As Lisa wandered off toward the entryway, Stevie stuck her head over the stall door to check on Rusty. Then she hurried off to find Phil.
“There you are,” Phil said as Stevie arrived at Belle’s stall. “Just in time to miss all the work.” Grinning to show that he was kidding, he hoisted Belle’s saddle and bridle and let himself into the aisle.
“Thanks a million.” Stevie stood on tiptoes to give him a grateful kiss on the cheek. Then she fell into step beside him as he headed for the tack room. “But listen, this is important. Lisa just told me her mom went up to New Jersey to look at houses.”
Phil let out a low whistle of dismay. “Sounds serious,” he commented.
“That’s what I said.” Stevie chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. “You know, I was just kidding before about all those wacky plans we were talking about the other day. But now…”
“Yeah, right.” Phil rolled his eyes. “Like the one you told me about where your brother dresses up as Lisa’s clone? Or the one where we hijack the Weather Channel to make it look like New Jersey’s been swept out to sea? Get real.”
“I’m serious,” Stevie protested, glancing around as they crossed the entryway to make sure Lisa wasn’t within earshot. “I mean, those particular plans might need some fine-tuning. But we have to try something, right?”
Phil glanced at her soberly. “I guess so. But seriously, don’t you think we’re getting a little too old for the kinds of crazy schemes you’re talking about?”
“Maybe you are, Gramps,” Stevie shot back, annoyed that he wasn’t being more supportive. “All I know is, I don’t want Lisa to go. I couldn’t stand it if her mom really made her move. And I’m going to do whatever I can to stop it.”
“Relax.” Phil smiled appeasingly. “We’re on the same side here, remember? I’m just saying, if you’re going to put your energy into something, make it something that could actually work. Not something that’s just going to piss everybody off and make Lisa more miserable than ever.”
Stevie made a face at him. But then she relented. “Okay, then, Mr. Mature,” she said as they reached the tack room. “Maybe you have a point. But I’m not going to stop thinking about this.” She dumped Belle’s saddle on its assigned rack and hung up her bridle.
“Come on,” Phil said. “Let’s go give Rusty a quick grooming. Then maybe we can get out of here and grab a snack. All that riding made me hungry.”
Stevie nodded, though she was distracted by her thoughts. What could she do to help Lisa? What kind of mature, rational plan could actually work?
As they stepped into the entryway, a flash of blond hair caught her eye. Stevie gulped, thinking for a second that it was Lisa. But instead, she recognized Callie reaching for the door.
“Yo, Forester!” Stevie called, remembering how strange and anxious Callie had acted earlier that day.
But Callie didn’t seem to hear her. She hurried through the door without a backward glance.
“Weird,” Phil remarked, gazing after her.
Stevie nodded slowly, wondering if everyone around her had decided to go crazy for the New Year. First Lisa starts acting like she’s all ready to pack up and move, she thought. Callie gets her own horse and then suddenly decides she only wants to ride, like, once a week. And of course, there’s Carole and the weird way she still looks at Ben sometimes, even though she already has an amazing boyfriend who’s nuts about her.
She sighed. When she really thought about it, just about everything seemed strange and topsyturvy. And the worst part was, she had no idea how to fix any of it.
EIGHT
“Just one more day till the big one, huh?” Deborah commented cheerfully as Carole walked into the stable office the next morning.
“Yep,” Carole agreed with a secret smile. Deborah was referring to Red and Denise’s wedding, of course. But Carole was looking forward to the next day for her own reasons as well. She was still anxious about finding Cam a gift—she planned to hit the mall as soon as she was finished at the stable, and not leave until she’d found something. But more than that, she was increasingly eager to see Cam. She had missed him all week, but now that they would be together again in twenty-four hours, she could hardly stand to wait another second.
“By the way,” Deborah said, “if you’re looking for my husband, he’s not here. He went with Justine Harrington to look at a horse her parents are thinking of buying for her.”
“Really? Cool.” Carole raised an eyebrow, guessing that the intermediate rider was about to receive an excellent, if slightly belated, Christmas present. “I just wanted to talk to him about Starlight’s next shoeing, but it’s no big deal. I’ll just leave him a note.”
