With a cheery ring, the cash register sprung open, the drawer hitting Eva in the stomach. But that's probably what she got for day dreaming, or worrying her head off, whatever you wanted to call it. As she counted the customer's change, Eva continued to wonder how she was about to afford all of this. Her job at the stable didn't quite cut it. While she got a decent break on her board and made just enough money for everything else her parents didn't help out with, Eva had to find a way to make up for the expenses she'd incurred with Glory's race training. And she wasn't about to ask her parents for more money. They already helped her with board, vet and farrier for Cozzy and Glory at Robin Glen. She'd feel awful asking them for help with Glory's training.

Which was what had brought her to Tony's Grocery on the corner of Main and Buckhorn. She worked at Robin Glen in the mornings, helping feed, turn out and take care of horses, helping Dan teach lessons and working with horses in training. Then somewhere between one and two in the afternoon, she made the trek back home to wrangle up some food and change into some clean clothes and her burgundy apron for her job as a cashier at Tony's. On the rare days she wasn't working in the afternoons and had a decent amount of fuel in her truck to spare, she'd drive the hour and a half trip to Circle Six Ranch to check up on Glory.

"Here's your change, ma'm. Have a nice day," Eva said, depositing the neat stack of bills and coins into the lady's hand.

Taking a deep breath, Eva leaned back against her register. She was exhausted, but she knew it was worth it. She'd been up to see Glory last weekend and she looked fabulous. She was truly growing into a beautiful horse. Eva thought she'd end up around 15.2 hands, what with inheriting her dam's short, compact legs, but Glory surprised her and was now closing in on 16.2 hands, with a little more room to grow. She still had the same wonderful bone and substance of her dam, but she was beginning to look like a sleek, leggy Thoroughbred. Albeit the spots.

Scott said she was performing well, but she could definitely be a handful and that she put even some of his most unruly colts- like Tex, the colt they'd lapped that first day -to shame. The biggest problem he said he had with her was her Indian Shuffle. While Eva didn't mind the comfortable gait, Scott was intensely frustrated by it. He wanted four speeds from her- walk, trot, canter, gallop. Glory had a habit of confusing his riders with her lateral gait until Eva informed him that she could indeed trot- you just had to tap her sides three times and she would move into the trot. Glory was a lot smarter than Scott gave her credit for sometimes.

Glancing over at the clock, Eva noticed that it was already 7:45. Thank goodness, she thought. The store would close in less than an hour and all she had to do was close her register and sweep up the front of the store. Business was already slowing down, so she figured that she could start on that now and clock out around 9:00. This Friday evening was still young for most of the teenagers in town, but Eva could hardly wait to get home and pass out.

But Eva didn't get that chance. Just as she finished brushing her teeth and was ready to crawl into bed, she heard the phone ring downstairs. She very willingly let her parents or Jake get it, as they were still up after having gone and watched Jake and Molly at another team penning practice. But shortly after the phone stopped ringing, she heard Jake call her name from the foot of the stairs.

"Eva, you have a phone call!" he yelled up.

Groaning as she threw her warm, comfy blankets to the side, Eva crawled out of bed and headed towards the stairs. Who in their right mind would be calling her now? She figured that it would be Leigha. Disappointed at her friend's lack of a social life, she'd been trying to convince her all week to go to a movie with her, her boyfriend, Mike, and his friend, Jason- which smelled like a set up to Eva. Not that she minded, but sleep was much more important than the newest slasher flick.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Eva was met by Jake's impish grin.

"What?" she asked as she took the phone.

"What kind of beau calls at this hour? Is it that guy Leigha's trying to set you up with? I can give him a stern talking to, if you like," Jake teased.

Rolling her eyes, Eva turned and walked up the stairs.

"Hello?" she said into the phone, dreading to hear who it was on the other end. She hoped it wasn't Mike's friend trying to guilt trip her into coming.

"Hey, Eva? It's Griffin."

"Oh!" Eva remarked, pleasantly surprised. "What's up? It's been a while."

"Well, we're in California campaigning some of the two year olds and I figured that I would call you and see how Glory is doing. I hope I got the time difference right. I didn't wake you up, did I?" Griffin asked.

"Well, I suppose I deserve it after waking you up that one time," Eva laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can call tomorrow if that's better for you…" he apologized. "It's only 8 here."

"Nah, it's fine," Eva consoled as she plopped down on her bed. "How's California?"

"Hot," Griffin laughed.

"Well, I figured as much," Eva replied, rolling her eyes. "What about the horses? They're what matters most."

"Pretty good," Griffin answered simply enough.

"Oh really? 'Pretty good?' The Daily Racing Form begs to differ. Rumor has it that Cartouche is winning left and right," Eva said. "No need to be so modest, Griffin. Cartouche definitely deserves the spotlight."

"Cartouche is doing pretty well. He won his stakes race today by four lengths."

Eva rolled her eyes again, leaning back against her pillow. "Pretty well?" What happened to Griffin's former cocky attitude? Before Cartouche even set hoof on the track, he was completely assured of his colt's potential. But now that Cartouche was undefeated he suddenly discovered modesty?

