It was tempting to take that and run with it—maybe hint to George that there was more than just a silly assignment between her and Corey after all. That pretending to be married for a week had brought their true feelings for each other to the surface.
But she banished the idea as soon as it entered her head. It wouldn’t work, she thought, leaning forward to retrieve her riding gloves out of her cubby. Everyone, including George, knows that Corey already has a girlfriend. Besides, it would be the coward’s way out. And I’m no coward.
She realized that she’d been acting like one lately, though. And it had to stop.
“Hey, you guys,” Lisa said, breaking Callie’s concentration. “What are everybody’s plans for this afternoon? How about a trail ride to celebrate the start of the weekend?”
“I wish I could,” Carole said reluctantly. “But I really think I’d better stick around here today. I don’t want to be even one second late getting home tonight. Not after yesterday.”
Callie shot her a sympathetic glance. Before Stevie’s entrance, Carole had been telling them about her near disastrous evening. Then Callie turned to Lisa and shook her head regretfully. “Not today,” she said, thinking about all the trail training she wished she could do that day. “Scott and I need to head out in a little while, too. Dad wants us at some fund-raising thing tonight, and we’ve got to get ready. I’ll be lucky to get in a half-hour session with Barq in the schooling ring.” She couldn’t help wishing, not for the first time, that she could just tell her father that she had better things to do than spend a perfectly good Friday night smiling blandly as some drunken senator or aide told dull stories about his latest junket to the Caribbean.
She sighed. If she was ever going to rebel, it certainly wasn’t going to be today. She’d already set up a few appointments for that weekend to check out horse prospects. There was no way she was going to make her parents mad now.
Lisa looked disappointed. “Stevie? How about you?”
“Can’t, sorry,” Stevie said distractedly. She was flipping through the Sentinel again, her hair falling forward into her face. “Phil’s meeting me here in a few minutes. He’s taking me out to celebrate.”
“Oh well.” Lisa shrugged and sighed. “Maybe I should head home, anyway. I ought to check on Mom.…”
Callie noticed that Lisa didn’t press George to come along on her proposed trail ride, and for once she was glad. As the others got up to leave, Callie glanced at him. “Hold on, George,” she said. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure!” he agreed, his face lighting up. “What is it, Callie?”
Callie glanced around. Stevie had already rushed out of the room, chatting excitedly with Carole. Lisa was pulling on her jacket near the door. The only one still seated was Scott.
Callie shot her brother a meaningful glance. Scott blinked, looking quickly at George. Then he gave her an almost imperceptible nod. “Heading to the parking lot, Lisa?” he asked smoothly, hopping to his feet. “I’ll walk you out. I want to grab something to read while I wait for Callie to finish her ride.”
Soon Callie and George had the room to themselves. Callie cleared her throat, gathering her thoughts. This time, she didn’t want to leave any room for misinterpretation. “I want to explain something to you,” she said carefully, standing up to face George directly. “It’s about us being friends.”
George shrugged, his smile a little uncertain now. “What? I thought we already talked about that.”
“We did, but I’m not sure we covered everything,” Callie said. “I can only keep on being friends with you if you can accept that that’s all we’ll ever be. Just friends. Nothing more.” George opened his mouth to answer, but Callie continued before he could speak. “And I know you’re going to say that you understand that, but I’m not sure you really do. That’s why I think we need to take a break from our friendship for a while.”
“What?” George protested, looking horrified. “What do you mean? We don’t have to do anything drastic. I told you, I’m sorry for the way I acted the other day. What more do you want?”
Callie shrugged. “I’m sorry, George,” she said firmly. “I just think this is for the best. I want us to keep our distance from each other for a while—maybe a couple of weeks. Then we’ll see.”
George grabbed her arm. “Come on, Callie,” he pleaded. “We don’t have to do this, really.”
