"The Truth"

That night, Kris woke up in a cold sweat and gasped for breath, unaware of where she was. Junior's eyes burst open when he heard Kris' panic and he peered into the darkness of his room.

"Kris! What's wrong?" Junior asked as he leaned over and turned on the bedside lamp.

Without saying a word, Kris rose from the bed, got dressed in the clothes she wore the previous day, and darted from the room.

It was four in the morning and the sun was just rising as Kris fled the Davis mansion and grasped her bare arms. Unsure of where she was going, she ran into the Davis barn and crawled into Wildfire's stall, sobbing and searching for comfort.

"Kris! Kris…where are you?" Junior screamed as he ran out his front door in a frantic search for Kris. Searching everywhere, he finally went into the barn only to hear a person weeping. "Kris? Are you in here?" he called out in a tender voice.

Attempting to quiet her tears, Kris gasped for air as Junior peered into Wildfire's stall and saw her.

Slowly Junior stepped over to the crying girl and sat down, embracing her in his strong arms. Kris could do nothing more than rest her heavy head on his broad shoulder and openly weep.

When she finally calmed down, Kris broke away from Junior's grasp in search of words. "Junior…I…"

"Shhh…There's no need to explain," he said, consoling her.

Junior reached out to hug his fiancé but Kris pushed him away and stood up, pacing. All Junior could hear was, "Mack, why?" over and over again coming from Kris's mouth.

Confused, Junior stood up and asked, "Mack? That jerk from yesterday? What does he have to do with this?"

Turning to meet his perfect brown eyes, Kris knew she had to explain. Otherwise they would have an extremely limited engagement.

She turned her engagement ring over and over again on her finger and finally removed the beautiful diamond ring and put it in Junior's hand. Seeing Junior was confused, Kris explained, "After what I tell you, you won't want to look at me again."

Junior's eyes narrowed and he said, "Kris, that could never happen. I love you too much." He paused to reassure himself of what he just announced and continued slowly, "What is it?"

Kris glanced at Wildfire and only wished that her favorite horse could erase her past and fix her correct problem. "Mack is my ex-husband," she informed him, watching his mouth drop.