Home for Christmas (20 page)

One hundred thousand dollars.

“Tedd,” I said out loud. “Thank you. I know, somehow, that Hillary's proud.”

Hours later I
gathered in the arena with the rest of the Safe Haven volunteers. Lyssa, standing on a mounting block just as she'd done the first day, held the donations ledger in her hand. She had mud flecks on her boots, tendrils of hair had escaped from her ponytail, and she looked happy but exhausted.

“Please, everyone,” Lyssa said. “Give yourselves a round of applause!”

Cheers broke out in the arena. I clapped and grinned at Paige, who stood next to me. Lauren was on my other side. Somehow, the Canterwood group always managed to come together whenever possible. I'd really gotten to like having the younger students around. I hoped that wouldn't change once we got back to Canterwood.

“Today we broke a record for the number of adoptions,” Lyssa said. “We found homes for twenty-two horses! That's nearly half of our horses who were up for adoption.”

“Yeah!”
someone whooped from the other side of the arena.

We clapped again. That number was fantastic! I hadn't known what to expect, but
twenty-two
horses going to loving homes was beyond exciting.

“I couldn't have asked for a better group of volunteers,” Lyssa said. “I sincerely thank each and every one of you for your time, energy, and efforts that you have put into these last couple of weeks.”

Lyssa held up the red ledger. “This,” she continued, “has all of the financial contributions we received this holiday season.” She motioned to someone and stepped down from the mounting block.

Quinn took Lyssa's place. “Hi, everyone, I'm Quinn,” she said. “I tallied up the ledger, and no one except for me knows the total of the donations we received.”

She grinned, looking down at Lyssa. “This year, Safe Haven for Thoroughbreds received one hundred nine thousand dollars.”

“What?” Lyssa's shriek echoed throughout the arena.

I smiled to myself. I hadn't told anyone—not even my friends—about Tedd. I wasn't planning on sharing his story either. It was something Tedd had trusted to me, and I planned to keep it to myself and be able to look Tedd in
the eye next year, knowing I'd done the right thing.

“I didn't miscalculate,” Quinn said, laughing. “Someone, who chose to remain anonymous, donated one hundred thousand dollars, making that our single largest donation ever.”

“Wow,” Paige said. “That's incredible!”

“It's amazing,” I agreed.

“One hundred percent of all the money raised goes right to the care of these horses,” Quinn said. “I don't want to keep you here any longer. I know you must be as tired as I am. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, from all of us at Safe Haven. I hope you all have a very,
very
merry Christmas!”

24

Sasha

“SASHA, MAY WE TALK TO
you for a moment, please?” Mom called. “Your father and I are in the kitchen.”

I tugged down the creamy-white sweater that I'd chosen to wear for tonight's bonfire. It was just after six, and we were all getting ready.

Brit and Callie, both sitting on my bed, looked at me when I faced them.

“That sounds like I'm in trouble,” I said, whispering. “Right?”

“No,” Callie said. She looked at Brit, then back at me. “Maybe! But you didn't do anything that we don't know about, right?”

My mind raced through everything that I'd done today. I couldn't think of anything that would make Mom or
Dad angry. I'd stayed at least five feet away from Jacob and Eric at all times since we'd gotten home, Lyssa had nothing but praise for my friends and me when my parents had picked us up, and there hadn't been time for me to get in trouble.

“Sasha?” It was Dad this time.

“Coming!” I called.

“We'll be here,” Brit said. “You didn't do anything—we're probably totally reading into their tones.”

“I hope so,” I said.

I left my room, and as I walked to the kitchen, I slicked on a coat of Merry Berry gloss. Mom and Dad were seated at the small round table in the breakfast nook area.

“We know you're getting ready for Kim's,” Dad said. “This won't take long.” He motioned for me to sit across from him and Mom.

I pulled out one of the wooden chairs and slowly sat down. Under the table, I rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans. Mom's and Dad's faces gave away nothing.

“Mom, Dad,” I started. “I don't know why you're mad, but I promise I didn't—”

I stopped when they both smiled at me.
Grinned
, actually.

“Oh, honey,” Mom said, laughing a little. “I'm sorry
we scared you. You didn't do anything wrong, and you're not in trouble.”

I let out a giant breath of relief. “You both had me so nervous!” I said. “What's going on?”

