Blurb:When a girl falls in pony-love, she wants it to be forever.Desperate to be near horses, a hopeful girl with no horse experience begs for a job at a stable. Then she falls in love with a beautiful but mischievous pony, only to have it bought by another family. Abby’s heart aches when her barn job becomes helping the new owner learn to ride the best pony ever. Can her faithful heart let go of what never belonged to her?
A few days later, Abby pushed the muck cart out the back of the barn and
dumped the manure into the pile. In the pasture, Jessica tugged the halter
over Glory’s nose and buckled the strap. Abby wrestled the cart through a
rut. Watching another girl with Glory hurt too much. It wasn’t that she
didn’t like the pony she used in lessons because she did. But Freckles was
not her heart horse. Only Glory held that place of honor.
Flipping on the light, she surveyed the messy tack room. Her assignment
today was to clean it. She dug in, folding and stacking a pile of stable
blankets.
In a dark corner, she tackled a cabinet of remedies for every type of
horse ailment. A green-streaked bottle told the story of a battle with
thrush. Another smeared with dried yellow goop indicated a skirmish among
the ponies resulting in bald spots on their hides.
Hooves clip-clopped past the door. She peeked through the crack at the
doorframe. Jessica led Glory to the crossties. She handled the pony with
ease after coming to ride every day since Thanksgiving break
started.
Refocusing on her task, Abby washed the grime from the shelf and
repositioned the supplies. A murmur infiltrated her attempts to deny
Jessica’s existence. Tiptoeing closer to the crack, she held her
breath.
“I have to admit, Starlet, you are a movie star horse. I’m still afraid
of you, but you seem nice.” Jessica rubbed the pony’s neck. “Mom keeps
saying goofy stuff like ‘Nothing better for the inside of a girl than the
outside of a horse.’ I’m more of a pet bunny kind of girl.”
Jessica ran her fingers through the mare’s white mane. “My life stinks.
My dad got remarried last month.” She laid her face on Glory’s neck. “He
wants me to come for weekends and get to know my new stepsisters. I don’t
want stepsisters. I want my dad.” A sob cracked her voice before she
recovered her composure and hugged Glory around the neck. “Thank you for
listening.”
From behind the door, Abby grimaced. Ouch. No wonder she acts like she does. Abby searched the file cabinet in her mind for the right quote. “Always
be kind because everybody is going through something.” She’d look up
the author when she got home.
“I brought you a treat.” Jessica dug into a pouch hanging nearby.
“Apple-flavored cookies.” Glory sucked up the cookie, then cleaned
Jessica’s hand. As she giggled, the pony licked up her wrist, up her
forearm, past her elbow and set to work on the girl’s cheek like it was a
salt lick.
Abby smiled at Glory’s antics until the pony stopped and breathed into Jessica’s face. Then the mare rested her muzzle on the girl’s shoulder. You like her. You never did that to me.
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My granddaughter would like it.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a cute book!
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