To her surprise, her mother just shrugged and gestured toward the phone. “Be my guest,” she said. “Call him.”
“I will.” Lisa frowned, then walked over to the phone. Glancing at the clock on the microwave oven, she realized that her father would still be at his office.
She dialed his work number, shooting her mother a glance out of the corner of her eye. Mrs. Atwood wasn’t looking at her. She was still sitting at the table, staring at her hands. Lisa wasn’t sure, but she suspected her mother was staring at the finger where her wedding ring had once been. She had done that a lot right after the divorce, though Lisa hadn’t noticed it as much lately.
She was jarred out of her thoughts when a woman’s voice answered the phone. Lisa recognized the lilting voice of her father’s secretary, Charla. As soon as Lisa identified herself, Charla put her straight through, and a moment later her father came on the line.
“Dad?” Lisa said when she heard his familiar voice, her face relaxing into a smile. “Hi! It’s me, Lisa.”
“Ah. Hold on a second, Lisa.” She heard him speaking to someone else in the room, though she couldn’t understand what he said. A moment later, he returned to the line. “I’m sort of in the middle of something here, so I really can’t talk for long right now. But I have to know one thing: Was your mother getting all worked up over nothing when she called this morning? Because she claims Northern Virginia accepted you already and you told them you’re enrolling there.”
“No, that’s right, Dad,” Lisa said. “I decided I’m going to NVU next year. I got a scholarship and everything. I was going to tell you when I saw you next week. You know, as a surprise.”
“This is a surprise, all right.” His voice was stern. “I can’t believe you actually sent back an acceptance to college already, especially without talking to at least one of us first. I thought you were sensible enough not to pull a stunt like this, Lisa.”
“What?” Lisa wasn’t sure she had heard him right. Was she mistaken, or did he sound just as disapproving as her mother had? “But Dad—”
He cut her off before she could explain. “Look, like I said, I can’t talk now, but we’re going to have to discuss this and figure out what to do. Soon.”
Lisa couldn’t manage a response. A second later, she heard the line go dead as her father hung up the phone.
Five
“Hi, Carole,” said an unfamiliar girl’s voice on the answering machine. The girl sounded eager and confident, the words tumbling over one another in a rush. “My name’s Tanya, Tanya Appel. My friend’s brother’s girlfriend’s friend’s cousin Stevie Lake gave me your number—she said you have this really great horse you want to sell. He sounds just perfect for me. I’m looking for a horse who’s a good jumper so I can enter shows with him. Stevie says your horse—Starlight, right?—is a terrific jumper and really well trained and everything. So call me back. I’d love to come over as soon as possible and check him out. If I like him, I’m sure we can work out a price really fast. My parents already said I can get pretty much any horse I want.” The girl went on to give her phone number twice, then repeated her name once again.
With a gulp, Carole jabbed the Erase button on the machine. “Whoa,” she muttered. “That was fast.” Stevie certainly hadn’t wasted any time giving Tanya Carole’s phone number. And Tanya had wasted even less time using it.
“Hi, sweetie! I’m home!” Colonel Hanson’s voice boomed out at that moment. “Carole? Are you here?”
“I’m in the kitchen, Dad,” Carole called, trying to keep her voice steady. She couldn’t believe how close she’d come to having her secret blown. What if her father had come home a few minutes earlier and checked the messages before Carole got there? She hadn’t breathed a word to him yet about her decision to sell Starlight. It wasn’t because she liked keeping secrets from him—since her mother had died years ago, Carole and her father were very close. She shared just about everything important that happened in her life with him, with only a few exceptions. One of those exceptions was that history test, of course—that was one thing she knew she could never tell him about. Not ever.
This was different, though. She would tell him about Starlight soon. She just wanted to have something concrete to share with him first, so he would realize how serious she was about this. So he would see how responsible and mature she was being. Of course, he probably wouldn’t have thought she was too responsible and mature if he’d come across that phone message with no warning.
