Tommi slammed on the brakes as a taxi cut her off right outside the Holland Tunnel. “Asshole,” she muttered. Then she glanced at Zara, who was slumped in the passenger seat, staring out at the multicolored lights of lower Manhattan. “Sorry about that.”
“Whatever.” Zara yawned. “Just try not to crash before you drop me off, okay?”
Tommi rolled her eyes. “I’ll do my best.” She spun the wheel, taking the turn onto Sixth Avenue. “So what are we going to do about Kate?”
Zara just shrugged. When Tommi looked over again, the other girl looked bored. No wonder. The two of them had spent the better part of the long Sunday-evening drive back from the show discussing Kate, but hadn’t come close to any solutions. All Tommi knew was that she was worried about her friend. Really worried. What if she was spiraling into anorexia or something?
It seemed crazy. But it also kind of didn’t. Kate had always been majorly intense, all about staying in control, always being perfect. Wasn’t that pretty much a recipe for those kinds of problems?
“Maybe we need to talk to her,” she said. “Get her to admit what’s going on, if anything is.”
“You mean like an intervention or something?” Zara shot her a look. “Not sure I’m up for that much drama.”
“Fine, if you don’t want to help, then don’t,” Tommi snapped. “I’m not planning to abandon my friend when she’s in trouble. So sue me.”
“Big talk for someone who didn’t even admit her friend had a problem until I brought it up,” Zara shot back. “Anyway, since when are Kate and I BFFs? She sure didn’t act like it when she tried to sneak around behind my back and pawn those gloves I bought her.”
“Cut her a break,” Tommi said, wanting to defend Kate but definitely not about to spill all her secrets to Zara. “You don’t know why she did that. Maybe she had a good reason.”
“Yeah. Like turning me into her personal cash machine. Cha-ching!”
“Whatever,” Tommi muttered. “Let’s not talk about it anymore. I need to pay attention to the traffic anyhow.”
Zara was glad to see her building appear on the next block. It had been a long drive back from the show. Really long. Tommi had spent the entire time chewing over Kate’s possible problems as obsessively as Chaucer gnawed on his rawhide bone.
Not that Zara didn’t get where she was coming from. If their suspicions were right, this was a big freaking deal. But Zara wasn’t really used to worrying that much about someone else’s life, and she was tired from the long weekend of showing and not in the mood right now.
“Here we are,” Tommi said, pulling to the curb behind a parked van. “And listen, sorry if I was a little cranky before. I’m just worried about Kate, and it’s stressing me out, you know?”
“Yeah. Me too.” Zara shot her a small, cautious smile. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you Tuesday.”
Tommi nodded. “Maybe we can figure something out by then. I’ll text you if I come up with anything, okay?”
“Okay, cool.” Zara climbed out of the car, grabbed her bag out of the backseat, and headed inside.
As she rode up in the elevator, she braced herself for party central. After leaving Stacie alone for the entire long weekend, she figured it was lucky the building was still intact. She wasn’t even going to try to guess what the inside of the loft looked like by now. Or how many of Stacie’s new “friends” were in there right this second, trashing the place even further.
The elevator doors slid open, and Zara stepped out onto the landing. To her surprise, it was quiet—no pounding music, no muffled voices or screams of laughter coming from behind the door.
“Weird,” she muttered, fishing for her key.
She pushed the door open and stepped inside the silent apartment. All the lights were on, and the place was an even bigger mess than usual. Zara stepped over a crumpled beer can, wrinkling her nose. No way was she cleaning up this shit.
“Stacie?” she called. “You home?”
There was no answer. Zara picked her way through the discarded cans, bottles, cigarette butts, and other debris into the main area. She had a pretty strong stomach, but the stink was already getting to her—a rank combination of stale smoke, stale beer, bad cologne, and old puke.
“Hope she’s out buying cleaning stuff,” Zara muttered as she noticed the source of the puke smell, a half-dried splat on the floor near the TV. Gross. Wherever Stacie was, she’d better get back soon and deal with the mess she’d created.
Zara stepped back to the foyer to deposit her boots under the ledge in the message center. As she did, she noticed a note stuck to the schedule board. When she grabbed it, she saw that it was from her cousin.
Hope you had a fun show, Z! it read in Stacie’s big, loopy handwriting. I’m going away for a week or so—Steve wants to take me to his family’s place in the mountains. Isn’t that romantic? See u when I get back, prolly end of next w/e or so. Ciao! XXXOOO
Zara gritted her teeth, then crumpled the note in her hand. Great. Just great. So Cousin Stacie trashes the place, then skips town with some random guy Zara never even heard of? Fabulous.
