Chapter 22

September

Sitting at my desk after school, I changed the calendar page. A warm rush spread through me as I spotted the purple circle wrapped around my birthday. I planned to cross out each day until the twenty-first. Fourteen years old! My heart danced as I daydreamed about my surprises to come.

Since Colton’s scare with the horses, Morgan had opened up a tiny bit about herself. Depending on her mood, she jabbered without thinking, and on other days she never said a word.

Saturday afternoon, Morgan helped me with barn chores. As I swept the barn floor, she casually mentioned her grandparents. I almost stopped breathing. Hiding my surprise and excitement at hearing her intimate secrets, I never glanced at her.

Morgan continued to speak from Rapp’s empty stall. “My grandparents on my father’s side—” Her voice grew softer. “I wish they lived closer.”

I shied away from being nosey and hoped she’d tell me more. As I walked up to the hayloft and threw bales down to the feed room below, I kept the conversation moving. “My grandparents live in Virginia. I know what you mean. They always make me feel special, but I see them maybe twice a year.” I carried a flake of hay to Sonny’s stall, and Morgan’s loud voice filtered from the other end of the barn.

“I’m thinking about going to see them so I’m not sure if I can make it to your birthday party.”

“Oh, no! I’ll be so disappointed.”

Then her eagerness to talk hit me in the head. Morgan couldn’t talk face to face. We went about our chores, having a distant conversation until we met in the tack room. I opened the cooler and offered her an apple and some chips.

As she chomped into her apple, I asked, “Do your grandparents ever come to your house?”

With her apple between her teeth, she grabbed items from her trunk, stashed them under her arms, and walked out. I stared at the empty doorway as my stomach churned. Did I say the wrong thing? She avoided me the next hour, and I walked home. She had made it clear not to ask questions about her grands.

Early the next morning, I woke, worrying about Morgan’s distress. But when she arrived at the barn, she rambled on as if nothing had happened.

I pressed my lips together and just listened.

She cleaned Knight’s stall, and blabbered. “You know, Trina, if I save some money, I could go see my grands. They’d never come here. It’s something I’ve thought about since we moved out of their house, and that was three houses ago. I found out there’s a train that goes to Florida, and I could be there in one day.”

I stopped picking Chancy’s stall and stuck my head out the door. “You used to live with your grandparents?”

She walked up to my door, and made eye contact. “Trina, now that I can do most of the barn stuff by myself, is there any chance I can cover for you when you need extra time?”

I choked. “You want to earn money? Doing menial work?”

Morgan leaned her head. “My parents never give me any money. They pay for everything or set up accounts at the stores for me to purchase what I need. That way they know everything I buy. Even the taxi driver is covered when I need a ride. It must be nice to have your own spending money.”

“Why wouldn’t your parents pay for everything on your trip?”

“Well, I may go with a friend from school who has grandparents in the same town. And I’d need to have my own cash.”

“Yeah?” My jaw dropped, and at the same time, I wanted to say, “Your story is getting stranger.” But I grabbed a wild strand of hair, twirled it around, and told myself not to react. I breathed through my nose and whispered it out my lips. “I’m glad to hear you’ve made a new friend at your school. Why don’t you invite her to hang out at the barn?”

“Well, she doesn’t live in my neighborhood, so we don’t ride the same bus.”

“Morgan, just the other night, I tried to figure out how to make more time for all of my homework and training Colton. I’m kind of struggling. And my parents don’t know yet. I still have time to get my grades up. But if you really want to earn some money and do some of the chores, you’d be a huge help. Which days can you work?”

Morgan chuckled. “I’m here every day. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

“Wow! This is perfect timing. Now that I’m not riding much, I don’t need money for lessons. Let’s go tell Mrs. Brown.”

Morgan sucked in a panicked breath and wrinkled her eyebrows. “Can’t we do this between us? If Mrs. Brown knows, she might say something to my parents, and then they’d get upset with me and probably with her.”

“I guess?” I bit my bottom lip and frowned. Should I believe her? “Okay. I’ll keep my name on the chalkboard. When you help me, we’ll share the money. And if you work without me, you’ll get it all. I’ll keep track of what I owe you. I get paid every two weeks.”

Morgan smiled at the floor. “Thanks, Trina. That’d be great.”

“Where in Florida do your grandparents live? When are you planning to go?”

She shrugged. “In Bristol, a little town close to Tallahassee, Florida. I don’t know when. We’re still in the talking stage. But we’re working on it. The time has to be just right.”

I walked away and processed what she had said. I worried about not getting Mrs. Brown’s permission, but I sure needed an extra hand. After sweeping the barn, I found Morgan cleaning her leathers in the tack room.

She glanced up at me. “Look. I’ve learned how to do another thing. You’ve taught me well.”

I sat next to her and examined her bridle “Good job. I…”

Morgan stared at me. “What?”

“Umm. Since you’ve asked, would you mind helping me, today? I have to work Colton at the grocery store, and mom’s waiting for me.”

Morgan straightened and for the first time beamed. “Yes, that’d be awesome. I’m here until who knows when. And it will give me something else to do. And—” Morgan glanced each direction, “Mrs. B isn’t around.”

“That’s true. But at some point, she’ll find out. I’ll need to explain before she gets upset about me keeping it a secret. I know she’ll be fine with it.”

Morgan looked at her boots. “Well, if we can wait just a little longer, maybe I’ll have saved enough money, and she won’t need to know.”

Her comment caught me off guard. As she headed to her stall, I stared at her back and concern welled up inside of me. Morgan had everything she ever needed, except for parents who cared. What did she mean, “The time had to be right?”