Old Kentucky Love

Chapter 2: Arrival and Preparations

The first week was spent every waking minute in preparation for the competition. Whether it was cleaning tack or practicing on their horses, they were constantly busy.

Josh and Sarah were also training. Sarah had done saddle seat before, but she was wanting to show three-gaited, while Josh shows five-gaited. So Josh was willing to give her refresher lessons.

Will and Bailey, being cousins, decided to start on the travel arrangements. They would stay at one of the hotels nearest to it. But they were having a hard time finding a place to stay for the first night since they would be there a day before the signups could be turned in.

The two came in looking a little puzzled as to how to fix the problem. Alma noticed this as she was coming out of the tack room.

"Will, Bailey, mi amigos, what's the matter? You don't look so thrilled," she said noticing the looks on their faces.

"We've got a problem on our hands about the first night in Kentucky," Bailey said.

"And we're having a hard time finding a place near there that has rooms for us and stalls for the horses. This is tricky," Will said.

The three walked to the edge of the arena and leaned on the fence. Molly was also there, watching Josh giving Sarah her lesson before the competition. She was doing pretty good for the most part. She was on one of the three gaited horses, named Shamie, in a canter and had her under good control.

"Alright, now bring her down to a walk. Good job. Three more lessons and you'll be back in the saddle," he said. Sarah came into the center and patted Shamie. She dismounted, but got her foot got in a stirrup. Josh managed to catch her before hitting the ground.

Unfortunately, he caught her in a position that made the scene very interesting. He had her in his arms, and their noses were inches apart. Everyone there was looking in shock. Some had to refrain from laughing.

He immediately stood on her feet. They were both blushing madly. She walked rather quickly back to the stall. He also walked away quickly. He noticed the others trying their hardest not to laugh. He started blushing so red a tomato would be put to shame.

"Geez, Josh. Looks like someone has a little something for Sarah," Will joked. He noticed he was blushing madly after saying that. He snickered for he's never seen anyone get that worked up over a girl.

"I do not. Besides I couldn't let her fall. She's my best friend," he said.

"Or you were just trying to be a hero for a damsel in distress," Molly teased.

"Ok. Never mind. I'm out of here," he said storming off. They all turned around as he stormed off.

Bailey let a low whistle. "Never thought I'd see that side of him. But we still got the problem of where to stay for the first night. Maybe he has an idea. He practically knows that neighborhood like the back of his hand."

Josh was fuming at what the others were saying about him and Sarah, although it was true. He had a massive crush on her, but he would never admit to her or anyone else for that matter. He just felt that, if he told her, but she didn't feel the same way, it may their friendship a little…awkward.

Sarah was in Shamie's stall, brushing the mare as the past events went racing through her mind. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Her best friend caught her and their noses were inches from each other. This whole event had her heart racing. She was practically shaking that she couldn't keep a good grip on the curry comb. Lately, she has been feeling more…attracted to Josh; more so than usual. She's developed a massive crush on her best friend and she couldn't take it anymore. Her heart was screaming to tell him before it's too late. Her brain was yelling to get a grip and tell him. It was too much that she had spent nights tossing and turning thinking about it.

Will and the others came towards Dotty's stall. They stopped just a few feet short of where her stall was to hear whispers. They tried to listen in on the conversation.

"Dotty, my old friend. Let's face it: this crush on Sarah is going to be the death of me if I don't tell her on time. I'm losing it officially. This is it. I've got to tell her when we get there. That's enough time to think of what to say," he said. The mare whinnied in understanding.

He walked out of the stall and shut the door. Josh heard someone clear their throat out. He spun around and saw the group standing there with smiles on their faces. He was blushing heavily, figuring out they had just found out his secret.

"Well, I was right: you're crazy over her," Will said with a satisfied grin on his face, draping an arm over his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. Just please… don't tell her. That's a secret I wanna keep 'til we get there," he said pushing Will's arm off of him.

"Don't worry Josh, mi amigo. We won't tell a soul," Alma said smiling a reassuring smile.

"Thank you guys. I knew I could count on you. Now what seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"Well, we're having a hard time finding a place to stay on our first night in Kentucky. We want a good place to stay, but we also need a place for the horses to stay as well," Bailey said.

