Free Moonlight Mile by Catherine Hapka Page A

half an hour ago. Besides, Nina was exhausted after the long day and wasn’t sure she could stay on her feet any longer.
    Staring at Breezy, she felt overwhelmed by pride tinged with regret. If only they’d done better in the show today! Nina knew he was the best pony ever, and she wished he’d had a chance to prove that in front of everyone.
    Good thing ponies don’t care about blue ribbons, she thought. Or about super-embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions either.
    Once again she felt her cheeks go hot as she remembered that ripping sound as her breeches split. How was she ever going to live that down? It was bad enough that it had happened at all—why had it happened in front of Brett, of all people?
    What difference should that make? she asked herself.
    But there in the moonlight, with nobody else around, she had to admit that it did make a difference. She’d been looking at Brett in a new way lately, whether she wantedto accept it or not, and that was why she couldn’t laugh off the incident like she normally would.
    She grimaced, not sure she liked what that meant. Okay, whatever, she thought. If this is romance, I should probably just stick to ponies!

CHAPTER
    7
    NINA SPENT SUNDAY MORNING HELPING her mother pack up some photos and other stuff for her art-gallery show. After that she and her father made a big pot of gumbo for lunch, and then Nina played with the cats for a while.
    Finally, though, she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer—it was time to check in with the Pony Post and let them know what had happened.
    When she signed on, there were a few messages from each of the other members asking how the show had gone. But none of the girls were live on the site at the moment.
    Nina was glad. It would be easier to get the story out all at once, without having to stop and explain things along the way. She opened a text box and typed fast, pouring out the whole sordid tale—stops, spooks, splits, and all. Well, almost all. She didn’t mention Brett, but she figured that was okay. She’d tell her friends about him whenever she figured out whether there was anything to tell.
    Once she’d hit send, she actually felt a little better. Her Pony Post friends would understand how she was feeling, if anyone would.

    After dinner, Nina checked in again and found responses from all three of the other Pony Posters.
    [HALEY] O Nina! Sorry you had a rough time at yr show. But don’t feel bad—u were prolly still miles better than me and Wings at our first event. We did rly well at the jumping stuff, but totally blew the dressage phase. I think we got the lowest score of the day other than thehorse that jumped out of the ring and bucked off his rider on top of the judges’ table! LOL!
    [BROOKE] Yah, I was super nervous when Foxy and I did our camp show over the summer. Remember? All the other girls were super experienced at showing, and I was sure I’d make a fool of myself . . . I bet u did way better than u think! You won some ribbons, right?
    [HALEY] Brooke’s right—and u won two prizes for yr costume! That’s awesome!!!!
    [MADDIE] Sorry, late checking in—long soccer practice, ugh! But speaking of soccer: Nina, u could never possibly embarrass yrself as much as I do on a regular basis. I mean, did I tell you about the time I was so psyched up for a soccer championship game that I ran out of the locker room w/o remembering to put on my shorts??? talk about an embarrassing underwear moment!!
    Nina found herself smiling as she read through her friends’ comments, and she burst out laughing at Maddie’s story. Was it true? She had no clue—with Maddie, it could go either way. But it didn’t matter. It had made her laugh, which made her feel better.
    â€œThanks, guys,” she murmured, scanning the rest of the Pony Posters’ encouraging words. “You’re the best!”
    She typed a quick response and then signed off,