The a Circuit (24 page)

KATE

Elliot paused in the middle of grooming Marissa’s horse, sniffing at the air. “Smells like the pizza’s here,” he said. “You’d better go before that pack of wolves eats it all.”

Kate glanced up from rubbing down the dark bay gelding’s legs. “What? Oh, um, that’s okay, I’m not that hungry. And I know Miguel was hoping to leave early tonight …”

“Shoo,” the groom said firmly, plucking the liniment bottle out of her hand. “You’ve barely stopped moving since we got home from the show, girl. You deserve a break.”

Kate was tempted to protest. She wasn’t really in the mood to hang out listening to the other juniors gossip over their post-lesson pizza. Then her stomach let out a hollow grumble, and she realized she was ravenous.

“Okay,” she told Elliot. “Maybe I’ll just grab one slice and then come back and help you guys finish up.”

Halfway to the tack room, she could already hear the others laughing and talking. The scents of hot tomato sauce, cheese, and garlic drifting down the aisle made her feel a little weak in the knees. When had she eaten last? She couldn’t remember, but her stomach was telling her it had been way too long.

Fitz waved when she came in. He was lounging against an empty saddle rack shoving pizza into his mouth. Everyone else was already there, too. Tommi, Marissa, and Zara were sitting on the bench. Summer was standing nearby, waving her hands around as she talked to them. Dani had just grabbed another slice, stepping over Jamie’s bulldog to get it. As usual, Chaucer was planted right in front of the boxes on the bandage trunk, while the younger dogs worked the room begging for scraps.

“Hi,” Kate said to Fitz, bending over to grab a slice of plain cheese from one of the boxes. “What’s all the excitement?”

Fitz smirked. “Summer’s just whining because she got shut out in the eq. Again.”

Summer heard him and looked over. “Shut up,” she said. “You know I’m totally right. That girl only pinned higher than me because her mother’s head trainer at that big barn on Long Island and the judge obviously knew it.”

“Get over it, Summer,” Dani said. “That girl beat you because she’s ridden like ten horses a day since she was in diapers.”

Marissa picked a gob of gooey cheese off her pizza and fed it to one of the dogs. “Yeah. Or if anything gives her an edge, it’s that she’s even taller and skinnier than Kate.” She glanced down at herself with a rueful smile. “Which pretty much explains why
I
never pin in the eq.”

Dani, Tommi, and Fitz laughed, but Summer shot Kate an irritated glance. “Being tall and skinny didn’t help Kate much this time, did it?” she snapped. “Even
I
beat her. And I’m not tall, or a trainer’s kid, or even a working student who gets fancy horses to ride for free anytime she wants. So there!” She flounced over and grabbed another slice of pepperoni.

Kate froze in midbite, suddenly feeling like some kind of gangly eight-foot-tall beanpole freak. Was that really what Summer and the others thought of her? That she only won because Jamie gave her horses to ride for free? What did any of these people know about her, anyway? What did they know about all the work she had to put in to earn those rides?

Tommi frowned. “Shut the hell up, Summer,” she said. “Don’t take it out on Kate just because you’re feeling pissy about your own riding.”

“Yeah.” Marissa giggled. “Look on the bright side—at least you didn’t do a face-plant over the first jump like that poor kid from Maple Mount whose horse tripped …”

Kate didn’t hear the rest. Fitz had just stepped around the trunk and sidled up next to her. She was so distracted she almost choked on the big bite of pizza in her mouth. Swallowing it down in a loud gulp, she smiled up at him uncertainly.

“Don’t pay any attention to Summer, gorgeous,” he whispered, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “She’s just jealous because you’re hotter
and
more talented than she is.”

Kate just shrugged, shooting the other girls a glance. She still felt self-conscious, as if everyone in the room was judging everything about her, even though the others had already moved on to gossiping about someone else. She set down her pizza, suddenly not in the mood for this.

“I should go help the guys finish up,” she said.

“I’ve got a better idea. Let’s go for a walk—just the two of us.” Fitz gave her arm a squeeze. “What do you say?”