It’s my fault, Carole thought. I should have reminded Stevie to tell that girl not to leave an incriminating message.
Colonel Hanson strode into the room, pausing just long enough to give Carole a quick kiss on top of her head as he passed. Heading straight for the refrigerator, he grabbed a carton of orange juice and poured himself a glass.
“Whew!” he exclaimed. “I’m beat. This rat race is brutal after all those nice, relaxing years in the Marines.”
Carole smiled. Her father had recently retired from military life and now had a thriving second career giving motivational speeches at conferences and business retreats all over the country. He was also a prominent member of several important charity boards, which meant that he sometimes put in long hours at all sorts of glamorous parties and fund-raisers.
“It’s a tough life, Dad, but someone has to do it.” Carole willed herself not to so much as glance at the answering machine. “What was it tonight—dinner and dancing? Or just drinks with the President and Secretary of State?”
“Neither.” Colonel Hanson gulped down his juice and smiled at her. “Just going over some paperwork with the Bonner Foundation’s lawyers. Boring stuff. No horses involved at all.”
“Bummer,” Carole said. “So should we order a pizza or something? Sounds like we’re both too wiped out to cook tonight.”
Colonel Hanson loosened his shirt collar. “You go ahead if you want. I already ate.” At Carole’s suspicious glance, he smiled sheepishly. “Okay, okay, you caught me. The lawyers and I actually went over that paperwork at a really nice Japanese restaurant in D.C.”
“So when you were complaining about the rat race a minute ago, what you really meant was the sushi race,” Carole joked weakly. She was itching to get to the phone and call Tanya back. The girl had sounded awfully eager, and Carole didn’t want her to get impatient and call back again.
Colonel Hanson set his empty juice glass in the sink and yawned. “Well, using those chopsticks can be exhausting,” he said. “I realize it’s kind of early, but you know what they say about early to bed, early to rise. I’m going to hit the shower and then hit the sack.”
“Okay. See you in the morning.” Carole waited until her father’s footsteps moved up the stairs and she heard the shower turn on overhead; then she grabbed the phone and punched in Tanya Appel’s number. Moments later, it was all settled. Tanya was coming to Pine Hollow to see Starlight the very next day.
Callie was brushing her teeth when the phone rang that night at eleven-twenty. She didn’t pay much attention at first—her congressman father’s home district was on the West Coast, the time zone three hours earlier. It wasn’t unusual for him to get calls as late as midnight from staff members or constituents back home, even on weekdays.
But a moment later, there was a knock on the bathroom door. “Callie?” her mother called. “Are you in there? It’s for you.”
Callie spit out a mouthful of toothpaste. “Just a sec,” she called, surprised. Scanning her mental list of friends from her old hometown who might be calling, she hurriedly rinsed out her mouth and grabbed her crutches.
Mrs. Forester was standing in the hall when Callie emerged from the bathroom. She held out the cordless phone. “Don’t talk long, sweetheart,” she said in a gently disapproving tone. “It’s getting late.”
“Okay.” Callie took the phone and swung into her bedroom on her crutches. “Hello?”
“Callie?” George Wheeler’s familiar, slightly high-pitched voice gree
ted her from the other end of the line. “Hi, it’s me.”
Callie frowned. “George?” She glanced at her watch. “Uh, hi. What is it?”
“Sorry for calling so late,” George said, “but I was just feeling really worried about you, and I thought I should check in on you.”
“Worried?” Callie repeated. She sat down on the edge of her bed, dropped her crutches on the rug, and switched the phone to her other ear. “About me? Why?”
“Well, I noticed you haven’t been to Pine Hollow in two days,” George replied. “I know you usually do your therapeutic riding every day, so I was afraid something might be wrong that you weren’t telling me about.”
Callie shook her head, wondering if she was missing something here. George sounded really concerned. “Uh, no, nothing’s wrong,” she told him. “I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, and then today I had plans with my family.”
