Back in the Saddle

by Bonnie Bryant

  Callie definitely liked the sound of that. She was planning to spend the whole afternoon at Pine Hollow training. Then, once it got too dark to ride, it would be time to head home and continue her campaign to convince her parents to buy her a horse. “Sounds good,” she told Corey. “Meanwhile, we’ve still got, like, five minutes. Let’s get started now.”

  Corey turned to a new page in the notebook. “Okay. How should we start?” He stared into space thoughtfully for a second or two. “How about, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’?”

  Callie giggled. “I don’t think so. How about if we just write out what our card said at the top? Then we can take it from there.”

  “Well, it’s not quite as catchy, but …” Corey leaned over to copy the text from their life card.

  Meanwhile, Callie noticed that George had turned around again. She looked at him with a frown. “Yes, George?” she asked, a little of her impatience creeping into her voice.

  If he noticed her tone, he didn’t let on. “Wow, poor you,” he said in a stage whisper. He jerked his head toward Corey, who was still writing. “Too bad you got stuck with a partner who can’t take anything seriously, huh?”

  Corey glanced up in surprise. But Callie didn’t let him say a word. “Who asked you, George?” she said sharply. “I think you’d better turn around and worry about your own essay, okay? I’ll worry about mine.”

  George looked stunned. Bright pink spots appeared on his round cheeks, and for a moment Callie was afraid he might burst into tears.

  But a second later, he turned away. He bent his head so low over his work that Callie couldn’t see anything but a tuft of his wispy pale blond hair poking up over the back of the seat.

  She sighed, feeling a little guilty and a lot relieved. Enough is enough, she thought as Corey shot her a curious glance. It’s bad enough that George can’t seem to accept that we’ll never be more than friends. It’s worse to have to fend him off at the stable and in the halls between classes and just about everywhere else. But it’s way unacceptable for him to start interrupting me when I’m in the middle of a class assignment. It’s not like I want to hurt his feelings, but I’m starting to think maybe that’s the only way to get through to him.

  Shaking her head, she did her best to focus on Corey and their essay again. Thankfully, George didn’t turn around again for the last few minutes of the class period. And when the bell rang, he quickly gathered up his books and hurried past Callie’s aisle without so much as glancing her way.

  TEN

  “Mom?” Lisa paused in the living room doorway. “I’m going over to Pine Hollow for a little while, okay?”

  Mrs. Atwood glanced up, gathering her bathrobe more tightly around her neck. The TV was blaring so loudly that Lisa was a little surprised she’d heard her at all. “Hmmm?” she murmured, blinking fuzzily at Lisa as if wondering exactly who she was. “Oh. Fine, dear. Have a nice time.”

  Lisa hesitated, wishing she knew what to say to take that distracted, melancholy, haggard expression off her mother’s face. But she’d been through all that before. By now she knew it was pretty hopeless to try to get through to her when she was in that state.

  Instead she just sighed. “Okay, Mom,” she said softly, backing away. “See you later.”

  She was pulling on her coat when the phone rang. For a second, Lisa was tempted to head out without answering it. But then, worried that Carole might have had a change in plans, she hurried back to the kitchen to pick it up.

  “Hello?” she said breathlessly.

  “Hey, sweetie,” Alex’s voice replied. “It’s me. What are you up to?”

  “Oh. Hi,” Lisa said, surprised. “Uh, I was just on my way out. What are you doing? I thought you were watching some extra-credit movie after school today.”

  “My ecology teacher called in sick,” Alex said cheerfully. “So I’m off the hook, for today at least. And Iris and I finished our marriage homework during class. So I figured I’d see if you wanted to hang out or something. Where were you headed when I called?”

  “The stable,” Lisa replied, feeling consternation sweep over her. She’d been looking forward to the trail ride with her friends all afternoon. It had been a long time since the three of them had been able to just hang out together. “Um, Carole’s dad is letting her ride again, so Stevie and I were going to take her out on a trail ride to celebrate.”

  “Oh really? Sounds like fun.” Alex paused, obviously waiting for an invitation.

