High Stakes Read online

  Stevie rolled her eyes and sighed. Still, she couldn’t really be upset about Lisa’s decision. Maybe this means I still have to figure out what to do about Scott, she thought, turning her attention back to her painting as Lisa and Carole started chatting about the fund-raiser. But at least there’s a definite bright side. If Lisa can’t even stand the thought of one date with another guy, maybe that means she and Alex will be back together even sooner than I expected.

  Carole hit the spell-check command on her computer, sat back in her desk chair, and stretched. Whew, she thought. I can’t believe I’m almost finished. Thank goodness—once this paper is behind me, maybe I’ll feel like this whole stupid incident is behind me, too.

  She glanced around her room, her gaze lingering briefly on the framed photo on the table beside her bed. The snapshot showed her horse, Starlight, leaning his big bay head on her shoulder as the two of them stood in Pine Hollow’s back paddock. It was one of Carole’s favorite photos, because it captured the gelding’s gentle, curious personality perfectly. She also loved it because, to her, it summed up the reasons she loved horses and planned to dedicate her life to them. Some people didn’t understand how she could feel that way, but to Carole, planning her life around horses was as natural as breathing.

  Then again, some people do understand, she thought, an image of Ben popping into her mind. At least I think they do. About how I feel about horses, if nothing else …

  She sighed, wondering why thinking about Ben always made her feel so mixed up and anxious. Why did things between them have to be so complicated? She wondered what it would be like to know how he felt about her. To know for sure that he cared about her as much as she did about him, to be in a real relationship with him—a romance, just like her friends had with their boyfriends—instead of always having to wonder if he even liked her at all.

  It would be nice if Ben could act more like a regular guy sometimes, she thought wistfully. Then maybe we would already be, well—we could be making plans to go to the CARL fund-raiser together. Like on a real date. She could picture it now: The two of them would meet at the stable for a quick ride. Then they would change into nice clothes and drive over to CARL, where they would dance for a while, then slip away to visit with the animals in the shelter and steal a little private time …

  She blushed, banishing the image almost as soon as it came. Maybe, just maybe, things were starting to look sort of interesting between her and Ben. They were talking again, and Ben had even shared a few things about himself and his past. That was a pretty rare occurrence, and Carole couldn’t help taking it as a sign that he thought she was special, at least a little. But it was a big leap from there to being an actual couple, dancing and going out on dates and hanging out with their friends at the pizza place or the mall.

  Carole sighed. She couldn’t imagine that. Ben at the mall? she thought wryly. Yeah, right. That will happen at about the same time Starlight starts doing my algebra homework for me.

  Thinking of homework reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing. Focusing on the computer screen, she saw that it was blinking the word hitsory at her. With a grimace, Carole corrected it to history. Then she tapped the key to continue the spell-check search.

  I guess maybe that’s my problem, she thought. If I can’t even imagine being with Ben, how is it ever going to happen? She frowned slightly. I mean, if Stevie liked a guy, she would probably just march right up to him and ask him out. Why can’t I do that? I may tell myself it’s because it would scare Ben too much, but is that really it? Or is it that it would scare me too much?

  She didn’t like that thought. But what could she do? There was no way she was going to turn herself into Stevie. What would she do—walk up to Ben, tap him on the shoulder, and say, “Hey, good-looking. Want to be my hot date this Friday night?”

  Suddenly remembering something Stevie had said earlier that day, Carole sat up straight in her chair. Still, who says it has to be some big romantic date? she thought. There’s no law that says I can’t invite Ben to come along to the CARL thing just as a friend. After all, he loves animals, right? He would probably think this is as great a cause as I do. And I could give him my free ticket. I’m sure if I explained that Ben doesn’t have any money, Dad would buy me another one.…

  She actually wasn’t sure about that at all. While her father might not mind making a donation to CARL, he had been a little skeptical about her request to attend the fund-raiser. He’d agreed after some pleading, but Carole definitely didn’t want to test that decision too much.

