Three weeks after I was released from the hospital, I was ready to try riding Justice again. Chase came down to the stables with me and helped me get him ready. Once we were in the arena, I brought Justice over to the mounting block and got onto him. My left leg felt a little weaker than it had last time I’d rode him, but it wasn’t too bad.

            I didn’t do a lot with him for that first ride. I mainly just walked him and did a little bit of trotting. I was pleased with how well my leg held up while riding him, and I was smiling when I slid off of him. “Your turn,” I told Chase, holding out the helmet. “But you have to ride him around by yourself, since I can’t walk all that well yet.”

            Chase let out a long suffering sigh, but I knew he was actually starting to like riding. He put the helmet on and I held Justice while he climbed on. Then I sat on the mounting block and gave him instructions while he rode him around the arena. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Justice did for Chase; before Luke had passed away, there was no was Justice would have been calm enough for this. But now he was laidback and listened to Chase really well.

            When Chase was done riding him, we untacked him together and gave him some treats before going up to the house. My parents had gone out to dinner and a movie, so we had the house to ourselves. We decided to play a board game, so we set it up on the kitchen table. “I was thinking of inviting Blake and Hailey over here this weekend,” I told him. “Hailey said she’s always wanted to see horses up close. Does that sound like a good idea to you?”

            He nodded. “They seemed like nice people. I wouldn’t mind getting together with them.”

            “Good, then I’ll call her tomorrow and set it up.”

            I did just that the next day, and Hailey was enthusiastic about coming over on Saturday. I said that they were also more than welcome to stay for dinner, and she was happy to agree to that.

            Saturday dawned sunny but cold. Chase showed up first, and Blake and Hailey arrived shortly after. The four of us went down to the stables together. I was a little nervous, because this would be the first time I’d been to the stables during the daylight since the accident, and since it was Saturday, I knew it would be busy. I’d let my parents know what my plan was though, so they had everything set up for me in a slightly more private area of the barn.

            I still had to go through the main part to get to it, though. I got quite a few surprised looks from everyone who saw me, but I didn’t stop to talk to anyone. I led my little group past everyone to a stall that was usually empty, but had a horse in it today. A large black head appeared over the stall door, and I patted the horse lightly. “This is Autumn. He’s a horse that’s usually used for lessons, but my parents took him out of the rotation for us today. He’s broke to drive, which means he pulls carts and sleighs. Since there’s still a fair amount of snow on the ground, I thought you guys might like to go for a sleigh ride.”

            Hailey’s eyes lit up. “That sounds like fun!”

            “Good, I’ll get him harnessed up then.” My parents had left his harness by the stall, so I brushed him quickly and then got him ready to go. Once the harness was on, I led him out of the stall and down the aisle. Chase walked beside me while Hailey and Blake followed along behind. When we were outside again, I hooked Autumn up to the sleigh, then helped Hailey and Blake get settled in. Chase sat beside me and I gathered up the reins and clucked, causing Autumn to set off at a walk.

            I guided him down a nicely groomed trail, and the four of us chatted as we went along. “So Autumn is a lesson horse?” Hailey asked.

            “Yeah, he’s used for a lot of beginners. He’s big, but he’s also very gentle and listens really well. We got him about five years ago and everyone loves him. He’s a favorite at the barn.”

            “How many students are there here?”

            “I think around sixty or seventy, but that doesn’t include boarders. Most of them take lessons on their own horses.”

            “You grew up here?” she wanted to know.

            “Born and raised,” I replied. “I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

            “You’re so lucky. I grew up in town, but I always loved visiting friends who lived in the country. There’s just so much… space out here.”

            I smiled. “Yeah, there definitely is. I don’t think I’d ever be able to live in a town.” I clucked and tapped the reins on Autumn’s rump to get him into a trot. “So when are you two getting married?”

            “In August,” she responded. “Blake wanted to get married earlier, but I told him planning a wedding takes time.”

            “If we’d just eloped like I suggested, we wouldn’t have had to worry about all this crap,” Blake grumbled. “Who really cares what kind of flowers we’re having? Or if the invitations look to plain? We’re the ones getting married, not everyone else.”