“Yes, I think we do.” Callie could see that this wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d hoped. She should have known that George wouldn’t give in unless she forced the issue. “And to prove how serious I am about this, I think maybe I’d better leave Pine Hollow right now. I’m sure once you’ve had a chance to think about this, you’ll see that it’s the best way.”
She turned and hurried from the room, half expecting George to follow. But he didn’t. Good, she thought with relief, heading across the entryway toward the door. Maybe that means he’s finally catching on.
With only a small pang of regret for the fact that now she wouldn’t be able to train at all that day, Callie hurried across the stable yard to the parking lot. Her brother was there, leaning against the hood of his car, chatting with Lisa.
“Ready to go?” Callie asked briskly, already reaching for the passenger’s side door. “We don’t want to be late.”
Scott looked startled, but he nodded. With a quick good-bye to Lisa, he hopped into the car and turned the key in the ignition.
Lisa felt a little forlorn as she watched Scott and Callie drive off. She sighed, fishing for her keys. What now? she wondered.
She didn’t really feel like going home and sitting around watching her mother mope. But what else could she do? Her friends were all busy. She was all alone.
I guess I should get used to the feeling, she thought, self-pity washing over her as she climbed into her car. Feeling alone. Being alone. Without Alex.
She sighed again, hating how weak and sad and pathetic she felt. Alex had become such a constant in her life that she really wasn’t sure how to go about things without him. For the past year, no matter how confusing and complicated the rest of her life had been at times, he’d always been there, loving her, supporting her. And now she had banished him. Had it been the right decision? She still wasn’t entirely sure. But she’d made the choice, and now she had to stick with it.
If we were meant to be together, we will be again someday, she reassured herself. Someday soon. After all, what’s one short month compared to a whole lifetime together? She started her car engine. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with myself in the meantime.
Carole had Starlight exercised, cooled down, groomed, and settled in his stall with fifteen minutes to spare. Glancing at her watch, she smiled and headed toward the student locker room, planning to leave a note in Rachel Hart’s cubby so that the younger girl would know that Starlight was all hers for the whole weekend.
I’ll miss him, Carole thought, shooting her horse one more wistful glance before turning the corner at the end of the aisle. But at least now I know I can come back in just a few days.
She still could hardly believe that things had worked out so well with her father. Not only was he still letting her ride four days a week, but he’d been so happy about how she’d taken responsibility for her actions the night before that he was talking about letting her start her job again, part-time at least, as soon as her probation was over.
Carole couldn’t wait, though the idea of starting work again made her think about her intention to settle on a career path. She still wasn’t much closer to making a real decision, although she’d managed to eliminate a few possibilities, like being a vet.
She was still musing about that when she looked up and saw Ben walking across the entryway toward her. It was the first time she’d seen him that day. “Uh, hi,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward. She wanted to thank him for what he’d done the night before, but she wasn’t sure how to do it without scaring him away as usual.
&
nbsp; For a second she thought he was just going to nod at her and keep moving. But at the last possible moment, he stopped short and cleared his throat. “Hi,” he said. “Uh, things okay? With your dad?”
“Yes.” Carole smiled tentatively. “Thanks to you. I really appreciate what you did. You know, speaking up like that.”
Ben shrugged as if it had been nothing. But then he coughed and shot her a sidelong glance, meeting her gaze momentarily before his eyes skittered away again and settled back on the ground in front of him. “I should be the one saying thanks,” he said gruffly. “You know. The way you covered for me.”
“Oh!” Carole smiled again. “No problem. I mean, you’re welcome.”
“No, really.” Ben was still staring intently at his feet. His voice was so low that Carole had to lean forward a little to hear him. “I was late. If you hadn’t been here … Well. Thanks. You know.”
Carole shrugged, a little overwhelmed by the whole conversation. “Sure,” she said. “You’re welcome. But it was no big deal, really—I’m sure you couldn’t help being late.”
“Yeah.” Ben shuffled his feet. “Well. My niece—you know. I have to …” He paused, as if struggling to find the words. “She doesn’t really have anyone else. Just me.”