  Lisa hesitated, torn. I should ask him to come along, she told herself, feeling guilty for even having to think twice about it. Stevie and Carole won’t mind. And I know he missed me last week while I was away—especially since it was his first week of not being grounded.

  Still, she couldn’t quite face the thought of turning the pleasant, relaxed afternoon she’d been imagining into some kind of romantic moment. “Um, I wish you could come along,” she said carefully, praying that Stevie hadn’t already invited her brother along. “But I think Carole wanted it to be just the three of us. You know, sort of a girl thing.”

  “Oh!” Alex sounded a little surprised. “Okay. Well, maybe we could get together tomorrow, then. I have practice right after school, but I could meet you at the stable afterward for a quick ride, and then we could grab some dinner or something.”

  “Okay,” Lisa said, relieved to be off the hook for that day. “I’d better get going. See you tomorrow.” As she hung up, she still felt guilty about blowing him off. But she told herself it was no big deal.

  Every couple needs some time apart, she thought as she hurried toward the door. It doesn’t mean there’s a problem. Not at all.

  “Thanks a million, Carole,” Denise McCaskill said gratefully, watching from her seat on a trunk in the tack room as Carole finished rubbing leather conditioner into Denise’s new secondhand jumping saddle. “This stupid flu bug I’ve got has made me so sensitive to anything the least bit smelly that I won’t be able to muck out for a while.”

  Carole grinned at the petite, dark-haired stable manager and tossed her rag into the trash can under the sink. “Don’t let Max hear you say that,” she teased. “He’ll be horrified.”

  “I know.” Denise grimaced and rubbed her stomach. “Um, could you excuse me a sec?” Without waiting for an answer, she jumped up and raced out of the room. Carole heard her footsteps heading in the direction of the rest rooms at the end of the hall.

  Quickly lifting Denise’s saddle onto its rack, Carole stepped out into the hallway and gazed after her, worried. But at that moment she heard the clatter of boots hurrying her way. Turning, she saw Stevie and Lisa racing toward her.

  “Carole!” Stevie screeched joyfully. “It’s you! It’s really you!”

  Carole laughed out loud as Stevie raced up and flung her arms around her, almost knocking her over with her exuberant hug. “Nice to see you, too,” she said, spitting out a mouthful of Stevie’s dark blond hair.

  Lisa grinned, reaching out and joining in to make it a three-way hug. “This is great,” she said. “The three of us, just like old times.”

  “It hasn’t been that long since we went on a trail ride together,” Carole protested, wriggling her way free and adjusting her braid, which Stevie had knocked askew.

  “It’s been too long,” Stevie insisted. She clapped her hands briskly. “So come on. Let’s hit that trail!” She started to go into the tack room, then stopped. “Oh, wait. Did anyone invite Callie? I meant to mention it at school, but I forgot.”

  “She’s already out on the trail,” Carole reported. “She and Barq left like fifteen minutes ago. I mentioned our trail ride, but she was pretty focused on her training.”

  “Oh.” Stevie shrugged. “Well, then what are we waiting for?”

  Carole led the way into the tack room, and soon the three of them were hurrying off to their respective horses’ stalls. Carole tacked up quickly. It had been a while since she’d done it, but the motions still came autom
atically. “Ready to go, boy?” she murmured to Starlight, giving him a pat before leading him out of his stall.

  Starlight snorted and nodded his head. Carole smiled. Max probably would have said that the horse was just shaking off a pesky fly. But Carole chose to believe otherwise.

  “Me too,” she whispered, pausing to plant a kiss on his big, soft nose. “Come on, let’s go.”

  She and Starlight seemed to be the first ones ready. When Carole reached the mounting block near the outdoor schooling ring, nobody else was around. As she waited for her friends to join her, Carole couldn’t help keeping a careful lookout for Ben. She hadn’t seen him since that awkward moment in the indoor ring the day before, but she kept expecting to run into him.

  I’m sure he’s here somewhere, she thought, feeling her stomach clench at the thought. He’s always here. So why haven’t I seen him? Maybe he’s avoiding me.

  “Here we are!” Stevie said brightly, leading Belle out of the stable building. “Where’s Lisa?”

