Disclaimer: I do not own Heartland and I am not Lauren Brooke, though my name does happen to be Lauren. But that's just a coincidence.

Some Promises are Worth Breaking

They had just moved into their new house, and Marion was sure that she was going to love it. Everything seemed so much like the state she'd loved when she was a little kid. The rolling hills, the red barns… so much more her style than England had been. The only reason she'd really wanted to move there was because she had been so in love with Tim that she would do anything for him… and now he'd forsaken her like this…

Still she knew that she would always be a country girl at heart. So maybe something good would come out of this change…

She lifted her head when she heard a knock at the door and headed over to open it. Standing outside was a dark haired boy who looked to be about the age of her older daughter, Lou, or maybe slightly older. She felt a tear began to make its way to the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away. It was hard to miss someone like she missed Lou. Letting her stay in England without any parental supervision had been one of the hardest things Marion had ever had to do. But she'd felt that it was necessary if she wanted Lou to ever speak to her again. She knew that you weren't supposed to give into everything that your children wanted you to do, but something had told her that that had been the right thing do in a situation like she'd been in.

Once again realizing that there was a teenage boy standing on her doorstep she regained her composure and tried to speak in a normal voice.

"Hello… can I help you?" she asked. The boy shook his head, and produced something from behind his back. It looked like some kind of food.

"My name is Scott Trewin. I live just down the road a way here. I heard that you folks moved in and my mom, I'm sure you know how they are, you being one and all," he flashed her a small grin "said she wanted to send over some lasagna." Marion smiled. It was so nice to see a boy who had manners, and could speak well around adults without getting flustered.

"Thanks, Scott. There's nothing better than a good lasagna and-" she started to say and then he interrupted,

"Yeah, and my mom makes the best." He told her sincerely.

"I'm sure he does." She said with a smile as he handed her the lasagna. "We'll certainly enjoy this. Amy's a little picky, but you know, she's three so what would you expect. Tell your mom thank you for me, would you?" she asked.

"Sure." He smiled, "Amy sounds like my little brother, Matt, he's three too, but he is so picky about everything. Especially food! Won't eat anything but hot-dogs." Scott told her. Marion smiled. A friend for her little Amy. And maybe Scott could be a friend to Lou if she ever decided to visit…

She invited Scott in for some lemonade, and showed him some pictures of Lou and Amy for a while, and than he left, saying that his mother would be wondering how he was, but he hoped that she liked the lasagna. But he first mentioned one thing before he left.

"I heard you were going to be keeping horses around here. Breaking them, and stuff. Is that true?" he asked, his green eyes looking slightly concerned. Amy wondered if he liked animals.

"Well, we will have horses here… but I wouldn't say we're breaking them. At Heartland we will treat all horses with respect as if they were all individuals." Marion told him, hoping that he would understand. A lot of people didn't.

"Heartland… what's that? Is that what you're going to call this place?" he asked.

"Yep? We plan on healing horses, and healing hearts." Marion told him, thinking of the slogan that had been running through her head for quite some time.

"Cool." He said with a smile, "I plan on being a vet when I grow up. I hope that I can help all kinds of animals, like you're gonna do here." He told her, and then left.

That night while laying in bed her mind began to turn in circles…

And maybe Scott could be a friend to Lou if she ever decided to visit…

He was such a nice kid… she hoped that if she ever had another kid he would be as nice and smart as Scott. Then again, she already had two kids that were as nice and smart as Scott.

And this was where her thoughts began to go completely haywire.

And maybe Scott could be a friend to Lou if she ever decided to visit…maybe they could me more than friends…

She quickly reprimanded herself, and tried to quiet her mind down so she could go to bed.

---

The next morning while Amy was having her nap, the quiet in the house was almost eerie and so Marion decided to make a call to Lou. She knew it would cost a lot of money, but she needed someone to talk to and she thought that her daughter probably missed her as well.

Fortunately it was Saturday so Lou had a day off and she wouldn't have classes to keep her from talking on the phone. Marion punched in the numbers and the phone rang and rang but finally when she was about to give up and leave a message Lou picked up.

"Hello?" she asked. She sounded so prim. Lou had lived in England her whole life, and as a result she had quite a strong accent. Marion could hear the stark contrast between her voice and her daughters. Though Marion had lived in England for a while, the whole accent thing had just never picked up.

"It's Mom. Everything all right?" Marion asked, thinking that Lou didn't sound very excited when she'd picked up the phone. She bet that her daughter might be reconsidering her decision to stay behind in England. But if Marion knew anything about Lou it was that she didn't give up, and she stuck through with her decisions. England was the same; she would stay there and stick through it the whole way. Marion sighed. She wished that her father might have had the same convictions about his decision regarding their relationship and their family. No matter how angry at him she was, she still loved Tim with all her heart and missed him horribly. Sometimes so horribly that an ache grew inside her when she was alone, and even when she was in a crowd something always tended to remind her of Tim.

"I'm fine. I'm glad you called though." Lou told her, shocking her back into the present. Lou was good at that. She was always so factual and serious about everything. Marion wondered if Amy would be the same. She loved Lou but she was hoping that maybe Amy would be more open about her feelings, and more open to change than Lou. Marion knew without a doubt that one thing they all had in common was that they all would always love horses.

"I missed you, honey." Marion said warmly.

"I missed you too, Mom." Lou told her, which was more than Marion had been expecting from factual Lou. There was a moment of silence while they both thought of something to talk about. It was then that Marion remembered Scott.

"Oh, honey? I met the most amazing guy the other day." She said, excitedly. Then she realized how that sounded. "No, not like that. His name is Scott. He's twelve years old and yesterday he brought me and Amy a lasagna yesterday. He seemed really nice. I think you'd like him. He's going to grow up to be a vet." Marion said, the excitement creeping into her voice. Lou sighed.

"Mom, seriously. Are you trying to set me up again? It's not going to work. I'm eleven…" Lou said, her voice trailing off. Marion then realized how ridiculous it must have sounded to her young daughter.

"I don't mean now, Lou. But if you ever come out to visit us, you should meet him. He's very nice. Smart." Marion realized that once again she was singing the praises of Scott. Lou sighed again.

"Okay, Mom, if I come and visit I'll take a look." Lou said, like she was going to check out a car that her mother thought looked nice. Marion nodded satisfaction. That was good enough for her.

"Okay, honey. Just trust me on this one, he's very nice." Marion told her.

"I know, Mom," Lou said with a sigh, "And I'm sure he is."

"He is."

"I know, but just remember Mom, that right here and now, I promise I'll never, marry a vet." She told her.

Twelve Years Later

Lou gasped as she saw that Scott was getting down on his knees in the red desert dirt of Australia.

"Scott…" she said breathlessly.

"Lou Fleming, will you marry me?" he asked. She answered without a second thought.

"Of course, I will." She smiled brightly.

Their lips met in a passionate kiss, and inside she sent up a quick message to her mother.

Some promises are worth breaking, Mom… but you were wrong about me liking him… because I love him.

---

So what do you think about that? I actually for once thought it was pretty cute. That's unusual. I am usually very down on the stuff I write. I'm definitely my biggest critic, though. So you know the drill… Read and Review please!

Thanks for reading,

Snappleapple518