“I’ve got a better idea,” Stevie interrupted. “I just happen to know Carole’s password. We can log into her account and check her file of favorite links.” She grinned. “She has it categorized and cross-referenced so totally that even Lisa was impressed when she saw it.”
Deborah laughed. “Well, I don’t know,” she said. “I appreciate the help, but I’m not sure hacking into someone else’s files is good journalistic ethics.”
Stevie waved one hand. “Oh, don’t worry,” she assured Deborah. “It’s not like I sneaked a peek at the password when Carole wasn’t looking. She gave it to Lisa and me so that we could use her horse info file whenever we need to.” She grinned. “You know how Carole feels about educating everyone and anyone about horses.”
“Oh. Well, in that case—”
“Yo,” Alex broke in, loping down the aisle. “I left the wheelbarrow in the equipment shed. So are we going to ride or eat or what?”
“Neither.” Stevie gestured at Deborah. “I need to help Deborah research her next Pulitzer Prize—winning article. So you’ll have to entertain yourself for a while.”
Alex actually looked disappointed. “Oh, well,” he said. “Maybe I’ll just head home. There’s probably a game on TV or something.”
“Okay. You can take the car if you want,” Stevie offered, reaching into her jeans pocket for the keys. The twins had driven over to the stable in the battered blue two-door they shared, but it was only a ten-minute walk home from Pine Hollow.
Alex caught the keys as Stevie tossed them. “Thanks,” he said. “I really …” His voice trailed off, and his eyes focused on a point somewhere past Stevie’s right shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Turning to see what her brother was looking at, Stevie saw Nicole Adams walking down the aisle toward them.
“Hi, guys!” Nicole sang out in her lilting, slightly breathy voice. She wriggled her fingers in a little wave.
Stevie returned the newcomer’s smile weakly. She and Alex had gone to Fenton Hall with Nicole since kindergarten, but that didn’t mean Stevie liked her much. For one thing, Nicole was friends with Veronica diAngelo and the rest of her snobby clique, and that alone was enough of a reason for Stevie to ignore her as much as possible. Besides, Nicole had never shown much interest in finding new girlfriends. She was too busy wowing the entire male population of the school with her pretty face, knockout figure, and flirtatious giggle.
Of course, I never thought Alex would fall for any of that, Stevie thought, sneaking a glance at her brother. Even under the influence. She shuddered as she remembered how Alex had slow danced with Nicole at that fateful party. True, he and Lisa had just broken up in front of everyone they knew. Also true, he’d had quite a few beers by that point. But still …
“What are you doing here, Nicole?” Alex asked. He smiled apologetically. “I mean, not that we’re not happy to see you or whatever. But, well, what are you doing here?”
Nicole let out her famous giggle and tossed her head. Her hair—a shade of pale, almost silvery blond that Stevie was quite sure didn’t occur in nature—bounced around for a moment before settling into perfect waves just above her shoulders. “I’m looking for Denise McCaskill?” Nicole said. “I talked to her on the phone yesterday. I think she’s the stable manager or something?”
“She is,” Stevie confirmed. “I’m not sure where she is, though. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her since we got here.” She glanced at her brother, who nodded his agreement without taking his eyes off Nicole.
“That’s because she isn’t here,” Deborah put in. “She called in sick—some kind of nasty stomach bug, I think.”
“Oh.” Nicole looked disappointed. “Um, she said she’d talk to me about riding here.”
“Don’t worry.” Stevie did her valiant best to hide her surprise. Nicole Adams riding at Pine Hollow? It just didn’t compute. “I’m sure Max or Red can help you out. If you wander around a little, you’re sure to run into one of them sooner or later.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Alex said. He smiled at Nicole. “How about if I give you a little tour while you’re looking for them? I mean, if you’re looking for information on this place, I can probably help you out with the basics. I’ve been riding here for, like, almost a year.”
Nicole smiled and briefly touched her fingers to his arm. “Thanks, Alex,” she said. “That’s so sweet of you.”
Alex shrugged. “No big deal,” he replied, looking very pleased with himself. “Come on, let’s go.”
