The Long Ride Read Online Free PDF

passed?”
    â€œYou bet I did!” Stevie said. “I am now a fully licensed driver. Here, look!” she said, holding out the brand-new license. It looked a lot like the one Carole already had.
    â€œIt’s beautiful!” Carole said, with only a hint of sarcasm. She’d long ago learned that sometimes the easiest way to get along with Stevie was to agree with her—especially when she was being totally irrational. Actually, considering the accomplishment, Carole didn’t really think Stevie was being all that irrational. A new driver’s license was something to be happy about.
    â€œAnd Alex?” Carole asked. Stevie and Alex were taking their tests on the same day.
    â€œWell, it was a near thing, but he passed, too,” Stevie conceded. Carole strongly suspected it hadn’t been a near thing at all. Stevie used to spend a lot of time competing with all three of her brothers. Their house still bore the scars of a few water balloons gone astray. Now that they were older, they no longer fought as they had in the past, but it was still sometimes difficult for Stevie to admit in public that her twin was actually related to her. The only thing he’d ever done that she boasted about on his behalf was to fall in love with her friend Lisa.
    â€œHe told me he started to turn the wheels the wrong way in the middle of his three-point turn, but he corrected it before they said anything. Can you imagine? Blowing a three-point turn?”
    â€œAnd you?” Carole asked.
    â€œIt went like a breeze,” Stevie said. “When they asked me what the rearview mirror was for, I explained that it was for putting on lipstick without lowering the visor. No problem.”
    Carole almost believed her, but then Stevie had been able to pull her leg as long as they’d known each other.
    â€œAnd the horn is to let your friends know you’re waiting, right?”
    â€œExactly,” said Stevie. “Now, do you want to go for a ride?”
    â€œWell, sure,” Carole said. “I’ll be done here in another hour, and I was planning to exercise Starlight then. Why don’t you go groom Belle and tack them both up? We can be on the trail right after I’m done. We can’t take a long ride, but it should be fun—”
    â€œActually, I meant in my car. I don’t have time to ride Belle today. I saw this ad in the paper—”
    â€œOh,” Carole said, disappointed. It would have been fun to ride with Stevie.
    â€œNo, it’s really good news,” Stevie said, sensing Carole’s disappointment. “See, now that Alex and I have our licenses, we can both drive the car Chad left when he went to college. We’ve worked out a schedule for it, and it means I can get a job. Actually, I just about have to get a job, because Mom and Dad are making us pay the insurance and that’s a lot of money, which is why Alex is going to be spending the summer breaking his back mowing lawns. Anyway, I heard that Pizza Manor is looking for a delivery person because Alex’s friend, Elroy, quit last night and the manager gets in at eleven today and he’ll be desperate for a new driver. Who could be more perfect than yours truly?”
    â€œNobody,” Carole agreed. “You are, without a doubt, the ideal person for the job. Go for it.”
    â€œWell, the interview isn’t for another forty-five minutes, so I thought I’d visit with you.”
    Carole looked at the pile of work on her desk, including the notebook of Fez’s records. Time spent with Stevie was rarely time spent doing a job, much as she would have liked to talk with her friend—even to hear more details about her driving test. But she had to work.
    â€œLook, I can’t,” she said. “I’m sorry, but the new horse just came in, and I’ve got to get some paperwork done before the owner arrives. But the good news is that I’ve asked Emily to