"I cannot believe that you would do this to me, Mummy! It was bad enough that you divorced Daddy, and now you're going to dump me with Granny every day so that you can go to work?"

Serena watched as her ten year old daughter began to go into full meltdown mode. Truly, she blamed this all on Edward, as he had spoiled Elinor fiercely in his need to be the parent their daughter loved most. "I need to have a way to support us, Ellie, you know that. Especially now that I have Jason to consider as well."

Her daughter frowned, her lower lip quivering in defiance at the sound of her cousin's name. "I never wanted him in my life, Mummy! It's not my fault his mummy died. I don't see why you have to bring him into our family."

"Because he's the son of my sister, Elinor. One day, when you're older, you'll understand." She reached out and stroked her daughter's hair softly. "Until then, we have to make the effort to include him as well. He is probably missing his mother very much right about now."

Elinor pulled away from her touch and stomped over to the overstuffed chair near the window, plopping down in it with as much force as her little body could muster. Serena knew that she was now in full snit mode, and that nothing she said would assuage her daughter from her goal. The sun shone in on her face, highlighting the tears that were now coursing down Elinor's cheeks. It painted a pretty picture, but it also made Serena all the more hesitant to give in to her demands. If she capitulated now, then her daughter would realise that it only took a little tantrum in front of her to get what she wanted.

Sighing deeply, Serena counted silently to ten before calmly approaching her daughter, crouching down so that she could look her in the eyes. "I know that this is a big change, poppet, but it's a necessary one. There are grown up concerns to think about here, things that you won't understand until you're much older, and I have to put your care and wellbeing before my desire to spend as much time with you as possible. And you like your grandmother's house, remember? You told me about how much you loved going through the trunks and boxes in the attic, finding all the old stuff from her childhood."

Again, Serena began to run her fingers through Elinor's red gold hair, hoping that even a little of what she was saying was getting through to her. Elinor didn't pull away this time, but her crocodile tears grew larger and more copious, now that she knew she had her mother's attention. "I do love that, Mummy. But I'll miss you."

"And I'll miss you, too. But I need to take care of us."

Elinor's lower lip popped out as she touched her chin to her chest in order to look up at Serena, and it was then that she knew there was trouble coming. She recognized that look all too well. "Can I ask you for something, then, Mummy? Something that will prove to me that you love me and won't forget about me while you're at work?"

"I could never forget about you, Ellie." Her lower lip stuck out even more, and Serena fought to keep a gentle smile on her lips as she addressed her daughter once more. "What would you like?"

"Zosia and Jasmine have been taking riding lessons for the last few months, and they keep bragging about it at school."

Those were familiar names to Serena, as Elinor had long been enamored by the older, more glamourous, girls at her school, talking about them and their adventures with such eagerness that she knew it would cause problems down the road. She had just hoped that she would have had more time to prepare for this sort of thing. "Elinor, I really don't think…"

"Everyone at school rides horses, Mummy! Everyone. And you don't want me to lie to my friends and say that I have a horse, do you?"

"Wait, when did we go from wanting riding lessons to owning a horse, Elinor?"

"You see? You never want me to have anything in my life! This is so not fair!"

Serena pursed her lips in frustration, trying not to let her daughter know that she was getting beneath her skin. "I do want you to have the best in this world, Ellie. But there are other things out there besides horses. Wouldn't you like to learn an instrument? Or how to sculpt?"

"No! I want to learn how to ride. And there's nothing you can do to change my mind."

From the hard tone in Elinor's voice, Serena knew that she was fast losing this battle, and she took a deep breath as she reached out and tugged on a hank of Elinor's hair. "Nothing I say will dissuade you, will it?"

"No, my mind and heart are made up."

That brought forth a chuckle from dip in Serena's stomach, as she knew for certain she had said those same words to her mother not that long ago. "You truly are my clever girl, aren't you?" Elinor nodded as she gave her a tiny smile. "All right, despite my reservations, I suppose that I could look into getting you into lessons. I can't make any promises, of course, but I will start researching."

It was as if a switch had turned in her daughter, as a wide grin spread across her lips and she launched out of the chair and into her mother's arms. "Thank you so much, Mummy! I love you!" Elinor kissed her cheek loudly before wriggling away from Serena and running out of the room, most likely to head upstairs and play. Shaking her head, Serena got to her feet and then sank into the chair that her daughter had just vacated.

"What have you done, Serena Wendy Campbell? You've never been on a horse, not since you were kicked by one the one time Mum tried to get you interested in things like that. This is going to end in disaster." She buried her face in her hands as she let out a deep breath of resignation. "Priority number one is now going to be getting Elinor accustomed to hearing the word no from here on out. I cannot have her acting so entitled all the time."

Pulling out her phone, she searched for stables close to their home, knowing that she wouldn't want to travel too far every week for this passing fancy her daughter had. There were a number that seemed slightly suitable, but since she wasn't familiar with the inner workings of equestrian clubs, she had no idea if they really were good or not.

Finally, after clicking on the tenth link, she felt like she may have stumbled upon the perfect place. There was nothing fancy or showy about the website, which seemed to suit Serena just fine. It was refreshing to find a place that wasn't vaunted or puffed up or full of itself. Going through the various pages, she was able to see just what the barn had to offer, and she decided that she would have to check it out on her next day off.