Itâs tough to be a horse and always be at the mercy of humans when you want your food. âHey there. I got you, I got you,â I told him. I unlatched the stall door and carried the grain in, unhooked the old feed bucket, and replaced it with the fresh one. Kismet hardly waited for me to move my hand before he nosedived in. I dropped the old bucket, and it clanged onto the floor. Jeremy ran over to investigate and was clearly startled to see me.
âSorry,â I mouthed sheepishly. I had the bucket back in hand, and I slipped out of Kismetâs stall and redid the latch.
âListen, I have to go,â Jeremy said into the phone. âYeah, you, too. See you later.â
âHey,â I said, once heâd clicked off. âI was just trying to help. I didnât mean to interrupt your call.â
âNo worries.â He reached toward me with a hug hello. âOh, no, Iâm too sweaty,â I told him. âI ran all the way here.â
âSorry.â He backed up awkwardly and propped an elbow up against the window of the stall across from Kismetâs. âI heard youâd be away all summer.â
âI had some family stuff to get back for,â I said.
âI hope everythingâs all right.â
I hesitated for the smallest moment. I was certain Jeremy didnât notice. âOh, yeah,â I said. âOf course. Everythingâs great. My aunt just wanted some quality time.â
âI get it,â Jeremy said. He tugged at the goatee on his chin. Facial hair was not really my thing, but there was something about Jeremyâs that I found fascinating, because it always looked like heâd just started to grow it. Did he trim it that way, or was that the most he could get? We did not have a close enough relationship for me to probe these things. âWhereâs Orion?â
âOn his way. His return is just a bit delayed because my friend Beth-Ann had a competition and she needed a good jumper.â
As if Beth-Ann and I were friends. As if Iâd make the mistake of lending her Orion again.
Behind us another horse whinnied a lunch demand.
âOrion will be back soon,â I said. I needed to say it out loud to make myself believe it. âSo I need to talk to someone about his board. Is Naomi around?â
âLater today,â he said. âBut I can ask for you and call you back.â
âThanks,â I said. Except I didnât have a working phone. âOr Iâll call you.â
âEither way.â
âThanks,â I said again. âAnd, uh, maybe you can ask Naomi if she needs more help around here. You know, as long as Iâm back.â And as long as I was destitute. Working at Oceanfront, Iâd have money on hand to bring Orion home, without having to rely on Gigi and the missing trust fund, and be able to board him at a discount. But I certainly wasnât going to tell Jeremy all that and blow my cover. âI canât spend every single waking hour with my family, and Iâd like to feel useful.â
âShe mentioned we needed someone,â he said. âIâll let her know youâre looking. And Iâll tell her how you helped out today with Kismet.â
âOh, that was nothing,â I said. I twisted my hands together. They were even sweatier than the rest of me.
âSo, uh, I heard the Copelands are hosting some blowout party tonight.â
My heart skipped a beat at the mention of the Copeland name. âYeah, I heard that.â I hoped my voice sounded cool, as if a Copeland party was completely unremarkable to me.
âPeople around here have been trying to get invites, but itâs some political thing. Really exclusive. Apparently Gucci is doing the fireworks.â
He meant Grucci. It was a fireworks company that did the pyrotechnics for the Olympics and presidential inaugurations. Hannah Mayberry, who went to Hillyer with Lennox and me, had
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