Ice Skates and Hot Drinks - Story Added

Tucking her feet into her show boots, Tanya took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “How on earth did I allow you to talk me into this?” She muttered, pressing her palms against her forehead briefly.

“I think we can both agree that you’ve been hiding behind a desk for too long. This is a great debut for you mom. You and Bacardi are a great team, and neither of you are ready for real retirement. “ Chase smiled as he tugged the stallion up beside her.

 “Then why an ice-capades show? I’m a bit worried he’ll slide and pull something. He’s not in Grand Prix shape, and neither am I.” She admitted softly, gently patting her noble stallion’s nose. “I know I was for this when we first signed up, but now I’m not so sure.”

 “Well, it’s a bit late to be getting cold feet now.” Her son replied, ignoring her fears. He knew that any of his protests or reassurances would be useless. She would have to do this to believe it. Handing her the reins, he took a step back. “You’re in the ring in 20 minutes.” Pausing, Chase ignored his own gut and softened, looking at his mother. “You’ll do great mom. You and Bacardi are a great team. And this is your chance to show it. Trust me. You know we wouldn’t have signed you up if you weren’t up to it.”

 Feeling a gentle nudge to her arm, Tanya absentmindedly patted Bacardi’s cheek as she smiled back at Chase, although the butterflies didn’t really abate at his reassurance. “Well, if you think so, then who am I to disagree?” Stepping over, she hugged him tightly before clucking at Bacardi and leading him towards the warmup ring. “Take a video of this for your dad, okay?”

 “Yes mom. I’ll make sure it’s ready when it’s your turn.” He winked and headed towards the ice arena to set up the camera and tripod.

 “Well Bacardi, I guess it’s you and me now.” She murmured, as she mounted and gathered the reins up. “Lets see if we can live up to Chase’s expectations.” Leaning forward, she patted his neck before encouraging him forward to the warmup arena.

 Too soon, it was their turn and Tanya entered the ring, saluting the judges and pausing to take a deep breath before beginning the routine she and Barcardi had been practicing for the past few weeks. Beyond the barriers, Chase stood, bundled in his gloves and winter jacket as he peered through the viewer and recorded the pair against the snowy background. It was something they had been discussing between the four decisionmakers of Eagle Crest for sometime. This time, Chase had finally remembered to pack the quality camera. It was a great way to work on tightening training for everyone who was showing, as well as produce prospective breeding ads and sale ads.

 And more personally, it was used to keep his dad up to take with the stables and horses. After having a severe heart attack the night of the fire, and several subsequent relapses, his doctors had mandated that it was too dangerous for him to be in the stables or traveling long distances. So for the past six months Dominic remained at home, with a full time assistant whenever Tanya was gone. It hurt Dominic to stay away from his life’s work and second home and Chase knew that not being able to watch his wife compete would be extremely difficult for him. The video would be a poor condolence, but hopefully it would be enough.

 Chase was snapped out of his reverie by the sound of clapping and looked up, seeing his mother leaving the arena with a smile on her face as she patted her favourite stallion’s neck. Quickly, he packed up the camera and jogged over to meet her. “Well, was that as bad as you feared?” He teased, taking the reins from her and helping her dismount. He had missed about half of her presentation, but had no doubt she had done fabulously.

 “Well, maybe not quite as bad as I thought…” Tanya admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck with a slight smile, before stepping back and tugging her hair out of it’s chiffron. “I think for a rusty pair, we did pretty well. I guess we will see when the results come out.” She started untacking the stallion and walked beside Chase as they headed back to their assigned stall. Between the two of them, they put a cooler on the stallion, swapping out his double bridle for a halter and finished cooling him out before putting him away.

 “Looks like it’s going to be awhile before the classes are over. Want to head over to the clubhouse and get warm? I’ve been seeing people with great smelling coffee emerging from there.” Chase suggested, rubbing his hands together in the cool.

 “Well, that sounds like a wonderful place to wait.” Tanya hummed, tucking her arm into his as they walked out of the barn. “I could go for a steaming coffee right now.”

 “Well then, it’s a date.”