Shamrock Stables # 6.5

Holiday Hoofbeats

by Shannon Kennedy


Holiday Hoofbeats by Shannon Kennedy The upcoming winter break at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington means Felicia Gibson and her brother, Jack, are already planning their trip home to what he calls the “wet” not western side of the mountains after final exams. While classes keep them busy, so does the time they spend training for future competitions with the college equestrian teams. Felicia rides in three-day eventing on her Warmblood gelding while Jack does Western Games on his off-the track, Thoroughbred.

Felicia and Jack had such an amazing time over Thanksgiving weekend visiting with their family and seeing the people they’d missed during fall semester. It thrilled Jack to spend so much time with his girlfriend, Vicky Miller in real life, since they’d been limited to phone calls, texts and emails while he was hundreds of miles away. Felicia had fun shopping with their younger sister, Robin and her friends on Black Friday.

When their plans implode for the holidays, Felicia and Jack must remain behind in Pullman, but their younger sister has other ideas. Is there a way to take Christmas to Pullman, Washington and reunite the family?


 

BUY THE BOOK

GENRE

Horses

EBOOK

Amazon Kindle
Smashwords
Nook
Apple
Google Play
Kobo

PRINT

Amazon
Teen


Excerpt

Felicia

Pullman, Washington

Tuesday, November 26th, 2019

 

My last class at the university ended early enough that I could go straight to the barn and groom Vinnie, my Appaloosa-Warmblood gelding. When I walked past the indoor arena to the stalls, I saw the students from the Western Games team practicing for the next competition. My younger brother, Jack and his former Thoroughbred racehorse were kicking tails as usual. Amused, I didn’t stay to watch because we were on a time crunch.

After I finished with my horse, did my share of the barn chores—mucking, watering, feeding—I’d go to the house I shared with two of the girls on the equestrian eventing team. I’d walk my dog who’d been locked in the utility room today, then help clean the upstairs, do laundry and pack for an early morning road trip. Jack and I were driving home tomorrow for Thanksgiving weekend.

This was the last time I’d have an opportunity to hang out with Vinnie for almost a week.  The big buckskin must have recognized my footsteps. He put his golden head over the door and nickered. Smiling, I headed straight toward him, pulling the first organic carrot out of the cloth grocery bag. “Hey, handsome. Did you miss me?”

“I’m sure he did.” A guy pushing a wheelbarrow half full of manure came out of the stall next door. “Aren’t you, Felicia?”

I nodded, giving my horse another carrot while I studied the newcomer. Short black hair, dark brown eyes, six inches taller than my five feet, five, broad shoulders, narrow hips, long legs, good-looking enough if you liked the cowboy type and I did. A flannel shirt over a button-up, long sleeved T-shirt, faded jeans and boots. I gave him a point for knowing what to wear in a barn.

Vinnie nudged me and I remembered what I was doing. I fed him another carrot. “And you are?”

“Keegan Larkin.” He pulled off a glove and held out his hand. “Just got hired to do barn work. Jack said you’d be here soon. You’re a sophomore at W.S.U., right?”

“Yeah, I’m pre-med. What about you?” Most of the people here tended to use shorthand for Washington State University or the U of I, University of Idaho a few miles away in Moscow. I shook his hand, feeling the callouses. He knew how to work. Another point in his favor. “Are you a student here too? What’s your major?”

“I’ll figure that out when I start classes again in January.” He pulled his glove on again. “Been doing Army duty, so I had to leave after my first year. My unit just returned from a combat tour in Afghanistan.”

“Okay if I say, ‘thank you for your service’?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I volunteer at a veteran’s center helping the counselors. Some of the guys,” I paused, “and some of the gals for that matter take offense.”

“Everybody has baggage. I don’t judge.” Keegan went across the aisle to an empty stall. “Back to work.”

“I know how that goes.” One more carrot before I headed to the tackroom, wishing I’d put on makeup today. I hadn’t. What was the point when I was only going to my American History, Psych 200 and Irish Literature classes? And I looked awful in one of my dad’s old sweatshirts and a pair of sloppy gray sweatpants. Next time, I’d make more of an effort. I glanced in the mirror, checking out my shoulder-length red-gold hair, sky-blue eyes. Damn! I looked like I’d been up all night finishing a research paper. Only because I had!

Normally, I’d have groomed Vinnie in his stall, but a lot of people didn’t like mucking around horses. They were big, moved fast when spooked and it took skill to work around them. I haltered him and led him out to the cross-ties. I rewarded him with two extra carrots. He snorted but stood like a proverbial rock while I conditioned his black mane, tail and forelock. Onto the currycomb to bring up the dirt and loose hair.

