Horse Love

by Bonnie Bryant

  Mrs. Atwood leaned over and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. It wasn’t much, but Lisa knew the whole performance had been for her benefit. This was her parents’ way of telling her that they knew things had been difficult all around over the last few months and that they were better now and would stay that way.

  Lisa took a bite of the seafood salad she’d put on her plate. If it was the same as what her parents had had on their picnic, her mother was right: It was delicious.

  “So what did you do today?” her father asked.

  “Oh, I’ve had a busy day,” Lisa said.

  “Well, you were going riding when we saw you at breakfast,” said her mother.

  Lisa smiled. Breakfast seemed so long ago.

  “We had a trail ride. We went along the beach. It was wonderful!”

  “Did you have a good horse?” her mother asked. It was quite typical of her mother to ask something like that, though by “good” her mother didn’t mean obedient, well-mannered, and with smooth gaits. What her mother meant was “valuable” or “good-looking.” Lisa had yet to find a way to convince her how unimportant those things were in a pleasure-riding horse.

  “Very good,” said Lisa.

  “I’m surprised in a public stable at a resort,” said Mrs. Atwood.

  “His name is Oatmeal,” Lisa said.

  “Soft and warm,” said her father.

  Lisa laughed. “Exactly,” she said. “And quite sweet, too.”

  “Wholesome?” he asked.

  “A little too wholesome,” she said. “Tomorrow, I’m going for something with a little more spirit.”

  “Sounds like you were being a bit conservative,” said her father.

  “It’s always been my downfall,” said Lisa.

  “And is that how you met all those nice young people?” her mother asked.

  “On the ride? Oh, no,” said Lisa. “I just met them tonight,” she said.

  “Well, wasn’t that the boy—”

  She really didn’t want to talk about him now, especially when she knew he was waiting for her in the lounge. Any discussion that centered around a boy Lisa had met was going to include a barrage of questions about what his father did for a living and what he was going to be when he grew up, and Lisa couldn’t and didn’t want to answer.

  “There were just a few people on the trail ride,” she said. “They like to keep the groups small But one of the people was a staff member named Jane, and she’s running a talent show. I’ve signed up for it.”

  “Of course you have, dear! When is it?”

  “Saturday night,” Lisa said. “The night before we leave.”

  “Now, that’s something to look forward to,” said her mother. “What are you doing?”

  “I guess I’m just in the chorus,” she said. “It’s mostly just silly skits, but it’s kind of fun to be a part of it.”

  “Aren’t you going to do a solo?” her mother asked.

  “It’s vacation,” Lisa said.

  “Well, singing beautifully isn’t exactly like work for you, dear.”

  “I don’t know yet, Mom,” Lisa said, realizing she was skating close to the subject of “the boy.” So she changed the subject again. “I went snorkeling this afternoon, too,” she said. “I thought it was really cool, even though the coral reef by the beach here at the resort is pretty small. But I was amazed at the different colors of the coral. Do you know why that is, Dad?”

  “I think what you’re talking about is actually different kinds of coral,” he said. “While we think of it as a single thing—coral—it’s actually many, many different species, and each is unique and identifiable. One of the qualities that varies among the species is color.…”

  He was off and running. Asking her father a technical question was very much like asking Carole about insect pests and horses. “Oh, we just spray them,” was never the answer. It didn’t surprise Lisa at all that her father had spent some time in the resort library looking up coral while her mother had been getting ready for the trip into town. Lisa had completely and successfully deflected her mother’s inevitable questions about Tec Morrison.

  Those questions would come sooner or later, but later Lisa might be able to answer them better, and later was when she was going to have to work with her parents to find a way to get her to Tec’s town or find a way for him to come to Willow Creek.

  “Of course, part of what makes each species a specific color probably relates to what they eat—like the pink of a flamingo coming from their diet of shrimp, and you know chickens that are fed corn have yellow skin—”

  “I never knew any of that stuff, Dad,” Lisa said, interrupting the explanation.

