No Time for Horses (18 page)

* * * *

Tuesday, December 3
^nd
, 4:30 p.m.

While I drank a cola, I shared news of my
weekend with Ingrid. She listened while I explained about Rick
sending the kids to spook Aladdin and the consequences. I told her
all about staying with the Gibsons. “It was weird,” I said. “I’ve
spent the night with Robin before, but usually we just hang out. I
hardly see her parents. This time, I swear I couldn’t get away from
them. It was totally freaky.”

“In a perverse way?” Ingrid made a note.
“What made you the most uncomfortable?”

“Maura waking me up every couple hours on
Saturday night. She kept tapping on the bathroom door when I
showered. She wouldn’t let me do any housework. I tried to help
feed the puppies last night, and John Gibson sent me to watch TV
again.”

“Why do you think they treated you that way?”
Ingrid focused on her notepad. “Were they trying to hassle
you?”

“No, the doctor said I had to rest because I
had a concussion. They saw to it that I did. And they ran
interference when Mom called too.”

“How?”

“Well, she didn’t really phone to find out
how I was. She wanted to know where I kept Chrissy’s cookies and
what to pack for lunches and where to find Cathy’s homework.”

“What about Rick? Did he call?”

“Yeah, but John talked to him. Rick was all
ticked off because he had the kids on Sunday and he wanted to bring
them over to me, and John said, ‘Not at his house.’ He told Rick to
‘man up’ and that there was more to being a father than acting like
a sperm donor.”

“That doesn’t sound like an appropriate thing
to say in front of a young girl.”

“He thought I was asleep,” I said. “We’d been
watching a Clint Eastwood marathon, and I dozed off. I sort of woke
up when the phone rang, but not all the way.”

“So, it sounds like you had a nice weekend
with people who behave the way that parents are supposed to act.”
Ingrid wrote down a few more lines. “What did the doctor say when
you saw him this afternoon?”

“As long as I rest when my head hurts, I can
resume my regular activities. I talked to Rocky, and she said that
I can ride tomorrow in my lesson, but only at a walk. And she’s
going to have Sierra saddle up for me.” I wrinkled my nose in
disgust. “I’m stuck on Chaparral for the next week.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“She’s a very nice Arabian mare, but she’s
dead quiet. I think if you lit a firecracker near her, she’d just
roll her eyes and say, ‘stupid human.’ She doesn’t believe in the
horsy philosophy of bolting when she’s scared. That’s why I’ll have
her until my head is a hundred percent better.”

“That makes sense. So, Rocky is looking out
for you. What about the Gibsons?”

“They told me that I can always stay with
them. Oh, and Maura says you’re supposed to call her, but she
wouldn’t tell me why. It’s probably another of those things that
she and John do.”

“What’s that?” Ingrid tapped her pen on the
table. “Is it something special?”

“On the way to the clinic and my appointment
today, Maura explained that she and John make decisions for kids.
They don’t consult them. So, the two of them have some things they
undoubtedly want to tell you about Mom and Rick. Mom wasn’t real
impressive as a caregiver and parent to me on Saturday.”

“I haven’t been real impressed with her since
she misled me about Chrissy’s parentage.” More notes and then
Ingrid eyeballed me. “Your parents keep forgetting that they have
six kids, not five. At sixteen, you are not an adult, regardless of
the fact that they treat you like one. What do you do when you have
a problem and you need help solving it?”

“I talk to my friends.” I finished my soda.
“They always help me. If they didn’t babysit for me, I’d be off the
cheer squad. And I generally stay over with them on Friday and
Saturday nights so I don’t have to be at Mom’s house by
myself.”

“Does she know you don’t like being home
alone?”

“How could she?” I asked. “She’s always at
work. Before Rick left last May, there were plenty of people
around. Now, it’s just creepy. I guess I wouldn’t be so scared if I
could have a dog or a cat, but he’s allergic. And Mom says I have
enough work to do with the kids. I don’t need a pet.”

“What does Jack say? Does he like pets?”

I laughed. “If he didn’t, he’d be in trouble.
His family has dogs, cats, horses, cows, and pigs, and he takes
care of them most of the time. He loves animals and never complains
about mucking the barn. He gripes about scrubbing out the
bathrooms, but his mom says that’s his share of the housework.”

