High Hurdles Collection Two

by Lauraine Snelling

  “Wait until you hear.” Lindy stroked Robert’s hand.

  After DJ recounted all that had gone on, Robert turned with a smile back to his wife. “So what do you think of DJ’s great idea?”

  “What, that I quit work?”

  “M-hm.”

  DJ could see he had his fingers crossed down by his leg. She hid her smile behind another drink.

  “Are you guys ganging up on me?”

  “Us?” Robert gave DJ an innocent look. “Now, DJ, would we do that?”

  Would my mother really quit work? The thought seemed impossible.

  “You could help me and Amy with our business.”

  “I’m thinking about it. And the book on kids who are entrepreneurs.”

  DJ felt her chin bounce on her chest. She looked up at Robert, who must have been wearing the same look she was feeling. His thumb and forefinger formed a circle as he leaned forward and kissed his wife again.

  DJ pushed herself upright. “Think I’ll go see a man about a horse if you two are going to get all mushy.” She headed for the open doorway, sure they hadn’t heard a word she said.

  “You don’t need another horse,” her mother called as DJ entered the house.

  DJ felt the chuckle keep bubbling in her throat as she slapped her leg for Queenie to follow her.

  “Dinner in half hour,” Maria called after her.

  Now to check on Major. Would he be jealous of all the time she had to spend with Herndon now? She jogged up the stairs. She hadn’t even thought of him for hours. What kind of friend was she?

  Chapter • 11

  “He’s running a temperature,” the vet’s assistant told DJ over the phone. “We’ve started him on antibiotics.”

  “Is this normal?” DJ felt a stab of fear. What can be wrong with Major now?

  “Not exactly normal, but not unusual, either. The sooner we get him walking around the better, even if he has to hobble.”

  “But won’t that make his shoulder worse?” DJ pressed her ear against the phone, holding it on her shoulder as she paced the room. She had to be careful not to trip on the cord, but she felt too restless to sit down or lie on the bed. “Any idea when we can come and get him?”

  “Day after tomorrow, Dr. Jones said. That is if nothing further goes wrong”

  DJ thanked the young woman and hung up. She could hear the boys pounding up the stairs. No doubt they’d be at her door in a second or two. “God, please take care of Major.” She couldn’t think of another word to say. Only please repeated itself over and over, like hoofbeats trotting over the cavalletti.

  When the boys exploded into her room, she smacked the heel of her hand on her forehead. She’d forgotten to tell Robert about the pony. “What’s up?”

  “We’s got the table set. Mommy asked if you was cleaned up yet.”

  DJ shook her head. “But I will be pretty quick if you go on back downstairs.”

  “Okay.” Away they went, Queenie yipping at their heels. Quiet certainly wasn’t part of their life. Or anyone else’s when they were around.

  The yell they sent up when she gave Robert the message made her clap her hands over her ears.

  “We’s getting a pony we’s getting a pony.” They danced and sang while Robert shook his head.

  “You think they’re excited or what?”

  “Mostly what.” Lindy made a shushing motion with her hands, and the boys lowered the decibel level by about half.

  “When can we go see him?” Bobby climbed up in his father’s lap.

  “Now?” Billy took the other leg.

  “Nope. But I’ll talk it over with Ms. Sommersby and let you know.” He turned to DJ, an arm around each of the boys. “What did they say about Major?”

  Robert shook his head when she told them. “We need to get him home, that’s for sure. If vet hospitals are anything like human hospitals, there are all kinds of germs floating around there.”

  “Poor Major.” The boys did their unison thing again.

  “Dinner’s ready,” Maria announced from the doorway. “DJ, please help me carry it out.”

  DJ did as asked, and as soon as they were all seated, Robert nodded to Billy to say grace.

  DJ kept her groan from going past her lips. Billy, as usual, blessed everything but the flowers blooming in the yard.

