Hunter Derby: (Show Circuit Series -- Book 3)

by Kim Ablon Whitney

  Dakota looked down at the shavings and Zoe worried she’d been too harsh with the girl. But Dakota picked her eyes up and challenged Zoe with her stare, “Look who’s talking. Aren’t you the queen of the bad boys? I mean, Donnie?” Dakota made a show of cringing.

  “Yeah, that was a big mistake but things get more complicated as you get older.”

  “So when you were my age you only hung out with good guys?”

  “No, not exactly,” Zoe admitted. “I have been known throughout my life to have pretty horrible taste in the opposite sex. But here’s the thing—maybe I can save you from making the same mistakes I made.”

  “And how are you going to do that?”

  “Won’t just warning you and telling you to learn from my life work?”

  “Somehow I doubt it.”

  Both were silent and contemplative for a few moments. Midway lowered his head and searched the shavings for any overlooked pieces of hay.

  “What if we make a pact?” Dakota offered.

  “What kind of pact?”

  “Like neither of us can go after, or hook up with, any assholes.”

  “Define asshole?” Zoe said.

  “Do I really have to?” Dakota said. “Basically we can’t go after any of the guys we usually go after. If we’re into a guy he has to be a nice, loyal, kind, sweet guy.”

  “To put it in horse terms we can only go after Midways,” Zoe said. “No Platos.”

  Plato was gorgeous and talented and cocky. He was also unpredictable at times, which was why Dakota hadn’t shown him yet. Linda planned for her to start using him this summer and save Dudley for important classes and the finals. The thing about horses, though, was that over time some of them could learn to be dependable. Unlike men.

  “How will we keep tabs on each other?” Zoe asked.

  “Well, it’s more like an honor system but I guess there’s always HorseShowDrama.”

  “Okay. You’re on.” Zoe reached out and shook Dakota’s hand. It felt oddly formal. She wasn’t even sure why she was agreeing to all this. Could a pact with a fourteen year-old seriously make her stay away from jerks?

  “The only problem is that most of the horse show world seems to be filled with dicks,” Dakota said.

  “There is that,” Zoe agreed.

  Dakota shrugged. “At least I’ve got my boyfriend, Middie.”

  “I’m sorry, he’s my boyfriend.” Zoe reached for Midway possessively.

  “Haha,” Dakota said, encircling Midway’s nose with her arm and kissing him. “This one is all mine.

  CHAPTER NINE

  On Friday, John brought Gidget over to Morada Bay. Zoe was impressed that John’s trailer wasn’t a two-horse; it was a four-horse gooseneck. It was by no means new but it did actually match his black truck. Zoe helped him unload the mare. She came off the ramp looking bored, which Zoe noted was a good sign. To really be a derby horse, she had to be brave as the day was long and not care about anything, especially new settings or spooky jumps.

  Her first real test was the flock of guinea hens, which were pecking the grass near the barn. Gidget took one look at them and sighed.

  They brought Gidget into the barn and Zoe helped John tack her up.

  “I didn’t know you do things like tack up a horse,” he said. “I guess I thought riders like you just hop on at the ring.”

  “Riders like me? What does that mean?”

  John backtracked. “Like top riders. Riders that win at the biggest shows. That’s all I meant.”

  “Maybe not all of us know how to tack up but some of us do,” Zoe said. “I don’t exactly come from royalty in case you haven’t guessed.”

  Zoe put the baby pad on Gidget’s back. Then she positioned the half-pad.

  If she came from royalty, she sure as hell wouldn’t be in the situation she was right now, trying desperately to get back on her feet and get back in the show ring.

  “I’m sorry. I’m being kind of a dick.” John slid the saddle onto Gidget’s back. “I guess I just feel kind of inferior to you.”

  Zoe buckled the girth on the side opposite John and then came around to the other side where he was standing. “Inferior to me? Why?”

  “Cause you’ve been there, done that. Champion at all the best and biggest shows. WEF, Indoors.”

  “You ride really well too,” Zoe said, pulling the girth up a few holes.

