On her way to Raintree, Kris tried her best to cover up the pain and anger that she felt for Matt's sake. Not only was she being given a second chance that she couldn't blow, but she couldn't tell him, an ex-boyfriend, that she was heartbroken over Junior, another ex-boyfriend. It just wasn't right in so many ways. Suddenly, she thought of Laura. How does she feel through all of this? It's pretty obvious that she hates Kris. But, then again, she did make her a braid's maid at the last minute. Either that was her soft side showing, or she just wanted to rub it in her face that she was the one marrying Junior.
When she pulled up into the ranch, she looked past the fake-leather cowboy boots open-pit fire rings. Off in the distance, Matt was warming up Flame. He looked like a champion already, just like his dad. Since Noah had last seem him, he'd gotten even healthier. WIth proper medical attention and a hearty diet, he was starting to look like his normal, happy self again. Which kinda reminded Kris of herself. She had grown up, mentally, on this ranch, and was suddenly "sent off" to care for herself in Colorado. Now, she was back and getting back to normal. Yep, she had a lot of things in common with Flame, making it even harder for her to be part from him.
"Hiya, cowboy. Shouldn't you be preparing the pork and beans for tonight?" Kris joked as she approached Matt and Flame. She's given him so much crap for this whole dude-ranch things.
"Hey." He laughed, ignoring her comment. "He's all warmed up for you." He told her as Flame trotted over to Kris immediately and pushed his nose up against her hand.
"Hey, boy." She greeted. "Ready to ride?"
"Let's go easy today. The slower we take things, the more willing he'll be." Matt explained.
"Slow and Steady Wins the Race." Kris replied and nodded.
"Exactly. Let's start it off as a walk around the track. Let him get used to it a little."
"He's done it before." she countered.
"I know, but if we keep running him like that, we'll injury him before he ever starts competing. Let's just start where we left off yesterday, before he took off."
"Okay." Kris agreed. She really wasn't in the mood for arguing. Matt jumped up up on one of the other horses and they slowly started to walk around the track. Kris started to recall all of the memories that she had on this track, like when she first rode Wildfire and proved to everyone just how good she was.
"So…" Matt started, and brought Kris back from her daze. "You ready for the big day tomorrow?" He asked, smiling slightly at her.
"Oh, you mean the wedding…" Kris replied.
"Yeah, what do you think I meant?"
"Nothing. I just…" Kris started. She had to tell him the truth… he was gonna find out eventually. "I don't think I'm going."
"What?" He asked, shocked and confused.
"Yeah… I just have some things that I have to do, and--"
"But you're a braid's maid, you have to go."
"Junior said he'd talk to Laura about that."
"Junior." Matt repeated, clearly disappointed. "You went and talked to him about this?"
"Well, yeah." Kris shrugged.
"Why?" He asked. Kris could read how upset he was from the look on his face.
"It was his idea that I don't go, Matt."
"That doesn't make any sense. He told you that he wanted you to go."
"Yeah, but that was before--"
"Before what?" he pried.
"Nothing. Nothing, okay? Let's just focus on Flame right now." Kris replied. Not only did she not want to talk about this… but she didn't want to talk about it with Matt.
"Okay." Matt replied, calmly, which surprised Kris. Matt wasn't the one to let something go, especially a conversation like that. But no complaints. Kris was here for only one reason: to get back into racing in any way that she could. If she couldn't be Flame's jockey, then the least she could do was help train him. She had seen so much with him already, and she didn't want that to end. Right now, he was all she had. The one relationship in her life that she was sure about.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed :) Here's another chapter for ya'll. It's still like short. But I'm like that. I tend to write shorter chapters so that I can update faster. But give me some time, I have school work and other time consuming things, but I will definitely try to stay on top of everything so that I can update as much as I can. Also, please excuse typos. I'm a fast typer and i dont really proof read anything, lol, so bare with me. Please review:) Rylie