"Well, that's good," Eva said, not wanting to push Griffin. If he wanted to be humble, so be it. "How about the other two year olds?"

"Clearly A Rocky is doing well. He hasn't been out of the top four yet. Maybe Clear, a filly by Clearly Dark and out of a Gone West mare, is looking to be a really nice sprinter, but it's taken her a couple races to come into her own. And Sweet Seattle, a filly we picked up at a Kentucky sale, is doing really well too. If she was a colt, she'd probably be giving Cartouche a run for his money," Griffin explained.

"Wow, that sounds impressive. It must be exciting to have horses you bred and trained win at the track," Eva mused, wondering if she'd have that chance with Glory.

"Yeah, it's fun," he replied rather flatly. "Enough about my horses. Speaking of the devil, how are things with Glory? I haven't heard much since you sent me that letter saying that you were going to train her as a racehorse."

"Well, definitely not as smooth as things on your end," Eva laughed, telling him about Glory's progress at Scott's and her never ending quest to find ways to give him trouble. She conveniently left out the working herself to death with two jobs- that was another, rather boring, story.

"Sounds like a descendent of the Black, right there. Talented like you'd never believe, but too smart for their own good," he replied. "Stick with her though, I'm sure she'll be worth it."

"You really think so?" Eva asked. "I've had my doubts."

"Well, everyone does. The first time I rode Cartouche, he planted me in the dirt. And then the second, and the third and the fourth time I had to pick myself up out of the dust, I began to wonder if it was really worth it," Griffin laughed. "But then when you finally do get them on the track and see them run… it just falls into place and you can see everything really is worth it. Of course, getting to stand in the winner's circle isn't that bad either."

Eva laughed, but was interrupted by a yawn. "Oh man, it's really late out there, isn't it?" Griffin asked.

"Eh, it's only about 11," Eva casually responded.

"11? Jeez, I've kept you up too long. I should probably let you go," Griffin said, sounding almost concerned.

"I'm not that tired, really," Eva lied, fighting another yawn.

"Sure," Griffin sarcastically replied. "If it makes you feel any better, I have an early start tomorrow, so I probably need to get to bed. Let me know how things with Glory are going, okay?"

"Only if you agree to brag about Cartouche," Eva bargained.

"Deal. I'll talk to you later, alright? Goodnight," Griffin said.

"'Night," Eva said as she waited to hear the other line click with finality.

Setting the phone down on her night table, Eva pulled her covers up to her shoulders. As tired as she was, she really didn't mind hearing from Griffin Ramsay. He was the last person she expected to call, but it really wasn't entirely unpleasant, though getting up in the morning would be. She wondered why he was so interested in Glory, but then again he was probably interested in many of Clearly Dark's foals for business reasons. Maybe they were interested in branching out their stud services to the stock horse racing circuit or perhaps they just wanted to showcase Dark's versatility as a stud. But no matter the reason, Eva admitted that it was nice to hear from him.

"Eva, wake up!"

Eva heard Cozzy's hooves tick the rail and then the resounding hollow clunk of it bouncing to the ground. Morning has come a lot sooner than Eva expected. It felt like her alarm clock went off as soon her head touched the pillow. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Dan standing in the middle of the arena with a rather cross expression on his face. That hadn't been the first rail Eva had knocked down that morning.

"I want you to do that course again and this time pay attention!" Dan ordered.

Sighing, Eva cued Cozzy to pick up the canter again. The gelding, while always obedient, felt flimsy today. But Eva figured that was because he was picking up on her emotions. She was just so tired she couldn't concentrate. She felt all over the place with thoughts of Glory, her conversation with Griffin, work and Cozzy flipping through her head. When she'd gotten done with her work at the stable early, all she wanted to do was go home and fit in a nap before she had to go to work at Tony's. She'd been managing to get some decent rides in on Cozzy, but Dan said she needed some lessons before the show next weekend. Now she was regretting taking up his offer.

The first fence was small- only being 3'3" –in comparison to the rest of the five fence course. If Eva only jumped once fence clear, she was determined that it would be this one. Pointing Cozzy in that direction, Eva cleared her mind of everything else: work, school, exhaustion, stress, friends, Griffin and Glory. Reassured by Eva's focus, Cozzy sailed over effortlessly. When Eva pushed everything else to the back of her mind, her riding marginally improved. She wasn't at her best, but at least she was clearing the jumps. The following jumps weren't flawless, but they were better than before. At least they stayed up.

The last two jumps were both 3'9" and very similar to what Eva would be seeing next weekend if she wanted to compete. This time around, she'd only tapped two other rails, which was a huge improvement considering her performance earlier. But now she needed to mentally step it up. Eva made sure nothing else existed in her head, other than her and Cozzy. She could hear his hooves softly pounding the sand as they floated across the outdoor arena, the sun beating down on their backs. Cozzy's white-gray ears were flicked forward as he spied the on coming jumps. They were ready.