  “Right behind you,” Lisa called, emerging from the doorway a second later and leading Windsor. It still made Carole feel a little strange to see Lisa riding other horses—for a long time she had rarely ridden any horse but Prancer, a Thoroughbred mare who’d died just a few weeks earlier.

  But she wasn’t about to bring up those sad memories now. “Let’s get out there,” she said.

  A few minutes later they were trotting across Pine Hollow’s big south pasture, heading for one of their favorite wooded trails on the far side. “On the trail again,” Stevie sang off-key as they rode three abreast.

  As she posted automatically to Starlight’s fluid trot, Carole had to resist the urge to look over her shoulder to make sure Ben wasn’t lurking in the stable doorway or behind the feed shed, watching them ride away. Stop it, she chided herself, feeling rather foolish. He’s not back there watching you. He doesn’t even seem interested in seeing you when you’re at the stable, let alone when you’re leaving.

  “So what’s up with you two?” she asked, forcing Ben out of her mind and doing her best to focus on her friends. After all, they were the ones she’d missed the most during her grounding. And it really was awfully nice to be there with the two of them, doing what they all loved best, just as they’d been doing ever since they’d all met so many years ago. “Tell me everything.”

  Lisa shrugged and pulled Windsor to a walk as they reached an uphill slope. The others followed suit. “Nothing new here,” Lisa said. “Um, but Stevie has really been working hard on her newspaper article. Right, Stevie?”

  “Uh-huh.” Stevie glanced at them. “That’s one of the reasons I was asking about Callie, actually. I wanted to talk to her some more—maybe get some good quotes.”

  Carole nodded. The day before, Stevie had filled her in on all the details of her article. “What about Veronica?” she asked. “Is she cooperating yet?”

  Stevie snorted. “Fat chance,” she said. “But that doesn’t matter. Veronica can’t keep her big mouth shut, even when she knows I’m listening. I’ve already got plenty of material on her and Zach.” At that moment Belle, sensing an opportunity, paused and lowered her head, trying to snatch a mouthful of weeds that were growing around a large boulder jutting out of the field. Stevie clucked to her horse and pulled her head up, getting the mare moving again before returning her attention to her friends. “Actually,” she said then, “the only marriage that’s really giving me trouble is my own. I’m even considering dropping myself from the article and just focusing on the other two couples.” She grimaced. “Because right now, I’m thinking Spike and I are going to be heading for divorce court before the week is out. Some relationships just weren’t meant to be.”

  That’s for sure, Carole thought, her mind sneaking back to Ben. If you think about it, it’s pretty obvious when people are meant to be together and when they’re not. Stevie and Phil knew each other for only a few days before they got together. And Lisa and Alex might have known each other a lot longer than that, but then one day they just both woke up and fell in love—bam! No question about it.

  She sighed, contrasting her friends’ relationships with her own weird history with Ben. Maybe she was being an idiot even to waste so much time thinking about it. Why bother? It should be perfectly obvious that there was nothing between them. The kiss had been some kind of weird fluke.

  Then why did it feel so good? Carole wondered, feeling her face turning red just thinking about that moment. And why can’t I get him out of my head, no matter how much he ignores me?

  “Carole? Carole?”

  Stevie’s voice broke into Carole’s consciousness, and she blinked, startled. “Er, what?” she said. “Were you talking to me?”

  Stevie raised one eyebrow. “Only for the past five minutes,” she said. “You were, like, totally out in space. So what gives? Are you bored with us already?”

  Carole knew her friend was just joking, but she shook her head quickly. “No, sorry,” she said. “Um, I was just thinking about something.” She hesitated, glancing from Stevie to Lisa and back again. This was her chance. She still hadn’t told either of her friends about kissing Ben. But now they were all here together. Now she could tell them everything.

  “What is it, Carole?” Lisa asked gently. “You look kind of upset. Is something wrong?”

  That was all it took. “Well, sort of,” Carole said. “That is, I don’t really know. What I mean is, it’s about Ben.”

  Stevie immediately sat up a little straighter in her saddle. “Ben?” she asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. “What about him?”

