Back in the Saddle

by Bonnie Bryant

  Yikes, she thought. Looks like George has Callie cornered again. No wonder she’s making like a windmill to get me over there.

  Stevie was happy to come to her friend’s rescue if she could, even though she still didn’t quite get why Callie wouldn’t just tell George to get lost. It wasn’t as though Callie had trouble speaking her mind. At first Stevie had thought there might be a chance that the mismatched pair would hit it off—both were smart, both were excellent riders. And despite the slender, cool good looks that guaranteed Callie the attention of just about any guy she wanted, she had already proved herself willing to risk gossip and ridicule by going to a school dance with the short, dumpy, unpopular George. But after that one evening, Callie had decided that the two of them should just be friends. So why didn’t George seem to be getting the hint?

  Stevie didn’t worry about that for long. As she reached the row where Callie and George were sitting, she saw that Alex was sitting in the row right behind them with a few of his soccer teammates. “Glad you could make it, sis,” he greeted her, smacking the back of the empty seat beside Callie. “We saved you a seat.”

  “Thanks.” Stevie slid into the seat just as Miss Fenton strode out onto the creaky wooden stage and clapped her hands for attention.

  “Thank you for your quick response, students,” the headmistress said in her reedy voice. “I’m sure you’ll be as excited as I am when you hear why I’ve gathered you all together.”

  “Early graduation?” Alex whispered loudly, making his soccer friends snort with laughter. Stevie sank down in her seat to hide her own grin.

  Miss Fenton shot a sharp glance their way, then continued. “We’re going to be trying an experiment this year. It’s a social studies project that’s had interesting results in several schools in other parts of the state, and I think it’s time for Fenton Hall to give it a try.”

  Stevie exchanged curious glances with Callie. What kind of project was Miss Fenton talking about? All around them, other students were murmuring to each other, obviously wondering the same thing.

  The headmistress didn’t keep them in suspense. “It’s called Junior Family Week,” she announced. “It’s a role-playing project where you will all act the part of responsible married adults for the next five days.”

  “Married?” someone yelped from a couple of rows behind Stevie. “My parents won’t even let me date yet!”

  The entire auditorium erupted in laughter. Even Miss Fenton smiled. Meanwhile, Stevie craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the girl who’d called out. “I bet that was Lorraine Olsen,” she told Callie with a grin. “She’s always complaining about not being able to date. But actually, her folks just won’t let her go anywhere with a guy in a car. She could go on three dates in one day, as long as she was willing to walk.”

  Callie smiled briefly, but Stevie couldn’t help noticing that she seemed distracted. With a shrug, Stevie returned her attention to the stage.

  “All right, all right,” Miss Fenton called, raising her hands for order. Finally, when everyone had settled down, she continued. “Now, let me tell you how the project will work. You’ll be divided into couples, and each couple will be expected to complete a variety of exercises designed to teach a range of life skills.”

  Stevie wrinkled her nose at that, thinking that Junior Family Week sounded pretty goofy so far. What kind of “life skills” does it take to be married? she thought. I mean, fall in love, tie the knot, move in together, take turns cooking dinner. Big fat whopping deal.

  “The project will begin this afternoon,” Miss Fenton went on. “Instead of going to your regular seventh-period classes, you should all return here to the auditorium for our first Family Week meeting. For the remainder of the week, the meetings will take place during a different class period each day.”

  “All right!” Alex exclaimed. “No seventh period? That means no trig quiz this week. I’m loving this marriage project already!”

  Stevie couldn’t help agreeing with her twin on that one. “A period off from regular classes every day?” she whispered to Callie gleefully. “Cool deal! I just wish Phil went to school here. It’d be kind of fun to play house with him.” She grinned wickedly.

  Once again, Callie forced herself to smile back. But her mind really wasn’t on Stevie and her boyfriend. Instead, she was very aware of George’s arm lying casually on the armrest just inches from her body. She kept her gaze straight ahead, focused on the stage, but she could almost feel George glancing her way every two seconds. Why hadn’t she tried harder to avoid sitting with him in this assembly?

