“Yeah, right.” Alex laughed, then quickly grabbed a bottle of iced tea off the bottom shelf. “Come on, we’d better get back in there. Oh, take one if you want.”
“A beer?” Carole laughed, still feeling a little nervous. She quickly grabbed an iced tea and slammed the refrigerator door shut. “Okay, let’s go.”
She followed Alex back into the laundry room and down the hall. Just before they reached the turn to the kitchen, Alex stopped and turned to face Carole. “Listen,” he said. “We probably shouldn’t—”
“I won’t say a word,” Carole promised immediately.
“Good.” Alex looked relieved.
Carole didn’t blame him. It made her more than a little apprehensive to know that all that beer was right outside in the garage where anyone could happen upon it, especially since Mr. and Mrs. Lake weren’t home. Still, it’s not as if the people at this party are the type to go crazy just because there’s beer around, she thought as she trailed Alex through the kitchen, dodging a couple of guys who were having a food fight with the contents of the refrigerator. Carole wrinkled her nose and ducked as a wad of tuna salad sailed past her head, missing her by an inch. Well, not most of them anyway. Besides, Stevie would probably throttle anyone who tried it.
She was so busy smiling at that thought that she almost ran into Alex, who had stopped short again just ahead of her in the living room doorway. “Oops!” she said. “Sorry, I—What’s wrong?” She’d just stepped around him and gotten a look at his face, which was grim and angry.
Alex didn’t answer. He didn’t even seem to have heard her. At first Carole thought he might be worried about the number of guests at the party—eight or ten more people were pouring into the front hall at the moment, dropping their jackets and purses here and there and throwing themselves immediately into the festivities. But when she followed his gaze past A.J. and Julianna, who were tangoing again, Carole realized that he was looking at Lisa, who was at the edge of the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the room, talking to Gary Korman. As Carole watched, Gary leaned a little closer, hunching his shoulders even more than usual as he bent to hear something Lisa was saying, resting one hand casually on her elbow.
“What the hell does he think he’s doing?” Alex muttered under his breath.
Carole glanced at him in surprise. He was clenching the iced tea bottle so hard she was afraid it might shatter. “What do you mean?” she said. “That’s just Gary. He and Lisa have a couple of classes together, I think.”
Alex took half a step forward, then turned to stare at Carole. “Who?”
“Gary Korman,” Carole explained, feeling a little uncomfortable. “Just a guy she knows. No big deal.”
What am I doing? she wondered frantically. I shouldn’t interfere. I should just let Alex go over there—then he’d realize there’s nothing to worry about.
Still, she couldn’t seem to stop her mouth from babbling on. “Actually, I think one of the classes they have together is physics. They may even have been lab partners last month. I think they were, anyway. Although now that I think about it, I’m not really a hundred percent sure about that.…”
“Lab partners, huh?” Alex still sounded suspicious. “If you ask me, he’s not acting like he just wants to be lab partners.”
Carole wished more than ever that she were somewhere else. She was the last person who should be involved in someone else’s relationship. What did she know about jealous boyfriends? Especially one who got all worked up for no apparent reason …
“Hey, relax,” she joked nervously. “Just because a movie star is in love with your girlfriend, that doesn’t mean every guy in the world wants to steal her away from you.”
Alex stopped short. Slowly he turned to face Carole again, his face pale. “What did you just say?”
Carole giggled nervously, feeling more uncomfortable than ever. Maybe that hadn’t been the most tactful joke in the world—Alex was probably still sensitive about the whole topic. But once again, her mouth seemed to have become detached from her brain as she hastened to explain herself. “N-Never mind,” she stammered. “Um, I just meant, you know, the thing with Skye—how he told Lisa over the summer that he liked her as more than a friend … You know.”
“No.” Alex’s voice had gone as cold as ice. He turned away from Carole to stare grimly at Lisa. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t know. Thanks for letting me in on the secret.”
