Back in the Saddle

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Thanks,” Carole said with feeling. “It’s great to be back.”

  She turned and hurried across the entryway toward the indoor ring. The wooden doors were almost closed, but as she approached, she could hear the sound of hoofbeats from inside. Smiling with anticipation, she pushed open one of the doors.

  “Surprise!” she called as she spotted Rachel trotting across the ring. Starlight looked wonderful. His mahogany coat was glossy, and his eyes were bright. “Guess who’s—”

  She stopped short as she realized, belatedly, that Rachel and Starlight weren’t alone. Ben Marlow was standing off to one side, watching Starlight critically.

  Carole felt her face turning bright red. She’d known she was certain to run into Ben at the stable that day. But still, she wasn’t prepared for how she felt now that she was actually standing there looking at him.

  He met her gaze for a second before turning his attention back to the horse. Carole blushed even deeper. With an effort, she dragged her gaze away from Ben and smiled at Rachel, who was riding toward her with a delighted smile on her small, pretty face.

  “Hi!” Rachel called breathlessly, pulling Starlight to a stop and sliding out of the saddle, landing lightly on her feet and leading him forward. “What are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t come back until January.”

  “So did I,” Carole said, doing her best to sound natural. She carefully kept her eyes on Rachel and Starlight. The gelding stretched his neck forward, snuffling at her curiously. He let out a snort as she stroked his soft nose. “But my dad gave me an early reprieve. Sort of, anyway. I can come to the stable four times a week.” Suddenly realizing that her change of plans would affect Rachel, she added, “But don’t worry. I still need for you to keep helping me out with Starlight. If you want to, I mean.”

  “Of course I do!” Rachel beamed and patted Starlight on the neck. “He’s an amazing horse. Totally amazing and wonderful. I’m learning so much from him every single day!” Rachel was usually on the quiet side, but she was chattering excitedly now. Carole guessed that Starlight had something to do with that, and she understood the feeling perfectly.

  She forced herself to smile at the younger girl and tried not to notice that Ben was edging toward the door as they spoke. “That’s good. He’s always been a great teacher for me, too.”

  “Of course, he’s not the only one who’s been teaching me a lot,” Rachel added, turning and gesturing at Ben. “Ben’s been great, too. I was a little nervous at first about all the responsibility—I definitely didn’t want to do anything wrong while I was taking care of Starlight.” She shrugged and grinned happily at Ben. “But then Ben started helping me, and that made me feel so much better. He’s been totally amazing.”

  The young stable hand stopped dead in his tracks, looking like a trapped animal that was seriously thinking about gnawing off its own leg to escape. “Uh, no big deal,” he mumbled uncertainly.

  Carole felt flustered. What’s going on here? she wondered. It’s not like Ben to play baby-sitter to the younger riders. I mean, most of them are scared to death of him. So why is he taking an interest now? Does this have something to do with before, when he kept implying that I wasn’t paying enough attention to Starlight? Is he still worried about him?

  She bit her lip, thinking back over a few of Ben’s cryptic comments from the past couple of months. For a while, Carole had become very involved in training another horse, Samson. During that time, Ben had let her know more than once that he’d noticed she was spending more time with Samson and less with Starlight. Eventually Samson had left Pine Hollow, which Carole supposed meant Ben would have to let up on her about Starlight. But the two of them had never really talked about the issue.

  Big surprise there, Carole thought sarcastically. When was the last time Ben and I ever really talked about anything? Or the first, for that matter?

  “Ben?” Rachel said uncertainly. “Where are you going?”

  Carole saw that Ben was moving toward the door again. He shrugged, not meeting anyone’s eye. “Chores,” he muttered. “Lots to do.” With that, he spun and hurried toward the door, disappearing through it without another word.

  Rachel stared after him in astonishment. “What was that all about?” she said plaintively. “He said he could stay as long as I needed today. He was going to help me with my half-pass.”

  Carole was pretty sure she knew the reason for Ben’s sudden change of plans. He didn’t want to be in the same room with her. Doing her best to hide her humiliation, she shrugged. “Um, I don’t know. But I can help you out with your half-pass if you want.”

