up and slid her phone back into her pocket.

  “Don’t say it,” Fitz pleaded playfully, grabbing her around the waist again. “I wanted to go celebrate my awesome first round—and distract myself from getting nervous for the next one.”

  “Sorry, I’ve got to go.” Kate stood on tiptoes to plant a quick kiss on his lips. “Congrats again.”

  She pulled away and hurried off, trying not to listen to her friends laughing and having fun behind her.

  Chapter Four

  A few days later, Tommi was back in the stands of the main arena. The equitation championships were long over—Fitz had finished in sixth place, which had thrilled everyone. Tommi hadn’t placed or even gotten a callback, as she’d expected. But that was okay; she’d already mentally moved on to Harrisburg, at least as far as the eq was concerned. She and Orion would show them all how it was done then. In the meantime, she was focused on her upcoming hunter division.

  At that very moment, however, she wasn’t thinking about eq or hunters. One of the show’s few jumper classes was under way in the ring, and Legs was supposed to be coming in for his round soon. Tommi couldn’t wait to see him. She’d received a couple of e-mails from his new owner saying how thrilled she was with the horse, but Tommi hadn’t actually laid eyes on Legs since the sale was finalized.

  Even so, she recognized him the second he came into the ring—on his toes as usual. Tommi smiled; he looked good.

  She felt like a proud parent as she watched Legs do his thing on course. He threw in a small buck between the first and second jumps, but his rider stuck it easily, and after that Legs didn’t put a hoof wrong. He cleared every jump, easy and fast, not even peeking at the liverpool or the spooky jump at the far end of the ring that had caused several refusals in the time Tommi had been watching.

  As he finished and left the ring, Tommi’s smile faded. She leaned on the rail, not really seeing the next horse enter. Legs would probably never be a children’s packer, but it was obvious that her time with him had done him good. He was a lot more adjustable, a lot more confident. Seeing him in person made her all too aware of the time that had passed since she’d sold him—the time that was still passing. She only had one more year as a junior rider in front of her. Tommi had never been a huge fan of thinking too hard about the future. What was the point? Nobody really knew what was going to happen.

  But now? The future was hurtling toward her, and nothing was going to stop it. If Tommi wanted to have any say in how her life was going to go for the next few years, she couldn’t let her father drag his feet any longer. She needed to get her plans back on track, and start looking for the next project horse to make up and sell. Maybe if she found a promising one, she could make another presentation to her father like the one she’d done for Legs. Maybe that would convince him to move forward with their business venture. Maybe it would even convince him that she wasn’t destined to follow his footsteps to Georgetown University and a career in the business world.

  A burst of applause snapped Tommi out of her thoughts. Glancing into the ring, she saw that another horse had just finished its round.

  Turning away from the rail, she started climbing the steps leading up to the top rows of the stands. That was where most of Pelham Lane’s juniors had been camped out all day, studying while they had the chance.

  Marissa, Zara, Fitz, and Summer had their books, notes, and other school stuff spread out all over the place. Marissa was bent over her laptop, though the other three seemed to be taking a break. Fitz was sucking down an energy drink, while the two girls were leaning back in their seats, watching the action in the ring.

  “We saw Legs go,” Zara said when Tommi arrived. “He did awesome!”

  “Yeah.” Tommi sat down next to her, pulling her schoolbag out from under the seat.

  Zara sat up and peered at her. “What’s wrong? You don’t seem too happy about it.”

  Tommi unzipped her bag. “I am. It’s just, seeing him reminded me I’m supposed to be looking for my next project.”

  “You’re doing another one? Cool,” Fitz said.

  “That’s the plan.” Tommi lifted one shoulder. “So if you guys hear of any, like, promising young horses that might work for me, let me know, okay?”

  “Will do,” Fitz said, while Summer and Zara nodded.

  Tommi didn’t have much hope that any of the trio would be likely to turn up a viable prospect. Summer rarely paid attention to anything that didn’t directly benefit herself, and the other two weren’t exactly the most pragmatic of shoppers. Exhibit A? The way Fitz had snapped up that off-the-track Thoroughbred Kate had noticed at a little local show. It looked like that one could actually pay off, since the horse was really nice. But Tommi had the distinct feeling that if the beast Kate had commented on had been a donkey or a draft horse, Fitz might have bought that, too.

