But Stevie wasn’t finished. “Of course, there is one obvious solution,” she said with a mischievous grin. “A certain oh-so-generous person could decide to loan us the Pine Hollow station wagon. That way we could leave our cars here and all ride together. That would be the much more environmentally conscious plan, don’t you think?”
Max rolled his eyes. But he reached into his pocket and came out with a set of keys. “Here you go,” he said, tossing them to Stevie. “Don’t make me regret this. I’m planning to hit the sack early tonight—I don’t want to have to come bail you out of jail at midnight for drag racing or something.”
Stevie grinned. Walking across the entryway, she reached up and tapped the lucky horseshoe. “There,” she told Max pertly. “Now there’s no way anything bad can possibly happen. Come on, everybody. Let’s go!”
TEN
A few minutes later Lisa was feeling content as she and her friends walked across the parking lot of their favorite hamburger place. She squeezed Scott’s hand slightly, then smiled when he squeezed back without interrupting his conversation with Stevie and Callie about the latest gossip at their school. Glancing ahead, she saw that Ben and Carole were also holding hands, their heads close together as they talked, probably about stable news or some other horse-related topic. This is nice, she thought. Really nice. She couldn’t remember the last time all of her friends had gotten together for a weekday dinner out. Probably not since Alex and I were together, she decided. Normally a thought like that would have made her feel a little wistful, but not that night. She was happy to be exactly where she was, with Scott and their other friends.
“Yo! Forester!”
Lisa glanced over her shoulder and saw a heavyset guy in a Fenton Hall team jacket hurrying toward them. Scott grinned. “Andy!” he called. “How’s it going, man?”
Stepping back as the two guys gave each other a high five, Lisa sighed in resignation. But for once, she really didn’t mind waiting as Scott chatted with his friend.
All I have to do if I start to resent it is think about last night, she told herself with a secret smile as the others continued on into the restaurant without them. That memory—that wonderful, amazing, romantic memory—should last me for a good long time.
When Scott finally said good-bye to his friend two or three minutes later, he took Lisa’s hand again. “Sorry about that,” he murmured.
She smiled up at him. “It’s okay,” she said, meaning it. “Come on, let’s go on in. It’s freezing out here.”
As they entered the restaurant hand in hand, Lisa spotted her friends clustered around the hostess stand. All of them immediately looked at her—Carole and Callie looked worried, Ben looked a little confused, and Stevie looked downright grim. Wondering what was going on, Lisa glanced around the crowded restaurant.
Oh, she thought with a jolt as she noticed two people standing at the take-out counter off to one side of the door: Alex and his new girlfriend, Nicole Adams. That explains it.
Lisa took a step forward, her eyes refusing to obey her mind’s orders not to stare. Her gaze kept skittering back over to Alex. At least her feet were still paying attention. She walked over to join her friends. Scott’s hand was still holding hers, and instead of feeling comfortable and warm as it had only seconds earlier, it felt huge and awkward and bulky, like some extra appendage Lisa wasn’t sure what to do with.
At that moment Alex turned, a white paper bag of food in his hands. He spotted Lisa right away, his eyes locking on to hers for a second before he cast them down at the floor. Nicole glanced over, too.
“Talk about timing,” someone muttered in a low voice. Lisa thought it might have been Carole, though she wasn’t sure. She was too busy watching as Alex walked slowly toward her with Nicole trailing along, one hand tucked possessively into his elbow.
Of course he’s coming this way, Lisa told herself, trying to remain calm. We’re standing right in front of the door.
She took a deep breath, ordering herself not to do anything stupid, like turn and run away or grab Scott and kiss him passionately—or burst into tears.
Alex and Nicole reached them a moment later. They paused. Nicole was staring at Scott curiously. Alex looked as though he wished he could be anywhere else on the planet. But he cleared his throat. “Um, hi, everyone,” he said, his voice sounding surprisingly normal. “How’s it going?”
