He’d probably shot down every one o

He’d probably shot down every one of her ideas within minutes of her departure. Damn Nonie, too, for being so easily persuaded. Given her penchant for gossip, she bet Nonie would be sharing the results of her decision with everyone she met at the hair salon, the local market, and every single party she attended in the coming weeks. It galled that her best chance to get her business off to a flying start had just crashed to the ground.
Shoving her stool away from the counter, she stood, grabbed her tea mug, and went over to the sink to dump its tepid contents before putting it in the dishwasher. Her movements jerky, she closed the dishwasher with barely controlled violence.
Damn, damn, damn, she thought. Why couldn’t things go her way for once? Hadn’t Richard done enough damage? Why did her first attempt to make something of herself professionally have to be snatched away, and by the likes of Owen Gage, too? He had everything: good looks, charm, success … and greed galore. How embarrassing to think that while her heart had been fluttering madly in her chest simply because he’d lowered his face to hers, he’d been plotting to steal the decorating commission from her. Men were such cheating, underhanded bastards—
“Hey, have you seen my car keys?” Jade asked, hurrying into the kitchen, a bulging bike messenger bag slung across her shoulder. “I swear they were in my bag but I can’t find them anywhere and I’m going to be late for class if I don’t leave in, like, thirty seconds. Mr. Jawolski is a headcase about coming late to class.”
“Try Olivia’s Sesame Street Playhouse. Or Max’s fire truck. Olivia was playing with them earlier in the library.”
Jade dropped the heavy book bag at her feet, spun around, and dashed out of the kitchen. Less than a minute later she was back, keys clutched in her hand. “They were in the truck. I gotta tell ya, Jordan, your kid is deeply weird and possibly a klepto. What’s with taking my stuff all the time?”
“Because it’s yours, Jade. She thinks you hang the moon in the sky.”
“Well, you should tell her she’s risking any chance to ride Doc if she keeps making off with my wallet and keys.” She stopped, her gaze narrowing on Jordan’s face. “Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing.”
“Come on, you can’t fool me with that super-calm look. What’s the matter?”
“Don’t you have to go to school? Have you forgotten Mr. Jawolski?”
“For God’s sake, Jawolski can suck an egg. What’s up?”
“It’s nothing, really. I’m just a little disappointed. Nonie Harrison decided not to hire me.”
“What!”
“She’s decided to give the job to Owen Gage’s firm.”
“That fat witch. I can’t believe it—No, I take that back. I can totally believe it, and it’s my fault. She’s getting back at you because I got Blair suspended last year.”
“Don’t be silly, Jade. Nonie made it perfectly clear it was because she preferred Owen Gage’s ideas to mine, which is completely within her rights.”
“There’s no way he could have better ideas than you.”
Jordan smiled. “It’s nice of you to say that, but I’m afraid you don’t know how good he is.”
“Here’s what I know,” she countered. “One, Mrs. Harrison’s a vindictive cow. Two, I should never have turned Blair and Courtney in last year. It’s not like anything good came of it.”
“Doing the right thing isn’t like winning the lottery. Often it’s hard and difficult and scary. But that doesn’t make it any less important. And do you really think that things at school would be easier if you’d let Blair and her friends continue to bully you?”
“But now it’s not just hurting me, it’s affecting you, too.”
The last thing she wanted was for Jade to feel guilty because Nonie Harrison happened to be selfish and status-obsessed.
“Nonsense,” she said briskly. “I’m a big girl and more than able to take care of myself. There’ll be other interior decorating jobs—and until then there’s loads to do at the farm helping Margot and Travis. You better get going or you’ll be late for Mr. Jawolski’s class. This is the spring semester of your junior year. Grades are crucial.” She didn’t know why she was saying this when her little sister never brought home a grade lower than an A and she’d scored above the ninety-fifth percentile in all her standardized tests.
Clearly of the same opinion, Jade rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the newsflash. You and Margot should give the college thing a rest. I’m not even sure I want to go. It’s ridiculously expensive, and as far as I can tell we’re about fourteen vet bills away from being broke. Besides, everything I want to learn about is inside our three barns.”
