High Hurdles Collection Two Page 28

  “And your horse shows?” DJ waggled an eyebrow.

  “She better not!” His grin deepened the creases in his cheeks and around his eyes.

  “See ya.” DJ shook her head as she bailed out of the truck and slammed the door. Her feet felt as though she were wearing cement boots. She waved again as Joe tooted the horn, then dragged herself up the curving walk to the broad front entrance of her family’s new home. Tonight that Jacuzzi in her bathroom would feel pure heavenly.

  “We’re out here,” her mother called when Queenie tore through the house, barking her welcome home, then leaped at DJ’s knees.

  “Hi, girl, guess you’re glad to see me, huh?” DJ bent low enough for a quick doggie kiss. She set down her bags to ruffle the bouncing black dog’s ears and tell her how wonderful she was. Queenie did all in her power to return the favor.

  “Daddy’s making sundaes.” The boys plowed to a stop in front of her. “How come you took so long? We been home forever.” The twins always ran their sentences together, a trick DJ had yet to figure out.

  Queenie ran circles around all of them, her toes scrabbling for a hold on the slate-tiled entrance.

  “We gots fudge. What kind you want?”

  “Fudge sounds great.” DJ pasted a smile on her face. Dropping her bags on the bottom stair, she followed the dog and twins out to the deck off the kitchen-family room combination.

  “Uh-oh, you look wiped.” Robert leaned back in his seat. With one hand he pulled out the chair beside him and gestured for her to take it.

  DJ nodded and sank into the cushioned comfort. “I slept most of the way home, I guess. At least, that’s what GJ and Amy said.” She covered another monstrous yawn with the palm of her hand.

  “You up for a sundae?”

  “Yes, please.” She put her arms around each boy as they leaned on the arms of her chair. “How’re my favorite brothers?”

  “We’s your only brothers.” The twins looked at each other as if she’d gone batty.

  “I know. Good thing, huh?”

  “Well, that could change.” Lindy leaned forward, her elbows on the table.

  DJ perked up at the tone of her mother’s voice. “Okay, something’s going on here, I can tell.”

  “You want the works?” Robert called from the kitchen.

  “Yes, please.” DJ kept her gaze on her mother’s face.

  “Well, Robert and I were wondering how you might like a younger brother or sister.” Lindy glanced up as Robert laid a hand on her shoulder and set DJ’s sundae in front of her.

  Robert smiled down at his wife, then at DJ. “As in much younger.” He took his seat again and handed DJ a napkin from the green wire rack that held plastic picnic forks and spoons, along with napkins and paper plates.

  “So what are you saying?” DJ dug into the nuts and whipped cream that nearly hid the hot fudge dribbling down the sides. Her stomach seemed to bounce somewhere around her ankles. Surely they weren’t going to say what she was thinking they were going to say.

  For once, the boys were still enough that DJ could hear the birds chattering in the ancient oak tree that shaded the deck as they settled down for the night. Somewhere a sprinkler ratcheted water on a lawn. Queenie sighed as she settled down at DJ’s feet, her jaw flat out on her front legs.

  DJ licked the fudge from her spoon.

  Robert took Lindy’s hand and sheltered it between his two bigger ones. “What your mother is trying to say is that we are expecting a baby before Christmas.”

  “A baby!” DJ thought her eyes might leap right out of her head.

  She looked from her mother to Robert and back again. “Aren’t you kind of … I mean …” Her tongue flubbed the words.

  “Old, you mean?” Lindy arched an eyebrow.

  “Well, ah … yes—ah … no, I mean.” Her chin hit her chest. “M-o-m!”

  Robert shook his head. “You should see your face. Where’s the camera when you need it?”

  “DJ, you okay?” Bobby and Billy leaned against her shoulders, peering up into her face.

  DJ took several bites of her sundae to give herself time to think. A baby! I’ve never lived in a house that had a baby. Isn’t this a bit soon? What’s the matter with them, anyhow? How neat to have a baby A real live baby brother or sister. But I’ve already got two brothers, and I don’t know what to do with them half the time.