“What are you doing here?” Stevie demanded. “I thought you were going to the basketball game tonight.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “What are you, my social secretary? I didn’t realize I was supposed to page you if we changed our plans.”
Lisa couldn’t help smiling at the twins’ usual bickering. She was still smiling when Alex returned his gaze to her. “Anyway, we should get a move on,” he said. “Uh, but it was nice seeing you.”
“Same here,” Lisa responded. “Enjoy your dinner.”
“You too,” Alex said, returning her smile. He glanced at Nicole. “Come on, we’d better go before our food gets cold.”
“Okay,” Nicole said, tossing her blond hair behind her shoulder. “Ta-ta, everyone.”
Lisa’s friends murmured their good-byes as the couple headed out. Once the door shut behind them, Lisa felt her whole body relax. Glancing up at Scott, she found him looking back at her. He didn’t say a word, though he gave her hand a squeeze. She smiled at him.
Okay, that could have been worse, she thought as a waitress appeared and led them to a table. That could have been a whole lot worse. Actually, I think we both handled things really well. It was definitely an awkward moment, but we got through it. And as more time passes, I’m sure it’ll get easier.
She was proud of herself for being so mature about the whole thing. She couldn’t help being proud of Alex, too. It made her feel more certain than ever that the time she’d spent with him hadn’t been in vain, even if it was over now. They had learned a lot from each other, and even if their paths had split, it didn’t mean she couldn’t cherish the memories of the time they’d spent together.
It’ll probably be sort of like it was with Prancer, Lisa said, thinking of her longtime favorite horse at Pine Hollow, a beautiful Thoroughbred mare who had died a couple of months earlier. At first I missed her so much that it was painful even thinking about her. But once more time passed, I started remembering the good times we’d had together. And I realized that those memories were the most important thing, that they didn’t change just because she was gone. Soon I’ll probably look back at my time with Alex the same way.
As the others slid into a roomy booth along the side wall of the restaurant, Stevie remained standing, digging into her pocket. “Hey, Lisa,” she said. “I want to call Phil and see if he can meet us here. Do you have some change I can borrow?”
“Sure.” Lisa opened her purse.
Stevie gestured. “Come on, bring it over here to the phone.” Without waiting for a response, she hurried off toward the back of the room.
Lisa blinked, wondering why Stevie couldn’t wait two seconds while she dug out her wallet. Then she realized that the change story was probably just Stevie’s oh-so-subtle way of getting her alone to talk. She’s probably freaked by the Alex encounter, Lisa thought ruefully. Come to think of it, I guess it must be kind of weird when your twin brother and your best friend break up.
“Excuse me,” she told Scott and the others. Then she slid out of the booth and headed back to join Stevie.
Stevie saw her coming. Grabbing her by the arm, she dragged her around the corner and into the relative privacy of the hall leading back to the rest rooms. “Hey,” she said. “Are you okay?”
Lisa didn’t need to wonder what she meant this time. “Definitely,” she assured her. “Really. I mean, yeah, it was weird running into him like that. Especially since, you know, we were both with our new people.”
“Yeah,” Stevie muttered. “I can’t believe he’s still seeing that bimbo loser.”
Lisa smiled and let that one pass.
She had her own opinions about Nicole Adams, but it didn’t matter. Alex’s love life was none of her business anymore. She was just happy that he’d found someone who seemed to make him happy, just as she’d found Scott. “But anyway, it’s not as if Alex and I can avoid each other forever,” she went on. “This is a small town. Not to mention the fact that he’s your brother. So it’s better if we can figure out a way to deal.”
“Okay.” Stevie sounded slightly amazed. “You’re way more mature than I would be about this.” She grinned. “But I guess that’s no huge surprise, huh?”
Lisa laughed. “Are you really going to call Phil?” she asked, reaching into her purse. “I’m sure I have some change in here somewhere.”
“Oh, I have some.” Stevie dug into her pocket again and pulled out a handful of coins. “Thanks anyway.”