Stevie watched the two of them amble off together down the aisle, chatting and laughing. “Yikes,” she muttered, glad that Lisa wasn’t around. She was sure her brother would never risk his relationship with his girlfriend just for a few minutes of flirtation with a party girl like Nicole. Still, it was perfectly obvious from the little exchange Stevie had just witnessed that Nicole had no problems flirting her bleach-blond head off with another girl’s boyfriend. So it was just as well that Lisa was safely out of the state, where she couldn’t accidentally come upon them and jump to the wrong conclusion.
And it would definitely be the wrong conclusion, Stevie assured herself, staring after the pair as they disappeared around the corner at the end of the aisle. Alex would never be idiotic enough to mess things up again. Not after all the problems he and Lisa have had over the past couple of months …
“What’s wrong, Stevie?” Deborah asked. “You look weird. Are you sick? Maybe whatever Denise is out with is catching.”
With a start, Stevie remembered the woman standing beside her. “Oh!” she said, pushing thoughts of Alex out of her head. He was a big boy—he had every right to hang out with Nicole if he wanted to, no matter what Stevie thought of her. “Um, nothing,” she told Deborah. “Come on, let’s go see what the World Wide Web has to tell us about retired show horses.”
By the time the shrill chirp of Craig’s whistle floated across the park, signaling the end of the workday, Carole’s back was aching and her blisters were growing blisters. She groaned and stretched as the other volunteers started gathering up their tools and heading back toward the vans.
“Whew!” she said under her breath. “And I thought mucking out stalls and tossing hay was tiring.” She felt a flash of sadness at the thought. Another day was ending—another day wasted, spent somewhere other than Pine Hollow. How much longer could she stand it?
As she headed across the playground, a light wind tickled her skin and she shivered slightly. She had been working so hard all afternoon that she hadn’t noticed the growing chill creeping into the air. But now that the sun was sinking out of sight, the breeze that had felt so good as she worked made gooseflesh spring up on her skin.
Wrapping her arms around herself, Carole scurried for the van. Halfway there, one of the other volunteers—the young man with the wire-rimmed glasses—caught up with her. “Hi there,” he said. “Listen, I wanted to tell you, my wife and I noticed how hard you were working today. Nice job. It’s always good to have an enthusiastic newcomer on the team.”
“Thanks,” Carole said, struggling to remember the young man’s name. Was he one of the people Dr. Durbin had introduced earlier?
The man smiled. “By the way, I don’t think we’ve actually met yet. I’m Lionel.” He pointed to the woman with the thick blond braid, who was talking to Dr. Durbin. “That’s my wife, Nadine.”
Carole smiled politely. “Nice to meet you,” she said automatically. “I’m Carole.”
“Are you a student, Carole?” Lionel asked.
“Uh-huh. I’m a junior at Willow Creek High.” Carole was doing her best to seem interested in the conversation, but it wasn’t easy. Now that she wasn’t distracted by physical work, her mind kept returning to its constant preoccupation with how much she missed Starlight, Pine Hollow, and everything else having to do with horses and riding.
Lionel didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong. “Nadine and I really enjoy our work with Hometown Hope. We’ve tackle
d a few different projects with them since we moved here last year. All of them have been really satisfying. For instance, we helped repair and insulate some low-income homes after that big ice storm last winter. And a couple of months ago, we got a bunch of businesses to donate paint and supplies so that we could repaint and renovate the barn over at the Free Rein riding place on the other side of town.”
“Uh-huh.” Carole forced herself to keep smiling, but Lionel’s mention of Free Rein had hit her like a sharp blow to the gut. Was the whole world conspiring against her? Why was it that everywhere she turned, everything she saw or heard reminded her of what she’d lost? Her head throbbed, and she was afraid she was going to burst into tears.
Luckily, someone called to Lionel, and after a word of apology the young man hurried away.
Carole rubbed her eyes and sighed with relief. Now all she had to do was survive the van ride back across town. Then she could climb into her own car and treat herself to the only comfort her father couldn’t take away: a good long cry.
