Off Course

by Georgina Bloomberg

  At the same time, she couldn’t help remembering how Flame made her feel. Riding him. Helping him learn new things. Just spending time with him. How could she give that up?

  Besides, if Hannah’s ride had been half as bad as Tommi had made it sound, the poor horse had to be terribly confused. Didn’t Kate owe it to him to fix that if she could, give him a good experience to replace the bad one? After all, she was the whole reason he was here in the first place.

  “Sure,” she blurted out before she could overthink it. “Um, I mean, that’s fine. I just need to check with Jamie that I can fit it in around the classes he wants me to do today.”

  Fitz nodded. “I’ll go ask him right now.”

  He spun on his heel and hurried off without another word. Kate bit the inside of her cheek and stared after him, feeling confused and angry and sad all at the same time. Then the pony shifted its weight again, and Kate did her best to forget about Fitz as she went back to work.

  “Oh, is this really the place? It’s simply gorgeous!” Gina exclaimed. “Reminds me of an estate in Connecticut where I filmed a TV guest spot once.”

  Zara glanced at the big stone mansion perched on the hill overlooking the busy showgrounds. “Yeah, it’s a postcard.” She pointed to a hand-lettered sign tacked to a fencepost. “Looks like we’re supposed to park over there.”

  Her mother steered the Mercedes that way, driving slowly due to the uneven ground. Zillion-dollar estate, and they couldn’t even afford a little gravel for the roads? Lame. But Zara wasn’t going to worry about it. After being stuck in her stupid apartment all week, she was glad to be out in civilization again. Or whatever this was, anyway.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Stacie, who was slumped in the backseat staring blankly out the window. The girl had spent the past two days bursting into tears every few minutes over that loser who’d dumped her. Thank God Zara had come up with that story about her old-fogey friend dying, or Gina would’ve known something was up for sure.

  In any case, Zara couldn’t help an evil little flash of amusement when she noticed the bored look on her cousin’s face. Served her right. After the way she’d ditched Zara with no warning, the least Stacie could do was come to the show and play good girl for the weekend.

  “Hey, wait,” Zara said as they passed the edge of the stabling area. A couple of rigs were idling there as grooms unloaded horses from the trailers. “Stop here and drop me off. Then you two can go park, okay?”

  “Of course, love.” Gina stopped the car, then reached over and squeezed Zara’s arm. “Break a leg.”

  Zara rolled her eyes. “Okay, I know that’s an acting thing,” she joked. “But maybe not the best thing to say to a rider.”

  “Oops!” Gina laughed as if it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard, though Stacie didn’t even crack a smile. Good.

  “Bye-bye, Cousin Stacie,” Zara said sweetly. “Hope you have fun watching the show!”

  Pelham Lane’s stalls were easy to find, since they were in the tent closest to the main ring. Right in the center of things, as always. Jamie didn’t mess around.

  Inside, Zara found Summer holding court in the tack stall, sitting on one of the director’s chairs and blabbing about her party to Tommi, Marissa, and Dani. Of the three, only Marissa was even pretending to look interested. Dani was playing with her cell phone, and Tommi was fussing around with her spurs.

  “Hi, people.” Zara stepped inside. “I’m here.”

  “Zara!” Marissa turned to grin at her. “You’ve been holding out on us! Summer says you’re bringing some hot older guy as your date tonight.”

  “Yeah, I heard it even made that new horse-showing blog.” Dani smirked and waggled her eyebrows. “So spill, girl—who is he? Anyone we’ve heard of? Some heartthrobby young actor friend of your mom’s, maybe?”

  Zara shot Summer an annoyed look. Why had she told her about Marcus? Call it temporary insanity. And bad timing. He’d called to tell Zara he was coming to the party, and when the phone rang again a minute later Zara had assumed it was him calling back.

  But no. It was Summer. And telling her about Marcus was better than listening to her whine about her stupid ears again. At least, it had seemed that way at the time.

