Hunter Derby: (Show Circuit Series -- Book 3) (23 page)

“It’s okay,” Molly told her. “I think she’s probably better to listen to at home than in a concert anyway with all the other people there yelling.”

“I’m so sorry,” Zoe said.

“It’s okay,” Molly said. “Really.”

“Do you still want to watch a movie tonight?” Zoe asked.

“I was thinking maybe
The Spectacular Now
,” Molly said.

“Yeah,” Zoe said. “That’s perfect.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When Zoe said, “What’s up?” she replied, “Nothing much,” and walked on.

Dakota stared at her phone so she wouldn’t have to talk to Zoe and when they rode together she seemed to make a point of never looking at her and even cutting across the ring or circling so they wouldn’t have to pass.

“What’s going on with her?” Zoe asked Linda.

“I don’t know. Maybe something with her parents? They haven’t been home all summer.”

Zoe decided to make Dakota talk to her when she was waiting for Angelique to pick her up and take her back into the city.

“Okay, cut the bullshit, what the hell is going on with you?” Zoe said.

Dakota still didn’t look up from her phone. “I should be asking you the same thing.”

“Huh?” Zoe said. “I’m not the one being standoffish.”

Dakota finally looked up for long enough to shoot Zoe a cold look. “No, you’re the one being all slutty and stupid.”

Zoe swallowed, caught off guard. She took a moment to process that Dakota probably knew about Morgan. If that was the case, Dakota was right to call her out. Zoe had hoped she could put the night in Lake Placid with Morgan behind her but she should have known it wouldn’t be that easy to wipe it from existence.

“You’re talking about Morgan Cleary?” she said, just to confirm. You never knew what gossip could be circulating.

“Yup,” Dakota said.

“I made a mistake,” she said. “I would think maybe you could understand. I mean it wasn’t like he was just anyone. He’s Morgan Cleary.”

Dakota positioned a hand on her hip. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He’s a billionaire,” Zoe pointed out.

“So it’s okay to go out with assholes if they have lots of money? Oh, that’s good for me to know going forward. So then we need to amend our pact. No dating assholes unless they have money. You are a really great role model.”

Zoe hated Dakota’s sarcastic tone. And it was different for her. Dakota would never have to worry about money. “You have money of your own,” Zoe said. “You don’t have any idea what it’s like to be broke-ass-poor and have credit card debts up to your eye-balls.”

“I’d rather be broke-ass-poor then be with an asshole. When we made the pact I thought I was the one who’d have to work hard not to break it. You were supposed to be the adult.”

“You don’t know me very well at all then,” Zoe said. “I never act like an adult.” She wanted to point out that if she had gone to college like most nineteen year-olds she’d hardly be considered an adult. It was only in the horse world that crossing the monumental age eighteen made you suddenly adult.

Dakota flipped her phone in its Vineyard Vines case in her hand. “I thought you’d changed. I thought you’d grown up.”

Zoe didn’t know what to say back. She’d thought she’d changed too, and grown up some. And maybe she had but that didn’t mean she got it all right. It had been tempting to think that being with Morgan might solve all her problems.

Still, she shouldn’t have broken her promise to Dakota. It killed her that Dakota actually believed in her and saw her as a mature, big-sister-like figure. It killed her that she’d let her down. It was the second time in days she’d let someone down. And Dakota probably didn’t even have any of idea of how Morgan had hurt her. If she knew that, then what would she think?

“Okay, so I blew it. Let’s try again. We’ll start the pact over again.”

“No,” Dakota said sharply. “It’s over. It’s done. You already killed it.”

“So that’s it? You’re going to go out with whoever now just because I messed up?”

Dakota squinted at her. “I didn’t say that. Just because you don’t care about yourself doesn’t mean I’m going to do something stupid too.”

Zoe didn’t point out that Dakota was not exactly known for her clear head. “Well, that’s good to hear. I’m glad you’re smarter than me. I’m glad you’re not going to make all the same fucked up mistakes I do. Don’t, okay?”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Dakota said.