  Well, maybe Lisa could hit up her dad for money for the third ticket, she thought uncertainly. Ever since the divorce, he buys her just about anything she wants. That way Ben and I could use the free tickets, and everything would be cool.

  “How’s it going, honey?” Carole’s father’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

  Glancing over, she saw him standing in the doorway to her room. “Pretty good,” she replied, quickly returning her attention to the computer. “I want to read through it one more time, but I think I’m just about done.” Her history teacher had assigned the research paper as a way for Carole to help make up for cheating on that test, and Colonel Hanson had been following his daughter’s progress closely.

  “Good.” Colonel Hanson smiled, looking pleased. “Do you have time for a quick snack break? I just made popcorn.”

  “Sure.” Carole had had a very close relationship with her father ever since her mother had died when Carole was younger. They had become almost as much friends as just father and daughter. But their friendship had been on rocky ground after the truth came out about what had happened during that history test. It had only improved once Carole had really figured out just why her father was so upset and owned up to what she’d done without trying to make excuses.

  Of course, that’s nothing to the turnaround in Dad’s mood since those PSAT scores came, Carole thought as she followed her father down the stairs. Dad acts like acing that one test was more awesome than winning the Grand National and making the U.S. Equestrian Team all rolled into one.

  Soon the two of them were sitting at the kitchen table, glasses of cold soda and a large bowl of buttery popcorn between them. “I’m glad you’re taking this make-up assignment seriously, sweetheart,” Colonel Hanson said, reaching into the bowl and grabbing a generous handful of popcorn. “I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks.” Carole took a sip of her soda.

  “Not just for finishing your paper early,” Colonel Hanson went on. “I’m also proud of the way you’ve learned from your mistake. You’re really doing a great job of getting your life back in balance.”

  “What do you mean?” Carole asked uncertainly, glancing up with her hand halfway to the popcorn bowl.

  Her father smiled fondly at her. “I mean, I’ve always been proud of you for how hard you work at your riding and at taking such good care of Starlight, you know that. But now, I really like seeing you putting your best efforts into other things, too. You’ve been doing a terrific job with Hometown Hope—your vice principal raved about what a hard worker you are when I ran into her at the supermarket a couple of days ago. And don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you’ve been throwing yourself into getting CARL ready for their fund-raiser—I know it’s not just because you’re looking forward to the party, either.” He smiled and winked as he reached for a napkin to wipe the butter off his fingers. “I’ve also been noticing that your homework has been getting done well ahead of time lately, and I’m sure your next report card is going to reflect your efforts to do better on your schoolwork. And of course, there are your PSAT scores—I’m especially glad that you took that test seriously enough to do so well on it. If you do that well on the SATs in the spring, it will mean a lot of exciting choices for your future.”

  Carole took a few pieces of popcorn and tossed them into her mouth, chewing busily to keep herself from having to answer for a moment. She wasn’t sure how to feel about what her father w
as saying. On the one hand, she was always happy when he was pleased with her. However, it almost sounded like he was saying she was better off focusing on stuff outside the stable, which didn’t make sense to her at all.

  He knows how much horses mean to me, she thought, feeling a little confused. He knows I want to spend my life working with them. How are the SATs going to affect that, really? All I need to do is score well enough to get into a decent school with a good equine studies program, not win a Rhodes scholarship or something.

  Still, maybe he just needed a little gentle reminder. “That reminds me, Dad,” she said tentatively. “Um, speaking of the future, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about what I want to do when I finish school.”

  “Oh?” Colonel Hanson grabbed the salt shaker and added a few shakes to the bowl. “That’s nice, sweetie. But I don’t think you need to start worrying about it too much just yet. You’ve still got a year and a half of high school to go, and you’ll have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do while you’re in college getting a good, solid liberal arts education to start you off right.”

