Horse Love (9 page)

“Take your time,” said Kiki. “We wouldn’t want you to get indigestion!”

A couple of the kids laughed and so did Lisa, though she didn’t really think that Kiki had said anything particularly funny.

Lisa returned to where the hostess was taking care of the last diners, but before she was relegated to the tail of the line, she spotted her parents. They were sitting together at a table that was almost empty. Her father saw her and waved her over to them.

It seemed like days since she’d seen them. She remembered
that they’d been on an official snorkeling picnic, unlike the impromptu one that she and Tec had devised. Perhaps they could compare notes.

Lisa picked up a plate and walked through the buffet, selecting a light meal—sure to save her from indigestion—and then sat down next to her father.

Over the last few months, she’d gotten very good at taking a barometric reading of her parents’ moods, and she could sense right away that the mood was good. It seemed that the vacation was having exactly the effect her parents had hoped for.

“How’s it going, sweetie?” her father asked. “It looks like you’ve made some friends.”

“I guess,” Lisa said. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea of talking with her parents about Tec at this point. “Well, there are a lot of kids around my age here now. I guess it’s because it’s spring vacation for a lot of schools. Say, how was that snorkeling thing you did today?”

It was a good question to ask at a time when she didn’t want to answer questions herself. It turned out her parents had had a great time.

“The colors on those fish!” her mother said.

“And you wouldn’t believe the coral,” added her father. “It’s made entirely of very tiny animals who’ve colonized over many centuries. These creatures work together …”

Lisa was amused in spite of herself. Her mother, a natural stylist, whether it was decorating a room or planning a wardrobe, had tuned right in to the colors of the fish. Her father, an engineer, was all keen to study the construction of a coral reef. Actually, it was quite wonderful that they’d found something that had interesting aspects for each of them, no matter how different those aspects were.

Before Lisa knew it, her mother had switched subjects to talking about how good the fresh seafood salad had been at their picnic, while her father talked about watching the way the schools of fish (no matter what color) worked so that each member of the school was a lookout for one part, thus protecting the entire group from predators.

“And this afternoon, after the picnic, we went into the town. It’s so charming!” her mother said.

“But your mother didn’t buy a thing!” Mr. Atwood said.

“I did, too, Richard,” she said.

“I don’t consider that little wooden salad bowl a serious purchase by your standards, Eleanor,” he teased. Instead of cringing when her father talked about her spending habits, Lisa’s mother laughed. She didn’t mind being teased the way she minded being nagged.

“Well, your father ignored three phone calls from
the office!” Mrs. Atwood said, smiling proudly at her husband.

“I didn’t exactly
ignore
them,” said Mr. Atwood. “I just called back and told them to solve the problem themselves.”

“Which means you didn’t climb on a plane to go take care of it personally,” said Mrs. Atwood.

“No, dear. I’m on vacation.”

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.

T
HE 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, smiling 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.