As Jackson walked through the ranch house, he knew he'd found his new home.

Holt's friend had turned out to be a mutual acquaintance, someone Brock had introduced Jackson to a couple of times through the years. Gary Lane was an aging gentleman, extremely bow-legged from so many years in the saddle, his skin tanned to leather. Jackson liked the old curmudgeon immediately. He reminded Jackson of their old farrier, Roger.

Gary had been around horses longer than Jackson and Holt had together, and didn't mind reminding them of that fact several times as they walked around the land he owned, just a few miles from Holt's place. The spread had seen better days, falling into some disrepair as Gary got older. There was a lot that needed done to improve the property, but the bones were good. And there was one new metal-sided barn that had been put up within the past few years that didn't need anything. There were several ponds, plenty of trees and it had a bit of elevation over the surrounding property, which would come in handy if they had another Hurricane like Harvey. Houston had been hit hard by the hurricane and was still recovering in certain areas.

Gary walked them through the barns, introducing him to some of his prized stock. They were aging just like Gary was, but Jackson was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the horseflesh. They were extremely well cared for. Gary had no problems reeling off who had won what and which stud had the most winningest offspring. One stud he called Rocket had offspring that had earned over two million dollars on the Quarter Horse racing circuit and rodeos.

Jackson knew quality when he saw it and he knew that many of these horses had a lot of life left in them yet, so when Gary told him what he wanted for the place, Jackson offered a significant amount more for the stock to be included.

The old man wiped at his eyes and rubbed Rocket's massive, muscular cheeks. It took him several long moments to respond. "I didn't dare hope that they could stay in their home. It's one thing for an old man like me to move on, I understand. But they wouldn't. Hell, most of these horses have never stepped foot off this property."

Turning to face Jackson fully, he shook his hand. "Holt can witness we shook on the deal. I'll have my lawyer get in touch with you for the paperwork."

"And that apartment over the garage?" Jackson continued. "You're welcome to stay there as long as you need to until you make arrangements in Arizona. Or wherever you want to go."

Gary tipped his ancient Stetson to him. "I appreciate that, Jackson. It'll take me a while to get things arranged."

"I know. Holt said you'd taken the property off the market a year ago."

"Nobody but property developers wanted the place, and I didn't want to sell to them. I knew something would come along eventually. And you did."

Gary grinned for the first time and Jackson laughed, appreciating the old man's humor.

The house would need renovation, but it would serve for now. As soon as Gary got the paperwork in order, Jackson would transfer the money.

Spending such a huge amount of money on a single piece of land made his gut contract a little, but the money wasn't doing him any good just sitting in the bank. It was time to make changes and this was one of the biggest ones of his life. It was also one that would pay him the greatest reward possible.

Brock would be happy for him, in a guarded way. When he'd left the Blue Star, Jackson hadn't known for sure what exactly he was going to do, but buying land seemed like the right thing to do. Walking to the edge of the barn he looked to the east, toward the Houston skyline. It wasn't as dominant as the view in Emily's apartment window, but it was still pretty epic.

Holt laughed as they drove back to his place. "I've never seen Gary so talkative with a stranger before. That’s high praise, indeed. Taking the stock was what tipped the scales, so to speak."

Jackson smiled as he looked out the window and the road sped past. "They were good looking. I could tell several of them are older but I have the room to keep them right now."

He wondered what Emily would think about the place. It wasn't as nice as the Lowell ranch but the potential was there, especially if he spent the money to renovate the house. Gary had already started thinning out the contents so it would be empty soon, he hoped. Then they could check out what needed done.

Emily's apartment had been pristine, but he'd seen her play in the mud with the rest of the Lowell siblings plenty of times. A little dirt and neglect wouldn't turn her off, nor would the prospect of hard work to bring the place around.

There were four more days before she was supposed to call him. Or text him. By that time, she would have hopefully gotten over Neil the user. It was so nice not having to pretend interest in the properties he was being shown. Neil had his own idea of what Jackson had wanted and nothing Jackson had said had seemed to make an impression on the other man. Well, now he was done catering to the realtor and he could move on with his life.

Jackson lost himself in training Montana for Holt. As he'd thought, Holt had been the one to train Montana in all the ground basics himself, so Jackson was doubly impressed. So many times the owner instructed while standing on the sidelines. Holt definitely was not one of those owners. He was hands on in every way.

Montana loped around the ring. With a subtle tug on the rein and a shift of his weight, Jackson made him change lead. The colt didn't even bobble. Swinging around in a huge loop, Jackson made him do it again, this time to the opposite lead foot. Not even a hint of hesitation. Jackson couldn't have asked for anything more perfect.

They trained like that for several days, putting finer and finer points on every movement until Jackson was able to take the saddle and bridle off the horse and guide him around the ring with subtle leg cues and weight shifts. Holt came in and saw him that final day and stood shaking his head and smiling the entire time, but Jackson didn't let it distract him. He worked the colt until sweat welded he and the horse together. When he finally sat back in the 'whoa' position, several people clapped in appreciation.

Jackson slid from the solid little horse and walked to Holt. The horse followed obediently at his shoulder, with nothing tethering him. "This one is done. I'm going to go change my jeans."

Normally he took care of the colt at the end of the day, but today would be an exception. Sweaty horse hair melded into blue jeans was not comfortable, no matter how many times you did it.

Jackson returned to the apartment for a shower, proud of the work he'd done. Once upon a time he would talk to Emily at the end of the day about what had occurred, but that had been a long time ago. Years, now.

He missed talking to her like they used to. Whether she realized it or not, he had given her his heart all those years ago. Hopefully, they would be able to find their way back to that footing again.