  “You guys will just have to wait and see,” Summer broke in, seeming peeved that the attention had shifted away from her. “But listen, I didn’t finish telling you about the dessert cart—”

  Just then Kate stuck her head into the tack stall. “Marissa,” she said. “Miguel is looking for you. Miles is almost ready for your warm-up, but Miguel needs to know if you want to use your old saddle or the new one.”

  “Oops! I didn’t realize it was so late.” Marissa checked her watch. “I’d better go find my crop and helmet.”

  “I’ll help you.” Dani swung herself onto her crutches and hurried out of the room after her friend.

  Meanwhile Tommi was heading for the door, too. “Hey Kate!” she called out. “Hold up a sec.”

  Soon they were all gone, leaving Zara alone with Summer. “Hey,” Zara said with a little frown. “What’s the big idea, blabbing my love life all over the barn?”

  Summer shrugged, picking at her fingernails. “I hope I have time to get a manicure while they’re doing my hair this afternoon,” she said. Then, belatedly realizing that Zara had said something, she glanced up. “Wait, what?”

  Zara grabbed a handful of peanuts out of the silver bowl on the tack trunk. “You,” she said, crunching the salty nuts. “Telling everyone about my new guy.”

  “So what?” Summer said. “Everyone’s going to see him at the party tonight anyway.”

  “So not the point. How would you like it if I went around blabbing stuff about you? Maybe revealing certain things you don’t want anyone to know on that HorseShowSecrets blog?” She stuck her fingers behind her ears, pushing them forward so they stuck straight out from her head.

  Summer’s face fell. “No!” she whispered, her blue eyes panicky as they darted around the room, making sure nobody was nearby. “Please, Zara. You can’t tell anyone about that! Especially right before my big night! I’d die!” She stood up, her eyes filling with tears. “I’d totally die!”

  She rushed out of the tack stall. “Summer, wait!” Zara called.

  But it was too late. She was gone. Zara didn’t usually feel much sympathy for Summer. But this time, she couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. She’d seemed really upset.

  And it wasn’t as if Zara would actually give away someone’s deep dark secrets on some stupid blog. She wasn’t like that. Summer had to know that, right?

  She pulled out her phone, logging onto the Internet as she wandered out into the aisle. Tommi and Kate were just outside, huddled close together, deep in conversation. They broke apart when they saw Zara coming.

  “Are you okay?” Tommi asked.

  Zara glanced up at her and grimaced. “Just checking out the latest news about myself on HorseShowSecrets,” she said. “I just love having everyone on the Internet know my business, don’t you?”

  “HorseShowSecrets?” Tommi shrugged. “Yeah, I’ve been hearing people talk about that all week. It’s some kind of blog or something?”

  “Yeah. Check it out.” Zara had just pulled up the blog on her phone. She scrolled down until she spotted the most recent entry with her name in it. It was short, basically just a couple of lines, speculating about Zara’s “tall, dark, and mysterious” new guy.

  Zara scowled as she read it. The only people she’d told about Marcus coming to tonight’s party were Summer, Gina, and Stacie. And she was pretty sure her mother didn’t have anything to do with this. Gina might be a publicity hound when it came to her own career, but she and Zac both did their best to keep Zara’s name out of the papers whenever possible.

  “Let me see.” Tommi reached for Zara’s phone.

  Zara handed it over, still trying to figure out who’d blabbed. Cousin Stacie? Not a likely suspect either. Zara had barely let the
girl out of her sight since her return. No sense taking any chances of Stacie blurting out something incriminating in front of Gina.

  So that left Summer. Could she be writing the blog to drum up publicity for her stupid party? Fury coursed through Zara’s veins; that had to be it! She clenched her fists, ready to find Summer and string her up by her stupid pinned-back ears.

  “I can’t believe this,” Tommi commented, breaking into Zara’s thoughts. She was frowning as she scrolled through the site. “Who would even know some of this stuff? Could it be someone right here at—”

  She cut herself off, staring at the tiny screen.

  “What?” Kate asked.

  “There’s …” Tommi hesitated, glancing at Kate and then back at the phone. “There’s an entry about you.”

  “Really?” Kate said.

  Zara was surprised, too. Kate wasn’t exactly gossip fodder, unless you counted barn work as thrilling news. “What’s it say?”