FIVE
Callie watched as A.J. and Julianna tangoed enthusiastically past, clearly oblivious to the beat of the music blasting from the CD player near the fireplace, which bore no resemblance to their own private beat. She shook her head in amusement. “They’re really something, aren’t they?” she commented to Emily, who was perched on the sofa arm beside her.
“I’ll say.” Emily paused and took a swig of her ginger ale as half a dozen guys stampeded loudly past, chasing a giggling girl who was carrying a huge bowl of cheese curls clutched to her chest. When they had passed, Emily spoke again. “It’s good to see that the real A.J. is back.”
“I guess.” Callie wasn’t so sure that was entirely true—she’d noticed that A.J. was still pointedly ignoring Phil, who was dancing with Stevie nearby—but she didn’t want to ruin Emily’s good mood. “So how did things go today at Free Rein? I never asked you.”
“Great.” Emily smiled, but her eyes were a bit wistful. “They were so excited to have PC back. And I know Max would call me crazy, but I’d swear that PC was happy to be back at his old home.”
Callie smiled understandingly. Emily had decided to donate her horse, PC, back to the therapeutic riding center where she’d gotten him. That way another disabled rider might be able to discover the joys of riding, thanks to his specialized training. Emily was planning to get a new horse once she got to Australia, and maybe even help train it herself.
Still, Callie knew it must have been hard for Emily to say good-bye to the horse she’d ridden for so many years. She decided it was probably time for a change of subject, before Emily started feeling too sad to enjoy herself.
“Looks like my brother is campaigning his head off,” she commented, gesturing to Scott, who was leaning against the wall beside the living room doorway, talking to a small group of people and clearly oblivious to the noise and chaos surrounding him as he waved his hands expressively to illustrate his points. Veronica was right beside him, as she had been all evening so far, smiling broadly at everything he said.
Emily followed her glance. “Stevie should be happy about that.” She shifted her gaze to Stevie. “Oops! Then again, maybe not.”
Callie turned and saw that Stevie was staring fixedly over Phil’s shoulder as they danced, glaring directly at Scott’s group. She grinned. “I bet I know why,” she told Emily. “She was afraid that Veronica would hang all over Scott tonight and get in his way while he was trying to campaign. Looks like she was right.”
Emily giggled. “Leave it to Veronica to ruin Stevie’s best-laid plans. That’s always been her specialty.” She shook her head. “I just hope there’s nobody like her over in Australia.”
“Don’t worry. I think it’s safe to say she’s one of a kind.” Callie’s gaze had wandered past Stevie to a solitary figure seated in a chair in the far corner of the room, almost out of sight behind a table full of refreshments. “She’s not the only one, either.”
“Huh?” Emily glanced toward the corner. “Oh, you mean Ben.” She shrugged. “Actually, I was kind of wondering why he bothered to come. He hasn’t said a word to me—or to anyone else, as far as I can see.”
“It is kind of strange that he’d show up,” Callie said thoughtfully. “Especially if he’s not going to do anything but sit there and stare into space all night. He doesn’t even seem to realize there’s a party going on around him.” She winced as someone turned up the music another few notches. Raising her voice slightly, she added, “He doesn’t look like he’s having much fun.”
Emily shrugged. “He’s alw
ays been hard to figure.” Her face brightened. “Hey, maybe he’s a spy! He’s been sent undercover to check up on us, report back to the government—or our parents—about any illicit activities.…”
Callie snorted, though she couldn’t help smiling at Emily’s enthusiastic and creative theory. “If so, he has the world’s worst disguise,” she pointed out. “He sticks out like a sore thumb.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully as an idea occurred to her. “No, I think there’s only one possible reason he’d come tonight. He must be interested in someone who’s here.”
“Interested?” Emily suddenly looked very interested herself. “You mean, like, interested interested? Ben?”
“I know, it’s a pretty wild idea, knowing him,” Callie commented. “He’s so antisocial, it’s hard to believe he’d ever voluntarily spend time with anyone who didn’t have four legs and a mane and eat oats.” She shrugged. “But what other explanation is there?”
“You have a point,” Emily agreed. “But who—” She broke off with a gasp. “Oh! I know. It’s probably you!”
