High Hurdles

by Lauraine Snelling

  Lindy was shaking her head already. “You’re not riding up to the Academy in the dark. That road is too dangerous.”

  “You could drop me off on your way to work.”

  “How would you get home to get ready for school?”

  “I could take my clothes and have Mr. Yamamoto pick me up there. I don’t think he’d mind.”

  “Oh, sure. You’d go to school smelling like horse.” She made “horse” sound like a dirty word.

  DJ bit her tongue just in time. One smart remark would ruin everything. So her mother didn’t think horses smelled good. So what? Not everyone had to love horses like DJ.

  “Please, just think about it?” DJ clamped her fingers together, hard. Please, God, make her change her mind.

  DJ now knew what a bug under a microscope must feel like. The look her mother was giving her seemed to see right through her. She’d done her best. Now it was time to wait.

  The silence seemed to stretched from then till Christmas.

  Was that a smile breaking through? The corners of her mother’s mouth had twitched.

  “All right, I’ll think about it.” Lindy held up a hand to stop DJ before she spun into orbit. “I only agreed to think about it. Now you have to agree not to bug me for a decision. I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

  DJ nodded. That wasn’t the answer she wanted, but it sure beat “over my dead body.” And they’d managed to talk about something really important without fighting. She should put a star on the calendar.

  Lindy still hadn’t made a decision by Saturday. DJ now had one week to finish preparing Major for their first show. And today was Gran and Joe’s open house. She’d quit thinking about her mother moving to Los Angeles. No news was good news. She had enough else on her mind.

  “I’m going right over to Gran’s from the Academy,” she called to her mother through the closed bedroom door. All she got in response was a “humphf,” but she knew her mother had heard.

  “Did you finish your drawing for the contest?” Amy asked on their trek to the Academy.

  “Almost. I still have some shading to do. I was going to show it to Gran, but she’s been so busy getting ready for the party, I thought I’d work some more and then see what she says. So far, it’s the best I’ve ever done—at least I think so.” Yelling and pedaling at the same time took all her breath.

  They halted at the stop sign and looked back over their shoulders. The sun, with only a rim up over the horizon, painted the scattered clouds in shades of pink and rose with lavender tops.

  “Wish I had my camera.”

  “You always think of that too late.”

  “I know, I should carry it all the time. Hey, did I tell you my idea?”

  DJ raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m going to take pictures of the party today and put them in an album as my wedding present to Joe and Gran. What do you think?”

  “Fantastic, she’ll love it. We could make little labels with funny sayings and stick them underneath.”

  “Perfect. See you at the party.”

  DJ got to the party by a different mode of transportation. She rode Bandit, who would be the entertainment for the younger set. She managed to get there, take a shower, and dress before the party began.

  “Here, darlin’, please put these platters on the table.”

  “Sure. I thought you were having this catered.” DJ picked up the round tray of vegetables and dip.

  “I did. I bought all these, but I couldn’t see any sense in having someone else do the serving.”

  “That’s what we have kids for.” Joe took two platters.

  “And grandkids.” Shawna returned from arranging the napkins.

  Robert and Lindy arrived together, along with the twins.

  DJ caught her raising eyebrow. Her mother hadn’t said she wasn’t bringing the car. The thought got buried under the twins’ onslaught.

  “You brought a pony! What’s his name? Can we ride now? I’m first.” “No, me!”

  “Boys, boys.” Robert shrugged his apology. “What can I say, DJ? They like you.”

  DJ peeled them off her legs. “All right, let’s go. Shawna, you coming?”

  Andy and Sonja were setting up the volleyball net when DJ got dragged out to the yard by the two Bs.

  “Hey, we can use some more hands.” Andy waved to them.

  “No, we’s riding!” one of the Bs informed him.

  “Ex-cu-se me.”

  DJ stopped them before they reached the pony. “You can only ride on one condition.”

  “What?” They tugged on her hands.

