Yep, it's sequel time. This is just a short one, and will be a weekly posting. As always, feedback is welcome.

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Alec entered the office in the stallion barn, letting the wind slam the barn door shut behind him. He blew on his hands and rubbed at the arthritic knuckle that was bothering him more than usual today.

"Sounds like it's taking a nasty turn out there." Mike commented.

Alec nodded. "Snow's already started. Everyone's squared away."

Mike pointed toward the desk. "Mail came in while you were gone."

Alec picked up the small pile. A few bills for his dad, some ads, and a letter. He picked up the letter and stared at it for a moment before tossing it in the trash.

Mike raised his eyebrows. "You're not even going to read it?"

"No reason to." Alec told him.

Mike rose from his desk, picking the letter out of the trash and setting it firmly on Alec's desk. Alec glared at Mike and tossed the letter back into the trash.

Mike shook his head. "You're being foolish."

"She doesn't want to see me, Mike." Alec replied in a resigned tone. "Drop it."

"If she didn't want to keep in touch, she wouldn't keep writing you."

Alec huffed irritably. "I said drop it."

Mike finally shrugged and put on his coat and gloves. "I'm going home. Go on up to the house and see your parents."

"I will."

"Happy New Year, Alec."

"Same to you, Mike."

The barn door closed, and Alec let out a heavy sigh, staring down at the letter in the trash can. Sarah had been writing him regularly ever since the Belmont, and their reunion during the fall meet had been successful, at least on the track.

Off the track had been a different story.

It had started off well enough, and the last night, after Storm Front had pulled off a win in a minor stakes race, Alec had been in a particularly celebratory mood.

"We're one hell of a team."

Sarah laughed and kissed him. "That we are."

Alec pulled her in closer. "We could be...a more permanent team."

Sarah pulled back with a questioning look. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on." Alec teased her. "We could be a team on and off the track."

"You'd better not be asking me what I think you're asking me."

Alec chuckled. "No, I'm not proposing. Not marriage, anyway."

"Alec, I..."

"You don't have to answer me right now."

Sarah stepped back, a pained expression on her face. "Alec, I'm not staying. I'm due at Keeneland next week, then Turfway, then Oaklawn. My schedule's booked clear through December."

They were silent for a long while. Finally, Sarah reached for Alec's hand. "It's not that I don't want to be with you. But this is my life. This is my job."

"And there's no room for me."

"I didn't say that."

"You might as well have."

Sarah let out a long sigh. "This is something I need to do for me. I need to know who I am without some man always breathing down my neck."

That cut Alec deeply. "I see."

"I'm sorry." Sarah's voice cracked.

Alec pulled Sarah in for a long hug. "So am I."

And that had been that. Alec knocked on Sarah's door the next morning, but there was no answer. When he asked at the office, the desk clerk informed him that she had already checked out.

She hadn't even said goodbye.

And so Alec had returned to Hopeful Farm, hurting more than he had when Sarah had first left back in June. The bright colors of the leaves as he drove were no comfort to him either, as he recalled Sarah's delight at seeing them in person.

Back at the farm, life had fallen back into a predictable routine. Mike and his longtime "lady friend", as he called her, had found a house together, and so Alec had moved into the apartment over the stallion barn. It was small, but comfortable, and Alec had brought up a few pictures that were taking up space on his desk to decorate the place a little. There was the picture of Pam and Black Sand, of course, but there was also the photo of Sarah astride Pam's Song after finishing the Belmont, her riding crop raised high, yelling in triumph.

Two very different women, who had left their marks on his heart in very different ways.

The letters started coming about a week after the fall meet at Belmont. He never opened them, tossing them straight into the trash. Mike usually would simply shake his head, sometimes he would pick the unread letters out of the trash.

Alec left the most recent letter exactly where he had tossed it. His parents were expecting him for dinner, and so he bundled up and turned out the office light as he left.

###

"Are you really just going to drive straight through? Have you lost your mind?"

Sarah gave her mother a little smile as she zipped up her bag. "If I want to make it to New York by New Year's Eve, yes."

Her mother shook her head. "He must be pretty damn special."

"Mama." Sarah scolded her. "I'm gonna stop and see Henry, maybe crash with Becky and her boyfriend for a day or two."

