Silver Spurs (7 page)

Dad nodded. “I agree, although it was a sound idea, Kate.” He jerked his head toward the house. “Nan, you probably had better call. No sense putting it off.”

Tori's mom waved a hand. “May I make a suggestion?”

Mom smiled. “Of course. And we apologize. We should have waited to have this discussion until after you'd gone home.”

“No,
mi amiga
, it's fine. Would you wait for an hour or two before you make that call?”

Dad frowned. “I'm not sure that's fair to the show coordinator.”

Kate edged forward. “But it's not like they have somewhere else they can go, Dad. Would another hour or two hurt?”

He turned to Tori's mom. “Do you have a reason for asking?”

“I do, but may I wait to tell you? It may be nothing. In the meantime, shouldn't we ask God for direction in case He has another idea?”

The stern expression on Dad's face melted, and he looked a little sheepish. Kate wanted to giggle. He was usually the one telling their family they needed to talk to God about decisions. “I should have thought of that first. How about you folks come inside for coffee and cinnamon rolls?”

Tori's dad exchanged a glance with his wife, then shook his head. “May we take one or two to go?”

“Kate, Tori, would you girls run into the house and bring the plate out?”

Kate didn't wait to be asked again. She grabbed Tori's hand, and they raced across the edge of the pasture that separated the lawn from the arena. As soon as they were out of earshot, Kate leaned close to her friend. “What's up with your mom?”

“I have no idea.” Tori turned wide eyes to Kate. “All I know is, we'd better take her advice and pray. Because if whatever it is doesn't happen, or God doesn't do something quick, this show is toast. At least that's the way your dad sounded.”

Tori reached for the door and pulled it open, letting Kate go through first, then following. “But I have a feeling she's going to ask my dad if they can loan your parents the money. They've been saving for years to buy our own house.”

Kate stared at Tori. “There's no way Mom and Dad would accept that. They won't take a chance with their own money for the lesson horse, so they're not going to risk yours.”

“I know.” Tori sounded defeated.

Kate walked through the living room to the kitchen and started piling cinnamon rolls on a plate. “And since money doesn't grow on trees like those branches did, I can't see any way we'll get all that stuff repaired and replaced in time. I think you're right. We'd better either pray for a miracle or get ready for a major disappointment.”

Tori heaved a sigh and reached for a stack of napkins. “I vote for the miracle, but I hear what you're saying. Sometimes God answers no instead of yes, and we have to accept that, even if we're not happy with it.”

Chapter Ten

Kate's dad put down the phone a couple of hours after Tori's family left. “I've never seen anything like this, Nan.” He sank into a chair and stared at Kate's mom.

Kate scooted to the edge of the sofa, where she'd been watching TV without seeing it, not certain whether to be worried or hopeful. She couldn't tell much by her father's dazed expression. “What's going on, Dad? Was that Tori's mom or dad?”

Mom perched on the arm of the easy chair and rested her hand on his shoulder. “Good news, hon?”

His face broke into a smile. “Definitely good. That is, if we decide to accept. Mr. Velasquez called friends and neighbors, and Tori called the people who board at our barn. Apparently there are a few carpenters among the group, as well as an owner of a local building supply. No one wants to see the show canceled, as it brings a lot of business into the community. So tomorrow morning we're going to host what used to be called a barn raising, but in our case, it's an arena and jump building. Also, another barn has three jumps they're willing to lend us, so we won't have to build or repair as many right now.”

Mom gasped. “Oh my goodness. I didn't hear much of the conversation, but did you tell them yes?”

He passed his palm over his chin. “I wasn't sure what to say. I told Mr. Velasquez that we were honored they'd want to do something like that, and it's an answer to prayer, but I needed to discuss it with you first.”

Kate jumped to her feet. “What is there to discuss, Dad? If it's an answer to prayer, you should have thanked Tori's dad and said yes!”

Mom leveled a firm gaze at Kate. “I know you're excited, but you need to sit down. Let your father finish.”

Kate scuffed her foot on the carpet, then sat. “I'm sorry, Dad.”

Dad smiled. “Forgiven, sweetie. The reason I wanted to discuss it with you both first is because Mom will be in charge of putting together food for the work party. You and Tori can help, and Tori's mother offered too. But it's still going to be a big job. And I'll expect you to watch Pete as well. Think you can handle that?”

Kate's spirits sank a little. “I'd rather help outside.”

“If we need extra help, I'll let you know. But you aren't a carpenter, and you can't handle a Skil saw or other power equipment. If there's a time your mom doesn't need you and Tori, you can be a gofer for the men.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I'm not a rodent, Dad.”