  “When I say you’re done, you have to get off. No arguments. Understood?” She used the tone of voice that worked best with her students.

  They started to frown, then changed their minds and flashed their sunniest smiles. How’d they do that? DJ wondered. They do things at the same time without ever talking about it. “Now remember, a horse can’t see behind him, so when you come up, talk to him, let him know you’re there.” She suited her acts to her words. “Hey, Bandit, ready to give these guys a ride?” While she talked, she retightened the saddle girth, then untied him and put his bridle back on over his halter. “Sorry, fella, you can eat more later.”

  She turned to the boys. “Okay, first time around you ride together; then one at a time.”

  Even though the rides went well, by the time DJ had given every little kid there a turn, she was dragging her wagon.

  “I could lead for a while, if you’d like,” Shawna suggested softly. “You can go get something to eat.”

  “I better not leave him. If something happened, it would be my fault.”

  “Then tie him up and come join the rest of the party.” Robert appeared at her side. “Even though you’re family, you don’t have to be slave labor.”

  DJ took him at his word. She tied up Bandit, warned the kids to stay away from him, and went in to feed her rumbling stomach. After eating, yakking with Amy, and shooshing Gran out of the kitchen, she wandered out to the backyard where she could hear shouts from the family caught up in a wild volleyball game.

  “Come on, DJ, you can be on my team.” Robert waved at her.

  “No, she can’t. Lindy’s on your team.” Sonja grabbed the bottom of the net, toe to toe with her brother-in-law.

  “Lot of good that does.” Lindy wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “Athletic, I’m not.”

  “Robert doesn’t care,” Andy yelled from the back row of his team. “Come on, DJ. We’ll pound ’em into the dirt.”

  DJ did as they said, but the shock of seeing grass stains on her mother’s knees and the seat of her white shorts was too much. Her mother, Lindy Randall, playing volleyball?

  When it was DJ’s turn to serve, she stepped behind the line and drilled an overhand serve right at her mother.

  Lindy squealed and ducked. The ball hit her shoulder and went out of bounds. “Not fair.”

  “Good job, kid. Do it again.” Andy clapped his hands and winked at her.

  DJ looked straight at her mother. And served to Joe. He bumped it up and Robert spiked it over the net. DJ bumped it to Andy, who set it for her. Jumping up with all her might, DJ spiked the ball. Robert got under it, but the ball spun out of bounds.

  “Yes!” DJ grabbed air with her fist and pumped down. Andy slapped her hands. Sonja threw her arms around DJ and jigged her in a circle. “You spiked one down on ol’ Robert. You’re great at this.”

  “How come you’re not on the volleyball team at your school?” Andy asked. “You’re a good player.”

  “No time. And I’d rather ride any day. But I love playing.”

  “Well, let’s just run this play again. You ready, Robbie, old man?”

  Their team won 15-5.

  “Want to go again?” Sonja yelled.

  “In your dreams.” Joe leaned over, panting. “I think it’s time I leave this game to the younger generation.”

  “Not on your life.” Robert slapped his dad on t
he back. “You’re going to have to do something to stay in shape now that you’re off the force.”

  “Well, I’ll tell you a secret, volleyball against those three dynamos isn’t it.”

  “You two probably could have done better without me to fall over.” Collapsed on the ground, Lindy wiped her face with her shirttail. She picked a grass blade out of her hair, then combed it back with her fingers.

  “Nah, you were great.” Gallant Robert sank down beside her.

  “Daddy. Daddy!” The two Bs charged across the court to throw themselves on him. The three guys tumbled over in a giggling heap of arms and legs.

  “Sorry, they couldn’t sit still another minute.” Gran followed them out of the house. “I thought for a few minutes they were going to take an n-a-p.” She spelled the word.

  DJ watched the boys roughhouse with their father. If she’d known her dad, would they have had times like this when she was little? She caught herself in surprise. How come all of a sudden she was thinking of him again—whoever he was?