  Miss Fenton was still talking, explaining that several expert speakers would be coming to the school over the course of the week to talk to them about different aspects of marriage and family life. She also listed some of the assignments they would have to complete, from making choices about jobs and children to making a household budget.

  But Callie wasn’t really paying attention. She was too busy dreading the next few minutes. She could picture it now—knowing George, he would probably be down on one knee as soon as Miss Fenton gave the word to divide into couples, begging for her hand in fake marriage. Of course, that’s only if we get to pick our own partners, Callie thought, a spark of hope flaring in her mind. And how likely is that? The last thing Miss Fenton would want is a bunch of real-life couples feeling like they had permission to “play house,” as Stevie put it.

  Someone raised a hand from near the back of the auditorium. “Yes, Veronica?” Miss Fenton said, pointing. “Do you have a question?”

  “Yes, Miss Fenton,” Veronica diAngelo replied. “Are we going to get a grade for this project?”

  “Figures that would be her first question,” Stevie murmured with a grimace. “All she cares about is what’s in it for her.”

  Callie shrugged. She wasn’t crazy about Veronica, but she had to admit that she admired the other girl’s directness and self-confidence. “I wonder how they’re going to choose our partners?” she whispered to Stevie, making certain to keep her voice low so that George wouldn’t overhear. “I mean, is Miss Fenton going to assign them, or …”

  “Good question!” Stevie raised her hand before Callie could even finish, waving it back and forth over her head as Miss Fenton explained that while each couple would receive a rating at the end of the week, it wouldn’t count toward any actual grades since the project was just an experiment that year.

  “But you will be expected to take this as seriously as any other school assignment,” the headmistress finished sternly. Then, finally noticing Stevie’s wildly waving hand, she nodded her way. “Yes, Stephanie?”

  “So how’s this going to work?” Stevie asked. “Do we get to pick our own hubbies, or are you going to play matchmaker?”

  Miss Fenton pursed her lips. “I was getting to that,” she said. “We’ve already done the pairings randomly, with the help of the office computer. You’ll be assigned your partners this afternoon at the first meeting.”

  Callie let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. Whew! she thought, still not daring to glance George’s way. That’s a relief.

  She was so happy that she laughed out loud when Alex started making dire predictions about what would happen if he ended up paired with his twin sister. Maybe this marriage project sounded a little lame, but at least she wouldn’t be stuck with George as her partner—not unless the fates, and the school computer, were really against her.

  Even better, if we’re both busy with our respective spouses, maybe he won’t have time to follow me around everywhere and pretend not to be staring at me, she thought. And that would definitely be good news.

  Callie smiled at the thought. She had enough on her mind this week, her first week back in training, without having to worry about fending off her not-so-secret admirer yet again.

  THREE

  When Lisa arrived at Pine Hollow that day after school, she found Alex pulling on his riding boots in the student locker room, the large, s
quare room just off the main entryway where regular riders were assigned cubbyholes to stow their schoolbags and other items while they were at the stable.

  Alex glanced up as she entered. “Hi, gorgeous,” he greeted her with his usual lopsided smile.

  There were several younger riders in the room, but Lisa hardly noticed them. She was totally focused on her boyfriend. Ever since her return from California, she’d thought of little else but making things work with Alex. She’d chosen her outfit carefully that day, knowing that the snug black leggings she was wearing flattered her slender figure and that her brick red wool turtleneck was Alex’s favorite. The form-fitting outfit, which was definitely sexier than her usual weekday wardrobe, had meant a few extra stares and whistles from some of the more Neanderthal types at school, but it was all worth it the moment she saw her boyfriend’s gaze slide down her body with obvious appreciation.

  “Hi,” she returned his greeting, walking over and bending down for a kiss.

  Alex started to stand at the same time Lisa leaned in closer, and they bumped noses as their lips met. A little startled, Lisa jumped back, rubbing her nose. It doesn’t mean anything, she thought. Just lack of practice. And that’s definitely something we can fix.