  “Well, it’s amazing what you can learn with just a quick stop in a library,” he said.

  “What are you up to tonight?” Mrs. Atwood asked.

  “I guess I’ll hang out with those kids,” she said, nodding at the now empty table. “I’m meeting them in the lounge, and there was talk about going dancing later.”

  “At the disco?” her father asked. “Your mother and I were talking about stopping by there later.”

  “Um, I don’t know, Dad. You know, we’re just hanging out.”

  “Maybe we’ll see you there,” said Mr. Atwood.

  Lisa sincerely hoped that would not be the case.

  “Later, then,” she said, excusing herself from the table. It was nice to see her parents happy, but it would be even nicer to see Tec.

  THE LOUNGE WAS totally filled by the time Lisa arrived. It took her a few minutes to spot Tec and the other kids. They’d commandeered a corner table and each had a glass of soda. Tec had his back to the door, so he did not see Lisa arriving.

  Kiki looked over her shoulder and spotted Lisa. Lisa smiled and waved. Kiki just looked back at the circle of friends. Will saw her then and welcomed her, pulling a chair over next to Tec. Lisa took it gratefully. There were three other girls there who hadn’t been at the dinner table and they were introduced as Shelley, Erin, and Jackie. Lisa had to look twice. She was pretty sure that Shelley was the skinny girl in the skimpy bikini that she’d seen at the swimming pool with the guy who looked like Tec that afternoon, but she wasn’t certain.

  “Were those your parents you had dinner with?” Kiki asked.

  “Guilty as charged,” Lisa said, uncertain why she felt it necessary to defend herself—or her parents. She suspected most of the kids there had parents at the resort as well. It seemed likely that they would have occasional meals with them, and it didn’t seem necessary to make a big deal of it. Lisa shrugged off the question and settled into her chair.

  “I’m getting myself something to drink, Lisa. Can I get you something, too?” Tec asked, standing up.

  “Oh, sure, thanks,” she said. “I’ll have a pineapple punch.”

  “Coming up,” he said and slid off to the bar.

  “He is sooooo cute,” Sophie whispered, eyeing Tec while he stood at the bar.

  She’d said it to the group, but Lisa knew it was intended to be heard by the girls and especially by her, because she was the one lucky enough to be his girlfriend.

  “Don’t I know it!” Shelley said.

  “So, what am I?” Will interjected. “Chopped liver?”

  Sophie, Shelley, and the other girls laughed. Kiki, caustic as ever, answered Will, “No, I think you’re more like unchopped liver.” That made her laugh, but nobody else joined in.

  Erin turned to Lisa then: “Were you in the beach volleyball game this morning?” she asked.

  “Nope,” said Lisa. “I was on the beach on the other side of that hill.” She pointed to where the trail ride had taken her.

  “What were you doing over there?” Erin asked. “I mean, is it something special?”

  “Very special,” Lisa told her. “I went with a—”

  “Here you go,” Tec said, putting the drink down in front of her and smiling that smile that melted her knees.

  “Thanks so much,” she said, smili
ng back at him. She was relieved that he’d returned. There were some weird vibes at the table, and she felt more comfortable having him there with her.

  “Okay, so what were you guys laughing about while I was gone?” Tec asked.

  “We were talking about this morning’s beach volleyball game,” Jackie told him. “I bet you our team will win tomorrow!”

  “Oh, well, we’ll just have to see about that!” Tec said.

  As Lisa listened, she realized that the group had met at a beach volleyball game that morning while she’d been riding. That was okay. She’d rather ride horses than play beach volleyball any time, so although she wouldn’t have minded meeting this crew of kids before tonight, she didn’t think she’d missed much.

  “How about some pool?” Grant asked.

  “I don’t feel like swimming,” Alex said.

  “No, pool, like on a table,” said Grant.

  “Great,” said Alex. Lisa hadn’t known there were pool tables at the resort, and pool was something she’d never tried before. It sounded like fun. A couple of people decided to go for a walk instead, but most of the group wanted to play.