“Sash,” Dad said. “Your mom and I wanted a moment alone with you. We wanted to tell you how proud we are about what you've done over the break. You orchestrated this entire volunteer event with your friends. You've spent almost all of your time at Safe Haven over the past week, sacrificing your own free time that you could be spending with friends or riding at Briar Creek.”

I sat back in my chair. “Dad, thank you.”

“Your father is right,” Mom said. She cupped her hands around the snowflake mug in front of her. “All of the effort you put into this, sweetie, hasn't gone unnoticed. I've always known how much you deeply care for horses, but it has never been clearer to me than recently.”

Tears stung my eyes. I blinked fast—I'd just finished my makeup and was not going to have smudgy raccoon eyes.

“Sasha, it's not Christmas, but Mom and I wanted to give you a gift a little early this year,” Dad said. He looked at Mom, and she nodded. “We know how hard you're training for the YENT—both you and Charm. A
few weeks ago, your mom and I spoke to Mr. Conner at length about your riding future.”

“You did?” I asked. I wanted to say more like
Did he say I was doing well? Is he happy with my progress?
But those two words were the only ones I was able to utter.

Mom smiled at me. “Don't worry,” she said in a teasing tone. “We did our best not to say anything embarrassing.”

Smiling too, I rolled my eyes. “I hope not!”

“Mr. Conner mentioned,” Dad said, “among other things, that it's not uncommon for a rider to have more than one horse when they are training and competing at the level where you are now and where you're striving to be.”

I stared at him, not getting what he was saying. I had Charm. Charm was my perfect dream horse. Besides, it wasn't as if my parents could afford to buy me another horse. I'd never ask that of them.

“Sasha, your dad and I talked it over, and we would love to give you the opportunity to adopt a horse from Safe Haven,” Mom said.

I think my heart stopped. Then it started beating out of my chest.

“WHAT?!” I shrieked.

Mom and Dad laughed, holding each other's hands on the tabletop.

“We're proposing this,” Mom started. “You are incredibly busy with school, lessons, and Charm. We fully recognize that. However, when the time comes that you feel you're ready to take on the responsibility of a second horse, if that's next year or five years from now, we want you to know it is something we would love to give you. This is a chance for you to rescue a horse in need and either have a second horse to use for pleasure riding or a second horse to train for showing.”

“Oh. My. God. Omigod. Omigod.” I shook my head. “Are you
serious
?!”

Mom and Dad nodded.

“You deserve it, honey,” Dad said. “We're so proud of the young woman you've become. We know that you'll feel when the time is right to introduce a new horse into our family.”

“Omigod!” I shoved back my chair, almost tipping it over. I rushed around the side of the table and threw my arms around both of my parents. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I can't believe it! This is the best Christmas present!” I squeezed Mom and Dad, then let them go.

Mom reached out and touched my cheek. “Like we said, you deserve it, Sasha.”

I caught my breath as the news sank in. A new horse. Another one to love and train and care for.

“What you guys said means so much to me,” I said. “I can't wait until I'm ready to adopt a horse. There are so many at Safe Haven that deserve amazing homes. Right now, you're right—my life is full with school, riding, and everything else.” I smiled. “Plus, Charm is
all
the horse I need and more. I know that one day I'll be ready to open my heart to a horse in need. Thank you, really, for giving me that opportunity.”

I hugged my parents again, then saw the clock behind them.

“We've got to leave, like, now!” I said. “Dad, are you still up for driving us to Briar Creek?”

He nodded and waved me off to go get my friends.

I half ran down the hallway and skidded to a stop in my doorway. Brit and Callie, wide-eyed, looked at me.

“Is everything okay?” Callie asked.

“You're not in trouble, are you?” Brit questioned.

“We're still going to the bonfire, right?” Callie asked.

I grinned. “To answer your questions, yes, no, and yes! Dad's ready when we are. Let's go, and I'll tell you what just happened when we get to the bonfire. I want to share it with everyone at once.”

“Um, this sounds like a big deal,” Callie said, getting up and sliding into her coat.

I shot her a playful grin. “It's bigger than big. It's like, all-of-the-snowflakes-during-a-snowstorm-combined big.”

Despite nonstop questions from everyone during the entire ride to Briar Creek, I didn't say a word about my surprise present. I kept the secret as if telling my friends now would ensure coal in my stocking for Christmas.

25