High Stakes

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Hey,” Phil’s voice came from behind her. He put his hand on her arm. “There you are.”

  Suddenly feeling very, very grateful, Stevie spun around and flung her arms around her boyfriend. She buried her face in his scratchy wool sport coat and squeezed him as tightly as she could, breathing in the familiar scent of the cologne she’d bought him on their last anniversary.

  “Whoa!” Phil said, a little breathless. “What’s up with you? I was only gone for like two minutes.”

  Stevie loosened her grip just enough to stand on tiptoes and kiss him on the nose. “Oh, nothing,” she said, her throat feeling a little tight. “I’m just glad that we’re here. Together.”

  Carole pursed her lips, concentrating carefully as she applied a fresh coat of Marvelous Mocha lipstick. Cam was standing in the line at the refreshment table, waiting to get them some punch, and Carole had taken the opportunity to duck into the rest room inside the CARL building to check her face. She wasn’t used to wearing much makeup, and all evening she’d had sudden, panicky visions of herself walking around with lipstick smeared across her chin or huge raccoonlike smudges of mascara around her eyes. When she’d finally gotten a look in the mirror, she had been relieved. Although most of her lipstick had worn off, the rest of her face looked fine.

  As she was recapping her lipstick, the door opened and Callie walked in. “Hi!” she greeted Carole with a smile. “Having fun?”

  “Big time,” Carole replied. “You?”

  Callie nodded and pulled a tube of lip gloss out of her small evening bag. “It seems like the fund-raiser is a big success,” she said, slicking the gloss onto her lips. “Everyone in town seems to be here.” She glanced at Carole meaningfully. “Well, almost everyone,” she amended. “I’ll tell you, after that scene at school today, I was really glad that Veronica didn’t show up.”

  Carole grimaced. She’d heard all about Stevie’s confrontation with her old nemesis. “Me too,” she agreed. “Though this would be an appropriate place for them to go another round. After all, they’ve always gotten along about as well as cats and dogs.”

  Callie chuckled. “So what’s the deal with those two, anyway?” she asked, tossing her lip gloss back in her bag. “I mean, I know Veronica can be kind of hard to take. But Stevie seems to take her snobby attitude a lot more, I don’t know, personally than most people do.”

  “I know.” Carole leaned on the edge of the sink and sighed, thinking back over the years she’d known Stevie and Veronica. “They have a long history. I’m not sure what it is, but they just really rub each other the wrong way, and neither of them is very good at ignoring it.” She glanced at Callie. “They used to be at each other’s throats all the time when we were a little younger. Stevie was always pulling stunts like filling Veronica’s boots with oats or getting her banned from the Starlight Ride. And Veronica would find equally mature ways to get back at her.”

  “Wow.” Callie wrinkled her nose. “That must have kept things, um … interesting.”

  “I know.” Carole sighed again. “Once Veronica stopped riding regularly and we all started high school, things cooled down and we all hoped that was the end of it. But now, with Stevie’s article and then this gossip column thing … Well, I just hope it isn’t the start of World War Three.” Suddenly realizing that Cam was probably waiting for her by then, she excused herself and hurried out of the rest room. Stevie and Veronica would just have to sort out their problems for themselves. Carole, for one, had more interesting things to think about.

  Stevie was munching on a cookie and watching the action on the dance floor, swaying slightly to the beat, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned, she saw Scott’s grinning face. “Hey there, lover,” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

  Stevie felt her face flush. “So you know,” she said flatly, realizing right away that there was no point in pretending she didn’t know what Scott was talking about. “Who told you?”

  Scott snorted. “Nobody had to tell me anything,” he replied. “It was printed in the newspaper, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Stevie shot him a sheepish look out of the corner of her eye, wondering if it was possible to be more embarrassed than she was at the moment. “Sorry about that. Looks like I was way off, huh?” She glanced around for Lisa, but she was nowhere in sight.

