a barn did sound hard, but maybe she could ask her parents if any of the rooms in their house needed repainting. That didnât sound too bad.
[MADDIE] Thanks, great idea! Well, not the barn part, lol. Any other brainstorms?
[HALEY] Maybe u could start a dog-walking business, or pet sitting? What do u need the money for, anyway?
Maddieâs fingers hovered over the keys. What should she say? She didnât want to lie to one of her best friends. Maybe she could come up with something that was sort of trueâjust for now. . . .
[MADDIE] Remember how the Snack & Swim ride is coming up this Sunday? Iâm hoping to buy something special for it. Thatâs why Iâm in a hurry.
[HALEY] Cool! You mean like new boots, or a new swimsuit or what?
âMads? You in here?â Maddieâs father poked his head into the room, still dressed in his scrubs.
Maddie sat up. âOh! Youâre home.â She felt a flash of guilt as she remembered she was supposed to be watching her younger brothers. Still, her dad was smiling, which meant Ry and Ty probably hadnât managed to kill each other or burn the kitchen down.
She quickly typed one last post:
[MADDIE] My dad just got homeâgtg. Tx for the ideas!
She closed the computer. Her father stepped into the room.
âDid you hear the message from Coach Wu?â he asked.
âWhat message?â
âItâs on the machine.â
Maddie shrugged. âI didnât check when I got home from the barn.â
âOh. Well, she says the powers that be got their act together faster than expected, and the Cascade League tryouts are this Saturday afternoon.â Her father grinned. âSo youâd better start warming up your kicking foot!â
âSaturday afternoon?â Maddie had nearly forgotten about the travel team. âBut I canât do it thenâI have my riding lesson.â
Her fatherâs smile faded. âYou can miss one lesson,â he said. âMaybe you can ride on Sunday this week instead.â
Maddie shook her head. âSundayâs the Snack and Swim.â At her fatherâs perplexed look, she added, âItâs thisbig trail ride. I told you about it, andânever mind. Anyway, I donât want to miss my Saturday lesson, especially this week.â
âWhy? Whatâs so important about this week?â
Maddie hesitated. The Pony Post girls werenât the only ones who were still in the dark about the Richardson Situation. Maddie hadnât told her parents about it either. âI just donât want to miss it,â she said.
Her father didnât look impressed. âListen, Maddie, I know you think riding is all you want to do these days. But donât be shortsighted. This soccer thing could be a big opportunity for you.â
Maddie could tell he was getting annoyed. She was a little annoyed herself. Why couldnât her parents understand that riding was important to her?
But she bit her tongue, not wanting to start an argument right now. It would only distract her from what was really important.
âOkay, maybe youâre right,â she said. âIâll call Coach Wu back in a little while. But listen, have you noticed that the dining room is looking a little dingy lately?â
âThe dining room?â He looked surprised by the sudden change of topic. âNot particularly. Why?â
âWell, itâs just that Iâd be willing to repaint it if you paid me,â Maddie said. âOr any other rooms you want. What about the boysâ room? Of course, I might have to charge hazard pay for even setting foot in there. . . .â
âOh, I see.â Her father sounded faintly amused. âTrying to earn a little spending cash, are you? Let me guessâseeing Tillie wave her new phone around is driving you crazy and now you want one of your very own?â
Maddie smiled weakly. âYou know how it is. A girl