Headstrong

by Bonnie Bryant

  “What in the world …?” she murmured.

  Red grinned as he cut the ignition. “Looks like Scooby’s got himself a good old-fashioned Pine Hollow welcoming party.”

  As soon as Callie hopped out of the truck’s cab, Stevie stepped forward. “Surprise!” she cried. “We wanted to make sure Scooby felt welcome right away, so we baked him a cake. A carrot cake, of course!”

  “Of course.” Callie grinned, a little amazed at the nice gesture. She never would have expected it.

  Scott let out a snort. “Baked?” he said. “Try ‘bought.’”

  “Hey, either way is fine with me,” Callie said. “It’s the thought that counts. Besides, from the horror stories I’ve heard about Stevie’s cooking, I’m thinking we may be better off this way.” She grinned at Stevie to show that she was kidding, then glanced around to see who else had turned out for the occasion. In addition to Stevie, Scott, and Lisa, Denise was there, along with several members of the intermediate riding class. Callie even spotted Ben Marlow hovering in the background.

  At that moment Maureen Chance stepped out of the entrance and stopped short in surprise. “What’s going on?” she asked. Before anyone could give her an answer, she provided one herself. “Oh! That must be Scooby, right?” She nodded at the trailer.

  “Right,” Callie said, pleasantly surprised. Though she tended to reserve judgment on new people until she’d known them for a while, Callie hadn’t been terribly impressed with Max’s new stable hand. While Maureen seemed comfortable and proficient in the way she handled Pine Hollow’s horses, she also seemed to have one or two questionable habits. After a lifetime of watching girls approach her handsome, charming brother, Callie was skilled at recognizing incurable flirts, and so far Maureen seemed to be a world-class member of the club.

  Of course, that doesn’t mean she’s not going to make a good stable hand, Callie reminded herself as Maureen walked over to help Red with the trailer. She seems to be on the ball as far as the horses are concerned. That was more important than ever now that Callie’s horse—her horse!—was going to be under Maureen’s care. Anyway, she thought, maybe Maureen’s just being a little overfriendly because she’s still getting settled. She’s just trying to make friends any way she can.

  Callie shot an anxious glance at the trailer behind her, where Red and Maureen were fiddling with the back latch. As much as she was enjoying the impromptu reception, she was eager to get Scooby out of the cramped trailer and into his nice, roomy box stall inside. “Um, so I guess I’d better …,” she began uncertainly, not wanting to seem ungrateful for her friends’ efforts.

  “Right!” Stevie said briskly, obviously guessing exactly what Callie was thinking. She turned to face the small crowd behind her and clapped her hands. “Give her some room! We’ve got to get this horse inside.” Handing the cake to Scott, she gestured toward the door. “Why don’t you put this in the locker room? We can eat it once Scooby’s settled.” As Scott complied, Stevie glanced around at the younger riders. “Anyone who wants to help out could bring down some more hay,” she announced. “I’m sure Scooby will be hungry after his trip.”

  The intermediate students scurried off. Callie blinked in amazement. “Wow. How’d you do that?”

  Stevie shrugged. “Oh, I made a few threats before you got here,” she said nonchalantly.

  Callie wasn’t sure if she was kidding or not, but she didn’t worry about it too much. It was time to bring Scooby in. “Is he okay?” she asked Red, who was lowering the ramp.

  “A-okay,” was the reply. “Want to lead him out?”

  Callie nodded as Stevie, Lisa, and Denise took a few steps back so that they wouldn’t scare the newcomer. Fortunately, Scooby was just as unflappable during unloading as he had been during loading, and Callie soon had him on the ground.

  “Wow!” Lisa said, giving the gelding an appreciative once-over. “He’s gorgeous!”

  Blinking and gazing at the horse, Callie had to agree. Until that point she hadn’t really stopped to notice what Scooby looked like, aside from his excellent conformation and alert expression. But now that she thought about it, she realized that he really was impressive-looking, with his all-over leopard pattern, the black spots standing out in sharp contrast to the clean white background. His glossy, healthy coat and well-defined muscles only added to his appeal.

  “Thanks,” Callie said, giving her horse a pat. “Now come on, I’d better get Mr. Gorgeous inside.”