  Scott patted her on the back. “Hey, it’s no big deal,” he insisted. “Actually, you’re weren’t that far off. I mean, I was hanging around the stable a lot trying to spend more time with Lisa, and that meant spending more time with her friends, too.” He shrugged, looking slightly sheepish himself. “To be honest, I didn’t even realize what I was doing at first. I wouldn’t even admit to myself that I liked her until I heard about—” He shot Stevie a glance and abruptly changed directions. “Anyway, don’t give yourself a hard time. I am crazy about you, you know. Just not in that way. In fact, I sort of think of you as part of the family. More like a sister than just another friend.”

  “Oh, great.” Stevie rolled her eyes. “Just what I need. Another brother.”

  Scott laughed, and Stevie joined in. But inside, she felt a little weird.

  Friend or not, I’m not sure I like having him confide in me about Lisa, she thought worriedly. After all, Lisa and Alex are only broken up temporarily. They’ll probably get back together before too much longer. And then where does that leave Scott?

  “I’ll be right back,” Scott said. “I’m just going to grab us some more punch.”

  Lisa nodded and smiled up at him from her seat on a folding chair at the edge of the dance floor. “I’ll be right here,” she replied lightly.

  He rested one hand lightly on her shoulder for a moment, then turned and headed for the refreshment table. Lisa sat back in her chair and looked out over the scene, her gaze wandering to the small podium at the far end of the dance floor, where a maternal-looking woman with a big CARL button on her dress was adjusting a microphone. Behind the woman, Lisa spotted A.J., Callie, and a couple of other people she recognized petting a large, active Dalmatian and chatting with another CARL volunteer. Meanwhile, out on the floor, Stevie and Phil were dancing together, right alongside Carole and Cam.

  Practically everyone I know is here except Alex, Lisa thought, watching her friends. It’s weird, his not being here. And it’s even weirder that I’m really okay with that. In fact, it’s sort of a relief that he’s not around tonight.

  Her mind wandered back to her mother’s big announcement. She hadn’t mentioned a word about it to Scott, but she knew that if she were with Alex that night, she would already have told him about it.

  He would be even more upset about it than I am, she told herself with a grimace. And that would make me feel even worse. Instead, I can just relax and try to forget about it—at least for one night.

  Thinking about Alex, she couldn’t help wondering what he was doing that evening. Was he with Nicole? At the thought, Lisa felt a twinge of something that could have been jealousy. Then again, maybe it wasn’t.

  Scott returned a few minutes later with their drinks, just in time to take a seat beside her before the CARL volunteer tapped on the microphone and called for attention. “What’s happening now?” Lisa murmured, sipping her punch.

  “Looks like there’s going to be a speaker,” Scott said. “That’s usually how these fund-raisers go. Get everyone relaxed and then remind them why they’re really here.”

  Lisa nodded, shooting him a curious glance. With his family, attending charity fund-raisers was probably as ordinary an outing as going to the movies or the mall was for most people. It was a strange thought.

  “Could I have your attention, please?” the woman at the microphone said. “Thank you. First of all, on behalf of all of us at the County Animal Rescue League—two-legged and four-legged alike—I wish to offer my heartfelt thanks to you for turning out in such numbers tonight.”

  A ragged cheer went up from the listeners. Lisa smiled as she noticed Stevie pumping
her fist in the air.

  “Now if you’ll give me a few moments, I’d like to talk to you about our rescue mission here at CARL …”

  That’s what I need, Lisa thought idly as the woman continued speaking. Someone to rescue me. From my messed-up family, from planning for college, from worrying about what’s going on with me and Alex, and now from this new plan of Mom’s. She glanced over at Scott. His profile was sober, intent, and handsome as he listened to the volunteer’s speech. I wish someone could just swoop in and rescue me from all of it.…

  Carole couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun—outside a stable, at least. As she and Cam strolled hand in hand through the main hall in the CARL building, looking at the displays of photos that the volunteers had set up, she wished the wonderful evening would never end.

  Maybe someday Cam and I will come back here to CARL together, she mused, pressing herself against his side as he stopped to pick up a brochure about vaccinations. We’ll have a stable together—it wouldn’t even have to be a big, fancy one like I was daydreaming about the other day. It could just be a couple of horses in the backyard. That would be as wonderful as the fanciest farm full of Thoroughbreds, as long as it was ours together.