“Whatever,” Zara muttered. Noticing that the message light on the phone was blinking, she punched the button with a little more force than necessary. There were more than a dozen messages. Most were skippable—boring stuff from Zac’s lawyers or moronic interviewers who hadn’t yet figured out he was touring or whatever. She fast-forwarded through those quickly, then stopped on the second-to-last message when she heard her father’s familiar voice.
“How’s it going, Little Z?” Zac sounded cheerful. And maybe a little drunk. “Things are cool over here—European fans are awesome. Anyway, hope you and Stacie are good. Give me a call back whenever if you want.”
That was it. Zara hit delete, then kept her finger hovering over the button, waiting for the last message. It was another familiar voice.
“Zara, love, it’s Mom!” Gina sang out. “It’s Sunday morning early, and I’m sure you’re still at your show—that was this weekend, wasn’t it? In any case, I have some fabulous news. Well, more of a silver lining, really.” Her musical laugh tinkled out of the tiny speaker. “Remember how I told you we were having permit problems here? Well, it looks like there’s going to be a longer delay than they thought, so we’ve got some unexpected time off. And what better way for me to fill it than by popping home to New York to visit with my darling baby girl? I just booked the flight—I’ll be there in time for lunch on Tuesday. Can’t wait to see you, my love!”
Zara froze, trying to process what her mother had said. Tuesday. Here. Gina was coming here. In less than two days.
She turned and stared out at the disaster that was the loft. Great. Just freaking great.
Kate still felt kind of shaky when she arrived at the barn on Monday morning. It had been a rough weekend, but she just wanted to put it behind her and move on. As much as possible, anyway. Tommi had covered for her with Mrs. Walsh as promised, though Kate couldn’t help wondering exactly how long it would take her to pay her friend back for those expensive breeches. She knew Tommi wouldn’t care if it took a year—or if she ever paid her back at all, for that matter—but somehow that made it even worse.
She was surprised to see a couple of familiar cars in the parking lot. Most of the other juniors stayed away on Mondays, since the barn was supposed to be closed to clients. Especially the Monday after a show, when Jamie preferred to give most of the horses a well-deserved day off. But there was Tommi’s car, and Fitz’s right next to it.
Anxiety fluttered in the pit of Kate’s stomach as she cut her engine. She’d managed to convince Jamie that she’d just had a mild flu or something. But she wasn’t sure her friends believed her—she’d noticed Tommi and Zara giving her weird looks when she’d dragged herself over to the showgrounds on Sunday afternoon to watch Jamie ride in the Grand Prix, where he’d come in fourth on a client’s new horse. At the time she hadn’t worried too much about what they might be thinking. All she’d had on her mind was surviving the rest of the weekend, then going home and sleeping for about twenty-four hours straight.
But now here she was, and it looked as if she might have to face them sooner than she’d planned. She just hoped they didn’t overreact to what had happened. Anyone could get overtired and run down, right?
As soon as she stepped into the barn, she saw Tommi and Zara sitting on one of the benches. They were obviously waiting for her, judging by the way they leaped to their feet and hurried over.
“Kate!” Tommi said. “How are you?”
“Fine!” Kate made her voice as cheery as she could manage. “What are you guys doing here? Never mind, don’t tell me—too much to do.”
“Not so fast.” Tommi grabbed her by the arm as she tried to hurry past. “We need to talk to you.”
Kate pulled back, but her friend’s grip was strong. “Can it wait?” she asked. “I should really go see if the guys need my help cleaning out the trailers.”
“No, this definitely can’t wait,” Tommi said.
“Yeah. Besides, I can’t stay long,” Zara added, checking her watch. “Actually, I can’t believe I got up this early. I need to get back to the city soon to meet the cleaning service—God, I hope they weren’t lying when they claimed they work fast! And while I’m at it, maybe I should start working on finding a detective who specializes in missing persons of the idiotic variety.”
Kate had no idea what she was talking about, but didn’t have the mental energy to worry about it. “Listen,” she told Zara, “if this is about the glove thing, I’m really sorry. It’s just that Summer really wanted them, and I just thought—”
“Forget it,” Zara interrupted, waving a hand. “Not a big deal. Anyway, I should’ve guessed it was all Summer’s fault somehow. The girl’s a major pain in the ass.”
Kate was relieved that she didn’t seem mad anymore. Meanwhile Tommi was still dragging her down the aisle toward a deserted storage room.
Once inside, Kate turned to face the other two. “Well?” she said.
There was a moment of silence. Tommi and Zara traded a glance, both of them looking uncomfortable. “Well …,” Tommi began, then stopped.
“Um, yeah,” Zara said. “Listen, we …”
Her voice trailed off, too. Despite her own anxiety, Kate couldn’t help a flicker of amusement as she glanced at the two of them. Tommi was always so confident, so on top of things, Zara so carelessly cool and mouthy. It wasn’t every day anyone got to see that particular pair struck speechless.
