Horse Blues Read Online Free PDF Page B

food.”
    The waitress looked momentarily impressed. “Now there’s an idea.… Nah, that won’t work either. It’ll just make you crazy. Sure you don’t want a chocolate cone?”
    “Yes,” Carole said testily. “I’m sure.”
    “Or a shake? A vanilla shake?”
    “No,
thank you
.”
    “Root beer float?”
    “No!”
    “Chipwich with—”
    “
No!
Look, I’m happy with my lemonade, okay?” Carole burst out.
    The waitress raised her eyebrows. She stepped back from the table. “Well, excu-u-use me,” she said, turning on her heel.
    “Don’t mind her, Carole,” Lisa murmured, seeing Carole’s exasperated expression. “She’s probably just jealous that you have the willpower and she doesn’t.”
    “Yeah, boy, have you got willpower,” Stevie said. She surveyed her sundae happily from all angles before digging in.
    Carole grumbled something incoherent as she sipped her lemonade.
    “What was that?” Lisa asked.
    “I said, I don’t have the willpower you think I do,” Carole repeated. In a rush she told Stevie and Carole about breaking down and eating the doughnut earlier. The minute she said it, it seemed like the silliest thing in the world to get worked upabout. Carole giggled as she finished, adding that she didn’t know whether the hot chocolate “counted” or not. “Anyway, I felt bad not telling you guys, so …”
    Stevie was the first to speak. “Uh, Carole? I wouldn’t feel too bad, considering that I’ve already broken my resolution, too. You both saw me lose my temper with Veronica when she came waltzing in hours after the meeting was over.”
    Lisa nodded. “Right. And I should be home doing embroidery right now.”
    “Yes, but you haven’t actually broken your resolution, Lisa,” Carole pointed out.
    “Well, that’s because—” Lisa started to say.
    “That’s because hers is harder to break,” Stevie finished.
    Annoyed, Lisa put her spoon down and looked at Stevie. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It’s simple,” Stevie replied. “Your resolution is harder to break because you vowed to learn something new, whereas we vowed to change habits that we already have; so to break ours, all Carole and I have to do is slip up and do it, whereas to not do yours all you have to do is not do something. I mean, to do yours. No, wait, I mean to not do yours. Oh, you know what I mean!”
    “Yes, I do know what you mean,” Lisa said coldly, “and it’s not exactly fair. I mean, I have to learn a whole new craft! All you have to do—”
    “You guys,” Carole broke in, “the point is, these resolutions are harder than we expected, right? That’s all anyone is saying. Right? You guys?”
    There was a stony silence as Stevie and Lisa ate their ice cream. Then Lisa said, more to herself than to anyone, “Maybe what we need is some incentive.”
    “You mean something to help us keep the resolutions?” Stevie asked. She had been going to suggest that maybe what they needed was to drop the resolutions altogether, A.S.A.P.
    Lisa nodded. “Yeah, some reward—no, a penalty for whoever breaks hers first.”
    “But how will we know if you’ve broken yours?” Stevie asked pointedly. “You could learn embroidery tomorrow and then have nothing left to do.”
    Lisa fought against the impulse to toss her ice cream into Stevie’s lap. She couldn’t remember when she’d last been so irked by a member of The Saddle Club. She wasn’t going to try to cheat on her resolution. Why couldn’t Stevie just believe that? Probably, Lisa thought cynically, because Stevie was going to cheat on hers—or at least bend it a bit.
    “Look, I’ll vow to embroider every day!” Lisa said exasperatedly. “Would that be satisfactory? Or I’ll—I’ll—” She floundered, trying to think of something that would convince Stevie that learning embroidery was at least as tough a resolution as being nice to Veronica. After all, Lisa wasn’t a lagger! Why, she worked harder than anyone she