Make Your Move: A Small Town, Equestrian Romance by Heather Garvin

Author:Heather Garvin [Garvin, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tuskan Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

The far end of the tack room houses the same bulletin board Mom has been hanging ribbons on since I was six. She stands on her tiptoes as she tries to find a place to hang my ribbon from the show. “We’ll find a spot. I think there’s still some room over here.” There’s no organization to how they hang. The only method of dating is the dust that’s settled over the years.

“Second place,” she muses as she stares down at the bright red ribbon in hand. “That’s wonderful, Abbie. How many were in your class again?”

“23,” I say with a tired smile. I already told her this when I got home from the show yesterday and again when we ate dinner last night, but I think she likes hearing it. Or maybe she likes me hearing it.

“Wow,” she says again as her gaze drifts back to the crowded board, scanning for an open spot to stick my latest achievement. “And Lisa said you were competing against some talented riders. You should be proud.”

Seth took home the first-place ribbon. Considering Mom hasn’t asked, I have a feeling she already knows.

“Aha! Here we go.” She reaches for the top right corner of the board, managing to tack the new ribbon in place.

“We should really throw some of these away.” I gently pull on a faded and dirty yellow Walk-Trot ribbon from when I was younger.

Her eyes widen. “I would never.”

I shake my head, but there’s a smile tugging at my lips. “Well, I need to get back to work. I still have to turn out the horses and clean the last two stalls.” Sully always gets the day off after a show, and Mom fed the horses this morning, so I bumped my barn work out a little later than usual. At this rate, I won’t be done until dinner.

“Okay,” Mom says casually over her shoulder. “Carson’s coming by. George lost a shoe. I found it in the paddock, so he just needs to tack it back on.”

“What? Why?” I try to hide the panic from my voice. The last thing I need is for Mom to sense something going on between Carson and me.

After he put Sully away at the show, it was time for me to meet Lisa to see who placed. By the time I had my ribbon in hand, Carson had put Sully in his stall and was nowhere to be found.

Seth’s insult still echoes in the back of my mind.

Desperate and pathetic.

Deep down, I know I’m not either of those things, but right now, I feel like I’m both.

Because Seth was right, I did throw myself at Carson. It may have been for the sake of making Seth angry, but I still did it.

And when Carson kissed me, I wouldn’t have stopped it from going further. I would have done a whole lot more than that if he hadn’t put an end to it.

Fucking slut.

Mom’s staring at me with a furrowed brow. “He’s coming to put George’s shoe back on.

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