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“Wow! You fell, too? Are you scared to get back on one now?” she asked with wide eyes.

“Nope,” I said. “That’s the thing. You’re going to find things don’t always go as you planned. But that’s okay. It’s not falling off the horse that matters, it’s what you do after you fell. Are you going to just lie there and be upset with the horse? Or are you going to get up and ride again?”

“I’m going to ride again.” She sniffled. “But it hurt.”

“I know. It hurts a lot to fall off the back of one of those big animals. But you’re strong. You can pick yourself up and try again. If you fall again, do it again. Don’t give up and you’re going to find you don’t fall off anymore.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Really,” I said.

“I think that concludes our lesson today,” Raya cut in. “Let’s get you back to your mom, Mindy. Say goodbye to Cole.”

“Bye!” She waved at me as she took Raya’s hand and was led toward the main building. I shook my head, amazed at the transformation that I’d just witnessed. Talking to her about getting back on the horse had clearly made her feel better, especially after she saw my broken leg all bandaged up.

I didn’t know if what I said was going to make a difference for her next time she came to ride, but it made a difference today, and that’s the important thing.

“Do you have a few minutes to help me out with something?” Raya asked once she’d returned. I’d caught the horse the two of them were using and was in the process of putting it up in the stable for the night when she found me.

“Is it something that could possibly wait until Monday?” I asked.

“If you don’t want to stay any longer, that’s fine,” Raya said. “I can handle it myself.”

“No, no, I’ll give you a hand. Just let me get done feeding this one here, and I’ll be right there.”

“Great,” Raya said. “We’re going to unpack the new flyers that came in today. I want to get those sent out as soon as Monday morning if possible, so I need to get them pulled out of the boxes tonight.”

“Fair,” I told her. “Give me a few minutes to get done with this, and I’ll head over to the office to give you a hand with those.”

“Thanks,” Raya said, then she was gone.

I honestly didn’t know why I’d agreed to stay, but I wasn’t going to back out on her now.

I could put up with another half hour of the awkwardness between us, then I would be home for the weekend. I could put the whole thing out of my mind and start fresh Monday morning.