The a Circuit (14 page)

Zara felt her whole body tightening up. Who did this guy think he was? He was treating her like some bratty pony that needed remedial schooling to remind it not to run away with its rider.

She was ready to go off on him, tell him exactly what she thought of him and his uptight attitude and his freaking barn rules. He wasn’t worth it. Neither was this stupid stuck-up barn. Maybe she should just tell him to shove it, that she was done with riding—or at least riding at prissy Pelham Lane Stables. Tell him she’d be spending the summer partying in Europe and finding a new barn when she got home.

But something made her hold back. Clenching her fists at her sides, she avoided his eye.

“Fine, I hear you, okay?” she muttered.

He gave her a long, searching look with those cool blue eyes of his. “All right,” he said. “As long as we have an understanding.”

She shrugged, staring fixedly at the horse in the stall across the way until Jamie left. A moment later she was aware of Sean sidling out of the stall to stand behind her.

“Whoa, the boss was pretty heinous to you just now,” he said.

Zara rolled her eyes, still not sure why she hadn’t told Jamie off. He’d definitely deserved it. “Tell me about it,” she muttered to Sean.

He nudged her in the side. “Don’t sweat it, babe, the guy’s a tool,” he said. “But listen, if you’re interested, I’ve got just the thing to help you relax …”

“Good boy,” Kate murmured as she tightened Fable’s girth.

As she stepped around the horse to grab the bridle, she saw Tommi coming. “Hey,” Tommi greeted her. “Taking Fable for a hack?”

Kate nodded. “After yesterday’s lesson, I figure we need all the saddle time we can get together.”

“Come on. You guys did fine yesterday.”

That was the kind of thing Tommi always said. But this time she had a weird look on her face.

“What?” Kate asked, suddenly suspicious. Had she done even worse than she’d thought in the lesson? Nah, that probably wasn’t possible.

“What what?” Tommi asked.

“You look weird.” Kate brushed a hand over her face. “Do I have something hanging out of my nose or something?”

Tommi laughed. “No way, I’d tell you if you did.” She hesitated, uncertainty flitting through her eyes.

“Seriously, what? Are you trying to figure out how to tell me I’m not cut out for the eq and I should take up tennis instead?”

“No, nothing like that.” Tommi bit her lip, glanced around, then smiled. “But actually, I do have some news. It’s about Legs …”

Kate listened as Tommi told her about her new deal with her father. The more she talked about it, the more excited Tommi got, waving her hands and grinning as she outlined her plans.

“… so of course I’m already totally panicking that I’m going to screw this up,” Tommi finished breathlessly. “I just hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew, you know?”

“You’ll do great. This kind of thing is right up your alley, and Legs is an amazing horse.” Kate smiled. But her stomach churned with conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it was great that her friend was so happy. Tommi was so even-keeled, so all about keeping her game face on. Seeing her so openly excited and nervous was different, and kind of nice.

At the same time, Kate couldn’t help feeling a twinge of resentment. Did Tommi even realize how lucky she was to have this kind of opportunity? To have a father who could buy and sell horses that cost more than Kate’s family’s house? Sure, Tommi had worked hard for every bit of her success in the saddle—Kate knew that as well as anyone. But what did she really have to be nervous about now? How much of a gamble was this, really? If she succeeded, she got to try again, maybe building things up into a nice little business eventually. If she “failed,” she ended up at some fancy college. Boo freakin’ hoo.

Almost as soon as the thoughts flitted through her mind, Kate wished she could take them back. How could she think such things? Of
course
Tommi knew how lucky she was. Kate should realize that as much as anyone, since she was
supposed
to be one of her best friends.

“Just let me know what I can do to help you, Tommi,” she said. “You know I’m here for you.”

“Thanks. I know, and I really appreciate it.” Tommi smiled. “Good thing, too. I’m sure I’ll need tons of help to make this work.”

“Hey, buddy,” Tommi said as she reached Legs’s stall. The gelding was nosing at his hay, but came over to see her with his ears pricked forward.

She patted him, looking him over with a shiver of nerves. Was she doing the right thing? Should she have stuck with the status quo, or was this gamble worth it?

She decided to try not to think like that. What was done was done—she’d made the deal, now she had to make it work.

“Come on, let’s celebrate,” she told the horse. “I’m taking you for a nice hand graze.”

Minutes later they were out on the grassy lawn between barn and rings. Tommi watched the gelding as he wandered around with his head down, searching out the tastiest patches of clover.