"And then up to...what was that place again?"

"Hopeful Farm, Mama." Sarah said patiently.

Her mother's brow wrinkled in a worried expression. "Weather's supposed to be nasty up there this time of year, and may I remind you that you've never driven in snow?"

"I'll be fine." Sarah told her, kissing her on the cheek. "I'll call as soon as I get to Henry's, okay?"

"Okay." Her mother sighed resignedly, hugging her hard. "You just be careful, now. You know it ain't always safe for a girl to travel alone. Make sure you don't stop anywhere that ain't well lit."

"Promise." Sarah picked up her bag. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

Sarah trotted down the steps to her car. She had wanted a Mustang ever since she knew they existed, and now, thanks to the Triple Crown, she had one. No more bus rides or catching rides with other jockeys. Now she could drive herself anywhere she wanted to go.

This time her ultimate destination was Hopeful Farm and Alec.

Sarah put her bag in the trunk, got in the car, and started it up. It purred like a kitten, which pleased Sarah to no end. If old Jeff could see her now. She smiled at the thought. Her soon-to-be-ex-husband was facing indictment on charges pertaining to that race fixing scheme he had cooked up with Tyler. Sarah had been only too happy to testify against both of them in the grand jury proceedings, though she had worried that she might get caught up in the situation, too. Thankfully, she was in the clear, and those two idiots would be well out of her hair.

She pulled away from the curb and made her way to the highway, bringing the little car up to speed and joining traffic. If all went well, she should be to New York in about 18 hours. That would be enough time to visit with Henry before moving on to see Becky and her boyfriend.

That would just leave Alec.

She was nervous about simply showing up at Hopeful Farm, though Mrs. Ramsey had assured her it would be no problem, and that she would have a room waiting for Sarah when she arrived.

At least one of the Ramseys would be glad to see her.

She had hurt Alec badly that last night of the fall meet, though she hadn't meant to, and she had spent the last couple of months regretting her actions that night. Every week she had written Alec a letter, and every letter so far had gone unanswered. That was unusual, since they had managed to keep in touch during the time between the Belmont and the fall meet. She had considered calling Alec at the farm, but if he wasn't responding to her letters, there was no way he was going to speak to her on the phone, either.

Now she was being met with silence, and she figured the only way to resolve this once and for all was to do it in person.

She wiped away an errant tear and pushed a button on the radio, finding a country station. It would do for a while. Alec had never said outright he didn't like country music, but she recalled the little noise he made when she had found that country station on their way to Belmont. Still, he had never moved to change the station, and on more than one occasion, Sarah had heard Alec hum along to the song on the radio.

Alec was a good, kindhearted man. He deserved better than what she had given him.

She hadn't been sure what to think of the quiet redheaded man with the sad eyes when they had first met. Henry had told her that he was "going through some things" but hadn't gotten into specifics.

"Some things" had barely covered it. It was a wonder the man was still functioning.

And yet, he and his parents had taken her in and treated her as one of their own. His mother, especially, had taken a shine to her. Sarah suspected she was the daughter she had never had, and she genuinely enjoyed spending time with Alec's mother.

Sarah couldn't say when she started to feel an attraction to Alec. He was cute, certainly, with that shaggy red hair, those piercing blue eyes, and yes, that body built by years of working with horses.

Lord, that body.

Even though Sarah had sworn up and down that she was done with men after Jeff, Alec did something to her. And out there on the motel balcony that night, she let her impulses guide her.

He had been a bit awkward at first, but eager to please and imminently teachable. And he got a lot bolder and more confident after that first night.

But he wasn't just good in bed. He was just a flat-out good man. No one at Belmont had anything bad to say about him, even the ones who talked about how he had gone crazy after that girl of his died.

Pam. That was her name. More than a few nights he woke up calling her name before realizing where he was. He always seemed a little embarrassed about it, and always assured her that it had nothing to do with Sarah.

She wondered who he was really trying to reassure.

Sarah sighed as she drove on. She hoped he was getting some help for those awful nightmares, though it was more likely that he wasn't, that he was still living with them. Sarah knew she was in no position to really help Alec, but she had always tried to provide some sense of comfort in those moments.

Lord, she hoped this whole trip would be worth it.