A Summer Without Horses Read Online Free Page B

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    And that told me that Skye Ransom was every bit as great a guy as I’d always thought. He’d been worried about Chris making him look bad, and when the opportunity arrived to make Chris look bad, all Skye really cared about was the good that was going to come out of it for the hospital. In case I’d ever wondered why I liked Skye Ransom so much (which I hadn’t, by the way), there was the answer to the question.
    “Lisa, there’s no way I can thank you for what you did. I was just sitting there at the table last night, trying to think of something to say, and you came through. You got me started talking about something that really mattered. It matters to me and it matters to a lot of sick children. It matters a whole lot more than Chris screaming in a blackened shower stall.”
    “You don’t have to thank me,” I told him. “Just knowing that Chris got put in his place
and
you’re going tohave a chance to help more kids is enough thanks for me.”
    “Well, it’s not enough for me,” Skye said. “And I think I’ll have a way to repay you, just a little bit. I got a call early this morning from the production supervisor. They need to work on some of Chris’s solo scenes today so they don’t need me at all. I’ve got a surprise day off. When can you be ready?
    “For what?” I asked.
    “To go for a ride—a horseback ride. I know you must miss riding with your friends while you’re out here so I’ve arranged to have horses for us at a stable in the valley, north of the city. I can be there to pick you up in about an hour. We’ll have about a one-hour drive and then all day to ride and hang out. Okay?”
    “Just a sec,” I said.
    I had to talk to my mother, but I also had to talk to myself. First there was Aunt Alison, but I knew she’d understand about riding. Then there was The Saddle Club. If I went for a ride with Skye, I’d be breaking a vow. And—thanks to my own brilliant suggestion—if I said yes to Skye I’d have to invite Veronica diAngelo to join the club. My friends would never forgive me.
    If they found out.
    How could they find out? I wouldn’t tell. I could ask Skye not to tell. He’d understand, for sure. He disliked Veronica almost as much as we did. Mom wouldn’t tell, though sometimes I think she wants me to be Veronica’sfriend. Mom likes the idea of all the social power the diAngelos have in Willow Creek. Still, if I asked her nicely, she wouldn’t tell anyone.
    My conscience pricked me again. I had made a pledge to my best friends. Stevie couldn’t ride, so Carole and I couldn’t ride.
    This wasn’t just a ride, though, this was a chance to spend a whole day with Skye Ransom. I could see it—the two of us on our horses, riding across the craggy California mountains, or down by the Pacific Ocean, racing the waves, climbing off our horses and walking in the gentle surf. Just me and Skye, no photographers, no airhead starlets, no chauffeur, no Chris Oliver. How could I possibly say no?
    “Forty-five minutes,” I told Skye.
    “I’ll be there,” he said.

T HE PLACE WHERE we live, Willow Creek, Virginia, is hilly country. Everywhere you look, there are gentle rolling hills. Los Angeles is hilly country, too, but it’s not at all like home. In Los Angeles you can be driving along a perfectly nice, flat, straight road, then within a matter of seconds, find yourself on a very curvy mountain road. It’s very dramatic, but I was beginning to feel that everything in Los Angeles was very dramatic.
    We were going up what I thought was our second mountain when Skye noticed that I was wearing jeans, a polo shirt, and a pair of paddock boots.
    “Where are your real riding clothes?” he asked.
    “This is what I’ve got. I wasn’t planning to do any riding, so I didn’t bring my boots and hard hat. I hope this is okay.”
    He smiled his million-dollar smile at me. “Of course it is. You can wear whatever you want, as long as it’s safe.”
    One of the