“So this is him,” Natalie said. “My boy. What do you think?”
She’d just led Kate and Fitz outside to the hitching rail behind the barn. A tall, thin chestnut gelding was tied there. Kate estimated the horse at 16’3” at least, which was kind of surprising. Happy Acres specialized in kids’ lessons, and it was rare to find a horse on the place that was much over 15’2”, aside from a couple of Belgians used for carriage rides.
“He’s a tall one,” Fitz said. Kate guessed that the horse’s height might be the only thing he felt safe commenting on. He probably wasn’t so impressed with the gelding’s ribbiness or his rough, dirty coat.
But Kate was kind of impressed. She’d been expecting some kind of weedy little downhill sprinter type with big ankles and an upside-down neck. But this horse actually had pretty good structure under his unkempt exterior.
“He’s cute,” Kate told Natalie. “I can see why you call him Flame. His color’s really flashy.”
“Oh, it’s not because of that.” Natalie hoisted the saddle she was carrying onto the rail. “His racing name’s Open Flame. It works in more ways than one, actually—he’s pretty hot to ride.” She grabbed one of the brushes Kate had picked up in the tack room on their way out of the barn. “Come on, help me knock the dirt off him.”
In this case, that wasn’t just a figure of speech. It looked as if Flame had been rolling in the mud—a lot—and probably hadn’t had a bath since he’d left the track. Kate set to work with a curry, loosening the ground-in dirt as best she could.
“Good boy,” she murmured as the horse twisted his head to stare at her curiously. Her fingers were itching to reach up and start pulling his mane, which was uneven and a little long. But there probably wasn’t time for that, plus she wasn’t sure Nat would appreciate it. She’d probably think it was just one of those habits Kate had picked up at her “snobby big-time show barn.”
“Wish we had the vacuum,” Fitz said, coughing as he raised a cloud of dust with his curry.
Natalie shot him a look. “Ha-ha, very funny. Kate didn’t tell me you were a comedian.”
“He’s not joking,” Kate said quickly, wanting to head off any potential tension between Nat and Fitz. “Jamie’s got this, like, special horse vacuum. It’s really helpful for getting all the ground-in dirt and loose hair off a horse.”
“Seriously?” Nat looked kind of suspicious, as if she still didn’t quite believe them. “Okay, guess he had to spend all that money his rich-ass clients are paying him on something.”
Kate winced, hoping Fitz didn’t take offense. But when she glanced over at him, he was grinning.
“True,” he said. “But he totally refuses to shell out for a pinball machine, no matter how much I beg. Says it’ll spook the horses.”
That made Nat laugh, then start chattering about how Flame had spooked at something or other the last time she rode him. Kate let out a silent breath, grateful for once that Fitz didn’t take anything too seriously.
The horse still wasn’t exactly up to Pelham Lane standards when Nat started tacking up, but he looked better. Kate could tell that his bright chestnut coat was healthy, and would probably shine like a copper penny with just a little more elbow grease. Not to mention how nice his four white socks and big, symmetrical blaze would look if they were shampooed and chalked.
“Wish me luck!” Natalie said, breaking into Kate’s thoughts. The saddle and bridle were on, and Nat was leading the horse over toward the sturdy wooden mounting block just outside the grass paddock that served as a warm-up ring. Fitz held Flame’s head while Natalie swung aboard.
“Good luck,” Kate said as her friend rode off through the gate. There were only a few kids on ponies in there, clustered around a woman Kate didn’t recognize. One of the barn’s newer instructors, maybe? Kate felt a pang as she realized how much had changed since she’d left. A few short years ago, she would have known everyone at this show. Now, aside from Nat and the Tanners, she only recognized a handful of faces. Even many of the horses and ponies were new to her.
As she stepped forward to join Fitz, who was leaning on the rail, Kate shifted her gaze to Natalie. She’d just kicked Flame forward. He tossed his head and skittered sideways, then stepped into a flat-kneed, ground-covering trot.
“Wow,” Kate said, impressed anew. “He’s a really nice mover.”
“You mean Mr. Ribs? You think so?” Fitz sounded dubious. “I mean, yeah, I guess compared to the fat little ponies.”
“No, seriously.” Kate kept her eyes on the horse. “I already noticed his conformation was pretty good—great shoulder, level topline, just good angles all around. He could be a real diamond in the rough in the right hands.”
“Like yours?” Fitz glanced over with a smile.
“I was thinking of Jamie, actually.” Kate watched as Nat struggled to slow the horse down, yanking on the reins and growling as Flame tossed his head in protest. “If this guy can jump at all, I bet Jamie could turn him into an A-quality hunter with just a little bit of work. All he needs is some weight and TLC and good training.”
Fitz shrugged, not looking fully convinced. “If you say so,” he said. “But Natalie said he’s pretty hot, right? Maybe too hot to make a hunter.”
Kate didn’t respond to that. She already had her doubts about how hot this horse really was. So far he wasn’t giving Nat much real trouble, though it was clear he didn’t know much beyond his track training.
