"You are getting married!" Ashleigh said with great gusto despite the early hour.

Melissa yawned as she stumbled into kitchen. "Someone woke up on the right side of the bed this morning."

"Has it sunk in yet?" She asked.

Melissa smiled sheepishly and raised her left hand to show off her engagement ring. The ring's sparkle paled in comparison to the bride's happy glow. "I might have pinched myself this morning to make sure it wasn't a dream." 

"Hooray!"

Ashleigh and Melissa were pressed for time so they didn't discuss what Melissa envisioned for her wedding day. Ashleigh was thrilled for her sister. She knew that Seth was a good guy and would treat Melissa right. Both of her sisters had picked wonderful men. 

Ashleigh arrived at the barn and noticed Agnes' car was in the lot. She walked into the barn and caught the tail end of the conversation between Caulder and Agnes. 

Ashleigh knocked on a nearby post to alert them to her presence. "Sorry to interrupt. Good news I hope?"

Agnes turned towards her, "Ashleigh dear, I'm so glad you arrived when you did, now I don't I have to repeat myself. I was just asking Caulder about the events of last night. Bernadette tried to call me last night but I was already asleep. "

I'm sure Caulder's explanation could fill all of a thimble's worth. Ashleigh inwardly chided herself for her unkind thoughts. "Really, what did Caulder tell you?" She looked at Caulder as she said this. Caulder shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, not much. He said something about spoiling their surprise?" Agnes said.

Ashleigh took pity on Agnes and gave her the expanded version of  last night's events. Once, Agnes was caught up to date, they moved on to Agnes' news.

"The true reason I came this morning was to let you know that I just confirmed that our first horse will arrive tomorrow."

"That's awesome." Ashleigh exclaimed. 

Even Caulder couldn't hide his happiness at the news as he cracked a rare brief smile which he quickly smothered.

The rest of the time flew by in a flurry of preparation. Ashleigh was buzzing when she returned to the cabin that evening. The program was still a long way from getting up and running but having horses to take care of soon would make it start to feel real.

Melissa was already in the kitchen when Ashleigh arrived.

"What is for dinner?" Ashleigh asked.

"Hmm, dinner. Um." Melissa stared blankly at the empty pot she had put on the stove. "Hot dogs and chocolate salad."

Chocolate salad. I know Melissa likes chocolate but she might be taking it a bit too far. Melissa clearly had a lot on her mind if she was making up nonsensical foods. She wasn't sure if she should ask or wait it out.  "Do you need help?" Ashleigh ventured.

"Help? Yeah. Can you grab the macaroni?"

"Macaroni? I thought we were having hot dogs and chocolate salad?"

"What chocolate salad?" Melissa said dialing back into the conversation. "Wow, I must really be distracted."

"What's going on?"

Melissa sighed and looked at the empty pan in front of her. "Do you know how many details are swimming in my head right now? I think last night's proposal and the process of buying a house have all caught up with me. I started looking at wedding planning websites this afternoon and then the mortgage broker called needing more information. Everything has hit me at once. "

"I can only imagine. How can I help?"

After a quick dinner of leftovers, Melissa and Ashleigh got comfortable in the living room and started researching wedding venues.

Melissa didn't have a clear vision of what she wanted her wedding day to look like so it was slow going. Seth was just happy to be getting married so he was going to be amenable to anything Melissa suggested. After an hour of research, Melissa and Ashleigh called it quits. But Ashleigh felt that Melissa was getting closer to narrowing it down. 

"Thanks for looking at wedding stuff with me today. I appreciate it."

"You are welcome. You are going to be a beautiful bride."

"Thanks. Goodnight sis."

That night Ashleigh had a bizarre dream. In her dream she was walking down a street that keep going and going in a straight line. There was nobody else around and when she looked behind her the street stretched out of her line of sight. She woke the next morning feeling like she had truly walked all night. 

Ashleigh hurried through her morning preparations excited to arrive early so she could meet the new horse.  Cookie was waiting patiently outside Melissa's closed door when she walked by. Cookie had been sleeping in the living room recently since the cat had been waking Melissa up randomly in the middle of the night for snuggles. 

She wasn't sure if Melissa had slept in, which was unusual for her, or if she had left early for work as well and had just left her door closed. She scratched Cookie on the chin and quietly exited out the front door.

The morning flew by in a blur. The thoroughbred arrived mid morning from a ranch in Central California. The mare was named Penny. Penny was well trained and already Ashleigh felt calmer in Penny's presence. She couldn't wait to see Penny in action. A lady who ran a similar program two hours south of Forever was planning on dropping by tomorrow to give them some pointers and suggestions. 

Agnes was currently looking for a certified therapist to help run the program. But meanwhile Agnes was planning to open the barn for students to ride. No official therapy would be conducted until all the proper paperwork and licenses were in place. 

