“Thanks.” Kate patted Fable on the shoulder, then did the same to Tommi. “Good luck,” she said. “We’ll be out there cheering you on.”
This time Tommi actually met her eye and cracked a tiny smile. “Thanks.”
Soon Kate was back with Fitz, who had just set his saddle on his horse’s back. Hastings was rock solid in the ring, but could be a bastard in the cross-ties. Fitz could handle that with a sense of humor most of the time, but at the moment he was cursing and scowling every time Hastings tried to nip him or lifted a hind foot as a warning.
“Here, let me do that.” Kate stepped over to the horse’s side. “You hold his head and distract him, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.” Fitz let her take the girth he was holding, then stepped to the horse’s head. “Lay off, butt-head,” he told the horse with a frown. “Can’t you behave yourself for once in your life?”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Kate said with a smile as she did up the girth. “If he did behave, we’d all be worried he was colicking or something.”
“True.” Fitz chuckled briefly. “Then I’d have to scratch, which I’m telling you, isn’t seeming like the worst thing in the world at the moment.”
Kate glanced at him. “You okay?”
“Not really.” Fitz yanked at his tie, pulling it off-kilter. “You know, I don’t remember being this nervous last year.”
Kate finished tightening the girth, then dodged a nip from the horse as she stepped around his head to reach Fitz. “That’s because you weren’t one of the favorites last year.” She pushed his hands away from his tie and straightened it. “But no pressure.”
He caught her elbows, pulling her closer. “Maybe we should just run away right now.” He bent his head closer until his breath warmed her hair. “Get out of here, hit the road, see the world.”
“Sounds like fun.” Kate slipped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “But I’m thinking Jamie might not agree. You’re supposed to meet him in the warm-up in like five minutes.”
Fitz groaned, squeezing her back. “Do I have to?”
“Yes.” Kate pulled back just enough to kiss him lightly on the lips. “And you’re going to do great. I promise.”
“Really?” He didn’t sound completely convinced.
“Really.” She smiled up at him. “You can do anything. I know you can.”
“If you say so.” He bent in for another kiss. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Kate pulled away, reaching for the bridle hanging nearby. Before she could pick it up, Fitz grabbed her hand, turning her toward him again. “What?” She glanced at the bridle. “We really need to get going. I wasn’t kidding about Jamie and the warm-up.”
“I know.” Fitz smiled at her, squeezing her hand. “Just wanted to say thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Kate squeezed back, then dropped his hand. “Now let’s go.”
The warm-up went well, and before Kate knew it, she was giving Fitz’s boots one last swipe with a rag to make sure they were spotless, and Jamie was at Hastings’s head, rattling off last-minute instructions. A couple of the grooms were there, too—Miguel was dabbing a speck of green slime off the horse’s mouth while Javier watched the rider currently in the ring. Then Kate heard Fitz’s number come over the PA system and felt a shiver of nerves.
“Go get ’em,” she said, reaching up and giving Fitz’s knee a squeeze.
He smiled down at her, looking much calmer than he had earlier. “Thanks, babe. This one’s for you.” Then he glanced at Jamie, who was standing on the horse’s other side, and laughed. “No offense, dude.”
Jamie rolled his eyes. “Remember, don’t cut the turn to the skinny too short,” he said. “Now go!”
The gate swung open, and Fitz rode forward. Kate had to squint to keep her gaze on him against the bright arena lights.
She joined Jamie at the rail. The trainer’s whole body was tense, and Kate knew better than to try to talk to him. So she just watched, holding her breath as Hastings cantered toward the first fence.
She wasn’t sure she breathed again until after the last jump. Then she heard a loud whoop from beside her; Jamie was grinning now. Kate could hear cheers and whistles from the stands off to the left. She glanced that way and saw Zara, Marissa, and Dani doing what looked like an impromptu conga line in front of their seats, while Summer clapped politely nearby. The younger juniors were up there, too, along with some of the pony kids and their parents. Kate’s heart swelled with pride for Fitz—and with gratitude for being part of such an amazing barn.
