Yankee Swap (14 page)

Stevie shrugged. As far as she knew, nobody in the room was a serious painter. If she hadn’t been sure Simon had been the one to buy Mrs. Reg the silly #1 Mom mug, she would have suspected him of buying the paint. He was always a few steps behind everyone else, and was more likely than anyone else to pick an inappropriate gift. “Do you want to trade it away?” she asked Meg.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Meg declared. “Red, sorry to do it, but I want that ballet poster. It’s of my favorite dancer.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry to stick you with the paint.”

“That’s quite all right,” Red said, catching the paint tubes as she tossed them to him. Lisa thought he looked pleased with the trade.

“Do you do any painting, Red?” she asked curiously.

“As a matter of fact, I have been known to dabble,” he replied shyly.

“Dabble?” Betsy exclaimed. “Don’t be modest, Red. He’s a great artist! You should see some of the paintings of horses he’s done.”

“Really?” Stevie said, looking at Red with new interest. She hadn’t known about this side of him. Luckily, whoever had drawn his name—and she strongly suspected it was Betsy—
had
known. That was another great thing about this game. You never knew what you were going to find out about the people you played with. “Max, you’re next.”

“Well, let’s see,” Max said, glancing over the diminished pile of gifts. “I’ll take this big square box here, I guess.” He unwrapped it and pulled out a computer game called Pizza Parlor. “Hmm,” was all he had to say when he saw it.

Mrs. Reg had a little more to say once she stopped laughing. “A computer game for you, Max?” she said. “You’re lucky if you can find the button to turn the computer on.”

“Thank you, Mother,” Max said, rolling his eyes. “For your information, I’ve been practicing on Deborah’s PC, and I’m almost computer literate. I’m sure I could figure out how to play this—uh—what exactly is the point of a game called ‘Pizza Parlor,’ anyway?”

“Oh, it’s great, Max!” said Polly. “I’ve been dying to get it. You have to open and run your own computer pizza parlor. There are all kinds of obstacles you have to overcome, like rats and bad cheese and a mean landlord—”

“Sounds fascinating,” Max interrupted. “But not for me. I’ll trade with Stevie for that book.”

Stevie willingly handed over
Advanced Training Methods.
She glanced at the computer game. It did look interesting. She doubted it was the gift that had been meant for her, but she wouldn’t mind if she ended up with it.

Then Stevie stole a glance at Veronica. She was sitting
with her arms folded and a grumpy look on her face. The lump of coal was still sitting where she’d dropped it among the remains of the fancy Maxwell’s paper. Stevie tried hard to hold back a grin. “Your turn, Lorraine,” she said.

Lorraine chose a gift that Lisa knew well. It contained the currycomb and cat toy intended for Simon. Lorraine looked mystified when she opened it, but Simon began chuckling immediately. He glanced at The Saddle Club.

“Well, I don’t know who this is meant for, but I don’t think it’s me,” Lorraine said. “What’s so funny, Simon?”

Simon tried to control himself. “Oh, nothing, Lorraine,” he said. “But I think I know who it was meant for—me.” He quickly described his experience with his sister’s currycomb-loving cat.

Lorraine shrugged. “Well, in that case, it’s all yours,” she said. “Hand over the shirt.” She held up the soccer T-shirt and looked it over. “Hmm, somehow this isn’t quite my style. I’m going to make another trade,” she declared. “This time I’ll trade with Merrill.”

Merrill passed Lorraine the socks and accepted the shirt in return.

“I’m not sure that shirt is Merrill’s style, either, but hey, that’s how this game goes,” Stevie said. “Lisa, it’s your turn.”

Lisa picked up the largest of the remaining packages. “I’m not sure what this is, but it’s such a strange shape I can’t resist,” she said. She unwrapped it. “A bullhorn?” Lisa held it up. It was a bright yellow plastic bullhorn with the words
I
’
M
THE
BOSS
! stamped on the side in large red letters. Lisa giggled. “This one’s getting traded,” she declared. “I think it’s
more appropriate for someone with a much bigger mouth than me.”

Max gave her a suspicious look. The bullhorn was clearly intended for him, but it wasn’t like Lisa to call him a big mouth.

