"Oh, Amy, I don't know what I was thinking, calling about this saddle," Marion sighed as she drove further and further up the long, prestigious driveway. "Look at this place! How have I never been up here before? This is some kind of fancy."

"This place is incredible! I thought Briar Ridge was the fanciest stable around, but it's nothing compared to here. Mom, this saddle," Amy looked over at her, "how much are they selling it for?"

"I'm beginning to wonder if there is something seriously wrong with it to be listed for the price it is. Okay, there's the stable office, so I'm guessing we can look for the head stable hand around here. Let me park."

"There's a spot right by the door," Amy pointed.

"Definitely not parking this old piece of junk up there. We already stick out like a sore thumb. Wow, this is how the other half live? Pretty fancy for me, but I will admit this is an impressive stable. I'll have to ask about leaving some of my business cards here. Course, I've never gotten a single call from here as it is, and people around here know me, so they probably have some in-house trainer. Probably wouldn't let me touch these expensive horses. I'll park over here," she said, sliding her old truck into a spot between two huge, new pickup trucks with the 'Fairfield Stables' logo adorning their doors. Once out of the truck, the mother and daughter walked side by side toward the stable office.

"Hi, may I help you?" Both turned to the fence they were walking alongside, and Amy's eyes widened at the sight of a beautiful horse being led back to the stable, towering over the trainer. The horse was a deep chestnut brown with a gorgeous mane of almost black hair. The height of the horse struck Amy too, Amy tapping on her mom's arm.

"Mom! Have you seen a more beautiful horse?" She stepped toward it, a wide grin on her face.

"Name is Rough Rider, the horse, not me," she told them, grinning. "I never understand how some of these horses are named, but it's not done here. Most are not born here, thus, come here already with their name."

"He's beautiful," Amy grinned at her. "May I pet him?"

"Gorgeous horse," Marion nodded, stepping forward. "Sorry to be bothering you when you obviously have a job to do."

"No trouble," she shook her head. "You both seem to be very in tune with horses, and yes, you may pet him." Amy's smile widened, and she started to pet Rough Rider.

"Hey there, boy," she said standing there while Marion watched. She quickly shook out her head and hooked her hand over her shoulder.

"Sorry, we are just here about a saddle, one for sale, I mean. We will let you get back to work. I know what it's like to have a long list of things to get done. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where I could find the stable manager?"

"Ahh," she smiled, "the English saddle? Say no more," she grinned again. "You've come to the right place."

"You're the stable manger?" Amy's mouth dropped open, and soon, that mouth turned into a wide smile. "Wow, that's amazing. This place is amazing."

"Sorry," Marion put her hands on Amy's shoulders, trying to reign in her excitement. "My daughter is just as horse crazy as I am, but maybe not as tactful. I'm Marion Fleming, and I emailed about the saddle listed for sale, although, after seeing this place, I'm wondering if it will really be what we want."

"Oh, what do you want? It's in perfect condition. I can show you," she told them. "Let me put Rough Rider in the paddock here, just a sec." They watched as she effortlessly released the horse and then as he started to trot around on his own. Marion grinned at Amy, and the two waited and just watched.

"If you don't mind my asking, why is the price so low if this saddle is what you say? I know what it should cost," Marion asked, eyeing the stable manager.

"Well," she turned to Amy, "I'm guessing the saddle is for you, yes?"

"Yeah," Amy nodded vigorously. "I've been getting more and more serious about jumping and competitions. I started without an English saddle, finally getting one, but I've grown a lot this year."

"Amy needs an adult English style saddle, and this one is more than I could ever afford for one if it is how it was listed."

"Ahh, yes, well, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Let's take a look."

As soon as she laid eyes on the saddle, Amy was in love. Marion sighed and shook her head, gesturing to Amy, "That looks even better than the pictures showed it."

"It's perfect," Amy grinned. "Please?"

Marion turned to the stable manager, "I'm still wondering what the catch is."

"No catch," she laughed. "Seeing that look on her face," she gestured to Amy, "is part of the reason the saddle is listed so low. The goal is not to make a killing on it, but to get this to a good home, a rider who really appreciates and wants the saddle. I think that has been accomplished here."