  “Thank you, son,” Robert said, but DJ could tell he was having a hard time keeping a straight face. It was the “bless the yellow jackets that are hungry, too” that about did them in.

  Bet he won’t be blessing the one that stings him. DJ wisely kept her thoughts to herself.

  Having dinner out on the deck made DJ give an extra wiggle in her chair. She loved eating outside under the canopy of the oak tree. But while she took part in the conversation, her mind flew to Major’s side. He needs me, and I need to see him to make sure things aren’t worse than they are saying.

  “DJ, calling DJ.”

  Robert’s voice jerked her back to the table. “Huh?”

  “I said, please pass the butter.”

  “Oh.” She did as asked. So much for controlling her mind. It just zoomed off whether she gave it permission or not.

  When they finished eating, Robert handed her the Bible. “Why don’t you read for us tonight? The place is marked in the gospel of Matthew.”

  DJ nodded and flipped the pages.

  “Begin with chapter six, verse twenty-five.”

  DJ began reading. “ ‘Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing.’ ” DJ wanted to stop right there and think about what was said, but she continued, finishing with, “ ‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.’ ”

  DJ shook her head when she finished reading. “Did you choose that section on purpose?” She looked up at Robert.

  “Nope, it was on the list I’ve been using. Why?”

  “Just says what I needed to hear.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I’ve been worrying about Major and thinking I needed to take care of him.”

  “And?”

  “And I just got reminded that God loves him, too, and can take better care of my horse than I can.”

  “Wise words, my girl. You’re learning.”

  “It’s easier to read it than to do it.” Lindy laid a hand on the shoulder of the wriggling boy next to her. While he quieted, she motioned him into her lap. The other twin followed suit and climbed up in his father’s lap.

  “That’s for sure.” Robert rested his chin on his son’s head. “But worry is an elevator going nowhere. You get stuck in it.”

  “But what’s the difference between worrying and just thinking about it?” DJ moved her knife and fork around on her plate.

  “Good question.” Robert thought for a moment, then glanced at his wife. “Feel free to jump in anytime.”

  Lindy shrugged. “You’re doing fine.”

  “I guess worrying is more like not being able to think about anything else. Whatever it is that’s troubling you seems to take over. You start thinking of all the bad things that could happen, and the more you think about it, the worse it gets.”

  “Hmm.” DJ scraped at a bit of leftover tomato sauce on her plate.

  “I heard a man say worry was stewin’ without doin.’” Lindy kissed the top of the head of the boy cuddled in her lap. Bobby looked up at her, smiled, and snuggled back down.

  “I guess when I figure I’m worrying about something, I do like the boys here. I just climb up in my Father’s lap and let Him take over.”

  Bobby sat up straight and looked at his father, his mouth in an O. “You sit on Grandpa’s lap?”

  Robert shook his head, his eyes sparkling. “Leave it to you, the literal one. No, I meant my heavenly Father.”

  “You sit in God’s lap?” The ot
her twin’s mouth matched the first.

  “Time out!” Robert used both hands to make the referee’s signal. He turned to Maria, who, like DJ and Lindy, was trying not to laugh. “What are we having for dessert?”

  “Cookies and ice cream.”

  “Good. Let’s have it. Bobby, Billy, you help Maria clear off the dishes.”

  The boys slid off the laps, and Bobby turned to his father. “We didn’t pray”

  “We will. Get moving.” Robert tried to give DJ and her mother a stern look—and failed. “And don’t either of you bring up worrying again, you hear, at least not tonight.”

  DJ looked at her mother, and both of them caught the giggles.

  “ ‘Consider the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin … ’ ” Lindy looked at her husband. Laughing, she laid a hand on his forearm. “Robert, you make me so happy.”

  “Me too.” As she said it, DJ realized how happy she truly was.

  The meeting of the business club after school on Wednesday opened with a retired businesswoman from the Small Business Administration ready to discuss the greeting card business now called DJAM, Etc. All the kids liked the name.