  “I made a fresh pot of coffee, and there’s plenty of food left. Come on inside,” Gran said.

  Everyone lumbered to their feet, pulled the twins off their father, and headed for the house. Once they were all served and seated in the living room, Andy looked over at Lindy.

  “So, you heard any more about that job in L.A.?”

  DJ’s gaze flew to her mother.

  Lindy took a long time looking up from her plate. “I have an interview down there on Friday morning.”

  DJ choked on her bite of ham.

  CHAPTER • 15

  “Gran, please, please, can I come live with you?”

  Gran smoothed tendrils of hair back from DJ’s forehead. “I don’t know, darlin’. We’ll just have to pray about it and see what God says. It might be that Lindy won’t get that job.”

  DJ humphed. “Not hardly. You know how good she is. They’d be stupid not to hire her. Gran, I can’t move away now. Everything I want is right here.” DJ swallowed, bit her lip, blinked. Nothing was working out. One big fat tear slid down her cheek.

  Gran gathered her close. The urge to rest her head on Gran’s shoulder and cry until she ran out of tears made DJ pull away. She sniffed any other tears back and made herself stand up straight.

  “My Bible verse won’t work for this, Gran.” DJ shook her head. “There’s nothing I can do.”

  Gran stroked DJ’s cheek with the gentle touch of love. “Then I have another one for you to think about. ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.’ ”

  “You are awesome.” DJ couldn’t stop the tiny smile that insisted on accompanying the words. “How do I do that?”

  “Just tell Him you’re trusting Him to work out this situation for the best for everybody.”

  “That’s hard. I want what’s best for me.” DJ studied the cuticles on her hand. Only one was hanging in shreds. One fingernail had actually begun to grow. Her verse floated through her mind.

  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. But she hadn’t even been working on it—much. She stared at the fingernail. “God, I’m trusting you to work this out for the best for everyone.” How come a whisper could hurt so?

  “What’s going on here?” Joe entered the kitchen but stopped short when he saw DJ’s face. He wrapped his arms around both Gran and DJ. “Don’t worry, love. It’ll all work out.”

  “I better get Bandit back to the Academy before dark.” DJ stepped outside the hug. “I’m glad you’re in your new house, and I had a good time at the party.” She turned and fled out the back door as if a pack of wolves were on her heels.

  Successful at outwitting the other kids, she trotted Bandit up the drive. Off to the left she saw her mother and Robert walking along the rail fence frosted with pink roses. They looked to be having a serious discussion.

  “Tell her not to move,” DJ muttered.

  The empty house didn’t seem so bad when she got home. She had a lot of serious thinking to do and the quiet helped. Not talking to her mother was getting easier and easier.

  Monday she turned in her drawing. Gran had told her not to change anything when she saw it on Saturday. Tuesday her mother brought home pizza for dinner and insisted DJ eat with her.

  “We have to talk.” Lindy set out napkins and put the pizza box in the center of the table.

  Go ahead and talk. There’s no law that says I have to answer. DJ brought two cans of soda from the fridge and took her usual place.

  “So, how are things going?”

  “Fine.”

  “Are you ready for the show Saturday?”

  DJ looked up from shoving strings of cheese into her mouth. As if you cared. She finished chewing and swallowed. “I guess.”

  “About Saturday . . .”

  DJ felt like clapping her hands over her ears. “Listen, you do what you have to do, and I’ll do what I have to do.” She took another bite of pizza.

  “No, you listen. I have an interview Friday. Gran has already said you can spend Thursday night there, and I’ll be back Friday night. Robert and I will be attending your show.”

  “You are coming to my horse show?” DJ nearly choked on her pizza.

  Lindy nodded. “With the boys.”

  “Oh great.” It was bad enough when Joe was coming, now the whole family was going to be there. And she had thought the butterflies were bad before.

  “Have you thought more about my taking the job down there?”

