Having tossed and turned all night, with no sleep, Renne decided that she should probably get up and do something. It was five in the morning, after all. Sliding out of her bed, with a sigh, Renne tossed on a pair of jeans and a tank top. Walking to the closet, she grabbed a zip up hoodie and a pair of socks. As she was tying her hair back in a ponytail, something got caught in her long hair. Giving it a slight tug, Renne realized it was the engagement ring that Matt had given her last night. 

Looking down at it, Renne studied it, really, for the first time. There was hardly anything attractive about it. There was one huge, square diamond in the center, and that was surrounded by several other tiny diamonds. The band was thick, giving the ring a very heavy feeling. Letting out a sigh, Renne debated taking the ring off for a day, but then again, when she agreed to marry Matt, she would have to wear it every day, so she might as well get used to wearing it. 

Taking a glance at herself in the mirror, Renne asked herself, "What am I goin' to do?" Last night, Renne had spent practically the entire night praying, thinking, and praying some more. Before the night was over, Renne thought she had an answer as to what to say to Matt. She would agree to marry him. He had done so much for Renne when she really needed it, and it would help her move on from Swayde, who she had been trying hard to convince herself was just a childhood love. 

Finishing putting her hair in a ponytail, Renne quietly made her way downstairs, slipping on her boots once she go to the back door, then sliding outside, onto the porch, careful to not let the screen door slam behind her. Once onto the ground, Renne zipped up her jacket, walking to the barn. Flipping on a set of aisle lights caused a few of the horses to nicker, excited to see Renne. 

With a smile, Renne made her way down the aisle to the end where her two horses were. "Hey, Cruiser. Riot. Sorry I haven't been able to come out and spend that much time with y'all." Renne smiled when she asked her horses which of them wanted to go for a ride. Riot turned around in her stall, walking to the corner where the hay was. Cruiser, on the other hand, stood by the door, softly pawing at the mat as if asking to be rode.

With a smile, Renne walked back to the tack room to grab a hackamore, a couple brushes and a handful of treats before making her way back to her horses stall. Carefully opening the sliding door, Renne clicked her tongue at Cruiser, asking him to back up so she could safely enter the stall. Once her horse stepped back, she spoiled him with a small bite of the treat she held. Running the curry over Crusier's back, Renne wasn't surprised to see some mud partially caked on his legs and rump; for an old show horse, he was awful good at getting himself all dirty.

Once Cruiser was all brushed out, Renne picked up each of his hooves, carefully picking each one free of dirt before setting them back on the ground. Standing up, Renne praised her horse as she stood on his left side, sliding the reins over his neck. With her hands on either side of Cruiser's face, Renne slipped the hackamore bridle over his nose, pushing the brow band over his ears. Once the bridle was secure, Renne led her horse outside to the dry lot beside the barn.

Grabbing Cruiser's mane in her left hand, Renne stood on his left side before skipping forward, hopping off her foot to swing onto her horse's bare back, Indian style. Once she was seated on his back, Renne smiled, stroking Cruiser's neck.

Leaving the reins on Cruiser's neck, Renne steered him around the lot with her feet. As he slowly, but obediently walked, Renne tightened her pony tail, then pulled her phone out of her pocket to check her new notifications. Service on the ranch had always been hit and miss, but this side of the barn had always tended to have better reception, which only caused Renne's phone to go crazy with notifications.

Deciding none of them were important enough to deal with right now, Renne swiped out of all of them, focusing her attention back to her horse.

Grabbing the reins with one hand, and Cruiser's mane with the other, Renne gently squeezed her legs tighter against his side until her horse trotted beside the dry lot's fence line.

Giving Cruiser's sides a little more pressure, Renne asked him into a lope. Like always, Cruiser transitioned smoothly into a nice lope, but was on the wrong lead. Removing the pressure of her feet, and sitting back some, Renne slowed her horse before asking him to return to the faster gait.

Proud of Cruiser's obedience, Renne slowed him back down to a walk after trying him to the right, his bad side. Stopping in the center of the dry lot, Renne looked at the gate that led out to the lane that went out to some of the grazing pastures. Biting her bottom lip, Renne glanced up at the sky, seeing the sun beginning to rise over the horizon. 

Deciding to take a chance on it, Renne guided Cruiser over to the gate, bending down over his back to open the latch. Everything was going great, and Cruiser was obeying perfectly until about halfway down the lane something moved in the tall grass. Cruiser began snorting anxiously, backing up as if he was a reining horse. When the creature moved again, Cruiser reared, not giving Renne enough time to react, throwing her off his back. On the way down, Renne attempted to grab the fence rail, but failed, and Renne's shoulder contacted hard with a rock, erecting a yelp of pain from her mouth. Quickly, she bit her lip, knowing she had to stay calm so Cruiser wouldn't spook anymore. Peeling herself up off the ground, Renne carefully walked back over to Cruiser. She stroked his head, telling him he is okay; with every movement, he flinched. Knowing right now he was too spooked to get back on him, Renne grabbed his reins, walking him down the lane. After about five minutes of walking, Cruiser had calmed down, already forgetting about the accident. Pulling his reins back, Renne stopped Cruiser, and walked over to the fence. Her shoulder was too sore to pull herself up Indian style, so she climbed up the fence, sliding her leg over Cruiser's back.

