As Maddie and Colton arrived back at the farmhouse, Bonham came driving up the road. Dan was out the front of the farmhouse fixing something as the truck came to a stop, climbing down the ladder as Bonham stepped out of the truck. 'Bonham, what's going on?'

'Maddie called me.' He replied. 'You took the fences down between the pastures without walking the land for hazards? My family has kept this ranch running for over a century. You haven't been here for two months and it's already gone to hell.'

'Okay, how about you get off my ranch before I have to call the cops?'

'Woah, Dad.' Colton interrupted as he jogged over to him, Maddie bringing her wheelchair to a stop beside her grandfather. 'Wait. Just... Tell him, Maddie.'

'Look, I know everything is screwed up right now, but I really didn't know who else to call.' She began to explain. There's hemlock all over the Davidson side of the pasture. And Colton told me that you took down the fence and now there's nothing keeping the horses or cattle from grazing over there.'

As what Maddie said sank in, Dan sighed heavily, shaking his head. 'I'm so sorry. I didn't even... I didn't even think about that. Just...'

'Well-' Bonham interjected sarcastically. 'I guess we found out that big 'D' out the front stands for dumbass.'

'Gramps, please?' Maddie questioned, her grandfather looking down at her. 'There are four of us, granted I won't be of much help but if we start now, we can pull it all up in a few hours. Can we please just stop the family stuff until then, for the animals?'

Silence followed as she looked hopefully between her grandfather and Dan. 'Please?'

Bonham was the first one to reply and he did so with a sigh. 'Alright, alright. Guess the animals are more important after all right now. I think I can put things aside for now, that is, if you can Dan.'

Dan nodded. 'Yeah, yeah... Ah, I guess we should get started then. What will we need?'

They started work a short time later on cutting down the hemlock, Maddie managing as best she could from her wheelchair. It wasn't easy work but it had to be done and though the air was tense at best to describe the atmosphere between her Grampa and Dan, at least they were able to put their differences aside for a few hours to help the animals. While she worked however she had the feeling that she would be getting a talking to on the way home by Bonham. After all, she hadn't told anyone that she was here and hadn't planned on anyone knowing that she was meeting up with Colton. With everything going on she'd thought it'd be better for them all not to know she was still talking to him.

Now though, they would all know.

After cutting another plant she placed it into the garbage bag she was carrying then wheeled herself over to another plane, taking a moment to glance around her. Colton was working not too far away from her and he looked up at that moment, smiling at her. She smiled back at him then set to work on the next plant, not realizing that their exchange had been noticed by her grandfather.

What was she to do? Before everything between her family and Colton's had come to a head they had been at a good place. They had been officially an item and they had kept that fact to themselves. After all, it was only a couple days later that they had lost their ranch and she and Colton had decided together it was best that they take a break for the time being. Where did they go from here now though?

These thoughts kept playing in her mind as she worked, cutting away at the stubborn hemlock. With the four of them working they were making good progress and as the afternoon drew on, sunset a couple hours away, they had almost finished.

'Well...' Dan remarked as he stood and took a look around. 'Seems like that's almost all of it.'

'Looks like it.' Bonham agreed, tying up a couple of garbage bags before he carried them over to where the ATV buggy was parked. 'You got those last few plants handled Maddie girl?'

'Yeah Grampa.' She replied. 'Colton and I'll get them.'

Bonham nodded, he and Dan carrying the rest of the garbage bags over to the buggy to load them up into the back.

'Probably blow the rest of the family's minds to see us out here working together.' Dan remarked as he placed some garbage bags into the back of the buggy then got out the straps to tie them down.

'Yeah,' Bonham caught the strap that Dan tossed across the tray and began tying it down. 'I'm just here for the livestock.'

'Well, I'm sorry about taking down that fence. I was just trying to impress Denise.' He paused for a moment, looking over at where Colton and Maddie were working together to cut down the last of the plants. 'Look, uh, Colt, mentioned, uh, I hope you don't mind me asking, but how-how is Maddie's treatment going?'

'I'm not sure I need to get into all that with you.'

'Yeah, that's fair.' Dan nodded, pausing for a moment. 'Uh... Both my folks fought cancer. Uh, my mom... She made it through but it-it did take my Dad before we had a chance to work out our differences, so I'm glad to hear that hers sounds like the former.'

Bonham glanced up at him before continuing to tie down the garbage bags. 'It's never easy to lose a parent. Especially to something as wicked as that.'

'It was hard on our family.' He continued. 'I can't imagine what y'all are going through with Maddie being sick.'

'We're getting by.'

Dan nodded. 'Still, it can't be easy.'

'No...' Bonham agreed. 'No, it's not.'