  But somehow, she didn’t quite feel like giving it another try just then. After all, her idea of a romantic kiss wasn’t standing in the middle of a locker room with a whole gang of younger riders staring and giggling.

  “Just about ready for our ride?” she asked, turning toward her cubbyhole quickly and pretending not to notice that Alex was reaching for her again. She rummaged through the cubby, searching for her all-weather riding gloves. It was hard to believe that it was already the first week in December, but the chill in the air as she’d walked from her car to the stable building had told her that she’d better start accepting that winter was coming.

  “Sure.” Alex gave his left boot one last yank and then stood, shooting her a worried glance. “You okay? You look a little bummed. Is it your mom?”

  Lisa felt a rush of emotion at the concern in his hazel eyes. How many girls were lucky enough to have such a sensitive, understanding boyfriend? “Mom’s out of control,” she admitted. “She took a few days off from work—says she needs time to ‘get back in touch with herself.’ Whatever that means.” Lisa grimaced. Her mother had picked up a lot of those squishy self-help terms in her postdivorce group therapy.

  Alex shook his head. “Bad news,” he said sympathetically. “I can see why you’re worried. I mean, I’m no shopping expert or anything, but even I know that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is, like, major.”

  “Uh-huh.” Lisa headed across the wide entryway toward the hallway that led to the tack room, stable offices, and rest rooms. “And believe me, the last thing Mom needs is to lose her job right now, on top of everything else.”

  “Look on the bright side,” Alex said with a small smile. “The stores probably so busy these days that the last thing her boss will want to do is fire someone.”

  Lisa knew he was trying his best to make her feel better, but it wasn’t working. “I guess,” she said quickly as they reached the tack room. She took a deep breath of the familiar leather-and-saddle-soap smell, then stepped forward to take a bridle off a hook on the wall. “Come on, let’s hurry and hit the trail, okay? I just want to forget all about Mom and have a nice ride.”

  Alex shrugged agreeably. “Sure,” he said. “I’ll meet you out front in a few minutes.”

  Lisa felt a little strange as she grabbed a saddle and hurried out of the room without waiting for her boyfriend. Why did things seem so weird and off-kilter between the two of them? And worse yet, why didn’t Alex seem to notice?

  Maybe because it’s all in my head, Lisa thought as she walked back across the entryway and entered the wide stable aisle. I’m just feeling out of it because Alex and I haven’t had much chance to be together for the past month or two. First we kept having all those stupid fights, then Alex got grounded, and then I was away last week. And now there’s this business with Mom distracting me, just when things should be back to normal again. …

  She sighed, hoping that was all that was wrong. Stopping in front of a stall halfway down the aisle, she waited for the silvery gray mare inside to come to the front of the stall. “Hey there, Eve,” she greeted the horse softly, rubbing her velvety nose. “Ready for some exercise?”

  A few minutes later she and Alex were leading their horses toward the mounting block in the stable yard. That day Alex had tacked up one of his favorite mounts, a steady Appaloosa named Chip. As Lisa paused to adjust Eve’s reins, she heard the sound of a car pulling into the gravel driveway a few dozen yards away. Glancing up, she recognized Scott Forester’s dark green sports car.

  Alex looked over, too. “Hey, looks like Scott’s car is back from the mechanic,” he commented. “Guess that means he and Callie won’t have to bum any more rides from Stevie and me.”

  “He must be here to pick up Callie,” Lisa commented. She wrinkled her nose. “They must have gotten their signals crossed, though. I think Callie just took off for the trails on Barq.”

  Alex shrugged. “She did. She said she’d be out for a couple of hours, at least.”

  “Really?” Lisa was surprised. She knew that Callie was eager to start conditioning herself and Barq, but a two-hour trail ride seemed a little extreme for their first day of training. Still, she reminded herself that Callie was the endurance expert, not her. Lisa was sure her friend knew what she was doing.

  As Scott climbed out of his car, he looked their way and waved. A moment later he had joined them, slightly breathless. “Hi, you two.”