He laughed. “That means go for the things we need.”

“Oh. Right. I can do that. I'm going to call Tori.” She raced across the room, then halted and turned. “So are we doing this or not?” Kate looked at her mom.

Mom smiled. “I'm overwhelmed with the kindness of our friends and neighbors, and I'd love to cook and serve.”

One more thought hit Kate. “Do you know if Melissa is coming?” She hoped not. It would be so much nicer to hang out with Tori and not have to deal with Melissa.

Dad nodded. “Tori's dad said most of the boarders had agreed to come, and I think she was one of them. Let me call Tori's dad back, then you can talk to Tori.”

Kate left the room, her feet moving a bit slower than before. How silly to be bothered that Melissa had offered to work. She should be thankful for anyone who cared to come, but for some reason, she dreaded it. Kate perked up, though, when she thought of Colt. She'd need to call Colt and invite him. She'd have a ball with Colt and Tori, feeding people and doing anything they could to get ready for the show. What could possibly go wrong at a work party? After all, Melissa was one girl among a crowd of people, and Kate would simply keep her distance.

Kate raced to the front door the next morning, thankful Tori and her family had arrived before anyone else. Her mouth gaped at Tori's dad carrying two sacks of what appeared to be groceries. “Hey, you guys aren't supposed to bring food. It's enough that you're helping us.” She ushered them into the house, then led the way to the kitchen, wishing her mother were here instead of upstairs getting Pete dressed.

Mr. Velasquez grinned and set the bags on the countertop. “
Si
, Maria insisted on the makings for tacos and fajitas, since several of our friends are coming. That way we'll have different types of dishes to choose from.”

Tori bumped shoulders with Kate. “Yeah. Not just boring, old American food.” She snickered and pulled a couple of filled quart jars out of a bag. “Mom's homemade spicy salsa. Yummy stuff. It'll burn the inside of your mouth if you're not careful.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “So you're saying you don't want me able to talk, huh?”

Tori giggled. “Now
that
would be a change!”

“Hey!” Kate bumped her back, and they both burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh again, after the stress of the past couple of days. It was still hard to believe the arena and jumps would be rebuilt by nightfall. She sobered. “Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Velasquez. Mom's going to be thrilled.”

“With what, Kate?” Her mother's cheerful voice entered the room a second before she did. “Maria, I'm so glad you came!” She gave Mrs. Velasquez a hug.

Mr. Velasquez waved and headed for the door.

Kate drew her friend away as Tori's mom explained why she'd brought the groceries. Kate's mouth watered as she thought of the couple of times she'd eaten delicious Mexican food at Tori's house. She hoped there were leftovers.

“I called Colt,” she explained to Tori. “He said he'd be here, and his dad might come too.”

Tori's face lit up. “Cool!” She looked out the kitchen window toward the arena. “Cars are pulling in now. It's a good thing you have a big pasture area for parking. It'll come in handy for the show.”

“I hope we can pull this off.”

“What? Rebuilding everything?”

Kate shook her head. “Naw. I'm not worried about that. I mean the show. We've never done anything like this before. It feels … huge.”

Tori crinkled her brows. “Like what? I don't follow.”

“Hey, Mom,” Kate called. “Do you need us, or can Tori and I go see what they're going to work on first?”

Her mother turned from examining the items in the grocery bags, then waved a distracted hand. “Scoot. Come back in an hour. We'll do the cooking, and you girls can serve. We're only serving coffee and snacks first. Later we'll have lunch.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Kate grabbed Tori's hand and dashed out the door before her mother changed her mind. All it took to sidetrack her mom was a new recipe or another woman around who loved to cook, and she'd go off into her own world. It was a good thing Pete was watching a DVD in the living room, and Rufus was keeping him company.

Kate and Tori slowed halfway across the pasture. “So, to answer your question about the show…” Kate stopped and turned in a slow circle, pointing at the barn, the arena, and the parking area. “We'll have to get all of this cleaned up before people arrive, then set up the jumps for the outdoor arena, make room for the people who bring in concessions, separate pasture areas for horses, run power for the PA system, rope off areas for spectators to sit or stand, since we don't have bleachers. We'll even have people directing traffic for parking. And, of course, a company has to bring in porta-potties too. But the committee has already contacted someone for that.”

Kate sighed. “It's going to be a madhouse with all those horse trailers and cars coming in the first hour or so, and some people have asked to come the night before and camp out. They asked the show coordinator if we have any paddocks or pens where they can keep their horses. Mom told them we have three large paddocks, so it won't be a problem. We'll use the outdoor arena for the classes.”

