When Life Races You By

Chapter 10

A few weeks had passed and things were finally beginning to get back on track. Manny and Ben had returned home a couple of weeks earlier. The vet was happy that Manny hadn’t sustained any major injury, so now it was just up to me to slowly get his fitness back up. Ben had had another operation on his leg, but was well enough to come home. The physio came three times a week to help Ben start to weight bear again.

Every day I would head down to the stable, in the evening, to give Manny a bit of exercise. Autumn was fast approaching now and the leaves were starting to change. This particular evening was a little bit chilly.

“How are you boy?” I greeted Manny, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Ready to go?”

Clipping the lead rope onto his halter, I led him out of his stall. The vet said that he wasn’t ready to go into the paddock yet in case he was still a little nervous and got a fright and bolted, injuring himself. That was the last thing we needed. Manny stretched as his walked.

“Does that feel good hey?”

Manny replied with a neigh. I talked to Manny while we walked up and back down the aisle. Horses are good listeners and I often talked to Manny about my problems. Every now and then I would come and sit in his stall, playing with his mane or lying on his neck, looking at the roof.

Heading to the feed room I began to prepare Manny’s special mash. Dad appeared just as I was chopping up the carrots.

“Hey Claire, are you nearly done?” dad asked. “Your mum and I need to head off soon.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll just finish up here and then I’ll be up,” I replied, kissing dad on the cheek as I walked passed.

“Ok, see you then.”

Mum, dad and Ben’s parents were going out to dinner tonight. Ben was recovering well, so Mum thought his parents needed a night out. Ben still needed someone in the house with him, so I offered to help.

After giving Manny his dinner, I headed up to the guest house. It had a really cottage feel. Inside there were golden, wooden floorboards. As you came inside through the back door, there was a simple dining room, with a kitchen on the left. Behind the dining room was the lounge room, which contained a large wood fire. This was my favourite part about the guest house. It was great in winter.

“Hi Mrs Hopefield!” I said. They always said I could call them by their first names, Mary and John, but I felt more respectful calling them by their last name, especially seeing as I don’t know them that well.

“Hi Claire. Thanks for doing this,” she replied, reapplying her lipstick.

“No, problem, you deserve a night off.”

“John, are you ready?” she yelled. “We shouldn’t be too late, eleven at the latest.”

“Coming,” he replied.

“That’s fine,” I said, “be as late as you want.”

“Alright, we won’t come home then,” Mr Hopefield joked as he walked into the room.

“John!” Mrs Hopefield slapped her husband. “Ok, dinner is in the fridge, you just need to heat it up. There are new movies on the shelf next to the TV.”

“Mum, we’ll be fine,” Ben exclaimed from the lounge, where he was watching the news.

“Ok, we’re leaving then. Bye.”

“Mum and dad are waiting in the house for you,” I said as a waved them off. “Have a good time!”

I walked over to the single armchair and slumped into it.

“Anything interesting happening?” I asked.

“Just the usual, car crash, latest diet,” he replied.

We both just sat there, watching the news for a few minutes until I got bored.

“Do you want to have dinner now?”

“Ok. Mum cooked some pasta. She said it needs a minute in the microwave.”

At the fridge I located two plastic containers filled with pasta. As I heated them, Ben hobbled over to the table. I grabbed some cutlery, the pasta and placed them down on the table. Steam filled the air as I lifted the lid. Blowing on the pasta I tried to cool it down. It sure did smell nice.

“Your mum is such a good cook,” I admitted.

“Mmm,” he sighed through a mouthful, “that’s one thing I have missed.”

We sat in silence, enjoying our meal and lost in our own thoughts.

“How’s Manny?” Ben asked.

“He’s getting better,” I stated, “he seemed happier in himself tonight, which is a good thing. I hope to get him back into work in a few more weeks.”

At the sound of Manny getting back into work, a distant look crossed Ben’s face. He was still a little way off getting back into the saddle. We talked about little things, like his parents, my parents and the horses. After dinner I cleaned up, while Ben got settled on the lounge.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” I questioned.

“Sure. We could watch The Hunger Games if you want? I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Ok.”

Putting it into the DVD player, I joined Ben on the lounge, as we curled up under a rug. It was only eight, so we didn’t have to worry about getting caught out by our parents. It was nice and warm under the rug and with the fire going. I had prepared a bowl of popcorn and we had fun trying to throw it into each other’s mouths.

“You really need to aim better!” Ben exclaimed, looking at all of the popcorn that was on the floor.

“You need to come closer!”

“What like this?” He inched closer to my face.

“A little closer,” I said cheekily, looking him in the eye.

“Like this?” He was basically touching my face.

“I don’t know you tell me.”

With that he kissed me. It was just as passionate, if not more, than our first kiss. Butterflies filled my stomach, as if they were doing a dance. My cheeks felt as they were on fire and I’m pretty sure Ben felt the same way.

His hands started to creep their way up my leg and my fingers, wrapped in his hair, tightened. I sighed with pleasure. He began to move away from my lips and up to my ear.

“You look really nice tonight,” he whispered, even though I was just wearing tracksuit pants, a t-shirt and ugg boots.

“And so do you,” I whispered back, as my hands made it down to his shirt. “Just be care.”

“Why’s that?” he said without stopping.

“I’ve never done this before.”

“That’s ok, we’ll be careful together.”

He smiled in his kissed and I smiled back. I lifted his shirt off as he undid mine. His wandering fingers left a fiery trial on my skin, like a snail trial. The kissed on deeper as more clothes got removed. Let’s just say it was one of the best nights of my life and it was just a secret between Ben and me.

Author's Note: You know the deal, you comment and vote and I'll update again this time next week. My editor is still not editing, so I might get a different one soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter!