Before she even knew it, 2 hours had gone by and Jessie had barely even taken a breath during her stories. She caught on to the fact that she was rambling and became immediately embarrassed. She stopped mid-sentence, blushed, and apologized.

Matt gave out small laugh, "it's okay. I'm a good listener, and it sounds like you've really needed someone to talk to. Look, I just want you to know that you can stay here for as long as you need to. The ranch has been going through some hard times recently, but we've been tracking down a descendent of Wildfire…and I'm going to pick him up tomorrow. I really think he's going to be the big break we've been needing ever since my mom passed…"

Jessie could see the hurt in his eyes from bringing up his mom, and she knew no words could comfort him. She gently reached across the table and picked up his hand; just holding it in hers was enough to silently say, "I know, I understand, and I'm sorry."

"What do you know about this stallion?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, if they didn't lie to me, he is possibly Flame's offspring. I was thinking of just sticking with the trend and naming him Spark." He let out a light chuckle.

"Have you seen him race at all?"

"No, but horse racing is all about going with your gut, and that's what I'm going to do."

"Fair enough. So, what time are we leaving?"

"We?"

"Did you really think that I was going to live here for free, on a horse racing ranch, and not help you go pick up its future racing champion?" She asked with sarcastic disbelief.

Matt gave out a genuine laugh, "no I guess not."

They both sat there smiling at each other, Jessie still holding on to his hand. They knew they were going to make a great team.

The plan was to leave at 8am, but Jessie was so excited she could barely sleep. She woke up at 6am and made her way to the barn.

It was just as beautiful as she remembered. Concrete floors, 8 large stalls complete with slots for name plates, hay stacked high in each corner, and the familiar and comforting smell of horse manure. Most people never understood how that comforted her, but there was just something about it that reminded her of home—not the trailer with Roger, but a real home.

There were 3 horses in the barn already: Tipper, May, and Fury. An interesting combination of names, but she was just glad they were there.

Around the corner of one of the stalls, Jessie heard some shuffling and the falling of a pitchfork. The loud noise startled her, mostly because she thought she was alone.

"Hello? Who's over there?" she called out timidly.

A tall figure emerged from around the side of the stall. A man, well, a boy really. Probably about Jessie's age…or maybe a few years older?

He had sandy blonde hair that rested lightly on the top of his head and came down to just above his ears. His eyes were green and almost familiar. He gave a small smirk when he saw her and began to walk towards her.

Jessie began to feel uneasy, and she wasn't sure why. It wasn't fear, but something else churning in her stomach. Nervousness? No. Stop it Jessie, she thought to herself.

But he is kind of attractive…No! Stop it! Jessie was fighting her own thoughts and didn't realize that he was standing right in front of her holding out his hand.

"Hello?" he asked confused

"Oh! Sorry!" Jessie blurted out snapping back to reality. "What did you say?"

He gave out a small laugh that Jessie thought was so wonderful and simple. "I said my name is Ryan, it's nice to meet you."

Jessie looked down at his worn but strong hands. He had clearly grown up doing barn work, and she couldn't explain it, but she felt drawn to him.

"Hi," she said taking his hand, "I'm Jessie."