  John unhooked the mare from the cross-ties. “But I haven’t done everything you have and I’m self-conscious about that.”

  Zoe handed him the bridle. “Did you want to do all that, or do you? I guess I assumed you liked the sales side of things.”

  “There was a time when I would have killed to show at all the big shows. I’m not really sure anymore. I do like the sales aspect. Seeing something in a horse and bringing it along . . .”

  Linda limped out of the office toward them with her little dog, Taffy, toddling behind her. “I’m ready to see this horse go,” she said, stifling a yawn.

  “I asked Linda to watch her too,” Zoe said, by way of explanation.

  She hoped John wasn’t offended but she wanted an extra set of eyes on the mare. Linda could be a reality check and could tell Zoe if she was insane for thinking this mare might have what it took to be a winning derby horse.

  Taffy yipped, looking up beseechingly at Linda.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t pick you up, sweetie,” she said.

  “Back still hurting?” John said.

  “Killing,” she said.

  John did up the noseband and offered the reins to Zoe.

  Zoe took the reins. “You don’t want to ride her first?”

  He shook his head. “You rode her great. I don’t see the point in me hopping on her.”

  Zoe shrugged. “Okay.”

  Out in the ring, Linda and John stood together in the middle while Zoe warmed up Gidget. She couldn’t hear what Linda and John were saying and it drove her a bit crazy. They were probably just chit-chatting but Zoe wondered if they were talking about her.

  She cut across the ring a few times to try to catch what they were saying but didn’t want to be too obvious. The only thing she heard was Linda saying it hurt her back less to stand than to sit.

  When the mare was loosened up, John lowered an oxer so Zoe could start over it. After a few times, he raised it back up.

  Zoe said, “I guess I’ll just jump around at this height first?”

  “Sounds good,” Linda said. “Let’s see her do her thing.”

  Zoe kicked the mare into a canter and jumped around the course. The jumps were only three-foot-six and Gidget was good over them, but not spectacular. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Horses that had a lot of scope often didn’t try much over the smaller jumps.

  Not once did Gidget spook—not even at the weird butterfly jump. A lot of the jumps were more equitation or jumper style and sometimes horses would actually spook at a big natural log jump more often than they would at colorful rails since they’d seen more of those in their life. But it was a start anyway. So far Gidget was proving to be as brave as John had promised.

  Linda and John put the jumps up a few holes and lengthened the lines a few inches so they wouldn’t be tight for the mare given the height of the jumps. They were solid four-foot now. But some of the derby jumps even went up to four-foot-six.

  Zoe circled Gidget at the canter. She breezed around the course, carrying a little more pace this time. Over the first jump she felt it. That amazing power off the ground. It only got better as she continued.

  When she finished, Linda wolf-whistled.

  “Right?” Zoe said. “She jumps the shit out of them, doesn’t she?”

  Linda turned to John. “Where the hell have you been hiding this horse?”

  “I haven’t been hiding her. I showed her a few times. But I guess if you’re not a rider like Zoe no one notices.”

  “Well, now you’ve got a rider like Zoe.”

  “Do I?” John said, looking a
t Zoe.

  Zoe grinned. “If you want me, you’ve totally got me.”

  “I do,” he said.

  “I need you to lead today,” Kirsten said to Zoe.

  “Lead?”

  “Lead. One of our walkers is sick. I need you to fill in.”

  “Oh,” Zoe said ambivalently as she finally understood what Kirsten meant. She meant Zoe couldn’t whip out of the barn before that first mini-van pulled in. She meant Zoe was going to have to be actually involved in a lesson.

  “Tack up Daisy and bring her into the ring,” Kirsten told her.

  “Wait, what kinds of things do I need to know?” Zoe felt completely unprepared for this, which since it had to do with horses was a totally new feeling for her.

  “I’ll give you the quick rundown when you get her into the ring.”

  Zoe felt more nervous as she tacked up Daisy than she had before going into the Medal Finals. What if the girl or boy had spasms or drooled? What if he or she looked contorted? Zoe didn’t know how she would be able to handle it.