Kate hesitated, glancing up into his playful hazel eyes. Seeing the way he was looking at her made her shiver without really knowing why. She flashed back to that night in the hay stall. He’d been so sweet since then, so eager to make it up to her. Was he for real?

Whatever. Tommi and the others might think she was naive, but Kate couldn’t help believing—or was it hoping?—that Fitz was sincere. That he actually thought she was something special. Not that she quite understood why, but still, it was nice.

“Okay, I guess,” she said.

He smiled, grabbed her hand, and pulled her out of the room. Kate was pretty sure she saw Tommi glance at them as they left, but the others didn’t seem to notice their departure. Good.

Fitz led her down the aisle and around the corner into the feed room. Then he dropped her hand, took her by the shoulders, and gently turned her to face him.

“This is more like it,” he said. “Come here.”

He pulled her in for a kiss. Kate sank into him, feeling the tension seep out of her body for the first time in days. For a second she forgot about everything else as their mouths explored each other.

Then she felt his hands start to wander. “Hey,” she said softly, pulling away and pushing his hands back where they belonged.

“Sorry,” he said in a low, husky voice, a sheepish smile playing on his lips as he pulled her close again. “Force of habit. I’ll be good—I swear.”

To her surprise, he was. At least mostly. A couple of times things started to get more intense, but he always pulled back before it got uncomfortable. For a while Kate drifted along in a pleasant haze, letting what was happening between them happen, not thinking, just feeling.

Then some small part of her mind started to wonder: Why? Why was Fitz trying so hard, changing his usual hound-dog habits just to be with her? Was she really worth it? What exactly did he see in her?

She started to get that sour feeling in the pit of her stomach again. The same one she’d had the other night while talking to her dad after the big blowup. The same one that had attacked her at the show when she’d seen Jamie waiting at the gate for her after that eq round. Why did they all keep trying so hard, believing she could be what they wanted her to be, when she couldn’t seem to live up to any of it?

Her body tensed. Fitz felt it and pulled back. He put one finger under her chin, tilting up her face so he could look into her eyes.

“What?” he whispered. “You seem kind of—I don’t know, like a million miles away all of a sudden. You getting tired of me already?”

His words were light, but she saw real doubt in his eyes. She shook her head.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s not you at all. Guess I’m just distracted.”

“By what?”

She shrugged, not sure what to say.

“Come on, Kate.” He caressed her cheekbone lightly with one finger. “You can trust me.”

She hesitated. Could she? She felt really close to him right now—as close as she’d felt to anyone in a long time. But that didn’t mean she’d forgotten what had happened the last time she’d let herself trust him. No, she wasn’t ready to risk something like that again. Not quite yet.

Besides, how could someone like him ever understand what she was going through? Fitz sailed through life like he owned the world. Which his family pretty much did, come to think of it. He couldn’t know what it was like to be her, to have her family, her problems. Her life.

He was still staring at her. Waiting. She had to tell him something.

“It’s just—uh, my friend Natalie,” she blurted out without really thinking, just latching on to the first thing she could think of that didn’t directly involve him or the barn. “Um, we’ve been, you know, kind of drifting apart lately, and now she invited me out to her barn on Saturday.”

“Wait. You mean that lesson barn where you first learned to ride?” he asked. “Happy something, right?”

She nodded, a little surprised that he remembered. “Yeah. Happy Acres. They’re having a show, and Nat’s all excited about some new project horse she’s working with, and, well, I guess I’m just a little nervous about going back there.”

Fitz smiled, his finger tracing the outline of her chin. “Dr. Hall’s got the perfect solution to your problem,” he said. “I’ll come with. You know, like for moral support.”

“What?” Kate blurted out in surprise. “Wait, you don’t have to do that. It’s just a dinky little beginner-type schooling show, and I’m sure you have better stuff to do on Saturday.”

“Nothing better than spending the day with my favorite girl.” Fitz shrugged. “Besides, it’ll be fun. Jamie’s always telling us to observe other riders and stuff, right?”

Kate wasn’t sure the Happy Acres show was quite what Jamie had in mind. Still, what could she say?