As they came within view of one of the outdoor rings, she saw Kate leading Fable in through the gate. Tommi watched her mount, wondering if she should have told her about seeing Fitz with Zara. She’d almost spilled it just now. But at the last second, she’d decided to keep quiet. Kate was so focused on horses that Tommi wasn’t sure she knew what a guy was for. She probably hadn’t even noticed Fitz flirting with her. Maybe Fitz had realized that, too, and decided to move on to easier pickings. It certainly seemed like it, based on what she’d seen last night.

A buzz interrupted Tommi’s thoughts. Shifting Legs’s lead to her other hand, she dug her phone out of her pocket. She didn’t recognize the number, but decided to live dangerously by answering anyway. What the heck? Maybe it was some top European jumper rider looking to drop a wad of cash on the perfect prospective Grand Prix horse.

She was still smiling at that thought when she said hello.

“Tommi?” the voice on the other end of the line said. “Hi. It’s Grant. Your dad gave me your number.”

Of course he had. Nobody had ever accused Rick Aaronson of being subtle.

“Hey, Grant,” Tommi said. “What’s up?”

“Dinner was fun the other night. But we didn’t have much chance to talk. Want to get together tomorrow night? You can help reintroduce me to good old NYC.”

Tommi hesitated. With this new business venture on her plate, she wasn’t going to have much spare time for hanging out or partying. Besides, she didn’t want to lead anyone on—Grant
or
her father. She’d been glad to see her old friend again, but there definitely hadn’t been any romantic sparks between them. Now or ever.

“Um …,” she began.

“It’s cool if you’re busy or whatever,” Grant added, clearly catching on to her long pause. “Just figured I’d ask.”

“No, that’s okay,” Tommi said quickly, feeling a flash of guilt. “I was just, um, trying to remember if I was doing anything tomorrow. I’m pretty sure I’m free.”

“Great!”

He sounded so happy that Tommi was glad she’d said yes. Grant might not be her dream guy, but he was a good friend. Why not get reacquainted now that he was back in town? Besides, her father liked him. And it wouldn’t hurt to stay on his good side right now.

They made plans to meet up the following evening. After she hung up, Tommi stayed out with Legs for a good long time, daydreaming about the future.

Finally she headed back to the barn. As she was passing the small six-stall quarantine barn where Jamie kept new imports or sick horses, she smelled something. A certain familiar sweet, smoky smell.

Tommi’s heart started pounding. No way. Nobody would be stupid enough to do that
here
, inside one of the barns.

She peered inside. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” she blurted out.

Two sets of eyes looked back at her—guilty ones belonging to Sean the stall mucker and defiant ones belonging to Zara. The two of them were passing a half-smoked joint between them.

“Yo, Tommi.” Zara held it out. “Want a hit?”

THIRTEEN

Kate stared in the front window of the swanky SoHo boutique, wondering what could possibly possess someone to buy six-inch metallic sandals. “So then what happened?” she asked Tommi.

Tommi shrugged. “I started yelling as soon as I realized what was going on,” she said. “Sean tried to take off, but Miguel happened to be nearby and saw them, too, and he called Jamie. I had to take Legs back to his stall, so I’m not sure what happened after that.”

“I heard Sean got fired,” Kate said.

Tommi shot her a look. “Even on your day off, news travels fast, huh?”

“Yeah.” Kate ducked a guy trying to shove an advertising leaflet in her face. West Broadway was crowded with shoppers, tourists, and vendors hawking everything from handmade jewelry to bootleg DVDs. Definitely a different world from the peace and quiet of Pelham Lane.

Kate never quite knew what to do with her day off. After the first few times she’d come to the barn anyway, Jamie had officially banished her. The juniors had a lesson that afternoon, so she was allowed to turn up then. But she knew better than to show her face too early.

The last place she wanted to hang out was her house. Her brother had skipped his first day of summer school, which meant World War III was in full cry between him and their father. That in turn meant her mom was sinking even deeper into her rituals. Tommi’s invitation to come into the city for lunch and shopping had offered a welcome escape, and Kate had rushed out to the train station without even stopping for breakfast.

“Guess we won’t be seeing Zara at the lesson this afternoon,” she commented as the two of them wandered on down the sidewalk.

“Guess not. No big loss there.”