Good thing he remained super calm while I brushed him because I was boy, all right, man watching while I worked. I loved visiting my parents and baby sis over the holidays, but I felt a tinge of regret. Getting to know Keegan would have to wait until next week. Of course, there wasn’t a guarantee he actually liked horses or wouldn’t have a major meltdown when Vinnie came first.

I’d never found anyone who stuck around even when the guy claimed to be supportive of girl athletes. My high school dream and I broke up because he suggested I sell Vinnie since I was going to college and didn’t need my own horse for that. I could ride one of the team’s Warmbloods for three-day event competitions. No thanks. I fell in love with Vinnie when I got him for my sixteenth birthday, four years ago.

When I arrived at Pullman for my freshman year, I met a few guys. Nothing too serious, but it was fun to go out with them. The last one had a major fit because Vinnie threw a shoe. The farrier ran late at another barn. I texted and explained I had to wait for my horse to be re-shod. I’d be there for dinner as soon as I could. It didn’t go well. He had a fit, fell in it and stormed out of the restaurant leaving me to pay the bill.

Good thing I had an emergency credit card from my dad. I didn’t want to spend the cash hidden in my wallet. My mother gave it to me for situations where a card wouldn’t work. I hadn’t bothered to hook up with a new guy. I didn’t really want one, did I? Looking at Keegan reminded me how much I enjoyed going to movies, out for dinner, and spending time with someone other than my gal pals.

Granted, there was a certain amount of male energy in my life right now. My younger brother came back with me when the semester started in August, and we hung out together a lot. Between his classes, homework, training for the spring competitions, and emailing or calling his girlfriend back home, Jack wasn’t looking for feminine company.

Once Vinnie’s golden-brown coat gleamed and I finished brushing out his mane, tail and forelock, I cleaned his hooves. A few more carrots and I led him back to his stall. Keegan had already scooped the poop. All it needed was more bedding. I jumped in to be part of the solution as my first riding instructor at Shamrock Stable used to say. While Keegan finished mucking the twenty stalls, I dressed them up with more shavings. Then, I topped off the water tubs.

By the time Jack brought in Nitro, the stalls were ready for their occupants. I eyed my little bro. Actually, he wasn’t that little. At six feet, he was eye to eye with our dad. “Hey, how’d your Poli Sci test go?”

“Piece of cake.” Jack grinned at me, all cowboy style in jeans, boots and a western shirt. “I’m good. No homework this weekend.” He looked past me toward Keegan who pushed a wheelbarrow with a bale of hay toward us. “Hey, thanks for doing my stall.”

“I had good help. You were right about your girlfriend—”

“Ooh! Gross!” I channeled my baby sis, Robin, the princess of our family. “Jack’s my obnoxious brother. Nobody normal would put up with him.”

“That’s not what Vicky says.” Jack tugged my hair. “And since I’m totally caught up, I can spend all weekend with her. I’m even shopping with her on Friday.”

“You hate shopping. You always give me or Robin money and convince us to do it for you.”

“It’s Vicky. I haven’t seen her since we were home for Labor Day weekend.”

I heaved a sigh. “You two are ridiculous. High school sweethearts are a total cliché.”

Jack made a rude gesture and went over to help Keegan feed the hay to the horses who’d started nickering and acting half starved. It was the same at every meal. I wasn’t too surprised when my little brother pulled out his phone and showed off pics of his girlfriend at her job riding a green-broke filly.

Add another point to Keegan’s scoreboard. He asked my brother all the right questions about his girl. Vicky was a junior and cheerleader at Lincoln High School in Marysville, Washington. She’d been class prez last year, was recently elected as VP of the Student Council and was taking college courses so she’d have her associates degree when she graduated. The girl was smart enough for my bro who absolutely adored her.

When they came back, it was Keegan’s turn to smile at me. “Hey, since you’re single, want to have dinner with me? I owe you for helping me finish up early.”

“Wish I could,” I said. “But we’re headed to the wet side of the Cascades tomorrow. Leaving early because we want to miss the traffic and I’m not ready to go yet. Raincheck?”

“What do you have to do?” Jack asked.

“Turn out Zorro to run in the back yard and feed him. Vac, dust, and empty the dishwasher. Clean the perishables out of the fridge. Laundry and pack.”