Cozzy felt perfect as she took off and as they landed softly on the other side, Eva felt reassured. This was what Dan expected and also what Eva expected of herself. Now only one more to go, Eva thought as they closed in on the final jump. And just as Eva thought they were free and clear, she felt Cozzy's back hooves catch the top rail. Praying and hoping that it would just bounce back into place, Eva listened. In what seemed like hours later, she heard the ominous hollow clunking sound of the pole dropping to the ground.

Eva felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. She'd been so sure they'd go clear, but she lost focus. As she slowed Cozzy and turned towards the middle of the arena, she saw that Dan was waiting for her, looking quite disappointed himself.

"I don't know what to think, Eva," Dan said, his tone somber as Eva stopped Cozzy in front of him.

"Dan, I'm sorry, I'm just not with it today," Eva apologized.

"I'll say," was Dan's only response.

Eva fixed her eyes on the pommel of her saddle, feeling like a reprimanded puppy. She wanted to do well, she really did. It wasn't like she was purposely screwing up, just to tick Dan off. No, she wanted to excel and she wanted to go into that show next weekend and prove that she could do it. But now she felt like she could hardly place in a leadline class.

"Honestly Eva, I want to see you go into that show next weekend and do well. But if you keep this up, it will only be a waste of money and time," Dan said, as if he read Eva's mind.

"I want to too, Dan," Eva quietly replied, daring to look up at him.

"Then what is this?" Dan exclaimed, pointing to the downed rail. "I can count the amount of rails you've knocked over in your whole riding career on one hand- or that was until today. I'm beginning to wonder if you have you priorities in the right place."

Unsure of what he meant by that, Eva looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Dan paused, searching for words. "I mean, I think you're spreading yourself too thin. Working two jobs and schooling two horses in two different disciplines? That's a lot of work for anyone. I think you need to stick with that you're good at. You know how you've been training Dante, the chestnut gelding, for me? His owner loves what you've been doing with him and would love for you to show him this summer and he'd pay you cash to do it."

"Are you saying that I should give up on Glory?" Eva asked, still not wanting to believe him.

Dan looked like Eva was putting him between a rock and a hard place. "You have to realize, Eva, that sometimes things don't work out like you planned- no matter if you're racing horses or jumping them. We don't know how Glory will do, but you have a great thing going with Cozzy and I think you owe it to him and yourself. You could start training and working with hunters and jumpers full time, just like you always wanted to."

"We don't know what Glory will do? Dan, I know she's going to be amazing, she just needs a chance!" Eva protested, her raised voice startling the horse beneath her.

"Eva…" Dan started, shaking his head. "Just give it a thought. Meanwhile, you better go untack Cozzy. Standing in the sun listening to us bicker probably isn't good for him."

Sliding out of the saddle, Eva hit the ground with an ungraceful thud. She brought Cozzy's reins over his head and led him out of the arena, closing the gate behind her with a little more force than necessary. How could Dan say that? Granted, he'd never been Glory's number one fan, but he knew how much she meant to Eva. She knew Dan only wanted what he thought was best for her, but that was just it: it was what he thought was best for her. Eva was sick of being babied- she was almost nineteen for goodness sakes!

With a huff, Eva replaced Cozzy's bridle with a halter and hastily attached the gray gelding to the crossties. Cozzy, upset by her abrupt motions, tossed his head and eyed Eva warily. "Sorry, Cozz," Eva gruffly apologized, patting the gelding's neck. Eva knew that she was being childish, but couldn't help herself. She was upset, not really at Dan, but at the entire situation. It was hard splitting her time between her two horses and her two jobs and not being able to properly enjoy her summer like any normal college kid. Yes, she was bummed that she didn't get to go out with Leigha last night, but she was also upset that her filly was an hour and a half away with someone who was practically a stranger and the horse she did have within a fifteen minute drive, she could hardly afford to spend time with. When she was younger, all she'd wanted to do was be a trainer, but now that she had the opportunity to ride horses like Dante- who was a very nice, very expensive, very talented Oldenburg gelding -for money and give lessons, it felt more like an imposition than a dream.

Upset, furious and disappointed, all Eva wanted to do was go home. Briefly, she thought about calling in sick to work, but then she remembered that Glory's board was due at the end of this week, the entry fee for the show needed to be sent soon and on top of it all, her truck was definitely thirsty. All Eva wanted to do was get out of here before Dan thought of something else to kill her dreams.

As she finished untacking him and giving him a once over with a currycomb to break up any sweaty patches, Eva attached a lead rope to Cozzy's halter as she unclipped him from the crossties and lead him to his stall. Once he was situated, Eva removed his halter and double checked his water, loathing to give Dan one more thing to complain about. Just as she was about to leave, she felt the gentle prodding of the gelding's soft nose touch her back. Turning, she met his kind, dark eyes and instantly melted. Overwhelmed by it all, Eva threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his soft, dappled coat, the tears- full of frustration, anger, uncertainty, disappointment and exhaustion -readily streaming out of her eyes.

"Oh, Cozzy, what would I do without you?" Eva asked the gelding while he quietly offered a shoulder for his friend to cry on.