Get lost

Eric's mouth forms a little smile at the new spark in Ashlee's eyes. At her question of if she was oiling the saddle correctly, he reaches over and guides her hand with his, showing her how to make little circles and let the oil soak in. "You got it," he encourages, returning to his own saddle.

Giving her a sidelong glances, his grin reemerges. "Well, you are living on a horse ranch... If your hind end didn't wind up in a saddle, I'd be pretty surprised. There's plenty of people around here to help ya out there if you just ask."

He pauses to concentrate on a particular spot on his saddle. "That is, if your mom says it's okay." The last thing he needed was to get Miss Stern-officer-turned-bodyguard upset with him for putting any unwanted notions into her daughters head.


Tal grins at Ryan and shakes his head. "I don't know. Guess it was just one of those days I took a drive and wanted to get lost. Wound up here and it's been a favorite spot since."

He tosses her a wink. "Just don't tell anybody else about it."


As Beth comes into the living room, Justin comes to the couch to sit with her. Taking a bite of food, he murmurs his approval. "Mmm... I don't think you could cook a bad meal if you tried."

He goes to start the movie, but pauses to answer Beth's question. "Oh... just stuff. Reese gave me a new goal for Alec, Brookshire called and Scott had a bad day, I got one friend trying to cry on my shoulder even though half her problems she's brought on herself - I think she likes being a victim because she gets attention - and I got another friend... so-called friend, taking her side and blaming me for being honest."

He shrugs lamely. "That's about it. Ma always used to ask me why I didn't change careers and I never had an answer for her. I can take people like Scott... it's those like Nichole that drive me bonkers. I mean... I can't help it that she makes stupid decisions... I can't help it that she won't let go of a guy who's a jerk, right?" Justin sighs. Maybe that whole scenario bothered him more than he'd thought. He takes another bite of food. "I guess I wouldn't know what else to do if I gave up trying to be a counselor anyway, unless I want to offer computer tech service full-time and even part-time is bad enough."