FOUR
“Baaaaaa!” Lily squealed delightedly, throwing her chubby little arms up over her head. “Baaaa-aaaaa!”
“Banana,” Lisa said with a smile, breaking off another small piece of the fruit she was holding. “Can you say banana?”
Lily didn’t answer. Instead, she leaned forward and crawled toward Lisa across the kitchen’s white linoleum floor, stretching one hand toward the banana and almost tipping herself over to one side.
“Okay, okay, here you go.” Lisa caught the baby and set her upright again, then handed her the gooey banana chunk. Lily shoved it into her mouth and chewed, looking very pleased with herself as she smeared banana glop across the front of her cheerful red corduroy playsuit.
Lisa smiled at her baby sister, glad that she’d finally been able to steal a few minutes alone with her. In the twenty-four hours since her arrival at her father’s cozy Victorian cottage, she’d been bombarded almost nonstop with serious discussion about her college plans. Her father didn’t seem to want to talk about anything else, and while Evelyn occasionally shot Lisa a sympathetic glance, she didn’t seem eager to step in and change the subject. Not that she would have had much luck, probably, Lisa figured wryly. She was a little surprised that her father had actually allowed her to stop listening to his lectures long enough to sleep the night before. It had been a relief when he’d left the house half an hour earlier to go to the hardware store.
“Do you want another piece, Lily?” Lisa asked.
But Lily wasn’t paying attention to Lisa—or the banana—anymore. She was staring over Lisa’s shoulder, her eyes bright and eager. “Maaaaaaaaaa!” she exclaimed.
Lisa turned and saw her stepmother, Evelyn, coming through the back door with a bulging brown paper grocery bag in each arm. “Yes, that’s right, little one,” Evelyn crooned, dropping the bags on the counter. “Mama’s here.” She swooped forward and picked up the delighted baby, then turned to Lisa with a smile on her pretty, pixieish face. “Thanks for looking after her, Lisa. Believe me, grocery shopping is much easier when you don’t have a curious baby trying to grab everything off the shelves as you pass.”
“I can believe it,” Lisa said with a laugh. “She keeps me on my toes, that’s for sure. I thought babies were supposed to sleep most of the day!”
Evelyn shifted Lily onto her other hip. “Not this baby,” she said fondly, running one hand over Lily’s soft, pale brown hair. “Her batteries never seem to run down. I think I’ll go up and give her a bath now. That’s usually the only thing that soothes her and makes her sleepy enough to want to take a nap.”
“Can I help?” Lisa offered.
“That’s okay.” Evelyn shrugged and smiled. “You’ve seen how tiny our bathroom is. I’m not sure both of us could fit in there at the same time. Besides, you’ve been so much help already. You deserve a few minutes to relax.”
Before Dad gets back and jumps on my case again, Lisa finished in her head, guessing that was approximately what her stepmother was thinking. “Thanks,” she told Evelyn. “But before I start relaxing, I’ll take care of the groceries, okay?”
“That would be great,” Evelyn said. “Thanks, Lisa. You’re a lifesaver.”
“No problem.” Lisa set to work as Evelyn disappeared up the stairs with Lily. It only took her a few minutes to unload the grocery bags and put everything away. That left her with a rare moment of quiet—probably the first waking one she’d had since arriving in California, aside from her shower that morning.
Her first thought was the English paper she had due when she returned from break. But she quickly pushed that idea aside. She would have plenty of time to finish her homework on the flight home. She considered calling some of the friends she’d made over the summer at her job working on the set of Paradise Ranch. But she felt a little weird about that. She’d been really close to those people when she’d seen them every day. But even though she’d planned to keep in touch with several of them, it had never quite happened. The only person from the show she’d talked to since then was Skye—which made sense, since he’d been her friend for years.
Thinking about Skye, as always, made her feel a twinge of uneasiness as her thoughts turned to Alex. But that gave her another idea. Maybe she should call Alex and Stevie. The night before, Alex had called to give her the good news that the twins were finally ungrounded.
