"What's she called?" Colette asked.

"Rosita. Of course, you can change it if you don't like it," Vaughn said as he stepped back to let Colette have a closer look.

"Well, she certainly is pretty," she commented, stroking the mare's nose softly.

"Looks aren't everything," he snorted.

"That's true," she agreed, then she swung up into the saddle. She turned the mare around and rode her over to a fallow field.

Vaughn watched her put the mare through her paces, admiring the easy grace with which the pair moved. She might not have known much about livestock, he thought to himself, but she sure could handle a horse.

After a few turns around the field, she rode back over to him and dismounted. "I like her. She moves beautifully. I'll take her. Let me get her settled in a stall, then I'll write you a check."

He hadn't seen the interior of her stable yet, so he looked around while she took care of her horse and put her tack away.

"Nice stable. Did you design it, or Gannon?"

"I did," she replied as she hung up the bridle. "It's small, but plenty large enough for my needs."

"Well, you did a good job. It's nice and bright and open. Not all dark and dank like some stables I've seen. I bet the horses like it."

"No complaints so far," she said with a grin as they left.

Back in her cabin, Colette sat down at her table to write out the check. "Who do I make it out to?" she asked, the tip of her pen hovering over the blank line.

"Rita Marin. Spelled M-a-r-i-n."

"Thanks for your help, by the way. Hopefully you'll get a nice commission for your efforts," she said as she wrote in the name.

He shrugged. "Usually, yeah. Not this time."

"Not this time? Why not?" she said, looking up at him in surprise.

"Just not taking it. She's had a lot of medical expenses."

"But it's not like you're taking her money, is it? I mean, the price should include your commission, so really I'm the one paying it, not her."

He shrugged again. "She's a good woman, and she needs it more than me. If you're done, I've got things to do."

Colette gave him a thoughtful look, then she finished filling out the check and handed it to him. "Well, thanks. I think we'll get along very well."

"I'm surprised you didn't get all gushy about how she was so perfect," he snorted with a slight smirk.

"Why would I?" she asked, blinking in surprise.

"I heard about you and this little fellow here," he said, crouching down to skritch the tawny kitten curled up in his box.

She blushed. "That was different. Baby animals just kind of have that effect. Besides, sometimes you just click right away, but other times it takes time and patience before you develop an appreciation for each other."

"You talking about animals, or people?" he said with an amused look as he stood up again.

"Maybe a little bit of both," she mused to herself as she watched him cross the bridge.

**************

"Hello there," she said as she opened her door with a smile. "Ready for our ride?"

"More than," Will laughed as he embraced her. "How do you like her?"

"She's lovely. I only gave her a little trial ride, of course, but it was a real pleasure to be back in the saddle." She pulled on her riding boots, grabbed her helmet, and they headed toward the stable.

They saddled their horses and led them out. "Where shall we ride?" he asked as they mounted.

"Well, it's not as if we have many choices, really. Not unless Kirk gets his hands on a boat that can transport horses-or we plan ahead to take them over to the mainland for a day. But since neither of those happens to be the case...."

"Then let's take them over to Verdure and Sprout. They've got sandy beaches there, anyway. A nice canter through the surf should be a good workout for these two."

"Sounds great. Last one to the bridge is a rotten egg!" she cried as she urged her mare forward into a gallop.

With a startled exclamation, Will urged Arthur forward, but Rosita was too quick. She was waiting before the bridge, prancing eagerly, when the stallion pulled up alongside her. "A kiss to the winner," he said as he leaned over to kiss her, both of them laughing at the mare's antics.

They crossed over to Verdure Island at a more sedate pace, not giving their horses free rein again until they reached the beach. As Will had suggested, they found it much slower going through the water and wet sand. Arthur was used to it, but it was Rosita's first experience with the sea. She halted with a snort as the spray hit her face, pawing at the edges of the waves uncertainly with a tentative hoof, but when Arthur splashed on past her, she tossed her head proudly and trotted after him, refusing to be left behind.

After letting the horses play for a while in the stretch of sandy beach along the southern end of the island, they rode them back up to the grassy shore. Dismounting, they led them over to a log where Colette sat down, pulling off her sea-splattered boots and stretching her legs out in the sun. Will went to fetch some water for the horses, then to get them some cold drinks from Nick's Diner.

