Cowboy

As Ryan mentioned sleeping with Hunter, Eli's eyebrows shot in the air and his jaw dropped without him realizing it. He knew his sister far too well to think she'd do anything like that, and he'd done his homework on Hunter but what if he'd been wrong? Had they really...? "Wha-" His statement was cut short as he received a pillow to the face. Catching it and looking over it, his eyes were still wide as Ryan explained. His expression changed from horror to relief and he at least listened to realize what had really gone on. 

He would have chided her for falling for a guy so quickly like that, but when she talked about him, her face...lit up. She seemed so happy. How could he deny her that? After all she'd been through? After sighing, he got up from his chair and moved to join her on the couch and patted her leg. "I'm glad you found someone who could help you through the nightmares. I think he's a good guy." No one else knew the extensive research he'd done on Hunter earlier. 

He leaned back in the couch and kept his head turned, just studying his sister. "Just take it slow, okay?" The last thing he wanted was for her to fall too fast because she was emotionally vulnerable. His voice had grown softer. "I haven't seen you this happy in a long time... and I don't want it to end too quickly once things around here get back to normal." 


Dylan smiled, then shook his head and aimed back for Seven where he mounted back up again and waited for Ashlee to get in her saddle, too. "I know." He looked over at her, holding Seven still for another couple moments as his crooked smile remained. "I know where you are at any given minute...remember?" He urged Seven forward and clicked his tongue, heading back down the trail once more. He left the question about why he didn't like Travis unanswered. He wasn't sure he could even say for sure. Or maybe he could and simply didn't want to admit it. 

The ride back was quiet, but not in a bad way. It wasn't tense. Just reflective perhaps. Dylan had said what he needed, and even though nothing was really settled... at least he'd talked openly with Ashlee for probably the first time. 


"Keep your heels down," Eric ordered with a growl. He held Static steady in the corral as Travis trotted laps with Casper. "Travis!" he barked. "Heels down!" 

Travis bounced in the saddle as he tried to follow Eric's directions. "They are down!"

"Not far enough! And loosen your reins!" Eric hid his smile, though his eyes were twinkling. Travis had asked for a riding lesson while Ashlee and Dylan were out, so here they were. "Hey, did you here what I said?" 

Travis groaned and pulled Casper down to a walk. "You are even more impossible than my dad!" 

Eric finally laughed. "Ohh, low blow."

Travis tried to be mad but he couldn't be, and had to laugh too. "And why, pray tell, does Ashlee actually like taking riding lessons from you?" 

Eric prompted Static forward to meet up with Casper. "Who said I'm this hard on her?" 

"Oh sure." Travis smirked at him. "Go hard on the new kid, right?" 

"Who's new?" Eric leaned over and straightened out Casper's bridle. "The second you kissed that girl, you weren't new anymore." 

Travis' face flushed.

Eric gave him a stern look, but then a wink. "C'mon, cowboy. Let's see you lope."

Travis groaned again, but coaxed Casper into the rocking gait, where he received even more instructions than before. Truth be told, half his reason for being out here was so he could see when Ashlee and Dylan came back from their ride. 


Garret sat back in the chair and and folded his arms over his chest in a subconscious effort to comfort himself. It was too easy to use the computer while Nate and Laura were gone. He'd resisted as long as he could. But he'd gone back to Tiffany's facebook page. Then John's page. Then he'd found a new family picture John had just uploaded two weeks ago. It looked like a family vacation on the coast. His brother and Tiffany were there, along with their kids. Then another young couple with a little boy, and finally an older man and woman, maybe in their fifties or sixties. And Garret knew.

It was a happy family photo. They were all smiling. Laughing. They had their arms around each other. They were all very happily clueless that Garret even existed. His own parents... were right there. Right in front of him. Happy. Without him.


"So... there's a leak. And you're after me?"

Pete sighed and shook his head at Chance as he and Ron questioned him in the meeting room. "We're not after anybody. I already said that. We're questioning everybody. So. Do you know anything?"

Chance rocked on the back legs of his chair. "What? You think I wouldn't tell you otherwise?"

"Just answer the question."

"No, of course I don't know anything." Chance rolled his eyes and looked between the both men. "Now, you dragged me in here on my way to lunch. Anything else?" 

Pete frowned. "Really? Are you even taking this seriously?"

"Of course I am." Chance let his chair fall back to all fours. "I just don't know anything, that's all." 

Pete flipped through some papers. "Where were you during that first shooting? When we were after Jason's sniper?" 

Chance quirked an eyebrow. "I can't believe you just asked me that."

"Oh, Chance, come on. Just play along so you can go to lunch."

Chance sighed. "I was with the rest of you, forming a perimeter." 

"You were late getting back."

"And that report..." Chance pointed at he papers. "Say exactly what I told Reese about getting held up on my way back." 

Pete nodded. "And the latest? You just happened to be nearby when the target was shot."

"You've got to be kidding me." Chance laughed. "I was down there on a case. Reese called me to bring the body back."

"Mm-hmm." Pete shrugged and looked at Ron. "We good?"