Secret Star Read Free Page A

horse.
    Maybe haying was to blame, Sam thought as all four men loaded up and drove away. Cowboys avoided work that wasn’t done from the saddle, and haying was the worst.
    Once the men had left and she was alone with Ace, Sam couldn’t help talking to him.
    â€œAs soon as you’ve met Bayfire, I’ll take you outand let you stretch your legs,” Sam said as she threw the gelding’s reins over the hitching rail near the house.
    â€œYou suppose he’ll act like a regular horse?” Sam asked Ace. “Or like a movie star? Not that I’ve ever met one, and I guess Inez Garcia doesn’t qualify, but how cool would it be to earn your living by working with trick horses?”
    If Ace felt any of her fizzing excitement he gave no sign of it. He just sniffed the ground for something to eat, as she thought of how Inez Garcia and Maxine Ely, Jake’s mom, had met at a teacher’s conference five years ago. That was before Inez left the classroom to help her father run Animal Artists, a business that trained and managed movie animals.
    According to Jake’s mom, Inez specialized in equines. She handled mules, burros, and even a performing zebra, but Bayfire was her favorite. Sam could picture the horse in her mind, because she’d seen a photograph of him in a horse magazine as he was presented with a Trigger Award.
    In the black-and-white shot, Bayfire had looked like the champion he was. He’d stood alert with his poll flexed and ears pricked while his owner and trainer, a slim, pony-tailed woman, had accepted the glittering trophy.
    The short article had explained that Bayfire had received the award not only for his ability as an actor, but for a sense of contained energy that electrified thescreen. One of the presenters had saluted his ability to show a spirit “like fire in a bottle.”
    Now, everything stood ready for the Hollywood trainer and her famous horse.
    About ten minutes after Dad and the hands departed, Sam heard the sound she’d listened for all morning.
    Wait. Maybe it was the drone of that small circling airplane. No, there it was. A dark-green truck slowed for the bridge over the La Charla River and drove so carefully, Sam heard the clunk of every rotation of each tire.
    Sam smiled, already liking Inez Garcia. Someone who was that careful of the horse she was hauling was Sam’s kind of person.
    Ace turned his head and considered the vehicle. His ears flicked back, his eyes flashed with suspicion, and he raised a rear hoof.
    â€œStop that,” Sam chided him. “This is a movie star stallion.”
    The gelding lashed his tail and kept staring.
    From the ten-acre pasture, Strawberry snorted. Amigo and Popcorn eased closer to the fence, but the other horses accepted the quiet arrival of the strange vehicle with a quick glance.
    Sun glazed the truck’s windshield so that Sam couldn’t see inside very well. She made out the driver’s outline and the glint of sunglasses, but that was about all.
    Sam pushed her auburn hair back from her face and tried to neaten it with her hands. If she’d gotten all dressed up this morning, her family would have noticed and teased her about it.
    So, she’d pulled on clothes fit for cleaning the barn, and now it was too late to worry about what she looked like. She picked some straw from her shirt and stomped her boots to displace the layer of gray dust.
    If Inez Garcia really wanted to be where no one would fuss over her, Sam thought as the green truck stopped, she’d come to the right place.
    Trying to ignore her sudden shyness, Sam straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, and started toward the truck. She’d taken only a single step before she stopped.
    Inez Garcia might not be a movie star, but she was beautiful. The woman easing out of the truck must be close to six feet tall. She wore slim-fitting jeans and an open-necked white shirt. Her black hair was gathered high in back