  “Oh! Don’t be silly.” Rachel smiled and held out Starlight’s reins. “You should ride him.”

  “No, no,” Carole protested hastily. “You go ahead. I don’t want to interrupt your session.”

  Rachel shook her head firmly. “You ride him. That’s what you came for, right? And he is your horse.”

  Carole hesitated. She wanted to do the right thing and insist more firmly that the younger girl finish her session. But she couldn’t resist. “Well, okay,” she said at last, accepting the reins with-a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

  “Sure.” Rachel smiled. “Want a leg up?”

  Carole nodded. Suddenly she couldn’t wait to get back in the saddle—not even long enough to lead Starlight across the ring to the mounting block. She gave Starlight a pat, gathered the reins, and got into position on his left side.

  Rachel held out her hands and Carole launched herself upward. Settling down into the saddle, feeling Starlight’s warm bulk beneath her, she let out a sigh of sheer joy.

  “Come on, boy,” she whispered, hardly noticing as Rachel waved and left the ring. She tightened up on the reins and signaled for a trot. “Let’s ride!”

  Lisa had just finished checking over her calculus problems when the phone rang in the hall outside her room. Dropping her pencil on the desk, she hopped up and hurried to answer, knowing there was little chance her mother was going to get it. Mrs. Atwood was exactly where she’d been most of the time for the past three days—on the couch in the living room, wrapped in her fluffiest bathrobe, with a bag of cookies and a glass of wine on the coffee table in front of her and some weepy old romance playing on the VCR.

  I guess I should get used to it, Lisa thought grimly as she grabbed the receiver just before the answering machine clicked on. I already know from the divorce that Mom’s not too great at dealing with breakups.

  “Hello?” she said into the phone. “Atwood residence.”

  “Yo!” Stevie’s familiar voice greeted her. “It’s me.”

  “Hi. How was your date with Phil?” Lisa asked, though she could already guess from Stevie’s buoyant tone that it had gone well. “Where did you guys go?”

  “It was great! We didn’t go anywhere special; just hung out.”

  Stevie didn’t elaborate, and Lisa didn’t press her for details. She understood there were some moments that just didn’t call for any further discussion. “That’s nice,” she said. “So did you tell him about your marriage project thing? Is he jealous of your new wedded bliss?”

  Stevie snorted. “Yeah, right,” she said. “The only thing he’s worried about is how he’s going to raise bail when I get picked up for murdering Spike.”

  Lisa laughed. “Well, at least you’re getting plenty of good material for your article, right?”

  “I guess. Oh! But you’ll never guess what else!” Stevie exclaimed. “I stopped by Pine Hollow on my way to meet Phil, and who did I see?” She paused for dramatic effect. “Carole!”

  “Really?” Lisa was surprised. “What was she doing there? She didn’t sneak out behind her father’s back, did she? Max won’t let her get away with that.”

  “No, no, nothing like that,” Stevie said. “The colonel let her off the hook. Well, partly, anyway. She’s still not allowed to use the phone or hang out at TD’s or anything like that. And she can’t have her job back yet. But she’s allowed to
ride, like, four times a week. So she wants us all to go on a trail ride tomorrow after school to celebrate. Are you in?”

  Lisa could only imagine how Carole must have reacted to that news. “Sure, sounds great,” she said, playing absently with the phone cord. “Carole must be thrilled to be back, even if it’s only sort of part-time by her standards. But it’s not like her father to change his mind like that. “What’s the deal?”

  “Oh, I almost forgot that part. It was because of her PSAT scores.”

  “Oh!” That made a lot more sense. Lisa had been starded at Carole’s incredible score. In fact, for a moment she’d wondered if maybe Carole had read the numbers wrong or something.

  It wouldn’t be the first time she’s spaced out about something like that, she thought. And it would make more sense than the fact that Carole, who barely seems to remember to go to school most of the time, scored forty points higher on the PSATs than I did.

  Feeling a little guilty for the thought—could she actually be jealous of her best friend?—she spoke again quickly. “It’s great that she did so well, isn’t it?” she said to Stevie. “That reminds me. How’d you do?” She hadn’t spoken with Stevie or Alex since they’d all parted ways after their trip to TD’s the afternoon before.