Lisa smiled. “That’s why I’m trading with Stevie,” she said, reaching over to grab the computer game from Stevie’s lap. “But that’s not all,” she added, pointing to Polly. “I’ll take that film—I just finished my last roll.”

“Great!” Polly exclaimed, happily taking the computer game from Lisa.

Joe was next. He eagerly ripped the paper off his package and found a baseball cap with
HONORARY
HORSE
WISE
MEMBER
stitched on the front.

“Honorary?” he exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Max? Am I being kicked out?”

“We voted you out, Joe,” Stevie joked. “You’re honorary from now on. Sorry you had to find out this way.”

“Just for that, I’m going to trade with you, Stevie,” Joe said, tossing the cap at her. “Let’s see how you like being honorary.”

Stevie lobbed the bullhorn at him. “Okay, then, you can be the resident big mouth for a while,” she replied with a grin.

“Not for long,” he replied. “I’m making another trade. There’s no way I’m letting Merrill keep that soccer T-shirt. I’ve been wanting a World Cup shirt for ages.”

Merrill passed him the shirt and took the bullhorn. “Does
this mean I get to be the stable big mouth?” she asked. Everyone laughed at that, including Merrill.

“My turn, my turn!” Carole exclaimed, bouncing up and down. There were only three gifts left in the pile now, and she grabbed one. “Boy, this is heavy,” she commented as she unwrapped it. The gift turned out to be a crystal paperweight shaped like a soccer ball.

“Wow,” Lisa commented when she saw it. The paperweight had clearly cost more than the ten dollars they were supposed to spend, and that could only mean one thing—it was from Veronica diAngelo.

Stevie rolled her eyes. If she hadn’t known that Carole had picked Joe’s name, she would have suspected that Veronica had bought the paperweight for him. So whom had she bought it for? Nobody else in the room was particularly interested in soccer, as far as she knew.

“I’m trading,” Carole announced. “I’ve had my eye on that training book this whole time. Hand it over, Max.”

“Is it finally my turn now?” Betsy asked. She took one of the two gifts that were left. It was small and thin. “Maybe it’s money,” she guessed hopefully as she slit open the paper and pulled out a thick sheet of paper. “Hey, almost,” she said with a smile. She waved the paper. “It’s a gift certificate for TD’s.”

Stevie sat up and looked at the gift certificate with interest. “Are you going to trade?” she asked Betsy.

Betsy nodded. “But not with you, Stevie. Sorry,” she said. “I want those socks.” She passed the gift certificate down to Lorraine.

“Okay, it’s all up to you, Adam,” Mrs. Reg said. “If you’re happy with what you get, then everyone else is stuck with what they have.”

“Oh, the pressure,” Adam said, pretending to be nervous. He unwrapped the last gift—another paperback book. He looked at the cover with raised eyebrows. “Gee, I don’t know if I should keep this or not,” he said. “It looks pretty exciting.” He held it up so everyone could see. It was a romance novel called
Summer Passions.

Lorraine gasped when she saw it. “I didn’t even know that was out in paperback yet!” she exclaimed excitedly.

Adam grinned. “In that case, let’s trade, Lorraine,” he said.

Lorraine tossed him the gift certificate and eagerly grabbed the book. “Cool!” she said. As she opened it, a bookmark fell out. “Hey, look, a bonus prize—a horse bookmark.”

“No fair,” Adam said. “I may have to trade back.”

Lorraine clutched the book as if afraid he really meant it. “No way,” she said. “I’ve been dying to read this. It’s from you, isn’t it, Polly?”

Her friend shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “I didn’t pick you.”

“Are you finished, Adam?” Max asked.

“No way,” Adam said. “I’ve got some more trading to do. This TD’s gift certificate is tempting, but there’s someone here who deserves it more than I do. So hand over that cap, Stevie.” Once that trade was made, he turned to Merrill. “Your turn as the local big mouth is over, Merrill,” he said. “But the good news is, you’re now an official honorary member of Horse Wise.”

Merrill accepted the cap happily and put it on. “Thanks,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” Max replied, giving away who had bought the cap.

