Horse Love

by Bonnie Bryant

  Lisa could have gone on, but something told her that Tec wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying. Was it possible he’d just said he wanted to learn to ride horses because he thought she’d like him to say that—that he’d never love horses the way she did? Maybe. It didn’t matter, though. There were a lot of couples who enjoyed doing different things and then had things they liked doing together. Like her parents, for example. They had a good time playing golf and bridge together. Her father couldn’t stand shopping, and her mother hated it when he had business to do, even though he loved the work he did. She and Tec might be like that.

  When she stopped talking, he looked at her. “You seem tired,” he said.

  “I am,” she told him. “I’ve had a very long day, but I’m glad to be here with you now.”

  “And I’m glad you’re here, too, but it’s almost eleven now, and if you don’t get some rest, you’ll resent me in the morning.”

  “Never,” she said.

  “Tomorrow,” he said. She wondered if he had any idea that he’d just said the very word she’d be singing to him in such a short time. She didn’t ask. Nor did she have time to. He took her chin in his hand and tilted it up so that it was at the perfect angle for a perfect kiss.

  Lisa’s head was still full of moonlight, stars, and warm tropical breezes when the door to her room closed behind her. This time, however, it only took her about four seconds to realize she’d forgotten to ask Tec about riding in the morning.

  She opened the door and looked in the direction of his cabin. He wasn’t there. She looked around the corner. He was heading back in the direction of the lounge.

  “Tec!” she called. He stopped and turned around, walking back toward her.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “I forgot to remind you that there’s a trail ride in the morning. Would you like to come along?”

  “I don’t think so,” he said. “I guess riding isn’t for me.”

  “That’s all right,” she said. “I just wanted you to know you’d be welcome.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll see you later then, okay?”

  “Okay—and, um, good night.”

  She went back to her room, ready for a good night’s sleep.

  “WE’RE WONDERFUL. FABULOUS. Miraculous. Unbelievable,” Stevie announced.

  “Does that mean we’re finished?” Meg Durham asked.

  “Finally, completely, and totally,” Stevie said.

  She stood and looked at the feed room. The last bin was back where it belonged, the final bale of hay was back in the stack against the freshly painted wall.

  “Are you sure you don’t want us to paint the ladies’ room?” Betsy asked.

  “Does it need it?” Stevie asked in response.

  “No!” Adam and Joe declared in a single voice. “At least, I don’t think so,” said Adam.

  “It’s tiled,” April informed them. “No paint anywhere.”

  “Whew!”

  Mrs. Reg appeared with a large tray of cookies and apple cider. “This is the very least I could do for this remarkable crew. Thank you one and all, and especially, thank you, Stevie.”

  “You’re more than welcome, Mrs. Reg, but I’ve got to tell you it never could have been done without everybody pitching in. Just a couple of days ago, Carole and I thought we were sunk. Today, well, we’re standing here in the middle of this freshly painted feed room, just feet away from a tack room that’s the envy of every stable in the state of Virginia, and we couldn’t have finished it in time without you. In fact, I’m not sure we could have done it at all. You all pitched in in a way that—well, it shows what teamwork can do. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “It’s okay, Stevie. You don’t have to say anything else,” Meg said. “Actually, I think we’ve all had enough speeches from you over the last few days!”

  Everybody laughed, but everybody also knew that she meant that in the nicest possible way. Stevie had been a boss, but she’d also been the chief cheerleader and organizer. They held up their glasses of cider in a toast to her as she thanked each of them.

  Red O’Malley appeared in the feed room and told Stevie she had a phone call.

  She excused herself, wondering who would be calling her there.

  It was Phil again.

  “We’re back. I thought we’d be back a couple of days ago, but we couldn’t get a flight until this morning. Anyway, I’ve talked my mother into driving me over to Willow Creek this afternoon. I’ll be there by two, and A.J. is coming, too. We’re both wearing our painting clothes and we’ll do anything—even the windows.”

  “You don’t have to, Phil,” Stevie began.

  “No, I was really a fink,” he said. “I made you a promise and then I broke it. I’ve been thinking about you and Carole slaving over those buckets of paint, and I felt just awful.”

  “So bad you couldn’t ski?” she asked. She couldn’t help herself.

  “The rain saw to that,” he said. “The whole vacation was a bust. We’d have done much better staying here and working with you. But I promise you, we’re there for you now—or we will be. I mean, I know it isn’t much at this point, what with Max getting back tomorrow, but maybe we can get a wall or two done. It’ll be a start.”

  “You don’t have to come,” Stevie said.

  “I know I don’t have to. I want to,” he told her.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Stevie said. “Really.”

  “I’m not worried. And we’ll both stay as long as you want.”

  “No, I mean you don’t have to,” Stevie said. “Some other people helped.”

  “Well, we can help, too,” he said.

  “There isn’t anything to do,” she told him.

  “We really want to help,” Phil said insistently. “What I did wasn’t fair to you.”

  “Thanks, Phil, but it’s just a tiny bit possible that I wasn’t exactly fair to you, either.”