'I know that you don't want my sympathy but I'm sorry.' He said after another pause. 'I can't imagine how I would manage if it was Colton going through cancer.'

Bonham nodded but didn't reply, the two of them working together to finish securing the load.

'So, that looks like all of it.' Maddie said as she wheeled herself over to the buggy, Colton carrying the last of the bags containing the hemlock. 'Next time, start culling in March. It really slows the spread.'

'Oh, thank you.' Dan smiled at her as handed back the knife she'd been using to cut down the weeds. 'Uh... Look...' He turned to Bonham. 'I-I'm clearly in over my head. And you know this land more than anyone, so maybe...'

Bonham chuckled as he realized just what Dan was trying to get at without directly saying it. 'You want me to help work my family's ranch for you? A Davidson? Not in a million freaking years.'

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offense by that. I'm sorry.'

A long moment of silence followed then Bonham sighed heavily, shaking his head. It wasn't fair to the animals to have to suffer over their feud. If Maddie hadn't found the hemlock when she did the outcome could have been a lot different. Hemlock could kill a horse or cow in a matter of a few hours. He looked down at his granddaughter and she gave him the tiniest hint of a nod. 'Well...' It was a lot of pride to swallow but it wasn't the animals fault that someone like Dan Miller was supposed to be taking care of them and hadn't the faintest clue of what he should be doing. 'Since you are an idiot, I probably should come back out this week and spray the fields and I noticed there are a few fence posts that need to be fixed and those broodmares all need their hooves to be trimmed so I can call the farrier.'

'All right.' Dan agreed gratefully. 'Sounds like a plan.'

'Maddie.' Bonham turned to her. 'We best be getting you home.'

Maddie nodded. 'Alright.'

'I-I'll see you out.' Colton offered.

'Thank you, both of you.' Dan told them as they started off. 'Really appreciate the help.'

Bonham waved him lazily off, hanging back a slight distance while Colton walked alongside Maddie.

'Well, my dad and your Grampa didn't kill each other.' Colton remarked after a time. 'I guess that's a start.'

'It's a step in the right direction at least.' She agreed. 'Remind your Dad to keep a close eye on the livestock. If any of them begin to look off at all, get a vet out ASAP. It's better to be safe than sorry, especially when hemlock is involved.'

He nodded. 'I'll keep that in mind.'

Silence fell again and as they arrived at the truck, Colton placed his hand on Maddie's shoulder. 'Anytime you need to talk, I'm here, okay?'

'Okay.' Maddie smiled at him. 'Thank you.'

'I'll talk to you later then, alright?'

She nodded. 'We will.'

Bonham stepped up as Colton drew back, carefully picking his granddaughter up and helped her into the passenger's side of his truck. Colton snuck a look at Bonham as he loaded up her chair into the back then quickly placed a quick kiss on her cheek. 'Keep well Maddie.'

'You too.' She smiled at him, giving him a quick hug. 'And thank you... For today. Meant a lot you taking the time to listen to me.'

Colton smiled back at her. 'For you Maddie, always.'

Maddie stared out the window as they drove home, the ride so far having been in silence since they had left what was now the Davidson ranch. Her grandfather had been very quiet about it all and she wondered when he was going to say something to her about it. Finally, she couldn't stand the silence between them any longer and turned the radio down as she looked at him. 'Are you mad at me Grampa?'

'Mad darlin?' He glanced over at her. 'No, not mad honey. Just wondering how you ended up at the ranch is all. I thought you were going to spend the day at the stables.'

'I was. Just changed my mind is all...' She paused for a moment. 'Needed someone to talk to.'

'Well... You might want to be careful of that one.'

Resting her head back against her seat, Maddie sighed heavily. 'Colton has always been nice to me Grampa.'

'I'm just saying be cautious is all.'

'Duly noted.' Silence again. 'I know you don't approve of me seeing Colton but don't you think I deserve a little something for myself? With everything going on right now, don't I deserve a little bit of happiness?' She paused for a moment, biting her lip. 'I just...'

'You don't have to explain yourself to me.' Bonham finally told her. 'I just worry about you, given the family history.'

'But isn't it time for that history to be buried? Isn't it time to move on?'

He sighed heavily. 'I guess.'

More silence.

'Grampa... Who was Amber?'

Bonham looked over at her.

'I tried to ask Mawline about who she was this morning,' Maddie continued. 'but she didn't want to speak about it.'

'How-how do you know about her?'

'I'll explain later. Who was she?'

His hold on the steering wheel tightened for a moment then he glanced back at her for a moment. 'She was our daughter.'

Maddie looked at him as silence fell between them again, waiting for him to offer an explanation.

