The A Circuit 04- Rein It In (26 page)

And in a way, Fitz was right. The plan hadn’t really changed. All along, Kate had been the one in the saddle bringing Flame along, training him, helping him reach his potential. For a second Kate allowed herself to feel excited as she thought of it.

Then she remembered—all that was before she’d found out about the assistant trainer job. Would she still have time
to work with Flame as much once she went full time? And what about all the showing Fitz kept talking about? How was she going to do that if Jamie expected her to stay home, teach lessons, order feed, and keep things running while the rest of the barn was on the road? Had Fitz even stopped to consider that?

“Well?” Fitz stepped forward, looking pleased with himself as he wrapped his arms around her. “What do you think?”

“It’s, um, unbelievable.” She clutched Flame’s lead tightly with one hand while hugging Fitz back with the other, trying not to let him see or feel her unease. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He bent and kissed her, and Kate kissed him back, trying to lose herself in the moment and forget about the future.

Chapter Twenty

“Where’d Dani go?” Zara stood and grabbed a second slice of pizza out of the box laid out on the big, metal-bound trunk in the middle of the tack room. “Because if she doesn’t get here soon, we’ll be all out of pepperoni.”

“I’m not sure.” Summer licked her fingers.

“I saw her in the tack room a few minutes ago,” Kate said. “She said she had something to do and might be late.” She and Fitz were sitting in the corner on a couple of overturned buckets. Zara smiled when she noticed they were right in front of the rack holding Kate’s snazzy new saddle.

Zara returned to her seat on the bench beside Tommi. “Hope I didn’t scare Dani off, outing her like that.”

“Had to be done.” Tommi looked up from her pizza. “She was out of control. I think she sees that now.”

“Yeah.” Zara picked at an oozing strand of cheese. “Anyway, guess that’s all over now.”

Tommi nodded. “It’s kind of too bad, in a way.”

“Huh?” Zara shot her a surprised look. “What are you talking about?”

Before Tommi could answer, Dani rushed in. “Okay, you guys,” she said breathlessly. “Check this out.”

She was holding her smartphone. Curious, Zara set down her pizza and wandered over. “What? Did you blog about all the scandal and intrigue at our post-lesson pizza party?”

Dani laughed, though it sounded a little nervous. “Not exactly. Here, read it.”

Zara took the phone. Sure enough, the HorseShowSecrets blog was on the screen. But Zara’s eyes widened as she scanned the first few lines.

The others were watching her. “What?” Summer asked.

“She wrote a post ’fessing up to being the blogger.” Zara glanced briefly at Dani, who was staring at the ground, and then read on. “She’s sorry, she apologizes to anyone she hurt, yada yada. And she’s getting out of the blogging business.”

“Really? You’re not going to do it anymore?” Summer asked. “Why not? You could still write it under your own name.” When Marissa shot her an incredulous look, Summer shrugged. “What? I kind of liked hearing what was going on at other barns and stuff.”

“Nope, I’m definitely out,” Dani said with a visible shudder. “Sorry, you guys. Are we okay?”

“We’re cool,” Zara said, handing back the phone.

“Yeah,” Fitz added, while Kate, Tommi, and Summer nodded.

“Marissa?” Dani smiled uncertainly at her friend.

Marissa sighed and ran a hand over her eyes. “Maybe we should talk. Can we go somewhere?”

Dani just nodded, looking anxious, and the two of them hurried out of the room. Zara wandered over to rejoin Tommi.

“Think those two’ll be okay?” Zara asked.

Tommi wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Eventually. Marissa’s not the type to hold a grudge.”

Zara hoped she was right. At her old barn in California, she’d mostly enjoyed when there was drama. Hell, she’d started half of it.

But Pelham Lane was different. She liked that everyone was all dorky and friendly and supportive. She liked it a lot, actually.

“So wait,” she said, suddenly remembering something. “What were you saying before? About it being too bad the blog was done, or something? I thought you thought the blog was totally lame. You didn’t seem too thrilled any of the times you were on it.”

Tommi picked at a burned spot on her crust. “Yeah. I don’t know. In a way Summer’s right, though. It was kind of cool to have a place to get all the news from different barns and keep up with who’s doing what at the shows. You know, all in one spot.”

“Only half the stuff on there wasn’t even true.” Zara grimaced at the memory of that stupid rumor about Zac.

“I know.” Tommi shrugged. “I’m just saying. Anyway, it’s too bad Dani’s probably the only person on the circuit who knows enough people to make it work. Well, except for Marissa, anyway.” She smiled. “And I’m not seeing her keeping up with something like that every day.”

Zara shoved the last bite of pizza in her mouth and chewed
slowly. It really was pretty cool that Dani had been able to connect with enough people to make the blog work—and to keep people guessing about who was doing it.

“You know,” Zara said, “I met a lot of interesting people at Harrisburg while I was interviewing them about the blog. That was kind of fun. And I’m not shy. I bet if I tried, I could get to know just as many show people as Dani.”

Tommi glanced up from her pizza. “What are you saying?” She sounded surprised. “Are you thinking
you
might want to take over the blog?”

“Maybe. Why not?” Zara thought about it. “I liked trying to figure out who was writing it. It was sort of like being a news reporter or something. Coming up with stories for the blog might be fun like that too, you know?”

“Okay.” Tommi sounded dubious. “But Dani just told the world the truth about writing it. It’s not like you could go back to being anonymous without everyone suspecting she was back at it. I’m not sure she’d go for that.”

“Who said anything about being anonymous?” Zara was starting to feel excited about this whole idea. “Like I said, I’m not shy. Besides, I’d be doing it legit—no stupid untrue rumors and crap like that. Just news and, like, regular-type gossip. Probably a few opinions, too. It could be fun!” She jumped to her feet, feeling energized. “Think I’ll snag another soda. Want anything?”