“I’m still not done,” Adam said. “I’ll trade this bullhorn for that paperweight, Max. Of course, it has nothing to do with your being a big mouth—I just want the paperweight.”

“Nice save, Adam,” Max said drily.

“I didn’t know you liked soccer, Adam,” Lorraine said.

Adam grinned as he took the paperweight from Max. “I don’t,” he said. “But my dad is a huge soccer freak, and his birthday is next week. This will make a nicer gift than anything I could afford. Thanks, whoever bought it.”

“I did,” Veronica said. She shot Adam a dirty look—she obviously hadn’t wanted him to get it.

Then Veronica smiled sweetly at Joe. “It’s just too bad that someone who really likes soccer didn’t end up with it,” she cooed.

Stevie gasped. Suddenly everything became clear to her. Veronica hadn’t bought a gift for whoever she had chosen—she had bought one for Joe instead, trying to impress him! Stevie could hardly believe Veronica was willing to ruin the game for everyone by not playing by the rules. Luckily, everything had turned out okay despite her.

“Is that it, Adam?” Max asked. When the boy nodded, Max stood and spoke into his bullhorn. “Then I declare this Yankee Swap officially over. Everyone is stuck with what they got!”

Fortunately, everyone except Veronica was very happy with
the gift they ended up with. In fact, as people began to own up to who had bought what for whom, it turned out that everyone had ended up with the exact gift they were meant to. Lorraine had gotten the computer game for Polly, whose family had just bought a new computer. Joe had bought Lorraine the romance book—they were in the same study hall at school, and he had noticed her reading an earlier book by the same author instead of doing her schoolwork. Adam had bought Lisa the film and frame. Meg had chosen the training book for Carole. Polly had picked out the colorful socks for Betsy. And of course, Red had bought the TD’s gift certificate for Stevie. “I figured that was easier than making you come and beg me for money every time,” he said.

Stevie grinned. “That’s for sure,” she said. “And all this goes to show that our Yankee Swap worked out perfectly. Everyone got the gift that he or she deserved.” She smiled sweetly at Veronica, who ignored her.

Instead, Veronica turned to Joe. “Is it time to start dancing yet?” she asked him pointedly.

Max overheard. “It sure is,” he said. “Let’s head back to the ring. Red has volunteered to play deejay for the evening, so if he’s ready to go we can get this party started.”

Stevie hurried back to the indoor ring with the others. She watched in annoyance as Veronica smiled flirtatiously at Joe. She had to do something. “Hey, Red,” she called out. “I think we need a special first song. The birthday boy and the birthday girl should have the first dance together, don’t you think?”

Red nodded and put on a slow song. Merrill started blushing furiously, but Joe stepped forward eagerly. “That’s a great
idea, Stevie,” he said, offering Merrill his arm. “May I have this dance, Merrill?”

She nodded shyly, and they started dancing together. After a few seconds she stopped looking embarrassed and started looking happy.

When Stevie saw the look on Veronica’s face as she watched the dancing couple, she was happy, too. And when Phil and A.J. arrived and Phil immediately hurried over to ask Stevie to dance, she knew things couldn’t possibly get much better.

T
HE
FOLLOWING
M
ONDAY
afternoon, Stevie, Carole, and Lisa were seated in their favorite booth at TD’s. They had decided that using up Stevie’s gift certificate from Red should be a Saddle Club project. They had just placed their orders with the waitress, who, as usual, had been horrified at Stevie’s request: pistachio ice cream with black cherry and caramel toppings.

“I’m going to miss Merrill,” Stevie commented, leaning back in her seat. “She was fun.”

“Me too,” Lisa said, taking a sip of water. “I have to admit I’m a little surprised you liked her so much, though, Stevie. She’s so quiet and shy, and you’re so … well … 
not.
”

“Oh, if I had a little more time I could cure her of that shyness thing entirely,” Stevie said with a wave of her hand.

“Really?” Carole said skeptically. “I think we’re lucky we helped cure her of her fears about jumping before she actually took Barq back with her to Maine.”

“Speaking of Maine, do you think she was serious when she invited us to come visit her?” Stevie asked.