'Cordell was only four when your Mawline fell pregnant again.' Bonham said after a time. 'There was an accident, a horse kicked her. She lost the baby.'

'Oh...' She breathed out. 'I-I'm sorry... I didn't know. That-that's why she didn't want to tell me about her.'

He nodded. 'It took her a long time to get over it. After we lost the baby we never spoke of it. Too much hurt and anger...' He saw the questioning look on her face and continued after a moment. 'I blamed myself for the accident. Things were hard back then, it was a struggle just to make ends meet and a baby on the way only added to the strain we were already under. We didn't have the money to hire ranch hands... All the while she was pregnant, Abby was keeping the house running, looking after Cordell and trying to help on the ranch. I had to go away for a weekend to sell some cattle, Abby was doing the barn chores when something startled one of the horses she was feeding...'

'And she got kicked.' Maddie filled in the blanks.

He nodded. 'Gale finally found her when she didn't go over to pick Cordell up. By the time they managed to get her to the hospital it was too late for the baby. Abby... Abby almost didn't make it but by some miracle she pulled through.' He paused again. 'The baby was a little girl. I-I remember holding her before they took her away. She was so small and perfect... We-we called her Amber. I buried her up in the graveyard while Abby was still in the hospital. Abby never even got to hold her...'

As he finished telling her the story, her eyes were wet with tears. Now she understood why Abeline had shut her down and walked away when she had tried to ask her who Amber was. It hurt her too much to speak about it. 'I didn't know...'

'No one knows about her, not even Cordell or Liam. Marv and Gale were the only ones who knew.'

It made sense now why there was an unmarked and abandoned grave in the Walker family plot...

After a long moment, Bonham spoke again. 'How did you find out about her?'

Maddie, jolted from her thoughts, turned to him. 'She was in the dream I had when I was in the coma, only I'm starting to think it wasn't a dream at all... I don't know... Mom, mom was there and so was Emily.' He looked over at her and she continued. 'I know, I know this sounds crazy but I remember it. I remember being in this place with them and I could see what was going on around me. I saw myself in that hospital. I saw all of you there too. I could see what was happening but I couldn't do anything about it. And Amber. Amber was there. She was with me there. I don't remember much but I know, I know, she was there. I just... I can't explain it.'

Another long moment of silence passed by, Bonham thinking over what Maddie had told him.

'I just...' She looked out the window again. 'I'm sorry. I just wanted to know who Amber was.'

'Mawline?' Maddie questioned softly from outside her grandparent's room, knocking softly on the door. 'Can I come in?'

Abeline heard her calling and quickly dried her eyes on a tissue, tucking the tissue beneath her pillow as she picked up another shirt to fold. 'Yeah, yeah... Come in.'

At her permission she opened the door and wheeled herself in, coming to a stop beside her grandmother. 'Mawline... I-I'm so sorry about this morning. I just wanted you to know that.'

Placing the folded shirt aside with the other clean laundry she was sorting through she looked down at her granddaughter. 'I know you didn't mean any harm in asking. It just caught me by surprise.'

'I know and I'm really sorry about it.' Maddie apologized again. 'Grampa... Grampa told me what happened. I'm sorry Mawline, real sorry for bringing it up.'

'Maddie, you didn't know honey. You couldn't have known. Don't beat yourself up over it.'

'I don't like to see you hurting when I'm the cause of it. I'm really sorry. I don't like seeing you upset.''

'Oh sweetheart-' Abeline sat down on the bed beside Maddie's chair. 'I'm okay, love. Really.'

'You sure?'

'I'm sure.' She took Maddie's hand in hers. 'This Amber you saw in your dream... Tell me about her.'

'Do you really want me to tell you? I mean, I don't want to hurt you-'

'Maddie.' She interrupted gently. 'It's okay. I want to know.'

Taking a deep breath, Maddie began to explain as best she could what had happened while she had been in the coma. While her memory of her time in that strange place was foggy at best she could remember exactly how Amber had looked. The rest of the details, the conversation that she'd had with Amber, she couldn't recall much but she could at least relay to her grandmother what the girl had looked like. She told her too of being there with her Mom and with Emily and the decision that she had to make. When her story came to an end, Abeline was silent for a long time.

'I came close to dying, didn't I?' Maddie finally questioned. 'I mean, I must have been in between heaven and earth. That's the only explanation I can think of.' She paused for a moment then shook her head. 'I don't know. It was all so weird. Maybe I'm going crazy.' She looked back at her grandmother. 'Do you... Do you think it's crazy?'

'I-I don't know.' Abeline replied after thinking it over for a moment. 'I can't say sweetheart.'

'Something happened while I was in that coma.' Maddie finally decided. 'That I know for sure.'

