Every morning she had breakfast with Mal. Then they'd head out and work on the garden they were planting together which, Natara had to admit, she quite enjoyed. She never thought she was one for gardening, but Mal made it fun. That is, if you consider fun getting dirt playfully thrown at you, which she did because it was Mal and when he did it, it just happened to be adorable. After gardening, Mal would take her inside and make her lemonade, or orange juice, or anything else she requested and they'd sit for a while in the cool kitchen after being out in the sun all morning. They'd have lunch around noon, or whenever they were hungry. It generally consisted of hot dogs, or pizza, or burgers, which, Natara noted, weren't the healthiest choices, but whatever. It was called vacation for a reason.

In the afternoon, Mal tended to some of the horses or went shopping to a country store a few miles away for more food and supplies. Natara usually sat on the porch and read a book while he was gone. She felt infinite, like this would be her schedule forever. What killed her most was that it could be. She could tell Mal she just wanted to stay here forever, make up with her dad and his money would support them. They could live this life forever.

That would be weird. Not working, living with her best friend who had a crush on her – wait, why'd she just say that? Mal didn't like her…well he did but she denied it to herself. It was just too odd, knowing she was staying in the same house as someone that clearly liked her - a lot.

But she knew it wasn't infinite, nothing good in her life lasted. That was why it didn't matter if she broke her usual pattern. So today, when Mal went to pick up some more groceries, she went to the barn to admire that horse. Recalling how Talia always wanted a daughter named Bailey, she decided to honor her by calling that horse Bailey, because Talia would've loved her. Talia did love white horses.

"Hey Bailey," she said, cautiously approaching the horse. "How're you doing?"

She stopped trying to get closer, afraid she would scare her newly beloved horse.

"Did you come here from far away? Were you abused?" The horse stared blankly at her. "Did you lose someone you loved too?"

A tear trickled down Natara's face as the horse stared at her intently now. She felt like she was connected with this horse, like Bailey was listening to all of her problems and worries and ready to help. She began to walk towards the horse again. She reached her hand out carefully and…

The horse bolted.

Natara fell backwards in shock as it darted past her and straight out of the barn. Luckily, Mal was right about to walk in the door and he ran to her.

"Nat! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I just…" she faltered, trying not to take the horse's reaction personally because she knew it wasn't her fault at all. "I just wanted to help her." A tear trickled down her face and Mal wiped it away.

"Aw don't worry. Just take it slower next time, okay? Trust me; I've been around horses my whole childhood and my uncle's had quite a lot of formerly abused ones. They come around."

"I know Mal, I'm not an idiot. But I was just trying to help…"

"Hey, hey now, don't shout at me. Your voice sounds a little hoarse already," Mal smiled his twinkling smile at her.

"Not funny. Not at all." And with that, she stood up, pushed off Mal's effort of help and comfort, and stormed out and off towards the house.

Mal grudgingly followed her lead, stopping just outside the barn doors. He bent down and started scooping up squished and trampled flowers and then the paper they had been wrapped inside of.

In all the commotion, Natara hadn't gotten to see the bouquet Mal had brought home for her.