“Come on. She wasn’t that bad.” Kate felt a pang of sympathy as she thought about Zara’s short time at the barn. Sure, she hadn’t exactly gone out of her way to fit in. But Kate knew that sometimes a person’s exterior didn’t show the whole story. Zara seemed so guarded, almost angry, and yet so lonely somehow.

“Are you kidding?” Tommi sounded incredulous. “Look, it’s none of my business if she wants to light up a fatty at home, in the barn parking lot, in the middle of Times Square, wherever. But smoking
in the barn
? Risking the lives of however many zillions of dollars worth of horseflesh, not to mention Jamie’s entire livelihood? Talk about selfish!”

“Good point, I guess.” Kate shivered, her all-too-vivid imagination immediately latching on to what Tommi had said. Concocting horrible images of horses screaming in terror, their eyes rolling back in their heads as their stalls went up in flames around them …

“Anyway, Jamie’s already given Zara enough second chances,” Tommi went on as they paused at the corner, waiting for the light to change. “She didn’t walk into a barn yesterday—she knew what she did was stupid and did it anyway. I doubt we’ll see her again.”

Kate nodded, knowing her friend was right. Jamie was the biggest of Big Name Trainers. He wasn’t afraid to kick someone out of his program. He’d done it before, and with much less provocation. Still, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for Zara. What would it be like to be kicked out? Kate hoped she’d never, ever find out.

They window-shopped for a while longer, though Kate’s heart wasn’t really in it. What was the point? She’d never be able to afford most of the stuff she saw at the mall with Nat, let alone anything in these shops. Not that she cared. Fashion wasn’t really her thing. If she couldn’t wear it to the barn, she didn’t need it.

Finally Tommi checked her watch. “We should eat,” she said. “What do you feel like?”

“I don’t care, I’ll eat anything. You decide.”

She regretted her words when Tommy led her into a busy, chic little café on Mercer Street. “Seems kind of pricey,” Kate said as she peeked at the menu the intimidatingly glamorous waitress had handed her before rushing off.

“Don’t worry about that.” Tommi was scanning the menu, too. “I invited you to lunch, remember? It’s my treat.”

Kate bit her lip, knowing better than to argue. Tommi could be funny about stuff like that. Maybe because it was no big deal for her to make such an offer—or to accept one, either. Why should it be? In her world, expensive lunches were the norm, just like six-figure horses, four-figure monthly board bills, $350 bridles, and name-brand breeches. She couldn’t be expected to understand that in Kate’s world, any lunch that cost more than ten bucks had better be celebrating something important, like a birthday or a graduation.

“Um, okay,” Kate said. “Thanks. I had a huge breakfast, though. I’ll probably just have a salad or something.”

As they waited for the waitress to come back, Kate found herself wondering what it would be like. Having that much money. Enough so you could eat anywhere, order anything, shop in any store.

It took her a moment to realize that Tommi was talking to her. Something about Fitz.

“Huh?” Kate asked.

“I said, I noticed Fitz has been hanging around you a lot lately.” Tommi sipped her water. “And it seems like you don’t really mind having him around. True?”

Kate felt her cheeks go pink as she avoided her friend’s gaze. “He’s cool, I guess,” she said. “I mean, we’re just friends, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“I’m not implying anything. I’m asking.”

“Okay, then I’m telling you. Fitz isn’t my type. As if you had to ask.”

“Good.” Tommi sat back in her seat, looking oddly relieved. “Because you’re way too good for him. I’m glad his ridiculous ninja flirting hasn’t overwhelmed you like it seems to do with everyone else. I hope you keep it that way.”

Kate grabbed her own water glass, taking a long drink to avoid responding. Yeah, she could tell that Tommi thought she was looking out for her. And that made sense—Tommi had a lot more experience with guys, which wasn’t difficult, since Kate had practically, oh, none. But still, who was Tommi to tell her who was “good enough” for her to date?

Or could it be
Kate
who wasn’t good enough? The thought slipped in before she could stop it, slippery as an oiled snake. Fitz came from serious money. Tommi didn’t seem to care about stuff like that, but maybe …

No. Kate did her best to shake off the notion. But the sick little knot in the pit of her stomach was still there when the waitress returned to take their order, making it easy to stick to her plan of ordering nothing but a small salad and another glass of water.

“Zara’s horses are still here,” Dani announced, stopping at the end of the aisle with her horse trailing behind her. “At least Ellie is. I didn’t see her jumper, but there’s hay and fresh shavings in his stall, so he’s probably in turnout or something.”