  Stevie and Lisa came along to help as Callie led Scooby inside, pausing every so often to let him check out his new surroundings. He sniffed curiously at various items—the lucky horseshoe nailed to the wall near the entrance; Max, who emerged from the indoor ring, where he was teaching a lesson, to see how things were going; and a stray wheelbarrow someone had left tipped up against the wall. But he didn’t seem overly concerned or nervous about any of it.

  “He’s really calm,” Stevie commented, sounding impressed.

  Callie nodded and smiled, giving Scooby a pat as he walked into his stall with hardly a pause. “Good. He’ll have to be, to handle anything unexpected out on the trail.”

  “Want me to fill his water bucket?” Lisa offered.

  Callie nodded gratefully. She had come to the stable early that morning to check the stall and put down a fresh layer of bedding, but there was lots to be done now that the horse was actually there. She was glad that her friends were there to help.

  The three of them spent the next few minutes working hard to make Scooby as comfortable as possible. After unwrapping his bandages, Callie grabbed the grooming kit she’d left just outside. “I’m going to give him a nice grooming now,” she said.

  Stevie and Lisa nodded. “We’ll be around if you need us,” Lisa said.

  “And don’t forget to come out and have some cake later,” Stevie reminded her. She grinned. “Don’t wait too long, though, or you may miss out. I didn’t have much breakfast this morning.”

  Callie smiled and waved as her friends wandered off down the aisle. As much as she’d enjoyed having them there to help her, she really wanted some time alone with her horse now. She was happy that Stevie and Lisa seemed to understand that without being told.

  She was halfway through her pleasant task when she realized she’d misplaced her face brush somehow. “Be right back, buddy,” she murmured, giving Scooby a pat and then slipping out of his stall.

  This is so great, Callie thought as she hurried toward the tack room in search of a spare. I can hardly believe how fast it all happened. Just last week, I was wondering if I would ever find a decent horse at all!

  She had reached the hallway across from the stable aisle, and she broke into a jog when the open tack room door came into view. As she rounded the corner, she saw George Wheeler perched on an overturned bucket, scrubbing at a spot on his horse’s bridle.

  Yikes, Callie thought, skidding to a halt. She hadn’t seen much of George for the past week. Not only had he been staying out of her way at school, but he always seemed to disappear whenever she turned up at Pine Hollow as well. She was glad that he was finally honoring their arrangement. It was about time.

  Still, there was no reason she couldn’t be civil. “Hello,” she said calmly as she headed for the tack trunk near the stack of saddle pads in one corner.

  George cleared his throat. “Um, hi,” he said in a subdued voice. “Congratulations on your new horse.”

  “Thanks.” Callie wasn’t sure what else to say. Hiding her self-consciousness by bending and digging through the trunk, she quickly found what she needed. Then, brush in hand, she hovered in the doorway for a moment, feeling guilty about the melancholy expression on George’s pudgy, red-cheeked face. But he had already returned his attention to his task and didn’t seem inclined to further conversation, so, after an awkward few seconds, Callie escaped once again through the door.

  She hurried down the hallway. That had been a decidedly uncomfortable encounter—much worse than seeing him at scho
ol, where there were always lots of other people around.

  Oh well, she thought with a mental shrug. I guess it will take both of us some time to adjust to our new arrangement. That’s only natural. I’m sure after a while we won’t even remember how weird things are between us.

  She turned the corner and saw Scooby’s head hanging out over the half door. He was looking her way. She smiled. Luckily, she had plenty to distract her in the meantime.

  Stevie was in a good mood when she arrived home from the stable. She loved it when new horses came to Pine Hollow, whether they were school horses or were privately owned. It was even nicer to see a good friend bring home a wonderful, well-matched horse, and Callie and Scooby definitely fit that bill.

  She was whistling when she walked into the kitchen and tossed her car keys in the bowl near the refrigerator and her parka over a chair. Her twin brother was sitting at the counter reading a magazine and eating a bowl of cereal, which he’d managed to slop all over the otherwise clean surface. “What are you so chipper about?” he asked, glancing up at her.