Jordan suppressed a sigh. “Thanks to Margot, we’re a whole lot better off financially than last year. We both realize how important Rosewood is to you, but the farm will always be here for you. College offers experiences far beyond the classroom and course books. And who knows, you might discover some interests other than horses.”
“Yeah, sure.” Jade’s laugh was a rich mix of amusement and patent disbelief.
“Your mom would have wanted you to go to college.”
Jade’s mirth vanished, replaced by a stony expression that made Jordan’s heart ache. It didn’t matter how often or in what context one brought up Nicole, Jade’s reaction was unchanging: shuttered and unyielding.
Suddenly absorbed with adjusting the strap of her messenger bag, Jade said, “It’s time I split.” She reached out and plucked an apple from the bowl.
“Please don’t tell me that’s your breakfast.”
“Nope, haven’t had it. This is for Aspen. He needs a special treat since Travis and Ned are giving him his shots this morning. See ya. Oh, and remember to tell Olivia not to swipe my keys or I’m gonna ground her big time. Seriously.” With that she loped out the kitchen door, car keys in one hand, a bright green Granny Smith in the other.
What a funny kid. One minute Jade was the quintessential teenager—nonstop drama—the next she revealed an altogether different and surprisingly mature side to herself. Her patient yet firm manner with the children showed real insight into their characters, especially Olivia’s. Those car keys wouldn’t go wandering again once Olivia heard that Aunt Jade would bar her from Doc’s back if she took them to Ernie and Bert and Cookie Monster’s house.
Jade was similarly gifted when it came to handling the young horses she rode. Admittedly she’d been taught by the best in the business, Ned Connolly and Travis, but they wouldn’t have assigned her more youngsters to work with if she hadn’t possessed a knack for “reading” a horse so well. The early experiences of a green horse were too important to risk with careless or heavy-handed training.
But what impressed Jordan most was her little sister’s fierce loyalty and protectiveness. Ever since that horrific morning last year, when they’d listened to Richard’s philandering voice over the kitchen answering machine’s amplified speaker, Jade was always ready to leap to her defense, shield her from every hurt. Though she’d tried to convince her that she was okay, that she could handle things now, Jordan realized that when Jade looked at her, she probably saw her as she’d been that morning, curled in a ball on the kitchen floor, screaming in pain as her heart was sliced to shreds by her husband’s words.
Jordan flinched at the memory. No, she told herself, shaking her head as if she might dislodge the disturbing image, she wasn’t going to revisit that awful time. She wasn’t going to think about Richard and what he’d done or how much she hated him for destroying her faith and love.
That he and Cynthia had gotten married three weeks ago actually helped, effectively killing any screwy, masochistic reconciliation fantasies she might have harbored in moments of weakness. He was out of her life now. Even his role in their children’s lives was limited … thanks to Jade.
Jade had been canny enough to save the damning recorded message with Richard and Cynthia’s sexual banter turning to heavy breathing and guttural groans, silenced only when the tape finished with an audible click. The presence of the tape had been Jordan’s ace in the hole. Richard’s lawyer had murmured not a single word of protest when her lawyer requested full custody of the children in the separation agreement. In the months since their move to Rosewood, Richard had driven to Rosewood on weekends to take the kids out for an ice cream and perhaps listen to the story hour down at the Corner Bookstore, but because of Jade’s quick thinking, her biggest fear, that Richard might fight her for custody of the children, never materialized.
The only way Richard could continue to hurt her now was if she allowed the cut of his betrayal to fester. The same principle applied to being passed over by Nonie. It was stupid to brood over the fact that Owen Gage had snatched the job away from her. She had plenty of things to do and ways to contribute to the farm. Indeed, even now she was wasting her precious free time while Kate and Max were at school and Olivia was bonding with her fellow tots at the toddler center’s water table and sand box. She should be down at the barns helping Ned rather than wallowing in self-pity.