“Good luck finding a pen that works,” Deborah said with a smile. “I swear, I think the stable cats steal them at night.” With a wave, she hurried out of the office.
A minute or two later, as Carole was scribbling her note with the stub of a pencil, the office phone rang. Carole grabbed it. “Pine Hollow Stables,” she said automatically. “Can I help you?”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt a little awkward. She had answered the phone that way hundreds of times when she worked there. But technically she didn’t work there now. Soon, but not yet.
“Hello?” a slightly quavery voice said on the other end of the line. “This is Mrs. Rand. Is Mr. Regnery there?”
Carole couldn’t help smiling at the caller’s formal tone. Everyone from the feed delivery man to the tiniest beginning rider called Max by his first name. But she responded politely. “I’m sorry, he’s not here at the moment. Could I help you with something?”
“Well, I don’t know.” The woman’s uncertainty was clear. “I wanted to speak with him about some horses.”
“Were you looking to buy?” Carole asked, sinking down into the desk chair and twirling the phone cord between her fingers. “Because I don’t think we have anything available right now.”
“No, no,” Mrs. Rand replied. “You see, my granddaughter just got married, and her husband is in the service. They’re moving to Germany next month. My granddaughter has two horses, and we need to find a new home for them as soon as possible. Mr. Regnery was recommended as someone who might want them to use as school horses.”
“I see,” Carole said, her mind racing. Should she simply take Mrs. Rand’s name and phone number and leave a message for Max to call her back? Or should she try to get more information about these alleged school horses first? After a very brief struggle, her curiosity won out. “Um, why don’t you tell me a little more about them?”
“Who is this, anyway?” Mrs. Rand asked suspiciously.
“My name’s Carole Hanson,” Carole replied politely. “I, uh, work here.”
Mrs. Rand seemed satisfied with that. “There are two horses,” she said. “The mare, Madison, is a quarter horse. She’s twelve years old and has quite a bit of show experience.” She quickly described the mare’s record, which sounded very good. “The other horse is an older gelding named Jinx. He—” For the first time, Mrs. Rand hesitated. “Well, he’s a bit of a rowdy one. Not too good when it comes to grooming and such, or under saddle, either. But he has a heart of gold,” she added hastily. “Wouldn’t hurt a fly. Not on purpose, anyway.”
As Mrs. Rand talked, Carole scribbled down all the information with her pencil stub. “Okay,” she said when the woman was finished. “Um, I’ll pass this along to Max. I suspect he’ll be very interested in taking a look at Madison.”
“Oh, he has to take them both,” the woman said quickly. “They’re a package deal.”
“Oh.” Carole gulped. She had the funniest feeling that Max wasn’t going to be leaping at the chance to bring home a troublesome, untrained older gelding with a “heart of gold.” “All right, I’ll mention that, too. I’m sure he’ll be calling you back soon.”
She hung up, wrote out a brief note at the top of the page explaining what it was about, and tucked the message into the day book where
Max would be sure to see it as soon as he returned.
Who knows? Carole thought as she headed for the office door. Maybe old Jinx isn’t as bad as that woman made him sound. Maybe all he needs is some consistent training. Ben and I—She paused, feeling her face flush slightly. Ben and I could probably help him a lot.
She was so deep in thought that she almost walked straight into Maureen and Denise, who were entering at that very moment. “Oops!” Carole said. “Sorry. I’m a little distracted—an interesting phone call just came in.”
“What?” Denise looked anxious. “It wasn’t the caterer changing the menu again, was it?”
“No, no, nothing to do with the wedding at all,” Carole assured her. “It was someone looking to sell a couple of horses.” She quickly described her conversation with Mrs. Rand.
When she finished, Maureen snorted. “Why’d you bother stringing the old broad along?” she asked. “You should’ve just told her it was a no go.”
“What do you mean?” Carole wasn’t sure why everything Maureen said put her on the defensive, but she could already feel her hackles rising.