  “You weren’t?”

  “Not totally,” she said. “See, what I hadn’t realized was that it might be possible to get a couple of other people to pitch in over here.”

  “How many people have been helping you?” he asked.

  Stevie glanced at her clipboard and the schedule that she still held in her hand. It took her a moment to count. “A dozen,” she said finally. “We usually had four working here at a time, plus Carole and me, so that makes six, in three shifts each day—sometimes people stayed for double shifts—so that was a dozen workers. Oh, and it would have gone faster if it weren’t for Dr. Faisal.”

  “Dr. Who?”

  “The orthodontist,” Stevie explained.

  “What?”

  “It’s complicated, Phil.”

  “It always is with you, Stevie.” He began to laugh a little.

  “Anyway, I’m pretty sure I overreacted when I was so angry with you.”

  “I’m sorry, too,” he said. Those were the words she’d been waiting to hear.

  “It’s okay, Phil. And it’s worked out okay, too. Wait’ll you see the place. We even painted the feed room!”

  “I think I’d like to see it,” said Phil.

  “Why don’t you come over next weekend and have a ride with us?”

  “I’ll be there—and I can’t wait,” he said.

  “Me either,” she answered truthfully.

  IF LISA THOUGHT the first part of her vacation had gone quickly, she was totally unprepared for how fast the rest of it went. The days were a whirl of volleyball, swims, delicious meals, rehearsals, and morning trail rides. She’d even seen her parents a couple of times—and each time they’d been as cheerful as the last. This vacation had definitely been good for the whole Atwood family.

  She’d spent more time with Tec, too, though not as much as she would have liked, and, she suspected, not as much as he would have liked, either. With her morning trail rides and her afternoon rehearsals, she’d missed a couple of trips he’d taken with the other kids. But that had still left ti
me for moonlight walks and swims, one more snorkeling picnic by themselves, and lots of time with the other kids. Lisa wasn’t finding that she liked most of them much better than she had at first, but she was getting used to them and they were getting used to her. She knew she’d never see most of them ever again, and that was fine, too.

  And now it was Saturday—her last day on San Felipe. Tonight was the performance. Since she had to be at the theater early, she’d left Tec at the beach to get ready and eat an early dinner. She hadn’t told him what she was up to, but she did tell him that she was about ready for his surprise and he should meet her at the talent show that night. That ought to entice him, she thought.

  Lisa got to the dining room early enough that most of the other occupants were families with young children, and she didn’t know any of them. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have friends to eat with; she wasn’t very hungry and wasn’t going to eat very much in any event. If she’d learned one thing about performing, it was that she shouldn’t do it on a full stomach. Nerves could cause butterflies, and butterflies could cause indigestion. That was the last thing she’d need tonight!

  She ate a banana and some toast and made her excuses to the other people at the table, who had barely noticed her presence anyway. She knew there would be a cast party after the show, and there would be plenty to eat and drink there—and it would be more fun eating with Tec, who could join her there, than with anyone else.

  As she walked toward the theater she spotted him in the lounge, where he was getting himself a soda at the bar. She slipped in and greeted him.

  “There you are!” he said. “Come join us.”

  “No, I’ve got to get going,” she told him. “Remember, I’ve got a surprise for you tonight.”

  “How could I forget a promise like that?” he asked, smiling that smile that melted her knees.

  “I’ll see you at the show, okay?”

  “Definitely,” he told her. “I’m looking forward to it.” And then his lips brushed her cheek before he returned to the circle where the other kids were waiting for him. For a moment, Lisa wondered how it was that she’d made it through all the years she’d lived so far without Tec Morrison.

  She waved at the others, wondering briefly what they’d think of her performance, and headed to the theater.

  They’d been called to get there at six-thirty for a final run-through. Some of the skits were still rougher than Lisa thought they ought to be, but she knew this was just for fun, and if some of the chorus members flubbed some acts, well, it didn’t matter. She also knew that she was determined not to flub anything herself.

  At last the run-through was done and it was time to get ready for the real thing. Lisa found her stack of costumes and put on the one for the barnyard song. Once she was in it, there was really nothing to do but wait. Actually, there was one other thing she could do, and she did it. She peeped out at the audience. Like most theaters, the resort theater, an enormous open-air auditorium, had a peephole so that those backstage could observe the house before and during a performance. Lisa looked through the hole and was surprised at how many people she saw. The place was practically full! Almost everyone staying at the resort must have been there for the show. Would there be enough seats? Would Tec have to stand?

  She squinted. Yes, there were her parents, happily looking for seats up at the front of the auditorium. There was no sign of Tec, but she suspected that he and the other kids in the group would be sitting more toward the back, and it was very hard to see that far, especially since the lights were dim back there. Lisa didn’t have a chance of recognizing Tec from this distance, dimples notwithstanding.

  And then it was time. The lights went out on the audience and on the stage.

  Jane went out, bowed for the applause, and announced the beginning of the talent show. The audience applauded again. The curtain went up.

  The first skit was the barnyard song. Everybody laughed and applauded. They were particularly fond of the cow and the horse, and they loved it when the rear end of the horse went in a different direction from the front end.