  DJ looked at her as if she’d left her brains in her purse. Had she thought about it? Only repeating her Bible verse kept her from going totally looney.

  “You don’t have to be sarcastic.”

  “I didn’t say a word.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  Lindy tossed the tough end of the crust in the box. “I’m just trying to do what’s best.”

  “I know.”

  Wednesday DJ let the jitters for the up-coming show get to her, and Major refused a jump. She calmed herself and him down and tried again. No problem.

  “Come on, DJ, you know better than to let a show get to you.” Bridget waited in the middle of the arena for DJ to complete another circuit.

  “But this is the first time on my own horse. Not to mention entering a jumping event.”

  “I think it would be better if you did not enter the jumping event this first show. You and Major need to get more accustomed to each other first. See how you do.”

  It was as though someone had turned off the sun. Bridget didn’t think they were ready yet. She could enter anyway. But maybe this was for the best. “Can we leave this open to change if we’re really doing well?”

  “Of course. Is anything else bothering you?”

  Oh, nothing. It’s just that my mother might be leaving, and there’ll be a big fight if I have to go along. That and we don’t even talk to each other anymore. “No, I’m fine.”

  “I do not believe you.” A smile took the sting out of the words. “Do not worry about this weekend. You will do fine.”

  Thursday night was the first time she stayed over at Joe and Gran’s. Joe met her at the Academy and helped her give Major a bath. By the time they finished, the big horse shone as if they’d waxed him.

  “You have time on Wednesday to go take a look at that cutting horse Bridget found?”

  DJ thought a minute. “Sure. I don’t teach that day.”

  “I know. That’s why I chose it.”

  DJ leaned her forehead against Major’s shoulder. Only two more days to go. One, actually, because they showed Saturday morning. Any time she swallowed, it seemed the swallow went only so far down before it twanged around like a ball on the end of a rubber string.

  “DJ, can I help?” Joe spoke softly, all the while keeping his hands busy grooming Major.

  “I wish. I just have to get through this first show.” Her chuckle sounded hollow in the dimness. “I tell my students not to let the butterflies bother t
hem, but look at me. I’m a basket case.”

  “I think it’s more than just the show.”

  “I think you see too much.” DJ retrieved her new show sheet from off the door and laid it over Major’s back. Together she and Joe adjusted all the straps and buckles. “You stay clean now, Major. You gotta look your best on Saturday.”

  Friday she had a surprise quiz in Latin. It was a surprise all right. More like a shock, actually. For the first five minutes her brain refused to function. Please, God. She shrugged her shoulders up to her ears, took a breath, and reread the first question.

  She wrote fast and finished answering the questions just as the teacher called time. She handed in her paper with a sigh of relief. That was one way to take her mind off the weekend.

  Joe picked her up at the Academy and they drove to his house for dinner.

  “You think butterflies are contagious?”

  DJ looked at him, eyebrows questioning. “You’re not the one entering.”

  “I know, but I think being a grandparent may be even worse in this case. I remember feeling this way when Robert played basketball. When he went to the free-throw line, I almost threw up.”

  “Come on, it wasn’t that bad.”

  “Almost. You ask him sometime.”

  “Well, if you ever run out of butterflies, I’ll gladly share some of mine.”

  “I’ve got good news and bad news,” Gran said when they walked into the kitchen.

  DJ started to shake her head. She knew what was coming.

  “Lindy called.”

  “I knew it. She isn’t coming home tonight and won’t be at the show tomorrow. Now, what’s the bad news?”

  “The good news is you get to stay here again so I can make sure you get off all right in the morning.”

  “You’re right, Gran. That part is good news.”

  “She said she’d come straight to the showgrounds. Robert and the boys are meeting her there.”

  “Great.” Maybe my events will be over by the time they get there.

  Having someone to help her in the morning gave DJ an extra boost. Joe joined forces with Mr. Yamamoto, and together with the other fathers, they had horses and riders loaded in record time.