"I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." Honey Belden stated, shaking her head slowly. She put her hands on her hips and stared out across the open meadow of the Sleepy R Ranch, smiling to herself at the sight of her daughter riding along and chatting with several other young people on horseback. It was completely unlike Maddie Belden to be so social.

"Daniel has a way of bringing people together," Hallie Regan said from beside her. "Just like Dan did."

With bittersweet memories, the two friends smiled knowingly at one another. Yes, Dan Mangan's illness and death had certainly brought a lot of people closer. And now his son was using his own recent injury as an inspiration to help others.

Honey had just never expected that her own daughter would be someone who would benefit from Daniel's new riding organization.

Maddie was a sweet and loving young lady; unfortunately, the fifteen year old had a terrible phobia of group interaction. She didn't like to go out much, and she had very few friends outside of her family. To see the girl openly talking with others who weren't related to her made Honey's heart soar with pride.

This is amazing! She thought.

"Well, I guessed she'd be more than ready to go home by now, but I see I was wrong. I'm almost afraid to interrupt her while she's meeting new people." Honey said to Hallie. "She may never be this friendly again."

"Oh, you know Maddie's always friendly. She's just a little bit shy."

"No, I was just a little bit shy when I was growing up. Maddie's a lot shy. She's debilitatingly shy."

"Maybe she needs someone like Trixie to come along and pull her out of her shell." Hallie said with a wink.

"Or, someone like Daniel. He's got this whole thing figured out, doesn't he?"

Hallie folded her arms across her chest and beamed proudly at the mention of her son's success.

"You know, I think he does."

"I just can't believe it." Honey reiterated her initial thoughts.

"Believe what?" Fiona Regan asked curiously, suddenly bouncing from the direction of the house to meet the two adults standing beside the open field.

"Don't be so nosey, Miss Impolite." Hallie chastised.

"Oh, Mom, Honey doesn't care if I get in on your conversation. Whatcha been talkin' about?" The dark haired girl slipped an arm around her mother's shoulder and rested her head sideways against Hallie's.

"I'm just astonished that Maddie is out there gabbing up a storm with those kids." Honey supplied. "And she doesn't look scared one bit."

"Wow, that is pretty shocking." Fiona said, actually impressed. She pulled away from Hallie and stood looking across the meadow with her hands on her hips in the same fashion as Honey.

"Your brother has a gift for helping people relax and overcome their fears. Aren't you proud of him?" Hallie asked her daughter.

"Hey, as long as he mucks out his share of the stalls, I really don't care what kind of crazy club he creates. I'm just glad he's back on his feet."

Fiona's face suddenly became very serious. She ran her fingers through her ponytail and then started wringing her hands the same way as her father when he's emotional about something.

"I was really kind of scared for him when he got hurt." She said quietly. "I didn't even care that everyone almost forgot my birthday."

"Fiona Regan!" Hallie admonished. "How could you think for one minute that we had forgotten your birthday? We took you out shopping and bought you whatever you wanted…."

"Yeah, because you felt guilty. Mom, it's no sweat. I understand. Daniel was still in the hospital. I said I didn't mind; it's really no big deal."

"You know, I don't think I ever really thanked your parents for going and sitting with Daniel that day, either, Honey. I'm so sorry…" Hallie seemed to be chastising herself for the oversight.

"Please don't worry about that. You know Daddy loves every opportunity he gets to share chocolates with Daniel. That's their connection. I'm just glad he's doing better now, too. I can't believe it's only been five months and he's getting around so well. Brian didn't think he would be walking until six months, at the very least. It's a miracle."

"Oh yes. I agree. Now, he's using this whole thing to help other kids cope with their problems. Pretty incredible." Hallie wore another proud smile.

She gave Fiona a sideways glance and put her arm around her to return the hug she got from her daughter moments before. "My kids are something else." She laughed.

"That's not what you said about us this morning," Fiona teased. "I think it sounded more like 'sloppy mess' than 'something else.'"

"And I was right. Ever since your brother moved out, you two haven't been keeping up with your chores. If you want your father and I to even think about buying a car for you to share, you and Daniel are going to have to step things up around here."

"Oh mom!" Fiona gave an exasperated wail as she pulled away and stood in front of her mother. Despite her protesting, she gave a compliant little smile to show that she knew the older woman meant business.

"Oh my gosh!" Hallie suddenly exclaimed. "Emmie's trying to make a jump!" The dark haired woman pushed past her daughter to get a closer look at what was going on in the field behind her. The horrified expression on her face put Honey in an immediate state of panic, and she whirled her eyes around to see her ten year old niece galloping faster and faster toward a small fence link.

"Emily! No!" Fiona screamed.

Before anyone could stop her, the little girl had already coaxed her horse up and over the white fence. Cheers erupted from the small crowd of young people who were watching from the other side of the meadow, but Honey felt as if she were about to pass out. Emily Frayne, her brother's adopted daughter, was certainly an experienced rider, yet she was still very small for her age, and suffering from a pretty severe case of autism didn't always help her decision making skills, either. Such a riding trick could very easily have landed her a deadly fall.

"She might have been killed!" Hallie said, breathlessly vocalizing Honey's thoughts. "I'm going to put a stop to this, right now!"

The woman began marching out to the group of young people, and Honey suddenly felt sorry for Daniel. The lecture that was coming was not going to be gentle.

