Breaking Free

Chapter 15

I never thought I'd be going back to Maple Ridge- I hoped if never have to. Not that I didn't have a good time there, because I did, if you don't count that little incident where I almost died.

I really hope I won't see Chloe, although I'm excited to see Serenity. I've really missed her. I guess she would technically be my adoptive cousin.

As Carter and I pull into the driveway, I take a deep breath.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asks, meeting my eyes with his.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's something I have to do," I murmur. I have to admit, this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, with horses speckled across the hillside.

As I glance over the horses, I notice a few who weren't there before. One in particular, a gorgeous black and white paint gelding, catches my eye.

"Okay, let's get this over with," I sigh, climbing out of the truck. Carter meets me at the front of the car, slinking his arm around my waist. Beau, who we brought with us for the road trip, hops out of the car, and clumsily jogs ahead of us, tripping over his massive paws?

The sun starts to lower in the sky, sending colorful rays of light cascading over the hillside, which means the horses will be brought in soon for the night.

The three of us walk towards the main house, Carter clinging to me tightly. I'm thankful for the support, because without it my knees might buckle in causing me to fall to the floor.

We get to the door almost to fast, and it takes all the courage I can muster to knock on the big, Victorian style door.

I don't know what I'm so afraid of- from the letter, you would think Corrine would be glad to see me. Maybe I'm not scared of seeing her, but more of facing the reality of my life. I've been living a lie for such a long time without even knowing. It's very unnerving.

Though I'm expecting Corrine to open the door, I see a completely different person once it swings open.

"Taylor?" Serenity whispers, her face in utter shock. Her cheeks flush red from embarrassment, though I'm not sure why.

"Who's at the door," a masculine voice asks, before I see the guys face peek out from behind her.

"Taylor, this is Alex. Alex, this is Taylor, and her boyfriend Carter," she introduces as her face turns even redder.

"Sorry, am I interrupting," I chuckle, amused.

"No, we were just watching a movie," she stutters. "Weren't we Alex?"

He nods behind her, though he has an amused smirk on his face.

"I thought you'd be a little more excited to see me," I laugh, temporarily forgetting the reason I'm here.

"I am- really, I am. It's just I wasn't expecting you. Wait, why are you here? You live like, a billion miles away," she questions, regaining her composure, along with her normal skin tone.

"It's not really something I can say with your friend here," I carefully state.

"He was just leaving," she replies, urging him out the door. Before he leaves, he leans down and kisses her. Talk about awkward.

Once he's gone, she looks up at me.

"Okay Tay, what's up," she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Carter, can you go do something," I request. He nods, understanding that I want to talk to her alone.

"I should wait till Corrine. gets here to talk about it," I answer. "But until then, tell me about your new boyfriend."

Her cheeks go crimson again, causing me to laugh.

"Oh come on Serenity, it's me," I urge.

"Okay. My mo- I mean Corrine doesn't want me dating yet. Which is stupid because I'm a junior in high school but that's beside the point. But I've had a crush on Alex for forever, and he asked me out a month ago, so we've been dating without telling Corrine," she informs me. "And I know how that must have looked when you walked in, but I swear we were just watching a movie. You can go to the tv and you'll see that Scream is in the DVD player, on pause."

"I believe you Serenity," I giggle.

"So what is it that you can't tell me till Corrine gets here? And what does Corrine have to do with it anyway," she asks.

"It's- complicated."

"Just tell me!"

"Okay, but shouldn't we bring the horses in first," I ask, trying to change the subject.

"Crap!" she exclaims, jumping up in her chair. "Okay, let's go. Get Carter too, he can help."

I call for Carter, and find him playing with Beau in the yard. The pit bull is full of energy from the long, seven hour drive.

"Carter, come on. We've got to bring the horses in," I shout.

He walks up to me, Beau trailing behind him with his pink tongue lolling out.

"Did you tell her," Carter asks quietly.

"Not yet- I want to talk to Corrine first," I answer.

"That's probably for the best."

We walk down to the barn where Serenity is already leading horses into their stalls.

"Tay, come look at this," she calls, beckoning me to one of the stalls. I glance in and see the same mesmerizing black and white paint gelding who had caught my eye when we were driving in.

"This is Checkers," she murmurs. "And he's mine."

"So she finally gave you a horse."

Serenity nods, stroking the horses mane before going to put the others away.

After a while, the sky is dark and the horses are fed and put away.

We head back to the house just as a red truck pulls into the drive. Corrine climbs out of the front seat, and glances at the three of us.

"Serenity, I said no friends over on school nig- Taylor?"

"Corrine," I greet, walking toward her swiftly. "I believe you know my mother."

I hand her the picture I've kept of my parents and I, which she takes from me and looks over.

"Oh my god- Taylor," she gasps, pulling me into a hug.

"Yeah, it's me," I sniffle. "So should I call you Auntie?"

A/N

I tried to make this chapter a little longer than usual. Merry christmas! Hope you have a great one and get everything you asked for and more!