Travis was the first to wake up the next morning. Juanma had woken Mia again, then he had let her sleep.
Little by little everyone woke up and Alvaro looked at Juanma and Mia in the tent. Juanma was already half awake and ALvaro woke Mia. She looked at him and put her arms around his neck. "You still recognize me, that's a good sign," he said and smiled at Mia.
"My head still hurts," she said. Alvaro helped her out of the tent. Travis came up to her. " How are you?" asked he. "I'm still a little dizzy, but I'm fine."
"Try a little something to eat," he said.
Mia bit into a bun a couple of times, but wasn't really hungry. Ruby, Roberto, Clara and Zoe tidied everything up again while Travis and Juanma got the horses ready. When everything was ready, Travis said, "Do you think you can ride Pegasus, or would you like to join me on my horse."
Mia thought for a moment and said "I'm trying to ride myself."
"Ok, then please stay between Alvaro and me, ok?" he squeezed Mia's hand and helped her onto the horse. "If you notice that something is wrong, let me know. It's not too far either."
Ruby rode up with Juanma, Zoe, Clara, and Roberto, two on either side of the herd, and Travis stayed behind the herd with the other two.
The meadows where they moved the animals into their new quarters were not far. When she was sure everything was okay, they made their way to the ranch. Mia held out very well.
They arrived at the ranch at noon and were greeted with joy. Isabel immediately saw the scratches on Mia's face and asked what had happened. Mia said she had fallen but left out how deep it had been but that she was fine now. It was half the truth, she just still had a headache, so she got a pill from a bag in Alvaro's car.
When she turned around, Ramiro stood behind her and took her in his arms. "are you sure everything is ok?" he asked and Mia nodded. "Because I had thought that we would not go back until tomorrow. If we start early, you will only miss the lessons until the break."
Mia's eyes shone. That meant she had the evening at the ranch with Alvaro.
"And the workshop," she then asked. "Alex will want to hear the duo and Lupe will be mad"
"Let that be my worry," said Ramiro and winked at Mia.
He put his arm around her shoulders and went to the others. "Alberto, we would like to accept your offer to stay until tomorrow." he said and Alberto nodded with a smile. The others looked at each other a bit puzzled at first, but then were happy. "I'll make a few phone calls now and we'll enjoy the rest of the day," Ramiro said.
Clara and Zoe made their way to the barn to say hello to the baby cats and they were disappointed that they could not find them. "They're around the barn somewhere," said Ruby. "They're learning to catch mice."
They spent the afternoon at the ranch house until dinner, and after dinner they drove to the bungalows.
Ramiro and Isabel stayed with Alberto.
"Your father is really cool that we can only come to class later tomorrow." Mia nodded. "I'm just curious what he said to Lupe."
Alvaro had gone into the bungalow and fell asleep while the others sat on the terrace. Juanma and Zoe wanted to go for a walk.
"Do you know how far everything here still belongs to the ranch?" asked Zoe Juanma. "No, but somehow you get the feeling here that you can run on forever."
Zoe took his hand. "Do you feel better about Mia" she asked. "Yes. She seems to be doing better. But you know that when you have the feeling that it was just missing a bit. I couldn't have forgiven myself if she had been badly hurt." Zoe took him in her arms. "Everything went well. But I didn't look bad this morning when Alvaro was with me," she said with a laugh. "Yes, he stayed awake and I thought if he drives today he needs sleep"
Zoe laughed.
When they came to a wooden fence, they sat on the edge. He demarcated a flock of sheep that apparently belonged to the neighbor. "It's kind of weird when you have to drive by car to the neighbors here, isn't it?" said Juanma with a grin. "If you have to borrow sugar, you have to take an hour, then the coffee is cold."
The sun threatened to sink behind the field on the mountains. It looked great and Juanma hugged Zoe. "It's so peaceful here. I want to be here with you forever."
Zoe laid her head on Juanma's shoulder. "That would be nice," she said. "But the main thing is: forever with you. I almost don't care about the place."
"Do you ever worry that we will drift apart later? I mean ... not many relationships last out of school."
"No worries, but of course, there is always the possibility. But also later. So we should just enjoy being together and do the best we can to ensure that it stays that way." said Zoe.
