Blue Ribbon Summer by Catherine Hapka Page B

overheard.
    â€œPreston what?” Hannah’s gaze was sharp and curious as she dropped her brush and came closer. “What is it, Brooke? What did Preston do?”
    Livi gasped. “I know! Is he planning to propose to Robin?” She clapped her hands. “I knew it! That must be why he’s hanging around so much this week. It’s about time—they’ve been dating forever!”
    â€œNo, nothing like that,” Brooke said. “I mean, not that I know of. I mean . . .”
    Glancing around at the three girls, she knew she wasn’tgoing to be able to resist their voracious appetite for gossip. Besides, why not tell them the truth? They obviously had a lot of happy memories of this place. Maybe they could figure out how to change Robin’s mind if she really was thinking about selling.
    â€œIt’s something I heard yesterday,” Brooke said. “Robin and Preston were talking—they didn’t know I was nearby. Preston was trying to talk her into selling Pocomoke Stables to some developer friend of his who wants to build condos here.”
    She held her breath, waiting for the other girls to explode with outrage and dismay. Instead, they exchanged a puzzled glance.
    Then Hannah shrugged. “Are you sure you heard them right?”
    â€œYeah, Preston’s always talking about some boring real estate deal or other,” Livi added. “You probably misunderstood.”
    Paige nodded. “Robin would never sell Pocomoke Stables. She’s owned it for like twenty years—she and her husband built the place together before he died.”
    Brooke frowned. “I know what I heard. They were definitely talking about selling Pocomoke!”
    The others traded another look. “Okay, if you say so.” Hannah sounded skeptical. “It’s just, we know Robin pretty well. . . .”
    â€œSo are you calling me a liar? I know what I heard!” Brooke clenched her fists at her sides, suddenly tired of this whole conversation. Exhausted, actually. What did she care if they believed her? She was never coming back here again if she could help it anyway. So what if their precious camp got plowed under? Their rich parents would probably just buy some of the fancy condos that replaced it!
    â€œBrooke, listen.” Paige’s tone was reasonable, but Brooke wasn’t listening. She’d had enough.
    Unclipping Foxy from the crossties, Brooke snapped on a lead rope with shaking hands and gave a tug. The pony, who had been half asleep, awoke with a start and allowed herself to be dragged down the aisle.
    â€œBrooke, hang on.” Paige hurried after her. “We didn’t mean to make you mad.”
    Brooke didn’t respond. As soon as she got outside, she vaulted onto Foxy’s bare back.
    â€œBrooke!” This time Paige sounded alarmed. “Stop! If you ride off alone again, Robin will—”
    The clatter of Foxy’s hooves on the cobblestones drowned out the rest. Brooke didn’t look back as she headed for the grass, then turned and nudged her pony into a trot. So what if she got in trouble again? Good! Maybe Robin would be so angry, she’d send her home. Then Brooke wouldn’t have to spend another moment worrying about this stupid place.
    â€œCome on, Foxy,” she whispered, giving a cluck and a squeeze to send the mare into a canter. “Let’s get out of here.”

CHAPTER
8
    AS SOON AS SHE WAS out of sight of the stable, Brooke slowed Foxy to a walk. Her anger had already faded, and she had the uncomfortable feeling that she might have overreacted. The pony ambled along, circling the soybean field and heading for the woods. It was a beautiful summer day and birds were everywhere, their cheerful songs adding the top note to the lazy drone of insects. Brooke breathed in the familiar scents of pine and marsh and sun-warmed dirt. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the feel of the