When she turned around again, the gate was swinging open to let Fitz exit. He had a grin on his face and was patting Hastings vigorously. The horse had his head up and his ears pricked, seeming to know he’d done well.
Kate smiled as she headed toward them. Amazing. And next year, if she worked hard and got lucky, that could be her out there, riding Fable in the finals. She shivered at the thought. Then she returned to the here and now as Fitz leaped out of the saddle, grabbed her, and swung her around until they were both dizzy and weak with laughter.
Tommi took a deep breath as she heard her number on the loudspeaker. She glanced down at Jamie.
“Ready?” he asked.
Tommi nodded. Jamie stepped back, Javier let go of Fable’s bridle, and Tommi closed her legs to send the big horse forward. Fable’s ears were pricked toward the collection of jumps in the ring as Tommi asked for a canter.
Fable leaped into it eagerly, building speed as they swooped around the edge of the course. Tommi half-halted, but the horse ignored her, ears swiveling as he took in the crowd and the ring and the rest of it. For a second Tommi wished she was on Orion; he’d been here before and wouldn’t think twice about the electric atmosphere in the big ring.
But she shook the thought off immediately. No regrets. Fable could do this, and so could she. All she had to do was ride. She half-halted more firmly, and this time Fable responded, swiveling one ear back toward her as he shortened his big stride.
Tommi turned the horse toward the first jump, a heavily decorated vertical. Fable’s ears pricked toward it, and for a second she felt him building speed again. This time when she steadied his stride he responded immediately. They hit their takeoff spot perfectly, sailing over the fence as if it were no more imposing than a crossrail.
The rest of the round went just as well. Fable overjumped a little at the Swedish oxer, but he ate up the rest of the jumps like a pro, extending or compressing his stride easily whenever Tommi asked. When they cleared the final jump, a cheer went up from the Pelham Lane section. Tommi knew they would have cheered for her even if she and Fable had knocked down every top rail and gone off course. But this time, she knew they deserved it. It had been a terrific first round. She wasn’t sure if it was good enough for a top placing, but she was pretty sure they’d be called back for the second round at least.
“Thanks, buddy,” she whispered, giving the big gray horse a pat as she rode out of the ring toward Jamie’s waiting smile. “You were awesome.”
Later, Tommi sat in the stands with her friends, watching Scott’s ride. “He’s looking good,” Marissa commented as Ace cleared the first jump with a flourish.
“Trust me, Tommi knows how good that boy looks,” Zara put in with a smirk.
Marissa laughed. “I was talking about the horse,” she said. “I heard he’s young and kind of green.”
“He is. But he’s talented, and Scott’s definitely good enough to handle him.” Tommi hadn’t told anyone about that horse switch last night, and she was pretty sure Kate hadn’t either.
“You have good taste in men, Tommi,” Summer commented. “Everyone says Scott’s one of the top ten this year for sure.”
Tommi didn’t respond. She held her breath as Scott and Ace made the sharp turn to the skinny jump, a narrow brick thing with no standards that had looked even narrower from horseback. Fable hadn’t batted an eye at it, but Ace lifted his head as he cantered toward it. His stride fa
ltered, and Tommi could see Scott urging the horse on.
“Oh!” Tommi’s friends gasped along with most of the other spectators as Ace skidded to a stop a full stride out.
“Oh no,” Tommi murmured, her heart breaking for Scott. There went his top-ten finish.
Scott spun the horse away, kicking him back into a canter and circling toward the jump again. But once again the horse refused, this time skittering sideways and tossing his head like a giraffe.
Tommi winced. Even from this distance, she could see that Scott’s face was a frozen mask of frustration. This time he gave the horse a sharp smack with the crop as he circled away again. Scott didn’t even try to maintain his perfect eq position as he cantered toward the skinny fence for the third time. He kicked, pumped with his arms, and used the crop again—and this time, finally, Ace popped over the jump, though it wasn’t pretty.
The rest of the course was fine, though it was obvious that Ace was still rattled. Still, Tommi could see that Scott was trying to finesse the remaining jumps, make them look as good as possible. To salvage what he could after the disaster early on. She felt for him. It was exactly what she would have done in the same position.
