They separated at the main road. Amber went left to go home, and Lainey turned right toward Dodge’s ranch. She wondered, as she entered it, if the ranch had seemed this dusty and run-down last summer. If it had, she hadn’t noticed. Last summer she’d moved in a world that sparkled with promise. This summer it had dimmed considerably, and not just for her but for her parents and for Mr. Dodge.
What Mr. Dodge told her while she was unsaddling Whiskey dimmed Lainey’s world even more. He gave her permission to ride Whiskey in the parade easily enough. It was what he said just before he hobbled off to answer the phone in his office that was the shocker.
She was standing there brooding about it as she picked the dirt out of Whiskey’s hoof when a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts, “So how’s the horse training going, Lainey?”
“Ryan! Hi. I haven’t seen you around in a while.” She smiled over her shoulder at him.
He leaned against the barn wall. “I’ve been recovering from the famous weekend camp-out with my father.”
“Saddle sores?”
“Cactus spines in the butt.”
She laughed briefly, then said, “I’m sorry.”
“So was I. He brought me back slung over my horse belly down. Luckily I collided with the cactus on the way home, and we didn’t have too far to ride.”
“You fall or the horse pitch you off?” Lainey asked.
“More like the saddle slipped down to one side and I went with it. Dad claims I didn’t tighten my cinch properly.”
“Did he yell at you?”
“He’s not the type to yell. He just looked so disgusted I wanted to slink into the nearest snake hole. I don’t think he thinks I’m too bright.”
“So it wasn’t a good weekend.”
“No, I wouldn’t say that. My father talked a lot. I got closer to understanding him. In fact,” Ryan said, “I suspect he’s quite a guy. The problem is the feeling’s not mutual.”
“Just because you rolled off a horse?”
“No, just because I’m not the macho kid he’d like me to be.”
“Oh.” Lainey thought of her own father who also preferred macho kids—male macho kids, not female substitutes.
“So, what’s new with you and Whiskey?” Ryan asked.
“We’re getting along great. We’ve been trail riding together every day.”
“No kidding? That must make you happy.”
“Sure, but—”
“But what?”
“Oh, Saturday there’s a parade to open the new park in Tucson,” Lainey said. “I’m going to try and ride Whiskey in that, and then if he does well, he’ll get auctioned off to the highest bidder.”
“That’s no problem. Just don’t do well and nobody will want him.”
She moved to a rear hoof and, leaning into Whiskey, lifted his foot so that she could work on it. With her eyes focused on the hoof, Ryan wouldn’t see her squeezing back the tears. It appalled her that tears threatened her so often lately.
“Mr. Dodge likes the parade idea,” she said, and then she slipped Ryan the bad news Mr. Dodge had given her earlier. “Especially because he’s selling off all his horses for whatever he can get for them. He says he’s too old to run this operation anymore.”
“You’re kidding! The ranch is closing down?”
“Yup. Apparently Chick’s already looking for another job. Lopez will stay on until the horses are gone. That’s to help Mr. Dodge out.… Lady and Shiloh are going to a riding school that has mostly little kids. The best I can hope for Whiskey is that if he does well in the parade somebody nice will buy him.”
“It doesn’t seem fair when you worked so hard,” Ryan said.
It wasn’t fair, she thought, not because she’d worked hard on Whiskey but because she’d never love another horse as much. How could she when there’d never be one like him?
Ryan followed her as she led Whiskey to the corral and set him loose. Whiskey looked back at her as if to say, “So that’s it for today?” Then he ambled over to check out the manger. Finding it empty, he shouldered his way into a group of horses standing in the mud by the water barrel and stuck his nose in the water to drink.
“So what are you here for?” Lainey asked Ryan.
“Oh, I thought I’d visit with Chester and see if he feels like hauling me around on his back for a while. My father’s got some business down at the hotel, so he dropped me off for an hour or so.”
“Today I’m going to walk Whiskey through some heavy traffic and maybe around a shopping plaza. That’ll take a lot longer than an hour,” Lainey said. “But tomorrow I’ve got to try him on a bridge he’ll have to cross to get to the start of the parade. Want to ride with me then?” She hoped Ryan wouldn’t think she was flirting; she just wanted a chance to see him again.
“Sure. Why not?”
“I mean, Whiskey likes riding with other horses,” she added hastily to put a different cast on her invitation. “And if you rode Chester—”
“It might keep Whiskey calmer. Sure.” Ryan sounded pleased.
Lainey wondered if he liked her. She was only just discovering how much she liked him.
Dad came home with two small bunches of store-bought flowers—red carnations for Mom, and pink and white ones for Lainey. “For my two best girls,” Dad said.
“What’re we celebrating?” Mom asked after admiring the flowers and thanking him.
“Remember the old man who gave me such a hard time about the addition to his house?”
“The high-voiced one with the fancy silver buckle?”
“Right. He wants me to build a house for him and his new wife.” Dad grinned. “Seems he got himself married to a lady half his age, and she doesn’t like his old place.”
“Well, good for him and good for us.”
“Then we don’t have to move?” Lainey asked.
Dad’s face fell. “It’s not that good, Lainey. We’re still losing Cobb Lane—all of it. This job’ll just pay our other bills for a while.”
“I found us a house,” Mom said.
“Where?” Lainey asked.
“A mile or so back of where your friend Amber lives. It’ll be a long way from the ranch, but don’t worry. I’ll drive you.”
“You won’t have to. Mr. Dodge is going out of business anyway.”
“Is that so? Well, too bad, but I’m not surprised,” Dad said. “Losing his wife took the heart out of him.”
“Or he just decided he’s old enough to retire,” Mom said. “After all, a ranch like that is a lot of work.”
Her parents’ eyes focused on Lainey. Afraid their sympathy would bring on the sudden tears again, she changed the subject by saying, “So you found a house? A little one?”
“It’s smaller than this,” Mom said, “and a few years older, but I think you’ll both like it. It’s got a nice wide porch across the front and plenty of space out back.”
Dad stretched his long arms up so that he almost touched the ceiling. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“When are we moving?” Lainey asked.
“I told them by the end of next week.” Mom watched her as if she feared Lainey might erupt at the news.
“I’m thirsty,” Lainey murmured and went for a glass of ice water. She hoped they wouldn’t be able to see from her back any sign of the hard lump stuck in her chest.
That night she couldn’t seem to fall asleep. She was remembering how excited they’d all been the day they’d moved into Cobb Lane. Everything in the brand-new house, the first that Dad had built as his own boss, gleamed and smelled new. Lainey had gloated over her bedroom being big enough to have an extra bed in it for a friend to sleep over. She had reveled in her walk-in closet and enjoyed stowing her belongings in it. Mom had admired the golden oak cabinets and her fancy kitchen tiles. Dad had even talked about there being space out back for a pool someday.
Well, they’d had two good years here. And as Mom would point out, nobody was sick or dying. Dad’s business could always turn and go up instead of down. They might even build another house here or buy back this one. But more than the house, she’d miss Dodge’s ranch. And more than the ranch, she would miss Whiskey.
He had to behave himself well at that parade. If he didn’t, and Mr. Dodge was left to sell him, it would go bad for Whiskey. She wondered if the horse would understand if she tried to explain it to him. He had to understand. “None of your tricks now,” she’d tell him. “This is serious business. In fact, your life depends on it.”