High Stakes

by Bonnie Bryant

  She realized she was babbling randomly, but fortunately Phil didn’t seem to mind. Stevie didn’t want him to realize that her mind was working overtime as she chattered on and on about the weather, trying to figure out the quickest and easiest ways to pick up a few extra bucks before Christmas.

  It’s not going to be easy to come up with that kind of money in the next week, especially when I already have so much to do, like writing my article and helping with the Starlight Ride. Not to mention minor stuff like school and sleep. She glanced over at her boyfriend, remembering the way the smooth, buttery leather of those chaps had felt beneath her fingers. She could already picture the look of amazement and adoration that would cross his face when he opened the box. But Phil is worth it. If it’s chaps he wants, it’s chaps he’s going to get!

  THREE

  Lisa blinked in surprise as she snapped out of her thoughts long enough to notice that she was about to drive right past Pine Hollow’s driveway. She was slightly amazed, as always, at the way she could be thinking about something else entirely while she drove, yet find herself going through the automatic motions of putting the key in the ignition, shifting into gear, and all the other little actions that were involved in driving. It was sort of like the way things had come together when she got good at riding. When she was first learning, she had been sure she’d never be able to remember everything that went into it—keeping her heels down and her elbows in, holding the reins correctly, coordinating her aids. Driving a car wasn’t quite as complicated as riding a horse, but it was still pretty impressive that she could drive all the way from Willow Creek High School to Pine Hollow without paying the slightest bit of attention to what she was doing. I guess it’s because the route is so familiar, she thought as she tapped the brake to slow down for the turn. I’m sure things will be very different if we move to New Jersey next month. I’ll need to learn a whole new route to a whole new school. From a whole new house. And I’ll have to make all new friends.…

  She grimaced, shaking her head as if the action could shake the whole moving plan out of existence. It was impossible, that was all. There was no way she could pick up her whole life and start over right in the middle of her senior year. No way her mother could expect that of her, no matter how miserable her own life might be these days. Lisa would just have to make her mother see that.

  Easier said than done, she thought grimly, pulling into the small gravel parking area across the yard from the stable building. Once Mom makes up her mind about something, she can be harder to convince than a mule with an attitude problem.

  Cutting the ignition, Lisa sighed. She would just have to find a way, that was all. The logical first step would be talking to her friends about it. She was at Pine Hollow to meet Stevie and Carole for an after-school trail ride. Ever since they’d first met and become best friends, the three of them had helped each other out of more jams than Lisa could count. She knew she could rely on them to do whatever they could to help her now.

  I just hope Carole doesn’t bring Cam along today.

  The thought slipped out before Lisa knew it was coming. She winced, feeling like a jerk, but she couldn’t quite take back the sentiment. She had always liked Carole’s boyfriend, Cam Nelson—he had lived in Virginia back when they were all in junior high, though his family had moved to Los Angeles before Lisa had really gotten to know him. But his sudden reappearance—and the way he and Carole had become inseparable virtually overnight—had left her a little off-balance.

  Lisa was happy for Carole, of course. It was nice to see her friend getting some long-overdue male attention. But that didn’t make it any easier to watch Carole and Cam eagerly flinging themselves into the early stages of falling in love, especially when all of it reminded Lisa of the days when she and Alex couldn’t keep their hands off each other when they were together and couldn’t go more than five minutes without mentioning each other’s names when they were apart.

  But that wasn’t the only reason she hoped Cam wouldn’t tag along that day. Sometimes it was really nice to hang out with her friends when it was just the three of them, like in the old days when they’d spent so much time together—mostly at the stable—that they’d dubbed themselves The Saddle Club.

  Thinking about the past was making Lisa feel gloomy, so she did her best to push those thoughts aside as she headed toward the stable entrance. It was sunny and fairly warm for December, so the big double doors were standing open. As she reached them, she saw that Max was just inside, talking to a tall, rail-thin young woman with wavy dark hair pulled into a high ponytail.