“Wow! I had no idea. I guess I was envisioning a few classes with people handing out ribbons.” Tori sucked in a breath. “So who comes up with the ribbons and the set of silver spurs?”

Kate grabbed Tori's arm and tugged her aside so a pickup loaded with miscellaneous pieces of lumber could pass, along with another car on its tail. People spilled out of both vehicles and headed toward the arena, some holding rakes, hammers, and other tools.

“The show committee provides all that—in fact, they have their own judges and even people who help with parking. The concession wagons all had to get permits and be approved in advance. I guess they pretty much go from show to show, so we don't have to mess with those either.”

“Whew.” Tori kicked a fir cone out of her path, then stooped and grabbed a broken branch. She swished it against her leg. “Sounds like most of it is under control.”

“Except for all the prep work—getting pastures divided into pens, probably with temporary hot-wire tape. Then there's the cleanup. Dad wants to pressure-wash and paint the front doors of the barn, and Mom said the tack room and office need a good scrubbing. The time it's taking to do all the repairs to the fence and jumps is eating into the time we need to do all that other stuff now.” Kate smiled. “Not that I'm complaining. It's a miracle your parents were able to round up so much help.” She waved her hand toward the arena. “Let's go see what they plan to do first.”

“I hope Colt gets here soon. Not that we can all hang out if we're working, but maybe we can hold boards while they nail them or paint the jumps when they're finished.”

“Good plan. Let's ask Dad. I'm sure glad he was able to use a vacation day and get today off.”

A few minutes later, Colt arrived with an older man Kate assumed was his father. Colt hurried to where the girls stood in the arena, as activity surged on all sides. Two men were manning a chop saw and cutting fence boards to length while two other men hammered them in place as soon as the boards were handed to them. Another group worked on the damaged jumps, while yet another, headed by a local contractor who attended Kate's church, started building new jumps to replace those damaged beyond repair.

Colt gazed from one spot to the next while his dad joined Kate's father. “So what can I do?”

Kate shrugged. “You could help cart out the big coffee urn the church loaned us and get it set up on a table.”

“Sure. Where's the table?”

“Still in the house.”

“What have you guys been doing?”

Kate shot Tori a sheepish glance. “Uh, not a whole lot, I'm afraid. Nothing is ready for paint yet, they don't trust us with a power saw or nail gun, and we're not very good with hammers.”

Tori laughed. “So we've been going from one spot to the next telling everyone what a great job they're doing and trying not to get in the way.”

Another car drove into the temporary parking area off to the side, and Melissa stepped out of the passenger side. She spotted Kate, Tori, and Colt, and lifted a hand, then moved their direction.

Pete ran up from the direction of the house and stopped by Tori. “You bring M&M's?”

Tori knelt beside Kate's little brother. “I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't think about it today.”

Melissa covered the last several yards toward them, her face lit in a smile. “Hey, Pete, look what I brought.” She held up a small bag of M&M's, then glanced at Kate. “It's okay to give him some, isn't it? He told me they're his favorite, so I made Dad stop at the store on the way.”

Kate gaped at her, astounded not only at the caring reflected in Melissa's voice but at the thoughtful action on Pete's behalf. “As long as you don't give them all to him. We'll have lunch in an hour or so, and Mom won't want him to have too much sugar before then.”

“Sure. No problem.” She held out her hand to Pete. “Want to hang out with me for a while, Pete? We can eat M&M's and pick up a few loose branches and put them in the burn pile. Would that be fun?”

The boy didn't look at her, but he extended his hand and allowed her to take his. Kate could see his fingers were almost limp, but just the same, she was shocked that he'd allowed Melissa to touch him. “Rufus too?” He patted his leg with his other hand, and the big shepherd bounded over, tongue lolling. Sidling up to Melissa, the dog stuck his nose in her hand. She stuffed the bag of M&M's in her pocket, then stroked his ears and patted his head. “You aren't such a bad boy, are you?”

Melissa arched her brows at Kate, Tori, and Colt but didn't smile. “Let me know if you need anything else done. Until then, I'll keep Pete company.”

Kate nodded dumbly. “Sure. Okay. Thanks.” She watched them walk away, Melissa leaning over to place an M&M in Pete's hand as they went. “I don't get it.” Kate kept her voice low, but she wanted to scream. Her own dog and her brother! Even after Melissa had chased Rufus with a rope and smacked him. What a traitor. She didn't mind Rufus coming to Pete, but he could have at least growled at Melissa.

Tori narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“How she can be so nice to Pete and so rude to us sometimes. It's almost like there's two different people trapped inside her body, and they're both fighting to get out.”