Cross-Ties

by Bonnie Bryant

  When the waitress had departed, Skye turned back to Lisa. “So this new sister-in-law is hard to know,” he said. “But she’s also a horsewoman?”

  “Uh-huh.” Lisa smiled. “Go figure. You’d think the two of us would have tons to talk about. And she does have her moments—like this morning, for instance. We went on a ride over at Clearview Farm, and it was really nice. I even found out she’s been encouraging Peter to start writing again. I guess he’d kind of gotten away from it, but it was always his dream to be a writer. Greta thinks he should go for it.”

  Skye nodded. “Sounds like a good thing.”

  “I know. It makes me like her more.” Lisa sighed, toying with her napkin. “But then at other times she’s so hard to talk to. It’s like she doesn’t care that much about making friends. She can be pretty abrasive sometimes. And those kids of hers …” She broke off with an embarrassed laugh, giving Skye a sidelong glance. “Sorry. I guess I’m kind of going on and on about this.”

  “It’s all right,” Skye assured her. He reached across the table and patted her hand. “This stuff is important. Sometimes you just need to talk it out, right?”

  “Right.” Lisa smiled at him gratefully. He really was a pretty amazing friend. “So anyway, I guess what I’m trying to figure out is what’s best for Peter. I know he’s totally crazy about Greta, and that should give me the answer. But my own feelings keep getting in the way.”

  “Life’s complicated that way,” Skye commented, sitting back as the waitress returned with their order.

  “Tell me about it,” Lisa said with feeling, reaching for the sugar dispenser and dumping a couple of packets into her tea. “I’ve been dealing with all kinds of feelings this week.”

  “Oh?” Skye looked interested as he sipped cautiously at his hot coffee.

  Lisa stirred her tea. “Yeah. Having Greta suddenly appear in our lives kind of got me thinking about the rest of my family, too.”

  Taking a deep breath, she went on to tell Skye some of what she’d been thinking and feeling about her parents, Evelyn, and herself over the past couple of days. He was sympathetic, and just having him there listening and caring made her feel a little better about all of it. When she finally wound down, they sat in companionable silence for a moment or two, sipping their drinks.

  I’m starting to figure out that life is all about change, Lisa thought. But it’s nice to know that some things never change, like being able to count on good friends to be there for you and to care, to always have your best interests at heart.

  “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath and vowing to lighten the mood. “Enough about me. What about you? How’s that international super-stardom thing treating you these days?”

  Skye grinned. “Well, now that you ask …”

  They chatted about his life and career for a few minutes. Then a thin but insistent beeping interrupted them.

  “Oops, that’s for me.” Skye reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pager. Glancing at the number on the top, he grimaced. “Ugh, that’s what I was afraid of,” he said. “I’m really sorry, Lisa. They were having some technical trouble in the studio earlier, and they thought I might have to come back in for another redo, and—Well, anyway, I’ve got to run. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I understand.” Lisa was disappointed, but she did her best to hide it. She knew that Skye’s career could be demanding, and she understood that his free time was always in short supply. “We’ll finish catching up next time I come to town.”

  “Okay.” Skye stood up with a smile, pocketing the pager again. “Listen, Lisa. It was really terrific to see you.”

  “Same here,” Lisa said sincerely. “And thanks for listening.”

  “Anytime.” Skye put some money down to settle the bill, then walked around the table and put one hand on her shoulder, his blue eyes caring and warm. “See you.” He bent down and brushed her lips lightly with his own.

  “See you,” Lisa replied softly, a little surprised at the gesture.

  She watched as he hurried out of the restaurant, ignoring the whispers and stares of the other customers. When he was gone, she sat back to finish her tea, feeling happier and more optimistic after her talk with Skye. Maybe things weren’t perfect with her family right now. But that could change. They could work things out. All they needed was some time to get used to the new situation—and a little more honesty about the period of adjustment.

  FIFTEEN

  On Sunday afternoon, Stevie was trotting Belle over some cavalletti in the schooling ring when a familiar car pulled into Pine Hollow’s driveway. “Lisa!” Stevie exclaimed, even though her friend was still too far away to hear her.

