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Cindy laughs. “Mm….can I just stay here in your arms all night?” She sighs deeply. “I suppose you can drop me off at my bunk.” Once there, she slides off the horse and looks up at Wes. “Thanks, Wes…I had a wonderful time…good night.”


Night hangs on as long as it possibly can, but daylight must have its way. The sun breaks into the morning with a million bright colors, shimmering across the sky. The sleepy ranch slowly comes alive again as the new day begins. But already, they are one less. A note in the mess hall thanks everyone, and informs them that Jason has already left.


“He’s not going to call.”

“Yes he is!”

“It’s already seven o’clock!” Kyle slouches at the keyboard in Mike’s basement. “He baled.”

“Oh, stop,” Phil chides from his seat on the stool. He reaches up to tune his bass. “You know you don’t believe that. He’s been in Texas, for goodness sake. Maybe he couldn’t get to a phone on his way back. Or maybe he wanted to wait until he actually got back.”

“Oops.”

Phil and Kyle both look to Mike at his drumset, who is holding up his cell phone. “What?”

Mike looks at them sheepishly. “I have a message. I didn’t hear it earlier.”

“And??” Kyle asks hopefully.

Mike holds the phone up to his ear and listens before flipping it shut again. “It was Jason all right. But he said he needed to talk with us…said he couldn’t say yes or no until we’d heard the whole story.”

Kyle’s eyes widen. “The FBI.”

Phil rolls his eyes. “Oh, Kyle, knock it off with the FBI.”

“Just a thought.”

Mike shrugs and sets his phone aside. “Well, if he doesn’t join us, then we’ll have to make do. But he sure have a good excuse.”


Jason parks in the hospital parking lot, shutting off the engine. He waits a moment, taking a deep breath. He’d only been gone a couple days, but it felt like a lifetime. Exhaustion from driving since the wee hours of the morning didn’t help any. But his mind was plenty alert…it had to be.

It doesn’t take him long to make his way into the hospital, his backpack slung over his shoulder and his leather jacket on his arm. He runs a hand through his unruly hair as he heads down the familiar hall.

Arriving at Katie’s door, he stops, unsure of how to enter. There are so many things running through his mind…so many things he needs to say to her. Taking a deep breath, he cautiously cracks the door. “Katie?” Looking into the room, he sees her lying on her bed, her eyes closed. He quietly enters, closing the door behind himself. He makes his way silently across the room to set his backpack and jacket down. He looks down at Katie, just studying her for several moments. She was sleeping so peacefully…he was glad of that. It told him she was okay. He’d missed her so much…there was so much he wanted to tell her…

Sighing, he eases down on the extra bed, stretching out on his side, with his head on the pillow where he could still see Katie. He wouldn’t wake her now…he would let her sleep. Talking could wait.


“Aw for crying out loud!” Con straightens, just to hit his head on the open hood of his car. Grumbling, he slams it shut again. He’d just been headed down a back road in town from TJY and his car had just suddenly died. He’d made it onto the side of the road, but it would go no further. Not only that, but his cell phone battery was dead. This whole day had been like that. One thing after another at work. He’d hardly spoken to anyone, and everything he’d touched had gone wrong. And now this.
Grumbling, he grabs his keys from the ignition to stuff in his pocket, locks the doors and starts down the road on foot.