“Um, okay, if you’re sure …,” she began.

“Sure I’m sure.” Fitz grinned down at her. “It’s a date.”

Kate smiled back weakly, trying not to imagine what Nat was going to say when she showed up with Fitz. Talk about worlds colliding …

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to both of my parents for getting up early to take me to horse shows, spending endless hours in the freezing cold and scorching heat to watch me show, clapping when I win, and cheering me up when I lose. But most important, thank you for always supporting my dreams and making me believe in myself. Thank you to Robin Greenwood, Siobhan Latchford, Scott Stewart and Ken Berkeley, Jeffrey Welles, Tracy Brindle, Barbara Jaques, and Jimmy Doyle. Without you I would have never made it to where I am today. Most of all, thank you to my friends who have stuck with me through the years and who always have my back, tell me when I am wrong, and support me no matter what choices I make. Growing up with you guys around horses made for the best memories a girl could ask for, and having you still by my side to look back on it has made the sacrifice and hard work bearable. What I have won in the ring and accomplished outside of it would mean nothing without you.

G
eorgina
B
loomberg

Kathy Russel

G
EORGINA
B
LOOMBERG is the younger daughter of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. An accomplished equestrian, Georgina is on the board of directors of the Equestrian Aid Foundation, is an ASPCA Equine Welfare Ambassador, and is the founder of the charity The Rider’s Closet, which collects used riding clothes for collegiate riding teams that are unable to afford them. She also sits on the boards of the Bloomberg Sisters and Bloomberg Family foundations. Georgina is a graduate of New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Georgina is donating a portion of her proceeds from this book to the Equestrian Aid Foundation.

C
ATHERINE
H
APKA has published many books for children and young adults, including several about horses. A lifelong horse lover, she rides several times per week and keeps three horses on her small farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania. In addition to writing and riding, she enjoys animals of all kinds, reading, gardening, music, and travel.

BONUS ROUND

A
NOTE FROM
G
EORGINA
B
LOOMBERG

I have always loved that all kinds of people are attracted to and involved in the show circuit. It doesn’t matter where you come from or how you grew up, showing horses brings people together and gives them something to share. When I was younger, I was blessed to ride at a barn with a large group of other riders my age. We came from different towns, different financial backgrounds, and different kinds of families, but none of that mattered. We were all riders who shared the common bond of love for horses and being at the barn. We spent as much time as we could together—riding, planning sleepovers, and scheming about the trouble we could get into. Playing pranks on each other, hanging out in the office and giving the secretaries a hard time, and running off on trail rides when we were supposed to be cleaning tack or schooling a horse for a show were part of a normal day for us. The barn was like a second home—our escape from whatever pressures we had at school or with our family, and we loved it. A number of the kids I learned to ride with (and got into trouble with!) are still great friends of mine, and the days we spent showing together provided us with a bond that will never fade away.

Many people have asked which character I see as the most like myself in this story. On the surface, it would be Tommi, but the truth is that I can relate to each main character. I know what it’s like to question your talent, like Kate, or feel conflicted about balancing your social life with the pressures of competing on the circuit, like Zara. And most important, I can relate to the way they support one another. That is truly based on my own friends. No matter how poorly a class went or what was going on in our lives away from the barn, we were always there to cheer for one another—or cheer one another up. Riding may be an individual sport, but my friends and I made ourselves into a team.

Now that I am older and have my own operation, I think of my barn as my team. We have many members who each contribute a vital part to our efforts at the shows and at home. From the vet to the grooms to my trainer, each person is crucial to what I can accomplish in the ring. It’s reassuring and inspiring to know that I have so much support behind me. No successful rider gets to the top on her own!

I know firsthand that life on the show circuit can be hard, but when you learn to appreciate the good days, brush off the bad ones as learning experiences, and draw support from your fellow riders, it can also be great! The show circuit has started to change Zara’s attitude, given Tommi the ability to prove herself, and helped Kate feel comfortable and confident. Now, the question is, will they use what they’ve learned in the show ring or get into more trouble? Only time will tell!