Holiday Horse (6 page)

Carole bit her lip. She couldn’t stand the suspense. After all The Saddle Club had done, were Max and Deborah going to say no?

Stevie obviously thought so. “Listen,” she said, “I don’t care what arguments you have against this. We think—”

Max and Deborah didn’t let her finish. They both spoke up at once. “We’ll take it!” they said quickly.

“… 
AND
I
MISS YOU
, too,” Stevie said. “I’ll talk to you in an hour.” She hung up the phone.

It was shortly after six
P.M
. on New Year’s Eve. Stevie and Phil had just completed the first of their hourly phone calls. They were careful to keep the call to just a few minutes so that their parents wouldn’t get upset about the long-distance charges. But it was better than nothing, Stevie reminded herself.

She glanced at her watch. It had stopped at four-thirty that morning. “It’s a good thing Phil offered to make the first call,” she muttered. She hurried into the kitchen and checked the clock on the microwave oven. She set and wound her watch, then went out to the front hall,
where her overnight bag and sleeping bag were waiting.

Opening the hall closet, Stevie started to grab her warmest down coat. It was colder than ever that night, and even though Pine Hollow was only a short walk away, Stevie knew she would need to bundle up.

But her hand paused inches from the coat. She had just spotted something else in the closet. It was Phil’s favorite pro sports team jacket. He had left it at Stevie’s house one day about a month ago, and she’d forgotten to return it. Seeing it hanging there suddenly made her miss Phil more than ever. Florida seemed very far away.

On an impulse, Stevie pulled the bright green-and-yellow jacket off its hanger and slipped it on. It was a bit big on her, but she liked the way it felt. It wasn’t nearly as warm as her other coat, but she decided that didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be spending much time outdoors tonight. And this would be one more way of helping her pretend that she and Phil were spending the holiday together.

The buzzing of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts. “Uh-oh,” she muttered. “The invasion of the creeps is starting.”

Chad raced into the hall and shoved past her to get to the door. “I thought you were leaving,” he tossed back over his shoulder as he swung the door open.

“Don’t worry,” Stevie said. She stood to one side as
several members of Chad’s soccer team jostled their way inside, complaining about the cold. “I was just on my way out.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and hurried through the door a split second before Chad slammed it shut.

Stevie almost turned back for her warm jacket when she felt the first blast of icy wind hit her. But she couldn’t stand the thought of going back inside with Chad and his buddies. She wrapped her arms around herself and broke into a jog to keep warm as she headed down the driveway and turned in the direction of Pine Hollow.

As she hurried along the streets that separated her house from the stable, Stevie thought about the evening ahead. She couldn’t wait to start The Saddle Club’s official New Year’s Eve sleepover. She couldn’t wait to talk about Britt and her surprise horse. She couldn’t wait to talk to Phil on the phone. Her cold face broke into a mischievous grin. She also couldn’t wait to start making prank calls to her brother’s party. Ideas were already percolating in her mind.

Before long, the familiar buildings of Pine Hollow came into view. Stevie put on an extra burst of speed. Max and Deborah’s house was on a hill beyond the stable, but Stevie figured she had a few minutes before she had to be there. First she would stop in to wish Belle a happy New Year.

She swung open the door and sighed in relief as the
warm, heated air inside the stable met her. Closing the door carefully behind her, she dropped her things against the wall and walked toward Belle’s stall.

Halfway there, she ran into Max. He was still wearing his work clothes—a pair of dusty jeans and a worn flannel shirt.

“I hope you’re not planning to wear that to the restaurant tonight,” Stevie said.

Max glanced at his watch. “At this rate, I’m not sure I’ll be able to go tonight.”

Stevie’s jaw dropped. “What!” she exclaimed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Max’s face looked set and anxious. “What can I do?” he said. “Joanne Lynn was supposed to stop by and drop off a check for Britt’s first few lessons. But she hasn’t shown up yet.”

“And?” Stevie prompted him.