"Well, then, you have a deal," Marion nodded and turned to Amy. "Amy, load it up. I'll join you shortly."

Once Amy had taken the saddle to the truck, Marion turned, "This really is an impressive operation. I work with horses having different issues. I have a few business cards if you would like? I realize you would have to clear it with your boss-"

"Lisa Stillman," she stuck out her hand to Marion with a wide smile. "I am the boss; this is my stable, and it's been a pleasure to meet you and your daughter."

"Oh gosh," Marion put her hand to her mouth, feeling the blood drain from her face. "I am so embarrassed. I had no idea this was your stable, and I certainly did not mean to bother you. Look at me," she gestured to herself, "going on and on, wasting your time, oh, Amy," she sighed, "almost drooling over your horse-"

"It's okay," Lisa said with a lite laugh, putting her hand on Marion's arm. "Honestly, it is so refreshing to see a young lady so excited about horses and a saddle."

"Oh the saddle! I did not mean to insult you saying that there was some catch. It just honestly did seem too good to be true."

"I know," Lisa nodded, still smiling. "I meant what I said too, no catch, just happy to sell it to someone excited to use it, and by the looks of it, your daughter is thrilled with it. Now, it had been one I had used and found recently in cleaning out things. My parents owned this before the both passed away. It's taken me years to get to the point now of sorting through things, just busy with this business and all the travel with it, but I guarantee that is a fabulous saddle in near perfect condition as you can tell."

Marion shook her head, "It looks brand new."

Lisa made a face, "I am not hard on things, and if I'd known I had it, I might not have bought the saddle I have. My dad put it in storage, basically preserved it, and well, one of my stable hands cleaned it all up, and it's as good as new. I lost track of it when I'd moved away and married, so again," she said with a nod, "happy to see it go to a good home."

"I need to pay you," Marion eyed her.

Lisa hooked her hand over her shoulder, "Why don't you step into my office. It's warm out here today, and we can take care of business there. Now," she looked at her again, "you mentioned something about your own business. Why don't you tell me about that? I've been back in Hudson for gosh, 10 years now, but I don't know if I've heard of you. To be fair," she said with a small smile, "I come and go a lot, between here and France."

The two women walked side by side to Lisa's office, Marion nodding as she listened, "France, sounds intriguing. I suppose you do a lot of the racing circuit there?"

"Yes, plenty, and I'm getting back into horse breeding. My dad was really involved with that before he got sick. While he was sick up until he passed away, that was put on hold, but as I said, these last 10 years, I've been doing a lot of studying. The racing business has been good, but I see a market for good breeding too. That's been my focus these last couple of years.

Marion glanced over at her, "So, you grew up here?"

"I did," Lisa nodded, looking to Marion, their eyes meeting. "You?"

"I did as well, but," she paused and frowned, "I don't remember you. I'm not sure our pathways crossed."

"Ahh, maybe not," Lisa nodded. "I graduated in '83."

"Okay," Marion nodded, gesturing with her hand, "I was in '78."

"Right, so just enough apart to not really be in the same circles. Your last name is Fleming?"

"Yes," she nodded, "my married name. Bartlett, my dad is Jack Bartlett, Heartland Ranch."

"Oh," she nodded, "I've driven by that ranch countless times, hard to miss," she smiled. "While I don't know most of the ranchers around here, I do, at least, know their ranches. Beautiful property out that way.

"Yes it is," Marion smiled. "600 acres of it, and don't ever get my dad started on that story," she laughed, and Lisa smiled at that. "He likes to tell the whole history of the land. I live there with Amy and my dad. My older daughter is off in grad school."

"Oh," she perked up. "I understand the family stories-my dad was the same with this place before he passed away. Ahh, where is your daughter in grad school?"

"New York, getting her MBA."

"Excellent," Lisa nodded. "I love to see people pursuing their passions. I sometimes feel people around here just fall into work because of," she gestured, "a family history or just no other ideas. Good for her. I bet she loves it, but my, what a contrast to rural Alberta."

