Tip

Rosalyn's heart starts beating faster again when Chad says he wanted to stay at least a week. A whole week? He would be here and she could see him for a whole week? It was so much more than she ever would have hoped for. But just as excited as she felt, she also felt worry. How was it going to even work? 

Mick nods to Chad. "We've got more than enough room. Actually, we don't have any other guests at the moment, so your timing is great." He turns his sights to his niece. "You want to show him to one of the bunkhouses and help him get settled? I'll take care of the paperwork." It wouldn't be much since Chad had been here before and they still had his information on file. 

"Yeah, sure." Rosalyn finally pulls away from Chad, but lets her hand slide into his. Catching Mick's eye, she wonders if he would have any advice on how to keep her dad from throwing a fit. 

Mick reads her expression well, but he doesn't have an answer. All he could do was give her a little extra time to figure things out. "In the meantime, I'm going to go join your dad where he's exercising some horses in the back corral." 

That mean Jim would be busy and distracted for another couple hours most likely. Rosalyn nods her thanks for the tip. "Okay. See you later then." Waiting until Mick had walked away, Rosalyn aims for the barn door, pulling Chad by the hand. "Come on... I'll give you the same bunk you had before if you liked it."

Hunter nods slowly and smiles as his thumb runs along Katie's hand. "Yeah... yeah, I do feel better. I, um... guess I didn't realize how much stuff I'd been ignoring for so long. And being at the ranch where there was actually time to just sit and think..." He shrugs. "I apologize if I was ever offish. I didn't mean to be. I guess when I got to processing stuff about myself and... and my past..." 

Pausing, he sighs deeply. He'd told Mick his story, but never had shared it with Katie. "Well, I guess there was stuff I couldn't talk about yet. Mostly things about me and my dad. I never realized that being rejected and on my own at seventeen could make me as bitter as I was, or have such an affect on my other choices and actions." He bites his lip. "Like me and Kyle... my drinking... I never realized that most of that was just me trying to work through stuff I was refusing to look at. Until... I got dunked in a river and was told to let things go." 

He smiles again. "Not exactly the wake-up call I would have chosen, but I guess God knew how stubborn I was and He was gonna keep me at that ranch til I worked things out, whether I liked it or not." He chuckles softly. He'd tell Katie the story of his past sometime soon, but for now, that wasn't his point.

"I still got a lot to sort through, but... I'm a whole lot further than I was. If it weren't for you though, I probably never would have gone to the ranch. So for that... thank you."

Ariel cocks her head, a little smile emerging. Was that why it had been so hard to read Trey? Because he did like her and want to be more than friends, but didn't make any advances for fear of ruining things? Maybe her difficulty in figuring him out wasn't as much of her having poor people skills as she'd thought.

Pursing her lips in thought, she studies Trey's downcast gaze. Was he the kind of man she wanted to date? She liked him in general. He had problems, but who didn't? He'd changed since she'd met him, for sure. He was softer now, and seemed to think more about others than just himself all the time. He didn't have a relationship with God - and that was a pretty big thing to Ariel. But at the same time, even if they dated, who was to say it would become something serious? They might have fun for a while then part. And who knew... maybe Trey would come to God through all this too.

Waiting for Trey to look up at her again, her calculating eyes twinkle, her cheeks flushing slightly. She might be a confident individual, but dating wasn't exactly her area of expertise. And she had a feeling Trey had a whole lot more experience than just casually dating and kissing a girl,which gave him an upper hand. But what Ariel had was the power to say yes or no. 

Smiling at him, she shrugs. "It won't ruin our friendship if we really are friends to begin with, right? So let's try it out." She gives him a teasing grin. "And if I slap you, you'll know I didn't like something."