Taking a deep breath, Renne tried sounding professional as she replied to her grandma on the other end of the phone line. These people weren't her family anymore, not after what they did to her. "Mamaw, has something happened?" Renne asked in the most sympathetic, but professional voice she could muster.

Mamaw inhaled sharply; when she exhaled, it was shaky, as if holding back tears. "It's your sister." She said simply.

Renne rolled her eyes. Her older sister, Mallory, was always getting into some form of trouble. She had a long, well-known, rebellious streak. Unfortunately, Renne shares that same trait; her list is not as long, however. "What did Mallory do now?" Renne asked, slightly impatient. She really wanted to get back to her kids. She promised Sophie that she would let her trot Silver.

Renne expected her grandma to say something like Mallory got arrested or fired from her job...again...or is pregnant...again...or is getting married...again....or started drinking...again...but nothing prepared Renne for the answer Mamaw gave. "She's sick."

"Sick? How sick?" Renne was now more attentive to the phone call.

"Brain cancer." Mamaw said quietly. Renne could almost hear the tear fall to her cheek it was so quiet; and that was saying something considering Renne was in the barn, which is naturally loud.

"B-brain cancer? What? How? When? How bad?" A million thoughts were flowing through Renne's mind.

"It's been several months, and we weren't fixin' to call you because it wasn't that bad at first, but it's gotten worse in the last month. The doctors say there's only a slim chance of remission."

"How much worse? Can't they just do surgery?" Renne now sat leaning over her desk, both her elbows resting on the wooden top.

"They've tried everything...she's only gotten worse."

"O-okay. Well, thank you for calling and telling me. I will give her a call and let her know I'm praying for her." Renne said blandly. Her and Mallory had always been best friends when they were growing up, but when Mallory began to make decisions that Renne didn't agree with, the two sisters drew apart. Even so, Mallory was still Renne's sister; Renne still loved her, and cared deeply about her despite the secret her whole family kept from her.

"Reagan...that isn't the only reason why I called you." Mamaw said after a pause.

"What else is there?" Renne asked, praying Mamaw didn't have more bad news.

"Mallory asked your Papaw and I to take care of your nieces and nephew, but honey, we are not as young as we used to be. We're going to need some help..." Mamaw left the sentence hang as if there was more she wanted to ask or say, but couldn't bring herself to say it.

"So, what are you sayin'?" Renne asked. There was always "fine print" with every favor or offer they asked of her, or so it seemed.

Mamaw exhaled deeply into the receiver. "I'm askin' you to come home...Reagan, we need you here. Please come back."

Renne closed her eyes and ran a hand over her forehead. See, there was always a catch. "Mamaw, I can't leave here." Renne opened her eyes and glanced out of her open doorway of her office. She saw her boyfriend, Matt, poke his head in. When he gave her a concerned look, Renne held up a finger that said she won't be much longer on the phone; she then turned her chair so her back was to the door. Lowering her voice slightly so Matt couldn't hear her, Renne said, "I can't leave my ranch and all of this behind. I have a life here, Mamaw."

"Reagan Renne Walker, your sister is dying. We need you back here. Can you please just come back, no strings attached for a short while and say goodbye to your sister? I'm not askin' you to move back here. I understand that you have a life there and it doesn't include us anymore, but Reagan, we are still your family and right now your family needs you...Please." Mamaw asked in a pleading voice that Renne hadn't heard since her grandparents pleaded with her to not leave five years ago.

Renne sighed. She tried to reason with herself; she was being selfish. Mamaw was right; Mallory was dying. Renne's family needed her, even if she had practically disowned them. Right now, her family was what mattered most. Healing Hearts Ranch could manage without her for a week or two. Matt and her had been apart for longer while he was on the rodeo circuit. Everything would be okay here without her, or so she tried convincing herself. "Okay. I'll leave here tomorrow." The sentence, that she did not authorize herself to say, replied.

Mamaw sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Reagan...I know that this is hard for you, and you don't want anything to do with us, but this is the right thing to do...I will have someone pick you up at the airport tomorrow...I can pay for your plane ticket as well." Mamaw offered. Renne knew that her sweet grandma, Maybell Lawrence, didn't have enough money to pay for a plane ticket for her, and the airport was about two to three hours away from their ranch. But her grandma was too sweet and caring to not offer.