Maureen shrugged. “Think about it, Carole,” she said as if she were speaking to a four-year-old. “Are you telling me you actually believe that Max—overworked, overcautious Max—is going to have any interest at all in taking on some kind of pathetic problem horse? No way. Not a happening thing.”
“You never know,” Carole protested. “And the mare sounded good.” She shot a glance at Denise, waiting for her to back her up. How could Maureen totally dismiss a horse she hadn’t even seen? And how could she know what Max would or wouldn’t do?
“I don’t know, Carole,” Denise said dubiously. “This horse—Jinx?—really doesn’t sound like he’d make a good lesson horse to me, either. And if this lady will really only let them go together, well…” She shrugged expressively.
Carole frowned. “Whatever,” she muttered, a little annoyed that the stable manager was taking Maureen’s side. And as for Maureen herself…
Okay, I’ve been trying to give her a chance, Carole thought as she mumbled an excuse and escaped from the office. But honestly, I don’t know how I’m ever going to work alongside someone as annoying as her!
As she emerged into the entryway, she saw Ben walking into the indoor ring. He didn’t see her, and she almost called after him. Ben would understand, if anyone would. He would want to at least give Jinx a chance, too, before totally dismissing him.
But she stopped herself. After all that had happened, she felt weird about confiding in Ben.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter, she thought, turning and heading toward Starlight’s stall. Max is the one who gets to decide what to do about this one. Not me, not Ben, and certainly not Maureen Chance.
Callie tapped her fingers on the coffee table in the living room, debating whether to go to the stable or not. I should go, she told herself. I should really go. What am I so scared of, anyway? It’s not like I even actually saw George yesterday. She shuddered, remembering her panic at the sight of his mother’s car. Not up close, anyway.
No matter how many times she told herself there was nothing to fear, though, she couldn’t seem to make her body believe it. The very thought of going back there—walking across the stable yard, entering the building, going to the tack room—made her palms sweat and her stomach flutter nervously.
She decided to try a different tack. Anyway, so what if I run into George? she thought. It’s not like I can avoid him forever. When school starts again, I’ll see him every day. I’ve just got to deal with it, and the sooner the better.
“Hi there, Number One Daughter,” her father said with a smile, walking into the room. “What are you up to today?”
Callie forced a smile. “Not much,” she replied. “What about you?”
“Oh, I was just thinking how long it’s been since my favorite daughter and I played a few sets of tennis.” Congressman Forester winked and smiled. “How about it? Feel like beating your old man?”
Callie hesitated. She knew she should ask her father for a rain check. She needed to face her fear. And the only way to do that was to go back to Pine Hollow—now, before too much time passed and she lost her nerve completely.
But Dad’s so busy these days, with that new welfare committee and everything, she reminded herself. It’s been a long time since we did the father-daughter thing. And it’s been even longer since I played a nice, relaxing game of tennis.
“Sure, Dad,” she heard herself say. “That sounds great. I’ll go change.”
She hopped up and hurried toward the stairs, knowing she was copping out. But she felt relieved.
I’ll figure out how to deal with George, she promised herself. Just not yet. Not today.
NINE
“Lisa!”
Lisa turned and smiled. Carole was hurrying down the stable aisle toward her. “Hey!” Lisa called. “There you are.”
She was surprisingly relieved to see her friend. After her disappointing visit the day before, when she hadn’t even ended up riding, she had been hesitant to come back to the stable again that day. Still, she couldn’t stand to hang around her empty house all day, either, and so there she was.
Carole skidded to stop in front of her. “What are you up to today?” she asked breathlessly. “Did you decide what to wear to the wedding yet?”
Lisa smiled deciding to answer the second question first. “No, I haven’t really thought about what to wear,” she said. “I guess I’ll find something before tomorrow. What about you?”
“I don’t know,” Carole admitted. “I’ve been so busy thinking about Cam’s gift that I sort of forgot to think about anything else—including my pathetic wardrobe—until just now.”
“Want to go on a quick trail ride with me?” Lisa said. “We could talk over your outfit choices then.”