  “Life,” Stevie replied succinctly.

  Alex rolled his eyes. “Does this mean you’re still all full of yourself because of that article?”

  Stevie grinned. “Are you jealous?” she teased.

  Alex snorted. “Yeah, right,” he said sarcastically. “By the way, Phil called. The message is on the machine.”

  “Thanks.” Stevie hurried over to the answering machine and pressed the button.

  “Hi, it’s Phil calling for Stevie,” her boyfriend’s familiar voice came out of the tiny speaker. “Stevie, I’m on my way out to see my sister’s play, but I wanted to let you know that A.J. called just now. He finally got a lead on that woman in the picture, and so today he tracked down her name and number and left a message on her answering machine. Thought you’d like to know!”

  “Wow!” Stevie exclaimed as the message ended. She glanced at her brother. “Did you hear that? This is amazing!”

  Alex nodded. “It’s pretty cool,” he agreed. “Maybe this will help A.J. pull things together. It’s about time.” He cleared his throat and stirred his cereal with his spoon. “By the way, did I hear Phil say something about being busy tonight? I guess that means you aren’t going to argue when I remind you it’s my turn for the car.”

  “What?” Stevie frowned. “No way. I need it tonight. I’m going to the movies with Lisa and Callie.” The three of them had arranged the outing before Stevie had left the stable. It had been tough to convince Callie to agree, since she seemed ready to move right into Scooby’s stall. Not that Stevie blamed her. She knew how it felt to have a wonderful new horse and want to spend every minute with him or her. Still, as she had reminded Callie, even wonderful new horses had to sleep. “I already offered to drive.”

  “Too bad.” Alex dropped his spoon and frowned. “I need the car, too. And like I said, it’s my turn.”

  Stevie pursed her lips in annoyance. She couldn’t really argue the last point—after all, she’d had the car at Pine Hollow all afternoon, leaving Alex to find his own way home from school. Still, he might have given her a little more warning if he was going to grab it away from her now. “What do you need it for?” she demanded.

  “I have a date.” From the slightly defiant expression on his face, Stevie didn’t even have to ask who her brother was seeing that evening. It had to be Nicole Adams.

  She gritted her teeth, trying to hold back all of the comments she wanted to make. The last thing she wanted was to get into another argument with Alex about Nicole. “Can’t you ask your date to drive, then?” she asked. “She does know how, doesn’t she? Or is there, like, a minimum IQ requirement to get your license now?”

  “Hello?” a voice called from the front hall, interrupting the tense moment. “Anybody home?”

  Stevie blinked in surprise. “Is that Chad?”

  “Sounds like,” Alex said. “What’s he doing here? I thought he wasn’t coming home until Monday after his last exam.”

  Before Stevie could answer, her older brother loped into the kitchen. Chad was a sophomore at NVU, and he tended to dress like a complete stereotype of a college student, especially during exams. That day, for instance, he was wearing unlaced high-tops without socks, a red NVU sweatshirt, and purple sweatpants with a large, fraying hole in one knee and a dark stain of indeterminate origin covering much of the opposite leg.

  “Yo!” Chad said when he saw them. “Merry Christmas, kiddos!”

  “Back at ya,” Stevie responded. “What are you doing here?”

  Chad feigned hurt. “What do you mean? Aren’t you happy to see your favorite big brother?”

  “We thought you had finals,” Alex said. “Mom and Dad said you wouldn’t be home until Monday night.”

  “I managed to move my econ exam up,” Chad explained. “I finished it an hour ago. So here I am!” He straddled a chair and grabbed an apple out of the bowl in the middle of the kitchen table. Taking a big bite, he looked from one twin to the other. “So,” he said through a mouthful of apple, “what are you two up to now that Christmas break is finally here?”

  “Not much,” Stevie muttered. “Especially since Alex is hogging the car.”

  “Oh, please.” Alex shot her a dirty look. “Just because I happen to want to use my car when it’s my turn—”

  “Whoa, whoa.” Chad lowered his apple. “Is that any way to show your holiday spirit? Now, I think you two had better kiss and make up. You’re, like, totally harshing my holiday vibe, dudes.” He grinned and took another big bite of the apple.