“Okay, here’s the thing,” Tommi blurted out at last, sounding almost angry. “We’re really worried about you, Kate. We know you always work really hard and all, but lately you’ve been pushing yourself way too hard. Like, beyond the breaking point.”
Zara nodded. “Exhibit A? That crazy fall on Saturday. Jamie might believe it was the flu taking you out, but we know better.”
“What are you talking about?” Kate shrugged, inching toward the door. “It’s not like I usually go around passing out for no reason. It had to be the flu. No biggie—I took a bunch of vitamin C when I got home, and I feel fine now.”
“Vitamin C, huh?” Zara’s green eyes slid from Kate’s face to her body. “Eat anything else lately? I’m thinking no.”
“Zara!” Tommi frowned at her, then turned to Kate. “Look, Kate. If you’re so busy you forget to eat, that’s one thing, but if there’s something else going on, you need to, like, get some help before it goes any further.”
“What?” Kate’s eyes widened as she caught on to what they were saying. “Are you guys insane? How could you even think something like that?” She glared at Tommi. “Especially you! I thought you knew me better than that.”
She spun around and rushed toward the door. Tommi took two quick steps and caught her by the wrist again.
“Wait,” she said. “I’m sorry, Kate. But we had to ask. We care about you, okay?”
“Yeah. I knew some girls in LA with eating disorders,” Zara put in. “It wasn’t pretty.”
“Whatever. I don’t have time to stand around listening to your stupid conspiracy theories.” Kate yanked her arm loose from Tommi’s grip. “And I’m not about to start blaming my own mistakes on some stupid made-up eating disorder or whatever. Maybe that’s how things work in your celebrity-rehab rich people’s world. But I’m not like that. I’m handling it, okay? It’s all under control.”
She stormed out of the storage room before Tommi and Zara could decide to diagnose her with some other horrible thing. Her mind was churning so much that she didn’t notice Fitz coming toward her until he called her name.
“I was hoping I’d run into you,” he said cheerfully, his words coming out a little too loud and fast, like they always did when he was overly distracted or keyed up about something. “Didn’t want to text you in case you were home, still sleeping it off or whatever. How’re you doing? Feeling better?”
“Um, yeah,” Kate said cautiously. Was Fitz about to get on her case now, too? If so, he seemed weirdly happy about it.
“Good. You scared me when you came tumbling off that horse.” He reached out and squeezed her arm. “So what do you think? Is it safe to kiss you, or are you still contagious?”
“I don’t think I’m contagious.” Kate was relieved. So he bought the flu story. Good. Yeah, she was really trying to be honest with him and all, but it was easier just to go with that than try to make him understand that the stress and lack of sleep had just caught up with her. Especially since even Tommi obviously couldn’t comprehend it.
Fitz gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Excellent, because not being able to kiss you all day yesterday was torture,” he said with a grin. “But listen, before I get, like, lost in your lips and forget everything else, I have some big news I’ve been dying to share with you. I got a new horse!”
“What?” Kate was distracted, her mind already wandering back to the confrontation with Tommi and Zara. “You mean Ford?”
“No, not him. A totally new one, for real. He was delivered over the weekend while we were all away at the show.” Fitz grabbed her hand. “Want to come meet him?”
If this was a joke, Kate didn’t get it. Had he really bought a new horse? She hadn’t heard anything about it.
He pulled her along the aisle. “He’s going to be kind of a project,” he said. “I’m hoping you’ll help me out with him.”
They stopped in front of a stall. Kate gasped as she recognized the rather scrawny head and neck hanging out over the stall guard. The horse’s dull chestnut coat and ribby barrel stood out among the gleaming, fit show horses.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “Is that Nat’s horse?”
“Not anymore.” Fitz grinned. “Flame’s all mine now. When I saw how impressed you were with him, I figured you’d have a blast helping bring him along, polish up that diamond in the rough.” He shrugged. “Best part is, he was so cheap I didn’t even have to ask my folks for the money to buy him. I figure I’ll just deal with the surprise extra boarding fees later.”
“Oh my God,” Kate said again. Her mind seemed to be stuck in neutral, and she couldn’t quite take in what this meant.
Fitz seemed pleased by her stunned expression. “Anyway, I have plenty of horses to ride already, so I’m hoping you’ll do most of the training and riding for me on this one,” he said. “Once I clue my parents in, I’ll make sure they work things out with Jamie so you even get a little cash out of the deal.” He spun her to face him and wrapped his arms around her. “Surprised?” he asked.