“What?”
Emily looked excited. “It makes perfect sense,” she argued. “You’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re horsey—what more could someone like Ben want in a woman?”
Callie laughed uncomfortably. “I don’t think so,” she mumbled. “If anyone at this party is interested in me—well, anyway, I just don’t think that’s it.”
“Are you sure?” Emily peered at her curiously. “Callie, what is it? You look weird.”
“It’s nothing.” Callie wished she’d never started this line of conversation. The last thing she felt like discussing was her suspicions about a certain guy—a guy who was nothing at all like Ben Marlow except for the fact that Callie wasn’t the least bit interested in dating him. A guy who’d been following her around like an adoring puppy since arriving at the party …
“Callie?” Emily nudged her with one shoulder. “Come on. Are you sure Ben doesn’t like you?’
“I’m sure.”
“Then what? What’s on your mind?” Emily smiled beseechingly. “Come on, this could be your last chance for a long time to tell me your secrets in person.”
Callie sighed. What difference did it make if she told Emily her suspicions? She could use a sensible second opinion to let her know if she was imagining things. And Emily wasn’t the type to make fun of her or think she was being conceited. Besides, as she’d said, she was moving halfway around the world in three days.… “Well, okay.” Callie relented at last. “Actually, it’s George. I’m afraid he might—well, I think he might, you know, like me.”
“George? You mean George Wheeler? Really?” Emily’s eyes widened, and she glanced around the room, clearly looking for George.
“Don’t look!” Callie said urgently, grabbing her arm. “He’s over by the front window. But don’t look now. I don’t want him to decide to come over here.”
“Too late,” Emily said, glancing toward the window. “Here he c—”
She broke off as Carole went barreling past them, almost tripping over Emily’s crutches, which were leaning against the front of the sofa. Carole’s face was red, and she looked upset.
“Whoa,” Callie said, staring after her and doing her best to ignore the fact that she could see George approaching out of the corner of her eye. “What’s with her?”
Carole hadn’t even noticed her friends as she passed them. She stopped just beyond the sofa and leaned on a side table for support, too busy staring at the scene unfolding in the middle of the room to notice anything else.
Her heart in her throat, she watched as Alex stomped over to Lisa, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her away from Gary. What’s going on here? Carole wondered desperately as Alex said something to Lisa, still clutching her by the arm. The music was too loud for Carole to hear his words, but his angry expression was unmistakable. What did I miss? I would have sworn Lisa told me Alex knew all about what Skye said. Didn’t she?
She searched her memory, trying to dredge up the conversation she and Lisa had had on the trail just three days earlier. Her memory for certain things—things that didn’t have to do with Samson, Starlight, her job at Pine Hollow, the cell phone number for Judy Barker, or anything else horse-related—might not always be perfect, but she couldn’t believe she could have totally misremembered what Lisa had told her. As she ran back over it in her mind, she felt more certain than ever that she was right. That situation has caused some tension since I’ve been back, Lisa had said. You know, with Alex …
Regardless of what she thought, though, Alex certainly seemed to be upset about something. He and Lisa were involved in some kind of argument, though Carole couldn’t hear a single word.
“Oh, hi, Carole,” Stevie said, wandering past and poking Carole in the arm. “Did you get a load of the Snob Queen?”
“Huh?” Carole glanced at Stevie, then quickly returned her gaze to Alex and Lisa, who were glaring at each other as a crowd started to gather around them.
“Veronica,” Stevie said, more loudly this time. “Did you see the way she’s been hanging on Scott all night?” She waved an arm toward the living room entrance, almost knocking over a petite Cross County girl who happened to be walking by with two cups of fruit punch. “She’s totally monopolizing him, and if she doesn’t stop it, he’ll never be able to …” Her voice trailed off, and she poked Carole again. “Hey! Are you listening to me?”
“What? Um, sorry.” Carole gulped. “I’m, uh, a little distracted right now.”
“Why?” Stevie followed her gaze to Lisa and Alex, and her eyes narrowed. “Hey, what’s going on over there?” She took a step forward as if to hurry over and see, but Carole grabbed her sleeve and dragged her back.
