Nick thought back over the last many weeks. We have come so far my love. We fought our way through the pain and discovered our feelings matched. We survived our injuries and grew closer together. Your love for me has made my heart so full that I can’t keep it all inside.

  I love your face and that body. I love your soul and your kindness. My life is so much better because of you. I can do my work better, I can love others more. I want to be the man you love forever.

  Nick leaned over and gently kissed Lindsay’s forehead. She startled awake and was surprised to see him kneeling beside her bed.

  “Nick?”

  “Hi, sweetheart. I’m sorry to wake you up.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No, will you go for a ride with me and watch the sun come up?”

  “Yes, what time is it?”

  “Early about 4:00.”

  “AM?”

  “Yes. I guess you usually don’t get up this early.”

  “No, but you do?”

  “Sometimes, I couldn’t sleep this morning and decided to see if you would go for a ride with me.”

  “Give me a few minutes to get dressed and wake up.” Lindsay said moving the covers aside to swing her legs off of the bed. She leaned forward to give Nick a kiss. “Good morning!”

  Nick laughed gently at her “It is now.”

  Lindsay scrambled off the bed and moved to the bathroom to brush her teeth and comb her hair. Then she padded across the floor to her dressing room and got dressed. She almost felt awake when she walked out carrying her boots.

  Nick was quietly watching her. He was humbled that she wanted to be up this early with him.

  “You are quiet today, are you okay?” Lindsay asked

  Nick nodded

  “You can tell me if something is wrong.” Lindsay stated trying to decipher his mood.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I am just happy you were willing to get up this early to be with me.”

  Lindsay finished pulling on her boots and stood up. She grabbed his hands and pulled him to his feet. “Nick, I will be with you anytime and anyplace. I am glad you came to ask me.” She said rising up on her toes to kiss him.

  Nick wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground and they kissed for many long minutes. He eventually lowered her back to the floor and placed his forehead on hers. “Thank you.”

  Lindsay smiled sweetly at him and grabbed his hand “Come on. If I am up, I want to see the sunrise with my love.”

  Nick and Lindsay walked to the barn and then Lindsay started to walk to get her tack from the tack room. “Ride with me on Spade.” He said pulling her with him.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I have dreamed of this for weeks.”

  Lindsay moved along with Nick and found Spade already out of his stall and tied to the railing outside the barn.

  “Bareback?” Lindsay asked

  “Trust me?” Nick asked in return

  “Forever and Always” she answered

  Nick untied Spade and positioned him and swung up on him. Then he held out his foot as a stirrup for Lindsay and his arm for her to grab onto. Lindsay climbed up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. “Impressive” she told him admiring how he swung up there without help.

  “That was my plan… to impress you.” Nick laughed and commanded the horse forward

  “I like this riding together stuff. I can hold onto to you to my heart’s content.” Lindsay stated a few moments into the ride.

  “That was my plan too.” Nick said smugly.

  They rode enjoying the cool early morning to the best view of the eastern sky. Nick helped Lindsay get down the same way she got up and then he swung his leg over and got down. He tied Spade off so he could graze some and then walked to where Lindsay was and took her hand in his.

  They walked a few feet away and then Nick sat down and patted the space between his legs for Lindsay to sit down. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

  “Nick, you are more quiet than usual this morning. Are you sure nothing is wrong?”

  “I am positive. I am just enjoying the time with you. I had a great last week and a great but unusual weekend and I am just a little overwhelmed is all. But I needed to be with you.”

  “I am glad you feel that way about me.” Lindsay said softly and a little tearful

  “I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He said apologizing

  “I cry when I am happy remember.”

  “Yes” he replied softly

  They didn’t talk much but enjoyed their time together. Lindsay’s hand was resting on Nick’s leg so he laid his hand over it and began to caress it. Lindsay laid her had back on Nick’s chest and sighed in pleasure and contentment. “Why does that string me up so high?” she asked a few minutes later.

  “I don’t know, but I love doing that to you. I want you so high with me that we could fly. We will fly when I have the pleasure to make love to you.” Lindsay lay in his arms as the beautiful sunset kissed her face. They didn’t talk just watched. It was going to be an amazing day.

  “This was a wonderful idea, Nick. I am glad you woke me up to go with you.”

  “Are you ready to head back for breakfast?”

  “No, but yes.”

  “That was very decisive.” He laughed

  “I’m hungry but I like this time with you.”

  “Come on goofy girl.” He said easing her forward so he could get up. He reached for her hand and pulled her up and went to get his horse. Lindsay walked to where Nick was.

  They rode in silence for a while. “What is on your schedule for today, babe?” Nick asked

  “Not much. I am caught up and I am going to spend the day by the pool.”

  “You were taking today off?” Nick asked twisting to look at her

  “Yes, I was.”

  “And I woke you up at four am to see the sunrise. I’m sorry. You were probably planning to sleep in weren’t you?”

  “Nick, I loved this time with you. I want to spend time with you even at four am on my day off.”

