High Hurdles Collection Two (33 page)

“Good. I'll bring my sketch pad.” He stopped, looked at his feet, then at her. “Could I have your phone number? We had fun talking.”

DJ could feel the heat climbing from her chest to the roots of her hair. “I … I guess.” She gave him her home phone, then laughed. “I got a private line in our new house, but I don't even know my own number.”

Sean laughed, too. “See ya.” He ran down the steps to where a Mercedes waited at the street and turned to wave. “Bye, DJ. Keep on drawing.”

Wait till Gran hears about all this
, DJ thought as she walked down the stairs when her family drove up. She talked nonstop all the way home.

“I think she had a good time,” Robert said when they turned in the drive.

“What was your first clue?” Lindy asked, then caught herself on a yawn. “I think all this moving is catching up with me.”

“Aren't you glad you don't have to go into the office in the morning?” Robert propped his arms on the steering wheel. “I sure am.”

“Me too.” DJ caught herself in surprise. She was glad. Her mother seemed more relaxed, and the frown lines between her eyebrows weren't so noticeable.

“Daddy, I hafta go to the bathroom.”

“Me too.”

Robert groaned. “All right, so much for kicking back a minute.”

“Daddy, you can kick up when we get in the house.”

DJ snorted as she reached in the back for her duffel and her bulging art carrier.
Kick up. What funny guys
.

“You going to show me your drawings?” Lindy sat with the car door open and her feet on the ground. She sniffed the air. “You smell that?”

DJ sniffed, too. Something was blooming, that was for sure. The fragrance perfumed the air all around them. “They might not mean much without having heard the instructions.”

“That's okay. I just like to see what you do.”

Together the two of them strolled up the curving walk to the front door. Robert leaned against the doorjamb. “My two favorite women. What a picture you make.”

They headed straight for the kitchen, where DJ spread her work out on the counter for her mother to see. As soon as Robert finished giving each of the boys a string cheese stick, he joined them.

DJ pointed out which were the beginning ones and which were the last.

“I'd say you learned a lot.” Robert picked up the turtle picture and tapped the paper. “Any chance I could have this one?”

“It's not done yet.”

“Okay, when you finish.”

“Sure, but what for?”

“I'd like to frame it and keep it in my office. Makes me relax just looking at it. I can feel the sun on my back and …”

Lindy yawned again. “Look at me. You say the word
relax
and I yawn.” She gave DJ a one-arm hug. “I think the sun got to me. I'm going to lie down for a while. Don't let me sleep long.” She stopped at the doorway. “Darla Jean, I am real proud of you. Not only the drawing but you in general.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“That goes double for me.” Robert helped her gather her drawings up to put in her canvas portfolio case. “You know, I've been thinking.”

“Now what?”

“You might consider an art class at Mount Diablo College this summer or one of the classes in the city. Maybe Ms. Gant offers some.” He leaned back against the counter and crossed both his arms and his legs. “If you don't have to work so hard for money at the Academy, you might have time for that. Besides, you've had money-making schemes in the past.”

DJ kept a straight face with great difficulty as she remembered the loose critters in the garage and Lindy's great dislike for them. “You weren't thinking of getting the boys hamsters or mice, were you?”

“Not a chance.”

“Good thing.”

They shared a grin at her mother's expense.

“I do plan on a dog or two, though.”

“Cool.”

“You have any requests?”

“Other than horses?”

“You got that right. I've got Bridget looking for either two POAs, or she suggested a Welsh pony or cross.”

“Ponies of America are small horses, so they're not as stubborn as Shetlands. They'd be cool.” She raised an eyebrow. “I always wanted a Newfoundland puppy.”

“Then we won't need two horses. The dog can fill in. DJ, those things get monstrous. You got time to take it to an obedience class?”

“Well, you asked.”

“I was thinking more along the line of a golden retriever or Lab. Your mother suggested a Jack Russell terrier because they like to play so much. Smart little dogs, too.”

“Just so we don't get a yappy dog. I hate that.”

“Me too.”

DJ cocked one eyebrow. “How about a boa constrictor? I have a friend who has one, says they're really full of personality and friendly.”

“That the guy who took the runaway hamsters?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You don't really want a snake for a pet.”

“Should we ask Mom?”

“You want to keep your head?”

The boys charged in.

“You guys ever think of walking in the house?”

“We's in a hurry.” Bobby grabbed DJ's hand.

“We
are
in a hurry,” Robert corrected.

“We are? Where we going?” The two began dancing in place.

Robert groaned. “Come on, let's go read a story.”

DJ laughed at the look of defeat on Robert's face. He let the boys drag him over to the bookshelf, sending DJ a help-me look. She ignored him. “Have fun, guys. I've got homework to do.”

