Alex held the note, just white paper without any lines, but words that went right through his heart. It didn't specifically say what she was planning to do, but he understood what she meant. In that way he always seemed to understand her. Why hadn't he seen this coming? He thought bitterly to himself. The answer was because he hadn't been here. How could she even consider doing something so stupid? He was so angry, angry at himself for not being here, angry at her for being so stupid.

He didn't even notice his hand softly starting to shake while reading the sentences directed to him. Just a few words, but it made him realize how much it had affected her. He hadn't been there for her, he had abandoned her. He realized now it hadn't been worth it, to risk losing Stevie for the sake of punishing his fathers killer. He stared in front of him, a bit bewildered, still seeing the message in front of his eyes. One part of that note was already engraved upon his heart.

You are my best mate. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. I never told you, because I was scared what your reaction would be. Thank you for everything you brought to my life.

The last lines of that note echoed in his heart, but he pushed that aside. There was no time to digest this message. He had to find her. There was no other option than to find her, before it was too late. There was no way it could go different. Not now, not like this. He rushed outside, not knowing were to go. He just followed his heart. It felt like he was dreaming, not a thought came clear to his mind. The only thing that he thought of was her, he had to find her. He ran out the door to saddle up a horse. Having no idea which way she went he decided to go north, remembering that the others had headed in the opposite direction. He hoped if he couldn't find her, one of the girls would.

He crossed the Northern paddock at a gallop. His eyes wandered around, completely trusting his four-footed companion. Alex shouted her name, it ended far into the distance, but there was no sign. He hadn't noticed before how the sound of her name was so sweet to his ears. The further he went the more he got scared, frightened for what he would find, even more frightened to find nothing at all. He would have given anything at that moment to hear her voice reply to him.

How could this have happened? He had hoped the girls would help her through this hard time. Would make up for his absence, but it showed it hadn't been enough. Did he really mean that much to Stevie? How could he not have seen it? If anything happened to her now, he would never be able to forgive himself. He wondered if it had all been worth it. Loosing her to jail would be one thing, but loosing her to heaven would have torn his heart apart. It would have killed him.

He stopped in the middle of the field. Think, feel ... He almost whispered it to himself. She must be somewhere. Come on, think! He tried to calm down his breathing. In his head he heard her soft sweet voice 'I love you more than I've ever loved anyone'. Although he had only read the note, he could hear her saying it. Telling him she loved him. He closed his eyes for a moment. This can't be happening. "Come on Ryan, this is no time to lose it" He scolded himself. He looked around, there was nothing but empty space as far as the eye could see.

Remembering that the rest of the horses were still in the stables, he decided not to head any further away from the house, she couldn't have come too far out. He glanced quickly to the left, and then the right. He had never been so torn. What if he chose the wrong way? What if she was east and he headed west? And then it was too late. He shook his head, thoughts like that weren't helping anyone. With a decisive action he steered his horse towards the eastern boundary of the property, and hoped and prayed that he made the right choice.

He was riding fast, and paying so much attention to his search, scanning the horizon for any sign of Stevie. He found none. Just emptiness. With each moment his heart rate was increasing. It took every ounce of self control to keep his mind focused on his search. He was so engrossed in his task he hardly notice that something spooked the horse. With an angry kick he tried to encourage the horse to keep moving. The horse jumped violently, and Alex fell hard. The horse bolted, leaving Alex lying on the ground.

Regan, Jodi and Kate returned back to the house. They hoped to find Stevie working on the fences but there was no sign of her. They gave up their search and headed for home, hoping that Stevie had returned while they were gone.

"Stevie! We've got great news" Kate called, but no answer came. Kate was the most excited of the three to hear the news the charges had been dropped against Stevie. After all, it had been her fault that Stevie got into this mess in the first place. And she was determined to be the one to tell Stevie that everything had worked out in the end, just like it was supposed to. She hoped that it would some how help to make up for what happened. Stevie had forgiven her, but things were still not right between the two of them.

"This is really weird. I hope she hasn't done something stupid" Jodi said as she exchanged a worried glance with Regan.

Regan looked out the window "Her car is still here. And so is Alex" She added less than impressed. She couldn't believe the way Alex had been acting these last few weeks. He hadn't even been bothered to turn up to the trial. Now she knew the whole story, Regan began to understand a little why Alex had been absent. But that didn't clam her anger, and didn't excuse the way he had treated Stevie. Regan had sat by for weeks and watched her friend growing more despondent by the day, and nothing she could do to ease her pain.

"Maybe they are together?" Jodi suggested.

Kate looked disappointed "But I wanted to be the one to tell Stevie the good news. He hasn't been around for weeks, why should he get to tell her?"

"Do you think she'll be so happy she'll forgive him for being such a jerk?" Jodi asked to no one in particular

"Probably" Answered Kate.

"Wonder where they are? Should we go looking for them?" Jodi asked looking to Regan.

She shrugged as she thought over the possibilities. Perhaps Alex and Stevie wanted some time alone. Still, this was a time for Stevie to celebrate with her friends, and Alex didn't fit into that category anymore. He had no right to come round here after all that time. Maybe Stevie would be grateful to be rescued from his company.

"Let's check the stables, see if any of the horses are missing." Regan suggested. "Otherwise they can't be too far away."

Jodi glanced quickly around the stables and horse yards. "Chestnut is gone" She announced.

"Strange. He was here when we left the house." Kate added.

"Are you guys sure?" Regan asked. She hated to admit it, but all the horses pretty much looked alike to her, and she couldn't tell for certain that one was even missing.

Jodi surveyed the tables again "Yes, they are all here but Chestnut, and Kate's right, he was here when we left earlier.

"One missing horse and two missing people" Regan stated, confused.

At that moment the three turned around to see Chestnut galloping towards the horse yards. Jodi ran to the gate and opened it. She calmed the horse as Kate and Regan caught up to her.

"He is still saddled" Kate observed. "We better get out there and go look for them, they might be hurt."