Read Online My Favorite Mistake by Georgina Bloomberg, Catherine Hapka - Free Book Online Page A

just tossed her. It was a package of peanut butter sandwich cookies.
    â€œI know it’s not exactly health food,” the trainer said with a smile. “But the sugar rush should get you through the ride at least.” He checked his watch. “Speaking of riding, I’m supposed to be getting on Mrs. Walsh’s mare right now. See you.”
    â€œBye. Thanks,” Kate said, though he was already gone. Jamie never seemed to slow down at the shows—he was always busy riding, coaching, or any of the zillion other tasks he had to do.
    Kate set the sandwich cookies on a shelf out of Chaucer’s reach so she could finish buckling Fable’s girth. She knew better than to leave it half done—the big gray gelding had amischievous streak, and was likely to dump the saddle on the ground if she gave him half a chance.
    After she finished with that, she stepped over and grabbed the package again. Now that she thought about it, she realized she
was
pretty hungry.
    She ripped open the package, the strong scents of processed peanut butter and grease making her stomach growl eagerly. Chaucer sidled closer, drool dripping from his jowls.
    â€œSorry, buddy,” Kate told the dog. “This one’s for me.”
    Wiping her hand on her shirt, she grabbed one of the cookies and popped it into her mouth. It actually tasted pretty good, and she glanced at the package in her hand to see how many more there were.
    Four. There were a total of four cookies in the package.
    Instantly, she flashed to her mother. Four was her magic number—the number that everything had to be arranged into to keep the world from ending. Or whatever it was she thought would happen if she allowed anything in her sight to remain in sets of three, or five, or seventy-nine. If she were here, Kate knew she would have counted the cookies before she ever allowed Kate—or anyone else—to start eating them. If she were the one eating, she’d take exactly four bites to finish each one, and wipe her hands four times to get the grease off.
    Kate squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the thoughts. But her mind just skittered on without her, trying to figure out whether the total number of saddles in the tack stall next door was divisible by four, exactly how many horses were at the show … The half-chewed cookie turned to glue in her mouth.
    â€œHere,” she blurted out, tossing the rest of the cookies to Chaucer. Maybe that would make the thoughts stop.
    She was shaking as she reached for Fable’s bridle. But she tried to ignore it. She didn’t have time to be crazy like her mom.

    Zara sat slumped on one of the loft’s sleek retro-modern sofas, picking at a hangnail and trying to ignore the chaos going on around her. It was Wednesday afternoon, and the whole entourage was flying out to Amsterdam in a couple of hours. Whoop-de-freaking-doo.
    One of her father’s personal assistants hustled past, carrying an armful of clothes. He stopped short when he noticed her.
    â€œHey, is the cousin here yet?” he called to Zac’s lawyer.
    The lawyer didn’t bother to look up from his laptop. “S’posed to get here any minute.”
    Zac sauntered into the room, dressed in snakeskin pants and a jade green velvet smoking jacket. Yeah. Not exactly typical air-travel clothes for most people. But the chartered jet was leaving from JFK, and no way would Zac risk ending up in some passing fan’s Photobucket album looking less than rock-star fabulous. No surprise there. He put on eyeliner to walk to the bagel shop on the corner.
    â€œHanging in, Little Z?” he asked, wandering toward her with an unlit cigarette hanging from his lip. He’d banned himself from smoking in the loft, claiming he was trying to quit.
    Yeah, right. He’d been saying that for as long as Zara could remember. Come to think of it, she’d never noticed him ever actually
trying
, at least not when her mom