It had been a few weeks after Manny's first win. He had come through the run well and was given special treats (I wouldn't tell Dad that though!). After a few days of rest, he was back into work and doing well. This gave me sometime to myself, including time to get ready for my 21st birthday. We weren't doing anything big to celebrate, just a gathering in our barn. Dad liked to go all out, though, and he had built a dance floor specially for it.

Being me, I had left dress shopping to the last minute, always putting things not horse-related to the side. Luckily, my best friend Georgia had agreed to help me.

"Claire, Georgia's here," mum called from the kitchen, where she was busily preparing food for the party.

"Ok, coming," I yelled from my bedroom upstairs, where I was studying the latest form guide.

My bedroom was nothing special and looked like a typical girl's bedroom would. But instead of clothes and makeup covering the floor, I had form guides and papers. My favourite spot (other than my bed) was a large window that had a sun lounge under it. It overlooked the paddock, and I would often spend time watching the horses graze.

Georgia was waiting out the front in her cute, cream with black stripe, mini cooper.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked. Opening the car door, I hopped in.

I had a car myself, but it wasn't as good as Georgia's. I'd rather spend my money on anything horse-related, like a new set of blinkers or saddles. Georgia wasn't wealthy, but she had worked hard to get where she was.

Georgia and I had met in primary school. We were both playing in the dress up corner, arguing over who was going to wear the riding helmet. We argued so much that the teacher took if away from us. We had been best friends ever since. Sure, we had had our ups and downs, thanks to my lack of free time and some of her other friends, but we always made up.

It was that kind of friendship where you felt comfortable talking about anything and everything. We would often spend time having long phone calls. More than once has mum blamed me for the large phone bill, but she would often laugh it off, talking about how she used to do that when she was younger.

"Great, thanks. And you?" she replied as she started the engine. Her blonde hair flicked over her shoulder as she checked to make sure the coast was clear.

"Yeah, good. Excited about the party!"

"It should be good. You being excited wouldn't have anything to do with a certain boy?"

I blushed slightly. I was hoping she didn't see, as her blue eyes were firmly on the road ahead. I had talked to her over the past few weeks about Ben. My feelings had grown stronger, but I wouldn't admit that to anyone, especially not Ben. We had been joking around a lot lately and having fun, but I wasn't sure exactly how he felt about me. There had been more texts back and forth than normal and about things that were outside of racing, but boys were so hard to read sometimes. Did he like talking to me or was he just bored? I couldn't say exactly what drew me to him. Maybe it was the way he was so kind and caring towards the horses or how it was so easy for him to make me laugh.

"Maybe, but nothing is going to happen. We simply have a professional relationship. Nothing more."

"Ok." And she left it at that.

We continued to talk about the party and horses till we arrived at the shops.

Georgia wasn't as heavily involved with horses as me, but she often came around to help with them. She was studying business at the same university where I was studying to be a vet.. We were on summer break already, even though it was just late spring. This gave us heaps of time to be able to catch up with each other, though it was hard maintaining friendships with the lifestyle I had. Later in life, Georgia and I hoped to combine our skills and start a racing business.

When we walked in the shops. I was instantly hit by the noise of the crowd. Even though it was still early in the day, there was a lot of people. I supposed that it was busy here on most Saturdays, but that hadn't really crossed my mind. I would normally spend Saturdays at the track, not at the shops! Dad had given me the day off today to go shopping. I sure know where I would rather be!

"Come on!" Georgia explain. "It's going to be fun. Cheer up a little, it's nearly your birthday."

She was right. I thought about how nice it would be to see everyone and what a great night it was going to be. I lifted my head, put a smile on my face and headed into the shops.

Even though my birthday was on Wednesday, my family and I thought it was better to have the party on the Saturday night, especially seeing as we didn't have any horses racing the next morning.

We spent the next few hours looking in every shop for a dress, stopping only briefly to pick up some coffee, and boy did I need it!

I was beginning to get annoyed and tired by this stage. I was also worried about how late it was getting, as I promised mum I would help her set up.

"Let's just forget about it, Georgie," I sighed. "I'll just wear a dress from my wardrobe."

"No, no," she exclaimed. "Just try one more shop. Please?"

'Fine," I muttered.

With that she basically dragged me into the closest shop before I could change my mind.

The shop had rows and rows of dresses. I sat down in a chair near the changing rooms, having given up on finding a dress. Georgia went through the rows, holding anything up that she thought I might like. Let's just say there were a lot of no's. Eventually she held up this cute red dress.

"What about this one?" she asked.

"It's nice," I replied with not much emotion.

"Good," she said, as she passed me the dress. "Go try it on. Quickly, before you change your mind!"

I changed out of my normal jeans and t-shirt to try it on. I had to admit, Georgia had a good eye for fashion. The red dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. It came in at my waist before flaring out, finishing just above my knees. I stepped out of the dressing room to show her.

"Wow! You look gorgeous Claire! Give us a turn."

As I turned the dress lifted slightly, revealing my thighs.

"Look at your thighs! You've got to buy it Claire. It's like it was made for you."

All those years of riding had put me in pretty good shape. I wasn't skinny, just athletic.

"I do look pretty good, don't I?" I couldn't help but smile, giving another spin.

"You reckon! A certain someone is going to love it."

"Yeah, yeah," I said jokingly. "Let's buy it and then head home. Mum's going to be wondering where we are."

I wonder if Ben will like it, I thought. No, Claire, it's a professional relationship only.

Author's Note: Hi guys! I don't normally do author notes, but I would really appreciate if you could comment what you are liking about the book so far. And thanks to my readers who already to this, it means a lot to me! I'll do a deal with you guys, if you want. If you promote my book to your followers, I'll follow you and give a comment on some chapters of your book. Thanks!