Mac arrived back at the barn and put his horse away and then went up to the house. Jo was sitting outside at the patio table drinking a glass of lemonade. "You want a glass?" she asked.

"It would be good," Mac replied. "Thanks."

Mac sat down at the table as Jo poured him a glass of lemonade. He stared at her a moment, noticing her silence. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Jo looked at him. "Ellie and I have been talking about a lot of things today," she said finally.

Mac sipped the lemonade. "Like what?" he asked although he knew what it must have been about.

"You know that Mother willed this place to me."

Mac nodded and looked out across the yard and the pasture. "It's a beautiful place."

"Yes it is and Ellie is happy here."

Mac looked at Jo. "And you are too," he said.

Jo looked down at her glass and nodded. "I don't want to go back to New York, Mac," she said. "And I can't ask you to give up your life…"

"Hold it right there," Mac interrupted.

Jo heard the sternness in his voice and looked at him. "I'm just trying to…"

"I know what you're trying to do. Why don't you let me decide what I want to do?" Mac leaned on the table. "Don't you know that I love you?"

Jo swallowed hard trying not to cry. "But you love your job too," she said.

"A few months ago somebody told me that a job couldn't bring comfort and love. They said that I was supposed to look forward to going home instead of looking forward to going to work. I had it backwards because I was wanting to be at work all the time. That person gave me a reason to want to leave work and go home. She showed me the meaning of life again."

Jo wiped a tear off her face. "I think that was a much stronger woman and I think she thought she was going to be in New York for the rest of her life."

"She is just as strong now as she was then. She's just grieving because someone she loved dearly passed away, someone who took care of her when she was a baby and a little girl and who helped her get through the teenage years."

Jo covered her face as she could not hold back her tears anymore. Mac pulled her up and hugged her. "Don't make decisions for me," he said as he stroked her hair and held her tight. "I knew this was coming and I've been thinking about it. And what makes you think that you can't ask me to leave New York? I think you have every right to do that. We're in love and I think that gives you a right to ask me and I can make that decision for myself."

Jo looked at Mac. "It's such a big change," she said.

"You think I'm not capable of handling change?"

"No, that's not what I think. I'm just afraid that if I ask you to do that, you might start hating me in the future if you start missing your job and I will lose you."

"You mean more to me than that job."

"Ellie is so happy here and she enjoys school and…"

"If I had a place like this, I would want to live in it too."

Jo looked into Mac's eyes and could see his compassion and love for her. She put her arms around his neck and just stood there while he held her. "I miss her so much," Jo said.

"I know," Mac replied.

They sat back down at the table. "What do you really think about this place?" Jo asked.

"I think it's beautiful," Mac replied.

"But would you want to live here?"

Mac looked out across the yard. He could not hear any traffic, no sirens, nothing but farm sounds. He heard a cow moo somewhere in the distance and he could hear chickens clucking. He even heard a fly buzz by on its way to some unknown destination. He looked at the flowers that were so meticulously taken care of with bees buzzing around them and even a few butterflies. "I could definitely get used to this," he said and looked at Jo. "I would never have dreamed that I would even have a chance to live somewhere like this." He sipped his lemonade. "I figured I might have a home one day that I would pay for myself but does it really matter whether it's like that or not?"

"I don't know. Does it?"

"I don't think it does as long as you're happy and with the person that you love."

Jo sipped her lemonade. "It would have mattered to Russ," she said.

"I'm not Russ, just like you're not Claire. I've had to come to that realization that I don't love you the same because you're a different person and our love is different but that doesn't mean that I love you any less. We're just two different people and we're in a different situation."

Jo looked at him a moment. "You're exactly right. That's lovely, Mac."

"Lovely?"

"Yes. You're so sensitive and romantic and sexy."

Mac smiled and shook his head. "Are you going to start that now?" he asked.

Jo's smile faded slightly. Mac noticed it. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to…"

"I know," Jo said. "I guess I just don't feel much like being humorous today."

"I know that feeling. You can take all the time you need with Ellie." Mac smiled. "I guess I can go and spend some more time with the lovebirds."

"And just what have they been doing that is so funny?"

Mac smiled. "Well, they touch each other's hands and they give each other those little flirty looks and they try to 'get around' each other when there's plenty of room to go another way."

Jo almost laughed but she was in no mood to laugh today. "It's so nice to be young," she said.

Mac leaned on the table. "We're not too old to have fun yet," he declared. "When you feel like it, we'll find another loud concert no matter where it is. I'm going to find that guy and we're going to see him."

Jo smiled. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I'm going to treat you to something fun whether you like it or not."

"I'll like it."

They sat there in silence a few minutes. "Why don't we go down to the ocean tomorrow?" Mac asked. "We can get away for a while. We'll take Ellie with us and let her enjoy the ocean for a while."

"It's actually the Gulf."

"Okay, the Gulf."

"What about Jason and Marci?"

"I suppose they can go too if they want."

"I have to meet with lawyers tomorrow and I have a lot of legal stuff to go through. We can go Saturday."

"That's fine. That will give us a few days if we want it."

"That will be better. I want to get all this legal stuff out of the way so I can breathe."

"I don't blame you. I'll be with you if you want me to be."

"I do. I 'need' you with me."

"Then I will be there and we will go on a little get away this weekend whether Jason wants to go or not. I'll get you away from everything for a few days."

"Right now, I want to go horseback riding with you."

Mac smiled. "Well, I don't know if I can stand that anymore right now," he said. "I think I am learning what they mean by saddle sore."

Jo almost strangled on her lemonade. She laughed in spite of herself. "Really?"

"It's not funny. You might have to sleep alone for a night or two."

Jo thought she would fall out of her chair. "You must not be sitting the saddle right."

Mac folded his arms. "Are you telling me that I don't know how to ride a horse?"

"Everybody can learn sometimes."

"I'm just not used to riding horses."

"No, you're used to sitting in your office."

"Well, I don't sit down all the time."

"But you sit there a lot. Anybody would think that you would be used to sitting."

"But not bouncing on a leather saddle."

"I guess not. You're used to riding on those luxurious leather seats in the Avalanche."

"I don't think I'm going to need a bandage on this wound much longer. It's almost closed up."

"You sure don't want to get any germs in it."

"I don't want to get shot with anymore shotguns, I can tell you that."

"I don't want you getting shot with anything."

"I agree but that shot gun hurt."

"Worse than that shot you had before Christmas?"

Mac considered that. "No, I guess not."

"Don't get shot anymore."

"I'll try not to."

"Maybe if you come and live here, you won't get shot anymore."

"I hope not."

When they were done with their lemonade, they went inside to take a nap because Jo had a headache. "How long do you think Jason is going to stay down at the greenhouse?" Jo asked.

"I don't know," Mac said. "I figure he will be down there as long as he can be."

"Is he really stricken with her?"

"He seems to be and I think she is stricken with him too."

Jo relaxed beside Mac and drifted off to sleep. Mac was glad she was resting because she had been exhausted this morning after three days of planning a funeral and getting everything in order. It was hard to sleep after a loved one dies. He knew that feeling. He thought he had not slept for a month after Claire died, and probably longer. He had not slept much at all in the last ten years but there were times when he would practically collapse and sleep soundly with no dreams. He thought maybe that was why he did not want to sleep. If he stayed awake long enough, he would be too tired to dream when he finally went to sleep. He was looking forward to Saturday when he would take Jo down to the Alabama coast and they would have a good time…