“Yeah, that’s an understatement.” Kate forced a smile. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he’d done this all for her, risking still more parental wrath to make it happen. Another big, dramatic way to show he cared.
It was hard not to be flattered by that, especially after such a rotten weekend. But as Kate glanced at the tall chestnut gelding staring out of the stall at her, her stomach started doing nervous flips. Because she couldn’t even begin to imagine what Nat was going to say about this.
Tommi wasn’t sorry to see Zara leave a few minutes later. After overhearing Joy mention that she needed to drive over to the feed store, Zara had talked the assistant trainer into dropping her off at the nearest Metro North station on the way. Something about her cousin messing up the apartment; she’d spent most of the ride out to the barn blabbing about it, actually, though Tommi had been too worried about Kate to pay much attention.
And she was still worried about her. As soon as Zara was gone, Tommi went in search of Kate, hoping she’d cooled off by now. Their little intervention definitely hadn’t gone as well as Tommi might have hoped. Had it been a huge mistake to ambush her like that? Kate might come across as meek and mild most of the time, but she’d just proved that it was possible to push her too far. Tommi needed to find her, make her understand that they were just trying to help. That they were worried about her—really worried.
She rounded the corner and spotted Kate halfway down the aisle with Fitz. The two of them were standing arm in arm in front of a stall, looking at a tall, lean chestnut Tommi didn’t recognize. But she barely spared the horse a glance.
“Kate,” she called out, hurrying toward them. “Can I talk to you a sec?”
She held her breath as Kate turned to face her. Her expression was guarded and anxious, but less angry than it had been earlier. Or was that wishful thinking?
“Yo, Tommi,” Fitz said, gesturing toward the horse. “Check out my new ride.”
“Later, okay?” Tommi didn’t take her eyes off Kate. “I, um, really need Kate’s advice about something.”
“Uh-oh, sounds like girl stuff.” Fitz laughed, clearly in one of his goofy, extra-happy moods and completely unaware of the tension. “Message received.” He leaned down and planted a kiss atop Kate’s blond head. “I’ll wait for you out by the car, okay?”
“I’ll be right there,” Kate replied. “I’m sure this won’t take long.”
Fitz gave the chestnut a quick pat, then loped off down the aisle. As soon as he was out of sight, Tommi took a step forward.
“Listen, Kate,” she said. “I’m really sorry Zara and I upset you.”
“How could you do it, Tommi?” Kate said softly, her voice cracking a little. “It’s bad enough you’d think something like that about me, without telling some girl I barely know all about it.”
“Actually, Zara was the one who mentioned it to me first.” Tommi shrugged. “But that doesn’t really matter. Look, I know you’re a superstrong person, Kate, and maybe I’m way out of line here. But it kind of freaked me out that you didn’t come to me about the breeches thing, so I just want to say it now. If you’re ever in trouble and need help, I’ve always got your back. Seriously. No limits.”
Kate bit her lip, not quite meeting her eye. “I know you do,” she whispered. “Thanks.”
Tommi waited, hoping for more. But Kate was looking at her watch, maybe already thinking about taking off to meet Fitz.
“So,” Tommi said quickly, not wanting her to go just yet. Things still felt way too unresolved, too uncertain. Definitely not Tommi’s favorite feeling. “Who’s this guy?” She stepped over to the chestnut, giving him a scratch on the neck as he nosed at her curiously.
“Fitz’s new horse.” Kate shot the gelding a look that Tommi couldn’t quite figure out. “We saw him at the Happy Acres show last weekend, and, um, I mentioned that he looked pretty nice. So Fitz decided to buy him, and he wants me to help train him up into a show hunter.”
“If Fitz was looking for a new horse, I wish he’d have told me. I have one I could’ve sold him.” Tommi forced a grin, though she wasn’t really in a joking mood. “But seriously, sounds like a cool project, I’m sure you’ll have fun with him.”
“Yeah.” Kate didn’t crack a smile. “Anyway, I should probably go—Fitz is taking me to the diner. You know, to celebrate.”
“Oh.” Tommi felt helpless, as if her friend was slipping away from her right in front of her eyes. How could she help if Kate wouldn’t even talk to her? “Okay. Um, but maybe we could get together later? You know, just hang out—like old times. If you’re up for it.”
Kate had already started to turn away. But she paused, looking back at Tommi. “Sure,” she said softly. “Maybe. That sounds nice, actually.”
“Cool. I’ll text you later.” Tommi watched her hurry off down the aisle, still feeling worried—but also oddly relieved.
Okay, maybe the intervention had been a mistake. Maybe not. Either way, Tommi wasn’t about to give up on her friend. Not now, not ever.
No limits.
The drama is far from over.
Read on for a sneak peek of the next
A CIRCUIT novel