Carole glanced at her watch. “I’d better not,” she said.
“Oh, right,” Lisa said. “Curfew?” She guessed that Carole didn’t want to mess up on what could be the second-to-last day of her grounding.
“No, not really.” Carole turned, wandering toward the stable entryway. “It’s just that I want to have plenty of time at the mall this afternoon—I was just on my way out when I saw you, actually. Oh! But guess what. Someone called wanting to sell Max some horses a little while ago.…”
She went on to describe the phone call, and Lisa did her best to nod in all the right places as she kept pace beside Carole. But she was only half listening to the story. Why does it seem like nobody has time for me all of a sudden? she thought with a flash of self-pity. I mean, you’d think my friends would want to spend time with me just as much as I want to spend time with them. Don’t they realize this could be our last chance to hang out together for a long time? Shouldn’t that be more important than, well, shopping?
“…so anyway,” Carole was saying as Lisa tuned back in to her tale, “I just ran into Max, and he promised he’d set up an appointment to look at the horses after New Year’s. Both of them.”
Carole looked strangely triumphant at that last comment, but Lisa didn’t bother to wonder why. She had just spotted Stevie turning the corner.
“That sounds great,” Lisa told Carole hurriedly. “Good luck shopping, okay? I’m going to go see if Stevie wants to go for a ride.” That was the good thing about having two best friends, she reminded herself. When one of them blew you off, you could always turn to the other one.
“Okay, see you.” Carole waved to Stevie and then hurried off in the opposite direction, toward the exit.
When Stevie reached Lisa, she glanced at her watch. “Hey, Atwood,” she said. “Did you just get here?”
“Uh-huh.” Lisa put on her best beseeching smile. “And I’m dying to go on a nice, long trail ride.”
“A long trail ride?” Stevie looked pleased. “That sounds like a fantastic idea.”
“Great!” Lisa’s heart soared. “So how about it? Ready to go now?”
; “Me? Oh, sorry, I can’t make it today,” Stevie said, looking at her watch again. “Gotta go.”
“What?” Lisa frowned, her heart sinking back into her boots. “Why not? Where are you going?
Stevie shrugged. “Oh, it’s nothing really. Errands. You know.”
“But couldn’t you just squeeze in one short little ride?” Lisa said, feeling a bit desperate. “We wouldn’t even have to hit the trails. We could just hop some poles in the ring or something.”
“I don’t think so.” Stevie glanced over her shoulder, seeming distracted. “Anyway, if you’re just going to do that, you can go ahead and ride by yourself.”
Lisa frowned. She was sure her friend didn’t mean to be insensitive, but she couldn’t help feeling hurt. She had been spending too much time by herself lately as it was. And most of that time was spent dreading the move. So why did it suddenly feel as if she were already gone?
“Whatever,” she muttered. “See you later. Maybe.”
Stevie nodded. “Okay, bye then. Have a nice ride, okay?”
Lisa didn’t bother to respond, which was just as well, since Stevie was already hurrying off without a backward look. Okay, so much for happy friend time at the stable, Lisa thought sourly. Maybe I should just go for a ride by myself like Stevie oh-so-tactfully suggested. Might as well start getting used to flying solo.
“Lisa?”
Lisa turned and saw Scott emerging from the locker room. She swallowed hard, caught off guard by his sudden appearance. It had been a few days since she’d seen him, and she’d almost managed to forget how handsome he was.
“H-Hi,” Lisa said. “What’s up?”
Scott shrugged, not taking his eyes off her. “Just hanging out,” he said. “You?”
“Same.”
They were silent for a moment. Lisa felt decidedly awkward. She and Scott had gone out a few times—he’d made no secret of the fact that he was interested in her. However, he knew her history with Alex, and a few days earlier, he’d announced his intention to step aside until she’d made up her mind what to do about that relationship. She guessed that he was just being polite by saying hello—that he would now move on, go off to drive Callie home or whatever. He had promised to give her some space, and she knew that was the best way to handle their friendship right now until she settled things with Alex. It was the right thing to do. The smart thing to do.
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