“Is it my imagination, or is this car a lot more crowded than it was on the way over?” Stevie quipped, shoving Lisa’s elbow out of her way as she reached down to adjust the defroster on the station wagon’s front panel.
Lisa groaned. “No kidding,” she said, putting both hands over her stomach. “I ate enough tonight to last me a week.”
“Me too,” Carole called from the backseat.
“Really?” said Scott, who was sitting on Lisa’s other side. “Because I was just thinking we should stop off for some Chinese food…” He laughed and ducked as his sister swatted at him from the seat beside Carole.
Stevie stifled a yawn as she flipped on her high beams. It was late, and she was full and tired but happy. She and her friends had lingered over their meal, then ordered dessert and lingered some more. Finally the waitress had chased them out so that she could go home, and they’d decided to call it a night as well. Stevie was sure she’d pay for the late night the next morning when she had to get up for school, but she didn’t care. It was worth it. She couldn’t remember the last time all of them had hung out together, just having fun.
She glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure that Phil’s car was still following the station wagon. He had promised to tail the others back to Pine Hollow, where Carole and Scott had left their cars. Then he was going to drive Stevie home. And maybe we’ll be able to squeeze in some quality alone time before my curfew, she thought with a smile. After all, what’s a few more minutes? I can catch up on my sleep tomorrow in Spanish class.
“Okay, everyone, it’s been real. But the Pine Hollow Express is almost at its last stop,” she announced as they made the turn onto the stretch of road running along Pine Hollow’s front pasture. “Then my chauffeur duties are over, I get to be the passenger, and you all have to get out.”
Carole groaned. “Do we have to?” she complained from the middle of the backseat. “It just got warm in here.”
Stevie pretended to be stunned. “Are pigs flying? Did I actually hear Carole Hanson say she doesn’t want to get out at Pine Hollow?”
She grinned at her friend in the rearview mirror, knowing the real reason that Carole was reluctant to leave the car. Stevie hadn’t missed the fact that Carole and Ben were doing a little snuggling in the backseat. She could see Ben’s hand playing idly with Carole’s curly hair even now. Still, she couldn’t help the teasing.
We always said that Carole paid way more attention to horses than she ever would to boys, she thought. And what do you know? She figured out a way to combine them by finding a guy who’s just as horse-crazy as she is.
When Stevie returned her eyes to the road, she gasped. Her headlights had just picked up a large moving shape in the road ahead. A horse.
Letting out a quick curse, she spun the wheel and stomped on the brake. Unbidden images flashed through her mind. Another dark night, half a year ago. Fez, racing wildly into the street. The sickening thud … the world spinning as the car flipped over the guardrail … the horrible silence from Callie in the backseat…
This time, though, the road was dry, and the horse was farther away. The car’s tires screeched in protest, but the station wagon shuddered to a halt several yards short of the horse in the road. Stevie slumped over the steering wheel, every muscle in her body shaking.
Everyone else started talking at once.
“It’s Checkers!” Carole exclaimed, leaning over the front seat for a better view. “Let me out—we have to grab him before he takes off!”
She shoved at Ben, who was already kicking at the stubborn rear door. Finally getting it open, he jumped out, with Carole right behind him. Once they were clear of the car, Stevie started the engine again and pulled past the horse into the stable driveway. Her hands were still shaking a little, but she was pretty sure that her heart had started up again.
Whew, she thought. That was close. But it’s okay. Nothing terrible happened—not this time. No big deal.
As she walked over to Checkers, clucking softly, Carole thanked her lucky stars that the gelding always wore a halter, even in his stall. Due to the horse’s frequent escapes, Max had decided it was safer to leave the halter on and take the small risk that Checkers might catch it on something and injure himself. Without the halter, there was a far greater risk that he would elude recapture during one of his escapades.
“It’s okay, boy,” Carole crooned, taking a few more steps. “It’s just me. That’s a good boy.”
The gelding threw up his head and eyed her suspiciously, but he didn’t move as she reached him. Grabbing the halter, she led Checkers off the road onto the grassy shoulder. Then she glanced at Ben, who was watching quietly.