  She slipped her arm around Cam’s waist as they moved on down the hall. He glanced at her with a smile, resting his arm on her shoulders.

  Carole sighed contentedly and returned to her reverie. Of course, even the smallest stable needs a few stable cats to keep the mice out of the feed, she thought with a smile. Cam and I could come here to pick some out. We could name them after our favorite places to go together—one could be called Magnolia, after our first date at the Magnolia Diner; another could be named Carl because of tonight; and of course one would have to be called Pine Hollow. She almost giggled out loud at the thought of a cat named Pine Hollow, but she managed to control herself, suspecting that Cam might not understand her weird little daydream. Anyway, we could also pick out a nice family dog while we were here, she added with another happy sigh, imagining herself grooming Starlight in front of a tidy little three-stall barn while Cam played fetch nearby with their faithful pooch.

  Cam paused in front of a poster showing some of the animals currently available for adoption at CARL. The kennel runs and cat rooms were locked up tight that night—Carole knew that the volunteers thought that having hundreds of people wandering around would be too much excitement for the animals. This way the guests could take a look at CARL’s residents, and the animals themselves could get a good night’s sleep.

  “I wish Mom and Dad would let me get a dog,” Cam remarked. He pointed to a photo of a large black dog with a snub nose and an alert expression. “This one looks cool. What do you think?”

  Carole shrugged. “I guess,” she said uncertainly. “I usually like smaller dogs myself. Like Lisa’s old Lhasa apso, Dolly. Or the Regnerys’ puppy, Mulligan—she’s a pug.”

  Cam wrinkled his nose. “Small dogs?” he teased. “Small dogs are for wimps. If we ever came in here looking for a dog together, I’d talk you into a Great Dane before you knew it.”

  Did he just say what I think he said? Carole thought in amazement. It sounded as if Cam had been having some of the same kinds of thoughts as she had! Realizing that they’d both been imagining a future together made her feel closer to him than ever. She wasn’t sure whether to throw him against the wall and kiss him or break into tears of sheer happiness. Instead, she decided to play along.

  “A Great Dane? No way,” she said with mock disgust. “We’re getting a Chihuahua.”

  Cam laughed. “Are you kidding? Starlight would step on it!” he exclaimed. He turned toward her, encircling her waist with his arms. “I think we may have to compromise here. How do you feel about medium-sized dogs?”

  Carole smiled up at him. She could hardly believe that this was really her life—that Cam was really her boyfriend. She’d felt so left out for so long, but now her love life was on track at last. And it had definitely been worth waiting for.

  “Medium-sized dogs are perfect,” she murmured as she tilted her face up to receive Cam’s kiss.

  Lisa’s house was dark when Scott pulled into her driveway—except for the faint glow of the front hall lamp, which Mrs. Atwood always left on when she went to bed before Lisa got home.

  “Wow, I guess it’s later than I realized,” Scott commented, glancing at the darkened house and then at his watch as he turned off the car. “Time flies when you’re having a wonderful time with a wonderful person.”

  “Mom goes to bed pretty early these days,” Lisa began before realizing what he’d just said. “Oh! But I had a nice time, too. A really nice time.”

  She glanced over at him shyly, realizing it was true. You know, a week ago I wouldn’t have believed it was possible for me to enjoy myself at a dance without Alex, she thought. But I really did have fun with Scott.

  Once again, Scott hurried around to help Lisa out of the car. Then he walked her up the front walk. Soon they reached the front step, and Lisa paused there, fumbling for her keys before turning to smile shyly at Scott. “Well … thanks,” she said softly, unable to avoid noticing how handsome he looked in the spillover from the streetlamps.

  Scott gazed down at her, his expression unreadable in the near darkness. “Believe me,” he said huskily, “the pleasure is entirely mine.”