  Tommi bit her lip. “Just that, um, Kate and Fitz broke up.”

  “Whoa! Really?” Zara shot a look at Kate. For the first time, she noticed that the girl looked kind of upset. “Bummer. But hey, there’s other fish in the sea, right?”

  Kate didn’t answer. Tommi was still scanning the blog, looking annoyed. “It’s got to be someone with an in at Pelham Lane.”

  “Yeah. Specifically, Summer.” Zara felt her own annoyance bubbling up again. “She’s the only one I told about my date to her ridiculous party.”

  Tommi looked thoughtful. “Summer? Doubtful. The girl has the attention span of a gnat. No way would she actually keep up with a blog like this. Anyway, all she had to do was mention what you told her to someone else. Like Marissa, for instance. The girl’s a gossip freak. If she found out, it’d be all over the circuit in about ten seconds flat. No blog required.”

  “Do you think Marissa’s the one behind HorseShowSecrets?” Kate asked.

  Whatever Tommi said next, Zara didn’t hear it. Something had just occurred to her. There was one more person who knew about her date with Marcus tonight.

  Marcus himself.

  Her heart started pounding as she quickly put two and two together. Marcus wouldn’t tell her much about his past. He was practically pathological about changing the subject back to her, now that she thought about it. But one of the only things he’d said was that he used to ride. Could he actually be a rider from another barn? Could he be the one writing HorseShowSecrets?

  Suddenly it all made perfect sense. Especially when she remembered that snarky little entry about Ellie being too hot for her to handle. Hadn’t that appeared right after she’d joked around with Marcus about Ellie being hyper and bucking her off?

  “That bastard!” she hissed.

  “Huh?” Tommi said as she and Kate turned to stare.

  But Zara didn’t bother to stop and explain. She was fuming. She should have known Marcus was too good to be true!

  “Give me that,” she said, snatching her phone out of Tommi’s hand. “I need to make a very important call.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “What was that all about?” Tommi wondered aloud as she watched Zara stomp off down the aisle.

  She glanced at Kate, who looked as beaten down as a kicked puppy. Tommi’s anger flared when she thought about how Fitz was acting, though she wasn’t sure what to do about it. It would be satisfying to find him and punch him in the neck. But that wouldn’t do anyone much good, especially Kate.

  “So anyway, where were we?” she said. “Are you really going to ride Flame later?”

  Kate shrugged, picking at a cuticle. “I said I would. And Jamie says it’s okay.” Finally she looked up. “You should probably start getting Legs warmed up for your jumper class. Need any help?”

  “It’s okay, I’ve got it.” Tommi hesitated, hating the sad look in Kate’s eyes, trying to come up with the magic words that would make everything all better.

  Then she heard someone calling her name. Glancing that way, she saw Alex hurrying toward them.

  “I made it!” he called out with a grin. “Man, this place is out in the middle of nowhere, isn’t it?”

  “Hi.” Tommi tilted her head back as he bent down to kiss her. “You remember Kate, right?”

  “Sure. Hi.” Alex smiled at Kate, raking one hand through his spiky dark hair. “You showing at this thing too?”

  “Uh-huh.” Kate flashed a brief smile. “Actually, I should go. I need to start tacking up for the pre-greens soon, and I’ve got stuff to finish before then.”

  She hurried away. Tommi chewed her lip, watching her go. Alex was talking again, chattering about the traffic or something, but she barely heard him.

  She tuned back in when he slipped his arm around her waist. “So what time does the party start, anyway?” he asked. “We have time to grab some dinner beforehand? I saw this fun-looking little Mexican place on my way here.”

  “What?” Tommi glanced at her watch. Kate was right; she needed to get on Legs about five minutes ago to be ready for their next class. “Um, I think they’re serving dinner at the party. But listen, I should go see if my horse is tacked up yet.”

  He grinned, giving her a squeeze. “I thought you paid all those fancy grooms to worry about stuff like that,” he said. “Seriously, though, I was hoping we could hang out. Sure you can’t play hooky for a little while?”