Grabbing a quilted vest off the row of hooks along the mudroom wall, she took her cellphone from her purse and dropped it into the vest’s side pocket, then hurried out the back door into the spring morning.
With the mild weather, the foals were already in the pastures with their dams, but Jordan also worked with the yearlings and two-year-olds, helping Ned accustom them to a variety of stimuli and situations so they developed the confidence needed to be steady and dependable horses. Rosewood Farm’s reputation was built on breeding and training horses that were beautiful, sound, and sane. Fostering a willing and easy temperament in a horse was something everyone at the farm worked on,

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Dia mungkin akan ditembak jatuh setiap salah satu ide dalam beberapa menit dari Bandara nya. Sialan Nonie, terlalu, untuk menjadi begitu mudah dibujuk. Mengingat nya kegemaran gosip, dia yakin Nonie akan berbagi hasil keputusannya dengan semua orang dia bertemu di salon rambut, pasar lokal, dan setiap pihak tunggal yang mengikuti dalam beberapa minggu mendatang. Itu galled nya kesempatan terbaik untuk bisnis turun untuk memulai terbang telah hanya jatuh ke tanah.Mendorong nya bangku dari counter, dia berdiri, menyambar nya mug teh, dan pergi ke wastafel untuk membuang isinya hangat sebelum memasukkannya ke dalam mesin cuci piring. Gerakannya dendeng, dia menutup mesin cuci piring dengan kekerasan nyaris tak terkendali.Sialan, sialan, sialan, pikirnya. Mengapa tidak hal-hal pergi perjalanan untuk sekali? Tidak Richard berbuat kerusakan cukup? Mengapa dia percobaan pertama untuk membuat sesuatu dirinya secara profesional harus menjadi menyambar jauhnya, dan oleh orang-orang seperti Owen Gage, terlalu? Ia memiliki segala sesuatu: terlihat baik, pesona, sukses... dan keserakahan berlimpah. Bagaimana memalukan untuk berpikir bahwa sementara hatinya telah telah beterbangan tergila-gila di dadanya hanya karena ia telah menurunkan wajahnya kepada miliknya, ia telah merencanakan untuk mencuri Komisi dekorasi darinya. Orangnya seperti bajingan yang curang, licik —"Hei, Apakah Anda melihat kunci mobil saya?" Giok bertanya, bergegas ke dapur, sepeda messenger kantong menggembung tersandang di bahunya. "Aku bersumpah di tas saya, tetapi saya tidak dapat menemukan mereka di mana saja dan aku akan menjadi terlambat untuk kelas jika saya tidak meninggalkan dalam, seperti, tiga puluh detik. Tn. Jawolski adalah headcase tentang datang terlambat ke kelas.""Coba Olivia Sesame Street Playhouse. Atau truk pemadam kebakaran Max. Olivia sedang bermain dengan mereka sebelumnya di Perpustakaan."Jade menjatuhkan tas buku berat di kakinya, berputar-putar, dan berlari keluar dari dapur. Kurang dari satu menit kemudian dia adalah kembali, kunci yang mencengkeram di tangannya. "Mereka berada di truk. Aku harus kirim ya, Jordan, anak Anda sangat aneh dan mungkin klepto. Apa itu dengan mengambil barang-barang saya sepanjang waktu?""Karena itu adalah milik Anda, Jade. Dia berpikir Anda menggantung bulan di langit.""Yah, Anda harus katakan padanya dia adalah mempertaruhkan kesempatan untuk naik Doc jika dia terus membuat off dengan dompet dan kunci." Dia berhenti, pandangan matanya mempersempit Jordan's wajah. "Ada sesuatu yang salah?""Tidak, tidak ada.""Datang, Anda tidak dapat membodohi aku dengan yang terlihat super tenang. Apa itu masalah?""Jangan Anda harus pergi ke sekolah? Apakah Anda lupa Mr Jawolski?""Demi Tuhan, Jawolski dapat mengisap telur. What's up?""Ini adalah apa-apa, benar-benar. Aku hanya sedikit kecewa. Harrison Nonie memutuskan tidak untuk mempekerjakan saya.""Apa!""Dia telah memutuskan untuk memberikan pekerjaan kepada perusahaan Owen Gage.""Itu lemak penyihir. Aku tidak percaya itu-tidak, saya