"I'm very impressed. You caught on very quickly," Buck told Mila. She was riding Sugar in the outdoor pen. At first, he led the horse around, but now she was in full control of the reins.

"It's a little tricky trying to do everything at once," she admitted. He helped her come to a stop.

"You have to watch coming down. Swing your right foot over, and then bare weight with your hands on the saddle. You don't want to leave your left foot in the stirrup in case it gets caught."

It was a big jump to get to the ground and she was a bit nervous, but Buck helped her down by holding her waist.

Jackson was in the barn cleaning stalls when Mila led Sugar in. He didn't hide out as much since they had officially met. He was funny, especially when he irritated Buck. They were like brothers.

"You looked good out there," Jackson complimented.

Mila gave a shy smile, and Buck handed her a brush.

"Yeah, she was a real natural," Buck said, retrieving a bucket to refill the horse's water.

"I know Sugar would make a good profit for us," Mila heard Jackson say. She paused, a bit caught off guard by the idea. She just thought Sugar would be sticking around, but it made sense why she wasn't.

She was so caught up in her thoughts, she missed Buck's response.

But the truth was, she wanted Sugar to stay. She thought Buck would let her keep her. She had been taking really good care of her, hadn't she?"

"Are you okay?" Buck asked, his furrowed brows prominent even under the shadow of his hat. He had notice she had stopped her grooming.

"I'm okay," she whispered. "Just finished. I'm going to go start dinner." She handed him back the brush, walking quickly from the barn and into the house.

"What was that about?" Jackson asked.

"No idea," he admitted. It was quite obvious she was upset, but he didn't know why.

"I can finish up here," Jackson said. "Not much left anyway."

"It'll be quicker if we wrap this up together. I just need to turn the horses out."

He was at a bit of lost as his chores wrapped up. Mila had just broken a rule, and he didn't know what to do about it. How much was too much? If she was hurting, was this only going to make it worse? It's why he was so hesitant about having rules all along. He'd never want to set her back in any kind of way, especially not as she was healing.

He didn't find her in the kitchen like he thought he would. Instead, she was in her bedroom sitting on her bed. She startled a bit when he came in.

He sat next to her, deciding to give her the chance to talk and recover from her mistake, but she remained still.

"Do you know what rule you broke?" he asked, voice a gentle yet stern rumble.

"I didn't tell you how I was feeling before I left," she whispered.

"That's really dangerous, Mila. I knew something was wrong. What if you had been injured by Sugar? Would you have told me?"

"I would have. I promise," she said, finally looking at him. She knew he was waiting on her explanation so she took a deep breath.

"I just thought Sugar would be my horse. I obviously don't pay for her, and I know a lot of animals come and go, but-"

He held up a hand to stop her. "Where did you get the idea she wasn't yours? I just told Jackson she was."

"Oh," she mumbled, feeling a bit silly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been eavesdropping."

"It doesn't matter if you were, this could've all been avoided if you had talked to me."

"You're right. I'm sorry, Buck," she said sincerely.

"You're not allowed to ride tomorrow as punishment. We'll pick back up Saturday," he said, reaching out to stroke her cheek. "I accept your apology. All I want is for you to be safe and comfortable talking to me."

"I am comfortable," she protested. "I trust you, I do. I'm just used to dealing with it on my own, but I will get better." She didn't mean to break a rule. She would never do anything to make him think negatively, and she realized that her actions could negatively impact him, too. She had never realized the amount of work on both ends that goes into relationships before.

"We are both learning and we'll get through it," he said.

She moved to cuddle into his lap. He wrapped his arm around her tight.

"You're not mad?"

He leaned his head, pecking her lips. "I never was, honey. Even if that were true, you'll always be my good girl."

She blushed head to toe at his sweet words.