As he and Ace headed for the gate at the end, Tommi stood. “I should go find him,” she told her barnmates. “Say something nice. You know.”
Dani scooted her legs to the side to let Tommi pass. Tommi hurried down the steps and back into the area behind the gate. There were dozens of people milling around back there, along with several horses. By the time Tommi pushed through the crowd, a groom was leading Ace away and Scott was nowhere in sight.
Tommi bit her lip, scanning the crowd for him. He’d probably hurried off with his trainer to talk about what had gone wrong. Maybe she should leave him alone for now. They could talk later.
“Man. I’ve never been so wiped on a show day when I didn’t even ride!” Zara exclaimed. She was making her way down from their seats with Marissa, Dani, and Summer, heading for the barn area. The top four riders had finished their work-off, and the placings had just been announced.
“I can’t believe Tommi came in ninth,” Marissa exclaimed. “That’s top ten!”
Zara shot her an amused look. “I can see all that studying you’ve been doing lately is paying off, Professor.”
Marissa grinned. “You know what I mean. Tommi must be so psyched.”
“Yeah,” Dani agreed. “Fitz, too. Twelfth place isn’t too shabby, right?”
Summer dodged a camera-wielding woman and nodded. “And both of them still have one more year, right?” she said. “They’ll probably be, like, eq superstars next year. Especially since Tommi will be able to ride her own horse.”
“Don’t be dissing Fable,” Zara said with a grin. “He was pretty amazing, especially for his first finals. By next year, he’ll be even better—which means Kate will probably be right there battling it out with the other two in next year’s work-off.”
Marissa smiled. “Not bad for a barn that doesn’t even focus on eq that much, right? Jamie is such a rock star, when you think about it.”
Zara didn’t answer, but she had to agree. When she’d come to Pelham Lane, Jamie hadn’t impressed her much despite his stellar rep. He’d seemed too uptight, too strict, too whatever. Now? Maybe Zara was going soft, or maybe the party atmosphere in the arena was messing with her head. But she couldn’t imagine going back to her old trainer from California, the one who’d pretty much let her do anything she wanted. That just didn’t seem like so much fun anymore.
They’d reached ground level by then. Zara stood on her toes and craned her neck, trying to see over the heads of the people milling around everywhere. By then the grooms had led the horses off, leaving the human connections to celebrate. The whole place was abuzz with loud voices and laughter.
“I see them,” Zara said. “Lucky Fitz is so tall—that big goofy head of his sticks up above almost everybody.”
She led the way through the crowd, pushing past excited competitors and curious onlookers alike. Finally they reached the Pelham Lane group. Fitz had his arm slung around Kate’s shoulders, and Tommi was talking a mile a minute to a smiling Jamie.
“Congrats, people!” Zara flung herself into the middle of the group, hugging Tommi first and then Fitz. “You guys were awesome!”
“Thanks!” Tommi’s face was flushed, and her usual cool, calm, and collected exterior had given way to something that could almost be called giddiness. “I couldn’t have done it without all of you!”
“You mean watching us show you how not to ride?” Marissa laughed, coming in for a hug. “You’re welcome.”
Tommi just grinned and hugged her. Jamie looked amused.
“Next year I expect to see you out there, Marissa,” the trainer said.
Marissa’s eyes widened with alarm. “Um, did I mention I might take up knitting? I’m very serious about it—it’s probably going to take up all my time from now on.”
Jamie chuckled as the rest of the juniors laughed. Then a wiry older woman came over and touched Jamie on the arm. Zara squinted at her. Why did she look so familiar?
“Sorry to interrupt, Jamie,” the woman said, shooting a polite smile at the juniors gathered around the trainer. “But I know your juniors are shipping out tonight, and I was hoping to get things finalized before it got crazy.”
“Uh-oh, business talk,” Fitz whispered playfully to Zara and the others. “Maybe we should leave Jamie alone. We can go ahead and start the party without him.”