Not that it’s any of your business, she thought uncomfortably. Besides, if you were so worried about me, why didn’t you just wait to ask me about this in school tomorrow? It’s not like we don’t sit right next to each other all through chemistry class. It’s not like we don’t run into each other a million times every day at school.
“Whew!” George exclaimed. “Well, that explains it. I was just afraid that maybe—well, never mind. So you’ll be there tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Callie replied. “But listen, I should go now. It’s kind of late, and I was just on my way to bed.”
George laughed sheepishly. “Okay, sorry about that,” he said. “I wouldn’t normally call so late. I hope your folks aren’t mad.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Callie reassured him, trying to sound cheerful. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school, okay?”
“Okay. Good night, Callie.”
Callie hit the button to hang up and then sat there for a moment, staring at the phone in her hand. What was that all about? she wondered. And how did I get myself into this weird friendship with George, anyway?
Before she could come up with an answer to that, her brother poked his head into her room. “Who was that?” he asked curiously.
“George Wheeler,” Callie replied, setting the phone on her bedside table. “He was freaking out because he hasn’t seen me at the stable for a couple of days.”
Scott’s handsome face scrunched into a puzzled frown. “Huh?”
“Yeah, that’s about how I feel,” Callie admitted. She sighed and leaned back against her pillow. “I know George and I are just friends now, but I still get a weird vibe from him sometimes. I feel kind of bad about being so touchy when he means well, but—”
“Get a clue, Callie.” Scott stepped into her room and leaned against her bedpost, looking down at her seriously. “I don’t care what George says about being friends. The guy obviously still has a totally desperate crush on you. It’s written all over him. And it’s not like you to put up with that kind of situation.”
Callie shook her head quickly. “No, that’s not what’s happening here,” she insisted. “We really are just friends. I mean, George hardly even seemed upset when I told him I didn’t like him in any other way.”
Scott snorted and folded his arms across his chest. “Uh-huh,” he said sarcastically. “And he had only the purest motives when he decided to call you at eleven-thirty at night just to check up on what you’ve been doing lately. Get real.”
Callie pursed her lips. She had to admit that her brother had a point. “Hmmm,” she said, thinking back over George’s behavior. How much had it really changed since their one disastrous date? He talked a lot about how they were friends now. Otherwise, he still acted just about the same. He turned up to walk her to class whenever his schedule allowed, he stopped by to watch her therapeutic riding sessions at Pine Hollow at least a few times a week, he hung on her every word.… “Okay, maybe you have a point,” she said. “But I already told George where we stand. In no uncertain terms. He says he wants to be friends, so what more can I do about it?”
Scott shrugged. “There’s nothing that says you have to be friends with him,” he pointed out. “You could just blow him off.” He smiled slightly. “I’ve seen you do that to guys before. And most of them never bothered you again, right?”
“That’s different.” Callie thought back to some of the obnoxious guys who’d pursued her back in her old hometown. She’d never felt a moment’s hesitation about telling them off when they got too aggressive. But George wasn’t like those guys. He was so sensitive, so vulnerable. “I don’t want to hurt his feelings,” she told Scott. “Like I said, he knows how things stand. I’m sure he’ll adjust sooner or later.” She shoved her feet under the bedcovers and yawned, suddenly feeling very tired. “I just have to give him a little more time to let it all sink in.”
Six
“Carole!” Denise McCaskill called as Carole hurried down the aisle with a wheelbarrow full of soiled bedding. “Do you know where the chain shank is? I can’t find it anywhere, and the farrier won’t go near Geronimo without it.”
Carole skidded to a stop, almost upending the wheelbarrow in the process. “I’m not sure,” she told Max’s petite young stable manager, trying to recall her last glimpse of the piece of equipment Denise needed. “The last place I saw it was hanging on that hook outside the wash stall. Did you check there?”
Denise shook her head. “Thanks,” she called over her shoulder as she turned and raced back down the aisle and around the corner.