  Still, you never could tell who could hear something interesting. Tommi glanced over at Marissa, who knew just about everybody on the circuit and liked to keep up with all the news at the shows. She might actually have a shot of hearing about something that would work for Tommi.

  “Marissa?” Tommi said. “Did you hear what I said? I’m looking for a new project horse.”

  “What?” Marissa finally looked up from her computer. “Oh, okay. But listen, you’ll never believe what just popped up on HorseShowSecrets. Check it out—it’s about Joy!”

  “Joy?” Fitz looked intrigued. “As in, our assistant trainer Joy?”

  “That’s the one.” Marissa turned the laptop so they could all see the screen. “See? It talks about how everyone at Pelham Lane is saying Joy hasn’t been herself lately. And how there could be lots of reasons for her weird behavior—like maybe she’s spying for another barn, or just got diagnosed with something horrible, or is plotting to push Jamie out and take over Pelham Lane.”

  Tommi rolled her eyes. “Is that really what passes for horse show gossip these days? The blogger must be getting desperate. Joy hardly ever even goes to shows.”

  “I know, right? Who cares about her.” Summer bent forward to grab a candy bar out of her bookbag. “Tommi’s right, the blog is supposed to be about the shows, and duh, one of the biggest shows of the year is happening right now!” She waved her candy bar at the arena around them.

  “Maybe that means the blogger isn’t here at Cap Challenge,” Fitz speculated. “Maybe he or she isn’t even really an A circuit insider.”

  “Ooh,” Tommi put in. “The plot thickens.”

  If the others noticed her sarcasm, they didn’t show it. Marissa was shaking her head. “There was a post yesterday about that trainer from Alabama or Georgia or wherever who melted down when his fancy green hunter didn’t pin, remember?” she said. “Only someone who was here could have known about that.”

  “Good point,” Fitz agreed. “Still, it’s kind of weird that something about Pelham Lane is coming out now.”

  “I know, right?” Marissa grabbed her phone. “Let’s text Dani and see if she’s at the barn today. Maybe she can stalk Joy and find out the truth.”

  Summer gasped. “Wait—what if Joy is the blogger? That would totally explain why there’s a post ab
out her! And Jamie could have mentioned that Georgia trainer when he called home.”

  “Are you for real?” Fitz shook his head. “I had to teach Joy how to set up the barn’s online bank account last year. I seriously doubt she’s mastered the art of blogging since then.”

  Summer looked wounded. “Whatever. It’s just a theory, okay?”

  “Chill, Summer.” Marissa’s thumbs were flying over her phone’s tiny keyboard. “He’s just giving you a hard time. We’re all wondering who’s behind that blog.”

  “Yeah, no kidding,” Zara muttered.

  Tommi glanced at her, realizing she’d been uncharacteristically quiet for the past few minutes. Was she still upset over that piece about her father? Zara noticed her glance, but turned away to grab a math textbook.

  That reminded Tommi that she was behind on her own studies. “Tell Dani I said hi,” she told Marissa.

  She pulled her laptop and physics book out of her bag. The jumper class was still going on in the ring, and it was tempting to chill for a while and watch. But Tommi knew she couldn’t let her grades slip even a little. If she did, her dad was likely to use that as an excuse to back out of their deal. And Tommi definitely didn’t want to give him any excuses.

  “Easy, buddy,” Kate murmured as she checked the girth of the medium pony dancing in place beside her. “Nothing to be scared of here, Dazzle baby. You’re a brave boy.”

  That was a lie, and Kate knew it. The pony, a dapple gray Welsh cross, was just as high-strung as he was fancy. He tended to snort and leap around and sometimes buck his eight-year-old owner off if someone didn’t school him in the ring before his division started. That was Kate’s job, and it was one she normally enjoyed. Dazzle was fun to ride despite his quirks, and if she did her thing now he was all but guaranteed to place in the pony hunters the next day.

  Or later that day, technically. Kate stifled a yawn, trying not to think about what time it was. She’d waited until the wee hours of the morning to school the pony, hoping it would be easier to settle him in while the ring was relatively quiet. There were a couple of other riders still schooling out there, but the atmosphere was nothing like it had been earlier in the evening, when the whole place was a sea of riders, lungers, and trainers yelling orders or advice.