They took the ride back to the barn at a snail's pace. Renne's right shoulder was throbbing with pain from the fall, but she was thankful nothing was broken. It could have been much worse; she could have hit her head on that rock. 

When the barn came into clear view, Renne saw an old truck parked out front. It was Swayde's. Taking a deep breath, she said a prayer as she thought out how she would tell him about the decision she had made about Matt. 

Once in the dry lot, Renne slowed Cruiser, sliding off of his back to lead him into the barn. In his stall, Renne removed his hackamore bridle, resting it on his shoulder as she quickly brushed him down and checked his hooves. After she made sure there were no stones in his hooves, Renne exited the stall, walking into the tack room. 

Swayde was standing right outside of the tack room, filling up the horses grain buckets; a task that he came over to Mamaw's ranch to do nearly every day. "Hey, good mornin'." Swayde greeted.

"Mornin'." Renne passed by him, walking into the tack room. "You really don't have to drive out here every mornin' still to do the chores when I am here. I don't mind doing them." Renne leaned against the door, watching Swayde work. 

"I don't mind comin' out here. Heck, I did it for five years after you left." There was still that small twinge in Swayde's voice that told Renne he never really got over her leaving him. Standing and facing Renne, Swayde added, "Plus, it means gettin' to see you, so I say it is well worth the trip." A smile covered his lips. 

Renne teasingly rolled her eyes, smiling as she said, "Whatever." Turning, she walked into the tack room, sliding Cruiser's bridle off of her shoulder. Using two hands, she attempted to lift the browband back on its hook on the wall, but her sore right shoulder prevented that. Sucking in a quick breath, Renne let go of the bridle to hold her shoulder, the hackamore falling to the ground. 

"Reagan, you okay?" Swayde entered the tack room, standing beside Renne. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She bent down, picking up the bridle, and sliding it onto it's hook, this time only using her left hand. 

"Let me see it." Swayde said, resting a hand on her back. 

Letting out a sigh, Renne unzipped her jacket, revealing her tank top. With careful hands, Swayde pulled the jacket off of Renne's shoulder, his hands holding her as he looked at her shoulder. "Reg, it's bruised. What did you do?" There was worry and concern in his voice. 

Renne shrugged Swayde's caring hands off of her shoulder, pulling her jacket back on. "Cruiser spooked on the trail and tossed me off his back. I hit the fence on the way down, and then my shoulder slammed into a rock. It isn't a big deal though, I will be fine." 

"No you aren't fine. I know you. Come on, I'm takin' you to my place to get some ice." Swayde put his hand on Renne's back, guiding her out of the tack room. 

"I don't have to go to your place to get ice, Swayde." Renne let out a slight chuckle. "And what about feedin' the horses?" 

"We won't be gone long. I will feed them when we get back. And, I really don't think that you would want Matt to see me helpin' you on a hurt shoulder. Am I right?" He continued leading her to his truck, stopping to open the passenger side door for her. 

Letting out a sigh, Renne nodded, buckling her seat belt. "You're right." 

"Good." Swayde smiled, dropping his truck in park. 

The entire ride to Swayde's ranch was dead silent. Swayde focused on his driving, occasionally sparing a glace at Renne, making sure she was still doing alright. Renne watched the fields roll by out her window. A couple times, she caught herself playing with the engagement ring on her left hand, praying she was making the right decision. 

Not even fifteen minutes later, Swayde turned off of the road, down his driveway. His truck rumbled on the bumpy dirt driveway as it made it's way under the wooden arch, welcoming Swayde's ranch. 

Once his truck was stopped in front of the house, Swayde cut the ignition, hopping down to open Renne's door for her. Offering her a hand, Swayde helped her down from the cab, leading her into the kitchen. 

"Sit down, and I will grab you an ice pack." Swayde said, tossing his keys on the counter.

Renne obliged, taking a seat at the small table in the kitchen. She watched as Swayde quickly worked his way around the kitchen, rummaging through his freezer to try and find an ice pack. 

"Darn, I don't have any in here. I have to run out to the barn. I will be right back." He said, jogging out of his house, returning a couple minutes later with a horse leg wrap ice pack. Smiling, Swayde held it up for Renne to see. "Found one." 

Renne didn't reciprocate the smile. Instead, she watched as he grabbed a towel out of a drawer to protect Renne's shoulder from the direct contact of the ice pack. Walking over beside her, Swayde held the ice pack out. Renne slid her arm out of the jacket just as Swayde carefully set the ice pack on her shoulder, holding it in place. Reaching behind her, Renne rested her hand on the ice pack, thanking Swayde. Unintentionally, her hand landed on Swayde's. Instead of either of them pulling back, their hands stayed there; with his free hand, Swayde put it on top of Renne's, softly running his finger over her engagement ring. She heard Swayde take in a breath as if he was about to say something, but Renne stopped him. Dropping her head, Renne let out a defeated sigh, knowing it was time. "Swayde, we need to talk..."