  She was squeamish when she passed someone on the street in a wheelchair or with some other disability. She didn’t even particularly like old people. They kind of freaked her out. That was partly why she liked the horse show world. It was so insular and full of beautiful, healthy people.

  A well-known trainer had suffered a stroke during Florida and was now recovering and photos and videos of her circulated all over social media asking for donations. Like too many trainers she had no health insurance or savings. Every time one of the images came up on Zoe’s news feed, she quickly swiped past.

  She felt shaky as she led Daisy into the ring and she wondered if she should tell Kirsten that she was feeling sick, or that she just couldn’t do this part. She was about to say something when John walked into the ring with Kirsten. It caught her so off guard to see him there and she forgot about her nerves for a moment.

  “Zoe, this is John Bradstreet. He’ll be the other walker. John, this is Zoe Tramell.”

  Zoe said, “We know each other already.”

  “Okay,” Kirsten said. “John will walk next to Molly. Zoe, your job will be to lead Daisy. Keep her walking straight.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Basically, yes,” Kirsten said.

  Zoe had more questions flying through her head. What if Molly fell off? What would Molly look like? What would be wrong with her?

  Her nerves had returned.

  She heard car tires crunching on the gravel driveway. Soon Molly, whoever she was, would be here. Daisy blew out a huge breath onto Zoe’s arm. Zoe was grateful for the distraction. She fidgeted with Daisy’s bridle, making sure the keepers were all tidy.

  Molly and a woman who was either her mother or her caregiver appeared in the doorway. Kirsten greeted them warmly.

  Molly wasn’t in a wheelchair. She was walking, albeit with a lot of help from the woman. She walked behind Molly, her chest pressed against Molly’s back, her arms hooked under Molly’s, basically holding her upright. Molly took jerky steps, her muscles clearly not doing what they were supposed to. Zoe noticed how skinny and atrophied her legs were.

  Zoe thought she would feel a bolt of disgust but instead she felt nothing but awe. Awe for Molly and how hard it must be for her not to be able to walk on her own.

  With the woman’s help, Molly made it up to the mounting block. John signaled to Zoe to lead Daisy over.

  “Hi, Molls,” he said and Molly replied, “You again?”

  Kirsten said, “Molly, we have a new helper today, Zoe. Zoe, this is Molly and her mother, Joanne.”

  “Hi,” Zoe said. So it was her mother. Zoe felt tears nearly pressing at her eyes. Here was a mother so dedicated that she held her daughter while she walked. There were certainly dedicated mothers she saw at the horse shows—not her own, of course. But the horse show mothers sometimes seemed more devoted to winning than to their children.

  Would those horse-show moms be like Joanne if they had a daughter like Molly?

  “Hi,” Molly said and smiled a little crookedly at Zoe, some of the muscles in her face frozen. Still, her smile was bright and infectious. Zoe felt instantly at ease. This was going to be all right after all.

  John and Kirsten helped Molly mount Daisy. Molly looked more relaxed the moment she was in the saddle, like she was a creature that needed to be on horseback.

  Joanne stepped away as Kirsten talked to Molly.

  “How’s your day going?”

  “Okay.”

  “Ready to work hard today? Work on your core? And have some fun?”

  Molly nodded.

  “Okay, let’s go out to the rail.”

  Molly and Kirsten talked much of the time that Molly rode. Zoe had assumed therapeutic riding was basically like a pony ride—a few times around in each direction and then get off. But she soon learned it was not that different than a typical riding lesson.

  Kirsten was as or more skilled than a typical instructor and worked on Molly’s position and body control. She had her put her arms out to the sides and lean forward to touch different parts of the saddle. Then she had Molly steer Daisy in and out of cones and play a game of red-light-green-light. John walked next to her the whole time, sometimes touching her leg or hands to help demonstrate what Kirsten was explaining.

  Zoe was surprised at how quickly the lesson went by. She’d figured every minute would feel like forever but a quick glance at the clock in the ring showed it was already half over.

  Kirsten had Molly wait in the middle of the ring while she attached what looked like laminated photographs onto different spots on the walls of the arena with velcro.