  Stevie rode Belle to the gate and slid out of the saddle. Leading the mare out of the ring, she was just in time to meet Lisa walking up from the parking area. “Hey! Stevie!” Lisa exclaimed, rushing forward. “Hi!”

  “Welcome back!” Stevie reached out for a hug, then pulled back and looked Lisa up and down. “So where’s your tan?”

  Lisa grinned. “That’s not all there is to do in California, you know,” she said. “Anyway, what’s new? I just spoke to Alex on the phone and he said you were here. As always.”

  “Yep, here I am,” Stevie agreed. She grinned wickedly. “So does this mean you’re actually more eager to see me than Alex? He’ll be totally jealous!”

  Lisa laughed, looking sheepish. “Actually, he’s meeting me here in a little while. We thought we’d take a postholiday trail ride.” She paused. “Oh, um—do you want to come along?”

  Stevie snorted. “Yeah, right,” she said. “And watch you two make googly eyes at each other for an hour? No, you kids go ahead and have a nice time. We can catch up when you get back.”

  She did her best not to let thoughts of Nicole sneak into her mind. If Alex thinks Lisa needs to know anything about their new friendship, he’ll tell her, she said to herself firmly. It’s none of my business.

  “Okay, we’ll definitely hang out later,” Lisa promised. “I have a lot of stuff to tell you about—it was some week out in California. Oh! But do you want to hear the very latest from right here in Willow Creek?” Her face twisted into an expression that Stevie couldn’t quite identify.

  “What is it?” Stevie asked curiously.

  Lisa wrinkled her nose. “It’s Mom,” she said. “When I got home, I found out that she and Rafe are over.”

  Stevie gasped. “No!”

  “Yes,” Lisa said grimly. “From what I can figure out—Mom’s not too coherent right now, as you can imagine—Rafe got fired because he was always coming in late and stuff. So then I guess he decided it wasn’t worth driving all the way down here just to see Mom if he wasn’t coming for work anyway.” She shrugged and pulled one finger across her throat. “He ended it right after Thanksgiving dinner. Nice timing, huh?”

  “Nice guy,” Stevie said sarcastically. “Bummer. Your mom must be a wreck.”

  “Well … yeah. Kind of.”

  Lisa didn’t say anything more, and Stevie didn’t press it. She knew that Mrs. Atwood wasn’t especially stable since the divorce, and that a lot of the fallout from her emotional issues landed on Lisa. All Stevie could do about that was what she always did—stay ready to support her friend in whatever way she needed.

  Lisa glanced at her watch. “Hey,” she said abruptly. “You know, Alex probably won’t be here for like half an hour at least. Want to go for a quick ride before he gets here?”

  “Sure!” Stevie glanced over her shoulder at Belle, who was standing patiently at the ends of her reins. “I’m ready. Let’s go get you ready.”

  Leaving Belle tied outside, they raced in and quickly tacked up Eve. Moments later, they were mounted and riding out of the stable yard into the big south pasture.

  “So,” Stevie said after a moment. “How was your trip?”

  Lisa hesitated, wondering how to answer. “Interesting,” she said at last. “Very interesting.” She told Stevie about Gre
ta, Peter, Evelyn, and all the rest of it.

  When she finished, Stevie let out a low whistle. “Wow,” she said, steering Belle around an old stump in the field. “Talk about family drama. So how do you feel about all that stuff now?”

  Lisa shrugged. “I’m not sure. Okay, I guess.” She bit her lip and glanced at her friend. “Oh yeah, there’s one more thing. I had coffee with Skye on Friday. He really made me feel better about everything.”

  “Oh really? That’s good.” Stevie looked startled, but she didn’t comment further.

  Lisa was grateful for that. She knew it couldn’t be easy for Stevie to be caught in the middle of the relationship between her twin brother and her best friend. Besides, Lisa herself still wasn’t sure what to think about seeing Skye again. She’d thought she was totally okay with the idea that they were just going to be friends. So why did she keep thinking about him—and that casual kiss—at odd moments throughout the day? And why had seeing him made her feel so weird and anxious about coming home to Alex?

