Free Barefoot by Ruth Patterson

up?’
     
    Toni felt too humiliated to tell her. ‘Family stuff. Come on. We’d better get going if we want to see Polestar and Ebony compete.’
     
    They squelched through the mud, along with thousands of other people, only to see Ebony eliminated and Polestar fall at the fifth fence. All in all, a complete disaster for the De Carteret eventing team. It meant Arabella would be livid.
     
    Toni chatted brightly the whole four miles round the course. About the fences, about the horses and the designer dogs they saw
     
    But Lauren knew her too well to be fooled. ‘Something’s really wrong. I know it is. Is the bitch giving you grief?’
     
    Toni laughed. Only Lauren would have the nerve to call Arabella that. ‘It’s not just her,’ she said miserably.
     
    Lauren took her arm.  ‘Sounds like guy trouble then. You need the hot chocolate cure.’
     
    She nodded, happy to let herself be led along to one of the food caravans, where Lauren queued, while Toni borrowed a towel to dry off two plastic chairs. The rain had settled to a light drizzle, but it was warm, and now she was with Lauren she didn’t seem to mind it too much.
     
    ‘Cake, too?’ Lauren called over.
     
    Toni shook her head, suddenly reminded of the pretty girl handing out cake on the Poplar Farm stall. She had been avoiding thinking about her.
     
    Who is she?
     
    She looked around eighteen and was definitely a rider. That much was obvious from her boots. Confident. And although Toni hated to admit it to herself, attractive.  Worst of all, she was clearly close to Cal. Their body language and easy familiarity told Toni that.
     
    ‘OK.’ Lauren handed over the hot chocolate and settled herself in her seat. ‘So what’s the problem?’
     
    ‘It looks like he might already have a girlfriend.’ Toni blurted it out, still feeling humiliated. As she told Lauren about the pretty girl by his side on the stall, she felt foolish. She didn’t have any real claim on him at all. The truth was he’d never told her he cared.
     
    ‘Maybe she works for them,’ Lauren suggested.
     
    Toni shook her head. ‘I’m certain they were close. You could tell by the body-language.’
     
    ‘Sister?’ Lauren offered, hopefully.
     
    Toni shook her head again. ‘He only has a brother.’
     
    ‘Well, there’s only one way to find out for sure.’ Her friend stood up, decisively.
     
    ‘I’m not going to speak to him.’  Toni was alarmed.
     
    ‘You’re not, no,’ Lauren said. ‘But I am.’ And she strode off, calling back, ‘Stay right there so I can find you again.’
     
    Toni sat alone, feeling conspicuous. An elderly couple came and asked if they could share her table and she agreed awkwardly. She was relieved when she saw Lauren threading her way back through the crowd, clutching some leaflets and grinning.
     
    ‘Well?’ Toni could hardly bear the suspense.
     
    ‘They are close… ’ Lauren said dramatically.
     
    ‘I knew it.’ Toni felt gutted.
     
    ‘Give me a chance. Her name is Lucy and she’s his cousin!  She’s over visiting from Canada.’
     
    ‘She’s not his girlfriend.’
     
    ‘If you could see your face,’ Lauren laughed.  ‘And you’re right. He is fit. So if I were you I’d get in there before someone else grabs him.’
     
    ‘He can’t see me like this.’ Toni ran a hand through her hair, soaked by the rain.
     
    ‘Time for a quick fix.’ Lauren dragged her over to a line of Portaloos and pushed her into one. Inside, Toni peered in the tiny mirror in despair. The damp had turned her hair into a mass of curls, emphasising her blue eyes.
     
    ‘Blue eyes are getting rarer,’ her father once told her. ‘ So you’re special.’
     
    She shrugged off the old raincoat and inspected what she was wearing underneath. Jeans and a sweatshirt. Hardly inspiring. She had no idea what she was even going to say to him. But she had felt so jealous when she thought his cousin was his girlfriend.
     
    Surely that