Finding My Soulmate

Chapter 18

GRACEEEEEE," The named young woman opened the door from the back seat and stepped out, to be greeted by her younger sister who cane running out the house and straight into her arms.

Grace laughed lightly, hugging her sibling back, "Did you miss me?"
"Kinda," Gillian pouted, letting go and looking away, "I had to take extra chores and all while you were gone. There was so much to do."
Grace just laughed at her sister's response, "Well, I'm here now."
Logan and his mother and gotten out of the car behind them, and her parents came out of the house at the same time. They greeted each other politely. Grace's and Logan's mother began talking to each other, and it wasn't long until Amanda had ushered the guest inside for a cup of coffee. Grace's dad was speaking with Logan. From where Grace was standing, she couldn't quite hear what was being said, but she inwardly hoped her father wouldn't embarrass her.

Impatient whinnies and unsettlement could be heard from inside the trailer. Grace looked over at her younger sister, "Wanna help me get them out?"
"Yes!" Gillian replied eagerly, and they walked around to the back of the trailer. Grace opened it and was quick to untie Sandy, who was closest to the opening, and the buckskin mare jumped out before standing tall, ears forward towards the paddocks. She let out a loud whinny, and was greeted by one in return.
Gillian laughed, "Someone's glad to be home."Grace had to agree with her. Whilst Gillian took the black mare out of the trailer, Grace walked Sandy down to her equine friends. As soon as she let the mare go, she rushed off to greet her friends. It was a peaceful reunion, and they all seemed satisfied as they began eating the grass together. It wasn't long before Midnight was out in the other paddock, where she was greeted by Patches and Peaches, the two paints, as soon as she was past the gate.

Grace then went back to get out Titus, who was starting to be unsettled. Grace put him in an extra pen, next to the one with the family's private horses in. She didn't want to put him in and disturb the herd, but from there he had space to move about and could greet them over the fence. Hearing a thump behind her, Grace turned around to find that her father had wrestled her soulmate to the ground.
"Dad! What are you doing?!" Grace exclaimed, running over.
"I was just testing the guy," John replied, with a satisfied grin on his face.
"Dad! Don't," Grace shoved him away and turned her back to him, facing Logan."Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.
"Yeah, don't worry about me," he grinned, using his arm to hoist himself up.
"Let's go inside, shall we?"

Amanda was sitting with Lynn inside. She had made her a cup of coffee, and they were sitting talking about themselves, when the group of four entered the house. Grace's father sat down next to his wife and poured himself a cup of coffee. Grace sat at the end of the table, and beckoned Logan to come sit as well. Gillian stayed standing by the door.
"Excuse me for a moment," Amanda halted their conversation when the rest came trailing.
Lynn nodded, "Of course."
"Alyssa will be back any moment, she's been helping out and offered to the this hike. Gillian, Autumn, Onyx and Pepper are in, right?" Amanda started the family discussion
"Yep," Gillian nodded in reply.
"Good, they need tacked up. They're going on a 2-hour hike at 2. At 3 there's an hour hack. It's a big booking, so Captain and Spartan, who are out now, will be going again. Then Peaches and Patches too. Grace, I know you just came home, but can you take them out? You can ride Whisper. Midnight and Sandy need a break," She continued.
"Sure, I'll go," Grace nodded. Whisper was her mother's horse, a grey mare. She was blind in one eye, and was starting to get old, so she wasn't ridden much. She had been used for trails but she was often spooking, until she was tested and found out she was blind. Since then, Amanda had taken her in as her own.
"I'll go fix the fence on that extra paddock," John said, standing up from the table.
"I'll saddle up," Gillian said, turning around and heading out, with her father right behind her.
"I need to go help too," Grace looked over at Logan, "Wanna come?"
"Sure!" Logan said. They stood up to head outside.
"Grace headed to the barn and grabbed the nearest hanging lead rope, "Here," She gave it to Logan with a smirk on her face, "Now it's time for you to work. Go get Whisper in, she's the light grey in that paddock," she pointed over to the paddock where Sandy also was grazing on the grass.
"Fine," Logan rolled his eyes, taking the lead rope and walking down towards the paddock.

