Chapter Ten
Mia sat in Maren’s office. She held an ice pack to her shoulder. Sky sat next to her. Neither of them spoke. They both knew what Maren was going to say when she came in.
After Mia fell, she had gotten up and made her way from the ring. Maren had taken Diamond. She told Mia to wait in the office. Sky came for support.
They’d been waiting for fifteen minutes. But for Mia, it felt like a year. She wondered if she’d be able to visit Diamond at his new home after he was sold.
As soon as Maren walked in, she asked, “Mia, how’s your shoulder?”
“Okay,” Mia mumbled.
Mia thought Maren seemed awfully cheery for someone about to get rid of one of her volunteers and one of her horses.
Maren shuffled papers around on her desk. “Now, Mia,” she said. “I’ve just been doing up the volunteer schedule for next month. I was wondering if you could increase from two days to three. We’re going to be doing a spring cleaning of the stalls.”
Sky and Mia looked at each other.
“Wait,” Mia said. “I’m sorry, Maren, you mean Sky, right?”
Maren shook her head. “No, Mia,” she said. “I mean you.”
“But,” Mia spluttered. “I fell off! It was a complete disaster.”
“Mia, think about what happened,” Maren said. “Bobby ran into Diamond. All Diamond did was try to step out of the way.”
“But I lost my balance,” Mia said. “I fell off my horse.”
“That is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I was proud of you for riding so carefully. And I was proud of Diamond for not biting Bobby,” Maren said.
“Me, too,” Mia said.
“Yesterday I saw that you and Diamond had improved,” Maren said. “I knew that if Diamond came out today wearing his bridle, then he must have learned to trust you. And you could only achieve that by being careful and slowing down.”
Mia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So, Diamond . . . ?” she asked.
“— is staying,” Maren finished, grinning. “You both are.”
“Yippee!” Mia couldn’t help shouting. Next to her, Sky’s face was plastered with a huge grin.
Mia started to leap up from her chair. She almost knocked it over. But halfway up, she stopped herself.
“Can I try that again?” she asked Maren.
As her instructor and her friend watched, Mia sat back down. Then, slowly, she rose and gave Maren a hug.
Maren laughed. “I can see you’ve taken this week’s lessons to heart,” she said.
“That’s right,” Mia agreed. “Maybe I should try people training next.”
Maren and Sky broke into laughter.
“I think you should stick with the horses,” Sky said. “Maren, can we go tell Diamond the good news?”
“Yes, go on,” Maren replied, smiling. “Just —”
“— be careful!” Mia finished. “Don’t worry. If I forget, Diamond will remind me.”