Angelique pulled up and Dakota ran to the car and jumped in, without even looking back at Zoe.

Linda must have caught some of what had just gone on between them because when Zoe walked back into the barn she said, “What was that all about?”

“We had kind of an agreement. Like we made a promise to each other that we wouldn’t go out with assholes. She found out about me being with Morgan in Lake Placid. Not about my shoulder—thank God—or at least I don’t think she knows about that but just that I hooked up with him. It was probably on HorseShowDrama.”

“So she’s pissed you broke the pact?”

“Yup, and she deserves to be.” Zoe looked at the ground, embarrassed. It was bad enough that her actions hurt herself; worse that they had hurt others. “That girl has no one in her life to look up to and I guess I thought for a deluded moment maybe I could be that person.”

“I’d like to think she can look up to me too,” Linda said. “But then I guess there’s the whole knocked-up unmarried thing.”

Dakota had seemed excited when Linda had told her she was pregnant. Maybe she’d always wanted a sibling and this was the closest she’d get to it.

The Pearces had been overwhelmingly positive too. They said they knew she’d be able to work out having a baby and still training Dakota.

“They don’t believe in parents actually raising their children,” Linda had joked to Zoe. “I’m sure they think I’ve already got my live-in hired.”

Zoe stole a glance at Linda’s cute baby bump. There was no disguising her pregnancy now.

“She can totally look up to you, even when she knows you got yourself knocked-up,” Zoe said. “I guess I just liked the idea of her looking up to me.”

“So what’s the deal with you and Morgan anyway?”

Behind them in one of the stalls, a horse sneezed.

Another—undoubtedly it was the ever cocky Plato—banged his door demanding his afternoon flake of hay.

“Nothing. It’s over. I knew I wasn’t anything to him but I guess I couldn’t help but think it could change into something real.”

“It’s not going to,” Linda said.

“I know. Why did he even bother with me? Given who he is, why does he want to risk having his name all over HorseShowDrama?”

“You’re his big rebellion. His one last fuck-you to his family before he takes over the company and marries some little miss priss.”

“Like Julia.”

Linda nodded.

“He’s a deeply unhappy man,” Zoe said.

“They all are, hon.”

“Not all of them. Not Eamon.”

“Not Eamon. And not John,” Linda said, her eyebrows raised.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The Vermont Circuit was quieter, nestled in a small village with a picture-postcard mountain backdrop. Jamie had always taken her barn to Vermont so Zoe had been coming since she showed in the ponies. It was true that she’d had some pretty wild times there and not all her memories were happy ones but there was a certain comfort to the warm days and the cool nights, the clean air, and the sight of tractors parked next to old farmhouses.

The professional divisions were light at Vermont—it was the children’s and adult classes that were chock-a-block full.

There was no horse that could even come close to giving Gidget a run for the blue in the high performance workings. Zoe picked up two saddle pads, a halter, a scrim sheet, and a gift certificate for a bridle for winning nearly every class in the division.

Zoe won the derbies both weeks too. There was a little more competition in those but Gidget still rose to the top. She had talent and now she and Zoe were building confidence in each other.

The second week they were there, Callie caught her walking back from her morning hack on Gidget. “Did you hear about Lindsay?”

“No, what?”

“She fell off a greenie and shattered her femur.”

“Oh no,” Zoe said, trying to camouflage the small dash of hope she felt fluttering inside her chest.

It never felt good to take pleasure in other people’s misfortune but on the show circuit that was pretty much routine. If you were a grand prix rider, you hoped for horses to drop rails; if you were a hunter rider, you wished for horses to spook or be late with a change.

Generally you didn’t actually wish harm on a horse or rider but in this case an injury to a top hunter rider meant a possible job opening for Zoe.

“Yeah. She’ll be out months. She’s got pins inserted and everything.”

Lindsay had a unicorn job in the horse show world. Not a job riding unicorns, but a job that was hard to find. She rode exclusively for a wealthy woman who had been around the show circuit forever.

