Free No Horse Wanted by LLC Melange Books

if her customers aren’t out the
door by two a.m. so she can close the tavern and not break the
liquor laws.”
    “You mean I had fifteen extra minutes?” I
unlaced one boot and kicked it under the bench. “I almost had a
heart attack. I knew I’d be so late. Why didn’t you tell me before
you left to do the steers?”
    “I thought you knew.” Jack opened the door to
the kitchen. “You’d better hurry, or you’ll be late for
supper.”
    “You jerk.” I pulled off my other boot. “You
clown. You rotten creep.”
    “Why are you picking on your brother,
Robbie?” Dad kept chopping vegetables for the salad. “What’s he
done now?”
    I glared after Jack as he sauntered out of
the room, heading for his shower. “He didn’t tell me that he set
the barn clock ahead. I thought I was really late for dinner and
I’d be the first course.”
    Dad laughed and grabbed a green pepper. He
pointed to the kitchen clock with his free hand. “Ten minutes and
you will be. Go, girl, go!”
    “I am.” I hustled through the kitchen and
down the hall to my room.
    We were all seated at the dining room table
and Dad had just started carving the roast chicken when Mom came in
from the den. “Felicia made good time. She’s safe and sound in
Pullman and is on her way to the stable to check Vinnie. She’ll
call again on Wednesday night.”
    “That’s great,” Jack said. “I promised I’d
send her a video of Nitro and me at the Games Day next week. And
you’re going to email pictures of Twaziem, aren’t you, Robin?”
    “Yes.” I filled half my plate with salad,
then passed the bowl to Dad. “I want him to gain more weight first.
Dr. Larry said I should use the tape and measure his weight every
week. Will you show me how to do it, Mom?”
    “Sure, honey.” She eyed me and kept putting
brown rice on her plate. “Don’t you want your dad to do it? He’s
the one who gives the horses their shots.”
    “Yes, but Twaz doesn’t like Jack, and Dad’s a
guy too. I don’t want either of them to get hurt, and Twaziem seems
to like me, you and Felicia better.”
    “Interesting,” Mom said. “I hadn’t heard of a
horse practicing gender bias before. I wonder if Rocky has. You
should talk to her about it this week when you start lessons
again.”
     

Chapter Ten
     
    Monday, September 16 th , 7:20 a.m.
     
    I sat in the Commons with my mocha, stirring
it with the straw while I waited for Vicky. Talk about déjà vu—I’d
definitely been here before. Riding lessons? Come on. Get serious.
I had plenty to do. Mom and Dad had told me at dinner last night
that they’d agreed to pay me for A’s and B’s on my semester grades.
Whoopee! But, how was I supposed to study when I had cross-country
practice twice a week, a meet every Thursday for the next two
months, Twaziem to look after and now riding lessons on Wednesdays
and Saturdays?
    “Okay, so what’s the emergency?” Vicky
plopped down in the seat across from me and actually grinned before
she saw the peppermint latte I’d brought her. “Wow, you’re the
best. And I love your parents. They can adopt me anytime.”
    “Mom signed me up for riding lessons.” I
groaned. “Like I’m a little kid. She says I need to brush up my
skills so I can train Twaz next spring, as if I’ll actually keep
him. This was a rescue. I’ll find him a great home, but I don’t
want a horse.”
    Vicky buried her head in her hands. “Here we
go again with all your dramas. Did you ever think the world doesn’t
turn around you, Robin?”
    “No.” I sucked up some mocha. “I’m blonde and
beautiful, so of course it does. Do you ever get tired of always
being right, Vick?”
    “No.” She took the cap off her cup and
sipped. She kept smiling. “In this down economy, I wouldn’t bet on
finding Twaziem a home, and you know your dad will want enough
money to pay him back for the rehabilitation. That will be major
bucks between the feed, the vet, the training, and your lessons,
which