Alex drove the truck out of the gates of Camelot and headed out to the freeway. Rose and Luke followed behind them in Stevie's old Ute. Both vehicles were pulling trailers carrying Banjo and the three other horses Stevie wanted to take with them. Turbo, Hardy and Dagger sat in the back of the truck, tongues lolling, heads in the wind.

Kaleb and Kana slept peacefully in their car seats. Stevie smiled at her kids and then turned to watch her farm fade in the distance.

"Are you sad?" Alex asked reaching over to squeeze her hand.

Stevie shook her head. "Not really. There are some really good memories attached to Camelot but also a lot of pain. I'm just sad it had to turn out this way."

Alex nodded. "So am I. We'll be home at the end of the week and things will look better."

"Is Dave still living at Wilgul?" Stevie shifted a little and reached for a bottle of water.

"Not as of last week. He moved into the old homestead on Killarney. At least he's supposed to. Oh, I should tell you, his kid brother Patrick showed up a month ago."

"Dave has a brother?" Stevie asked. "Since when?"

"Since he was about five. At least that's what he says."

"What do you know? Dave Brewer, a big brother."

Alex laughed drily. "Well, the two of them didn't get along so well. Patrick really scared Kate a while back. He's got some medical condition and hadn't been taking his pills. He left to go spend some time with his mom so maybe next time he's around things will be better."

"Poor Kate. How is she doing anyway?" Stevie grinned as they started talking about things from home.

"Kate is Kate," Alex said. "Her and Jodi are still the crazy best friends, though I think Jodi has her eye on my new overseer."

"Is he cute?"

Alex shrugged. What did he know about that? "She thought he was gay at first. He's not. He doesn't look like Luke. He's older, has dark hair, kinda quiet."

Stevie frowned. "He doesn't sound like a guy Jodi would go out with. She likes the wild and exotic ones."

"I don't know if I'd call Alberto exotic, but I know what you mean." Alex turned onto the main road and settled into his seat. "Well, here we go."

Stevie smiled and reached over to touch his arm. "Thank you."

Alex nodded and turned up the radio. He grinned as Stevie's favourite song began to play. She wiggled in the seat beside him and snapped her fingers to the beat.

"You're acting like a young girl going to her first camp drafting show," Alex laughed as he settled into the drive.

Stevie laughed. "I feel that excited. Do you know how much I've missed everyone?"

Alex felt the smile fade from his face. "Why didn't you come home?"

Stevie shrugged and turned to stare out the window. "I couldn't. I was scared to come crawling back. And I didn't want to admit I had failed."

"You didn't fail," Alex said. "Kane did. You know we would have welcomed you back with opened arms. We need you. I need you."

Stevie looked at him and reached over to touch his arm. He covered her fingers with his hand and squeezed. They sat in silence as the kilometers rolled on, the countryside changing as the wheels ate up the road.

As they drove, Alex tried not to think of what Harry was going to say when he brought Stevie back. The last time he had spoken to Harry they had been fighting. Harry already had it in with him for various unknown reasons.

Tess wanted Stevie with her now. With Nick missing and most likely dead Tess would need her best friend. Alex stole a glance at Stevie. She leaned against the window, her eyes closed, a smile playing on her lips.

Even though Stevie was hurt he was sure that she would be able to comfort Tess and gain comfort from her friend at the same time. Alex made himself relax. There was no use worrying about things that he had no control over. Harry could stuff his opinion about Stevie. Alex was bringing her home where she belonged. And there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"What are Rose and Luke going to do?" Stevie asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Alex shrugged. "Hadn't thought much about that. Wilgul needs quite a bit of work. So if they are willing they can try to get it up and running again."

"Do you think Tess could use me at Drovers?" Stevie's voice was light but underneath Alex heard the worry.

He reached over and stroked her arm. "Tess will take you in no matter what her financial situation is. You know that. Besides, with the baby on the way I think Drovers and Tess could use you. As much as Jodi and Kate know about running the place, they need someone older and more experienced helping them."

Stevie nodded. "Tell me about Regan. What's she like?"

Alex turned back to the road. How was he going to describe Regan McLeod to Stevie? The woman was still somewhat of a mystery to him.

"She's defiantly a city girl. Didn't like animals at all when she first came, but she actually rides now. Tess brought Oscar out of retirement. But I think Regan's going to need a proper horse soon."

Stevie grinned. "Does that mean I get to go horse shopping?"

Alex roared with laughter. "Stevie Hall, you haven't changed much have you? I'm sure Tess and Regan would love that. We all know you have the best eye when it comes to horseflesh."

Stevie laughed along with him. Leaning back in her seat she held a hand against her ribs. "Stop laughing, Alex. My ribs still hurt."

Alex pressed his lips together to suppress the laughter. But it felt so good to laugh. There had been precious little to laugh about in the past months. Actually, now that he thought about it, the past few years hadn't had many moments for laughter.

But that would all change now that Stevie was back. Already he felt happier, more carefree, ready to take on the world that was his. Even Harry Ryan.

He squeezed Stevie's hand and thanked his lucky stars that he had found her again.