It was at that moment that Logan had reached the gate, that he heard a loud squeal behind him. Alyssa had arrived back and, seeing Grace, she jumped off the bay gelding and ran the few steps to greet her best friend.
"Grace! It's so good to see you!" She squealed.
Grace laughed and hugged her back, "I've missed you too, Alys."
Her father came out to see what the racket was about and gave them a glare, taking ahold of Spartan's reins, "Now now girls, not around the horses."
"Sorry," both girls said sheepishly.
He lead the mare inside, and Alyssa took Captain's reins. The tourists headed off. The next was a pair of tourists that had signed up for a longer hack. Gillian came out of the barn with Autumn.
"Want me to hold her?" Grace offered.
"Thanks, Grace, I'll get Onyx out," Grace overtook the reins.

After seeing the tourists and Gillian off, Grace turned around and headed into the barn. Her father had put Pepper inside a stall, having collected his tools, he set off to go fix the fence. Logan had come back with Whisper.
"Just tie her to the post," Grace said. She was leading Pepper out the barn, with an extra lead rope in her hand, and down to the paddock. Letting the grey mare go out in the paddock, She took the two paints in together to get them ready. The time passed quickly, as the horses were brushed and tacked up. Alyssa had been called home, so she said goodbye to Grace with a quick message of 'call me later', since they didn't have the chance to talk.

A few hours later, Grace had been on the trail ride, and had helped Gillian when she came back. Together, the two sisters had brought the horses in, one paddock at a time, to feed them, before they were turned out for the night. Grace also gave Titus some feed. He had plenty of grass, and view to the others, so decided it would be best to leave him out along with the rest. Grace was the last to leave the barn, after tidying up and locking the tackroom, and getting ready for the next morning. Her father had already finished, so she closed the barn and headed into the house for dinner.

While she had been helping out with the family's business, Logan and his mother had settled in in the house. They only had one guest room, so it was decided that Logan would stay in Grace's room with her. Grace's mother had prepared a feast, along with Logan's mother who had helped too. The two mothers seemed to get along really well, which made Grace feel relieved. And her father, well, he had put off harming Logan more than she'd expected. During the dinner, they talked and laughed, and told stories to each other. Both Grace and Logan experienced the embarrassment while their parents told stories of them as children.

"Hey, Grace," her mother called her out to the kitchen after they had eaten. Grace started drying up the dishes her mother had washed whilst speaking to her.
"What is it, mother?" Grace asked.
"You know how the vet is coming tomorrow to give the horses their jabs?" her mother replied, as she washed the dishes in the sink by the window.
"Yeah, I was told earlier," Grace put away a dry plate and took the next wet plate to dry it off.
"Well, there's something else, too. He's bringing a new horse. The horse was supposedly abandoned in an empty field. Although he's thin, nothing else is wrong with him. The vet was looking for some place for him and I offered to take him in. I was thinking you could do with the work of training him over the summer, and if he's able to, he can come on trails after. Otherwise he'll be a lead horse," she explained. A lead horse meaning only one from the family would ride him, and not unknown tourists.
Grace felt the excitement well up inside of her, "That's amazing! Thank you! I can't wait."

Later, up in Grace's room, she was sitting on her bed setting up the new phone her father had bought her, when Logan, who had been rummaging in his belongings beside the bed, called her name. When she stood up and turned around, Logan was down on one knee, holding something in front of him.
"Grace, will you marry me?" he asked, opening the small black box he had, revealing a ring with a small diamond on it.
Grace took her hands up to her mouth. She let out a small squeal, "Yes!"
She put her hand out. As he stood up, he slipped the ring onto her finger, before taking her into an embrace. He took his head back and looked her in the eye, before closing them, as she copied his movements. Grace could feel his lips touch hers as he kissed her.

Later that night, Grace was laying in her bed on her back, staring up at the white ceiling above her. She couldn't sleep. A smile had been formed on her lips for a while. She couldn't help it. Everything seemed to be falling into place. She had been looked after two great mares on her trip. She'd been lucky to find her soulmate, who would soon be her husband. Logan was laying next to her, sleeping. And tomorrow awaited a new day with a new challenge for her. She was excited for everything to come in the future.