Chapter 18

Ari and I were waiting outside when Brady came with Opie and Kit Kat . Ari and I walked towards him and took Opie from him, and I took Kit Kat .

"Okay girls have fun, but be careful. Okay?" Brady said, Ari groaned," Brady you're just like my mom!!!" I chuckled and Brady shook his head.

"I lost count of how many times you fell of a horse ,I have a reason to be like this. Now go on the horse, I need to make sure you are okay before I leave." Brady said pointedly . Ari groaned and got on Opie, "Happy?" Ari said while looking at Brady.

Brady nodded ,"Your turn." I nodded and got on Kit Kat like I was taught. Brady smiled in satisfaction , "Okay , you can go now." I heard Ari mumble 'finally', and I just laughed.

"Thank you Brady." I told him, "It's no problem." He said and walked away.

Ari started riding in front of me and I followed beside her.

...

"You and Brady seem close." I said, Ari gave me a look of disgust and shook her head, "Claire eww, he's like a brother to me. " I laughed then asked her, "How long have you known him for?"

"I first met him when I was 10, he was a teenager in a need of a job and my mom offered him a job here in the farm and he took it. He really is more like a brother to me than an employee. He stood by us when my father did what he did when all of the other workers left. He really is family." Ari said with a small smile on her face. "I'm glad you had him in your life." I said when I saw how much he meant to her, "Yeah me too." she said while smiling at me.

Ari and I just road the horses in silence for a while when she broke the silence , "I thought about what you told me yesterday." I nodded my head , "And?" I asked her.

Ari sighed then said ," I realized what you said was true, and I decided to do what you told me to do. Not for Caden but for me."

"I'm glad." I said . Ari looked at me then gave me a confused look, "I didn't realize you were this good, I thought you only trained for a year." she asked me confused.

I shrugged my shoulders," Well I trained for a year but since I had a lot of free time aside from school I would spend a lot of time at the stables so learnt quickly. Besides , every other place I moved to I made sure to find some place where I could ride horses ." I told her.

"But you didn't when you came here." Ari stated , I shook my head " I was too annoyed with my parents to look for anything. And by the time I started liking it here I just forgot to look ."

"Well if you like it here, you can come and ride any time you want." she said , "Really?"I said, Ari nodded "Yeah ." she said while smiling , "Thank you " I told her and she just smiled and started going faster.

By the time I realized what she did, she was already ahead of me . I started going faster, and I found out that Kit Kat is really fast . Kit Kat started running and I got ahead of Ari.

I looked behind me and waved "Catch up!" I said, Ari looked shocked but recovered and smirked , "You're on!" she said . I laughed and continued riding as she did.

....

"I'm tired." Ari exclaimed when we went back to the barn, I laughed and nodded "Yeah, me too."

"I didn't know that you are that good." she said, "I can surprise you." I said, she scoffed" Oh yeah , you did. Come on , let's give the horses water ." Ari said and got of Opie and led him inside, I nodded and got of Kit Kat and followed Ari.

When we got inside we put each horse in their respective area and gave each water and apples .

After we finished I noticed that it was already 12:30, "Ari, I have to go. Today I'm babysitting for Alexa." I told Ari , she nodded then asked" Okay, come on . I'll take you." she said.

I shook my head, "No you don't have to do." I tried to say, "It's okay I have to go to town anyway." she said and started heading to the car. I followed her to the car with my stuff and got in after her.

"You ready?" Ari said when she got in her seat, I nodded. "Well okay, let's go" she said and turned on the car.

.......

Ari dropped me off at Alexa's house then left . I stood at the door and was about to knock when Alexa opened the door.

"Hello Claire, come on in. " Alexa said, "Hello , Alexa how are you doing?" I asked her when I entered the house . "I'm good , what about you?" she asked me.

"I'm good, where is Bella?" I asked , "she is in her playpen." Alexa told me , I nodded and went to the living room.

I saw Bella playing with her toys , but once she saw me , she reached her hands out to me. I smiled at her and picked her up and tickled her. She started laughing and I chuckled .

I heard barking coming from the kitchen so I went there and saw a fluffy golden retriever . " Claire I see you met Kyon ." Alexa said with a guilty look on her face. "I did ." I said.

"Listen I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But Alec brought him yesterday after I texted you and he told me he found him wandering the street and couldn't leave him. I was angry but eventually agreed to keeping him if doesn't have any owners . We looked for any flyers or posts on Facebook but couldn't find someone looking for him. We also went today morning to the vet to see if there is a chip but no luck either . So we are keeping him." Alexa said in one breath.

She sighed then said,"Listen , if you don't want to take care of the dog it's okay , I'll find someone to take care of Bella. But if you do I can pay you $35 an hour for both Bella and the dog." she said nearly pleading with me.

"It's okay Alexa , I'll take care of him as well as Bella." I said, Alexa looked at me in relief, "Thank you Claire , you're the best ." "It's okay Alexa, now go before you are late." I said .

"Okay, just like last you can do whatever you want, I write a couple of rules regarding Kyon . Alec is going to come at 9 but I'm gonna need you stay till 10 , as we discussed. k?" she said.

I nodded my head then she left.

I looked at Bella then Kyon and sighed , "I hope you two aren't too energetic today" I said to myself while looking at them.

Boy how I was wrong...