  “First off, let me say what a marvelous business I think this is and what a good example of entrepreneurship for all of us.” Mrs. Enrico smiled at Amy and DJ sitting in the front row. “You are two talented young women and”—she sent her smile out to the rest of the fifteen kids in the room—“with the help of the rest of you, there can be great things ahead. Now, I’ve read all the information Mr. Mann gave me, so let’s hear what your committees have accomplished this last week.”

  Each of the committees made their reports to applause and more lively discussion.

  “I’m impressed.” Mrs. Enrico smiled at everyone again, her dark eyes sparkling. “I wish I’d had all of you helping me when I started my business twenty years ago.” She took a stack of papers from the desk behind her. “Will someone hand these out for me, please?”

  As one of the students did that, she continued. “Now, most businesses go belly-up for lack of capital, so I’m showing you a simplified business plan, the kind of form you would need to fill out if you were going to a bank to borrow money. They want to make sure you’ll be able to pay back your loan.”

  Everyone chuckled at the face she made. “But there are other ways to finance a business. Anyone have any ideas what that may be?”

  “Borrow from your parents.”

  “Ask your grandparents.”

  “Earn the money some other way.”

  She nodded. “Those could work. It all depends on how much money you need.” She looked at DJ and Amy. “How have you been getting the money you need so far?”

  “We make our cards, sell them, and then we have money to make more.”

  “Right. That’s the best way when you have a good product to sell. But what if you got an order for, let’s say, five hundred packets?”

  DJ and Amy looked at each other and shrugged.

  “How much would you need?”

  Both girls fumbled for paper and pencil, but before they’d gotten started, a boy from the back of the room called out the amount. He held up his calculator and grinned at them.

  By the end of the meeting, the group had decided that they would like to continue working with this project, even through the summer and into the next school year.

  “Thanks for your help,” DJ said to Mrs. Enrico. “My mother has been giving us suggestions, too. I wish she had come today.”

  “Please, feel free to call me anytime. I’d love to keep track of how you do. Mr. Mann does a really great job with this business club. Why, I

  know of a couple businesses that came from his group in the past and are still going. There’s one that two boys put together with computer games, and they’ve made a killing with it. They’re millionaires and aren’t even twenty-five yet.”

  “Wow. Then I could buy all the horses I wanted.”

  Amy rolled her eyes. “There are other things in life besides horses.”

  “So?” DJ grinned. “And I better get going or I’ll be late for my lesson. Thanks again.” She waved at Mr. Mann and turned to answer a question from one of the girls on the promotion committee.

  “The reporter from the Contra Costa Times business section will be calling you about an interview. Her name is Rhonda Ewing. It will be up to you to set up a time,” a dark-haired girl said.

  DJ and Amy swapped wow looks, along with question-mark eyebrows.

  “What’ll we say?” DJ gulped.

  “I think I’m gonna throw up.”

  Mrs. Enrico stopped beside them. “All you have to do is be yourselves and you’ll do fine. I have one suggestion, though. Think about why you started your business and where you want it to go. You might write those things down so it gets real clear in your mind.”

  On the way out to meet Joe, DJ turned to Amy. “You get the feeling that building a business like we’re doing is like just about anything else?”

  “Huh?” Amy’s face said the same.

  “Well, Bridget says you have to know where you are going, focus, and write your dreams down, doesn’t she?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well?” DJ shrugged.

  “I guess. But I don’t like—”

  “Don’t like what?”

  “Well, answering questions like that. You do it, and I’ll back you up.”

  “Get real, Ames. Wait until I tell Mom.”

  “Good, let her talk to the reporter.” The two girls waved at Joe waiting for them in his Explorer.

  “Sheesh.” DJ settled back against the seat after telling her grandfather what had happened. “Joe, what do you think?”

  “I think you two are pretty remarkable young women, and I’ll tell any reporter that any day of the week.” He stopped at Amy’s house. “You want us to wait?”

