Free Blue Ribbon Summer by Catherine Hapka Page B

he’s helping out this year or something.”
    â€œYeah, which is kind of weird, actually.” Livi wrinkled her nose. “He never showed much interest in horses before.”
    â€œHmm.” Brooke was already losing interest. Whatever she’d heard, it was none of her business. So what if Robin and Preston had been arguing? Brooke’s mom and stepfather argued all the time, and it was no big deal.
    As the others drifted off to sleep, Brooke lay awake feeling unsettled and homesick. Seeing the nice words from her Pony Post friends had only reminded her once again how well she fit in with them—and how much she didn’t fit in at Camp Pocomoke. She’d never be like Robin and her daughter in those pictures, holding their trophies and patting their fancy show horses. That didn’t mean shecouldn’t learn a lot from Robin, but was it really worth it? Maybe Brooke and Foxy were wasting everyone’s time, including their own, trying to fit in here. Maybe they should go back home where they were comfortable. For a second Brooke was tempted to dig her cell phone out of her cubby, call her mother, and beg to come home early.
    Then she imagined telling her Pony Post friends. None of them would ever give up so quickly, would they?
    The answer came into her mind immediately: No way!
    So maybe Brooke shouldn’t give up just yet either. Maybe she should stick it out, at least for another day or two. That way, nobody could say she hadn’t given it a real try.

CHAPTER
7
    BROOKE AWOKE WITH A START the next morning when a bird burst into enthusiastic song right outside the bunkhouse window. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and glanced around. The other beds were empty—Paige’s neatly made, Livi’s a complete mess, and Hannah’s somewhere in between. Brooke checked her watch and saw that she was late for breakfast.
    â€œThanks for waking me, guys,” she muttered as she climbed out of bed.
    She dressed quickly, not bothering to shower, and rushed to the main house. There was barely time to choke down half a piece of toast and a few gulps of orange juicebefore Robin was shooing them off to the barn for their morning lesson.
    As she pulled Foxy out of her stall, Brooke was feeling rushed and sleepy and generally out of sorts. The pony seemed to pick up on her mood, spooking at the click of the crosstie being clipped on and generally being antsy and difficult all during grooming and tacking.
    Robin wasn’t in the ring yet when the girls entered. The other three mounted their horses, barely pausing in their conversation as they did so.
    Finally it was Brooke’s turn at the mounting block. But Foxy stepped to the side before her rider could put her foot in the stirrup. Brooke climbed down and led her around for another try, but the pony did the same thing.
    â€œQuit it, would you?” Brooke exclaimed, yanking on the reins to try to stop Foxy from moving off a third time.
    â€œEasy, Brooke.” Robin had hurried into the ring at that very moment. “It won’t help to lose patience with her. Here, let’s try it again. . . .”
    â€œThanks.” Brooke noticed that a man had also appeared and was leaning on the rail, watching. He was aroundRobin’s age or maybe a little younger, tall and well-groomed in khaki pants and a polo shirt.
    Robin noticed her looking. “Brooke, that’s Preston,” she said. “He’ll be helping out with some of our activities this week. Preston, this is Brooke Rhodes.”
    â€œHello, Brooke,” Preston said with a brief smile.
    â€œHi.” Brooke felt self-conscious with the man watching, but with Robin holding Foxy’s head, the mare finally stood still long enough for Brooke to mount.
    However, the lesson only went downhill from there.
    â€œQuiet legs, Brooke,” Robin called from the center of the ring as Foxy jumped into a canter when Brooke was trying to get her to trot