Silver Opportunity

Chapter Five

"I'm sending KC, Dublin, Hera, and Mama up tomorrow morning, they'll be there in a couple of days," Hannah said, fussing over me in the airport. "Pick your room and start unpacking, and when the horses arrive, settle them in our barn. I talked to the manager, he said he'll take care of the farm until I get there. It'll be a couple weeks. Oh, and some of our stuff will have already arrived. I trust you to start unpacking. Don't forget about scho-."

"Hannah," I cut her off. "I'll be fine."

"I know," she frowned. "You'll just be so far away."

I hugged her. "I'm a phone call away," I assured. "I'll call if I need anything, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay," she nodded. "Go, you'll miss your flight."

I hiked my bag up on my shoulder and turned to get on the plane. I glanced back at her one more time before entering. I found my seat, sat down, and pulled my laptop. Once I got the okay, I opened up and started on my schoolwork.

-

"Welcome home," the farm manager said as we pulled up to the farm. He had picked me up from the airport.

He helped bring my bags in, but left afterwards, saying he had to deal with something at the breeding farm.

I walked around my new house, which looked very similar to before, just without the pictures and personal belongings. All the furniture was still here, but it was going to be up to me to unpack.

I traveled through the rooms, leaving the biggest one for Hannah. I ended up picking the one that overlooked my barn's paddocks, so I could see my horses outside. It had a bathroom attached and the walls were a pretty grey colour. The windows were huge, so even if I was laying in bed I could see the fields.

I found some of the boxes that shipped up the other day and unpacked my room. I fitted my sheets, unpacked my clothes, even used some Command strips to hang up some pictures.

Around dinner time, I took one of the trucks and drove to to the diner in town. After taking a seat at the counter, I ordered a milkshake and a grilled cheese.

"Well if it isn't Emily Martin," a familiar voice said from behind me. I turned and saw Molly standing there.

"Molly!" I exclaimed, standing to give her a hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"What are you doing here?" she asked, a smile wide on her face.

"I'm officially moved in!"

-

Thirty minutes and two milkshakes later, Molly and I are still at the counter talking, eating, and laughing.

"So," she started, munching on a fry, "why didn't you tell me you were moving here?"

"Well," I explained, "it wasn't a done deal when I was here. It was a possibility thrown around a bit, but nothing was set in stone."

"Is your aunt here yet?" she asked.

"No, she'll be up soon though. She has to sell a few horses before she can come up," I said. "I've got the house to myself. Speaking of which, would you like to stay over for a few nights? Hannah won't mind and I could use the company."

"I would love to," Molly beamed. "How about after this I run home and grab a bag?"

"Sounds perfect," I smiled, then slid my phone to her. "Put your number in."

Not only did she put her number in, but she added her Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter as well. Then added all of Leo's stuff as well.

"Speaking of Leo, I'll let him know I won't be home," she said. "He'll be thrilled."

Her phone buzzed a few moments later. "He said he's at the barn, about to ride Levi, and is riding Archie afterwards," she showed me. "Alright, I am going to head home and grab some stuff, I'll meet you back at the farm?"

"Yeah, if I'm not at the house, I'll be at the barn," I gathered my things. "Are you riding Aspen tonight?"

"No, I did a ton of no stirrup work yesterday, so I'm giving my legs a break," she laughed. "What about you?"

"My horse isn't up yet," I explained. "He'll be here in a few days."

"Ride Aspen then," she suggested. "Just because I'm not riding him doesn't mean he can't get worked."

"Really?" I asked. "Cool, thanks!"

-

I pulled up to the house and went and changed into riding clothes before heading out to the barn. There were two people in the ring, one of them I'm guessing was Leo.

"Emily!" he called as I walked up to the fence. "What's up?"

I explained to him how I had just moved, and that Molly was going to be staying with me or a bit.

"Yeah, she told me," he grinned, sitting atop Levi.

"I'm going to go get Aspen, you're riding Archie, right?"

"Yeah, I just finished with this dude," he said as he hopped off Levi. He followed me into the barn, and I found Aspen and cleaned him up. I tacked him up in the dressage saddle and bridle, and brought him out to the ring.

I warmed him up, bending his head in and out and making him use his butt. We did circles in every corner, and after two laps one direction, we did the same the other way.

After our warm up, I pushed him into his easy, floaty trot. He framed up, tucking his butt and lifting his stomach to use himself properly. Leo eventually joined me on Archie, and we rode together until I got off.

I curried Aspen really well, then once she was good, put her away in her stall.

"Man, I just barely missed the show," Molly laughed as she entered the barn. I turned from Aspen and smiled at her.

"He was great," I said. "You have your stuff?"

"Yep, it's on your porch," she said. "I stopped at the grocery store and got popcorn and candy, I figured we could have a movie night."

"Oh, I'll take some of that popcorn," Leo said as he walked by with Archie.

"No way, Leo," she swatted at him. "No boys allowed."

-

"Mean Girls, the Notebook, Princess Bride," Molly read off as she scrolled through Netflix on the huge TV. We were sitting in the living room under heaps of blankets with tons of pillows, popcorn, and candy.

"What about White Chicks?" I asked. "It's been a while."

"I vote yes," she said, clicking the movie. I took a handful of Nerds and shoved them in my mouth.

"So," she started, her eyes trained on the movie, "any boys back in Florida? That state has got to be crawling with toned tan babes."

"Um, no," I laughed. "No, actually, I had a boyfriend in like seventh grade, but I changed school systems. Then I never really made any friends."

"Aw, really?" she asked. "I like you. I haven't really ever had a best friend before. You're just super fun to be around."

"You mean it?"

"Of course I mean it," she laughed. "Besides, not many people can put up with me and my brother at the same time."

I smiled. "That means a lot."

I sat back on the couch with a grin on my face. Today was the start of a grand adventure.

soooo sorry for the delay! i've been so busy!!