  This time Carole could hardly believe her ears. What was her father trying to say? She’d never hidden the fact that she wanted to major in equine studies in college, just as Denise McCaskill, the stable manager at Pine Hollow, had done. But her father seemed to have forgotten all about that. Did he really think she was going to spend four years in college just for the sake of studying the same dull stuff she was learning in high school?

  Before she could figure out how to respond, the phone rang. “I’ll get it,” Colonel Hanson said cheerfully, licking his fingers and hopping out of his chair to grab the phone off the counter. “Hello?” he said into the receiver.

  Carole was so bewildered by her father’s comments about her future that she hardly noticed what he was saying into the phone until she heard him mention her name. She glanced up curiously and saw that he was smiling broadly, looking like a cat who had just swallowed a particularly tasty stable rat.

  Who could that be? she wondered distractedly. He wouldn’t be looking so surprised if it was just Stevie or someone. Maybe it’s one of our relatives calling from Minnesota.

  “Of course, she’s right here,” her father was telling the person on the other end of the line. “I’m sure she’d love to talk with you. I’m afraid you’ll have to keep it short, though—she’s supposed to be grounded. Normally she’s not allowed to take phone calls at all, but I’ll make an exception since this is a very special case.”

  “Who is it?” Carole asked as he held out the phone.

  Her father winked. “You’ll just have to wait and find out for yourself.”

  More puzzled than ever, Carole put the phone to her ear. “Hello?” she said uncertainly.

  “Hi, Carole,” the voice on the other end of the line replied. A strangely familiar voice, but one that Carole couldn’t quite place. “Guess who?”

  “Umm …” Carole searched her mind desperately. It was a male voice, young—but who? The answer tugged at the corners of her memory, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.

  The voice laughed. “Guess that isn’t really fair, but I couldn’t resist putting you on the spot. It’s Cam.”

  “Cam?” Carole repeated blankly. Suddenly she gasped. “Cam! Is that really you?”

  More laughter bubbled through the phone. “It’s me,” Cam said, sounding amused and delighted. “Surprised?”

  “Totally!” Carole couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t heard from Cam Nelson for years. Way back in junior high, the two of them had met at a horse show and become good friends, and maybe even a little more—Carole had invited Cam to a few dances and parties and other events at Pine Hollow, and he had even become an honorary member of a group that Carole and her best friends had formed, which they’d called The Saddle Club. Carole had often wondered what might have happened if Cam’s family hadn’t moved to Los Angeles a few years earlier. Maybe if he’d been around for the past few years, Carole wouldn’t have been the only one of her friends who had never had a serious boyfriend. Maybe she wouldn’t have felt so left out when Stevie and Lisa talked about relationship problems or where their boyfriends would be taking them on Saturday night. Maybe she wouldn’t have had to wonder what a real romance was like.…

  “Carole?” Cam said, interrupting her thoughts. “Are you still there? You didn’t faint or anything, did your?”

  “I’m here,” Carole replied quickly, realizing that she had been silent for several seconds. “Conscious and everything. I’m just kind of stunned, I guess.”

  “In a good way, I hope,” Cam said lightly. “This is supposed to be a good surprise.”

  “Oh, it is!” Carole assured him hastily. “Really. I—I just can’t believe it’s you. Where are you calling from?”

  “That’s the best part,” Cam replied. “I’m calling from right here in Virginia. Fifteen Strawberry Hill Lane, to be exact.”

  Carole wrinkled her forehead, confused. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Isn’t that your old address over in Arden Hills? Are you visiting your old house?”

  Cam laughed. “Nope. We moved back! My dad got transferred back to D.C., and when my folks called the real estate agent, they found out our old place was up for sale. It was fate!” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “Just like I think it may be fate that I’m moving back here, close to you.”

  Carole wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Oh,” she said lamely. “Um, this is such a surprise! I can’t believe you really moved back.”