“No worries. You and Keegan handled the barn. I’ve got the house. I feed the dog a lot too. Zorro can hang with me.”

“Whenever you do housework, Sally and Trish chase your body.” I shuddered. “Majorly disgusting. And it’s annoying especially since Sally blew off her turn at the barn again today. Natalie, the English club prez is going to have a fit when she hears about it.”

Jack shrugged. “They do it all the time and I don’t take it seriously. You shouldn’t either. I tell your roomies about Vick. How cute she is in her cheer outfit and how great she is at taking care of her sibs and what a terrific, natural horse trainer she’s going to be—”

I folded my arms, looking him up and down. “You know I’m going to tell her all that as soon as we see her tomorrow, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I always finish up by asking Sally and Trish for their advice on what to get Vick for Christmas.”

We walked out of the barn together. Jack left for our place. Keegan got another point when he asked what restaurant I liked and didn’t lose it when I suggested my fave fast-food joint. I didn’t know him well enough to ride with him in his pickup and he was happy to follow my Jeep into downtown Pullman.

Over roast beef sandwiches, fries, coffee and slabs of cheesecake, I interviewed the guy. It turned out he was twenty-two years old. His mother died in a car wreck when he was a junior in high school, and he moved in with his football coach until he graduated. His dad and stepmom didn’t have room in their house for him, not with their own kids, his two younger half-sisters, and one half-brother

Keegan didn’t say they put the fun back in dysfunctional. He didn’t have to, not when he said he was sticking around Pullman for the holiday weekend instead of driving to Portland, Oregon. He’d be helping with the barn and the twenty horses. The owners of the stable had invited him to join them for Thanksgiving dinner because he didn’t have anywhere else to go. He admitted he could have joined his army buds, but they already felt sorry for him since he never got any mail when they were overseas. He didn’t want to participate in a pity party.

“So, what are you taking to dinner? Dessert? Appetizers?” I asked. “Pie, cake or cookies? Fruit or veggie tray?”

“I’m not much of a cook.”

“You don’t have to be.” I gestured toward the counter. “They sell cheesecakes here. Buy one and take it along or else hit the deli. Grab a veggie tray with dip. That’s what Jack and I do when someone’s throwing a party.”

“Good idea.” He dunked a fry in a pool of ketchup. “So, what do you do with your horse? He doesn’t stand around and eat all day, does he? What’s up with his mane? Why did my new boss, Paulette, tell me to remind you to cut it?”

“Three-day eventing.” When he seemed baffled, I explained. “I have to braid his mane when we compete and sew it into little clumps or buttons. When it’s super long like Nitro’s, it’d be utterly impossible to keep it in place. And the judges have fits if Vinnie’s mane comes apart during competitions.”

“Isn’t that jumping?”

“It’s part of it.” I started describing what I’d learned this past summer when I trained at Salmon Pond, the premier three-day eventing barn near my parents’ home. “My instructors competed internationally. They say the best way to describe eventing is to call it an equestrian triathlon.”

“Why?”

“Well, it takes place over three days, and we compete in three separate areas, dressage, cross-country jumping and then what’s known as stadium jumping in the arena. Riders and their horses are judged individually. My dad really likes Yves Dumont and his partner, Lisa Atchison because they focus on safety and won’t let me get hurt.”

“How does that happen?”

I shrugged. “I’ve taken my share of falls over the years. If Vinnie and I blow it at one of these events, I often end up in the hospital. Sometimes, Vinnie gets hurt, and our veterinarian has to put him back together. Dad freaks whenever the paramedics take me away in the ambulance and that’s before I’m in surgery.”

“I just met you today and I don’t blame him for losing it.” Keegan drained his soda. “What about your mom? What does she say?”

“Oh, she’s the ‘Iron Woman’. She holds Dad’s hand, nurses me back to health, looks after my horse and tells everyone that I’ll be fine.” I forked up another bite of cheesecake. “I never say I see her kneeling by my hospital bed, praying or crying at night. She’d be the one to lose it.”

“I’d like to see you compete sometime.” He sat there, eyeing me as if I came complete with a Wonder Woman costume. “You’re tough.”

“You are too.” Finished eating, I crumpled up the wrapper from my sandwich and put it neatly on the empty paper plate. “So, when are we doing this again?”

“Next week?”

“Sounds good. I take my dog, Zorro to agility class on Monday afternoon before I come to the barn to ride. Will I see you there?”

“Oh, definitely. I’ll be the guy in the bleachers cheering on you and Vinnie.”

 

↑ Return to Top ↑