“Hold on,” Zara murmured. She knew big-time trainers like Jamie did lots of business at shows. But this was kind of weird, wasn’t it? What possible business discussion couldn’t wait a few minutes, until Jamie had finished celebrating with his students?
Besides, she couldn’t help noticing that Jamie had a slight frown on his face. “They’re not leaving that soon, Sheila,” he said. “Can I get back to you in a bit?”
Sheila? Wait, now Zara knew why the woman looked so familiar. She was one of the top trainers on the West Coast. Located up north near Los Altos somewhere, so Zara had only seen her at the bigger shows, but she knew her students won a lot.
“I’m sorry,” Sheila was saying to Jamie. “But I’m sure you can understand how eager we are to get Fabelhaften settled in with us.”
“Fable?” Zara blurted out. The other juniors had heard the name, too, and they all fell silent. “What’s going on with Fable?”
Jamie sighed. “I’m sorry, guys,” he said, his eyes seeking out Kate, who was huddled under Fitz’s arm with a confused look on her face. “I didn’t want to ruin the celebration by telling you right now. But Fable has been sold.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kate’s whole body seemed to go hot and cold at the same time. She stared at Jamie, certain that she must have heard him wrong.
“What?” Dani exclaimed. “Fable’s sold?”
Suddenly everyone started talking at once. Jamie held up a hand to quiet them, while the other trainer took a half step back, looking a little impatient.
“You all knew he was for sale,” Jamie said. “I wasn’t expecting him to sell this fast, but Sheila’s client made an offer Fable’s owners couldn’t refuse. He’ll be heading back to his new home in California after the show.”
Kate could feel all eyes turn to her. “Oh, Kate,” Tommi murmured.
Fitz was squeezing Kate’s shoulders gently. “But this isn’t fair,” he said. “Kate put so much work into that horse—”
“Yes, I’m well aware of that, as are Fable’s owners.” Jamie’s voice held an unmistakable warning, one not even Fitz could miss—his we’ll-talk-about-it-later voice, as the juniors called it. “We all appreciate everything Kate has done to turn him into the horse we saw out there today.”
Kate hardly heard him. She was still trying to take in this news. Fable was sold. He was gone—off to California to do the big eq with someone else. And unlike Tommi and Fitz, she didn’t have a backup plan. There would b
e no fancy lease horse stepping in to take Fable’s place. Just like that, Kate felt all her big eq dreams trickling away like the sad little fantasies they were.
“I’m sorry, Kate.” Tommi was still watching her, looking miserable. “If I hadn’t leased him for finals—” She cut herself off, blinking at something over Kate’s shoulder.
Or someone, rather. When Kate turned, she saw that cute dark-haired guy coming toward them, the one Tommi had been flirting with lately—the one she’d let ride Fable last night. Kate couldn’t remember his name, but she didn’t really care right now.
“Hey, guys,” he said. “Um, I guess you heard the news?”
Kate wasn’t sure what he was talking about. But she saw recognition flash across Tommi’s face, quickly followed by anger.
“You?” Tommi spat out. “You’re the one who’s buying Fable?”
Once again, everyone started talking at once. Kate couldn’t listen anymore. What did the details matter? Fable was gone. That was how things worked when your only choice was to ride someone else’s horses, and Kate knew that.
So why did it hurt so much?
Her lower lip trembled, and she realized she was losing it. Fitz must have felt it, because he looked down at her, his angry expression suddenly going soft.
“Come on,” he said, tightening a protective arm around her. “Let’s get out of here.”
Kate didn’t trust her voice to speak. She just nodded and allowed him to steer her away through the crowd as the tears started to flow.
“Look, Tommi. You know how stuff works.”
Tommi glared at Scott. The two of them were behind a rack of T-shirts in one of the vendor stalls. Scott had dragged her there to talk while his trainer was working out the details with Jamie out by the gate.
“So you used me, basically.” Tommi’s voice was tight and hard. “Does that sum it up? You pretended to be interested in me just so you could check out Fable?”
The A Circuit 04- Rein It In Page 16