Carole nodded. She knew she should probably just let it drop before she said too much and messed things up between them yet again. But her curiosity got the better of her. “How come?” she blurted out. “Er, I mean, your grandfather …”
“He’s been sick.” Ben didn’t elaborate, just shrugged slightly. “And my sister … er, Zani’s mother … Well. She’s, you know, pretty much out of the picture.”
This time Carole resisted the urge to press him for more details. She couldn’t quite believe that he’d said so much already. “Oh. Okay.”
“That’s why … uh …” Ben bit his lip and glanced at her again, his dark eyes anxious. “You know. I’ve kind of been, well, acting sort of, er—”
At that moment the door of the indoor ring swung open and a crowd of chattering, laughing intermediate riders poured out, leading their horses. Carole winced, wishing she could turn back time and bar the door. Just when Ben had seemed to be on the verge of saying something important … maybe even something about that kiss …
But it was too late. With a mumbled farewell, Ben hurried off toward the tack room, leaving Carole standing alone in the swirl of activity as the younger riders streamed past her.
But despite the untimely interruption, she still couldn’t help feeling optimistic about where things stood. It wasn’t exactly a full-fledged conversation or anything, like the kind two actual friends would have, she thought, staring in the direction Ben had gone. And maybe he still hasn’t so much as acknowledged that kiss. Or a lot of other things.
Suddenly remembering her curfew, she turned and headed across the entryway, dodging students and horses as she went. But she couldn’t help pausing for one last glance behind her as she reached the door.
Still, it was something, she thought with a slight smile, picturing the way Ben’s eyes had met hers, if only for a moment. And maybe, just maybe, it’s at least some kind of start.
Turn the page to continue reading from the Pine Hollow series
ONE
“Do you think Mom and Dad would kill me if I came home with another dog?” Stevie Lake asked, stopping in front of a roomy cage where a medium-sized black-and-white dog was leaping against the wire door, panting and whining eagerly at her.
“Yes,” Lisa Atwood replied with a smile. “I think they probably would.”
Stevie sighed. “Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed, putting her palm against the wire so the excited dog could sniff at it. “I can already hear them: ‘Sure, Stevie, the dog can stay. He can have your room.’ Then I’d be here at CARL myself, hoping some nice family would come and take me home. And somehow, I don’t think most people would consider a sixteen-year-old girl the perfect family pet. Not even a totally wonderful and talented one like me.”
Lisa grinned, her grayish blue eyes twinkling. “Come on. I smell paint up ahead. Let’s go find Carole.”
“Okay.” With one last glance at the friendly dog, Stevie followed her friend down the wide hallway. On either side of her were more cages, almost all of them occupied. Dogs of every shape and size pressed themselves eagerly against the wire or barked as the girls walked by.
“Wow,” Lisa commented, raising her voice to make herself heard over the racket. Pushing back her straight blond hair, she covered her ears with her hands. “And I thought my old dog, Dolly, could be noisy sometimes!”
Stevie didn’t answer. In fact, she’d barely heard her friend’s comment. She was staring at a dog that had just come in from the outdoor run that adjoined its pen. “Check it out!” she exclaimed sorrowfully, hurrying forward for a better look. “This one looks just like Bear!” She could hardly believe how much the strange dog resembled her family’s golden retriever, despite the fact that this dog’s silky coat was badly in need of a brushing. However, when she took a step forward, pressing her hand to the wire as she’d done with the black-and-white dog, Stevie saw that there was another difference as well. Instead of racing forward to get acquainted like the other dog had, or ambling slowly over for a lazy sniff, as Bear would have done, this dog hung back warily. Its fringed tail wagged hesitantly a couple of times, then it backed away and ducked through the door to the outside run again.
Lisa was watching. “Sad,” she said quietly. “Looks like it wants to make friends, but it’s too scared to try.”
