Chapter 38

Jaz thought about her day and was really pleased with the progress Liam and Matrix had made today. They had gone over a few of the jumps that Matrix had been hesitating on in previous training sessions and had found where the problem was. Liam was able to take Matrix back through with the adjustment Jaz had suggested and it was much smoother. Liam was riding the best she had ever seen him.

Her session with Greg Mowery hadn't gone quite as well. His horse, Gemini, had been under shooting jump 12 over and over again. She had reviewed the video multiple times, but couldn't quite pinpoint where the issue was. It was irking her. She decided to call it a day, review her notes, and sit in on his jumping session in person tomorrow. Maybe she would see something she was missing on the video.

She wanted to go home, have dinner with Ben and Kelly, and call it a night. She dialed Ben to see when he would be home.

"Hey Baby. I actually ran into some friends. I'm going to stay in town and have dinner and drinks at the pub with them. I'll be home later tonight."

"Okay. Have fun. I'll miss you. Stay in town if you have too many drinks. I love you."

"I love you too honey and don't worry, I won't be drinking much," Ben hated lying to her about where he was.

She headed back to the house and saw that Stevie, Jodi and Claire were still crawling around her back yard.

"Stevie, contact lenses aren't that expensive. You can just order some new ones and wear your glasses until then. It's going to be okay. You should really just give up." said Jaz.

"Yeah, I know. I just hate my glasses so much. They're so embarrassing. I feel so old in them. I feel like a four-eyes back in elementary school. I guess it's going to be getting dark soon anyway. What do you say, girls? Shall we give up?" asked Stevie.

"I guess we better call it. We did look for five straight hours. I'm starving, we skipped lunch." said Jodi.

"Want to stay for dinner? Ben is staying in town 'till late so it's just Kelly and I." Jaz offered.

"I should get home. My mom is in town and I've barely seen her. But Stevie and Claire, you guys should stay. Tess is staying in town for dinner, anyway." Jodi said.

"Xander is actually hanging with his friend Blake, Bobby's son, tonight, so I'm free too. Blake got into town yesterday evening" said Stevie.

"I'll stay. I just need to text my mom and let her know. She worries when she doesn't know where I am," Claire said

"Jodi has the car. Would you mind giving us a ride home after dinner, Jaz?" asked Stevie

"Of course. Not a problem. It'll be fun to have a girls night!" replied Jaz.

Jodi took the ute and headed back to Drovers to see her mom and family.

Jaz led them inside where Hannah was saying goodbye to Kelly.

"How was Kelly today? Did she like the dressage practice?" Jaz asked.

"Kelly was a perfect toddler, as in she only lost one pair of socks today. She definitely seems to have inherited your love for horses. She perks up when she is around them. She had a snack about an hour ago, so she should be ready for dinner soon."

"I have the best daughter! Thanks, Hannah. Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow," said Jaz.

"See ya!" said Hannah on her way out the door.

"So, what are we eating tonight?" Claire asked.

"That is an excellent question. I have no idea. This is usually Ben's night for dinner. Let's just see what's in the fridge."

Jaz opened the fridge and was very pleased with what she saw. "I"m guessing Ben was planning a taco night. How does that sound ladies?"

"Awesome! I love tacos!" Claire exclaimed.

"Let me just get something going for Kelly and then I'll get the tacos going." said Jaz.

"You handle Kelly. I'm not the best cook, but I reckon Claire and I can handle getting things going for the tacos." Stevie offered. "What do you reckon, Claire?"

"No problem. I can help. I like cooking. Mom and I do it together a lot." Claire said.

The three women rolled up their sleeves, and made a delicious taco feast together.

"Let's eat!" Jaz said

"Is it just me or did we just totally crush that dinner?" Claire said proudly

"Oh, we crushed it!" Jaz replied.

The women sat down and dug into their Mexican feast, Kelly loved the taco meat and kept asking for more.