“Well, I’m glad he’s human,” Ingrid said.
“Otherwise, he’d be perfect.”

* * * *

Tuesday, December 3
^nd
, 7:30 p.m.

Tom dropped me off at home after our group
session. The house was lit up when I walked in and found Darby
cleaning up the kitchen. She glanced at me, smiled, and came to hug
me. “How are you? What did the doctor say?”

“I’m back among the living,” I said. “As long
as I take it easy, I can do my regular activities.”

“Be sure you take it easy,” Darby said.

“I will.” One more hug and I went down the
hall to find Mom. She was in her room, my old room, putting away
her uniforms for the week. “Hi. I’m home.”

“So I see.” She hung another teal blouse in
the closet. No touchy-feely crap from her, that wasn’t my mother’s
style. “I didn’t appreciate the way that Maura wouldn’t let me talk
to you. I had questions and nobody to answer them.”

“I was asleep when you called,” I lied.
“Other than that, how did things go?”

A heavy scowl came my way. “You have laundry
to finish. When you get that done, you can clean out my car. I took
the kids to McDonald’s for dinner. Linda spilled her milkshake in
the back seat, and Kevin sprayed ketchup on the passenger
window.”

“Sounds like fun times here at the old
homestead.” I turned and left the room. Like Robin said, “The more
things changed, the more they stayed the same.” I wondered what
John or Maura would do if someone slimed their vehicles during the
great hamburger wars.
Make the kids help clean up the mess
,
I thought.

I went into the girls’ room. “Hey guys, I’m
home.”

Lots of squeals and Linda ran to hug me. I
bent and snuggled her close. When Chrissy toddled to me, I scooped
her up. “Come on, you two. Let’s get the rest of the family
together.”

“Why?” Linda clung to my hand. “It’s not
story time or bedtime yet.”

“No,” I agreed. “It’s clean up Mommy’s car
time. I still have a concussion, and I can’t scrub out the S.U.V. I
need you kids to help me.”

Linda gave me a funny look. “Are you okay,
Vicky? You never make us help you with the car.”

“Well, when you make a mess, it’s your
responsibility to help clean it up,” I told her as we walked toward
the hall. “Now, let’s go find everybody else.”

“Okay.” Linda beamed up at me. “I’m glad
you’re not mad at us. We didn’t mean to be bad on Saturday.”

“It was an accident,” I said, “and I know
you’ll be more careful next time you come to the stable.”

Chapter
Eighteen

Wednesday,
December 4
^th
, 7:10
a.m.

Before I headed to the Commons, I popped into
the office to get an admit slip for my first class. The secretary
handed me a note to see Mr. Baxter as soon as possible. I had no
idea what was on my advisor’s mind, but I figured I’d take a couple
minutes to find out. Walking into the cafeteria, I snagged my latte
from Robin. “Want to come with me to see Mr. B.?”

“Sure.” She slung her backpack on her
shoulder. “Why are we visiting him?”

“Not a clue,” I said. “I got a note from him.
I know the student council meets this week, but Tom said we’re
organized for the next round of the food drive. We saved all the
boxes, and we’ll be having them delivered to the classrooms later
today.”

“When did you see Tom?” Robin asked. “You and
Jack are okay, aren’t you? He even went shopping for you yesterday,
and that is so not his thing.”

“We’re fine.” I had to smile at the idea of
my boyfriend in an actual store. Poor guy. He’d talked Robin into
shopping for him on Black Friday. “Tom is in my support group. He
drove me home afterward. And what happens in group stays in group,
so take my word for it. I am definitely not his type. He has a girl
in mind, but she doesn’t know he’s alive.”

“Interesting.” Robin sighed. “I know you, and
there’s no way you’ll break his trust. I’ll just have to wait and
see who he ends up with.”

“You got it.”

Mr. Baxter was in the middle of writing an
entry task on the whiteboard when we walked into the room. “Good
morning, ladies. Nice to see you back, Vicky. Do you have a
completed grant application for me to pass on at the staff meeting
on Friday morning?”

“My mom still needs to sign it, and I haven’t
had time to talk to her about it yet. I’ll do it tonight.”

“And turn it in tomorrow morning before
school,” Mr. Baxter said. “I need to write a cover letter to go
with it and make copies of the file for everyone.”