“Hey! There you are,” a familiar voice said from the end of the hall. “I was wondering why the dogs were barking all of a sudden.”
Glancing up, Stevie saw Carole Hanson smiling at them, a paintbrush in her hand and a smudge of pale yellow paint just above one dark brown eye. Dressed in baggy overalls and a red turtleneck, her springy black curls pulled back into a loose braid at the nape of her neck, she looked downright adorable. Stevie didn’t say so, though—Carole could be shy about taking compliments, especially ones regarding her appearance. “Hey, we told you we’d stop by and help out,” Stevie commented instead. “So here we are, ready and willing.”
“Come on back.” Carole gestured to the room behind her. “Most of the group’s outside raking the paddock, but a few of us are getting started on the playroom.”
“The playroom?” Stevie wrinkled her brow. She’d been to the County Animal Rescue League—a local shelter commonly known as CARL—several times before, but not recently. “What’s that? Don’t tell me they keep stray kids here, too. I thought I was kidding about that.” She shot Lisa a wry smile.
Carole laughed. “Nope. But listening to all the stories people have about this place, it sounds like they’ve had just about every other kind of critter at one time or another. Even horses.”
“I know,” Lisa said, biting her lip. “There was a horse here the first time we ever came. Remember?”
Stevie nodded. She had never actually seen the horse Lisa was talking about, but she still remembered how upset her friend had been when the poor, abused animal had died despite the best efforts of the volunteer vets at CARL. We were all upset, Stevie thought, glancing from one of her best friends to the other. But what else would you expect from the three horse-crazy girls we were then? She smiled slightly. Not that we’re really that different today, when you get right down to it. It was their common love of horses and riding that had brought the three of them together in the first place back in junior high. Now that they were in high school—Stevie and Carole were juniors; Lisa was a senior—they were as close as ever. Maybe they didn’t spend quite as much time hanging out at Pine Hollow Stables as they once had, but horses were still a very important part of their lives.
That was especially true of Carole. Of the three of them, she had always been the most serious about horses and riding. Up until recently, Carole had still spent every moment she could at the stable. She’d even taken a part-
time job as stable hand. But all that had changed when Carole, who was normally one of the most honest and straightforward people Stevie knew, had cheated on a test at school. That had been enough to get her grounded for more than a month—no phone calls, no TV, and most important of all, no riding. Stevie had been as surprised as everyone else when Carole’s father, Colonel Hanson, had partially lifted that ban because Carole had scored very well on the PSATs. Now she was allowed to ride a few times per week, but the rest of the punishment still stood.
“So this is the playroom, huh?” Stevie said as Carole led the way into a small square room just beyond the dog area. Stevie glanced around curiously. Two men in their late twenties were in the doorway on the opposite side, carefully marking off the door frame with masking tape. “You still haven’t told us what it’s for.”
“Duh,” Lisa commented, gesturing to a couple of wire exercise pens that had been folded up and stacked against the far wall. “It must be where people can come to get acquainted with the animals they’re thinking about adopting. Right?” She glanced at Carole for confirmation.
Carole nodded. “You got it. People can bring a dog or cat in and hang out for a while to see if it’s the pet for them. It’s quieter and more peaceful than the holding rooms, so it’s easier to get to know each other in here.”
“Oh, yeah.” Stevie shrugged sheepishly. “I guess that is kind of obvious. But hey, I haven’t been here in a long time. Just call me Ms. Short-Term Memory.”
“That’s exactly why CARL has its holiday fundraiser party every December,” Carole said, dipping her paintbrush into a large can of yellow paint. As a further condition of her punishment, Carole had been spending most of her free time lately volunteering with Hometown Hope, a group that fixed up run-down houses and other buildings and sometimes built new houses for poor families. That week they were sprucing up the grounds and buildings at CARL. “I mean, it’s not just a fun way to raise money. It’s also a way to remind people in the community that the shelter is here, and that it can use their help and support all year long.”
Back in the Saddle Page 18