  That was one of the things about an informal talent show like this. Flubs would happen, and the audience would enjoy them. The audience liked the undersea skit, too, and laughed hard when the fish complained about how silly the visitors looked with their masks and snorkels. There were a couple of jokes about string bikinis that Lisa thought would hit home to at least one group in the audience!

  It was no surprise to Lisa that the audience loved the juggler. He was very good and had a funny patter to go along with his act. He was followed by the pianist, who played an amazing piece by Chopin, followed by some ragtime by Scott Joplin. Lisa would have liked to have watched that, but it was time for her to put on her Annie dress. She could hear the final strains of the rag and the wild applause of the audience.

  It wasn’t going to be easy to follow an act like that, but it was her turn. She felt every bit of churning in her stomach that she’d ever felt before a performance. It was worse than opening night for Annie. Lisa knew exactly what the difference was. Tec hadn’t been there that time. But he was out there now.

  She took a deep breath and walked out onstage, waiting for her cue.

  Jane announced her as “Miss Lisa Atwood, San Felipe’s own Annie!”

  The curtain rose and the spotlight came on.

  Jane played the introduction on the piano.

  Lisa’s mind became a total blank. Suddenly she didn’t know where she was, she didn’t know who she was, she had no idea what she was supposed to do, and she certainly didn’t know any words to say or tune to sing.

  And then the introduction was finished. She opened her mouth.

  “The sun’ll come out tomorrow!” she began automatically.

  It was all there, every word, every note, every gesture. There wasn’t a sound or a motion from the audience. They were stunned. Lisa’s eyes glanced past her parents, sitting so far forward that the stage lights illuminated them. Her mother’s eyes were filled with tears of pride. Her father just grinned.

  And farther back in the audience … Well, she couldn’t see Tec, but he could sure see her. Everybody in the room could see her. She knew it and she felt it. If there was one thing she’d learned performing, it was that a singer could tell when she held the audience. And she was holding them. They were even quieter for her than they had been for the piano player.

  “… a day awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!” she sang.

  There were two seconds of quiet and then the audience broke into wild applause. Some people stood up. Some stomped their feet. Lisa’s parents stood up, and her father shouted, “Bravo!” That was the kind of thing fathers were supposed to do, and Lisa was thrilled. She’d done an amazing job, and everybody in the audience thought she’d been singing for them. They were all wrong—except for one person. That performance had been for Tec. It was a performance he wouldn’t easily forget!

  Lisa could barely wipe the grin off her face as she headed backstage, rushing to her final costume change for the evening’s grand finale.

  It was all a blur and none of it seemed to matter very much after her solo, but it had to be done. She joined the rest of the kick line and they worked their way out onto the stage for a rousing rendition of “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” The audience clapped along with the music, which continued until Lisa thought she couldn’t kick one more time. And then they clapped some more and the kick line kicked some more.

  “Wonderful! You were all wonderful!” Jane congratulated the cast. She gave Lisa an extra-big hug. “Great job! Now go get changed and get ready for the party!”

  The party. Lisa had almost forgotten about that. She needed to go visit with her parents, then find Tec and invite him to the cast party. He’d love it, she was sure.

  Her parents were waiting by the stage door. They gave her giant hugs. Her mother was still crying and her father was still grinning, and both those things still made her feel good. She hugg
ed them back, but her eyes were scanning the crowd over their shoulders, looking for Tec. She didn’t see him.

  Her parents said they were meeting up with their bridge friends, and if Lisa wanted to join them …

  She explained about the cast party and told her parents she’d probably see them in the morning.

  “Of course you will,” said her father. “And pretty early, too. Our bus to the airport leaves at nine-thirty.”

  With that, they gave her a final hug and headed out to meet their friends. Her father’s words hung heavily. It reminded Lisa that the whole wonderful week was almost over. It was hard to believe and something she didn’t want to think about. And she didn’t have to think about it right then. First, she’d think about the cast party.

  She wandered through the milling crowd, hoping to find Tec. All around her people were shaking her hand, patting her back, and even giving her hugs.

  “Mildred, we’ll be able to say we heard this girl perform before she was famous,” one man told his wife, who shook her hand vigorously.

  “Thank you,” Lisa said. She didn’t actually think she was going to be famous enough for anyone to boast about, but it was sweet of him to put it that way.

  “You were great!”

  “Nice job!”

  “Thanks for a terrific performance,” came the accolades. Lisa answered each one and thanked them all.

  Where was Tec?

  Finally she was at the back of the auditorium, and there was still no sign of him. She followed the crowd, which was dispersing toward the lounge.

  And there he was, sitting pretty much where he had been the last time she’d seen him.

  “Hi there!” he greeted her warmly. “Where have you been?”

  It stopped her cold. Was he kidding? He must be kidding.

  “Right, like you didn’t see it,” she teased.

  “What?” he asked, genuine confusion on his face.

  Lisa was getting the idea that he wasn’t kidding. “The talent show,” she said. “Weren’t you there?”