Pleasure Horse Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mrs. Reg. “Oh, no. After a couple of years he changed his major to accounting.”
    “Really? Why?” Carole inquired.
    “Well, he decided that he
did
want to return to run Pine Hollow with his father after all. He thought a business background would be useful to help him keep the books.”
    “But what happened to make him change his mind?” Lisa asked, exasperated. It was typical of Mrs. Reg to tell a story and never get to the point of it.
    “Well, part of it was that architecture wasn’t quite as exciting as he’d imagined. But the main thing was that he had taken a part-time job at a stable near the university to help with expenses. The stable manager there became a mentor to him and he helped inspire Max’s decision.”
    After Mrs. Reg finished, she wished the girls luck withtheir training, gave Samson a final pat, and headed out of the ring. Lisa and Carole stood in silence for a minute once she was gone.
    “Do you have any idea …?” Carole asked finally, not bothering to finish the question.
    “What on earth she was getting at?” Lisa ventured.
    “Exactly.”
    “Absolutely none.”
    “Me either,” Carole said with a shrug.
    The girls always liked hearing Regnery family history—it certainly was interesting—but they were stumped about why Mrs. Reg was telling it now. In any case, they didn’t have much time to think about it. They had to get back to work with Samson.
    “Any ideas?” Carole asked, turning to Lisa.
    Lisa put her hands on her hips determinedly. “We’ve just got to think of something.… I know: Let’s pretend Stevie’s here. Without her, we’re one brain short. But we can at least try to think of what she would do.”
    Carole liked the idea. She and Lisa decided to walk Samson a little more and then have a pretend “Stevie brainstorm” after putting the colt away. They could eat lunch at the same time and then resume training in the afternoon.
    “One thing’s for sure: Stevie’s having a better time than we are this weekend,” Lisa said.
    Carole nodded. “You can say that again. Riding with her horsey cousin, going to a great party—sounds like a dream weekend, doesn’t it?”

T HE RIDE TOOK up part of the morning, but as soon as lunch was over Stevie was bored out of her mind again. When her father suggested that the family go into Philadelphia for some afternoon sightseeing and dinner, Stevie was thrilled.
    “We’ll get out of the way for a few hours and give Angie and Lila some time to take care of a few party preparations by themselves,” Mr. Lake said, as he and Stevie hunted through the bookshelves for a Philadelphia guidebook.
    “You don’t have to explain to me, Dad,” Stevie replied.“I can’t wait to get out of the house and stay out. If I hear the word ‘canapé’ one more time today, I’ll scream.” Her father’s raised eyebrows told her that she had gone quite far enough.
    There was no guidebook to be found, but Chad said that with his knowledge of American history they wouldn’t need one anyway.
    “And to think I’d convinced myself that I wanted to spend some time with my brothers,” Stevie muttered to herself, following the boys out to the driveway.
    In a matter of minutes, Uncle Chester, who had decided to join them, and the six Willow Creek Lakes were seated in the van and buzzing toward Philadelphia.
    “It’s the city of brotherly love and the original capital of this country,” Chad announced. “Probably not something you’d know much about, Stevie,” he added.
    “Brotherly love? Yeah, that would be a change,” Stevie shot back with a triumphant grin.
    “Almost as big a change as your deciding to become an actual girl like Angie,” Alex said, doubling over with laughter at his own joke.
    “Imagine if Stevie joined the cheerleading squad!” Michael remarked.
    Chad put up a hand. “Please, Michael: Even
my
imagination has its limits!”
    “I wonder if it’ll ever happen,” Alex mused aloud.
    “What?” asked