  “Whatever,” Alex muttered, bending over his cereal.

  Chad raised an eyebrow. “What’s with him?” he asked Stevie.

  Stevie scowled at Alex as she addressed Chad. “Don’t ask me,” she said. “But as for kissing and making up, forget it. My whole night’s plans are screwed up just because he suddenly announces that he’s taking out Nicole Adams tonight.”

  “Really?” Chad let out a low whistle and turned to stare at Alex. “Are you talking about the same Nicole Adams I’m remembering? She was, like, the hottest girl in school my senior year, even though she was only a freshman. Since when do you go for that flavor, little brother?”

  Alex looked slightly embarrassed. “Nicole’s nice,” he said defensively. “Anyway, we’re just hanging out. It’s no big deal.”

  “Whatever.” Chad shrugged. “I’m just saying.”

  Stevie couldn’t help feeling a twinge of annoyance at Chad. Why was he making such a big deal about Nicole? What better girlfriend could Alex ask for than Lisa?

  She tried not to let her feelings show. Chad was just being his usual girl-crazy self, after all—he couldn’t be expected to appreciate stuff like true love and commitment. Not unless he’d suddenly evolved a whole lot more that semester, which would practically be a miracle as far as Stevie was concerned.

  Chad took one last bite of his apple, then stood and tossed the core into the trash can near the back door. “What about you, Stevie? What’s new? You didn’t ditch Phil for Mr. Universe or anything, did you?”

  “Very funny.” Stevie wrinkled her nose. Even though Chad was being sort of obnoxious, she had to admit he still made her laugh. It was nice having him home again, even if he was only staying a couple of weeks. “Hey, by the way, what are you doing tonight? Want to come to the movies? Lisa and Callie and I are catching a show over at the mall. You can talk to Lisa about NVU. Did I tell you she’s going there next year?”

  Chad blinked in surprise but then nodded. “Sure, why not?” He shrugged. “I guess that could be fun. I haven’t seen Lisa since your party. And your friend Callie seems pretty cool.”

  “Great! Then you can drive.” Stevie grinned at her older brother.

  There! she thought with satisfaction. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Not only do we have a ride, but this will give me the perfect opportunity to hit up Chad for that cash Christmas gift. I’m sure he’ll be just as
thrilled as Michael and Alex were to have an excuse to skip the mall this year.

  “Uh-huh, sure thing, Stevie,” Chad replied absently. His curious gaze was fixed on Alex once again. “So seriously, give me the four-one-one, baby bro,” he said, leaning over to punch Alex in the shoulder. “How did a goober like you manage to hook up with a hottie like Nicole Adams, anyway? Was it threats? Hypnotism?”

  Stevie sighed, her sunny mood slipping just a bit. When is Alex going to wake up and realize he’s wasting his time with bimbo Nicole? she wondered with a slight frown, suddenly glad that Scott had other plans and wouldn’t be joining them that night. When is he going to get a clue and start begging Lisa to take him back—before it’s too late?

  TEN

  Callie fought back a yawn as she stepped into Pine Hollow’s entryway the next morning. I can’t believe how late I went to bed last night, she thought ruefully. And I’m paying for it now. What was I thinking?

  Going to the movies had seemed like a good idea at the time, especially since she wanted to give Scooby time to settle in and relax rather than having to put up with her staying at Pine Hollow all night, as she was tempted to do. And she had definitely enjoyed herself. She’d been kind of surprised when Chad Lake had tagged along—she’d been expecting a girls’ night out. But Chad had ended up being a lot of fun, whispering funny comments to Callie and the others during the movie, which had been completely lame, and tossing popcorn into Stevie’s hair whenever her back was turned. When Chad had suggested a postmovie pit stop at their favorite burger place, that had seemed like a pretty good idea, too. After that, Callie had lost track of the time. She had been having a great time laughing until her sides hurt at Chad’s goofy jokes, and before she knew it the quick snack had somehow turned into a three-hour marathon of talking, eating, goofing around, and generally hanging out. When Stevie had reluctantly pointed out that it was nearly midnight—the younger Lakes’ weekend curfew—Callie had been amazed. Not to mention dismayed.