Ride On

Chapter Seventeen

I grimly peered out the window as the fence between the current horse pasture and the new expansion was taken down. It doubled its size.

Sighing, I folded my laptop closed. My eyes were dry and red from all of the staring I'd done at a bright white screen. I needed a change of scenery.

I drew in another breath, letting it out slowly. Whew, this wedding-planning-stuff is hard.

I closed my eyes for a brief second, allowing myself only that short time to rest. When they snapped open, I set to work.

I still had the dog trainer chick's number on a post it. Dani West. It was a little dusty, but I decided to give her a call. She immediately picked up.

"Hello?" She asked, sounding hopeful.

"Hi, I got your number from a website." I explained, biting my lip. "My name's Evangeline Harrison, but that's about to change to Evangeline Hill...and I was wondering if you could train my dogs to be the ring bearer and flower girl in my wedding." I wasted no time cutting to the chase. She'd better be good, or else I'll probably end up renting a small child.

"What breed are they?" She asked skeptically.

"Border collie." I replied with no hesitation. "I already taught them a whole bunch of tricks they already know, but we never use them. Only when dad needs the newspaper. It's just..." I trailed off, rubbing my temples and sighing.

"What?" She asked.

"My wedding is in a week." I told her.

There was no reply for a few minutes. "Well...it'll be tough. Luckily, border collies are bred for intelligence. I can do it, as long as you recommend me around town. Interest is at an all time low." She chuckled. I was incredibly glad that she agreed.

"What do I owe you? Should I give you my address, or do you want me to drop them off?" I started to fire questions, but she stopped me by answering them, almost robotically.

"The fee...will be a normal price since you'll help me advertising. $20 per day, per dog. It'll take at minimum, five days. That comes up to $200, at least. I'll work with them more than once each day, since our time frame is so small." She assured me. "And I'll come pick them up. They'll love my kennel, it's pretty roomy and has lots of toys. They'll get to play with my dogs, too." She chuckled.

"Well, alright then!" I exclaimed happily, reciting my address to her. She told me she'd be there in half an hour, we exchanged goodbyes, and I hung up.

Thank goodness that problem was solved. Now I didn't have to buy a baby. Well, not a baby. Just a little girl, but not too little. Little enough to be adorable, but to also follow directions. That's probably too much to ask from a three year old.

Besides, I've heard that border collies are smarter than five year olds. Some can understand words, like when you have them fetch something. 'Get your ball' or 'get me a beer'. Dad tells them to 'go get my newspaper' and they proceed to race each other there, and the one that didn't get it chase the winner back right to dad's lap. They drop it and then do their farm rounds, making sure everything smells ordinary. They 'herd' the horses in for breakfast, as I go out there, although the pups are usually ignored, and they 'help' with the cattle. They think they're so important. Lastly, they chase all the chickens back into their coop for the night as one of the hands goes to lock them up.

Peculiarly, they seem to be terrified by cats and keep their distance from them.

Closing my laptop, I brushed it off of my thighs and rose from my bed. Dad and Chris were downstairs...probably goofing off and not getting their tuxes...and someone had to make sure they were on track.

I plodded down the stairs, not even caring to put shoes on, and hopped into the kitchen with a stern look on my face.

Dad was balancing a spoon on his nose. I closed my eyes and gently rubbed them, trying to keep my temper under control.

"What in the world are you doing?" I sighed exasperatedly.

"N...nothing?" My dad laughed, removing the silverware from his face. I could feel my cheeks heating up. "You need to chill. We got the tuxes already," he said, motioning towards a chair where they happened to be sitting magically, "And we're printing the invitations now."

"Wow, so you actually managed to get two of the four things done in an hour when you were supposed to be done in half that time with all of them." I snapped crossly. "I mean we've got six days to get this done. The church isn't even aware of this yet." I growled, tone getting louder with each word.

"Eve, calm down." Chris warned me. I shook my head in attempt to clear it, gritting my teeth.

"Just make sure the Church is ready. Get brunch arrangements. That's all I'm asking for." I frowned, heading back upstairs. So far today, I'd made arrangements for the dogs(obviously), the cake, ice cream, and a plethora of other desserts. The rest of the day was booked visiting Trigger and buying dresses with Paula.

The drive out to Paula's clinic was uneventful, with the roads as barren as ever. Funny, there never seems to be anyone driving around here ever. It's like the town is abandoned. Or they're all worried about the apocalypse and stock up on everything, henceforth trips to the store are unnecessary.

The former is more probable than the latter, although they might just have no reason to be out.

I pulled up, but was extremely disappointed to see that my favorite spot had been claimed. Angrily pulling into another spot, I calmed down and focused on helping Trigger to get better. Amazingly, the prognosis was great for him today. He was somehow recovering immensely well.

After the visit, Paula and I drove back to the Bridal Shop in the mall to get the dresses. It was actually more exciting, this round. And I got to take it home, plus nobody was furious with me! It was a win-win-win.

I hustled to get my dress out of sight, though. It's bad luck for the husband-to-be to view the dress before the big day. The bridesmaids dresses didn't count, though. They'd already been notified of the occasion and given us their dress sizes.

The wedding basically consisted of less than a hundred 'close' relatives of Chris and I. My bridesmaids were Paula and two of my other friends from high school, Janet and Gillian. The groomsmen were Chris's brother Pete and his two closest friends from the ranch, Ty and Joe. They don't even talk much, but we had to even out the numbers.

Chris's parents received an invite to the big day, but didn't reply. It looked like my father would be playing both roles, and there would be no mother involved.

Regardless, we bought a big fancy canopy-like-tent for the reception and picnic tables to eat on.

By the time all the arrangements had been made, we hadn't even thought to plan a honeymoon.