The old girl with history

Hey Stranger

After winning more horse shows then she could count throughout the years. It was finally time for a break. Brooklyn climbed into the SUV. Her phone rung through the speakers of the car and she answered it as she started the SUV. 

"How many more minutes until you get here?" Ryder's deep voice asked making her smile. The two had kept in contact over the years, their feelings never left after Brooklyn did. 
"I'm 20 minutes away" she giggled. He still made her heart flutter the way it did all those years ago. 
"How is the champion handling the trip?" he asked. 
"I'm okay thanks for asking" she giggled knowing he was clearly referring to the horse in the float that was being towed behind her. 
"Yeah you're hilarious" she could picture him rolling his eyes. 

Brooklyn was coming home for the summer, back to the island. All the drama, all the chaos. How much can happen in one summer when you're 22? 

After the short trip from the ferry to old Holloway stables, she climbed out of the SUV to hear a deep voice shout from behind her. 
"Hey stranger" he chuckled. Brooklyn couldn't hold in her excitement on seeing Ryder. She left her car door wide open as she jumped out of the car and jumped into his arms. Holding him tightly and wrapping her legs around his waist. 
"Missed me huh?" he asked. 
"Shut up" she blushed letting go of him and walking towards the back of the float. She opened the back of the trailer and a nicker came from inside. 
"Hey Ash" Brooklyn sung. She moved through the trailer trailing her hand over his grey coat as she went. 
"He looks great" Ryder complimented. Ash backed out of the trailer easily, his ears twitching at every sound. He stood quietly by Brooklyn's side. 
"He's so calm" Ryder noted patting the geldings neck. 
"He's used to travelling by now, he's not fazed at all by it now" she shrugged. 

A small figure stood a few metres away from the couple. 
"Ryder!" she whined. 
"Yes Madison I'm coming" he nodded.
Madison was 5'3, long light brunette hair and dark brown eyes. Her clothing looked as expensive as her hair and she looked like a piece of work. 
"Mia 2.0?" Brooklyn whispered.
"You have no idea" he sighed. Ryder had filled Brooklyn in on all the drama of the island since she left. Pin had moved to California with Zoe so she could be closer to her family. Mia and Marcus ran their own horse breeding stables in Germany. Callum had gone to Cambridge and took over his father's business. Jade was in a school in Manchester. Becky was in between Ireland and England while Alex was still in Ireland. While Suzie had gotten a job at a popular magazine in New York. Ryder took over Holloway after James decided to move on from training and looking after the stables. All while Brooklyn's mom was engaged and marrying Mia's father at the end of the summer. 

"There's an empty stable this way" he called waving to follow him. 
"There's a lot of empty stables" Brooklyn said looking around. 
"Yeah well since Instagram and snapchat started existing, less and less people come past anymore" he sighed. Ryder opened a stall door for her and she lead Ash into the stall. Brooklyn followed Ryder to the big arena the two used to practice a lot together in. Two girls were mounted on their horses waiting for Ryder. One of them was Madison, she sat on a grey pony. The other had dark features and chocolate brown eyes and sat on a young bay pony. 
"Who's that?" Madison asked glaring at Brooklyn. 
"An old friend of mine Madison, Elenor, this is Brooklyn" Ryder introduced. 
"As in Brooklyn Harris!" Elenor exclaimed. 
Brooklyn nodded in response. 
"I watched you ride at the Royal Windsor grand prix" she explained. 
"What did you think?" Brooklyn asked her. 
"That you blew my mind in the jump off!" she exclaimed. 
"I think we should move on with practice!" Madison snarled. 
"How do we feel about Brooklyn take over practice today? Since we're starting with jumping" Ryder shrugged. 
"Omg!" Elenor beamed. 
Madison responded with an eye roll. 