While she waited, Gannon's daughter, Eliza, came over. "What pretty horses!" she exclaimed. She looked as if she very much wanted to pet them but was too fearful. After all, Colette thought as she smiled to herself, she was only five and had probably not seen many horses before, here in the islands. So she held the child up and instructed her how to gently stroke her mare along the crest of her mane, wondering for the hundredth time how someone as coarse and homely as the carpenter had fathered such a dainty, exquisite little fairy-like creature. His devotion to her was absolute and unconditional, though, no question about that.

Will returned a few minutes later, handing a large lemonade to Colette. Smiling at the pretty child's admiration of the big animals, he asked, "Would you like to go for a short ride on Arthur? There's room for you in front of me on the saddle." She nodded rapturously, and he sent her to obtain her daddy's permission while he and Colette sat down with their drinks.

Soon Eliza came racing back, her beaming face giving her away long before she was within earshot. With a laugh, Will stood as she ran up. "Well, little princess, are you ready for a ride on my valiant steed?"

"Yes!!" she squealed, bouncing up and down in her excitement. Will swung up into the saddle, then Colette lifted Eliza up to him. He settled her before him on the saddle, instructed her to hold onto the pommel of the saddle, and started Arthur forward in a slow, smooth amble. Colette mounted Rosita and fell in alongside, the two horses walking sedately at the very edge of the water. They turned up the street and rode on through the village, across the bridge to Sprout Island, over to the beach by the dock, and followed the shore until they came to Gannon's shop.

At the carpentry shop, Gannon heard their approach and hurried out, trying to disguise the anxious look in his eyes as well as his relief at his precious daughter's return. He lifted Eliza down, then they said good night as the riders turned and headed back toward the beach with a wave.

They returned home, tended to their horses and settled them for the night, then strolled through her fields back towards the cabin. "I caught a bunch of shrimp bright and early this morning," she said as she stopped to pick some fresh corn and tomatoes, "so I thought I'd grill them and some ears of corn. I'll make a Caprese salad with these tomatoes, and I have some ripe mangoes. We can sit outside and watch the sunset while we eat the mangoes-if you don't mind risking getting juice on your shirt, that is."

"Sounds great. What can I do?" Will asked, taking the corn from her hands.

"Pour me a glass of wine while I slice tomatoes?" she laughed in reply.

"Deal!"

She'd gotten Gannon to build a brick-lined fire pit near her house, which she used for grilling as well as for ambiance. She asked Will to light the fire for her while she started preparing the meal, then they sat by the fire, sipping glasses of sauvignon blanc while they cleaned the ears of corn. Once the flames had burned down, they placed the foil-wrapped ears of corn against the coals around the edge and set the skewers of shrimp on the grill over the crimson embers.

After their meal, they washed the dishes, then Colette pulled a large, ripe mango out of the fridge. She carefully cut it up into small bite-sized cubes, trying not to lose any more of the sweet juices than she could help. They settled down on the grass at the northwestern corner of her island, where they had a fairly unobstructed view of the sunset. Will sat with his back against the stable wall, and Colette settled between his knees, leaning slightly against him as they fed each other pieces of mango and watched the sun slowly sinking toward the horizon, lighting up the edge of the sky with a brilliant golden glow and casting a reflection on the sea, like a shining road leading straight to the island.

"Now that you've acquired a horse of your own," Will said, speaking softly, "we could plan your ideal date. Would you like that?"

"Very much. It'll have to wait for a while, though. My crops are going to be coming in thick and fast any time now. After tomorrow's exploration, I'll probably be busy harvesting everything from sunup to sundown, then I'll need to plant more crops. So maybe in a couple of weeks?"

"That long?" Will said with dismay.

"That's what you get for dating a farmer girl," she teased, popping a chunk of mango into his mouth.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he murmured, kissing the juices from her fingertips.

**************

"Where's Sabrina gotten to?" Vaughn asked Carol as he stopped by her desk on his way back to his room. "I haven't seen her all day. Usually she's around sometime in the afternoon. Seems like I'm always running into her when I take my walk."

Carol stifled a knowing smirk, then frowned. "I really don't know, Vaughn. But you're right. I saw Denny earlier on my coffee break, and he mentioned seeing Regis half-dragging Sabrina toward the ferry last night, practically running for the dock. Maybe there was an emergency?"

"Maybe," Vaughn said, scowling. Then he nodded to her and returned to his room, trying to ignore the sense of unease that nagged at the edges of his thoughts.