A Summer Without Horses Read Online Free PDF

smile—“it was another way of being good for me. I had only been thinking about showing Chris up by being a professional superstar. You made it possible toshow him up by being a human. There aren’t enough ways to thank you for that, Lisa.”
    With those words, he reached out, took my hand, and then leaned over and kissed me.
    It’s true. Absolutely. I’ve been kissed by Skye Ransom.
    When we broke apart I was shaking. I know it sounds silly, but I’ve only been kissed by two other boys and there’s something so special about Skye, even though it was a friendly-type kiss. At that moment what I wanted, more than anything in the world, was to tell Carole and Stevie all about it. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell them about the horses and the mountain and the trail and the Pacific. I couldn’t tell them any of that and I probably couldn’t even tell them about the kiss because they’d want a zillion details and I couldn’t give them the details without letting them know I’d been riding. I gulped, almost wishing it hadn’t happened.
    “Come on,” Skye said, interrupting my thoughts. “The place I want to have lunch is right up ahead a little and it’s got an entirely different view from this one. Just wait until you see it.”
    There was a sort of plateau around the bend. It looked like the kind of place a Department of Highways would call Scenic View, except that there were no cars and no other people. It was panoramic. We could see mountains, valleys, gulches, hills, canyons, cities, and sky.
    I know we ate the picnic because after we’d been there for fifteen minutes, I felt full and there was no more foodin our packs, but I was too enthralled with the view to notice what I was eating. Skye talked while we ate, too, and I do remember that. He talked about his movie and about Chris Oliver and how much it meant to him to have me help him with his career.
    I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about what was happening. Just because Skye Ransom kissed me and just because he was telling me how much I meant to him, he wasn’t being a boyfriend. That wasn’t it at all, and one of the other things I like best about Skye Ransom is that we both knew that and neither of us had to say anything about it. Skye is much older than I am. He’s seventeen and I’m only thirteen. I don’t think he has many friends his own age. He doesn’t go to a regular school because he’s always working on a movie so he has his own tutor. He spends most of his time with adults, and the kids he knows are other professionals like Chris Oliver. That’s not exactly what I call a friend. To Skye, I am a friend, the same way I am with Stevie and Carole. It’s almost as if we’re the ones who get to teach him what being a kid is about. That’s something I’m glad to do for a friend.
    After lunch we rode back down to the Double H. The jump course was empty. I really wanted to try Kip out on it and Mr. Ward said it was okay. He even found a hard hat for me to use. Skye sat on the fence and watched. He’s okay on a flat course, but he hasn’t done much jumping yet and he didn’t want to try.
    Kip was a dream jumper. Carole’s always reminding methat every horse has things they are good at and things they aren’t so good at. So far, Carole’s formula wasn’t working for Kip. It seemed to me that he was wonderful at absolutely everything. Max says that the most important thing in hunter jumping is to maintain an even pace and to leave the ground the right distance in front of the jump for the jump. Kip acted as if he’d listened to every word Max had said! Even Skye could tell that I was having a good time and was doing a good job. When I finished the jump course for the second time, I drew Kip to a walk and we ambled over to where Skye was sitting on the fence. I must have had a big grin on my face.
    “Like him?” Skye asked.
    “Oh, he’s wonderful!” I said.
    “Good. Because he’s yours.”
    “He’s what?” I