mengambil itu kembali. Aku benar-benar percaya itu, dan ini adalah salahku. Dia mendapatkan kembali pada Anda karena saya punya tahun lalu ditangguhkan Blair.""Jangan konyol, Jade. Nonie membuatnya sangat jelas itu karena dia lebih suka ide-ide Owen Gage untuk saya, yang benar-benar dalam hak-hak nya.""Tidak ada cara dia bisa memiliki ide yang lebih baik daripada Anda."Jordan tersenyum. "It's nice untuk mengatakan bahwa, tetapi saya takut Anda tidak tahu seberapa baik dia.""Di sini adalah apa yang saya tahu," ia balas. "Satu, ibu Harrison's sapi dendam. Dua, saya harus tidak pernah berubah Blair dan Courtney tahun lalu. Hal ini tidak seperti apa pun yang baik datang dari itu.""Melakukan hal yang benar tidak seperti memenangkan lotre. Sering itu keras dan sulit dan menakutkan. Tapi yang tidak membuatnya kurang penting. Dan apakah Anda benar-benar berpikir bahwa hal-hal di sekolah akan lebih mudah jika Anda akan membiarkan Blair dan teman-temannya terus mengganggu Anda?""Tapi sekarang itu tidak hanya menyakitiku, hal itu mempengaruhi Anda, juga."Hal terakhir yang ia inginkan adalah untuk Jade untuk merasa bersalah karena Nonie Harrison terjadi menjadi egois dan terobsesi dengan status."Omong kosong," katanya cepat. "Aku seorang gadis yang besar dan lebih dari mampu mengurus diriku sendiri. Akan ada pekerjaan dekorasi interior lainnya — dan sampai saat itu ada banyak dilakukan di peternakan membantu Margot dan Travis. Anda lebih baik pergi atau Anda akan terlambat untuk Mr Jawolski kelas. Ini adalah semester musim semi tahun junior Anda. Nilai penting." Dia tidak tahu mengapa dia mengatakan ini ketika adiknya tidak pernah dibawa pulang kelas yang lebih rendah dari A dan dia telah mencetak diatas ninety-kelima persentil di semua tes standar nya.Jelas pendapat sama, Jade memutar matanya. "Terima kasih untuk newsflash. Anda dan Margot harus memberikan hal college istirahat. Saya tidak yakin aku ingin pergi. Itu ridiculously mahal, dan sejauh yang saya bisa katakan kami sekitar empat belas vet tagihan jauh dari menjadi bangkrut. Selain itu, segala sesuatu yang saya ingin belajar tentang adalah di dalam kami tiga Lumbung."Jordan ditekan napas. "Berkat Margot, kita sudah jauh lebih baik secara finansial dari tahun lalu. Kami berdua menyadari betapa pentingnya Rosewood untuk Anda, tapi pertanian akan selalu di sini untuk Anda. College menawarkan pengalaman jauh melampaui buku kursus dan kelas. "Dan siapa tahu, Anda mungkin menemukan beberapa kepentingan selain kuda.""Ya, pasti." Jade tertawa adalah campuran kaya hiburan dan paten kekafiran."Ibu Anda ingin kau pergi ke perguruan tinggi."Jade mirth lenyap, berganti dengan ekspresi yang berbatu yang membuat jantung Jordan's sakit. Tidak peduli seberapa sering atau dalam konteks apa satu dibesarkan Nicole, Jade reaksi adalah tidak berubah: tertutup dan keras.Tiba-tiba diserap dengan menyesuaikan tali tas kurir nya, Jade mengatakan, "Ini adalah waktu saya membagi." Dia mengulurkan tangan dan memetik sebuah apel dari mangkuk."Tolong jangan katakan saya bahwa Anda sarapan.""Tidak, tidak punya itu. Ini adalah untuk Aspen. Ia perlu memperlakukan khusus karena Travis dan Ned yang memberinya tembakan nya pagi ini. Sampai berjumpa. Oh, dan jangan lupa untuk memberitahu Olivia tidak untuk men-swipe kunci saya atau saya akan tanah waktu besar. Serius." Dengan itu dia melakukan keluar dari dapur pintu, kunci mobil di satu tangan, hijau terang Granny Smith pada yang lain.Apa anak lucu. Satu menit Jade adalah remaja klasik — tanpa henti drama — berikutnya ia mengungkapkan sisi yang sama sekali berbeda dan mengejutkan matang untuk dirinya sendiri. Sikapnya pasien namun perusahaan dengan anak-anak menunjukkan nyata wawasan tentang karakter mereka, terutama Olivia's. Orang-orang