"No. No, it's okay. I'm fixin' to drive down there. I'll leave first thing in the morning." Renne said. She couldn't believe that she was agreeing to this.

"Are you sure you don't want to fly here, sweetheart?" Mamaw asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm sure, Mamaw." She wasn't sure; she wasn't sure about any of this, but what she was sure about was that her family did need her right now. Renne knew that she had to be there for her sister, even if it was just to say goodbye.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "I love you, Reagan."

"I love you." Three words she hadn't heard from her family for five years. She was sure that they didn't mean it anymore. Not after what they did. "You too, Mamaw." Renne replied, just to be respectful.

"So, I guess we will see you Friday." Mamaw let out in a breath.

"Yes ma'am." Renne said, spinning her chair around to place the cordless phone back on its stand on her desk, ending the call. She breathed out. All of the information from the phone call just hit her. Renne placed her head in her hands and all her hair fell to the front of her face. Taking deep breaths, Renne tried calming herself, sorting out her thoughts. Her head was spinning in a million different directions. "What have I gotten myself into?" She mumbled. Every part of her was worried- so worried- about her sister, but part of her didn't believe it. Still, a tiny part of her wondered if this was all just a scam to get her to come back. She wouldn't put it past her family, not after what they pulled on her five years ago. No, now she was being just plumb unreasonable. This was serious. Her sister has cancer. No one would lie about that.

All of the memories that Renne had of growing up with Mallory ran through her mind. All those stupid typical sister fights, all the late night talks, all the all-nighters...it's so hard to believe that that same sister was dying right now. Makeup, sassiness, class, cowboy boots with shorts, rodeos, cowboys, trucks, horses, her kids...sure, Mallory enjoyed them all, but cancer? No. Definitely not her sister's style.

Renne inhaled sharply. She had to get back to Wyoming and now. She shot up from her chair and practically ran out of her office. Her eyes began quickly scanning all the aisle ways and stalls in her barn. Matt was no where in sight. "Matt?" Renne called frantically. "Matt!"

"Renne? What's wrong?" One of Renne's employees asked, popping out of one of the horse stalls to see what was going on.

"Have you seen Matt? I need to find him." Renne replied. Her eyes kept frantically scanning everywhere. Her boyfriend was nowhere in sight.

"No I haven't seen him. Last place I saw him he was heading towards your office." The employee replied.

Renee nodded her thanks and walked towards the door that led outside. When the therapy sessions were not going on, Matt was usually outside doing typical ranch maintenance. Looking around, Renne saw the work trucks and the John Deere Gator all parked by the barn, so Renne concluded that Matt had to be back inside the barn somewhere. Turning around, Renne began to walk back inside her barn. When she did, she practically ran into Matt, who was about to walk outside.

Matt reached out an arm so Renne wouldn't run into him. "Hey. I heard that you were lookin' for me. Is everything okay?" Matt asked, concern in his voice.

Renne stepped back some, Matt's arm dropping from her waist. "Um, not really. There's trouble back in Alpine Ridge." Renne said, tucking some heard behind her ear.

"In Wyoming?" Matt sounded surprised. He shifted where he stood. "What happened?"

"It's my sister." Renne drew her eyes upward to look Matt in the eyes. "She has cancer. Brain cancer...she's dying..." Renne repeated the words that Mamaw had said just a few minutes ago. They hurt worse now then they did when Mamaw said them over the phone. Turning, Renne took a seat on some bags of pellet bedding stacked against the wall.

Matt hardly knew anything about Renne's life before she came to Montana. Part of Renne's "starting over" included her trying to erase her old life and start new. As a result, she had hardly told Matt anything about her past, especially why she came here to Montana.

Letting out a breath, Matt took a seat beside Renne on the bags of bedding. He placed a hand on her knee. "Babe, I'm so sorry to hear that. Is that who you were talking to on the phone?"

"Yeah. My grandma just called me. And Matt, I need to talk to you about something." Renne said, looking up at him.