  Lisa gulped, suddenly feeling awkward. This was the moment she’d always dreaded on first dates in the past—the moment when she waited to see whether the guy was going to kiss her good night. Even through the first few weeks with Alex, she’d always felt an anxious pang when the end of the evening rolled around. He’d been nervous and uncertain and goofy, usually catching her in the middle of a sentence or bumping her nose with his own.

  Scott didn’t leave her in suspense for long. Taking a step toward her, he gently grasped her chin in one hand and tilted her face up slightly. His other arm slipped around her back as he bent and kissed her, his lips surprisingly soft and gentle.

  Lisa was startled at the intense feeling that suddenly rushed through her as she returned his kiss, her hands automatically moving to encircle his waist. She never would have expected that kissing Scott would feel so good.

  She jumped away suddenly, gasping slightly for breath. “Um, so, good night,” she said, feeling flustered and a little bit spooked.

  Scott didn’t seem to mind the sudden end to their kiss. “Good night, Lisa,” he said softly. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  Lisa stared after him as he strolled down the walk and climbed into his car. She didn’t turn to head inside until long after his car’s taillights had disappeared at the end of the block. What just happened here? she wondered, still feeling a little breathless and unbalanced. What exactly just happened here?

  FIFTEEN

  “Would you stop grinning like that?” Callie told Scott, glancing at him across the breakfast table the next morning. “It’s irritating to see someone so cheerful so early.”

  Scott shrugged, his grin widening. “Sorry. Can’t help it. I’m a happy guy.”

  Callie snorted, though she wasn’t really annoyed with him. She was just tired—it had been pretty late when Stevie and Phil had dropped her off after the CARL party. But she hadn’t wanted to sleep in, since she’d planned to spend all morning at Pine Hollow training on one of Max’s horses. There was no telling when she might find the right horse to buy, and in the meantime she wanted to keep herself in shape.

  “Are you almost ready?” she asked her brother, standing up to carry her cereal bowl to the sink.

  Scott nodded and stood as well, helping her clear the table and then leading the way out to the front hall. He paused in the doorway to the den, where their parents were lounging on the sofa reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. “We’re off,” he announced.

  Congressman Forester looked up. “So long, kids,” he said. “Have fun.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” Callie grabbed her coat from the closet an
d swung open the front door. She started to step out onto the porch, stopping herself just in time to avoid tripping over a large, festively wrapped package nestled against the threshold. She frowned at it in surprise. It was much too early for the mail to have arrived. Someone must have dropped it off personally.

  Scott peered over her shoulder. “What’s that?”

  “I don’t know.” Callie leaned over to get a better look. She gulped. “It has my name on it.” Who would leave her a big, fancy gift like that?

  No, she thought as one possibility floated into her mind. He wouldn’t …

  “Dad?” Scott called. “You’d better come check this out.”

  “Shhh!” Callie hissed in annoyance. The last thing she wanted was to broadcast her surprise early Christmas gift to the whole family. “You don’t need to—”

  It was too late. “What is it?” their father asked, pushing Scott aside and glancing out at the porch. “Oh. I see. Come back inside, kids.”

  “But Dad!” Callie protested, glancing at her watch. “It’s—”

  “Now, Callie,” he repeated in the stern voice he usually saved for his toughest congressional opponents. “Go sit down with your mother. I’m calling the police.”

  “The police?” Callie cried. “But we were just on our way to—”

  “Sit,” her father thundered, already grabbing the nearest phone and punching in numbers. Soon he was talking to a detective, describing the package. “… and the only identifying mark is my daughter’s name written on a tag,” he finished. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. Thank you.”

  “What did he say?” Mrs. Forester asked her husband.

  Congressman Forester hung up the phone and glanced at her. “They’re sending the bomb squad.”

  Callie’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  Her father sighed and rubbed his jaw, glancing nervously toward the still open front door. “I’m afraid we can’t take any chances,” he said heavily. “The papers have been having a field day with this new welfare controversy, and there are some pretty strong feelings on both sides. And my name is on the pending legislation, so …” He ended with a shrug. “Come on. I think we’d better wait for the police in the backyard.”