  Lisa hesitated at the entrance, not wanting to barge in on a meeting with a new student or boarder. But Max spotted her and waved her over. “Lisa!” he exclaimed in his most jovial tone. “Come on over here. I want you to meet someone.”

  Lisa was surprised. Pine Hollow had been busier than ever lately—there was a lot of development going on in the area, and it seemed that every new family that moved to town had at least one member who wanted to take riding lessons. Max always worked hard, but in the past few months he’d been run ragged. Lisa couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him so happy and relaxed.

  Glancing at the strange woman curiously, she waited for Max to introduce them. It didn’t take long.

  “Lisa Atwood is one of our longtime riders,” he told the newcomer, patting Lisa on the back. “And Lisa, this is the new stable hand I mentioned the other day. Maureen Chance. Today’s her first day on the job.”

  “Oh! Hello.” Lisa realized she should have guessed the young woman’s identity right away. “Nice to meet you, Maureen.”

  “Likewise,” Maureen replied. Her voice was surprisingly deep for her appearance and age—sort of husky and raw, a voice one might expect from a country-and-western singer. “You’re not the kid whose job I took, are you?”

  Lisa blinked, startled by the new stable hand’s bluntness. “Uh, no,” she said. “That’s my friend Carole. My best friend.” She wasn’t sure why Maureen’s comment made her feel defensive, but she couldn’t help feeling a little put off by it. “She’s meeting me here today, actually.”

  Maureen shrugged. “Guess I’ll meet her soon, then,” she said easily.

  “Actually, I should have been clearer about Carole,” Max said, shooting Lisa a cautious glance. “As I mentioned, she recently had to, uh, take a break from her job here. But you’re not exactly replacing her. I needed more help anyway, so when Carole’s ready, I hope she’ll be back to work right alongside you and the others.”

  Maureen nodded politely, though Lisa couldn’t help thinking that she didn’t seem very interested in Max’s explanation. I don’t know what I was expecting the new stable hand to be like, Lisa thought. But whatever I might have imagined, Maureen definitely isn’t it.

  As Maureen turned away to ask Max something about her work schedule, Lisa furtively gave her a once-over. She was pretty in an angular sort of way, with long legs, a wide smile, and eyes that were an interesting shade of medium brown, flecked with green and gold. She appeared to be somewhere in her early to mid-twenties.

  As Lisa was staring thoughtfully at the small horseshoe tattoo on the newcomer’s collarbone, Maureen glanced over and caught her gaze. Lisa blushed and averted her eyes quickly, while Maureen laughed. “Don’t worry, I don’t care if you want to check me out,” she said, shooting Max a wink and a grin before turning her almost disturbingly direct gaze back to Lisa. “I know I’m the new kid in town, so it’s only natural y’all will be curious. You can even ask me questions if you want to. And if you’re lucky, I just might tell you the truth when I answer ’em.”

  Lisa had no idea how to respond to that. Pulling up every ounce of the good manners her mother had drilled into her at an early age, she cleared her throat. “Actually, I was just wondering where you worked before this.”

  “Well, I just moved up here from Norfolk, and I worked at a stable down there for a couple of years. Before that …”

  The
re was more, but Lisa didn’t really take it in. She just nodded along politely, pretending to listen to the details and wondering how, after meeting her only minutes earlier, she could already be so certain that she wasn’t going to like Maureen Chance much at all.

  Carole was thinking about Cam as she stuck her car keys in her jacket pocket and hurried toward Pine Hollow’s main entrance. I wish he could have come along today instead of going to that team meeting, she thought wistfully. Especially since he’s leaving town next week. With everything that’s going on, we might not have much chance to see each other before then. She was looking forward to riding with her friends, of course, but she couldn’t help thinking that she would be looking forward to it even more if her boyfriend were going to be there, too.

  As she stepped through the door, she stopped short in surprise. Lisa was standing in the entryway, talking to someone—a woman about Denise’s age, dressed in jeans and well-worn rubber muckers. Max was standing nearby, beaming contentedly. As soon as she saw the stranger, Carole knew who she had to be: the new stable hand.