"Oh that's easy. We can stay at my uncle's house. He's got a couple horses on his ranch, one for him and the other for my aunt. But he also has more stalls, enough for all of our horses. So I can call him before leaving and see if we can stay the night. Don't worry about a thing; just keep my crush on Sarah between me and you guys," Josh said.

"No problem," Molly said.

The second week came almost instantly. They had three more days and they were leaving in two days. It was Monday, and they were leaving Wednesday. Competition started on Friday.

Josh was in the office calling his uncle. "Yeah… ok… all right then. We'll see you later then… ok… bye." He pushed the end button and put the phone back on the charger. He wrote down the address. The door opened and there was Sarah. He put the address in his pocket.

"What was that?" she asked.

"That was the address that my uncle is currently living in. I wrote down his address because… well you know me."

"Yep: always the forgetful one," she said giggling. The two walked out and finished their last lesson before they were leaving.

The next day, around 6 P.M., they were getting the horses in the trailer and the saddles and bridles in the tack area. Will, Bailey, and Sarah were getting Calypso, Pepper, and Chili in the back. Alma and Molly were busy putting the last of the tack in the tack area of the trailer. Josh was busy hooking the trailer up to his truck.

"All right. I think that does it. Are we ready?" Will said. Sarah shut the trailer door, Alma closed the tack door, Josh kicked the hitch. "We're ready. Let's roll!" Josh hopped in his truck, followed by Sarah, Alma, and Molly. Bailey, Chloe, Zoey and Will hopped in Will's car and the two pulled out of the drive and on to Kentucky.

The trip itself was quite a while. 4 hours into the trip, the girls finally started to calm down. Sarah fell asleep, her blonde hair leaning against the headrest. Her chest rose up and down with each steady breath. Josh had to admit that she looked cute when she was sleeping. He shook his head, trying to get the thought out of his head and stay focused on the road.

His cell phone rang "Danger Zone," jolting everyone in the car awake, even him. Sarah sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," mumbled Alma," who's calling at this hour?" Josh took a look at the caller ID: it was Will.

"Yeah, man. What's up?… uh huh…uh.. Let me check. Hey girls you hungry?"

"Yeah, why?" Sarah asked.

"Will was wanting to stop somewhere and grab a bite before going further."

"Sure. Why not," Molly nodded.

"All right we're game… yep… ok we'll se you there…bye." He pulled off the next exit and pulled into the parking lot of the Arby's(so gooood) there.

Will and the others pulled right in with them. They all hopped out of the car. Josh stayed behind. "Go ahead. Just get a couple of regular sandwiches." The others nodded and walked to the restaurant.

Josh opened the smaller door leading inside the trailer. The horses started neighing, almost as if they were really happy. Shep and Teeny were also excited to see him.

"Finally we get more to eat," Teeny said.

"Yeah, I'm starving here," Scarlett said. Josh took the hay bails and put three pieces in each food bag hanging in front of the horses. He also put more food for Teeny and Shep in their bowls. He turned around to make sure there was no one there. He pulled from his pocket butter mints. He sneaked each horse one, feeding it from the palm of his hand, petting each one as they devoured the minty treat. He got back outside the trailer.

"I wonder if we're there yet," Aztec said.

"I would imagine we are. I remember hearing my rider saying that it would take five hours," Dotty said.

"Yes, he did say that," Shep added," and it's been almost four hours anyway."

"Well, let's eat!" Chili said as they all started digging in at once.

They others came back from the restaurant with food in hand. They noticed Josh getting out of the trailer.

"Hm. He must have fed the critters back there," Will said. Sarah didn't hear a word he said. She was too busy getting lost in Josh's eyes.

She was brought out of it by car engines revving up. Josh honked his horn." Come on girlie. You don't move, you're left behind." She ran back to the car and passed around their food and drinks before pulling out.

Josh took a sip of his drink and was immediately awake." Whew, nothing better than caffeine to get you awake and alert," he joked. Sarah started giggling. He looked over and flashed a loving smile at her. She immediately blushed and looked away to keep him from seeing. She unwrapped one sandwich and started to nibble on it a little.

Finally, they arrived at his uncle's ranch. It was a nice little place. They all hopped out of the car as Josh's uncle met them at the front door. "And just who are all these kids?" his uncle asked.