  As they stood up to go to the game room, Lisa wondered if Tec would take her hand. It wasn’t easy to be near him and to want to feel him touch her. She was a little disappointed when he didn’t. In fact, as the group walked to the game room, Tec was having a conversation with Shelley and Grant—apparently about the next day’s volleyball match.

  Lisa hadn’t been to the game room before. She followed the others and was a little surprised to find that it was quite close to the stable. She’d walked past it twice that day and just hadn’t noticed it.

  “What is that smell?” Kiki asked, pinching her nose with a big show.

  “What smell?” Brain asked.

  “That smell,” Kiki said. Not that that identified the offensive odor, but it was obvious what she meant when she pointed toward the stable.

  “I think you mean the smell of horses,” said Grant.

  “It’s not a bad smell,” said Erin.

  “Not at all,” said Lisa. She’d always liked the smell of a barn, with the warm scents of horses, fresh hay, and leather and saddle soap. The only time a stable smelled bad was when it wasn’t kept clean. A soiled stall could stink up a barn in a very short time. Max would never let that happen at Pine Hollow, and Lisa was certain that Frank would never let that happen here. In fact, as she sniffed the cool evening air, she could only smell the sweetest of barn smells. “It’s a very clean barn,” she began, remembering that she’d wanted to remind Tec about taking a trail ride in the morning.

  “Barns always smell,” said Kiki. “I mean, they’re full of horses, and that means they’re full of you-know-what.”

  Lisa presumed she meant manure and opened her mouth to explain the difference between manure and other animals’ droppings, the reason it made good fertilizer, and, in general, how the horse’s digestive system worked. The fact that all the kids were laughing at what Kiki had said made her pause, though. Even Tec was laughing.

  Lisa closed her mouth. She knew the smell of horses and barns wasn’t everybody’s favorite smell, and she realized this wasn’t a group that would appreciate a Carole-style discussion of manure. Also, to tell the truth, manure wasn’t the nicest part about being around horses; it was just a fact of life, and there was no need for her to stand up for a fact of life, even if it was a horse’s life.

  “It won’t smell inside the game room,” said Brian, opening the door. They all filed in, and Lisa was relieved to find that he was right. There was no hint of the barn inside.

  “Okay, so who wants to play first?” Grant asked.

  There were two pool tables and they decided to play teams; that meant that eight people could play at a time. Lisa had never held a pool stick and found herself reluctant to start with this crowd—all of whom seemed to know how to do everything. She let others play. That left her and Shelley and two others out of the games.

  “How about some Ping-Pong?” she asked Shelley.

  “Sure,” the slender girl agreed.

  The Ping-Pong tables were on the other side of the room from the pool tables. It seemed relatively quiet there. Lisa picked up the paddles and the ball, then handed a paddle to the other girl.

  They began to volley for the right to serve first. Shelley lost immediately. It wasn’t that Lisa was a champion Ping-Pong player; it just appeared that Shelley had never had a Ping-Pong paddle in her hand before. It became clear almost immediately that playing a game wasn’t going to have much point to it, so they idly paddled the ball back and forth.

  “I guess I’m not much of an athlete,” Shelley said lamely.

  “I saw you in the pool earlier today. You seemed to do just fine there,” she said.

  “Well, that was just having fun—”

  “So’s this,” said Lisa.

  “You think so?” Shelley asked.

  “Not if it’s no fun for you,” said Lisa. “Would you rather watch the pool games?”

  “I guess,” Shelley said, putting her paddle down at just the moment that Lisa delivered a gentle lob she’d thought Shelley could handle and return to her. Lisa chased the ball, returned it to the table, and followed Shelley back to the benches near the pool tables.

  Lisa thought the whole Ping-Pong thing had been very strange. Why had Shelley said she’d like to play if she couldn’t do it at all? Why had she stopped so suddenly? Some of these kids were a little weird, and Shelley apparently fell into that category.

