Southern Belle's Special Gift Read Free

visit.”
    â€œWe surely will—the first chance we get.”
    Tanya jumped up from her seat and headed toward a long flight of stairs that led to an open loft on the second floor. “I’m going to check my room once more. I’ll be ready in five minutes.”
    At Keystone Stables, two days and one trip to the mall later, Skye and Morgan decided to drop into Tanya’s room “uninvited.”
    â€œI wanna see what money can do for a bedroom that’s been crying for a face-lift,” Skye whispered as she and Morgan headed down the hallway. Behind them came Tippy and Tyler, the Chambers’ West Highland terriers, clicking their nails on the hardwood floor.
    â€œHey,” Morgan called, knocking on the closed door, “anybody home?”
    The door squeaked open an inch, and a brown eyeball peeked through the crack. “What?” Tanya said.
    â€œC’mon, Tanya,” Skye said, “only bears hibernate in winter. We wanna see your room.”
    â€œThere’s nothing to see,” Tanya answered coldly.
    â€œYeah, right,” Skye said, “like, you’re livin’ in a jail cell. I saw all the bags you and Mom carried in from the car. C’mon, let’s see.”
    â€œTsk, children!” Skye heard grumbling from behind the door that opened like it was guarding a sacred tomb. “But the dogs stay out!” she blasted loudly from the room.
    â€œSorry, fellas,” Morgan said to the dogs, “not in this room.”
    The dogs turned and walked down the hall.
    â€œMaybe we should take our shoes off,” Skye whispered to Morgan. The girls snickered as they cautiously entered the room.
    Tanya made her way to the far wall where she had already started arranging books on top of a desk. The bed had teddy bears of all sizes and colors sitting at every post. The corners of the room were cluttered with paperback books stacked several feet high. Tanya moved from the desk to the windows and busied herself fluffingthe lace curtains. She deliberately had her back to the visitors.
    Morgan parked at the side of the bed, and Skye flopped across the fluffy new bedspread trimmed with fancy lilac-colored lace. Bears flew everywhere!
    â€œP-l-e-a-s-e!” Tanya spun around and griped like a grumpy librarian. “I spent hours fixing this dinky room! Go flop in your own rooms! In here, you sit softly, if you don’t mind. This pathetic hole might only be a pittance of my own bedroom, but it will be neat. Now pick those bears up off the floor. “ She hurried to the bed and painstakingly rearranged every bear.
    â€œDuh—excuse me!” Skye yawned, taking her time picking up a few bears from the floor. Tossing them on the bed, she slid cautiously onto the edge. “Hey, we barely know you, and you can hardly bear us!” she said with a chuckle.
    â€œSkye, you are too funny!” Morgan giggled so hard she held her sides.
    Skye felt her face flush. She placed her hands over her mouth to suppress the string of giggles locked inside. Finally, her snicker exploded.
    â€œV-e-r-y funny.” A stingy smile escaped from Tanya’s lips. “I should think that one of the ridiculous rules of this place would be to respect other people’s property. I’m sure I heard that somewhere in that list Mr. Chambers read last night. Boring!” Like a queen at her throne, Tanya sat on a padded chair next to the desk, watching every move the visitors made.
    â€œHey, it was your idea to come here,” Skye said. Without thinking, she picked up a fuzzy blue bear, and Tanya glared holes through her. Back down on the bed the bear went. “Besides, everybody has rules. We probably have a few zillion more because Keystone is licensed by the state and has regulations—and horses.”
    â€œYeah,” Morgan agreed. “Our safety is important to Mr. and Mrs. C. They’re also into our homework and test scores in school—big