  Stevie told her. Lisa wasn’t surprised by the number—it was a good, solid score, thirty points below Lisa’s own but still above average. “That’s great,” she said sincerely. “Congratulations.”

  “It’s about what I expected,” Stevie said matter-of-factly. “But Mom and Dad were pretty pleased. And the best part is it’s a whole ten points higher than Alex’s score—and Phil’s. They got the same thing.”

  Lisa chuckled. “I guess the men in your life are pretty consistent.”

  “Speaking of my academically challenged brother, he just wandered in,” Stevie said. “I’ll turn you over to him now—I just remembered, I need to look up some statistics about divorce rates and stuff for my article.”

  Before Lisa could take that in, Alex’s voice replaced Stevie’s in her ear. “Lisa?” he said. “Hey.”

  “Hey yourself,” she responded, shaking off a feeling of dismay. She found herself wishing that Stevie hadn’t passed the phone off to Alex so quickly. Because all of a sudden, Lisa realized she didn’t know what to say to him. “Um, what’s up?”

  “Not much.” Alex sounded as cheerful as ever. “How’s my favorite girlfriend? Did you get that English paper finished last night?”

  “Uh-huh.” Lisa bit her lip. It was weird, but she realized she hadn’t expected to see or speak to Alex at all that day. He’d had a soccer team meeting after school, and she’d planned to put in some extra work on an upcoming history project.

  But that wasn’t the truly weird part. The truly weird part was that she really didn’t feel like talking to him. What happened to the days when we both used to go crazy if we couldn’t be together all the time? she wondered. Back then, a whole day apart would have been torture. But now, it just seems like a nice break from …

  From what? She wasn’t quite sure. From Alex? From being in a relationship?

  “Lisa?” Alex said. “Are you still there? Are you okay?”

  She realized she’d been silent for a long moment. “Sure,” she said. “Um, I guess I’m just a little tired. Sorry.”

  “Oh, okay. So what are you up to tomorrow?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” she hedged, guessing that he hadn’t heard Stevie mention the trail ride. Somehow, Lisa didn’t feel like bringing it up. “What about you?”

  Alex sighed noisily into the phone. “Don’t ask,” he said. “I have to stay after school again. My ecology teacher’s showing some movie about the rain forest for extra credit, and my grade could use the boost. Plus I’ll probably have to meet with Iris to do whatever ridiculous marriage homework they lay on us tomorrow. I’ll tell you, this family life stuff is getting time-consuming.”

  Lisa smiled, feeling a little relieved. I guess that means he can’t go on the trail ride anyway. Besides, it’ll be nice to spend some time with my friends—just the three of us. Or four, maybe, she added, remembering Callie.

  As she and Alex said good-bye and hung up, though, Lisa couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. For not mentioning the trail ride. For being eager to get off the phone. For feeling like being back with Alex full-time was putting a strain on the rest of her life.

  I guess I got used to seeing him only once in a while back when he was grounded, she thought, wandering slowly toward her room. I thought getting back to normal would be the most amazing thing in the world. But now I’m not so sure it’s working for me.

  She stopped in the middle of the hall, dismayed by the thought. What was wrong with her, anyway? She had a great, caring boyfriend who wanted to spend time with her. Most girls would kill for the kind of relationship she had with Alex.

  Maybe I just need a little time to get used to being with him again, she told herself, taking another step toward her bedroom. Or maybe this is just a normal stage in any relationship. Sort of an ebb and flow thing.

  A loud chaotic sound came from downstairs. Glancing at the stairs, Lisa heard screams and gunshots and guessed that her mother’s movie had ended and she’d turned on a police show on television. Mrs. Atwood had never liked that type of program before the divorce—in fact, she’d complained loudly whenever Mr. Atwood turned one on—but these days, she’d gotten a lot less picky about what she watched.

  I know one thing, anyway, Lisa told herself with a slight shudder, hurrying into her room and closing the door to shut out the sound of the TV. Whatever weird things are going on in my head right now, I’m definitely not going to say anything about it to Alex and ruin things between us.