"Oh, these are my friends. Sarah, Alma, Will, his cousin Bailey, Molly, and the twins are Chloe and Zoey," he said introducing them one by one.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all. I've got the guest room set up for you all, but we are a couple of beds short, so two of you can stay in the pull out beds in the living room."

"I'll take one of them," Josh said. No one really spoke up until "I'll take the other one." Everyone was stunned to see Sarah raising her hand and asking to stay on the other bed.

"N-No you don't have to. Just sleep on the regular bed. I-I'm sure Will wouldn't mind," he stuttered.

"No, I insist. After all, I just want my own bed with my best friend," she said smiling at him. He blushed. That smile could melt a heart of stone, he thought to himself.

"O-Ok," he continued feeling lightheaded," let's get the horses and the pets in the barn." Will and Bailey opened the doors as each person took their own horse. Shep and Teeny followed not too far behind.

The horses were put away and their owners walked back to the house. They started to converse amongst themselves.

"You know, I'm not entirely sure, but I think our owners like each other, Dotty," Scarlett said.

"Yeah, no kidding. I can't believe she offered to stay with him. He didn't look too good when she offered," Dotty agreed.

"We can only hope that this goes well for the both of them," Shep said.

"I hear ya, Shep. I don't like watching relationships falling apart. It's not pretty," Button said.

"Well, here's also hoping," Calypso added.

"Same with us," Chili and Pepper said. They all fell right asleep, exhausted from that long trip here.

Everyone was inside the living room admiring the house. Chloe, Zoey, Alma, Molly, Alma, Will, and Bailey went up to the guest rooms to unpack. "Wow. This is amazing," Alma said.

"I second that Alma," Chloe said.

"That makes three," her twin said.

"I just hope everything is fine with the two downstairs. Who knows what might happen," Bailey said.

"Don't worry cousin. They will be just fine. Besides not they're going to do anything stupid.

Meanwhile in the living room there was an awkward silence between the two. He had pulled out the beds and was unpacking a few things. Sarah was also unpacking but just some night clothes and toiletries. She was blushing heavily. She didn't know what was going on right now; she was too spaced out to think.

Eventually the group fell asleep. All but Sarah was in a deep sleep. She was up wondering why did she do what she'd done. She had to get out for a little. She threw the covers off of her and stood up. She tiptoed to the door, mindful of some of the squeaking areas. She opened the door slowly and gently closed it. She took one last look at Josh, thinking of how cute he looked when he was asleep(sound familiar?). She shook that thought out of her head and walked out towards the back hill.

She found a good spot where all the stars were visible. She laid down and looked at the sky. His face immediately came to mind. She sighed happily because everything was going off without a hitch. She remembered the first time that she saw him at the ranch.

Flashback

She was in the tack room finding a spot to put her saddle to wash it. She found one spot next to Molly, but she said," But, uh, that one's not open."

"Oh, okay," she apologized. So she took her saddle and put it near Alma." How 'bout this one?" she asked.

"There was a girl using that last summer and… you know… she might come back," Alma said with a look of regret on her face.

"Right. Got it."

"I think there ought to be something… down there on the end," Bailey said pointing his thumb behind him.

"Yeah. I understand," she said looking sadder by the minute. The three walked out the door and slammed it rather hard, causing her to flinch. Tears formed in the back of her eyes and threatened to spill over. Josh walked in with his saddle and placed on the spot Molly was. He didn't notice Sarah until he heard sniffling. He turned around and saw Sarah silently crying into her hands. He walked and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked and immediately the two recognized each other. Sarah wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder.

He didn't know what to do until each sob got louder and sadder. He wrapped his arms around her, shushing and rocking her. She looked up at him. "What did I do wrong to make everyone hate me?" she said.

"Nothing. Let's just say… some here are just quick to judge besides Will. They made up their mind about you because you come from a wealthy family and they think that you think of yourself as better than everyone," he said reassuring her.

"Thanks Josh. You always knew what to say to make me happy again," Sarah said.

"Glad I could be here to help," he replied.

I was thankful that the others were able to warm up to me and Josh was able to set the record straight. And now I have a huge crush on him and don't know how to tell him, she thought to herself. She let out a sad sigh and laid back down on the grass.

"Lovely night isn't it?" She jolted upright and turned around.