Cope

He couldn't be replaced? Scott could feel a little hope returning. He shifted a little uncomfortably under Dalton's gaze and was going to leave, when the invitation stopped him. His eyebrows rose. "Really?" The question slipped out before he could think about it. "I mean..." He paused and swallowed hard. 

His gaze dropped again. "I... I wasn't sure... I mean... I know you were upset with me and..." He sighed and lifted his eyes once more. "I'm sorry, ya know? I mean, I guess I still don't understand why I'm that important for people to care about what happened but... but I guess I was reckless and... I wasn't thinking about what I did affecting anyone else." He shrugged. "I'd like hanging out tonight if you really want to... Beats going home and trying to cope alone all evening."


Hunter pulled into the shop's parking lot and parked near the garage before stepping out and setting his sunglasses up on his head. He'd confirmed lunch with Ryan, but hadn't had any other contact with her since last night. It felt strange... not seeing her right away that morning. But this was reality after all. 

Instead of going through the customer entrance, he wandered over to the open bay doors and folded his arms, squinting inside until he spotted Ryan. 

"Hunter, hi!" Miles approached as he wiped his hands on a rag. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Hunter chuckled. He knew Miles just from seeing him at the races every once in a while. "To whom, actually. I'm here to see Ryan."

Mike's quirked an eyebrow. Ryan hadn't been racing in quite a while now, so what would Hunter want with her? She'd seemed so much better today after her vacation, he didn't want this racer to start anything. "She's... Over there." He thumbed to the next bay over. 

Hunter already knew that, but nodded his thanks. Ambling inside, he came up to the engine and looked over Ryan's shoulder. "You sure you know what you're doing?"


Eric winked at Ashlee. "Oh, just you wait. You'll be bareback in no time, and you're gonna love it. For now though.... Show this boy how to trot properly."

After a while of lessons, Eric let the two ride or quit for the day if they wanted. He joined Lane at the other end of the corral and set Static through his paces of reining, which involved skids, spinning, sharp turns and backing up.

Travis sat on Casper and leaned on the saddle horn as he watched. "Eric's petty good isn't he?" He glanced at Ashlee. "I heard he used to not be around much, and doesn't give riding lessons. How'd you manage to get him to do it?"