  Robert and Lindy exchanged another one of their sappy looks.

  “Mom, I know you don’t know what it feels like to get kicked by a horse, but that’s about how I feel right now.” She shook her head. “You coulda warned me, you know. How am I supposed to react?”

  “Happy is what we hoped for.” Lindy sighed. “We’d talked about having a baby, but we just didn’t think it would happen so soon.”

  DJ licked more fudge from her spoon. She wagged her jaw back and forth. Then nodded again. “I am happy, I think. Just shocked. A baby …” She looked at the two boys, who were now rolling on the redwood decking with the dog trying to lick their giggling faces. She could feel her eyes turn into monster-sized Cheerios. “What if you have twins?” Her voice squeaked on the last word.

  “That’s always a possibility.” Robert tipped his head and winked at his wife. “But we won’t know that for a while.”

  Lindy groaned. “Now, that would really be exciting.”

  “Oh, it’s not so bad. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”

  “Easy for you to say. You won’t be the one giving birth.” Lindy punched her husband playfully on the shoulder.

  DJ ate her ice cream with a million thoughts screaming through her head. Finally she nodded. “Good thing we got a bigger house.”

  “Right,” Robert said. “And now maybe we can convince this woman here to quit her job and stay home with her family.” He patted Lindy’s middle. “Her increasing family.”

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  Two shocks in one night was a bit much, even for DJ.

  “But … but you said …”

  “I know, I said more times than I can count that now that I have my degree, I looked forward to new positions in my company. But …” She gave Robert a smile so full of love that DJ’s eyes burned.

  “But?” DJ prompted.

  “But who knew we were going to be a family then?”

  “God knew.” Robert’s quiet words sent a blanket of peace to settle over them all. Even the birds silenced.

  God knew. DJ let the words replay in her head. God knew. Gran always said that, too. Was this another of those God’s-will things? Guess a baby could indeed be a God-thing.

  “Darla Jean, you look like you can hardly stay awake.” This time her mother’s use of her daughter’s full name held no anger, only love.

  DJ yawned. “Sorry, guess I am wiped.” She pushed back her chair and picked up her empty dish and spoon. “A baby, huh? Cool.” She dropped a kiss on her mother’s cheek and started for the kitchen. Stopping in the arch of the French doors, she returned to the table and kissed Robert’s cheek, too. “Way cool.”

  Was that sniffing she heard from behind her? Way to go, the little voice in her head said. She could feel it smiling.

  But a few minutes later, sinking into the frothing Jacuzzi tub, DJ shook her head again. First Gran got married, then her mother got married. Her biological father showed up. She now had a family that included two brothers. They got a new house. So many changes. And now a baby was coming. Would the changes never end? Wait until she told Amy about this!

  Chapter • 3

  If this was morning, why was it so dark?

  You have to open your eyes, doofus. The little voice worked nearly as well as the alarm that had been yelling at her for … she squinted her almost-open eyes … twenty minutes! Yikes! DJ bailed out of bed and into the bathroom without her feet even touching the floor.

  Flying through the kitchen a few minutes later, she grabbed a breakfast bar and a juice box just as she heard the Yamamoto car honk in the driveway. �
��Where’s Mom?”

  “She isn’t feeling too hot this morning, so I took over,” Robert answered.

  DJ stopped in her rush. “Migraine?”

  “Nope, morning sickness.”

  “Oh.” She’d heard about that.

  “See ya.” She tapped each boy on the head with her juice box as she headed for the door.

  “Good morning to you, too. Got your backpack?” Robert called after her. Robert would get the boys off to kindergarten on his way to whatever jobsite he was working on at the moment. Her stepfather owned a very successful construction company, which was why they had recently moved into a fantastic house with a soon-to-be barn for the soon-to-be ponies for the boys.

  “It’s by the door. Thanks.” Nothing like a rush to get ready for school to get the old adrenaline pumping.

  “Have a good Monday,” Robert called.

  “Bye, DJ,” the twins chorused.

  “You too. Bye.” The closing door cut off any further answers.