A small set of poles were placed on the ground before them. There were 5 poles spread evenly across the ground. 
"Okay well let's get in a trot and start circling the poles, don't go over them yet, just warm up" Brooklyn told them. 
"Oh my god this is boring" Madison rolled her eyes.  
Brooklyn climbed through the fence and stood in the arena. She turned back to look at Ryder and with her hand encouraged him to go do whatever he needed to do. She had this covered. 
"Do you know why you always start with flat work that is boring?" Brooklyn raised an eyebrow at Madison and Elenor. 
"Why?" Elenor asked as she trotted around doing circles with her horse. 
"It builds a connection with your horse" Brooklyn said. 
"If you have a good connection with your horse you can do anything, if I didn't have a good connection with Ash we would not have won any grand prix that we have" Brooklyn explained. 
"Okay Madison now lead your horse over the poles" Brooklyn ordered while keeping her eye on Elenor who continued trotting around the arena. 
The pony's hoof hit the third pole as they went over it. Madison groaned. 
"It's okay Madison" Brooklyn reassured her. 
"It can happen when the horse isn't paying attention or when the rider isn't paying attention" Brooklyn explained. 
"I was paying attention!" she snapped. 
"Well so was he, you see his ear was pointed towards you, head was low and he responded quickly to every cue you gave him" Brooklyn shrugged. 
"Elenor give it a go" Brooklyn said. The bay hit the fourth pole and threw his head stopping suddenly. 
"Okay come on bring them up to the stables" Brooklyn told them. 
"What?" Madison crossed her arms over her chest. 
"It's not a waste of time trust me" Brooklyn said. 

After having the girls untack their horses, they tied them up to a small fence in the court yard. Brooklyn lead out Ash who looked at the two ponies and instantly lost interest finding more interest in the grass they were grazing on. 
"Come here" I told them after tying Ash up to the fence along side the ponies. I placed my hand on Ash's neck and began slow circular motions towards and after less then a minute I moved on to the next spot. 
"You haven't built a good enough connection with your horses, it's why Elanor you grab the reins so tight when he hit the pole and why Madison you and your horse both lost interest in an activity you were doing together" Brooklyn pointed out. 
"When I was on the Grand Prix circuit I can't name one rider that didn't use this exercise" she added. 
"After we finish this, a very thorough grooming" she added. Both girls groaned in response. 
Brooklyn spotted Ryder watching them from inside the stable. 
"What do you think?" Brooklyn asked with a small smile as she walked closer to him. 
"I don't think I've ever seen them work so hard" he chuckled. 
"Am I doing this right!" Elenor called from where she stood. 
"You owe me a drink for this" Brooklyn whispered to Ryder. 
"And dinner too" he winked at her before disappearing into what used to be James' office. 

After making sure all the horses were rugged for the chilly night ahead.  Ryder sat in the passenger seat as Brooklyn drove home. The cottage style mansion still stood tall, the garden looked clean and tidy definitely her mother's work. 
"About time you came by" her mother smiled as she pulled her daughter into a big hug. 
"Are you stealing my daughter Ryder?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. 
"I think I am" he nodded with a chuckle. 
It was as if the two had an unspoken understanding Brooklyn thought. 
"So where are you two going for dinner tonight?" Julia asked. 
"It's my first night back and your busy?" Brooklyn asked raising an eyebrow. 
"I am for a matter of fact, you know wedding planning" she shrugged. 
"And it can't be held off for one night?" Brooklyn asked. 
"No it can't, I'm heading off to Elliot's for the night" she stated before grabbing her purse and leaving. 
"So do you want to go out for dinner?" Ryder asked. 
"No, I want to stay in order the biggest pizza I've ever seen and watch the scariest movie ever" Brooklyn smiled. 
"Everything you couldn't do when you were training?" he asked. 
"Exactly" she nodded with a smile. 
"You forgot about something else that you couldn't do when you were away" he started. 
"Like what?" she asked raising an eyebrow at him. 
Ryder didn't wait for her permission, he kissed her hard and passionately as if it was the only thing he had wanted to do when she first arrived. Ryder lifted her with ease and carried her upstairs, finding his way to her bedroom that he had helped pack when she left for London to work with Jamie Ferguson. 
Everything she had wanted since she left and she finally had it right there beside her but for how long?