  “Hi yourself,” Lisa said, and Alex nodded.

  Scott leaned over and punched him gently on the shoulder. “Hey,” he said with a sly wink. “So did you tell your girlfriend there about your new wife?”

  “I was about to.” Alex grinned and glanced at Lisa. “Hope you won’t be jealous, sweetie, but I got hitched today. Her name’s Iris.”

  Lisa glanced from one guy to the other, feeling confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Alex quickly filled her in on the marriage project. “I got matched with this girl named Iris Haley. I barely know her.”

  “I used to know her,” Lisa said. “We went to community tennis camp together for a couple of years back in elementary school. She’s, uh, nice. I guess.”

  Scott grinned. “Yeah, that’s my impression, too,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve heard her say two words since I’ve known her.”

  Coming from anyone else in Scott’s situation, Lisa thought, it would have been a strange comment. After all, Scott had lived in Willow Creek for only a few months. He probably didn’t even have any classes with Iris, since he was a senior.

  But Scott’s probably gotten to know more people in Willow Creek in the last six months than I have in the last seventeen and a half years, Lisa told herself, hiding a smile by turning to pat Eve, who was shifting her weight and gazing at Scott nervously. He definitely inherited his father’s charisma. Maybe he’ll follow in his footsteps and go into politics as a career someday.

  “So who did everyone else get paired with?” she asked. “What about Stevie?”

  Alex and Scott burst out laughing. “Talk about an odd couple!” Alex exclaimed. “She’s married to Spike Anderson.”

  Lisa raised one eyebrow. “Spike?”

  “His real name is Miles,” Alex explained. “But everyone calls him Spike because he’s this, like, amazing beach volleyball player. He’s also a forward on our soccer team. You know, big guy, white-blond hair …”

  “Oh, right.” Lisa attended Alex’s games whenever she could, and she quickly realized who he was talking about. “Wait a minute. Isn’t he the one who celebrated your win at Homecoming by ripping off his uniform and taking a lap of the field in his underwear?”

  “One and the same,” Alex confirmed.

  Lisa grinned. “Should be an interesting
marriage.”

  Scott laughed again and took a step closer to pat Lisa on the arm. “Let’s just say Stevie may be needing all the support she can get from her friends for the next week,” he joked.

  “So what about Callie?” Alex asked, swaying slightly as Chip nosed him in the shoulder before returning his attention to the snippet of grass between the mounting block and the schooling ring fence. “Who’d she get? I didn’t hear.”

  “My sister was much luckier than yours,” Scott replied. “She got paired up with Corey Westbrook. Do you know him?” He glanced at Lisa.

  She nodded. Corey was a nice, smart guy who dated a classmate of Lisa’s named Amelia LaRue. “He’s a good guy. I know his girlfriend—she’s in my computer class.”

  “Hmmm,” Alex said. “I wonder if having a girlfriend counts against you as a husband?” He reached over and squeezed Lisa’s shoulder. “If so, Corey and I may both be in trouble.”

  Lisa smiled. “So what are you doing here, anyway?” she asked Scott, turning to tighten Eve’s girth. “Alex says Callie’s out on the trail.”

  “That’s right,” Alex confirmed. “Lorraine Olsen gave both of us a ride over here right after school. Callie seemed really eager to get started with her training.”

  “That’s Callie for you.” Scott shrugged and dug into his pocket. “I just stopped by to drop off her extra riding gloves—she left them in my car before I took it in to the mechanic. She probably totally forgot where she put them.” He laughed fondly, shaking his head. “She’s so psyched about getting back into training that she’ll probably forget to come home for dinner if I don’t come back and drag her away in a couple of hours.”

  Lisa glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’m sure if you leave her gloves in the office, Max or someone will make sure she gets them. Or you could just stick them in her cubby.”

  Scott nodded agreeably. “Guess I’ll head inside then,” he said. “Have a nice ride.”

  “Thanks.” As Scott waved and wandered toward the stable entrance, Lisa returned most of her attention to Eve, though she also continued to think about the Fenton Hall marriage project.