“He’s not sure what to do with the bit yet,” she said as Nat finally wrestled the horse back to a jiggy walk. “If it were up to me, I’d just let him go long and low for a while until he relaxes and learns he can trust his rider.”
“Sounds good, Jamie Junior,” Fitz said with a laugh. “Maybe you can give Natalie a few lessons.”
“No way.” Kate shuddered at the thought. “She already thinks I’m a know-it-all since I moved to Jamie’s barn. If I tried to tell her how to train her new project, she’d probably bite my head off.”
Fitz looked surprised. “Really? But she must realize what an awesome rider you are, right?”
Kate just shrugged. “Anyway, it’s too bad,” she said, talking more to herself than to Fitz now. “That horse could really be something special.”
“You know, maybe you’re right.” Fitz turned to watch Natalie ride past again. “I mean, I didn’t really see it at first. But you’ve got a great eye, Kate.” He reached over and gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder.
“Thanks.” She smiled at him, her shoulder tingling. She hadn’t been sure it was a good idea for him to come today. To say the least. But now she was glad he was here.
Soon it was time for Nat and her mount to head into the show ring. They were entered in a division called Beginner Horse, for green horses and those new to showing, consisting of three classes: walk-trot, walk-trot-canter, and jumping a course of two-foot fences. When she was riding at Happy Acres, Kate had taken countless potential lesson horses and ponies in the same division for their first show-ring experience, fresh from the auction or Craigslist.
Nat and Flame rode in along with six or seven others, mostly tween kids on bratty-looking ponies. Everyone walked along on the rail until Mr. Tanner arrived with his portable microphone to start the class.
“Riders, you’re now being judged,” he said, perching the speaker on a fence post. “Walk please—all walk.”
It was kind of a disaster from the start. In the walk-trot class, Flame’s stride was so much longer that he ended up lapping everyone else in the ring. That seemed to excite him—racetrack flashback, Kate figured—and he just kept getting faster and more strung out. In the walk-trot-canter class, he leaped into a near-gallop and almost ran over a couple of ponies as Nat wrestled to slow him down.
Still, everyone survived. Kate half expected Nat to bow out of the jumping—that was what Kate herself would have done under the circumstances—but no. She went in, executed a lopsided opening circle at a skittering half trot, half canter, and aimed the horse at the first fence.
“Yikes,” Fitz said as Flame left from a super long spot.
Luckily the fence was small enough that it wasn’t a problem, though the horse’s hind foot clunked the rail. That spooked him, sending him spurting forward so quickly that he almost crashed right through the next jump in the line. He noticed it just in time and planted his feet, skidding to a near stop before Natalie let out a shout and booted him forward. He sprang over the fence with his head in the air and a startled look in his eyes.
Kate could hardly stand to watch as Nat manhandled the gelding around the rest of the course. But again, everyone survived. And Natalie was actually grinning as she rode out of the ring.
“Wow, that was an adventure,” she said, riding over to where Kate and Fitz were standing. “I don’t know, riding a hot horse like this guy kind of makes normal horses seem boring.”
Fitz chuckled politely, and Kate forced a smile as she reached out to give the sweaty gelding a pat. Okay, so he hadn’t exactly clocked around like a children’s hunter. That didn’t mean he was “hot,” as Nat seemed to think. Just green and confused.
But she wasn’t about to say so. Not now, when she and Nat were finally back on track.
“Wow!” Dani let out a wolf whistle as Zara wandered into the tack room. “Hello, sexy! You’re sure not dressed for mucking stalls.”
She and Marissa were lounging on the bandage trunk sharing a bag of Doritos. Zara glanced down at her low-cut beaded cami and short shorts.
“What, this old thing?” she joked. “Yeah, actually I kind of have a date. Lucky I forgot this in my tack trunk after the last show so I didn’t have to go in boots and breeches.” She shrugged. “Although some guys dig that look, I guess.”
Marissa grinned, her gossip radar zeroing in on Zara. “A date? Spill it!” she demanded. “Who is he? Anyone we know?”
“Remember that guy Grant, from the Hounds Hollow party?”
“You mean that preppy friend of Tommi’s?” Dani said. “The one who was all over you in the pool?”
“That’s the guy.” Zara smiled. “He’s kind of been after me ever since.”
“Lucky,” Marissa declared. “He’s totally hot. Where do I sign up for next dibs on Tommi’s leftovers? Because I wouldn’t mind getting to know that guy she brought out today. Did you guys get a load of him?”
Leftovers? Um, so not. But Zara was in too good a mood to let the other girl’s stupid comment bother her.
“Anyway,” she said, “Grant called and wanted to see me, and I wasn’t sure I was in the mood. So I told him we could only get together if he came up here.” She smiled as she remembered how quickly that return text had come. Okay, so she usually liked her guys a little wilder, a little edgier, a little more dangerous. But it was always nice to be wanted. “Guess he really wanted to see me, because we’re going to the diner. He’s picking me up out front in like—” She checked her watch. “Oops, ten minutes ago. Got to go, girls.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Dani sang out as Zara hurried out of the tack room.