  Lisa tried to make conversation with her. She asked her where she came from. Colorado. No, she didn’t ski. She wasn’t a mountain climber. Lisa asked her where she went to school. It turned out she was a sophomore. She asked Lisa what class she was in. Lisa told her she’d be a freshman next year.

  “Oh, you’re going to find college so different from high school!” Shelley said.

  Lisa realized Shelley was assuming that by Lisa’s freshman year, she meant freshman year in college, not Willow Creek High School. Lisa was about to correct her when it occurred to her that a number of these kids might be in college. If she admitted that she wasn’t even in high school yet, what were they going to think of her? She felt a little special being able to hang out with college students, and she didn’t want to mess that up by admitting she was at least four years younger than they were.

  That was odd. Mostly, people thought Lisa was younger than she actually was. She was a year older than Carole and Stevie, but nobody ever thought much about that. Maybe wearing casual clothes, bathing suits, shorts, and sundresses sort of equalized everybody. She decided she wasn’t going to be the one to unequalize them. She wasn’t going to lie, she just wasn’t going to straighten anybody out, either.

  Besides, Tec had told her he was a sophomore in high school. He probably hadn’t told any of the college kids that he was younger, either. That realization drew Lisa even closer to Tec—if that was possible.

  “We win! We win! Who wants to play now?” Grant asked, inviting Lisa and Shelley over to the pool tables.

  “Sure,” said Lisa. “Are Shelley and I playing against you two?” she asked, looking at Grant and Tec.

  “No. Lisa, you partner up with Tec, and I’ll get Shelley. I can’t wait to show her how to use a pool cue.”

  Grant’s idea of showing Shelley what to do mostly involved him putting his arms around her while she leaned over the table. Shelley didn’t seem to mind at all. Lisa found it a little embarrassing and was relieved when Tec didn’t do the same thing with her.

  Grant was being so silly about Shelley that it was easy for Lisa and Tec to beat them, even though it was almost always Tec who made the shots.

  Lisa was just beginning to get the hang of pool and was ready to try another game when Alex announced that there was a movie on at the video center and suggested they all go to that.

  A few of the kids wanted to see it, but Lisa wasn’t interested. It was a sci-fi horror movie and not rea
lly her thing. Tec didn’t want to go, either. A couple of the kids decided to go; the others wanted to go back to the lounge.

  “I’ll see you at the disco, right?” Shelley asked generally.

  “Sure,” most of the kids said.

  Lisa had read in the brochure that the disco opened at ten every night and played until the last patron left—or until dawn, whichever came first. In spite of her long nap, she didn’t think she’d be able to stay up much longer, but she also had a feeling that Shelley didn’t much care if she showed up or not. She just nodded amid a whole group of yeahs, and see you there laters.

  The group, at one moment tightly assembled outside the game room, was suddenly totally dispersed except for Lisa and Tec.

  “That was fun,” Lisa said, meaning it. It seemed that doing something—anything—with Tec was fun, no matter how weird some of the others were.

  “And I’ve got an idea of something more fun,” he said. There was an inviting sparkle in his eye.

  “And that is?” she asked, smiling up at him.

  “A midnight swim.”

  Lisa glanced at her watch. “It’s only ten-thirty,” she said.

  “It must be midnight somewhere,” he said, smiling back at her—that knee-melting, dimpled smile.

  “How right you are,” she said. “I’ll go get my suit and meet you at the snorkeling beach in, say, ten minutes?”

  “Do you really need to get your suit?” he asked.

  “I can’t swim in this,” she said, looking down at her cotton dress.

  “I—Well,” Tec stammered. When Lisa realized what Tec had said, she was blushing with embarrassment.

  “I was just teasing,” he said. “You’re such a good swimmer, I assumed you always had a suit on under everything.”

  “Not exactly,” Lisa said. “But I’ll see you in ten.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  Lisa hurried to her cabin and changed, arriving at the beach with a towel in less than the agreed ten minutes. Tec was waiting for her.

  “Nice to swim without worrying about a sunburn,” Lisa said.

  He smiled at her, took her hand, and together they dived into the waves.