“You’ll have it,” I promised.

“Okay, then I’ll see you in class.”

We zipped out of there and were halfway to
the Homeroom English when Robin gave me her undivided attention.
“Do you really think your mom will just sign off?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “All I can do is ask
her. She backed off last night when she found the kids helping me
clean her car. I guess she decided I might actually be sick, not
faking it.”

“I’m so glad she’s not blonde,” Robin told
me. “Otherwise, we’d never live down the reputation of being
totally clueless.”

* * * *

Wednesday, December 4
^th
, 3:30 p.m.

We were on the way to Shamrock Stable when my
phone went off. Robin started to reach for my purse so I could dig
out my cell. I shook my head. “Don’t bother. It’s either Rick or
Mr. Diaz about the kids. I left my superhero cape at the cleaners.
Let’s just go to the barn.”

That got me a super long look from Robin.
“Don’t you need to be on your mom’s good side if you want her to
sign your grant application? Won’t they complain to her?”

“Possibly.” I focused on the houses outside
the truck window. “I don’t know if she’ll listen to them or not. I
reminded her this morning that I was recovering from a concussion,
and I didn’t think I should have to renew my Cinderella license
yet.”

“What did she say?” Jack stopped for a red
light. “Was she majorly pissed?”

“No, she told me that she missed me when I
was gone and that she didn’t want me to relapse. She even said
she’d take the kids to school and daycare today before she went to
work.”

“Wow. Well in that case, maybe Rick wants to
avoid her,” Robin said.

“I hope so.”

When we arrived at the stable, Jack parked.
He reached into the super-cab seat behind him and pulled out a box
wrapped in pink paper. “Here. This is for you, Vicky.”

“What’s the occasion? It’s not my birthday,
and Christmas is weeks away.”

“You couldn’t wait until either holiday for
this. Open up.”

The box wasn’t heavy, just a bit awkward,
about fourteen inches square. I turned the carton over in my hands.
I wanted to open it, but I also needed to savor having my first
present in a long time.

Jack put his arm around my shoulders. “You’ll
need this today.”

“Really?” I slowly peeled back the paper on
one end and read the brand name.
Troxel.
“Oh my Gawd. You
bought me a new helmet? You’re amazing.”

“It could be something else stashed in the
box,” Robin teased.

“No way.” I finished unfolding the paper and
lifted out the bright purple helmet. “And it’s my favorite color
too.”

“Am I good or what?” Jack asked.

“You’re the best.” I kissed him. “A brand new
helmet. I don’t know what to say.”

“Promise me that you won’t break the
anti-splat rule again and we’re good,” Jack said.

“I promise.”

After helping me groom and saddle, Jack stuck
around for the first half of my lesson, before he disappeared. I
could still see his old pickup in the parking lot, so I knew he had
to be around the farm. He showed up when I finished riding and
stood outside the stall while I unfastened the breast collar. I
glanced at him over the door. “What’s up?”

“Not much. I’ll put that away for you.”

“I haven’t broken either arm, Jack
Gibson.”

“No, and I don’t want you overdoing it today.
So, I’ll carry the saddle, pads, and bridle to the tack room for
you.”

“Okay, Mr. Macho. I’ll let you.”

While he carried away the western gear, I
brushed Chaparral’s sorrel coat. Her mane was the same reddish
color as her hide. She had a blazed face and three white socks.
Rocky got her when the previous owners moved away and left the
horse behind, along with a board bill. Except for a protruding
belly, the mare had been super thin ten years ago, and Rocky called
in Dr. Larry. It turned out Chaparral was pregnant, so Shamrock
Stable ended up with two horses, not one.

I finished grooming and looked around the
stall. It’d been cleaned and bedded. Someone scrubbed the water tub
too, and I was willing to bet it had been Jack. He’d stepped up and
done chores for me. Talk about a hero. When he returned, I asked,
“Did you do both barns?”

“Sierra and I did them together while you and
Robin had your lesson,” Jack said.

“All right. When we get to your house, I’ll
help you with the work there.”

“Not tonight, gorgeous. Dad and Mom already
took care of our stock. We had a family meeting and decided you
might need some extra help until you’re a hundred percent.”