  “Sheesh.” Amy rolled her eyes at DJ’s flyaway hair as DJ slammed the car door. “You forget to set your alarm?”

  “Nope, slept right through it.” DJ clenched a scrunchie between her teeth and attacked her hair with the brush she’d stuffed in her backpack. Once the dark honey-blond strands were confined in a ponytail, she spritzed the sides of her head to keep any stray locks in place.

  “Wait until you see the last roll of film I shot,” Amy said. “Totally awesome pictures of those pinto babies we found. John says with this computer program we just got, I can add things like hats and banners and stuff to the photos. I can’t wait.”

  “You know how to do all that already?”

  “Not exactly. She’s paying John with chores time to teach her.” Mrs. Yamamoto looked in the rearview mirror to smile at the girls in the backseat. Amy’s older brother, John, was a computer whiz and tired of helping the girls with their money-making schemes. Their growing card line, however, was becoming more than a harebrained idea, as he had referred to it in the past.

  “Bummer.”

  “Yeah, if he has his way, he’ll have me doing the dishes for the rest of my life.”

  “I think you’re learning the programs mighty fast. Wish I did algebra the same way.”

  “Concentration helps.”

  “Don’t I know it.” DJ’s algebra grade had gone from nearly flunking to a B at midterm. It was either pull it up or say good-bye to her Olympic dream until after high school.

  “Ya know, now that I’m winning in that area of my life, I know I can conquer just about anything.” DJ smoothed some gloss on her lips and rubbed them together.

  “Yeah, well, school isn’t over yet.”

  “Hey, I thought you were supposed to cheer me on. Isn’t that what friends are for?”

  “What I better do is call you every morning so we aren’t late.”

  The two girls bailed out in front of the Acalanese High School, thanking the driver as their feet touched down on the sidewalk. One more month and school would be out. They wove their way through the crowd to their outside lockers and quickly swapped the books they’d need for the first class.

  “You got your algebra done?”

  “Did that Friday. Good thing because I fell asleep in the tub last night.” DJ stuffed another book in her backpack. “Oh, Amy, you won’t believe what’s happening now.”

  “What?” Amy pulled her head out of her locker, where she was looking for something. “Uh-oh, you’ve got that look on your face.”

  DJ dropped her voice. “My mother is pregnant.”

  “A baby! You’re going to have a baby?” Her squeal brought looks from the kids around them.

  DJ could feel her face flame. “Not me, my mother!”

  “I know that. But you never had a baby brother before.”

  “Or sister.”

  The warning bell buzzed their attention.

  “How cool.” Amy had three brothers and sisters and had made sure that DJ felt part of their family for all the years they’d known each other. “You okay about it?”

  DJ nodded. “I guess. Mom and Robert sure are. He’s trying to talk her into quitting work. Can you believe that?” They followed the flow into the classroom and took their seats, so they couldn’t continue their conversation.

  DJ thought about Amy’s comment while the homeroom teacher took roll. Was she okay, or was that the little green-eyed monster of jealousy that pricked her every once in a while? She had to keep reminding herself that things were different now. Her mother wasn’t the sole breadwinner anymore and didn’t always put the twins before her real daughter; it just seemed that way at times. DJ knew she’d prayed about feelings like this, but still, sometimes they came. Calling herself names about it didn’t help, either.

  She sighed. Sometimes her I can do all things through Christ verse got stretched. Or was it her that got stretched? She’d have to ask Gran about this.

  “Miss Randall, would you like to join us?”

  “Huh?” DJ looked up from her doodling on her notebook. Her face flamed hot enough to boil water. In fact, her brain felt like it was doing just that—boiling. “Sorry.”

  “Daydreaming can best be used at other times, all right?”

  She nodded. If only she could crawl out of the room full of snickering kids and douse her face in the washroom sink.

  At least the day didn’t go downhill too far from then on. The high point? She got eight out of ten points on the algebra quiz. And she nearly had another problem done, so only one had been over her head. First thing had been a quick prayer for God to clear her mind and help her to do her best. Then she took Robert’s coaching to heart. As he’d suggested, she sucked in a deep breath and focused all her attention on the problems, doing the easy ones first. When the day came that she got a perfect score on a test or quiz, she planned to frame the thing. Robert had promised her dinner at any restaurant she wanted.

