Conformation Faults

by Bonnie Bryant

  “So you’re finally going to have your own horse after all this time,” Alex commented, still swinging her hand back and forth as they strolled. “How’s it feel?”

  He had asked her that before, when she’d first given him the news. But once again she stopped to think about it before answering. “Mostly good, I guess.” She chewed on her lower lip. “But in a way, it makes me more worried than ever about this pregnancy. Makes me feel more responsible for her, I guess.”

  Alex nodded sympathetically. He hadn’t been riding nearly as long as Lisa had, so she knew he didn’t understand as much about the risks Prancer faced in this pregnancy as she did. But he understood her, and that was just as important. “Well, at least now you have something great to look forward to when it’s all over,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. He paused for a moment and grinned. “Come to think of it, so do I. I’ll get to see Stevie’s face when she finds out I’ve known about it all along.”

  Lisa chuckled. Despite their lifelong teasing and bickering, Stevie and Alex were closer than most siblings—being twins could do that to you, Lisa supposed. She knew that Alex would never keep anything truly important from Stevie, nor she from him. The news about Prancer was different, though, because it was something that Stevie didn’t really need to know right away, since it didn’t affect her directly. And Alex knew as well as Lisa did that Stevie would find out about it soon enough. Stevie might pretend to be annoyed with them for keeping it from her, but deep down she wouldn’t really mind.

  That was all very well and good. But then there was the other secret, the much more important one—or so it seemed to Lisa—that she had asked Stevie to keep from Alex, at least temporarily, until she found a way to tell him herself. She sighed, annoyed at herself for putting it off for so long. She wasn’t normally a procrastinator, but somehow the right moment had just never presented itself.

  Right now definitely isn’t the right moment, either, Lisa told herself as she glanced quickly up at Alex’s familiar, contented, adorable face. She felt a bit uncomfortable for putting off the difficult discussion once again. But every time she was alone with Alex, she found herself veering away from this particular topic, like a nervous horse shying at a frightening new object.

  Rather than stewing over it any longer, she decided to change the subject. “So, I haven’t asked you,” she said. “How were things at school today for Scott and Callie?” It was Monday, the Foresters’ first day back at Fenton Hall since the article had appeared in the newspaper on Saturday. Lisa attended Willow Creek’s public high school, so she hadn’t gotten to observe the reactions firsthand, though she had thought of Callie and Scott often during the day.

  Alex shook his head. “About how you’d expect,” he reported. “A lot of people seem to believe everything they read in the papers. That means a lot of them suddenly think Scott’s some kind of binge-drinking alcoholic.”

  Lisa winced on Scott’s behalf. One of the secrets Callie’s so-called friend had revealed was that Callie had once caught Scott sneaking a bottle of Scotch out of their parents’ liquor cabinet. Personally, Lisa thought it had probably been just one of those experimental things that a lot of kids did—an isolated incident, not a habit. She had known Scott for only a short time, but he hadn’t shown any signs of a drinking problem, and as far as Lisa was concerned, that meant he was innocent until proven guilty.

  “As for Callie,” Alex went on, “well, let’s just say her days of anonymity are over.”

  Lisa raised one eyebrow. “Anonymity?” she joked. “Do my ears deceive me, or did you just use one of your PSAT words in a sentence?”

  Alex stuck out his tongue at her. “Bleah,” he said. “You would have to bring up the PSATs just when we were having such a nice time.”

  Lisa laughed, then shivered as a cool breeze tickled the back of her neck. “Brr!” she said, shaking off the sudden chill. “It’s really starting to get cooler in the afternoons these days.”

  “I thought fall was your favorite season.”

  “It is.” Lisa shrugged. “I wasn’t really complaining. I love fall—the leaves turn all those gorgeous colors, there’s that nice crispness to the air, the apples are ripe.…”

  “Football season starts,” Alex picked up. “And soccer season. Oh, and of course there’s Halloween, just a few short weeks away now.” He let out a ghostly cackle. “Now, that’s really something to love about the fall.”

  Lisa rolled her eyes. Halloween was a popular holiday in the Lake family. When they were a little younger, Stevie, Alex, and their two brothers had expended a lot of energy competing with each other to come up with the scariest costumes and most ghoulish practical jokes. “True,” she said. “But if we’re talking fall holidays, I’ll take Thanksgiving every time.” Flashing onto an image of her mother scowling into the oven and muttering about how she had no idea how to carve a turkey because she’d never had to do it before, she shuddered slightly. “Even now.”

  Alex shot her another sympathetic look, immediately guessing what she was thinking. “At least last year your aunt and her family came down,” he said. “Maybe they’ll do that again this—Hey!” He grinned. “Forget your aunt. Why don’t you and your mom come over to my house for Turkey Day this year?”

  Lisa was already wishing she’d never brought up the subject. Her father had called the week before to invite her to spend the holiday in California. She hadn’t given him an answer yet, mostly because she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her mother to fend for herself on such a family-oriented holiday. But if her aunt invited her mother up to New Jersey, there was no reason Lisa had to go along …

  “You’re sweet to offer,” she told Alex lightly. “But Thanksgiving’s a long way away yet. Why worry about making plans now?”

  “It’s not that far away,” Alex insisted, turning to face her and grasping both her hands. “Just think—we could spend the whole day together stuffing our faces and watching football on TV. Wouldn’t that be awesome? And you know my parents would love to have you. So would Stevie. And Chad will be home, of course. You can talk to him about campus life at UNV. You’re still planning to apply there, aren’t you?”

  Lisa’s head was spinning. How did one little secret manage to make everything so complicated? And why did Alex have to bring up the topic of college applications when she was already feeling so anxious about her secret from the summer? It was true that she planned to apply to the University of Northern Virginia, a college about forty miles from Willow Creek where Alex’s older brother, Chad, was a sophomore. But she’d also sent away for applications from a number of other schools, including a few she hadn’t quite mentioned to Alex yet—particularly the ones in California.