“No promises,” Zara called back over her shoulder with a grin.
A short while later she and Grant were sitting at one of the tables along the diner’s plate-glass front windows. The place was pretty crowded, even though it was almost 3:00 p.m.
“I’m glad this worked out,” Grant said as he reached for his water glass. “I was afraid you guys might be away at another show or something.”
“Nope, off week.” Zara spotted their waitress making her way toward them along the narrow alleyway between tables, a loaded tray balanced against one shoulder. “Awesome, food’s here. I’m starving. Rode three horses this morning.”
“Really? I thought you only had two,” Grant said. “That new one you were talking about, and the one you brought with you from California.”
“Impressive,” Zara said. “Most guys don’t pay much attention to what I say. Especially when I’m wearing something like this.” She leaned forward a little and shook her shoulders. She wasn’t wearing a bra, so the movement resulted in significant jigglage.
The waitress, an older woman with gray-streaked red hair piled atop her head in a messy bun, shot Zara a look of weary disdain as she dropped a couple of plates in front of her and Grant. “Anything else, kids?” she asked, snapping her gum.
“We’re good, thanks.” Grant sounded as polite as ever, even though his face had gone bright red and he was carefully avoiding looking directly at Zara.
Zara grinned at him as the waitress hurried off. “You’re way too easy to mess with,” she told him, reaching for her burger. “Anyway, the third horse I rode was one of Jamie’s sales ponies. He needed someone short to hack it, and I was there.”
She kept her voice casual, still surprised and kind of pleased that the trainer had asked her. That definitely wouldn’t have happened a couple of weeks ago. Not that she cared that much. But hey, it was something.
But Grant wasn’t looking at her anyway. “Aren’t those people from your barn?” he asked.
Twisting around in her seat, Zara saw that Fitz and Kate had just entered and were standing by the hostess stand. “Yeah, but that’s weird,” she said. “I was hanging around the barn most of the day, and I didn’t see either of them there.”
A moment later a different waitress grabbed a couple of menus out of the bin by the door and gestured. Fitz grabbed Kate by the hand and followed the waitress down the aisle. When they neared Zara and Grant, Fitz grinned.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” he said, stopping at the end of their table. “Were you at the barn?”
“Yeah, I was,” Zara replied. “Didn’t see you two there.”
“We weren’t.” Fitz glanced at Kate, who was smiling her wimpy little smile and not saying anything. “We went to watch a show at Kate’s old barn. But we left a little early because we were both starving.”
“Cool. Want to join us?” Grant said.
Zara shot him a look. Okay, so she was getting used to Kate. Maybe even starting to like her, sort of. And Fitz was always fun, of course. But she’d thought the whole point of Grant driving all the way up from the city was to be with her. Was he just being Mr. Super Polite, or what?
“Sounds like fun, but can we do it some other time?” Fitz grinned. “Gotta admit, I’ve been dying to get Kate to myself all day.” He wrapped one long arm around her shoulders and squeezed.
“I hear you, man. Totally. Catch you later.” Grant lifted a hand as the pair hurried off after their waitress. Then he picked up his burger and glanced at Zara. “Cute couple, huh? Like something out of an ad, all tall and thin and blond.”
“I guess.” Zara watched as Fitz and Kate sat down at a table in the next section. She almost wished they’d ended up a little closer so she could eavesdrop. What the hell did the two of them talk about, anyway? When she’d first arrived at Pelham Lane, everyone had warned her that Fitz was a total player. But it didn’t look that way to her. He really seemed to be into Kate, even if Zara couldn’t figure out why. “Maybe skinny chicks just turn him on,” she muttered.
“Huh?” Grant looked up from squirting ketchup on his fries.
Zara shrugged. “Nothing. Just trying to figure out what Fitz sees in Kate.”
“What’s not to like?” Grant glanced over toward the other couple. “She’s gorgeous, and seems sweet. At least I know Tommi really likes her.”
“Gorgeous, huh?” Zara lifted an eyebrow. “No wonder you wanted them to sit with us. Hoping she’d press up against you in the booth?”
“Stop.” He looked uncomfortable. “I so didn’t mean it like that, and you know it. It’s no secret I think you’re the hottest thing going, so don’t get all weird about this, okay?”
“You sure about that?” Zara shot another look at the other couple. “If you’re into the bony, boyish look, Kate’s your girl. She’s got about as many curves as a yardstick.”
“Be nice,” Grant said, looking even more uncomfortable.
Whatever. Zara decided it was time to take control of this whole boring conversation. Get Grant’s attention back where it belonged.
She kicked off her sandal and started running her bare toes up his leg, then inside the hem of his khaki shorts. He gulped, put his fork down, and looked at her. She grinned.
“What do you say we get out of here?” she suggested. “We can get a doggie bag for the burgers.”
He nodded, his face looking red again, then glanced around for their waitress. “Check, please!” he called.