"It definitely is, but yes, she loves it there. We miss her terribly, but you are right-she needed to follow her passion. That's all I want for my girls-to watch them follow their passion. Well, I won't keep you. I know you must have a ridiculously busy schedule. Here," she opened her wallet and pulled out a check, glancing over to Lisa. "Okay if I write you a check? You won't have problems with it."

"That is perfectly fine. Thank you," Lisa said with a small smile.

"I feel like I should pay more for that saddle because I realize it's worth probably three or four times what you are selling it for."

Lisa put her hand up in defense, "It's listed for the price I wanted. Glad you saw the ad posted in Maggie's. I know that a lot of people are into online sales, but around here, I knew posting it there was the way to go."

"Oh," Marion perked up with a smile, "that was the perfect place to post the ad. Amy saw it right away. Maggie is a good friend. Her daughter and Amy are the best of friends."

"Really?" Lisa perked up with a smile. "Maggie is a dear friend. My dad has done business with her for decades there at the feed store. She's a gem. I'm surprised our paths haven't crossed there either, but," she nodded, "I do stay busy."

"Same here. These days I feel like I'm rushing around, dropping Amy places, taking her to lessons-it's a lot, and not to bore you with my drama, but my ex-husband is also back in town."

"Oh," Lisa made a face and started to chuckle, shaking her head, "Wow, it was destined we meet because I have one of those too," she waved her hand, "an ex-husband who showed up in town, just really to be a nuisance. Worse than that," she looked at Marion and gestured toward her, "we share a business partnership, so if you haven't had to do that with your ex, don't." Both women started to laugh, and Marion gestured toward the truck.

"I need to get going. If Amy had her way, she would have ridden over here with her horse and already changed out the saddle, not that it would be comfortable to ride all that way on an English saddle."

Lisa grinned again, shrugging, "Eeeh, I don't know. I'm kind of used to it. I love to go on rides on mine. Western is a newer challenge for me. Oh, say, tell me about your business and why I haven't heard of it."

"I work with troubled horses, and I don't just mean rescues. Yes, a lot of my business involves rescues that have problems, but I do have business cards here if you or any of your stable employees run into a problem with a horse, say it starts acting up for no reason. I can usually fix that. I just treated one afraid of water, and it turned out that the horse had been shocked by a down power line near the water. I worked with him to move beyond that and returned him to his owner as the wonderful riding horse he remembered."

"Oh, fabulous, so," she made a face, "a horse whisperer of sorts."

"No, not a horse whisperer," she stated, and she didn't realize she must have come off a little irritated.

"I'm sorry to offend you. I don't know the right terminology there."

"You didn't," Marion smiled. "It's different. I don't do some sort of magic, which is what I think a lot of people assume a horse whisperer does. I just put in the blood, sweat, and tears to work with horses and listen to what is going on with them. They tell us a lot more than we realize."

"That they do," Lisa stated, pointing at Marion as she nodded. "Well, great. Thank you, and yes, I'll take your business cards. You never know. Horses definitely have a mind of their own."

"Well, thank you," she told Lisa, handing over the cards. "I appreciate it, and please, call me anytime if you have any horse issues. I am sure you have your own vet and all, but-"

"Scott Cardinal," Lisa shrugged. "He's local, but I trust him. I'm not one for fancy everything. I know some of the stables around here are, my ex-husband's included. I believe a good vet is a good vet, period. They don't have to impress me with their dress or pedigree, just a good vet."

Marion's face lit up, "Scott lived at Heartland. We took him in long ago, and yes, he's a fantastic vet."

"Really?" Lisa grinned. "Wow, we have a lot in common."

Marion made a face, "Well, maybe not exactly, but a lot of common friends yes," she laughed. "I'll never have the level of stable or operation such as this. It's really remarkable. My family works hard, but I could never imagine something like this being part of my family. My dad is just," she paused, "content with his cattle ranch as it is."

"My dad was similar," she said with a tight smile, adding, "I mean, content with Fairfield as it was. I've brought it back from somewhat of a financial mess, but we do have a lot in common. We just work in very different businesses, and that's perfectly fine. Finances attack businesses no matter the type."

