“But were there any single women in the class?”
“I don’t know,” Stevie admitted.
“Anyway, even if there were, that was a long time ago—probably before Max felt so lonely,” Lisa pointed out, warming to Carole’s theory. “Now he knows he needs a wife.”
“Exactly,” Carole said. “And if he’s as nice to the women at the picnic as he is to Deborah, they’re all going to think he’s wonderful, and he’s bound to find at least one of them irresistible.”
Stevie nodded, then looked at her friends. “Okay, so who’s going to be the one to tell Max that more than a dozen strangers—who also happen to be young, attractive, single, women—are coming to the picnic?”
For the first time that day, silence fell among The Saddle Club.
B ACK AT P INE H OLLOW , there was the normal walking, untacking, and grooming to take care of. Max was bustling about as usual, but somehow neither Lisa, Carole, or Stevie found the exact right moment to approach him. Finally they regrouped in the tack room to soap their saddles and bridles. One look at each other, and they all knew no one had mentioned the picnic to Max yet.
“We’ve invited all these people—we
have
to tell him,” Lisa said.
“Yeah, but he’s going to think it’s so weird! And what we’re up to will be so obvious,” Stevie moaned.
The tack-room door opened and Mrs. Reg entered. Max’s mother was a favorite with The Saddle Club and with everyone else at Pine Hollow. She was as hardworking and knowledgeable as Max and always willing to lendan ear to solve a problem. Unfortunately, this problem wasn’t one that she could find out about.
Nobody
was going to point out Max’s problem to his mother! Stevie, Lisa, and Carole looked down glumly at their tack.
“Why the long faces, girls?” she asked. They all made an effort to brighten up and smile.
“Maybe I’ve got some good news that will cheer you up,” she said. “I was looking at our books last night, and this past year was one of Pine Hollow’s most successful in terms of the number of students taking lessons here. And we’ve had more new adult riders this summer than any summer before, which is good because adults tend to stick with it once they start. I can’t wait to tell Max, he’ll be thrilled.”
“New adult riders?” Carole repeated. “Do you think maybe it’s the start of a trend?”
“Oh, sure,” Mrs. Reg said. “You know how it goes. One woman decides to take up riding, and then all her friends get interested, too.”
“That’s great!” Stevie said.
“It’s the perfect solution,” Lisa murmured.
“Solution?” Mrs. Reg asked. “I didn’t know there was a problem.”
“It’s a solution to—to adults not getting enough exercise,” Lisa concluded lamely.
“Why, look at you three—how you’re beaming from ear to ear. I’d say that’s the Pine Hollow spirit!” Mrs. Regdeclared. She continued through the tack room to her office, closing the door behind her.
Stevie threw her sponge in the air triumphantly. “Maybe our guests won’t seem so out of place, after all,” she said.
“Even so, I don’t think we should really announce the fact that the people we invited to the picnic are almost all young women,” Lisa said.
“But at least, after Mrs. Reg’s news, it might seem a tiny bit more normal,” Carole said. “And anyway—” She stopped short as the door opened once again and Max came in. He was carrying two saddles and two bridles.
“Did someone forget to hang up their tack?” Lisa asked sympathetically. She knew how angry Max got when he found tack lying around the barn.
Max gave her a quizzical look. “No, I just offered to help someone out, as, may I remind you, we’re all supposed to do at Pine Hollow.” He hung up his own bridle and saddle and then put the other tack on Delilah’s rack. Stevie gave the thumbs-up sign behind his back: So far Max hadn’t gone back to his disapproving self, at least as far as the
“I don’t know,” Stevie admitted.
“Anyway, even if there were, that was a long time ago—probably before Max felt so lonely,” Lisa pointed out, warming to Carole’s theory. “Now he knows he needs a wife.”
“Exactly,” Carole said. “And if he’s as nice to the women at the picnic as he is to Deborah, they’re all going to think he’s wonderful, and he’s bound to find at least one of them irresistible.”
Stevie nodded, then looked at her friends. “Okay, so who’s going to be the one to tell Max that more than a dozen strangers—who also happen to be young, attractive, single, women—are coming to the picnic?”
For the first time that day, silence fell among The Saddle Club.
B ACK AT P INE H OLLOW , there was the normal walking, untacking, and grooming to take care of. Max was bustling about as usual, but somehow neither Lisa, Carole, or Stevie found the exact right moment to approach him. Finally they regrouped in the tack room to soap their saddles and bridles. One look at each other, and they all knew no one had mentioned the picnic to Max yet.
“We’ve invited all these people—we
have
to tell him,” Lisa said.
“Yeah, but he’s going to think it’s so weird! And what we’re up to will be so obvious,” Stevie moaned.
The tack-room door opened and Mrs. Reg entered. Max’s mother was a favorite with The Saddle Club and with everyone else at Pine Hollow. She was as hardworking and knowledgeable as Max and always willing to lendan ear to solve a problem. Unfortunately, this problem wasn’t one that she could find out about.
Nobody
was going to point out Max’s problem to his mother! Stevie, Lisa, and Carole looked down glumly at their tack.
“Why the long faces, girls?” she asked. They all made an effort to brighten up and smile.
“Maybe I’ve got some good news that will cheer you up,” she said. “I was looking at our books last night, and this past year was one of Pine Hollow’s most successful in terms of the number of students taking lessons here. And we’ve had more new adult riders this summer than any summer before, which is good because adults tend to stick with it once they start. I can’t wait to tell Max, he’ll be thrilled.”
“New adult riders?” Carole repeated. “Do you think maybe it’s the start of a trend?”
“Oh, sure,” Mrs. Reg said. “You know how it goes. One woman decides to take up riding, and then all her friends get interested, too.”
“That’s great!” Stevie said.
“It’s the perfect solution,” Lisa murmured.
“Solution?” Mrs. Reg asked. “I didn’t know there was a problem.”
“It’s a solution to—to adults not getting enough exercise,” Lisa concluded lamely.
“Why, look at you three—how you’re beaming from ear to ear. I’d say that’s the Pine Hollow spirit!” Mrs. Regdeclared. She continued through the tack room to her office, closing the door behind her.
Stevie threw her sponge in the air triumphantly. “Maybe our guests won’t seem so out of place, after all,” she said.
“Even so, I don’t think we should really announce the fact that the people we invited to the picnic are almost all young women,” Lisa said.
“But at least, after Mrs. Reg’s news, it might seem a tiny bit more normal,” Carole said. “And anyway—” She stopped short as the door opened once again and Max came in. He was carrying two saddles and two bridles.
“Did someone forget to hang up their tack?” Lisa asked sympathetically. She knew how angry Max got when he found tack lying around the barn.
Max gave her a quizzical look. “No, I just offered to help someone out, as, may I remind you, we’re all supposed to do at Pine Hollow.” He hung up his own bridle and saddle and then put the other tack on Delilah’s rack. Stevie gave the thumbs-up sign behind his back: So far Max hadn’t gone back to his disapproving self, at least as far as the
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