Kate shrugged as she tightened Fable’s girth, dodging the big gelding’s annoyed nip. “It only happened yesterday,” she pointed out. “I’m sure Jamie gave her time to arrange to take the horses somewhere else.”

Summer was leaning against the wall with Whiskey in her arms, watching Javier adjust her horse’s saddle in the next set of cross-ties. “Yeah,” she said. “I wonder where she’ll go?”

“I’m sure we’ll find out. We’ll probably still see her at shows.” Tommi glanced up briefly, then returned to fiddling over Legs’s jumping boots.

At that moment Fitz rushed in, breathless and dressed in shorts and flip-flops. “Am I late?” he cried. “My watch stopped, and I overslept, and then there was this heinous traffic on the bridge.”

“Chill, you’re okay,” Dani said. “We’ve still got plenty of time. I don’t think Marissa’s even here yet.”

“Whew!” Fitz collapsed against the wall. Noticing Kate looking his way, he grinned and waggled his eyebrows playfully. “Hey, sexy.”

Kate smiled tightly and turned away, feeling self-conscious. She was all too aware that Tommi was standing nearby, probably watching for any signs of her succumbing to Fitz’s nefarious flirtation.

Fitz didn’t seem to notice her reaction. His eyes had turned to Tommi’s horse. “So hey—is it official, Aaronson?” he asked, stepping over to give Legs a rub on the neck. “You a for-reals horse wheeler-dealer now?”

“If you want to call it that.” Tommi rolled her eyes. “Yeah. My dad wired Jamie the money this morning. Legs is officially mine—for better or for worse.”

“Congrats!” As Tommi straightened up, Fitz grabbed her arm to look at her watch. “Whoa! I’d better hustle. If I’m late one more time, Jamie threatened to make me ride without stirrups for the entire summer.”

A few minutes later Kate, Tommi, and Summer were leading their horses up the path toward the main ring. They weren’t exactly late, but they weren’t early, either, thanks to Summer’s stubborn refusal to move out of the way until Javier found the polos that
exactly
matched the shirt she was wearing that day. Glancing forward, Kate saw that Jamie was already perched on the fence watching three riders warm up. Dani and Marissa were two of them.

“Who’s that?” Summer asked, staring at the third.

Kate’s eyes widened as she recognized the horse. “I think it’s—”

“Zara!” Tommi finished for her. “What the hell?”

Zara kept her gaze on Keeper’s neck as the other riders filed into the ring. She could feel the stares hitting her like shrapnel, though nobody said a word. Probably only because Jamie was right there. None of his loyal little riderbots would ever dare to question him.

But Zara could imagine what they were all thinking.

Then Fitz rushed up to the ring with his horse trotting along behind him. “Zara!” he blurted out when he spotted her. “Um, hi?”

“Hi,” she muttered as she walked Keeper past the gate.

“Wow,” Fitz said, for once clearly at a loss for words. “I, um …”

“Are you here to ride or to chat?” Jamie asked him pointedly.

Fitz shot Zara another glance and shrugged. “I’m here to ride,” he said, yanking his left stirrup down and swinging aboard.

If Zara thought she’d feel less self-conscious once the lesson started, she’d thought wrong. She might as well have had a neon sign hanging over her head reading
LOOK AT ME
. Or maybe
CLASS LOSER
. At least she was riding Keeper today instead of Ellie, and the big chestnut gelding was a saint as always. Still, by the third time Dani shot her a curious look as she rode by, Zara almost wished Jamie had kicked her out of the barn after all.

Almost.

Why had he let her stay, anyway? She still wasn’t sure. He claimed it had nothing to do with who her parents were. Right. It
always
had something to do with that.

With Jamie, though, she wasn’t sure that was the whole story. He’d spent an awful lot of time talking about her potential as a rider. Raving about her natural gifts. And she was pretty sure he didn’t mean the natural gifts most people noticed on her. For one thing, he obviously didn’t roll that way.

So what
did
he mean? She spent so much time brooding over it that she almost missed when everyone started to canter. Luckily Keeper was paying more attention than she was. He stepped into a smooth depart, swinging along on the rail after Marissa’s horse.

“Easy, Tommi!” Jamie called.

Glancing back, Zara saw that Tommi was having trouble with her horse, the lean, fiery-looking bay she’d been riding at the shows lately. He was tossing his head, trying to bolt away from her at the canter.