A Whole Lot Prettier

Taken completely off guard, Hunter had to catch himself as Ryan jumped on his back. He automatically latched onto her legs though, to make sure she didn't slide off, and laughed. "Oh sure. I haven't had any coffee either, ya know." He gave her knees a teasing squeeze before he kept right on walking, just giving her a ride and enjoying the fact that she was in such a good mood and smiling.

Her next comment made him grin. "Yeah well..." He cocked his head so his cheek rested against hers. "I was kinda cold, myself." Chuckling, he straightened his head again and continued to the barn.

"Good land, man!" Jeff met them at the barn door and put a hand to his chest. "You've grown another head!" He grinned and looked Ryan over. "Take my advice. Keep the new one. It's a whole lot prettier." 

"Thanks a lot." Hunter smirked and let go of Ryan so she could slide to the ground. "You're right, but come on - be a little nicer. I can't help it that I have an ugly mug." 

Jeff threw Ryan a wink. "How do you put up with such a whiner?"

"She's just a nicer person than you are," Hunter retorted. "Now are you gonna show her the ropes, or am I?"

"Ropes? Who needs ropes? We need grain!" Jeff clapped his hands together and motioned for Ryan to follow him to the feed room. "Come on. This is the best part 'cause all the horses will love you." 

Hunter just rolled his eyes, but smiled as he walked down to where Mick was breaking open some hay bales. "Want some help?"

"Always." Mick chuckled. "You're up bright and early."

"Yeah, well Ryan wanted to see what it was like. Jeff's got her now."

"Poor thing."

Hunter laughed. "I think she'll be okay. She held her own with him pretty well last night." 


Justin could feel the tension as Nate spoke, and it frustrated him. Just because he'd made a mistake didn't mean he didn't care or even wasn't still good at his job. Besides that, he might have gone the rough route with Garret eventually anyway, just to get him to spill the truth about his past. But now all Justin had on his hands were several people with bad feelings against him and... it felt rotten. 

"You know... sometimes a person needs more than a friend. So when he does... I'm still around." He may have said he was leaving. He may have even decided to abandon everything to do with the Elite. But he'd changed his mind, and was in with both feet now whether anybody else liked it or not. 


Hal looked down at Sam and grinned before retrieving the camera he'd been hunting for. "Six. Same place. Got it." 

As he pulled the camera from the shelf, he started an unintentional avalanche. Cords, batteries, mounting fixtures and more came tumbling down. Trying to catch anything did no good, and in the end, the desk and floor were a total mess. Hal blinked. He had a phone cord hanging off his shoulder, he'd caught a package of batteries and a lightbulb, and a string of paperclips had caught on his t-shirt collar. 

"Um. Well. That went...well. Wouldn't you say?"


Carson was beyond relieved that Misty liked the house. All of his fears were slowly melting away to reveal the happiness he'd been trying to gain back for so long. 

He slid his hands across the counter to take Misty's. "Thank you... for giving me this chance... and for walking down this road with me." He gave her fingers a squeeze as a smile spread on his face. Despite still trying to get over being sick, there was a new spark in his eyes now. He had something to work for. His hope had been renewed. He was finally, finally getting a part of his life back. 

"As far as nights go..." He chuckled. "Maybe we ought to stay at your place until this is actually livable. Unless you really want to sleep on an air mattress. But trust me... it's not too grand."