  NINE

  “And it’s nice to see that your nose is all better, too.” Stevie touched Phil’s nose gently with her fingers.

  “Really?” Phil replied, pulling her close. “Then you’d better kiss it, too.”

  Stevie kissed his nose. “And it’s especially great that your chin is all better.”

  Phil tipped up his chin. “Okay,” he replied. “Then you’d better kiss it, too.”

  Stevie kissed his chin, then pulled back and smiled. “Oh, and did I mention how especially, fantastically amazing it is that your lips are so totally better?”

  “Really?” Phil leaned closer. “Then you’d better—”

  “Miss Lake!” A sharp voice broke into the romantic moment. A strangely familiar voice.

  Stevie’s eyes flew open. She’d been so busy reliving the previous night’s date with Phil that she’d completely lost track of reality. Now realizing that she was sitting in the middle of the Fenton Hall auditorium with her eyes closed and a sappy smile on her face, she felt herself blush deep crimson.

  “S-Sorry,” she stammered, glancing from Callie, who was sitting on her right, to Spike, sitting on her left, then back to Miss Fenton. “Um, I was just thinking about, um, relationships.”

  Spike smirked. “She can’t stop dreaming about me,” he said just loud enough for his buddies in the next row to hear.

  Stevie shot him a glare that could have peeled paint as Spike’s friends burst out laughing. “In your dreams, Anderson,” she said icily when she could make herself heard again.

  Just about the only other person who didn’t look amused was Miss Fenton. She was gazing at Stevie through her bifocals with an irritated frown, her arms crossed over her chest. “All right, Miss Lake,” she said. “Since you and Mr. Anderson already have our attention, perhaps you’d like to read your budget for the class. I want to get an idea of how everybody managed.”

  Stevie gulped. Their budget? She hadn’t thought about it since leaving TD’s the day before. “Where’s the budget?” she hissed at Spike.

  “Oh, yeah,” he drawled, leaning over and grabbing a sheet of paper out of his duffel bag. “Here you go, honey.”

  “Thanks.” Shooting him a dirty look for the honey part, Stevie cleared her throat and
stood up. “‘Our monthly household budget, by the Andersons,’” she read. Tossing Spike another annoyed glance for that one—as if she’d ever take his name!—she read on. “‘Rent: Five hundred dollars. Food and beverages: Three hundred dollars. Adult video rental: Seven thousand dollars.’”

  It wasn’t until the class started laughing that Stevie realized what she’d just read. “Pardon me?” Miss Fenton said, looking a bit taken aback.

  “Er, sorry,” Stevie said, flustered. “Um, I meant to say, videos and entertainment. Uh, and that was, uh, seventy dollars, not seven thousand.” Moving on hastily, she read, “‘Motorcycle fuel: Twelve million dollars.’”

  This time Miss Fenton frowned. “Motorcycle fuel?” she repeated as the other students laughed again. “This project is not a joke, Miss Lake.”

  “Everything’s a joke to her” Veronica diAngelo said loudly from her seat a few rows away.

  Stevie felt her face turning red. Quickly scanning the rest of the budget, she saw that it only got worse. Spike had allotted money for all sorts of idiotic things, from football season passes to poker nights with his buddies. But aside from rent and food, there was no mention of any of the necessities Miss Fenton and the guest speaker had mentioned the day before.

  She glared at Spike and mouthed the words You’re dead, but he just grinned and raised his hand. “Sorry about that, Miss F,” he called out. “I know our budget isn’t too hot, but there’s a good reason for that. The little woman’s not good with numbers. Think I’ll have to give her a monthly allowance.”

  The other students howled at that, and Stevie knew she must be starting to look like an overcooked lobster. Still, as furious as she was with Spike for doing this to her, she reminded herself that she should have known better.

  Why did I take his word that the budget was done? she chastised herself as Miss Fenton glared at her. Callie shot her a sympathetic glance, and everyone else continued to laugh. Why didn’t I at least read it over to myself before I opened my big mouth just now? I knew he didn’t take this project seriously. I knew he’d love nothing more than to make a huge fool of me just for a laugh.