"Sure, what is it?" He asked, but he had a hankering that he already knew.

"My sister has three kids, unless she had another, and my grandparents are getting too old to take care of them, and they really need my help so..." Renne couldn't finish. She didn't want to tell Matt that she was leaving.

"You're goin' back there to help out?" He finished for her, but he already knew the answer.

"Yeah." Renne exhaled. She looked away from Matt's deep brown eyes and down to her hands.

"Well, I think you should go; it's the right thang to do. They need you right now." Matt replied, trying to sound understanding.

Renne looked back at Matt. "I was afraid you would say that." She replied, forcing a faint smile.

"How long do they want you there?" Matt asked. He fingered her knee because he knew she was freaking out in the inside.

Renne sighed out, "I don't know." She looked at Matt. "I wasn't fixin' to be there for more than a week or two. Find my sister a good doctor, find someone to watch her kids, make sure Mamaw and Papaw are doin' okay, then come back here." She rattled off her list of things that she knew she would need to do while in Wyoming.

"I think that you should take as much time as you need. We can manage things here." Matt stated, hesitating for a second.

Renne glared at Matt. "You should be upset that I'm leavin' you, not telling me how badly I should go." There was a bite to Renne's words.

"Renne, I am upset that you're leavin'; I'm gonna miss you like crazy, but we've been apart for longer and we've always managed. Besides, you need to be there for your family right now, even if you don't want anything to do with them." Matt explained.

"You're right. I know that you'll miss me. I'm sorry." There was silence between them for a little bit. "Are you sure that everything will be okay here without me? I will make a list for you of all the clients, the lessons, everything that needs done...there's so much that needs done...I have to get ready. I still have to hold a meeting to inform the staff about my absence and I need to email all the clients' parents...I have to start gettin' everything ready!" Renne said, and stood up quickly.

Renne heard Matt chuckle, then she felt a hand slowly wrap around her wrist. She turned to look at Matt. "C'mere." He said, pulling Renne back down to him. Matt wrapped an arm around Renne's shoulders in a hug. "It's goin' to be okay. There is nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine here."

"You promise?" Renne asked, concern filling her voice.

Instead of answering right away, Matt leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Renne's lips. Pulling back he nodded. "I promise."

Renne sighed and rested her head on Matt's shoulder. "I promised Sophie that I would let her trot Silver today, but this phone call altered that. I don't want her to be disappointed at me."

"She won't be disappointed; we can go out there now and you can help her trot on Silver."

Renne lifted her head to look up at Matt. "I can't. I have to start packin'."

Matt looked at Renne. Furrowing his eyebrows, he asked, "When are you fixin' to leave?"

Renne looked away. "First thing tomorrow morning." She couldn't bring her eyes back to Matt because she already knew what his reaction was without even looking at him.

Matt inhaled sharply, and straightened; his arm dropping from Renne's shoulders. He took off his cowboy hat and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. Slamming his hat Stetson back on his head, Matt mumbled, not looking at Renne, "That's earlier than I expected."

"When did you expect, then?" Renne asked, now hoping Matt would look at her.

"I guess I don't know, I just thought that I would have a week or two to prepare and say goodbye to you."

Renne placed a hand on Matt's leg. "I won't be gone long. I promise."

Finally Matt looked at her. "You'll call me everyday and let me know how things are going, right?"

"What are we? Back in high school or something...worried that I'll meet someone I like better?" Renne thought to herself. Out loud, she simply replied, "Of course."

Matt sighed. "Okay. Well, I should probably get back to work, and you should probably start packin', then, since you're leavin' so soon." He said, forcing a smile that Renne knew was fake.

"Yeah." Renne said quietly. She didn't want to leave; she wanted to stay right here, in Montana, in this new life that she has created for herself. But instead of staying, she was forced back to a town she never wanted to step boot in again, filled with people who she had disowned.

As Renne stood up and began walking to her house to start packing for this treacherous trip, she prayed that there was nothing, or no one, in Wyoming who would make her break her promise to Matt. Not even that blue eyed cowboy that she had just about let herself forget.