The A Circuit 04- Rein It In Read Free

with each show Kate listed. “I’m afraid when you first mentioned this to me, Miss Nilsen, I didn’t fully understand the scope of your commitment,” he said. “I think I’d better discuss this with your parents before we go any further. When would be the best time to call them?”
    “What?” Panic squeezed Kate’s throat, making it hard to breathe. “Um, are you sure that’s necessary? They’re really busy right now, and they already signed the permission slip to let me miss school next week—it’s filed in the main office.”
    She tried not to let her desperation show. Mr. Barron couldn’t call her parents—well, her father, really, since her mother never answered the phone anymore. A disapproving comment from a teacher might be all it took to make her parents change their minds, since they were barely on board with the whole Indoors thing as it was. Technically, the only show they’d actually agreed to let her attend so far was Capital Challenge. They’d left the others open to discussion once they saw how the first one went. Not that Kate had told Jamie that …
    Mr. Barron was still frowning as he glanced at his watch. “Fine. But I want to go on record as thinking this isn’t the best idea for your academic well-being, Miss Nilsen. You’ll need to prove me wrong.”
    “Okay,” Kate said weakly. “Thanks.”
    She took the bulging manila envelope he handed her, trying not to notice how heavy it was. Only then did she notice Jon hanging out by the door, waiting for her.
    “What was that all about?” he asked as they emerged into the hall, which had emptied out almost completely as everyone headed to lunch. “You’re going to a horse show?”
    “Not just a horse show.” Kate paused to stuff the manila envelope into her bag. “It’s one of the biggest shows of the year. People come from all over the country for it.”
    “Oh. Like the Kentucky Derby or something?”
    Kate swallowed a sigh. Why did it seem as if the general public had never heard of any horse sport other than racing?
    “Yeah,” she said. “Something like that, I guess.”
    Just then her cell phone buzzed. She fished it out and found a text from Fitz.
    Bored to death in French right now. Why can’t we all just speak the same language? Wish u were here to tickle my feet & wake me up. Ooh la la!
    Kate couldn’t help smiling. Sometimes she still got a weird, sort of unreal feeling when Fitz looked at her or kissed her or even sent her a text. The feeling that this had to be a dream or a joke, because Fitz Hall—wealthy, witty, gorgeous Fitz Hall—couldn’t possibly be her boyfriend. But those moments were getting less frequent, replaced by the more comfortable feeling that maybe Fitz really did care about her. That maybe the two of them did have something special, like he’d told her from the beginning. That they were right for each other despite their very different backgrounds.
    “Anything important?” Jon asked.
    Kate quickly stuck the phone back in her bag. “Just a text from a friend.”
    But the smile stuck with her all the way to her locker. So many things were difficult these days—Nat, her family, school. Even her job at the barn stressed her out.
    Then there was Fitz. Sweet, silly, sexy Fitz, who somehow hadn’t become bored with her yet. Who still seemed just as smitten with her as ever, despite his playboy rep. Who was sometimes the only one who could make her smile when things started getting to her.
    At least she still had one thing that was easy.

Chapter Two
    It was getting dark by the time Tommi pulled her BMW into one of the last open spots in Pelham Lane’s gravel parking area.
    “Looks like it’s going to be crowded in the indoor today.” Zara sounded cranky as she unclicked her seat belt.
    Tommi knew how she felt. Now that school had started and it was getting dark earlier, the juniors and working adults were mostly stuck riding in the indoor ring during the week. The indoor was one of the