“Wait,” Carole said, pulling her to a relatively quiet corner beside a bookshelf. “I—I don’t quite know what happened. But I think it may be my fault.”
“What do you mean?”
Stevie listened without interrupting as Carole described her conversation with Alex, her eyes widening as she heard Skye’s name and her jaw dropping as Carole related what the young actor had said to Lisa. Carole felt a little guilty about telling her that part, but since the entire party would probably know all about it soon enough, she figured it didn’t matter.
“… and so then he rushed over there and started yelling,” Carole finished helplessly, indicating the couple in the middle of the room, who were almost hidden now by the people surrounding them. “I don’t know why.”
“I know why.” Stevie looked horrified. “Alex didn’t know any of that stuff about Skye.”
“Are you sure?” Carole knew it was a foolish question as soon as she asked it. Stevie and Alex were twins—they might not tell each other everything, but they never kept the important stuff secret for long. If Alex had known about Skye’s confession, Stevie would have known by now, too. And it was perfectly obvious to Carole that she hadn’t.
Stevie shook her head grimly, glancing toward her brother as the crowd shifted again, revealing him to her. “Wow. It’s like his worst nightmare came true.”
“Not really,” Carole protested. “I mean, it’s not like Lisa and Skye actually …” She let her voice trail off as she realized the enormity of her mistake. “Oh my gosh. I’m such an idiot. This is all my fault!”
Stevie didn’t answer except to shrug, which made Carole feel worse than ever. But just then the CD that had been playing came to an end, inflicting a long moment of relative silence over the crowded room. That was when Carole and Stevie could finally hear what Lisa and Alex were saying to each other—or rather, shouting at each other.
“… and if you can’t trust me, I don’t know why we’re even bothering!” Lisa was screaming.
Alex’s face was red and he was swaying slightly from side to side as he faced his girlfriend, like a cobra waiting to strike. “Trust you?” he hollered back, not even seeming to notice that the music had stopped. His voice was echoing through the room, and al
l eyes were on him. “What a joke. Why should I trust someone who sneaks around behind my back and lies to my face? It’s a good thing Carole told me or I might never have known you were scamming me.”
Carole winced. This can’t be happening, she thought desperately. It’s too horrible. If I could have one wish right now, I’d go back in time and make sure I kept my big fat mouth shut for a change.…
“Oh, really?” Lisa snapped back, her hands on her hips. “Well, if that’s the way you feel, maybe we should just forget it. End this whole thing.”
“Fine by me,” Alex returned hotly. “I wish we’d never even started it!”
Lisa glared at him for a long breathless second. Alex glared back. Nobody in the room made a sound—not Carole or Stevie, not Callie or Emily or George, not Scott or the people in his group, not the dozens of other friends gathered in the Lakes’ red-white-and-blue-bedecked living room. Then the CD player clicked on to the next disc and the opening beats of a rap hit throbbed out over the room.
That broke the momentary spell, and Lisa spun on her heel and stormed off toward the hall, pushing past anyone who happened to be standing in her way. Halfway there, her eyes met Carole’s. Carole gulped when she saw the fury on her friend’s face deepen. When Lisa changed direction and headed toward her, Carole felt her heart start to pound. She glanced at Stevie for help, but Stevie was busy watching Alex, who was stomping off in the opposite direction from Lisa. His face crimson and furious, he kicked viciously at an overstuffed chair, then ran both hands through his hair. Apparently noticing that people were staring at him, he glared around the room and then hurried toward the living room door himself, disappearing up the stairs just outside.
“Uh-oh,” Stevie said.
Carole was inclined to agree with that sentiment, especially since Lisa had just about reached them. Carole gulped again and tried to gather her skittering, panicky thoughts for an apology as Stevie took off in the direction her brother had gone in.
Lisa stopped in front of Carole, breathing hard, both hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. Carole opened her mouth. I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry, so very sorry, so sorry …, she wanted to cry out to her friend.
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