Jaelyn's eyes flutter open at the tap of her brother's hand. She glances over at Andrew and gives him a weak smile. He stands in the doorway of the pickup with a soft sympathetic look resting on his face. She isn't sure she wants to go inside and see Cane's room empty of his clothes and other belongings.

"Little Lynn, you ready to get out?" He asks, breaking her thoughts.

She takes a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be." As she steps over the threshold a long letter comes into view. Recognizing the scribbly signature at the bottom she by passes it and continues to her room. The clomping of boots behind her tells her that Andrew isn't letting her out of his sight. It is moments like these that she is so thankful for protective, caring brothers. Once in her closet she pulls out jeans and shirts as well as church clothes. With them in a bag she throws it over her shoulder and heads back down the hall. She passes Andrew without looking up into his eyes.

Heavily she chunks the bag in the back seat of her red Chevrolet pickup. Noticing the big trailer they had taken to McCamey parked in its usual spot she sighs. At least he did leave that. It is nice when trying to haul the whole crew- or even half of it. Looking around the pasture the sight that meets her eyes causes weight to pile onto her shoulders. All the client horses as well as all of Cane's horses stand grazing.

"Looks like the big bro left plenty to keep you busy," Andrew comments.

She hasn't noticed him come up behind her and she looks up at him briefly. Then she sighs. "Appears that way. I guess you are busy with your senior year, huh?"

Not meeting her gaze he nods. "Sorry, yeah. How many do you have that you still need help on?"

"Two to start from the beginning and three that aren't quite reliable by themselves." She unlatches the gate and steps inside.

Andrew stares protective daggers in her back as she approaches a buckskin filly. His back stiffens his eyes following her every move. The snorts of the filly binds his muscles tighter and he moves inside the gate.

The filly cranes her neck around to peer at Jaelyn as she places her hand on the buckskin's rump. The horse snorts as Jaelyn applies a little pressure on the narrow back. Smiling she rubs the filly's shoulder and down her leg. Cooing softly she applies gentle pressure to the cannon bone near the ankle. The filly slides her ears backward in question before shifting her weight and lifting her foot. "Good girl," Jaelyn praises, giving Andrew a 'see I can do something without breaking' look. After rubbing the filly's neck in satisfaction she makes her way to Andrew who is now standing in the middle of the pen.

He holds up his hands in surrender. "Okay maybe I was a little bit-"

"Overprotective? Doubtful? It's okay I forgive little brothers that have those problems." She smirks and lightly punches him in the shoulder as she passes him. The couple of hundred yards are crossed steadily. Inside the filly is put in a stall and given a bucket full of oats.

At the house they decide to spend the night there rather than trying to make it back without hitting a deer.

Jaelyn snuggles into the cool sheets of her bed looking at her phone. She is scrolling through all the old photos of she and Tyson she never deleted when his name lights the screen up. She smiles answering it, "Hey my superman."

"Jae Sweet!" He declares the smiles he wears being evident in his voice. "You forgot to text me when y'all left."

She giggles and rolls over onto her stomach. "That's because we never did. We decided to just spend the night here and I forgot to tell you that."

He laughs at her giddiness. "Okay. So what is your plan for tomorrow?"

"Well I'll take the trailer back to mom and dad's then I guess I will work with the colts I have there. Or I might take some of the ones that I still need help with and get Gare or somebody to help me."

He sighs heavily. "I would love to help you, but classes keep me busy."

"I know. Anyway you sound beat and I am about ready to hit the sack so I'll talk to you in the morning," she tells him as he sniffles a yawn.

"Okay, I love you Jae Sweet."

She smiles. "I love you too Superman, good night."

"Good night, sleep tight."

They hang up and Tyson moseys into the kitchen where Calvin stands over a pot of mac and cheese. He chuckles as his room mate stuffs a spoonful of noodles into his mouth.

"Did you have a good love chat?" Calvin snickers at his own remark.

Tyson laughs, but glares at his roommate. "Not that it matters to you, but yes I had a good chat."

"You forgot love. By the way what did you get on the test in anatomy?" The question is muffled by pasta in his mouth.

Tyson glances around the room and rubs the back of his neck. "Uh, I haven't looked at it."

Calvin scoffs, "You are the best student in the class and you don't even look at that perfect one oh oh. I just wanted to use yours as a study sheet for the retake."

Tyson shakes his head. "You know you are not going to have to take a retake. You did fine on it, I promise." He starts back to his room with a cup of water in his hand. "Regardless I am going to hit the hay." Heading to bed he strips off his shirt and flips on the fan. Flopping down on the bed he shuts his eyes welcoming the sweet dreams of Jaelyn.

***

Jaelyn shuts her alarm clock off and rolls out of bed. Stumbling into the kitchen she fixes the coffee pot and puts the bacon in the skillet.She doesn't turn the burner on, because she never eats before feeding. Somehow it makes her feel more prepared if the food is laid out. Back in her closet she pulls on her favorite jeans and a button up. "Rise and shine blue bunny!" She yells slamming the door behind her as she heads for the barn.

Opening the door she breathes in the horsey smell she loves so much. "Good to be back boys and girls," she mutters, grabbing a bucket of oats for the filly she brought up last night. She throws a wad of grass hay in the stall too and fills up the water before heading back to the house. All of the other horses are turned out on pasture and automatic water.

As she puts heat under the bacon a sleepy mumble asks, "What are you doing?"

She laughs turning to the door, "I am keeping up the normal routine."

"At the crack of dawn?!" He exclaims.

And flips a piece of bacon. "You have such a luxious life with mom and dad. I actually allowed myself to sleep in. Things get rolling around here. You can't afford not to as hot as it gets."

She watches her little brother shake his head. His gaze looks around the kitchen after his rubs his eyes with his knuckles. The lingering look at the letter on the fridge does not go unnoticed by her. She takes a deep breath she lets it fall into her hand from the clip in the fridge.

Little Lynn,

I know that you aren't really adoring me right now, especially if you have been to the barn. You have to understand I am only trying to protect you from getting another broken heart... Maybe Guy was right, maybe I need to let you go and do your own thing. I left the trailer for you, I don't want it back. When I get up on my sleep I will change it into your name.

Looks like I am going to college. You should do something you've been putting off. That doesn't mean to start those two new colts by yourself.

She sighs. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you blew up and decided to go city boy." She shoves the paper off the counter letting it fall to the floor. Flipping the bacon she thinks about her brother's scribbly handwriting. You should do something you've been putting off.