The next morning found Maddie sitting at the kitchen table, working on a drawing. After speaking it over with Abeline about her dream things had started to make a little sense. While she knew it wasn't her place to say anything to anyone else about Amber she wondered if Bonham and Abeline would ever deal with it. From what she could gather from what she'd been told they'd both tried to move on and act like nothing had happened.

She wished she could remember more from her time in that strange place but she could only recall bits and pieces. She remembered speaking to her mom, speaking to Emily. It had felt so real. She had to have been in a place between heaven and earth... On the other hand she knew that the mind could play tricks on a person while they were in a coma and she was grateful that her grandparents didn't think she was going crazy from what she had told them.

Her phone vibrated as a message came through and she put the colored pencil she was holding down to check it. It was from Elizabeth, an update of how Diablo was going. A smile touched her lips as she read the message. Diablo was becoming more comfortable with her being closer to him and she'd sent a photo of herself sitting in the paddock with her stallion in the background. It was a step in the right direction at least and she quickly wrote her back a message of encouragement. Elizabeth soon replied asking when she would be back at the stables again and she told her that she'd be there later in the afternoon before returning back to her drawing.

The house was quiet, only her, Abeline and Stella were home. Stella was out in the backyard doing something and Abeline was tending to the washing. Bonham and Liam had left to go look at another property earlier and her father was at work. August was at the Side Step for his shift and so here she was alone in the quiet.

Bubbles came and jumped onto her lap after a time, the cat falling asleep as she still worked. Another message came through, this time from Mika. She smiled seeing the photo her friend had sent. She and Picasso had come third overall in the show jumping competition they'd gone too.

Great work you two! She wrote. Wish I could have been there to cheer you on.

Once the message was sent she picked up the pencil once more and began working on her drawing again.

'What are you working on?' Abeline questioned as she walked by on her way to the kitchen to begin preparing lunch.

Maddie glanced up at her as she went by. 'Just a drawing.'

'It's good to see you doing that again.' She commented as she opened the fridge to see what they had to eat. 'You have a real talent for it.'

'Yeah, maybe.'

'No, you do honey. What would you like for lunch?'

'I'm not really hungry to be honest. Maybe a turkey salad sandwich?'

'Alright, turkey salad sandwich it is.'

Maddie nodded, returning her attention to her drawing as Abeline started on lunch. She was almost finished now and it wasn't long before she was finally satisfied with her work.

'Would you mind telling Stella lunch is ready?' Abeline questioned. 'She's out the back doing something.'

'Sure.' Picking up the drawing she wheeled herself over to the kitchen bench where her Grandmother was working. 'Can... Can I show you this?'

Abeline placed the knife she was cutting a tomato with down and wiped her hands on a towel, taking the piece of paper that Maddie handed to her.

'It-it's Amber...' Maddie explained softly after a moment. 'What I remember of how she looked.'

Tears came to her eyes as she looked at the drawing then back up at her granddaughter. 'It's beautiful honey...'

She smiled sadly at her. 'I just thought maybe I could give you a better idea of what she looked like drawing her then telling you about her.'

Abeline nodded then placed her arm around Maddie to hug her. 'Thank you. I'll go put this somewhere safe.'

'Okay.' Maddie replied as she let her go. 'I'll go call Stella in.'

She lingered there for a moment as Abeline headed for her bedroom then wheeled herself out the back door to go find Stella. 'Mawline says lunch is ready.' She told her sister, Stella at the table arranging some flowers or something.

'Okay.' Stella replied. 'I'll be in in a minute.'

She nodded and as she turned around to leave, Stella's phone on the seat beside the door rang with a message. 'Looks like you got an email from that College.'

'Oh, it's probably just spam or something.'

Maddie looked at it for a moment then at her sister, a smile coming to her lips. 'You got in, didn't you?'

Stella hesitated for a second then nodded. 'Yeah...'

'Stella! That's great news! Oh sis-' She wheeled herself over to her, giving her sister a hug. 'I'm so happy for you.'

'Thanks...' She hugged her back, looking down at Maddie as she let her go. 'But I haven't told anyone 'cause I don't even know if I want to go yet. And there's so much stuff going on, it doesn't seem like great timing.'

'Hey, you don't need to hide your wins. Dad would want to know regardless of what you decide to do.'

'I guess...' Stella sighed. 'But it's so expensive and-'

'Stella.' Maddie interrupted her gently. 'Don't worry about all that. The main thing is you got accepted. That's something in itself. The rest will fall into place.'

She thought about it for a moment then nodded. 'I guess you're right.'

At that, Maddie chuckled softly. 'When will you learn that I'm always right?'