  “I am still sorry I woke you up.”

  “Don’t be. I’m not.” She said as she hugged in closer to him “I am not sorry at all. I hope you always want to spend time with me no matter what time of day it is.”

  Nick was awed by her love for him. She wanted to spend time with him. He took one of her hands in his and kissed her palm and moved it to lie over his heart.

  They were comfortable with the silence as they rode in from the range to the barn. Nick helped Lindsay down and the slid off himself. Lindsay helped him feed and groom Spade. “You are a good boy.” She said patting his neck. They washed up on the tack room and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

  David, Dalton, Sarah, Gabby and Nathan were all eating breakfast when they walked in. “Good morning everyone.” Lindsay called as they entered

  “Where have you guys been?” Sarah asked

  “We were watching the sunrise.” replied Lindsay “It was beautiful today.”

  Nick and Lindsay went to fill their plates. Everyone at the table had to hide their smiles.

  “Hey Sarah, are you working today?” Lindsay asked as she sat down beside her

  “Some, why?”

  “I am taking the day off; do you want to hang out by the pool with me?”

  “Great idea. I’ll work for a few hours then I will join you.”

  Everyone finished their breakfast and went to their day’s activities. Lindsay checked her email and voice mail to deal with any ranch business. She had emails from Scott and Katie so she answered those. Then she decided to wander down to the barn to see Brandy.

  Lindsay was grooming Brandy when she heard some of the ranch hands talking about Nick working in the other barn. She decided to walk that way and watch him.

  Nick was working with a new horse when she came in. He was a distance from her
so she could observe him unnoticed. David walked up beside her. “You can move closer.” He told her quietly but Lindsay shook her head.

  “Then will you go for a walk with me?” David asked

  “Okay.”

  David and Lindsay walked towards the pool patio area. David sat down under the umbrella and Lindsay joined him.

  “Is something wrong?” Lindsay asked

  “Are you happy, Lindsay?”

  “Yes, why do you ask?”

  “Well, you are my sister but more than that you were wasting away in front of our eyes and no one saw it. I feel bad that I wasn’t watching you and that when you asked for time off I wasn’t really listening to you.”

  “I am okay now. Yes, at the time I wanted away from StageWest desperately bad. I felt like I was dying inside. I was trying to find an explanation that you would take so I could move far away.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

  “I couldn’t. I would not risk Nick’s job or his family. I didn’t know any other way than to try to escape. I love Nick and I wouldn’t hurt him like that.”

  “Nick doesn’t deserve you but he better treat you right.”

  “He does big brother. He always treats me very special.”

  “Do you plan to marry him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Has he proposed?”

  “Not officially. He wants to wait and I don’t care. I love him today, tomorrow and for the rest of our lives.”

  Dalton came up on them about this time and asked if he could join them. David nodded and he sat down. “Are you two up to something?” Lindsay asked

  “Sort of.” replied Dalton

  “What?”

  David began to tell her their plan. “Nick has done a great deal for StageWest. He helps me tremendously and we think it is time for his participation to be more official.”

  “And what exactly does that mean?”

  “We are going to offer Nick his own portion of the business of StageWest. We are going to expand the operations to include more of Nick’s skills to retrain horses. He will be in charge of the operating aspects but we don’t think he will want to do the “business” portion like taxes and such. We will include it under the umbrella of Matthews International so that the finances and stuff can flow through there.”

  “What brought this about?”

  “David and I had talked about it for some time. We didn’t get around to the details before you and he became involved. Nick believes that David needs to approve everything that he does, for example bringing Colby Randall’s horse here. This will be his operation to run as he chooses; he will have ninety percent of the stock and the head corporation will have the other ten percent so we can legally help him with financial matters. We hope he will still have time for helping David with the breeding program. We are also going to add a third barn/training facility for him to use.”

  “When are you going to talk to him about this?” Lindsay asked amazed at her brothers.

  David fielded that question “As soon as we told you, we are going to go to my office and bring him in. We want you to be there.”

  Lindsay nodded

  “Do you have any questions?”

  “No, I am stunned and so very thankful to you both.”

  “We are the ones that are thankful to Nick and we want to show him that.” Dalton replied

  “Lindsay will you walk over to the other barn and see if he is at a stopping point?” David asked as they reached his office

  “I’ll be right back.” Lindsay said walking away.

  David and Dalton entered the office and David pulled out the paperwork for Nick to look over.

  Lindsay walked into the other barn and found Nick just finishing with the horse she had seen earlier.

  “Nick?”

  “Hi. What are you doing here?”

  “Can you come with me for a few minutes?”

  “Sure.” He answered a little puzzled reaching for her hand

  Lindsay led Nick into David’s office. “Is there a problem?” Nick asked worriedly

  “No. Sit down. David and Dalton have something to talk to you about.” Lindsay reassured him

  David looked at Dalton to start the explanation. “Nick, about eight or nine months ago, David and I began to discuss your participation at StageWest. We didn’t act very quickly on it due to personal issues.” Dalton paused at David’s glare “Okay, I was busy with a personal life with Sarah” Dalton spit out and everyone laughed.