  “No, thanks, I’ll ride my bike.” Amy slammed the door behind her and waved.

  “Phone call for you.” Maria pointed to the message pad by the phone when DJ entered the kitchen. “I say you call back.”

  DJ read the message. The reporter had called. If her stomach did flip-flops like this at the idea of an interview, what would it do the day they met? Maybe I just won’t call back. She glared at herself, snagged the paper off the pad, and headed for her room. She’d better call right now before she chickened out.

  Her hands still shook a few minutes later as she hung up the phone. The reporter would come to her house on Monday after school and planned on interviewing Mr. Mann for more information about the two girls and maybe another story about the success of the school’s business class.

  “Good, then we won’t be the only ones to have to answer questions.” DJ shucked her school clothes and pulled on her barn jeans and T-shirt. Grabbing her boots, she jogged in her stockinged feet back downstairs and into the kitchen for something to eat before leaving for the Academy.

  “Dinner at 6:30.” Maria nodded toward the clock.

  “I might be late, since I’m getting over there late.”

  “You be here.” Maria continued grating cheese. “Enchiladas tonight. Muy bueno”

  “You make everything very good.” DJ waved her apple, then clamped it in her teeth and, leaning against the wall by the door, pulled on her boots. She walked out the door just as Joe drove back in the yard.

  “The vet said to call around noon tomorrow to see if Major can come home. I’ll ask Mom if I can go along.” She gave her grandfather an innocent look. “Unless you can’t go tomorrow?”

  “Oh, I can go, but you can’t, so don’t bother getting your mother all het up.”

  “GJ, please.”

  “Uh-uh. Mel said she’d go along. We plan on a nice early lunch, then pick up the horse and drive home before the traffic hits. You’ll be working Herndon by the time we get back. I already checked with Mrs. Yamamoto, and she will pick you two up after school. Now, aren’t you proud of your old grandpa for taking care of all this?”<
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  DJ wanted to cross her arms and stick out her tongue. “But …”

  “Nope. No argument is going to work, so forget it. Major’s been through worse.”

  “But it wasn’t my fault before.” She muttered the words under her breath.

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. And you can pretend you didn’t say it, let alone think it. Okay?” He stopped the truck in the shade of the Academy barn and turned to look at her. “Ah, DJ, learning to not blame yourself is a hard lesson, one that you have to go over again and again. There is no easy way out of this except to keep going over it until you learn to let God handle the judging. And He won’t blame you, so let it go.”

  “I’m trying.” DJ studied her tattered cuticle. Her fingernails needed cutting. “You think Mom will let me spend the night here to take care of him?”

  “I wouldn’t ask.”

  “I guess not.” She glanced up, feeling her grandfather’s warm gaze on her face. “Do you ever play ‘what if or blame yourself?”

  “Yep. But I’m trying to quit that, too, and let me tell you, I’ve been trying a whole lot longer than you.”

  “Then … then …”

  “Then why try?”

  She nodded.

  “Because I’d probably be dead of a heart attack or stroke or something if I worried like I used to or blamed myself for the accidents or figured everything was all my fault. Darla Jean Randall, you are far ahead of me in learning these things, and I’m grateful you ask me questions like this. Now let go and let God.”

  “Let God what?”

  “Let Him be God and you be Darla Jean, one of His favorite daughters.”

  DJ left the truck with his words winding through her heart and mind. Let God, huh? Somehow the thought that her grandfather struggled with some of the same things she did made her feel comforted. She picked up a grooming bucket on her way past the tack room, along with treats for Herndon.

  “Hi, big guy.” Herndon extended his nose to sniff her pockets. “Ah, getting into the habit, huh?” She gave him half a horse cookie, followed by a carrot. With her hands empty, she stroked down his long nose and up around his dark ears. His muzzle had light brown hairs that deepened to black ears and mane. A few white hairs formed a little whorl midway between his eyes.