That afternoon Caulder and Ashleigh sat in the barn and watched some videos on Agnes' laptop explaining how horse therapy programs were run.  As informative as the videos were, Ashleigh felt increasingly drowsy. She slouched down in her chair and rested her elbows on the table in front of her. She felt her eyes starting to shut and fought the temptation to drift off to sleep. Apparently her efforts weren't successful because the next thing she felt a gentle nudge on her shoulder.

"Hey Ashleigh" Caulder said softly. "Wake up." 

Ashleigh discreetly wiped her face to ensure she didn't have any drool on it. How many times am I going to embarrass myself in front of Caulder?

"Oh, I wasn't sleeping. I was just resting my eyes and listening." She tried to play it off in a casual manner. 

"Right." Caulder smirked. 

"Caulder Bear." An annoyingly chipper voice sounded from the opening in the barn. "Yahoo. Anybody here." Bright and perky Abby Ronald was here. 

Ashleigh was tempted to slink into the shadows in hopes that Abby would go away. The glow from the laptop gave them away and before Ashleigh could make her getaway Abby sauntered towards them. "Well. Looks like you were enjoying some down time." 

Caulder chuckled nervously and tugged at his shirt collar. "Just brushing up on what we can expect with our training program."

"How delightful. Maybe you and I can watch some videos together?" Abby said suggestively as she put her hand on the table that supported the laptop.

Feeling like a third wheel, Ashleigh piped in, "Well, I'm going to check on our new arrival. You two catch up. Abby, I will see you around." She walked towards the other end of the barn where Penny's stall was.

Penny stuck her nose out when she saw Ashleigh. Ashleigh stroked the horse's muzzle and murmured soothing words in her ears. Why does it bother me so much that Abby is overly friendly with Caulder? Do I like Caulder?  This thought stopped her cold. Hmm. I might have to do some soul searching on that one.  

Ashleigh gave Penny one final rub and then took her earbuds out of their case and turned on some music to drown out her thoughts. She was rocking away to some 80s music and sweeping when Caulder found her again. He said something to her but the music drowned out what he said.

She pressed pause on her phone. "What was that?"

"I'm heading out for the day."

"Ok. Have a good evening." She pressed play on her phone and happened to notice that Abby was watching their interaction from the barn door. Caulder exited through the barn doors and Abby reached out her left hand to grab Caulder's elbow. 

I have to give it to her. She is direct. She knows what she wants and she is going after it. 

Early Sunday morning

Whenever, Ashleigh had a lot on her mind she liked to go hiking. Getting out in nature cleared her head and gave her some perspective on whatever she was facing. Ashleigh had risen before the dawn and driven to the hiking spot she had read about online last night. She had thought about inviting Melissa but one look at her face confirmed that was she beyond exhausted. She left a note on the kitchen table and slipped out the front door. As she drove to the trail head, it was getting lighter and lighter outside. She was hoping to be at the summit before sunrise but it wasn't looking like she was going to make it to the top in time.

There were a few cars in the parking lot when she arrived. She quickly checked her bag to make sure she had everything she needed and then set a brisk pace down the trail. She was hoping to find a  clearing to catch part of the remaining sunrise. She chuckled a little remembering the time she had taken her sister Melissa for a hike in Montana. Melissa had complained that Ashleigh was walking too fast. She had been apologetic immediately. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts at the time she hadn't noticed Melissa was not right next to her. Today since she was hiking solo she could go at her own pace.   

The forest was quiet this time of morning with a few birds starting to stir. The morning air was cool but not freezing. The skies were clear overhead so it looked like it was going to be a great day for a hike.  She took a deep breath. She loved being around trees. That was something she missed about Montana. She missed the giant evergreens. Her mood always lifted while in nature. She was still pondering why it irked her so much that Abby was laying claim to Caulder. Now that she knew that Caulder was single it shouldn't bother her anymore.  Her mind circled around and around on the issue but never settled on anything.

Ten minutes into her hike she found a lookout. The lookout conveniently had a bench. So she settled on the bench and took a few minutes to enjoy the sun coming up. Since the sky was clear, it was easy to see vivid pinks and purples turn to soft yellow. The birds starting their morning songs and Ashleigh sat spellbound taking it all in. All too soon the sun was up and it was time to get moving. Although it was above freezing, sitting too long had made her cold. She needed to get moving to get her blood pumping again. The hike was an out and back. She looked at her watch and set a target for when she wanted to be at the turning point. 

She made it to the turning point in the time she had set. She stopped to take a sip of water and  inwardly she congratulated herself for meeting her goal. She took a deep breath and began the descent back down the trail. She had only taken a few steps back down the trail when she stopped abruptly hearing a distinctly perky voice carrying in the wind. Abby.  

Since there was nowhere to hide, she pasted on a smile and prepared to greet Abby.