Nova by Delia Delaney Page B

the home. Rule number one: clean up after yourself. Clara managed the home, but she made it clear that she was not the maid. She did all of the cooking and general cleaning, but she refused to pick up after other people.
    There were eight bedrooms in the guesthouse, and four of them were occupied full time by Harmony Acres employees. The other rooms were for guests that came and went (like me for now), and Clara said there would always be a new face or two for me to say hello to .
    After dinner I took a walk outside. I purposely walked past the far end of the stables so I could see the garage side of the main house. I knew I was being ridiculous, and I was even more upset with myself for being disappointed that his car wasn’t there.
    I stopped at the fence by Field One and watched its occupants. I tried my luck at remembering names, but I was pretty sure it was a different group of horses. I did recognize Sam’s horse, Sadie Liz, and I thought the gray one was Nellie. Then something caught my eye in Field Two. It was Austin’s racehorse, Need for Speed. And he had the entire field to himself.
    “What a bratty horse,” I said to myself as I walked over. I stood at the fence and clicked my tongue at him, but he barely gave me the time of day. “I bet you’re not even very fast,” I sneered at him. He pretty much turned his butt to me and continued to graze, so I decided to leav e the stuck up thing to himself and headed toward the guesthouse for the evening.
    I did remember the horses in Field Four, though: Bad Whiskey, Okey Dokey , Down a nd Dirty, Happy Appy , and Inky Black. Inky was the first one to come over to me since he was closest to the fence.
    Then I tried Austin’ s little whistle tune and Down a nd Dirty lifted her head u p at the far end of the field. Sh e looked my way for a few seconds, but I decided that I probably wasn’t the handsome man s he was hoping to see. However, s he started walking my way, and when s he reached the fence, brought her head over so I could pet her .
    “Hey, there. You’re a much friendlier c hoice. I’d pick you over Stuck-on- Himself any day.” I rubbed her face and behind her ears, and then Inky was there to remind me of his presence too. “Oh yes, I like you also,” I told him, patting him at the same time.
    I remembered I had dog biscuits in my pocket so I reached inside to give them each one. I’d seen Jack do the same thing to his horse, so I didn’t think it would hurt. They both gobbled the treats up and s eemed to beg me for more. Down a nd Dirty stuck her head through the fence at my waist and nudged my pocket.
    “Hey, watch it , chica . You get out of my pants.”
    I heard a chuckle from behind and it scared me. I turned around to meet an unfamiliar face approaching from the guesthouse . He was maybe my age, and because of the dark hair, I instantly assumed he was Austin’s brother.
    He came up to the fence and stood next to me, giving Bad Whiskey (who had just met him there) a rough pat on the neck. “You must be Nova?” he asked.
    “You must be Jeff.”
    “Yep. N ice to meet you.”
    “You too.”
    We were both qui et for a few seconds, and Down a nd Dirty tried for my pockets again.
    “Sh e’s got one thing on her mind and it’s usually food,” Jeff said. “You’ve probably just made a friend for life, but now s he’s always gonna search you for treats .”
    “Uh- oh. So does that mean I should be prepared with food, or go straight to weaning her from the idea.”
    He smiled and said, “Sh e’ll never forget, so be prepared to be felt up no matter what.”
    Okey Dokey was now adamant for Jeff’s attention, so he rubbed the back of his ears for a few seconds.
    “How come you’re not inside playing poker with the rest of ‘em?” he asked.
    “Oh, are they playing cards? I guess I walked outside before they started.”
    “Oh, so you’re not purposely trying to avoid the crowds?”
    “No, not at all. Does someone think