Max shrugged. “And nothing,” he said. “Isn’t that enough? I can’t reach her on the phone, and Red has already left for the night. And in weather like this, I’d hate to think of her driving all the way out here and—”

Stevie didn’t let him finish. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said firmly. She hurried back down the aisle to the entrance. Unzipping her overnight bag, she dug through its contents. Soon she found what she was looking for—a pen and a pad of paper.

“Watch this,” she said.

In large letters, she wrote, “Ms. Lynn: When you get here, please come to the house up the hill.”

She held it up for Max to see. “Okay?” she said. “I think she can handle that. And I think Carole, Lisa, and I can handle taking a check for you.”

Max stared at the note for a moment. Then he smiled. “I guess you can,” he admitted, rubbing his eyes. “Sorry. I must be more tired than I thought.”

“That’s why you need to get up to the house and change clothes right now,” Stevie said, shooing him toward the door. “You need to relax for at least one evening. And so does your wife. Now scoot. Or we may decide to spend Ms. Lynn’s check ourselves, just to teach you a lesson.”

Max gave her a dirty look, but he grabbed his coat and raced out of the building without another word.

He had hardly left when the door opened again, letting in another cold blast of wind. Carole and Lisa hurried through the doorway.

“Brrr! It’s cold out there!” Lisa exclaimed.

Carole smiled when she saw Stevie. “There you are,” she said. “I called your house to see if you wanted a ride. Dad drove me here, and he stopped to pick up Lisa on the way. Chad said you’d already left. He sounded pretty happy about it, too.”

Stevie rolled her eyes. “That’s exactly why I was in such a hurry to get out of there,” she said. “But never
mind that.” She quickly filled her friends in on her recent encounter with Max.

Lisa turned to Carole. “See? I told you I saw someone running up the hill.”

“I couldn’t tell,” Carole said. “My eyeballs were frozen just walking here from the car.” She looked at her watch. “I want to check on Starlight before we go up to the house, okay?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Stevie agreed.

A few minutes later, satisfied that their horses were warm and comfortable, the girls left the stable, and Lisa and Carole raced across the grassy, tree-dotted lawn that lay between them and the Regnery home. Stevie paused just long enough to attach her note firmly to the latch outside the stable door. She checked to make sure it wouldn’t blow away, then ran after her friends. She caught up just as they jumped the three steps leading to the porch and rang the bell.

The door flew open within seconds. “Come on in,” Deborah greeted them. “You must be frozen.”

The girls obeyed. They set their bags down and stared at Deborah.

“Wow,” Carole said.

“Ditto,” Stevie agreed, and Lisa nodded.

Deborah looked beautiful. She was wearing a silky chocolate brown dress, and her hair was swept up on top of her head. She had applied just enough subtle makeup to flatter her even features and clear, pale skin.

“Thanks,” Deborah said, smiling at them. She looked more relaxed than Carole could remember her looking in months. “Come on in. Maxi is in the living room in her playpen.”

Max came down the stairs as the girls followed Deborah into the living room. His hair was damp and he was still knotting his tie. But he, too, looked more relaxed and festive already.

He smiled at The Saddle Club. “Just in time,” he said. He slipped an arm around Deborah’s waist and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Ready? We’d better get going or we’ll be late.”

Deborah nodded. She went to the playpen, where Maxi was sucking on one of her stuffed horse’s ears. “Good-bye, sweetie,” she crooned. She grabbed the baby and picked her up, hugging her tight. “You’ll be good for the girls, won’t you, Maxi?”

“I’m sure she will,” Lisa said. “Don’t worry about a thing. Just have a good time.” She slipped off her coat and reached for the baby.

Deborah reluctantly handed her over. “Okay,” she said. “But if you have any problems, the number of the restaurant is stuck to the refrigerator. I also wrote it on the pad by the upstairs phone, just in case. The doctor’s number is there, too, and the poison control center’s number, and—”

“We know, we know,” Stevie said, giving Deborah a gentle push.

Carole had just located a long black coat slung across the back of the couch. She held it up so that Deborah could slip her arms into it, while Max grabbed his own coat from a closet. “We’ll be fine. Don’t worry,” she said.

