Willowbrook Ranch | 18+

𝘌𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

𝘈𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦

⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹

Hey God, it's me again. I need the strength to get through this lesson.

I stood in the arena, my chestnut mare standing on my left while Sadie stood in front of me. She was dressed in an outfit almost identical to mine, but she was wearing a white tank top instead of a flannel with her blue jeans. If you were wondering, she's still stunning, even with the minimal makeup and the exhaustion so clearly written on her face. "Good morning Adeline," Sadie's smile lit up her face, and it sent a punch to my gut, because Cole truly moved on, with someone so goddamn beautiful she was blinding. Not only was Sadie beautiful, she was kind, and I was having a really fucking hard time finding a reason to dislike her.

I went to reply when Cole jumped over the fence, his eyes lighting up when he saw Sadie, and I placed my hand on my stomach to stop the queasy feeling.

"Hey babe," Cole smiled as he dipped his head down, catching Sadie's lips in a sweet kiss, one that had me turning my head to keep him out of my line of sight. What was I thinking? I'm not strong enough to do this, to watch them be in love, to teach her how to ride a horse. The ache in my chest widened, a crater forming and I blinked quickly to keep the tears away, although it didn't seem to work because much to my dismay, a single tear slid down my cheek. This wasn't heartbreak, this was agony. Pain that reached down to my very soul. How could I do this?

"Adeline?" I blinked, turning my head to where Cole must've been calling for me, "Did you hear me?"

"No I'm sorry, I must've spaced out, what's up?"

"I'm gonna head to the feed store, and then I figured I could stop by Gertrude's to get some lunch for us, do you want the same thing as always?"

"Sure," I gave a tight smile, "Thanks."

Sadie and I watched Cole drop to the other side of the fence again, and I tried to discretely wipe away the tear so she wouldn't see it. "Okay," Sadie crossed her arms looking at me, and I swore I saw anger simmer in her eyes. But within a blink, it was gone, "What's the history with you two?"

"What has he told you?"

"You two were childhood friends, I just assumed that you lost contact when you moved away."

Dear God give me strength. She has no idea about me and Cole. He never told her that I'm more than a childhood friend, that I'm in fact his ex-girlfriend. But, I wasn't going to tell her, not when I needed Cole's help this week to load the cattle trailer. So, I gave her a small smile, and walked up to my horse, stroking her nose gently. "Our fathers were really close and Cole was the same age as me, so we spent a lot of time together. But our friend group fell apart, and everyone went their separate ways for a few years. I got busy with life in the city and lost contact."

"Did you miss Aspen Hollow?"

I shrugged, tightening the straps on the saddle, "Yes and no. It's always been home, I missed the familiarity of everything, of everyone, but I'm glad I went to the city," I pulled the steps over to the horse, nodding at Sadie to climb on, "As much as I dreaded coming home, I'm glad I'm here."

I let Sadie use my hand to fully climb onto the horse, pulling the steps away before taking the reigns, we were only going to be doing laps in the arena to work on her balance, so I clicked my tongue, the horse starting to follow me around. "I've been trying to get Cole to leave Aspen Hollow," I looked up at her, but she was focused on where her hands were gripping the handle, "We fought about it this morning, he just doesn't want to go anywhere that isn't here."