Kathleen had been a good junior rider. Then, because of her ability to buy expensive horses, she’d become one of the best amateur riders and had won nearly everything there was to win in the hunters. Championships at every major horse show from Devon to The National. She’d dabbled in the jumpers for a time but going fast and jumping high wasn’t really for her.

Her first marriage to a professional hadn’t lasted long. In her forties, she married a Wall Street type and, after many attempts at IVF, finally had a son.

She’d ridden off and on since becoming a mother, but lately had transitioned to owning horses that showed in the professional divisions. Among her talented horses was Three Wishes. He’d won the derbies in Wellington, Devon, Tryon, and Upperville, to name a few.

She’d bought a gorgeous farm in Lexington and her horses spent summers there and winters in Wellington.

Her trainer since her junior years was Grant Day. Now in his sixties, he’d once been the best hunter rider in the country. One knee and two hip replacements later, Grant just flatted the horses. Lindsay showed them.

“Who’s going to get the ride on all her horses?” Zoe asked.

Callie shrugged. “Someone said Jeremy.”

Jeremy was a versatile rider, having ridden on Nations Cup teams and won plenty in the hunters too. He wouldn’t be a bad choice but Zoe could think of only one person who would be perfect: herself.

It was all she thought about the rest of the day. Should she call Grant and offer her services? Should she text him just to say she was sorry to hear about Lindsay and that way she’d be in the forefront of his mind, or she should just tell him she was available if he needed her?

Should she text Lindsay and maybe that would get back to Grant? Lindsay suggesting her might be the best option. She decided to do that.

If there’s anything I can do lmk.

Sucks,
Lindsay texted back.
But I heal quickly.

After that exchange, Zoe waited and waited, hoping she’d hear from either Lindsay or Grant.

Finally, three days later, she saw Grant’s number on her Caller ID. “Hi, there,” she said, trying to act casual. “So sorry to hear about Lindsay.”

“I know. Real bad timing but what’cha gonna do? That’s life with horses.”

“That’s a good way to look at it,” she said. Her heart was pounding.
Just ask me
, she thought.
Just please
.

There was no way he was calling for any other reason.

“So listen, I need a rider for my horses for Derby Finals,” he said. “You interested?”

She swallowed, trying to give herself a moment so she didn’t respond too quickly, but it was no use.

“Hells yeah!”

“Great,” Grant said. “I think you’ll be perfect with them.”

“Did Lindsay suggest me?” Zoe asked.

“Yeah, we were throwing names around once Jeremy said he couldn’t do it. A lot of people are booked up.”

Zoe wanted to kick herself for asking. If she hadn’t asked, she wouldn’t know that she wasn’t their first choice or maybe even their second or third. But it didn’t matter, she told herself. She’d ride the shit out of those horses and come in first, second, and third. Then she’d be everyone’s top choice.

“When can you get down here?” Grant said. “We need you right away. I’m going to have you riding all the horses. I’ll pay you good money so don’t worry about that, and we’ll put you up. I could use you straight through to Florida if things go well.”

“Um, yeah, I just gotta take care of some things up here first. But I can get down there super fast, I’m sure.”

“You’re not committed to whoever you’re riding for, are you?” Grant asked. “No one seemed to think you were.”

“No, no. I’m not. But I just can’t up and leave, like today.”

“Of course, take a few days,” Grant said, like that was being generous. “Text me when you’re on your way.”

“Okay,” Zoe said. “Great. Thanks.”

“Sure thing, hon.”

Zoe pressed end. She should have been ecstatic, but her initial excitement at getting what she’d thought she wanted had turned to unease.

How the hell was she going to tell John and Linda she was leaving?

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Wouldn’t they?

So why was she so far seemingly incapable of telling them? One day passed and then another. She could never find the right moment.

Her secret became unbearable when John started asking her about plans for Kentucky and Derby Finals. When should they leave? How many days before the derby should they get there? What classes, if any, would they plan to do with Gidget before the derby?