  It’s just because Alex is so ridiculously jealous of Skye, she told herself. He’s probably going to flip out when I tell him I got together with him, and it’s making me nervous. That’s all. No mystery there, right?

  “Hey!” Stevie exclaimed, breaking into her thoughts. “I almost forgot—you haven’t heard my big news yet. I’m going to be a journalist!”

  She excitedly launched into a description of her adventures with Deborah that week. Lisa smiled and listened quietly, not bothering to tell her that Alex had already filled her in on the whole story on the phone.

  They discussed Stevie’s brilliant future in journalism for a few more minutes before Lisa checked her watch again and decided it was time to head in. Alex would be arriving soon.

  She and Stevie parted ways at the back door of the stable. As Stevie led Belle inside for a good grooming, Lisa led Eve around to the front of the stable and tied her to a hitching ring. Then she wandered inside, too, looking for Alex.

  She found him in the locker room. He was leaning in the doorway, talking to someone. “Hey!” Lisa said when she spotted him. “There you are.”

  Alex spun around. “Lisa!” he exclaimed.

  He glanced over his shoulder, and, taking a step forward to kiss him, Lisa saw that he’d been talking to Nicole Adams. She frowned as the image of Alex and Nicole slow-dancing at his party, after she and Alex had broken up, flashed into her mind.

  But she pushed it away just as quickly as it had come. Alex had been drunk at the time. It hadn’t meant anything. “Hi, Nicole,” she said politely as she pulled away from Alex’s kiss.

  “Hey, Lisa,” Nicole replied. She glanced at Alex. “Well, see you tomorrow in school,” she told him casually. Then she slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked past them, disappearing through the stable entrance without a backward glance.

  Meanwhile, Alex was gazing down at Lisa as if he couldn’t get enough of looking at her. “Wow,” he said huskily. “You look great. I can’t believe you’re finally home.”

  “Me either.” Lisa moved forward again, wrapping her arms around him and settling her head against his shoulder. It felt good to be back in his arms. It was a warm, safe, happy, comfortable feeling, and for a moment she just let herself enjoy it.

  I’ll have plenty of time to worry about the hard stuff later, she thought, her mind jumping from an image of her mother’s tear-stained face to the picture of Peter and Greta waving good-bye to her at the airport, and then to Skye. And of course there was still the whole college issue hanging over her head—her father had let her know in no uncertain terms that they weren’t finished talking about that, even if they’d gotten distracted from it for a little while. Right now, I just want to relax and have a nice time with my boyfriend—enjoy my last day of vacation.

  “Okay,” she said, pulling out of the hug at last and smiling up at Alex. “Ready for that trail ride now?”

  Turn the page to continue reading from the Pine Hollow series

  ONE

  “Thanks for the ride, Stevie,” Scott Forester said as he undid his seat belt and crawled out of the backseat of the small two-door car, tilting his broad shoulders sideways to squeeze through the narrow opening.

  Alex Lake climbed out after him. “After riding with Stevie, I bet you can’t wait till your own car’s back from the shop, huh?” he joked, slapping Scott on the shoulder.

  Scott laughed and pretended to shudder. “Well, I wasn’t going to say anything, but …”

  Stevie Lake rolled her eyes as her twin brother and their friend jogged toward the front steps of Fenton Hall, the private high school they all attended. Then she turned to Callie Forester, Scott’s sister, who had gotten out on the passenger’s side and was waiting by the car. “So,” Stevie said, glancing up at the grand old school building towering above the student parking lot. “I guess this means Thanksgiving break’s really over, huh?”

  Callie yawned and tossed her long, straight blond hair over her shoulder. Then she picked up the smooth wooden cane that was leaning against the car’s battered blue fender. “Guess so,” she agreed. “Ready to head in?”

  Stevie nodded, slightly distracted from the conversation by the sight of that cane. It had been about six months since the car accident that had left Callie unable to walk on her own. Many, many hours of hard work and determination had helped her regain control over her body, and a week ago she had finally been able to shed the metal crutches she hated so much.