What a bizarre thought, Lisa thought with a slight smile. It’s been a long time since I could just pick up the phone and call Alex or Stevie whenever I felt like it. Too bad it has to be long distance, all the way from California.
Still, she was sure her father wouldn’t really mind the extra charges. She hadn’t been able to talk to Alex for long the previous evening because he hadn’t managed to reach her until she’d returned from dinner out with her father, Evelyn, and Lily. It had only been eight-thirty in California, but that meant in Willow Creek it was already eleven-thirty, and Mr. and Mrs. Lake had insisted that Alex keep the call short.
Hurrying over to the phone on the wall beside the refrigerator, she quickly punched in the familiar number. But all she got was a busy signal.
“Rats,” she muttered as she hung up. There was nothing to do but wait and try again in a few minutes—and hope her father didn’t return before she had a chance to unload her frustrations on either her boyfriend or one of her other best friends. She wished she could call Carole, but she knew better than to try. Colonel Hanson was a fun-loving, easygoing guy most of the time. But as a former Marine, he believed strongly in discipline when a situation called for it. There was no way he was going to make an exception to his no-phone-calls rule, even for a call from California.
As Lisa was trying to figure out how long she should wait before trying the Lakes’ number again, the phone rang, startling her.
Maybe that’s Stevie or Alex calling now, she thought hopefully, grabbing the receiver before the phone could ring a second time. Maybe they read my mind and knew I needed to talk.
“Hello?” she said eagerly. “Lisa Atwood speaking.”
“Lisa?” The voice sounded confused. Confused and familiar.
“Peter?” Lisa could hardly believe her ears. “Is that you?” She could barely remember the last time she’d heard her older brother’s voice. He had been living in Europe since graduating from college several years earlier. After spending some time in England, Japan, and Africa, he had recently moved to Switzerland, where he had a job translating product labels into various languages for foreign sales.
“It’s me,” Peter confirmed. “How are you doing, little sis?”
“Fine,” Lisa replied automatically. For a moment she had the urge to spill all her problems to her brother. He would understand what she was going through with their parents if anyone would. After all, he was the one who’d surprised the whole family with the announcement that he’d won a scholarship to a college in Texas, and that he was going there instead of to their father’s alma mater, the University
of Virginia, as Mr. and Mrs. Atwood had expected. Then a couple of years later, Peter had informed his parents that he was transferring to a school in England to study languages. He had also clashed with them over his choice of careers—first about wanting to stay in Europe rather than returning home and settling down, then regarding his dreams of being a writer. His parents had won out on the second question—at least partly. After a stint as a research assistant in Africa, Peter had gotten a series of steady jobs all over Europe, most of them making use of his fluency in French, German, Japanese, Swedish, and of course English.
Still, maybe he wouldn’t understand that well, Lisa thought. After all, getting that first scholarship was a good thing—even Mom and Dad realized that. And for all the rest of it, he was so far away that it hardly mattered what they thought. I mean, it seems like he’s hardly been in the same state or country with any of us for more than a few days at a time since he graduated from high school.
Pushing aside a flash of regret and sadness at that thought, Lisa clutched the phone tighter, not wanting to miss this chance to talk with her brother. “So how are you?” she asked. “Are you at home or at work? This connection is so clear! It sounds like you’re calling from next door, not all the way from Switzerland.”
“Well, actually, there’s a reason for that,” Peter said. “I’m not in Switzerland. I’m right here in L.A.”
Lisa gasped, not sure she’d heard him correctly. “What!” she exclaimed. “What do you mean? Nobody told me you were coming!”
“Nobody knows. I just flew in—I’m at the airport. Surprise!”
“Wow. I’m definitely surprised.” Lisa leaned against the kitchen counter for support. Suddenly she felt a twinge of suspicion. “Wait a minute,” she said. “Dad didn’t ask you to come, did he? I mean, to talk to me about college, you know, like calling in the reinforcements.”
“Huh?” Peter sounded genuinely confused. “What do you mean? Dad doesn’t know I’m here at all. Remember? I just told you, nobody knows. What do you mean, reinforcements?”
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