  Lisa spotted Carole almost immediately. “Hi!” she called, waving. “Come here and meet Maureen. Maureen Chance. She’s the new stable hand.”

  Carole forced a welcoming smile onto her face, though it felt stiff and unwieldy there, like the fake plastic clown lips she’d once worn with a childhood Halloween costume. “Hi, Maureen,” she said, stepping forward to join the others. “I’m Carole Hanson. Um, I used to work here.”

  “So I hear.” Maureen looked her up and down curiously.

  Carole shifted her weight from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling like a bug pinned to a card in a museum exhibit. “Uh, so it’s your first day, huh?”

  Before Maureen could answer, Sarah Anne Porter, a sixth-grade rider, rushed out of the stable aisle and skidded to a stop in the entryway. “Max!” she exclaimed breathlessly. “It’s Comanche. He keeps trying to bite me when I groom him.”

  Max frowned. “First of all, what have I told you about running in the stable?”

  “Sorry,” Sarah Anne said sheepishly, blushing slightly. “But what should I do? I think he hates me.”

  Carole opened her mouth to reassure the younger girl, but Maureen beat her to it. “Don’t sweat it, kid,” she told Sarah Anne. “I’m sure he’s just seeing what he can get away with. He can tell you’re scared of him, so he’s acting like a brat. Come on, and I’ll show that old nag who’s boss for you.”

  “Thanks, Maureen.” Max beamed as if the new stable hand had just offered to single-handedly tame a whole herd of mustangs, rather than just discipline a generally placid school horse. “Go on now, Sarah Anne. Maureen will help you. You pay attention to what she tells you, okay?”

  “Okay.” The younger rider shot the new stable hand an inquisitive look, then followed obediently as Maureen led the way back toward the stable aisle, her stride long and fast.

  Max blinked at Carole and Lisa. “So what are you two up to today? And where’s the third musketeer?”

  Carole was so busy trying to act normal—to keep herself from revealing how weird she felt about the fact that a total stranger was there, doing the job that should have been hers—that for a second she had no idea what Max was talking about. Fortunately, Lisa answered for both of them.

  “I don’t know where Stevie is.” Lisa checked her watch. “She was supposed to meet us here for a trail ride.”

  As if on cue, Stevie burst into the stable, breathless from hurrying. “Sorry I’m late,” she gasped. “I had to walk. My inconsiderate dolt of a brother took off with the car again.”

  “Okay, I’ll leave you to it, then,” Max said, turning and heading toward the office.

  Stevie waved. “Nice chatting with you, Max!” she called teasingly. Then she glanced at her friends. “Ready to go? Hey, what’s with you two? You look weird.”

  “We just met the new stable hand,” Lisa said.

  Carole nodded slowly, hoping that her friends couldn’t tell how freaked out she was. It’s stupid to feel so threatened by someone you just met, she told herself sternly. It’s no big deal. Pine Hollow’s getting busier all the time, and Max needs more help. That’s all. It has nothing to do with you.

  Stevie’s eyes widened. “Really? So what’s she like?”

  “She seems to know what she’s doing, I guess,” Lisa replied blandly. “You’ll probably meet her before long. Come on, should we hit the trail?”

  Stevie shrugged agreeably, and Carole puffed out her cheeks with relief. She knew that her friends would be supportive, no matter what she was feeling. But she still didn’t want to spend too much time discussing the new stable hand just then.

  As Lisa hurried off to check the lessons list posted in the locker room to see which horse was free for her to use, Carole and Stevie headed toward the tack room. Stevie was chattering about her latest newspaper article, but Carole wasn’t really listening. She was too busy trying to convince herself that it was no big deal that someone new would be working at Pine Hollow.

  It’s not like Max hasn’t told me a million times that there will always be a job for me here, she reminded herself as she stood on tiptoes to grab Starlight’s bridle from its usual hook in the tack room. I’m sure Dad will let me start working again after the holidays, and then everything will go back to normal.