  “Just a sec.” Stevie leaned down to retrieve her trigonometry notebook from inside the car. “By the way, I have to tell you, you totally amaze me. I can’t believe you’re walking so well already.”

  “Thanks.” Callie sounded pleased. “I didn’t use my crutches at all last week while we were away. I’ve hardly had to use this cane, either, though Mom and Dad insist I carry it around in case I get tired.” She slung the handle of the cane through the strap of her backpack and then pulled the pack onto one shoulder. “And now that I’ve got this independent walking thing down, I can’t wait to get back into training again. I want to start right away. As in, like, today. I called Max yesterday afternoon as soon as we got home from the airport to make sure Barq would be available.”

  Stevie nodded, guessing from the satisfied expression on Callie’s face that Max Regnery, the owner of Pine Hollow Stables, had agreed to let her ride the horse she wanted. “That’s great,” Stevie said sincerely. Callie was a pretty private person a lot of the time, and she hadn’t said much to her friends about just how hard the past few months had been on her. In some ways, Stevie suspected that not being able to ride as well as she once had must have been even harder on Callie than not being able to walk without crutches. Even though Callie had done a lot of therapeutic riding as part of her physical therapy, Stevie knew that walking and trotting around the indoor ring at Pine Hollow couldn’t really compare to training for and competing in endurance races. Callie had been a junior endurance champion before moving to Willow Creek, Virginia, the previous June. “Barq will be a great horse to get you back into the swing of things,” Stevie commented. “And maybe soon you’ll be ready to start looking for your own competition horse again.”

  Callie nodded but didn’t respond, which Stevie took as a cue to change the subject. A horse Callie had been interested in buying was killed in the same accident that had injured her, and Stevie certainly didn’t want to bring up those memories again. “Come on,” she said eagerly. “Let’s practice that new independent walking of yours and get inside.”

  Callie shot her a surprised and slightly suspicious look. “What are you sounding so chipper about? This is school, remember? And last I heard, school wasn’t exactly your favorite place to be. Especially on Monday mornings. And even more especially on Monday mornings after weeklong vacations.”

  Stevie grinned. “I almost forgot, you weren’t around this past week,” she said. “You don’t know about my fabulous new career as an internationally renowned jour
nalist.”

  “Huh?” Callie looked confused.

  Stevie started walking toward the school as she explained. “Well, like Alex and I were saying in the car on the way here, Mom and Dad finally ended our grounding last weekend, right after Thanksgiving break started.”

  Callie nodded. “I just wish Scott and I had been around to help you guys celebrate.”

  “I know.” Stevie shrugged. “Believe me, I was wishing that too all last week when I was forced to actually hang out with my brother at Pine Hollow for lack of anything more interesting to do.”

  She paused for a moment, feeling a twinge of guilt. The last thing she wanted to do was sound ungrateful for the fact that her parents had finally let her and Alex off the hook for drinking at a party back in October. But it really had been kind of disappointing to suddenly be free and to realize that none of their friends was around to help them appreciate it. One of Stevie’s longtime best friends, Carole Hanson, had been grounded herself for cheating on a test. Her other best friend, Lisa Atwood, had been in California visiting her father, stepmother, and half sister. Stevie’s boyfriend, Phil Marsten, had been home in bed all week fighting off a mild case of pneumonia. And finally, Callie and Scott had been visiting their old hometown on the West Coast, partly to see old friends, but mostly so that their congressman father could keep in touch with his constituents.

  “Anyway,” Stevie continued as she and Callie walked slowly across the fractured pavement of the parking lot, heading for Fenton Hall’s broad stone steps. “The point is, I guess I was a little bored. It was great to hang out at Pine Hollow again, to spend time riding Belle and just be free, you know? But I missed having all you guys around.” She shrugged. “So when I found out that Deborah was working on a story about retired show horses, I was totally psyched to help her out.”

  “A newspaper story, you mean?” Callie looked interested. “What was the article about?”