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around fairly quietly. Zara knew the mare probably didn’t look anywhere near as relaxed and professional and huntery as she had with the previous rider. But she was able to canter the line of jumps a couple of times with little trouble.
    As she was coming around for a third go and thinking about asking to have the jumps raised, she heard Zac calling her name. Glancing that way, she saw a couple of pony riders coming in through the gate. Bummer. It looked like their private ring was no more. But that was okay. Zara had gotten what she needed out of the test ride. She gave Ellie a pat and a scratch on the withers, then rode her back to the gate and hopped down.
    The dark-haired billionaire girl and the skinny blonde came forward to grab the horse. “Nice seat,” Billionaire Babe said. “I guess that wasn’t your first bronc, huh?”
    “I must admit you had me nervous for a moment there,” Jamie told Zara with a wry smile. “You’ve got guts, that’s for sure! Well done. We’re here through the weekend if you want to try Ellie out in a class or two before you make a decision.”
    “That’s okay.” Zara shrugged. “A friend of my trainer’s saw one of your barn rats ride her in that show last weekend. That’s why I was interested in her in the first place. I know she can show.”
    “All right,” Jamie said. “I just thought you might want to get a feel for her in the show ring before you make a—”
    “No biggie,” Zara cut him off as she reached up to unbuckle her helmet. “I can figure her out, don’t worry.” Then she glanced at her father. “I want her.”
    Zac raised an eyebrow. “You sure, Little Z?”
    “When am I ever not sure?”
    Before anyone could respond to that, she heard a shriek of excitement. This time at least it wasn’t paparazzi. Just some embarrassed-looking pony rider’s pudgy middle-aged mom, who’d probably made out with her first boyfriend to Zac’s music back in Jurassic times. Zac was all charm as the woman searched her oversize Mom Purse for a pen so he could autograph her prize list. Zara rolled her eyes.
    “That must get annoying after a while, huh?” Billionaire Girl said quietly as the fan started gushing about what a genius Zac was, blah, blah, blah.
    Zara shot her a sharp glance. “Whatever,” she said. “It’s life.” Then she grabbed her helmet and hurried away, so totally over the whole stupid scene.

FOUR
    West Maple Street was less than five miles from the lush green fields of Pelham Lane Stables, but it might as well have been in a different galaxy. The block where Kate’s family lived was lined on both sides with small houses set close together, most of them tidy but all definitely looking as if their best days were behind them.
    Kate was so exhausted she barely had the energy to turn the key to cut her car’s engine as she pulled to the curb in front of her family’s modest bungalow. Shows always wore her out—no sleep, bad food, and extra stress could do that to anyone, she figured. At least these days she could drive herself home from the barn afterward. For her sixteenth birthday last winter, her dad had bought her the cheapest halfway reliable car on the impound lot and even paid for the first six months of insurance. It was way more than Kate had been expecting, even though she knew it was mostly because of how much he’d hated the thought of her biking home from the barn in the dark. As a cop, he knew what could happen.
    Grabbing her duffel, she climbed out of the car and headed up the front walk, still thinking back over the show. It was one of the smaller ones Jamie’s barn attended, a low-pressure local outing meant to kick off the summer for the newer clients and ease those who didn’t travel to Florida for the winter circuits back into serious showing. Kate had ended up taking a few different horses in the ring, as she usually did. One of them was an adult client’s new horse, an experienced but opinionated Trakehner gelding