  “Um, something happened at the horse show last month, right around the time I got grounded …,” Carole began. The whole story came pouring out as the three of them rode through the pasture and entered the broad wooded trail beyond. The way Ben had found her hiding out, alone and upset. The concern in his dark eyes as he’d crouched down beside her. The feelings that had poured through Carole as their lips had met.

  “Wow!” Stevie breathed as Carole told that part. “I can’t believe he actually kissed you. Then what happened?”

  “Then he ran off.” Carole shrugged. “It was the horse show, and we were all so busy, so I didn’t think much about it at the time. Or the fact that I barely saw him for the rest of the afternoon.” She chewed on her lower lip, thinking back to that day. “Anyway, I was kind of distracted by the whole grounding thing.”

  Stevie nodded, steering Belle around a fallen log. “Then what?”

  “So then I was sort of thinking that, you know, maybe he really liked me,” Carole admitted softly. Too embarrassed at the thought to meet her friends’ eyes, she kept her gaze trained on Starlight’s pricked ears. “But I guess I was wrong, because when I saw him later that day, he acted like it had never happened.” She took a deep breath, wanting to be completely truthful with her friends. “No, actually it was worse than that. He acted like he wished it had never happened.”

  She paused for a long moment, the sound of the horses’ hooves crunching through the fallen leaves on the trail the only noise breaking the silence. Can I tell them the rest? Carole thought. If I say it out loud, I can’t ever take it back.…

  Gathering her courage, she glanced over at her friends, who were still riding beside her on the wide, smooth trail. “And that part—where he acted so, you know, cold about it—was the worst thing of all,” she said. “Because, um, I was sort of starting to think that I might, you know, possibly, sort of like him back. As more than a friend. Maybe. Or at least … Well, anyway. I was pretty confused. I still am, I guess.”

  For a second, Lisa wondered if Carole was joking. Ben? she thought in amazement. She was more than a little stunned by everything Carole had just said—not just the kiss, but the idea that Carole might have feelings for Ben that went beyond respect for her skill with horses. Ben Marlow? Could Carole possibly be talking this way about the same antisocial, monosyllabic guy we all know?

  She glanced over at Stev
ie, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. Instead of shooting questions at Carole, she was nodding thoughtfully, seeming strangely pleased.

  Now that she thought about it, Lisa realized that Stevie had been making cryptic little comments about Carole and Ben for months. I guess she caught on a lot quicker than I did, she thought ruefully. I always sort of assumed that Carole was totally devoted to her job and her horses, with no time for silly stuff like crushes or boyfriends. It was, like, part of her personality. She was the one who was always the most serious about horses and riding out of the three of us. I was the one who was more serious about school. And Stevie? Well, Stevie was never very serious about anything.

  Glancing around at her friends again, Lisa realized that Carole’s interest in Ben wasn’t the only thing that might have changed without her noticing. Happy-go-lucky, fun-loving Stevie really seemed to be serious about this newspaper thing. And as for Lisa herself?

  Well, let’s just say I might have some competition in the brains department these days, she told herself, thinking of Carole’s incredible PSAT scores.

  “Wow,” Stevie said, finally breaking the silence. “That’s really something. So what are you going to do next?”

  “What can I do?” Carole asked plaintively. “Ben’s still avoiding me.”

  “Yeah, sounds like he is acting like a jerk,” Stevie admitted.

  Lisa nodded, trying to imagine Ben as part of the tender, intimate moment Carole had described. It wasn’t easy. “Still, he did kiss her,” she reminded Stevie. “That must have meant something. Ben’s not the type of guy to go around kissing girls left and right.”

  “True,” Stevie agreed thoughtfully. “He’s definitely not like most guys.”

  Carole sighed. “So what do you guys think I should do? Should I try to talk to him, or what?”

  The trail was beginning to narrow, and Lisa steered Windsor slightly ahead of the others. “I’m not sure about that,” she said over her shoulder. “It sounds like Ben’s not ready to deal with this yet, and we already know he’s not too great at communicating. With humans, that is.” She glanced back at Carole’s worried face. “And if he isn’t ready, there’s probably not much you can do to get him there.”