  She knew that Alex wanted what was best for her. He really did. But he also wanted to be with her as much of the time as possible, and he couldn’t seem to get it through his head that the two things might not be totally compatible. Though he had always seemed to understand just about everything else about her, he had never really understood her decision to spend the summer in California. He’d seen it as a choice she had made to go away from him, rather than seeing that she might be going toward something else—like her father, her baby half sister, an exciting summer job, a new experience. All he had been able or willing to focus on was that the two of them would be apart for more than two months, which made her think that it would be even more difficult for him to accept the possibility that she could choose to be away from him for four whole years when there was a good school like UNV so close by. Lisa didn’t much like the thought of a long-distance relationship either, but she could accept that it might be a necessity, at least for a while. She wanted to choose the college that would be the right one for her, would prepare her best for the rest of her life. And what was four years in comparison to her whole life, their whole lives together? A long time, she admitted reluctantly. Still, she wished Alex would at least try to understand.

  Meanwhile, he was still waiting for a r
esponse to his invitation. “Let me think about it, okay?” Lisa said. “And I’ll need to talk to Mom, of course. I’m afraid she may have her heart set on going up to New Jersey this year.”

  Alex shrugged. “Sure. But while you’re thinking about it, don’t forget to think about how totally romantic it would be to snuggle together on the couch in the den, feeding each other little bits of pumpkin pie.…” He leaned over and playfully kissed her on the earlobe, then on the cheek.

  For a moment, Lisa’s worries and secrets disappeared and she pushed him away, giggling. “That doesn’t sound romantic at all,” she said. “I hate pumpkin pie, remember?” She giggled again as, undeterred, he grabbed her around the waist and planted a big, wet kiss right on her nose. “Okay, okay,” she said. “Make it apple, and we can talk.”

  Just then there was an unpleasant interruption. Somewhere nearby, a loud, whiny voice let out a shriek and cried, “I can’t believe you!”

  “Please, you have to listen to me,” a male voice pleaded. “I tried, I really did. My cousin said he could get the tickets, but he totally bailed on me at the last minute.”

  The first voice clearly wasn’t impressed by that argument. “Whatever,” it said coldly. “I’m not interested in your little family dramas. All I’m interested in is the fact that, apparently, I still don’t have tickets for the fall festival this weekend.”

  Lisa pulled away from Alex reluctantly. “Is that who I think it is?” she commented, glancing down the street in the direction of the voice.

  “Sounds like Veronica’s about to dump another boyfriend,” Alex replied with a smirk.

  Lisa spotted Veronica diAngelo, a girl their age, standing at the end of the block. Veronica tended to be noticeable in just about any situation—she was tall and slender, with sleek dark hair, a lovely if slightly haughty face, and a self-confident way of carrying herself that made most people sit up and take notice. In this case, she was even more conspicuous than usual. Fury radiated from her. She was standing with her arms crossed over her light cashmere sweater, glaring at a tall, handsome boy with thick black hair. He looked sheepish and kept glancing around nervously as if searching for a way out.

  Lisa couldn’t blame him. Veronica diAngelo had never been one of her favorite people, and she was even more insufferable than usual when she was angry about something. “So the Princess of Virginia doesn’t get to go to the big fall concert,” Lisa murmured to Alex. “Makes me wish even more I’d been able to get tickets.” Just about everyone she knew wanted to go to the annual show in neighboring Berryville, which featured several popular local bands. But the seats in the town’s only concert hall were limited and tickets were hard to come by. Lisa had done her best, even calling in a few times to radio station giveaways, but with no luck.

  Veronica was so busy berating her apparently soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend that she didn’t seem to notice she was attracting an audience. In addition to Lisa and Alex, several other passersby had stopped to stare.

  “Maybe someone will take pity on that poor dumb guy and give their tickets to Veronica,” Lisa joked quietly. Then she shrugged. “Probably not, though. If I had tickets, there’s no way I’d give them up. Besides, any guy who voluntarily dates Veronica deserves what he gets.”

  “And a lobotomy,” Alex whispered. “Come on, let’s get lost before she spots us and decides to start spreading the love around.” He wrapped one arm around Lisa’s shoulder and jerked his head to indicate their escape route.

  Lisa giggled and nodded, allowing him to steer her off down the sidewalk at a fast trot. Seeing Veronica with the latest in her long line of male companions made Lisa appreciate even more what she and Alex had together.

  Maybe he can’t get me tickets to the fall festival either, she thought with a secret smile. But I don’t mind. As long as we’re together, that’s all the festivity I need.

  Buy Shying at Trouble Now!

  About the Author

  Bonnie Bryant is the author of over one hundred forty books about horses, including the Saddle Club series and its spinoffs, the Pony Tails series and the Pine Hollow series. Bryant did not know very much about horses before writing the first Saddle Club book in 1986, so she found herself learning right along with the characters she created. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, Bonnie Bryant Hiller. Bryant was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives today.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1999 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller

  Cover design by Connie Gabbert

  ISBN: 978-1-4976-5389-4

  This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

  345 Hudson Street

  New York, NY 10014

  www.openroadmedia.com

  PINE HOLLOW EBOOKS

  FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA

  Available wherever ebooks are sold

  Open Road Integrated Media is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road creates connections between authors and their audiences by marketing its ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media.

  Videos, Archival Documents, and New Releases

  Sign up for the Open Road Media newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.

  Sign up now at

  www.openroadmedia.com/newsletters

  FIND OUT MORE AT

  WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM

  FOLLOW US:

  @openroadmedia and

  Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia