"Pain does that to us. We get hurt, and we want to hurt right back. That's the way it always works. And when we hurt someone back, we always hope they...get the message to stop hurting us. But that part never works. And you would think we could figure that out, but so often we don't." She had finished cleaning and applying ointment to his hands, and started wrapping fresh gauze tightly around his hands. "So I want you to tell me something. I want you to think about those three boys you hurt. What. She was doing what she knew how to do best. She was trading goods and building her stock. When that girl got her own store she was going to be a terror. And I also knew now, that time had no relevance. I could wait five years of my life and return to the next day in her timeline.Boarding horses and picking up a couple more rescues kept Kyle and me pretty busy after school. Aubrey continued to spend about every other weekend out at the ranch and on the off weekends one or both of us would go. "Hi, daddy..." Hey honey. You don't look too happy, what's wrong?"I gazed down at the pillow in my lap, pouting my lip, and gave a small shrug. "Nothing." A pause, a small sigh, an obviously faked weak smile. "How was your day, daddy?" Fine, sweetie..." He put down his briefcase and sat down next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, come on. Something's up. Talk to me, honey."I hung my head and clutched the pillow tighter. "I..." I paused, waited a few moments, and sighed again. "Never. It was rumored, within the firm, that she was to be named as a partnersoon, which would make her the youngest partner ever. But that was not what was important to her. She just loved to create. Andnow, Alana had something of her own that would let her unleash her creativity.And it was the most exciting thing she could imagine. Eventually, she slid out of bed and stood up. She had to walk down the hallto the bathroom, but that was only going to be a temporary inconvenience untilshe created her.