But before she hit the books, she called Amy on her new phone and told her all about the weekend.

When DJ slowed down, Amy said, “I got the cards from the printshop. When can we put the packets together?”

“Tomorrow night, depending on how much homework I have.” DJ made a face at the stack of books on her desk. She'd been caught up on Thursday, but not now. Why did teachers give extra over the weekends? Didn't they want kids to have any kind of life outside of school?

“I'm done.”

“Good, come and do mine.”

When they hung up, DJ sighed and started with her journal. She had plenty to write in that. The ringing phone made her jump. She wasn't used to having a phone in her room yet.

“So how was the art class?” Brad's voice sounded extra deep.

“Great.” By the time she told him everything, another half hour had flown by. She glanced at her portfolio case. If only she had time to work some more on a couple of the drawings.

And if only she had six or ten more hours in a day. Since she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep in San Francisco, her eyes felt as though someone had thrown a handful of sand in her face. Maybe a short nap would help.

She got up and stretched, went in the bathroom, and splashed cold water on her face. If she lay down now, she'd never get up until morning. If then.

When her chin bumped the top of her desk, she gave up. She must have read the same page in history five times and still had no idea whether they were talking about a war or a dance.

By Monday night DJ was sure she was caught in a blender with the lid on tight.

She didn't have to work Patches, so she should have had plenty of extra time. But putting the note packets together took up three hours, and they weren't completely done—there were just enough to send to the shop in Connecticut that her aunt Julia's friend owned and some for the tack shop at the Academy. They also matted some of the prints of Stormy, leaving others plain.

“No, you guys go on. We're busy.” DJ shooed the boys away for the third time.

“You girls ready for dinner?” Lindy called from the kitchen.

“In a minute.” DJ taped the box for the gift shop and Amy applied the label.

“Did you put the invoice in?” Amy glanced around the long table they had set up to work on in the empty living room.

“I think so.” DJ picked up a stack of prints—and groaned. “No, it's right here.”

“We'll send it in a separate envelope, then. No biggy.”

“You think we'll ever sell this many?” DJ motioned to the remaining box of cards.

“Just you watch. Next time we'll have to print double this amount.”

“Let's eat and then stuff some more. I have to work on my term paper, and if you say you have yours done already, I may have to stomp all over you.”

“Nope, but I do have the research done and I've started the writing.”

“Wish I could hire you to do mine.”

“You couldn't pay me enough, even if it weren't cheating.”

“Robert's stuck in traffic, so we'll eat without him.” Lindy set the platter of sliced meat loaf in the middle of the table. “There, let's have grace. Bobby,” she nodded to the boy on DJ's right, “will you say grace?”

“I'm Billy.”

Lindy groaned. DJ snickered to herself. She'd known that.

“Just say grace.”

“Come Lord Jesus …” For a change he didn't ask Jesus to bless everyone he knew, naming each and anything else he could think until the food got cold.

“You girls go on and finish what you were doing. The boys and I will clean up,” Lindy said after the apple crisp dessert had been devoured. “Thanks, Mom.” DJ and Amy headed back to the living room.

“How come you gripe all the time about how grouchy your mom is? I think she's cool.”

“She's different now that she's not working.” While DJ hadn't thought much about that, she realized how true it was. She hadn't been barked at in a week, but then, who was counting?

Tuesday night when Brad called to say
the
meeting was set up for Sunday afternoon, she had to swallow twice before she could answer. “B-but I planned to ride up in Briones if the weather's okay.”

“I think this is more important, don't you?”

Maybe to you, but I haven't been up in the park for weeks. First it was storming, then I was on restrictions, and since then I haven't even had time to blow my nose.`

“DJ?”

“I'm here. I'll see you on Sunday, then.” She stormed down to the kitchen. “Why didn't you tell me you'd talked to Brad?”

Lindy's eyebrows hit her hairline. “I have to tell you all my phone calls now?”

“No! Just that one.” DJ locked her arms across her chest.

“You don't want us to get together?”

“No, it's not that. I … Joe and I have that jumping clinic in Sacramento on Saturday. And on Sunday I was hoping to go riding and …”

Her mother's eyes narrowed. “Make up your mind, Darla Jean. You want us to support you, but on your terms, is that it?”

“No, but …” Why did she feel like crying? She swallowed hard. She started to say “I just never have any time for my stuff” but stopped that by coughing.

With her mother watching her, DJ felt like a mouse must when a cat has it by the tail and is playing with it.

“It's not easy, you know, trying to schedule something with so many people. That was the only time Robert and Bridget had available. Gran and Joe think this is so important that they turned down a dinner invitation with some friends, and
you
would rather go riding up in Briones?”