With a grimace on her pretty face, Fiona gave Honey a frightened look and then took off after her mother across the grassy plain. Honey realized that she should follow them. Reluctantly, she trotted over to the speech already in progress. Upon arrival, she noticed that the riding party was mostly filled with teenagers.

How embarrassing for Daniel.

At the point where Hallie stopped her ranting long enough to catch a breath, her son took the opportunity to interject a thought.

"Mom, Dad's the one who taught her that trick, not me! You know I would never, ever put Emmie in danger!"

Honey knew it was true. Daniel was one of the few people who could get Emily to cooperate with him, and they were very close. This was not something he would have even let her attempt if he thought she would get hurt.

Hallie opened her mouth to respond to the boy, but then she stopped. She knew it wasn't Daniel's fault.

"Mom, I was younger than Em when Dad taught me to jump." Fiona said softly.

Poor Emily, Honey thought. I guess we all baby her too much.

As if she were just now remembering her, Honey turned to look at the little girl who had sparked all of the concern. What she saw made her heart flip in her chest. Emily had dismounted from her horse and was standing apart from the others, rocking nervously back and forth and muttering to herself softly. She obviously didn't understand what was happening.

She thinks everyone is mad at her. Poor little thing.

"Mrs. Regan," a young girl from the group suddenly spoke up timidly. "It's my fault, really." The slender teen, who was obviously bald from chemotherapy, stepped forward and gestured toward Emily and Daniel with nervous hands. "Emily was telling Daniel that she learned to make the jump, and I…I asked her to show me. I didn't mean to get anyone in trouble."

"Ashley, you don't have to…" Daniel quickly stepped between the girl and his mother, as if to protect them from each other.

"No…" Hallie interrupted. "It's alright. I shouldn't have gotten so upset. Believe me, my husband will know my thoughts about this." She let out a long sigh, and Honey was relieved to see the anger had left her friend. "I just…we just…we all just have to be very careful out here, okay?" She gave the group of young people a sweeping look, to which they all replied with affirmative nods of their heads.

"Jumping can be very dangerous if you haven't been properly trained." She continued. "I would feel a lot better if none of you attempted any other tricks unless Mr. Regan is out here with you."

Her last statement received several more nods and a few "Yes, Ma'am's."

During Hallie's final comments, Maddie had quietly slipped beside Emily and began calming the girl slowly. Like Daniel, Maddie had a special bond with the autistic child. Honey was again filled with a sense of pride in her daughter. Although she wasn't as athletic as her older brother Matt, or as mathematically minded as her younger brother Nick, Maddie was still a very special young lady with hidden talents. For the first time, Honey began to feel that her daughter's fears were not going to hold her back in life.

She knew she had Daniel and Emily to thank for that.

"Hallie, you offered me a glass of lemonade when I first got here. Does that offer still stand?" Honey asked, trying to give the young people some time to finish their afternoon ride without more adult disturbance.

"Oh…um…yes, of course. I have plenty. And…uh…some fresh banana bread, too. Come on back to the house, and I'll get you some."

"I like banana bread. I do. I like banana bread." Emily began muttering to the ground.

"Why don't you come with us, Em?" Honey asked gently.

The girl's face broke out in a huge smile, but she didn't look up. She started following the two women back to the Regan home while Fiona took the reins of Emily's horse.

"I do like banana bread. Did you see me, Aunt Honey? Did you see me? I told them I could jump it. Did you see me?"

"Yes, baby, I saw you. You scared us, too. We were worried about you." Honey slowly let Emily catch up to her so that the girl did not feel crowded with someone beside her too quickly.

"I told them I could do it. Am I in trouble, Aunt Hallie? I didn't fall. Am I in trouble?"

"No, no, no, Emmie, dear. You were great. Uncle Bill taught you that, huh?"

"My trick!" Emily shouted proudly.

Honey couldn't stop herself from laughing at the child's confident outburst. It was so much like her mother Trixie. Even though she and Jim weren't the girl's biological parents, they had done a lot to shape her life. Honey could easily see their influence.

And truly, Emily had done a lot to help her adopting parents, too. After Trixie nearly died giving birth to their daughter Katie, Honey's brother and his wife had been told they would never be able to have another child. Emily brought them joy and made their little family complete.

Honey felt a sigh of contentedness escape her lips. She turned momentarily back to gaze at the young people across the meadow and began to consider how amazingly God could work in people's lives. She thought about the sick and emotionally challenged kids Daniel was helping. She wondered if he would even be doing any of this had he not got his leg caught in that poacher's trap.

There's a reason for everything, She thought to herself.

Honey remembered how once she wondered if anyone in Sleepyside would ever be happy again. Dan's death had brought them all to such a low place, Hallie especially seemed as if she would never get over it. Now, with the successes of their children bringing them all together in love, Honey could see the beauty of the master plan beginning to blossom.

How far everyone had come since their tragic loss.

She stepped into the house of the Sleepy R on that crisp October afternoon and began to remember the day Hallie first found out about Dan's illness. Honey decided that the woman might have changed a lot over the years, but she still worked hard to protect people she loved…

Alright…time for another flashback. Stay tuned to find out how Dan told Hallie he was sick. Also, if you're wondering, you just might see Daniel's new friend Ashley again. Sound good to you?