  “Who’s your favorite singer or band?” Molly asked Zoe.

  “Me?” Zoe was taken aback that Molly was talking to her. “Um, maybe Blake Shelton or Luke Bryan.”

  “Luke Bryan?” Molly said. “My brother likes Luke Bryan.”

  “Who’s your favorite?” Zoe asked.

  “I like Carrie Underwood and Beyoncé. But my favorite favorite favorite is Taylor Swift. You’re really pretty.”

  Zoe’s face flushed red. Not at being called pretty necessarily but at being told she was pretty in front of John. How was she supposed to respond? Was she supposed to deny it? She decided to say, “Thank you. That’s so sweet.”

  Zoe had thought the talk about music was pretty random but it turned out the photographs Kirsten was pinning up on the walls were of singers. Kirsten came back into the middle of the ring and then instructed Molly to go find Christina Aguilera.

  Molly jostled Daisy with her lower leg and tried to direct her with an outstretched hand but Zoe had to help her maneuver Daisy toward her destination. The first photo wasn’t Christina, but Beyoncé. It took two more stops to find Christina. Then she had to find Gwen Stefani and back to Beyoncé before Kirsten announced she needed to find Taylor Swift.

  Molly’s face lit up. She had pretty blue eyes, freckles, and dark hair that was pulled back in a ponytail under her helmet. “Taylor!”

  “I like her music too,” Zoe said. Mostly Zoe liked the songs about Taylor’s troubled relationships. She could identify with the girl on that level.

  When they found Taylor’s photo, Molly leaned forward in the saddle. John moved with her, just in case, shadowing her.

  “You kind of look like her,” Molly said. “You’re both super super pretty!”

  “You are really making my day,” Zoe said. “You’re making me feel so good about myself!”

  It was kind of sad but honestly Zoe hadn’t had so much praise or attention in a long while. It was making her feel good.

  “Don’t you think she’s super pretty?” Molly said to John.

  “Taylor Swift?” John said.

  “No, Zoe.”

  Now, Zoe’s face was bright red. She looked at Daisy’s hooves, hoping John might not notice her blushing. The moment until he spoke felt long, as she wondered how the hell he was going to respond.

  “Both are s
uper pretty,” John said. “But not as pretty as you, Molls.”

  Molly cocked her head to the side and smiled broadly at John.

  Now, look who’s sweet, Zoe thought to herself.

  At the end of the lesson, Joanne appeared back in the ring. John and Kirsten helped Molly dismount. Joanne immediately took her position behind Molly again.

  “Mom,” John said. “Do you want me to help her out?”

  Mom. Zoe’s head spun. Mom. Joanne was John’s mom?

  Zoe registered Joanne’s black hair and fair complexion. The fact that she was tall, probably around five-foot-ten.

  If Joanne was his mom, Molly was his sister.

  My brother likes Luke Bryan.

  Zoe remembered the Luke Bryan playing in John’s car.

  Shit. No wonder John had been so upset when Zoe had insulted Pepper for being an Appy and generally acted like Narrow Lane was beneath her.

  “I’m fine, sweetie,” Joanne said. “See you later.”

  “Bye John, bye Zoe,” Molly called.

  Zoe waved and smiled but she felt like she might throw up. She was such an ass.

  In the barn, she untacked Daisy, glad to have something to do.

  When John came in, she said, “I had no idea you—” She didn’t even know how to finish her sentence, which made her feel like even more of an ass.

  “That my sister has cerebral palsy? Yup, she does.”

  “I was such a jerk that day I said that stuff about Pepper. Now I’m starting to see how important these horses are.”

  “They’re important all right,” John said.

  “I’m really, really sorry,” she said again.

  “It’s okay,” John replied. “It’s certainly not the first time anyone’s been insensitive.”

  Zoe cringed at the word insensitive, even though that’s exactly what she had been.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Zoe must have done a decent job leading because Kirsten asked her to lead more often. Zoe was nervous again the next few times but soon she became completely comfortable with the different kids and their different disabilities. She got used to seeing their parents help them out of the car and to the ring. She even learned how to work a motorized mini-van ramp.