  But even as she thought it, she knew it probably wasn’t going to happen. Too much had changed lately for things ever to be quite like they were before. Some of the changes were good ones—her relationship with Cam, for instance. Others were definitely bad, like being grounded and having to quit her job, not to mention having to earn back her father’s trust after the cheating incident. And then there were the changes that were just plain confusing. Like the way she and Ben Marlow had seemed to be getting closer before Cam had come back into her life, and how she still felt her stomach flip over nervously whenever she saw Ben—even though she and Cam were in love now, and even though she still had no idea if Ben had ever felt anything special for her anyway. And the way Carole’s father kept talking about all the prestigious colleges he wanted her to attend, ever since she had received her surprisingly high PSAT scores a few weeks earlier. And now there was Maureen Chance to add to the perplexing parade of changes that her life had become.

  I don’t know why this has to be so hard, she thought, frustrated at her inability to make sense of it all. All I want to do is survive high school, then spend the rest of my life working with horses. What’s so complicated about that?

  But she knew better. How could she expect things to be simple when she couldn’t even figure out exactly what she wanted to do after high school? For as long as she could remember, she had been saying that she wanted to work with horses full-time someday. But what did that mean, really? As far as she could tell, it meant giving up parts of what she loved so that she could focus on other parts. If she decided to be a competitive rider, it meant there probably wouldn’t be much time for stuff like working with a wide variety of horses or teaching beginning riders to love the sport as much as she did. On the other hand, if she followed in Max’s footsteps and built up her own lessons stable, it would almost certainly mean giving up any lingering dreams of gold hunt cups or Olympic stardom.

  Of course, if Dad has his way, I’ll have plenty of time to figure it out while I rot away in some liberal arts classroom at some snooty university, Carole thought ruefully. I don’t want to disappoint him. But why can’t he realize that that sort of thing just isn’t for me?

  Carole was still pondering her uncertain future twenty minutes later as she and her friends set off across the fields on their horses. Lisa was riding a school horse named Checkers, Carole was mounted on Starlight, and Stevie was aboard her spirited Arabian-Saddlebred mare, Belle.

  As the three girls approached the edge of the woods beyond Pine Hollow’s big south pasture, Carole suddenly realized that she’d hardly heard a word either of her friends had said since they’d set out. Feeling gui
lty, she racked her brain, trying to remember any of the conversation. But all she could recall hearing was a lot of discussion about Stevie’s newspaper article. At the moment, they seemed to be talking about A.J. and his adoption problems.

  Okay, it’s way past time to drag yourself out of this gutter of pathetic self-involvement and start thinking about something else, she told herself firmly as she shortened Starlight’s stride to keep him from running up on Checkers. Like Cam, for instance.

  Even the thought of his name made her smile. Once again, she wished that he had been able to join them that day. It was hard to accept that they wouldn’t be seeing that much of each other for most of the next couple of weeks. At least she could look forward to their special get-together on New Year’s Eve. Thinking about that reminded her that she still hadn’t come up with any brilliant ideas about what to get him for Christmas.

  “Hey, you guys,” she blurted out, interrupting something Stevie was saying about A.J.’s parents. “I just realized I need to start shopping for a Christmas present for Cam. What do you think I should get him?”

  Stevie seemed startled by the sudden change in topic, but she shrugged good-naturedly as she brought Belle to a halt and glanced over at Carole. “I don’t know,” she said, leaning forward to give her mare a pat on the withers. “But listen, that reminds me. I finally figured out the perfect gift for Phil!”

  “What is it?” Carole asked, hoping she could pick up some hints from Stevie’s gift idea. Cam and Phil didn’t know each other too well—maybe Carole could even get the same thing her friend was getting for her boyfriend, just to play it safe. She was sure Stevie wouldn’t mind.

  Stevie grinned, looking pleased with herself. “I got the idea yesterday when he kept complaining about how all his jeans are, like, worn through from riding so much. He might as well have just come right out and said, ‘Stevie, please please please would you buy me those gorgeous leather schooling chaps in the window display at The Saddlery?’ Luckily I could tell that was what he was thinking. So that’s what I’m getting him.”