Copper View Ranch

Sophia ran the dandy brush over the gelding's coat absentmindedly as she listened to Tom and Lucas in the next pen over talk about the upcoming rodeo. She wasn't sure what rodeo they were talking about but wondered if Ethan was going. She couldn't remember the last rodeo she went to, but could vaguely remember following her parents around when she was younger to the rodeos the used to go to.

Unlike the previous day, Sophia had a rather successful ride on the sorrel gelding. She decided to name him Sunny for now. Although Ethan said he needed a lot of training still, her ride on him was nothing like it was on the mare. Sunny had remained perfectly calm, listening to her cues even when she took him for a little ride around the ranch. If anything he was a bit slow.

"Soph!" Emily called as she hurried over to the pen Sophia was grooming Sunny in. "I forgot to mention yesterday, we're having a barbecue tonight. Mostly just us and the boys but some locals will be coming up so you might want to get cleaned up."

Sophia nodded with a sigh, glancing down at her outfit. She was wearing a pair of older jeans and a hoodie, knowing how easily her clothes got dirty working around the ranch. She originally straightened her hair that morning, but since then it became full of hay and dust and she had thrown it up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face. She knew her face was probably covered in sweat and grime. She wasn't sure who these "locals" were that were coming, but she didn't want to look like she'd been rolling around in hay and dust for when they arrived.

Sophia quickly finished grooming Sunny before throwing him some hay. She could see Ethan heading out towards the back of the house to their yard, presumably to start up the barbecue. She hurried into the house and up the stairs where she got the shower going.

About half an hour later Sophia was cleaned up and in a fresh new outfit. She was glad to finally have an excuse to wear the cute white dress she bought a few days before moving back. She was finishing up with her make up when she heard the dogs barking and a vehicle come up the driveway. She hurried out of her room, pausing at the railing as she looked out the large windows to the driveway. She didn't recognize the man and woman who were getting out of the truck, nor the two teenagers.

Sophia wandered out onto the porch where Ethan was barbecuing some hamburgers. She immediately felt overdressed. The people that were there, excluding the ranch hands, all looked like they came straight from the barn there. She blushed self consciously at the fact she was wearing a dress as she glanced around the yard. There were a few other people there that Sophia didn't recognize. There were a couple of older couples, a younger family with some little kids running around with the dogs and now the family with the teens that arrived. She found her attention drawn to them, as they looked like they were closer to her age.

The girl looked like she just walked out of a barn. Her black hair was tied back in a messy pony tail and her t-shirt had some dirt and slobber on it. The boy looked to be around the same age or even a bit older. His shaggy black hair fell messily down, his bangs almost reaching his eyes. His clothes were of similar condition as the girls. The girl noticed Sophia gazing curiously at them and walked over with a wave.

"Hi! You must be Sophia! I'm Abigail, you can call my Abby," the girl said with a grin, showing her braces. "We haven't met before, we just moved into the ranch down the road about a year ago. That's my brother, Ben." Abby motioned carelessly back at her brother, who was inching towards the food table that Emily had set out earlier.

"Er, nice to meet you," Sophia forced a smile, though she felt awkward. She felt like an outsider, having no idea who the majority of these people were. It appeared they had gatherings quite often, as she could hear bits of conversations as they went by. They were all talking as if they were all family. "Do you like living here?" Sophia couldn't help but ask. This girl seemed talkative.

"I love it! It was kind of hard at first, since there's no school around or anything," Abby responded ecstatically. "But I don't mind home schooling. I actually like it a lot better. What about you?"

"Yeah," Sophia replied absentmindedly. Her stomach growled and she began slowly heading for the food tables with Abby at her side. She was slightly surprised by how talkative the girl seemed, as Abby went on rambling about a new horse she got. She was half listening as she gathered some food on her plate, with Abby talking almost non stop. She doubted the girl expected her to know what she was talking about anyway. She kept mentioning different names of people and horses and soon after Sophia was completely lost.

"Wow, Abs, give yourself time to breathe," Ben spoke up as he piled a mountain of food on his plate. He sounded slightly amused, his green eyes landing on Sophia and Abby.

"So do you like to ride?" Abby asked, apparently choosing to ignore her brother. "I love to ride, I helped my parents break in one of the new horses today, his name is Ace and he's half Quarter Horse and half-"

"Seriously, Abby," Ben interrupted her before moving away from the table. Abby grinned sheepishly before finally grabbing her own plate and putting some food on.

"Yeah, I like to ride," Sophia belatedly answered as she dipped her carrot into some of the chip dip. "I haven't been riding in a few years though but it's all coming back now." Her cheeks turned slightly pink when she remembered her fall the previous day. They didn't need to know about it.

"That's cool, we should totally go riding together. I only live like a twenty minute ride away," Abby spoke up again quickly as she spun around from the table, causing the food on her plate to nearly go flying. "How about tomorrow? Are you busy tomorrow?"

"No, unless my dad needs me to do something," Sophia replied slowly.

"Great! How 'bout we meet around noon at the river bend? You know where that is, right?" Abby asked enthusiastically. Sophia paused, trying to recall which rivers were around. She could remember the one major river that was about a half an hour ride away. Most of the river was hard to get to due to the thick bush around it but there was a river bend that was known for a good fishing spot around there.

"Yeah, I know the place," she answered. She supposed she would feel more enthusiastic about it if she was more confident in her riding ability. "So I'll see you there then?"

"I'll bring a lunch! I know these great spots for picnics. This one time, I went for a ride with Ben and my mom and we stopped at this one spot up on that ridge, and it was so amazing up there." Abby continued rambling on about the picnic spot. Sophia found it difficult to keep up as the girl rapidly went on, now mentioning something about a bolting horse and a bear. She nodded vaguely as she munched on her food, her attention drawn around the crowds of people there.

"So then we had to get the vet to come out and-" Abby finally cut herself off when she recognized someone in the crowds. "Anyway, I'll catch up with you later. Remember, noon tomorrow at the river bend! Bring a lunch." Sophia was just taking in the sudden change of subject when Abby took off through the crowds. She watched her as the girl planted herself in front of Lucas, who just came out from the barns. Sophia shook her head in slight amusement as Abby began chatting away to Lucas.

"Getting tired of her yet?" Ben asked with a smirk as he wandered over, taking a drink of his soda. "She likes to talk."

"I noticed," Sophia replied faintly. She wondered if Abby was always like that and if she'd even be able to say something longer than one sentence on their ride the next day. "Is she always like that?"

"Usually. Sometimes she calms down a bit," Ben replied. "So, you just moved back here from the city?"

Sophia nodded and began explaining how her grandparents decided to sell their house in the city, forcing her to move back. She didn't want to sound like she was complaining about moving back here yet at the same time she couldn't be enthusiastic about it. Talking about it made her remember her original summer plans and what her senior year at high school could have been like. Ben was surprisingly understanding.

"Well, I know how you feel," he said before downing the rest of his soda. "I didn't want to move here from the farm we used to live on. It wasn't that bad then, we lived in a decent sized down, I could actually go to school. But my parents wanted to move to this area since it was cheaper and the ranch we're on now is a lot bigger so they can expand their business. Looks like your dad needs you."

"Huh?" Sophia glanced up, confused by the sudden change of subject. She looked around the porch, her gaze landing on Ethan standing near the barbecue waving his flipper in the air, motioning for her to go over there. "Yeah, guess I'll see you later," she replied, tossing her empty plate in the garbage before wandering over to Ethan, who wanted to introduce her to someone.