Carole got her wheelbarrow moving again, continuing toward the back door and the dirt path leading to the manure pit. It was already almost four o’clock, and she was feeling a little frantic. It didn’t help that the rest of the staff was in the same kind of mood. Everyone seemed to have a million things to do before it was time to leave for the big show, now just three days away.
Or in my case, a million and one things, Carole thought as she reached the manure pit and tilted her wheelbarrow, dumping its contents onto the pile. In addition to everything else, I have to find time to show off Starlight to that girl.
As she turned and steered the wheelbarrow back toward the stable building, she checked her watch. Starlight’s potential buyer, Tanya Appel, was due to arrive at Pine Hollow in a little more than half an hour.
Okay, Carole thought as she stowed the wheelbarrow in the equipment stall and brushed off her hands. Half an hour. That should give me just enough time to bring Prancer in from the meadow and walk her for twenty minutes or so, and then maybe check in with the farrier about the new mare’s shoeing schedule before Tanya gets here. And if she’s late, it probably wouldn’t hurt to run out back and give Starlight a quick grooming, just to make sure he’s looking his best.
She hurried toward the stable office. As she entered, she caught a glimpse through the window of an unfamiliar car pulling to a stop in the parking area. A red-haired girl was sitting in the front seat, staring out the window with an eager expression on her freckled face.
Carole gulped. She was pretty certain that this stranger was Tanya Appel. “You’ll be able to recognize me right away, ” she’d announced to Carole on the phone the night before. “My hair’s almost as red as my name. Appel, get it?”
Carole raced out of the office and down the hallway to the stable entrance, arriving just in time to intercept the red-haired girl. She definitely didn’t want Max or Red or Denise to find the newcomer and ask her what she was doing there. “Hi! I’m Carole Hanson,” she said, thanking her lucky stars that she’d glanced out the window at just the right moment. “Are you—”
“Hi, Carole! I’m Tanya,” the girl said brightly. “Sorry I’m kind of early, but I just couldn’t wait to get here.” Her voice was high-pitched and rather loud, but cheerful and friendly. She gestured at a thin auburn-haired woman who was trailing along behind her. The woman was wearing large, round eyeglasses, which gave her an owlish look. “This is my mom,” Tanya said. “She drove me here.”
Carole smiled politely at the woman. “How do
you—”
“So where is he?” Tanya demanded with a grin, hopping impatiently from one foot to the other. “Starlight, I mean. I can’t wait to see him! I had a dream last night—I was riding this awesome bay horse, he had a gorgeous mahogany coat and a big white blaze, and he was so amazing and nice and sweet and smart and talented that I just knew he was the horse for me.”
“Well,” Carole said, a little taken aback by Tanya’s rapid-fire chatter. “Starlight has a star on his forehead, not a blaze. But otherwise the horse in your dream sounds a lot like—”
“I’ve always loved bays,” Tanya said eagerly. “They’re just so beautiful, you know?”
Carole nodded. “Well, sure,” she agreed. “Though of course a horse’s color isn’t really—”
“Hey, why are we standing around here when we could be checking out Starlight right this minute?” Tanya asked. “Let’s have less talking and more walking. Where’s his stall?”
“Actually, I already turned him out in our back paddock,” Carole explained. “I thought it would be easier for us to—”
“Whatever,” Tanya broke in. “So lead the way.”
Carole just nodded and gestured for Tanya and her mother to follow as she headed for the back door. She felt a bit overwhelmed by Tanya’s enthusiasm. Still, she was sure that most of the girl’s impatience was due to excitement. She couldn’t blame her for that. Getting your own horse was a wonderful thing, something most people dreamed about and planned for and anticipated for a long time. She also knew that it didn’t pay to jump into this kind of decision too fast or let your emotions take over. Just about every horse had his wonderful points and his not-so-great ones. A potential owner had to figure out what she wanted and needed from her new mount and carefully decide if each horse she saw met those criteria. She also had to ride the horse and have a vet examine it for health and soundness. Only then could she really know if a particular horse was truly the horse of her dreams.
Riding to Win Page 6