Silver Spurs by Miralee Ferrell

back to the show. Have you heard if Melissa is entering Mocha in the jumping classes? She might be the best chance for your barn to win the silver spurs.”
    Anger sparked in Kate. “Why does that matter? It’s not like Melissa is riding a horse that we own or anything.”
    â€œNo, but she boards and takes lessons here. It can’t do any harm if she won, that’s for sure.” He leaned against the wall next to Capri’s stall.
    Kate moved back to the rail and fixed her gaze on Tori, wishing Colt would go home. Why did things always have to come back to Melissa and ruin everything she’d dreamed about? Sure, Melissa had a well-trained, expensive horse, but Capri had some awesome training as well. And it wasn’t going to be long before Kate could keep up with the other girl. All she needed was a few jumping classes, and she’d prove to her friends that she was every bit as good as Melissa.

Chapter Twelve
    Kate jumped out of bed the morning of the show and hurried to the window, praying the rain shower had stopped. She’d lain in bed late last night listening to it patter against the eaves, certain it would ruin the show. Shoving aside the curtains in her second-floor room, she pumped a fist in the air. “Yes! Sun!”
    She whirled around the room in a circle, landing on her bed. The weather wouldn’t ruin the show after all. She was grateful that God had listened to her prayers last night and that her lack of faith hadn’t gotten in His way.
    Scrambling for her jeans and T-shirt, she gathered them from a pile on the floor and tugged them on as fast as possible. She’d put clean clothes on later, but right now her top priority was to get downstairs, have breakfast, and see what she could do to help.
    Excitement and fear battled inside. Her first horse show. She’d gotten to attend one before, but never to compete. What would it be like? Would she get so scared when she rode Capri into the ring that she’d throw up or pass out? Now that would be embarrassing. She giggled, suddenly seeing a picture of herself keeling over before she had a chance to climb into the saddle. Nope. Wasn’t gonna happen.
    Kate slowed her rush down the stairs as another thought hit. How about Tori? If Kate’s nerves had nailed her, how would her best friend be feeling? She didn’t have any experience at all. She’d never even been to a show. Colt was lucky. He’d attended several shows and competed more than once, so this would probably be a cinch for him.
    Good thing she’d been able to take several lessons over the last few weeks so she felt more confident about taking classes. She’d have to stick close to Tori and help all she could, reassuring her if she got too scared or wanted to chicken out—that couldn’t happen. They were in this together, and it was going to be fun!
    Kate raced into the kitchen, then skidded to a halt. Pete sat at the table eating a bowl of cold cereal. His favorite. He rarely ate eggs or toast or pancakes. She shook her head and smiled. In some ways, it was kind of nice to have things she could depend on. She walked behind Pete and ruffled his hair. As usual, he ducked his head and mumbled. But he didn’t pull away as much as he usually did, so that was something. “Hi, buddy. Good cereal?”
    He nodded, and Kate’s heart skipped. Another good sign. Maybe he was excited about the show as well. “You going to hang out with Dad and watch the horse show today?”
    Pete dipped his spoon in the cereal and carefully lifted it to his mouth, but he didn’t respond. Kate squatted by his chair and touched his arm. For once he didn’t flinch, but he didn’t seem to notice her presence. The spoon went into the bowl again and back to his parted lips. No show of emotion at all. She rocked back on her heels, struggling to push down her disappointment. What had she expected? For him to grin and tell her