  “Me either. The best part is, you’re still here, too. I can’t wait to see you again. So when can we get together?”

  “Oh,” Carole said again. “Um, like my dad said, I’m sort of grounded right now. I don’t think I—” Noticing that her father was waving for her attention from his seat at the kitchen table, Carole cut herself off. “Could you hold on a sec?”.

  “As long as you need,” Cam replied promptly.

  Carole covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “What is it, Dad?”

  “Pardon me for eavesdropping, sweetie,” Colonel Hanson said with a smile. “But can I deduce that young Cam wants to see you?”

  Carole nodded. “Don’t worry. I was just about to tell him it’ll have to wait until after New Year’s.” That was when her grounding ended.

  “Well, I think we might be able to make an exception,” her father said, still smiling. “After all, this is a special case. Go ahead and tell Cam you can meet him tomorrow afternoon if he likes—after you finish your work with Hometown Hope.”

  Carole couldn’t believe her ears. Her father had been a member of the Marine Corps for many years before his recent retirement, and even though he was an easygoing person most of the time, he did believe in discipline. Carole couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone back on a punishment, and now he had done it twice—first letting her ride again because of her PSAT scores, and now this. “Really?” she asked, just to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood. “I can see Cam tomorrow?”

  “Yes,” Colonel Hanson said. “I always liked Cam. I’m glad that he’s moved back to the area.” He winked. “And I think it would be cruel and unusual punishment to make you wait weeks to see him. So go ahead, have fun.”

  “Thanks, Dad!” Carole uncovered the phone. “Cam? Dad just said it’s okay for us to get together. How about tomorrow? I’m volunteering over at CARL—that’s the animal shelter here in Willow Creek, remember?—but I’ll be finished around six.”

  “Perfect,” Cam said immediately. “How about if I pick you up there? Maybe we can grab something to eat and catch up.”

  “Okay. I can’t wait to see you again.”

  “That goes triple for me,” Cam replied. “I always thought you were the cutest girl in Virginia, you know. I can’t wait to see how much cuter you must be now that you’re all grown up.”

  Carole gulped. Cam had always been nice and polite, b
ut he’d never said things like that to her before. “Okay,” she said after a brief pause. “Um, I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

  She hung up the phone. Noticing that her father was gazing at her expectantly, she smiled weakly. “I, uh, just remembered a footnote I forgot to add to my paper. I’d better go do it while I’m thinking about it.”

  She raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs, wondering why the thought of seeing Cam again after all this time made her feel so nervous and flustered. She was still stunned at the comment he’d made about thinking she was cute. It wasn’t the kind of thing she was used to hearing from guys, and she wasn’t quite sure how to take it. Especially from Cam.

  I guess people change as they grow up, she told herself as she walked into her room and shut the door. I’m not the same person I was back when Cam knew me. And I guess he’s not quite the same person I knew then, either.

  She didn’t know if she liked that thought or not. But there wasn’t much she could do about it, except hope that she would like the new Cam just as much as she’d liked the old one.

  TWO

  “Hi, Stevie. What are you up to?”

  Stevie glanced up from prying a clod of dirt out of the heel of one of her good riding boots and saw Callie Forester smiling at her from the doorway of Pine Hollow’s student locker room. “Hey, Callie,” she said, letting the boot fall into her lap and pushing a wavy strand of dark blond hair out of her eyes. “Just puttering around, I guess. Belle’s having her dinner, and Phil’s picking me up here in a little while.” She rolled her eyes. “Good thing, too. My darling brother disappeared with the car hours ago without bothering to let anyone know where he was going or when he’d be back. So I’m stuck with my own two feet.” She snorted. “Brothers. You can’t live with ’em, and you can’t conk ’em on the head and toss ’em in the river. Not if anyone’s watching, anyway.”

  Callie chuckled. “Hey, I’ve been there,” she said. “Scott’s not bad as brothers go, but he can still be a major pain sometimes.”