Gabriella rode toward the barn. She could see her mother waiting, looking rather angry. Gabriella sighed. What now? Couldn't she go out for an hour and enjoy herself? Dismounting, she led her horse to the fence. Her mother hurried over.

"Gabriella Montez! What are you doing? I told you, we have guests coming in less than an hour and you still have all the chores to do."

"Mom, it's fine," she said, "I did most of the chores before I left." She began to untack Starlit. "Besides, what makes these guests so important?"

"These guests are very important. They are interested in staying for as long as a month and a half, if they like it. Now, put your horse away and go clean cabin two. Jake can finish the barn chores." With that, her mother stormed away. She usually got annoying when they had guests coming, but never this bad. Gabriella shrugged. After finishing with Starlit, she walked into the barn.

"Hey Jake." she said. "Sorry about the chores. You know how she gets."

Jake smiled. "No big deal. I'm getting paid for it."

Jake Abner was the barn manager. He was nineteen, two years older than Gabriella and one of her closest friends. Gabriella smiled, "Yeah, lucky you." Jake and Gabriella talked for a little while, mostly about the horses, before Gabriella decided she had better go clean the cabin. She dawdled the entire way there, she hated cleaning, although she never minded mucking out stalls. Cabin two was the largest of the four cabins. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small living room and kitchen. It took the longest to clean. After about forty minutes of scrubbing and sweeping, she was done. Sighing, she gathered up her stuff and left. She saw her mother running toward her.

"Gabriella, go get changed! They're going to be here any moment." Her mother stared at her, her ripped jeans and messy shirt. "Put on something nice," she said. Gabriella rolled her eyes and nodded before running into the house.

She understood the importance of these guests. The ranch, if you could call it that, hadn't had important guests for a while. The ranch itself was great, at least in Gabriella's opinion. They had four cabins, all nicely decorated and with electricity. They had horses and a beautifully maintained barn. They had acres of trails and even a small field of jumps. Riding was Gabriella's favourite activity. She could spend hours riding Starlit.

Voices downstairs ripped Gabriella out of her daydreaming. She quickly pulled on a lacy t-shirt and floral skirt. She ran a comb through her hair and let the curls settle on her shoulders.

"Gabriella!" she heard her mom shout from the bottom of the stairs. She quickly ran down smiling, preparing herself for the guests. But she wasn't prepared for what she saw. There, standing in the doorway, was the cutest guy she'd ever seen. His blue eyes pored into hers. With him stood two adults as well as another teenage boy with incredibly bushy hair.

"Hi," she said.

"This is my daughter, Gabriella," Ms. Montez said. "She runs the horseback riding. Also, she will be showing you to your cabin. Dinner will be served at 6:00. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask." She smiled pleasantly. They stepped out onto the porch. Gabriella smiled.

"Follow me. If you'd like, you can bring your luggage down now or come back for it later."

"We'll come back for it," said the man.

"I'm sorry," Gabriella said, "I didn't catch your names."

"I'm Jack Bolton, this is my wife Dayna, my son Troy and his friend Chad."

"Nice to meet you all," she replied. "I hope you will enjoy your stay here. Now, cabin two is right this way." She led them down the path. "Will you be joining us for dinner?"

Dayna nodded, "Yes."

They reached the cabin quickly. Gabriella swung the door open and let the guests enter. "Well, I will see you at 6:00. Do you have any questions before I go?"

Chad piped up, "So. You run the horseback riding. That's cool."

Gabriella smiled. "Yes."