“All right,” Deborah said with a laugh. “I know you’ll be fine. I just fed her a little while ago, but if she seems hungry later you can give her a bottle. There’s one ready in the fridge. Just heat it up in the microwave and test it on your wrist to make sure it’s not too hot. And by the way, clean diapers are in the closet upstairs.”

“We know,” Stevie said, rolling her eyes. “You told us all this stuff earlier, remember?” The girls had come by the house that morning to receive their instructions. Lisa had even written everything down in a notebook, mostly to make Deborah feel better.

Lisa looked up from her seat on the couch. “I just remembered one more question,” she said, bouncing Maxi gently on her knees. “What time should we put her to bed? You didn’t tell us that.”

Max and Deborah both laughed. “You should try at around seven-thirty, I guess,” Deborah said. “She didn’t have much of a nap today, so you might get lucky.”

“Got it,” Stevie said. “Seven-thirty. Now get going, will you?”

Max and Deborah laughed again. Then, after a few more good-bye kisses for the baby and thanks for her baby-sitters, they were gone.

“Whew,” Carole said, slumping down on the couch next to Lisa. “I thought they’d be here all night.”

Stevie grinned. “I know.” She grabbed one of Maxi’s feet and tickled it. “Talk about parental jitters. Max asked us to look after the horses tonight, too, and he didn’t give us one extra instruction about that.” Since Max had given Red and the other stable hands the night off, the girls had volunteered to check on the horses once or twice during the evening.

“That’s because he knows we know what we’re doing with them,” Lisa pointed out logically. “I don’t blame him and Deborah for being more nervous about the baby. But they’ll see. We’ll have a great time tonight. Won’t we, Maxi?” She gave the baby a hug, and Maxi squealed with delight, her eyes wide and trusting.

Carole stood up and took off her coat. She picked up Lisa’s and held out her arm for Stevie’s. “Want me to take that to the closet?” she offered.

“Thanks.” Stevie slipped off Phil’s jacket.

“Isn’t that Phil’s?” Lisa asked.

Stevie nodded and explained her reason for wearing it. “So I’ll probably freeze again when we go down to check on the horses,” she said complacently. “But it will be worth it.” She checked her watch. “That reminds me. It’s my turn to call next. Help me keep an eye on the time, okay?”

“Sure.” Carole looked at her own watch. “It’s only twenty of seven now. What do you want to do first?”

Lisa smiled. “That’s easy,” she said. “Let’s play with the baby!”

The others were happy to comply. They crawled around on the carpet with Maxi and played with the toys that were scattered everywhere. Then Carole picked up the baby. “I have an idea,” she said. “Let’s play horsie.”

She set Maxi astride her knee. Holding her hands so that the baby wouldn’t fall, Carole bounced her leg up and down, pretending it was a horse.

Maxi giggled as she rode.

“Giddyup!” Carole cried.

After a few minutes, her leg got tired. She handed the baby to Lisa, who lay down on the couch on her back. Holding Maxi firmly by the tummy, Lisa raised her overhead, moving her back and forth. “Look,” she said. “It’s Maxi the jet plane. She’s flying!”

“You call that flying? I’ll show you flying.” Stevie reached for the baby. She held her firmly by one leg, just below her diaper. With the other hand she supported the top half of Maxi’s body. Then she walked around the room, making the baby swoop and dive through the air. “What’s that in the sky?” she cried. “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a flying horse? No! It’s Superbaby!”

Her friends laughed and clapped. “Save us, Superbaby,” Carole called.

After a few more minutes of fun, Lisa checked her watch. “Hey, Stevie,” she said. “It’s time for your call.”

“Oh!” Stevie handed Superbaby to Carole. “Thanks, Lisa,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She took the stairs two at a time and grabbed the phone in the upstairs hall. That would be more private than using the phone in the kitchen. Digging in her jeans pocket, she soon located the scrap of paper on which she had written down the direct phone number of Phil’s hotel room. She dialed quickly and tapped her foot, waiting for someone to pick up.