kunci mobil tidak pergi mengembara lagi setelah Olivia mendengar bahwa bibi Jade akan bar dia dari Doc kembali jika dia membawa mereka ke rumah Ernie dan Bert dan Cookie Monster.Jade sama berbakat ketika datang ke penanganan kuda muda yang dia naik. Memang dia telah diajarkan oleh yang terbaik dalam bisnis, Ned Connolly dan Travis, tetapi mereka tidak akan diberikan anak-anak nya lebih untuk bekerja dengan jika dia tidak memiliki kemampuan untuk "membaca" kuda begitu baik. Pengalaman awal kuda hijau yang terlalu penting untuk risiko dengan ceroboh atau tangan berat pelatihan.But what impressed Jordan most was her little sister’s fierce loyalty and protectiveness. Ever since that horrific morning last year, when they’d listened to Richard’s philandering voice over the kitchen answering machine’s amplified speaker, Jade was always ready to leap to her defense, shield her from every hurt. Though she’d tried to convince her that she was okay, that she could handle things now, Jordan realized that when Jade looked at her, she probably saw her as she’d been that morning, curled in a ball on the kitchen floor, screaming in pain as her heart was sliced to shreds by her husband’s words.Jordan flinched at the memory. No, she told herself, shaking her head as if she might dislodge the disturbing image, she wasn’t going to revisit that awful time. She wasn’t going to think about Richard and what he’d done or how much she hated him for destroying her faith and love.That he and Cynthia had gotten married three weeks ago actually helped, effectively killing any screwy, masochistic reconciliation fantasies she might have harbored in moments of weakness. He was out of her life now. Even his role in their children’s lives was limited … thanks to Jade.Jade had been canny enough to save the damning recorded message with Richard and Cynthia’s sexual banter turning to heavy breathing and guttural groans, silenced only when the tape finished with an audible click. The presence of the tape had been Jordan’s ace in the hole. Richard’s lawyer had murmured not a single word of protest when her lawyer requested full custody of the children in the separation agreement. In the months since their move to Rosewood, Richard had driven to Rosewood on weekends to take the kids out for an ice cream and perhaps listen to the story hour down at the Corner Bookstore, but because of Jade’s quick thinking, her biggest fear, that Richard might fight her for custody of the children, never materialized.The only way Richard could continue to hurt her now was if she allowed the cut of his betrayal to fester. The same principle applied to being passed over by Nonie. It was stupid to brood over the fact that Owen Gage had snatched the job away from her. She had plenty of things to do and ways to contribute to the farm. Indeed, even now she was wasting her precious free time while Kate and Max were at school and Olivia was bonding with her fellow tots at the toddler center’s water table and sand box. She should be down at the barns helping Ned rather than wallowing in self-pity.Grabbing a quilted vest off the row of hooks along the mudroom wall, she took her cellphone from her purse and dropped it into the vest’s side pocket, then hurried out the back door into the spring morning.With the mild weather, the foals were already in the pastures with their dams, but Jordan also worked with the yearlings and two-year-olds, helping Ned accustom them to a variety of stimuli and situations so they developed the confidence needed to be steady and dependable horses. Rosewood Farm’s reputation was built on breeding and training horses that were beautiful, sound, and sane. Fostering a willing and easy temperament in a horse was something everyone at the farm worked on,