            “Oh stop being such a grump,” Hailey chided. “This means a lot to me.”

            Blake sighed. “I know, which is why I agreed to wait until you could plan this whole thing. I’m just impatient to be married to you.”

            “How long have you two been together?” I asked.

            “Four years. We met in our final year of high school. We actually went to the same school that you go to now,” Hailey said.

            “Really? That’s kind of cool. It’s a nice school.”

            “Is Mr. Avery still the principal there?”

            “Yeah. He’s a nice guy.”

            “He is,” Hailey agreed. “Blake and I had trouble with a substitute teacher there one day, and Mr. Avery made sure that he was forced to retire after that.”

            This intrigued me. “What happened?”

            She went on to explain how the teacher had been incredibly rude to them and wouldn’t let them explain that Blake was blind, which was why they’d been working together. “Mr. Avery said it was obvious that the teacher was in the wrong, which surprised me at first. But the more I got to know him, the more I realized that he’s really an awesome principal. He helped us plan a surprise for a talent show at the school. Blake and I performed and caught everyone completely by surprise. It was pretty cool.”

            “What did you perform?”

            “I played the piano and sang, and Blake played the guitar and sang.”

            “That’s great! Do you guys still play?”

            “Blake teaches guitar now, so he plays all the time. We do perform occasionally still, but usually only for a good cause. We were on the Eve McGill show once. There’s also a video of us on YouTube.”

            “I am definitely going to check it out when I get home,” I told them.

            We spent the next hour going along a bunch of the trails that twined through the forest. I had a lot of fun with them, and Chase even joined in on the conversation a little bit. They stayed for dinner and my parents seemed to like both of them and invited them to come back anytime they wanted.

            Once they had left for the evening, Chase and I went onto the computer and searched YouTube for the video of them. We found it and sat in silence as we watched it. “Wow, they’re really good,” I said after the video ended.

            “They are,” Chase agreed. “It’s weird seeing Hailey in a wheelchair.”

            “It is. But she did say that this was taken shortly after she slipped and fell on the ice. You wouldn’t know anything was wrong with her today if you didn’t know her situation.” I glanced down at my leg. “Makes me hope that maybe one day I’ll be able to walk without a cane again.”

            Chase leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Jared said that might happen, right?”

            “Yeah, but I didn’t really believe him before. Now maybe I do.”

            “If you set your mind to it, anything is possible.”

            I raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you so philosophical?”

            “Since I realized that it doesn’t matter how hard your life has been in the past. You can still shape how it turns out in the future. Just look at Blake and Hailey. Both of them had huge obstacles to overcome, but they managed to do it and they’re obviously very much in love. It kind of makes me think that maybe we’ll be like them when we’re older.”

            “So you think I’ll keep you around that long?” I asked teasingly.

            “Of course. I’m too cute for you to ditch me.”

            I laughed and leaned my head on his shoulder. “You’re probably right.”

            He left about half an hour later, and I got ready for bed. Once I was curled up under the covers, I realized I’d forgotten to take my sleeping pill, but I was too comfortable to bother getting up and taking it. With the great day I’d had, I figured I’d be able to sleep without any nightmares.

            I was wrong. I dreamt about the accident like I always did, but there was something different about the ending that I never remembered when I woke up. Only this time, I did remember. I remembered something that my brain had obviously repressed after the accident. And when I woke up with my heart pounding and a scream caught in my throat, I wished with all my heart that it had stayed like that.

***********************************************************************

I know, I know. I suck for leaving you with another cliffhanger. On the bright side, this is the last one of the book :-). And I also have most of the next chapter written already, so it'll be up in two days at the latest. I was going to edit and tweak this chapter, but I ended up going for a 3-hour cruise in my daddy's sexy ass car, so I just put it up how it was originally. Hopefully I didn't screw up anywhere lol.

Question: What is or was your favourite subject in school?

Vote and comment to let me know what you thought of the chapter! The further up in the Watty Awards I get, the sooner you'll get the next chapter.