  Waiting for her grandfather to pick them up after school, DJ picked at a piece of dead skin around her thumbnail. At least she now had fingernails—the urge to chew on them came only when she was freaking out, like in class this morning. “There oughta be a law about embarrassing your students.”

  “Get real.” Amy slung her backpack off and set it on the concrete curb. “Boy, was your face red.”

  DJ put her hands on her cheeks. “I can still feel it. Worse’n any sunburn I ever had.”

  Joe pulled up in front of them and leaned across the pickup seat to open their door. “Your taxi awaits.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Crowder.” Amy slammed the door behind them.

  “Mr. Crowder?”

  “Well, I figured a taxi driver needed a better name than GJ or Joe.” Amy set her backpack on the floor.

  “I’ll take Captain.”

  “You can’t, you’re retired.” DJ nudged her grandfather with her elbow. “How’d your lesson go with Ranger?”

  “Ranger isn’t the problem.” Joe eased his way onto Pleasant Hill Road. He flexed his right arm. “If I ever learn to throw a rope, it’ll be a miracle.”

  “Just don’t go in for bulldogging, okay? Gran will have a heart attack for sure.”

  “I won’t. These old bones couldn’t stand that. In answer to your question, Mark said Ranger has all the right instincts. He just needs experience.” Mark was a trainer who specialized in training cutting horses.

  “And more training?”

  “Uh-huh, but I got me a feeling it’s going to take longer to train the rider than the horse.”

  DJ nudged Amy. “Is that a negative comment I just heard?”

  Amy nodded. “I think we should tell Bridget. What is it she says?”

  “Something about I can do it?” DJ and Amy made absolutely sure their faces matched in serious mode. They both leaned forward to look at Joe.

  “All right, all right, I get the hint.”

  “Hint?” DJ’s eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “That was a hint? Wait until we hit him with
both barrels.”

  “What got into the two of you? Picking on an old man like this?”

  “Old man!” Now they sounded just like the twins, in perfect unison.

  Joe dropped Amy off at her house, then took DJ home to change so they could get to the Academy as soon as possible. Even with the days getting longer, the time between school and bed rushed by with the speed of a supersonic jet. Today was DJ’s solo jumping lesson, Wednesday was dressage, and Friday was group jumping with Tony and Hilary. On Tuesday she taught what she used to call her “girl’s class,” but now with Andrew Johnson in it, too, she had to come up with another name. Beginners sounded too babyish for the sharp kids she taught. And while the girls rode Western, Andrew rode English.

  As soon as she walked into the barn, Andrew met her at the tack room. “Guess what!”

  “What?” She turned to see the kind of grin she wasn’t sure she’d ever see on this little boy who was working so hard to overcome his fear of horses.

  “Mom is buying Bandit—for me!”

  “Wow, that’s awesome.”

  “It is pretty awesome.” Mrs. Johnson, her arm still in a cast, stopped beside her son and laid her other hand on his shoulder. “Thanks to you. I talked to the McDougalls one afternoon. I thought of putting Andrew up on another pony, but that might set him back. They said they were thinking of selling Bandit since their youngest girl just isn’t interested in horses, so …”

  “He’s mine now.” Andrew stood a bit straighter and smiled up at DJ. “Now I have to take care of him, huh?”

  “You sure do, tiger. The more time you spend with Bandit, the better friends you’ll become.”

  “I’m going to ride him now.”

  “Just for fun, huh?”

  The boy nodded. “Mom’s new horse will be here soon, and my dad says he might get one. Then we can go riding up in Briones with you.”

  “Oh man, I haven’t been up in Briones forever. Soon as school is out, we’ll all take lunch up there.”

  “Joe too?”

  “Joe too.” That grandfather of mine is becoming pretty popular around here, DJ thought on her way to Major’s stall. She looked over her shoulder to see Andrew talking to the tall man with square shoulders and a crew cut. Joe said that way his gray hair looked more blond.