“No thanks.”

Tommi watched Zara head over to the food, still a little surprised by what she’d just said. Then again, maybe she shouldn’t
be. Writing that blog was right in Zara’s wheelhouse. She was pretty much fearless—she definitely wouldn’t be afraid to stand up for her opinions. Plus she knew what it felt like to be the victim of gossip and rumors, so she’d probably be a lot more careful about that kind of thing than Dani had been.

Popping the last bite of pizza in her mouth, Tommi got up and wandered over to Kate and Fitz. “Hey, guys.” She grabbed another bucket and sat down beside them. “So where’d you two disappear to after the lesson? I was afraid you’d ditched us and gone to the diner or something.”

“Oh.” Kate glanced at Fitz. “Um, we were just—talking. You know.”

Tommi grinned. “Oops, sorry for asking, you two lovebirds. It’s hard to find enough cuddle time at the shows, right?”

Kate blushed, and Fitz grinned back. “Something like that,” he said. “But actually—”

“Excuse me, everyone!” Joy strode into the tack room, cutting off whatever Fitz was about to say. “Could I have your attention?”

Tommi glanced over, surprised by the serious tone of Joy’s voice. Marissa and Dani slunk into the tack room behind her, both of them looking oddly sheepish. What was going on?

Summer was over by the pizza boxes, picking at the leftovers. “What’s wrong, Joy?” she asked, sounding bored.

“I just happened to overhear these two talking out in the aisle.” Joy glanced at Marissa and Dani. “I always knew it was hard to keep a secret around here, but I had no idea my personal life was all over the Internet.” She put a hand on her belly.

Tommi gulped, and several of the others let out audible gasps. “Great,” Fitz said. “Way to have a big mouth again, Dani.”

“Sorry,” Dani said in a small voice. “We didn’t realize she could hear us.”

Marissa nodded. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“Never mind.” Joy sighed. “I was going to make an announcement soon anyway. Yes, I’m going to have a baby.”

“Congratulations,” Summer spoke up. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“I don’t know yet.” Joy shook her head. “Anyway, apparently there’s also a rumor floating around that I’m leaving my job here. I just want to let you know that one’s definitely not true. I love Pelham Lane, and I plan to be back here with all of you as soon as possible after the birth.”

The entire room went silent. Tommi looked over at Kate, and she wasn’t the only one. Kate’s face had gone pale, and she was staring fixedly at her pizza.

Joy didn’t seem to notice the reactions. “I will be taking maternity leave, of course,” she said. “But only for a few months, if all goes well.”

“Who’s going to do your job while you’re away?” Dani shot a curious look in Kate’s direction.

“Jamie’s already lined up a temporary sub,” Joy said. “A young aspiring trainer from Europe who wants to learn the ropes of the US system.”

“Really?” Summer looked interested. “How old? Guy or girl?”

Joy pursed her lips. “You’ll have to ask Jamie about that when he gets back. I’m not totally sure of the details—and I wouldn’t want to start any
rumors
that might not be true. Enjoy your pizza, guys.” She turned and left.

Kate was stunned. She was vaguely aware of Fitz reaching out to take her hand.

“Sorry, babe,” he said.

Kate couldn’t respond for a second. What did this mean? She struggled to make sense of the way her entire world—her future—had just shifted and changed yet again.

“Kate?” Tommi sounded concerned. “You okay?”

Kate glanced at her, feeling like the world’s biggest idiot. “You knew all along,” she said numbly. “You said it wasn’t going to happen.”

Tommi looked stricken. “I just meant … I’m sorry, Kate. I wish I was wrong.”

“You never said anything to Jamie, did you?” Summer asked.

“No!” A sharp flash of alarm cut through Kate’s numbness. “Wait—do you think Joy knows? Is she going to tell him? Oh my gosh—talk about humiliating!” She could feel her face going bright red.

“No!” Marissa said quickly. “We didn’t mention you at all, Kate. We were just, uh, discussing—”

“Arguing,” Dani corrected with a wry smile.

“Okay, arguing,” Marissa said. “About how Dani came up with some of the stuff she wrote. I was asking how she knew for sure Joy was definitely pregnant and definitely leaving Pelham Lane. That’s when she came around the corner and we realized she’d heard us.”

“Oh. Good.” Kate wasn’t sure what else to say.

Tommi was still watching her. “Listen,” she said. “You know how I felt about the whole job thing. I’m not saying it would have been a good idea either way. But I wish at least you’d had a choice, you know?”

Kate nodded. Choices. All of hers seemed to be vanishing all of a sudden.

Or were they? As she turned her head, she caught a glimpse of her new saddle on the rack behind her. Okay, so Fable was gone. She wouldn’t be riding him in the eq finals next year. But that wasn’t the end of the world. Lots of people never even got near Indoors, and she’d already had a chance to ride there.

She smiled faintly, thinking back to those glorious moments in the ring with Porter. That had been one to remember, for sure.

And who said it couldn’t happen again? Feeling Fitz’s strong arm around her, she leaned into him, thinking of Flame. Now partly
her
horse. Who knew how far he might go?

“Kate?” Tommi still looked worried. “You all right?”

“Yeah.” Kate smiled at her, suddenly knowing it was true. “I’m fine.”

Okay, so maybe she’d never have all the advantages of someone like Tommi or Zara or Fitz or some of the others. But maybe that was okay.

Because now that she thought about it, Kate still had more—
much
more—than she’d ever dreamed she could when she climbed aboard that first shaggy pony all those years ago.