  “I’m sure. Sorry.” Tommi tried to keep her voice and expression pleasant. For some reason, it wasn’t easy. Alex had just arrived, but he was already rubbing her the wrong way.

  But that wasn’t his fault, right? She was just stressed because she was running late.

  Meanwhile he let go of her and stepped away to peek into the tack stall. “Nice setup,” he commented. “Is that where you guys hang out? How come nobody’s in there right now?”

  “Because everyone’s busy showing or getting ready to.” Tommi shot him a tight smile, hoping he’d finally take the hint before she had to hit him over the head with it. “Including me. You can tag along if you want, but I really need to go find my horse now.”

  “Okay.” He fell into step as she started down the aisle toward Legs’s stall. “Hey, so how many people are going to this party tonight, anyway? Is Zara going to be there?”

  Tommi stopped short, her impatience bubbling over into actual irritation. This was too much for her to deal with right now. In fact, it suddenly felt like too much to deal with ever.

  She turned to face him. “As a matter of fact, yes she is,” she said evenly. “And you’re totally welcome to hang out with her if you want. Because I’m starting to think maybe that’s who you really ought to be with.”

  “What?” Alex looked startled, then slightly guilty. “No! That’s not true. I just like to talk to her about her dad, you know—”

  “Yeah,” Tommi cut him off. She so didn’t have time for this scene. “I know. Listen, Alex. You’re a great guy, and we’ve had some fun together. I used to think we had a lot in common, but lately I’m thinking maybe we don’t. And, well, basically it’s just not working for me, okay? Sorry. You can still go to the party if you want, though.”

  Alex opened his mouth, then closed it again. “Wait,” he said. “Are you dumping me?”

  Tommi shrugged; she’d just spotted Javier coming toward her leading Legs, who was all tacked up for their jumper class. “Sorry,” she said again, trying not to notice the hurt and confusion in his eyes as she rushed off toward her horse.

  Zara felt a little better as soon as she’d sent a text to Marcus telling him not to bother coming tonight after all. There. That should show him she wasn’t the sucker he thought she was. Good thing she’d figured out what kind of person he really was before it was too late.

  A moment later her phone rang. She glanced at the screen.

  “What do you want?” she spat into the mouthpiece. “I told you, I don’t want to see you.”

  “Zara?” Marcus sounded confused. And maybe a little annoyed. “What’s go
ing on? I got your text.”

  “Yeah, that’s kind of why I sent it.” Zara rolled her eyes.

  “Listen, if this is some kind of joke, I don’t get it.” He sounded even more annoyed now. “I took off work to go to your party, and I’m halfway to Trenton on the train right now.”

  The train? That threw Zara off for a split second. Who took the train?

  But she shook it off; that wasn’t really the point. “You can stop the Mr. Innocent act,” she said. “I know why you’ve been hanging out with me. I saw your pathetic little blog.”

  “Blog? What blog?”

  “Duh! Are you going to make me spell it out?” She clutched the phone harder. “HorseShowSecrets! I know you’ve got to have something to do with it. Are you writing it yourself, or just feeding dirt about me to whoever is?”

  He was silent for a second or two. “Hold on,” he said at last. “You think I wrote gossip about you on some blog? What the hell kind of person do you think I am?”

  “The kind who does crap like that, obviously.” Zara couldn’t believe he was still trying to BS his way out of this. “I thought you were different. But you’re just another vulture, waiting around to flatter the stupid little celeb-u-chick into giving you what you want, right?”

  He was silent again, for longer this time. “I see,” he said slowly. “Okay, so you think I really just hung out with you because your parents are celebrities?”

  “I don’t just think it. I know it.”

  “Great.” His voice was cold. “Then this obviously isn’t going to work out. Good thing I found that out before I wasted any more time.”

  “Before you wasted—” Zara began hotly.

  He didn’t let her finish. “Looks like I’ll be switching trains at the next stop and heading back to the city,” he said. “Have a nice life, Zara.”

  Click.

  Zara frowned, lowering the phone and staring at it. That hadn’t gone quite the way she’d expected. Most of those paparazzi types at least tried to talk their way out of trouble when they got caught scamming someone. Zara knew that from personal experience.