  “Anyway, we want to make your involvement at StageWest more official and beneficial to you.”

  “Okay” Nick drawled slowly glancing at Lindsay. Lindsay took his hand in hers

  “We are going to build a third barn/training facility that we want you to use for your own business of retraining horses. You will be in charge of the operating of this business 100%. You can bring whatever horses you want and it will be yours. So that Matthews International can help you with funding, financial matters and doing the bookkeeping, Matthews will hold ten percent of the business and you will have the remaining ninety percent. We didn’t think you would want to do book work, just work with the horses.”

  “I am not a business person.”

  “We knew that.” Dalton commented “My staff will be at your disposal to help you get set up. The first order of business is to design your new facility. We have some papers for you to look over and review with an attorney. If you agree to this, it is effective immediately.”

  “What about my work with the breeding program?”

  “We hope that will continue also. But how you divide your time is up to you.” David answered handing him the paperwork to review with an attorney.

  “I am stunned at your generosity. I wasn’t expecting this.”

  “We knew that too.” Dalton answered “Nick, you have helped make StageWest’s breeding programs the best in the country. You have a gift with horses that has improved the reputation of this ranch. In a large part, we are more successful because of you. We want you to know that we appreciate everything you have given to this ranch.”

  “Do my folks know about this?”

  “No one at the ranch besides David and I knew about this before a couple of hours ago.”

  “You didn’t know either?” Nick asked Lindsay

  “No, I was as surprised as you are. They told me about thirty minutes before they told you.”

  Nick looked at all the Matthews “Thank you is not big enough for this. I hope I live up to your expectations.”

  “Nick, you already have that is why we did this.” Dalton explained again

  Nick nodded and Lindsay gripped his hand tightly.

  “We have one more thing to discuss with everyone so let’s get your Dad and everyone head up to the house.” Dalton said heading for the door. Dalton called Sarah to have her come to the main house.

  “Dad?” Nick called

  “Yeah, over here.” Nathan responded

  “David and Dalton want us to go the main house for something.”

  “Okay, I’ll wash up and be right there.”

  “Do you know what this is about?” Nick asked Lindsay

  “No. They have secrets I don’t know about. I am so happy for you Nick. Is this something you want to do?”

  “Yes, but I am happy with what I was doing too.”

  “They know that. They just want you to know that you don’t have to ask their permission to bring a horse here or train it around their schedule. Your time is your own now.”

  “I am still stunned. I guess I need to find an attorney.”

  “Ask Sarah. The ones she knows would not be associated with Matthews if that is what you are worried about.”

  “I am not worried about anything. I really don’t even need an attorney; I would sign it right now.”

  “Get one anyway. It can’t hurt.”

  Nick walked into the house and went looking for his
Mama. “Mama?”

  “Upstairs.” Gabby answered so Nick bounded up the stairs to talk to her

  “Can you come down to the den? David and Dalton want to talk to you.”

  “Sure, what about?”

  “I have no idea.” Nick replied “Dad is on his way too.”

  David, Dalton, Sarah, Nick, Lindsay and Gabby were in the den when Nathan came in.

  David looked to Dalton again to make the explanations. “Gabby and Nathan, David and I began to discuss some new ideas about StageWest and Matthews International about eight months ago. One of those changes we just told Nick about a few minutes ago. We are going to build a third barn/training facility for Nick to use in his new business of training horses. He will be sole operating officer of whatever he calls his business. Matthews International will hold a minority interest to help with financing and whatever.”

  Gabby looked at her son. “Wow!”

  “That is an understatement Mama.” Nick replied still trying to comprehend everything that has happened.

  “Congratulations Nick” Nathan said proudly

  “Thanks Dad.”

  “The other decisions regarding Matthew International and StageWest involve Sarah, Gabby and Nathan.”

  “They do?” questioned Sarah

  “Yes, this plan has been revised some in recent months but it is to build a facility in honor of Gabby and Nathan that will house either runaway teens, abused women, orphaned children or a medical facility. The choice will be up to Gabby and Nathan. We would like Sarah to be the chairman of the board and organize it along with Gabby and Nathan.”

  “Why?” asked Nathan

  “We want to honor your years of service here and love to all of us. You and Gabby have given us everything and we want to give you something in your honor.”

  “We don’t know anything about that type of stuff.” Gabby replied tearfully

  “I do.” Sarah said “It is a wonderful idea. We can discuss your favorite charitable causes and set up an organization to help.”

  “Thanks Sarah.” Gabby replied

  “There is more.” Dalton interrupted “Gabby and Nathan we want to you go on living here at StageWest forever. We are giving you an additional percentage of the ranch and when you are ready to retire, we will build you a house so that you can remain here forever if that is what you choose. If you choose to retire to somewhere else, then that is where your house will be built.” Dalton said handing the paperwork to Nathan