“Is there a lead rope in the car?” she asked.
“I’ll check.” Ben loped over to the station wagon, which was idling at the end of the driveway, with Phil’s car right behind it.
Carole patted Checkers. “You must be chilly,” she said, mostly just to have something to say. The gelding seemed a little agitated, and she figured that talking to him was the best way to soothe him, at least until she got him back to his stall. “It’s cold out here, even for a shaggy monster like you.” Only a few of Pine Hollow’s horses were clipped for the winter, and Checkers wasn’t one of them. Thanks to his thick winter coat, he wasn’t even shivering in the cold night air, although Carole could already feel the chill soaking through her down jacket and into her bones.
Ben returned bearing a lead rope. “Max keeps everything in the back of that car,” he said as he handed it to her.
Carole grinned and clipped the lead to Checkers’s halter. “Good thing,” she said. “Why don’t you go ahead and ride up with the others? I can lead him up—no sense both of us freezing.”
“No, why don’t you ride?” Ben suggested. “I’ll take Checkers.”
“Uh-uh.” Carole stepped toward him and kissed him on the cheek. She still couldn’t help marveling at how natural that sort of thing was starting to feel. Was it only a month ago that she had wondered if she and Ben could ever even be friends? “I insist,” she told him. “Go. You can check the locks on his stall while you’re waiting for me.”
“Okay,” Ben agreed reluctantly. “See you in a minute.”
Carole waved as he hurried back toward the car. As soon as he climbed inside, the station wagon moved forward, and Phil’s car followed close behind. Soon the taillights were disappearing over the rise in the long driveway, which hid the stable building from her view.
Left alone with the horse, Carole found herself wishing for a moment that Ben hadn’t given in to her insistence. It was awfully dark and cold out there now that the cars had gone. Plus she and Ben could have walked up the long, sloping driveway together—it would have been romantic. But then she shook her head. It really was too cold for anything like that.
Besides, we have all the time in the world for that sort of thing, she thought. It’s no big deal if we don’t have a romantic walk tonight—there will always be another chance. This is just one night out of our whole lives. She shivered slightly, not entirely from the cold.
Then she glanced at Checkers. The gelding was standing quietly, though his
nostrils were flared and his expression was slightly anxious.
“Come on, boy,” Carole said, tugging gently on the lead as she started up the driveway. “Let’s get moving before I turn into a Popsicle.”
The gelding followed quietly for a minute or two. Then, to Carole’s surprise, he suddenly planted his feet and pulled back, so sharply that the rope almost slid through her hands.
“Hey!” she said, glancing back at him. “What’s the matter with you?”
Checkers snorted, tossing his head and backing up a few steps. Carole went with him, then turned him to start him moving again. But as soon as she aimed him up the driveway, he stopped once more, spooking violently to one side.
Carole frowned. “Okay,” she panted, bringing him to a halt once again. “Is this really the best time for you to decide to forget all your ground training?
She was truly surprised at the gelding’s behavior. Despite his escape-artist ways, Checkers was one of the sanest and best-trained horses at Pine Hollow. She couldn’t recall ever seeing him spook at anything—he’d once stood calmly as one of the stable cats leaped down onto his back from the rafters in mad pursuit of a mouse. But now he seemed to be spooking at thin air.
Staying firm and patient, Carole managed to move him along a few more yards. They were almost at the crest of the hill now. Soon she would be within view of the stable, and then maybe she could signal to Ben or one of her other friends to come and give her a hand. She had no idea what was wrong with Checkers, but she was starting to worry. He wasn’t acting like himself at all, and with horses, that was always a cause for concern.
She was staring at the gelding, wondering if he could possibly be displaying some weird new colic symptoms, when Stevie’s voice broke through her thoughts, sounding distant and panicky.
“Fire!”
ELEVEN
For one terrible, endless second Carole’s mind froze. A joke. It had to be one of Stevie’s practical jokes. But no, not even Stevie would joke about something like that.
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