Marion nodded, "Another common area-working on that too, but it's a big job to tackle, squaring away ranching finances." Both women chuckled at that, and Marion finally, picked up her things, "Okay, well it was really great to meet you Mrs. Stillman-"

"Oh, please, Lisa," she said walking around her desk to follow Marion out. "I'm not formal like that, and we're practically the same age."

"It was great talking to you. Maybe I'll now see you around Maggie's or in town, now that we've met properly."

"I'd like that," Lisa said with a soft smile. "Not too many genuine people around here, at least in my line of work, and I can instantly tell that about you. Lovely to meet you, Marion. Now, please keep me updated on Amy's competitions. I mean that," she said, clasping Marion's hand. "I am interested, especially with the sparkle she had in her eyes. I think that saddle found its perfect owner."

"I will," Marion smiled. "She's entered into the Junior Regionals coming up, first time she can enter. She'll be 13 later this summer."

"Fabulous," Lisa smiled. "Looking forward to updates."

Marion waved goodbye, and Lisa followed her back outside. Both laughed when they saw Amy sitting on the back of Marion's truck, already working on polishing the saddle, not that it really needed much, but Amy did know how to take care of a saddle.

"Oh, and good luck with that ex," Lisa called out before Marion got too far away. Marion spun around, groaning as she scrunched up her face.

"Thank you. That's a work in progress, still plenty to work out there. Same to you."

Lisa returned the same grunt and facial expression, nodding, "Yes, I can understand that, but mine is not a work in progress, at least one I'm not interested in rekindling. Fine here on my own." Both women laughed at that, and Marion continued to the truck while Lisa went back to her horse.

"You talked to Mrs. Stillman a long time. Is everything okay?" Amy asked once they were both back in the truck.

"Fine," she smiled at Amy, glancing her way. "She's very nice, nothing like oh, Ashley's mom. See," she nudged Amy, "not all of these fancy, famous horse people are like Ashley's mom."

"No," Amy made a face, "Ashley's mom would have charged like three times the price for the saddle. I can't believe we got that."

"It was Mrs. Stillman's, and she just found it. I guess her dad had put it away, so I know it's been well taken care of. Maybe she'll send some business my way. We have some friends in common."

Amy's eyes widened, "Who do you know that she knows? I've never met her before."

"Scott is her vet," Marion smiled. "See," she nodded at her. "She's not like Ashley's mom."

"Ashley's mom has all these fancy vets and trainers."

"Exactly," Marion told her. "She's also friends with Maggie, which I'll have to ask Maggie. She's never mentioned her, but she is good at knowing everything, everyone, and actually keeping information to herself, which is hard to find around here. Let's head home. I know your grandpa will be interested in your saddle."

Amy scrunched up her face, "No, he won't. He isn't excited about me jumping, especially now with this fancy English saddle."

"That's not true. He's very proud of you. Just because he has sworn that never in his life will he ride an English saddle does it mean he doesn't support you and cheer you on. You know that. He will be very happy. He does like a good saddle and even more, knows a good deal. He loves you so much, and it would be pretty quiet and lonely without you at the ranch. We are both looking forward to your competitions." Marion continued to drive down the long, winding driveway of Fairfield, beautiful facilities and training areas spanning both sides. Amy was in awe, and as they reached the road, Amy looked to her mom.

"This place is so amazing. Maybe when I'm old enough, I'll try to get a job here."

Marion chuckled, nodding, "Now, that, your grandfather would have something to say. He'd ask you why do you need to work here when we have our own barns and horses that need tending as well?" The two started laughing, Marion continuing the drive.

"I wonder if Grandpa knows how nice Fairfield is. I'm going to tell him, and I can't wait to tell Ashely Stanton Fairfield is way better than her stable."

"Amy," Marion sighed, "just stop. You are not going to do that. People just live in different worlds. That horse word is not ours, and that's okay, but people don't just jump into one world or the other. You'll see that as you grow up. Now, let's talk about dinner because I know you and Grandpa will be hungry for it as soon as we get home."