"Good! You're doing so well, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom."

Regina beams, unable to contain her pride as Emma trots just ahead of her on her mare. Emma has the biggest grin plastered to her face even as her brows scrunch with concentration. Her mother is an excellent rider and she's been working hard to impress her ever since taking up an interest in riding as well. She's only eleven, of course, but a Swan-Mills woman has high expectations. (Her Grams and Gramps had nearly had heart attacks of joy when they'd officially added Swan to their name. It had been Regina's idea to simply change to Swan at first but Emma loved being a Mills and thought that adding their surnames together was the perfect solution.)

They're halfway through the trails and simply enjoying the sunshine and the birdsongs when hoofbeats from behind them has Regina turning around in her saddle, squinting into the distance. Rocinante swivels his ears around but seems unconcerned, continuing along at a languid pace.

"Who's that?" Emma asks, turning around to look as well.

"I'm not sure." Regina watches, waiting for the rider to catch up. He's going at an easy gallop that has Regina wondering if they should move aside and give him room to pass them. Then again, there shouldn't even be anyone else out here, so whoever it is, they must have come from the Swan ranch.

Sure enough, the rider and his mare slow down as they approach, his face shaded by a leather cattleman hat. From his lean build in a plaid dress shirt and dark jeans, he's not William or Charles Swan, and those are the only two of Pearl and Walter's sons that she's met. That means he's either the youngest son whom she's never met - Danny - or one of the farmhands.

"Howdy," he greets them cheerfully, trotting up beside Regina. The trail is just wide enough that they don't have to worry about banging their knees together.

"Hello," is Regina's reserved greeting. Emma gives a more welcoming "Hiya!"

He grabs his hat off and holds it to his chest the way that all the smalltown boys do when introducing themselves, and Regina nearly falls off Rocinante in shock.

The man has a striking resemblance to Daniel, right down to the warm eyes with the crinkles at the corners and the lopsided way he grins. He even has a little cow-lick at the back of his dishevelled hair.

"Sorry to interrupt, but my Pa said I could find you two out here, and I've been dyin' to meet ya. Heard a lot about you two from my family. I'm Danny Swan, pleasure to meet ya."

His lips twist up in that playful smile and Emma grins right back, already charmed.

"I'm Emma," she says. When her mother doesn't immediately introduce herself as well, she clears her throat. "Mom?"

"Yes? Oh." Regina feels her cheeks flushing. "I'm Regina. It's nice to meet you, Danny. Your family is wonderful."

"They're somethin'," he laughs. "We're happy to have ya. My folks have been so much happier having you two here with 'em, especially after my sibs and I all flew the nest, I can tell. Mind if I ride with you two?"

Regina immediately looks to Emma for what she wants. Emma smirks. "I'm gonna practice cantering. You trot with Danny, Mom!"

"Be careful!" Regina calls after her, flustered, but Emma's already riding off with a gleeful laugh, leaving her mother alone with the handsome cowboy.

"I like her enthusiasm," Danny notes with a chuckle. "You teach her to ride? She's got good technique."

"I- yes. Thank you."

Danny is easy to talk to and Regina finds herself relaxing in his presence after her initial shock at his resemblance to Daniel wore off. He's been working diligently at a renowned training center for competition horses the past few years, just having finished a five year contract in Vienna. Unlike the rest of his siblings, he never married or had children, simply happy to concentrate on his work. With Pearl and Walter getting on in their years, however, he thought he'd finally fly home and consider taking over the stables, especially since he's the only one of their children who still works with horses. He is entirely respectful of the fact that Regina's worked the stables since arriving, of course, and hopes that she might be open to co-running it with him once Walter fully steps down.

She smiles and promises to consider it.

By the time they return to the stables, Emma's let her mare loose in the paddocks and is sitting on the fence, munching on a cookie, her Grams and Gramps leaning against the fence beside her. Regina and Danny dismount, unsaddling their horses before joining the others.

"Daniel Colten Swan!" Pearl shouts, swatting her son hard enough that he bellows out a laugh and cringes away. "Finally home after bein' on the other side of the earth for more than a decade and ya can't even give your mother a kiss before ridin' off!"

She swats him again and he can't stop laughing, swooping down to hug her and pin down her arms at the same time so he can kiss her without getting walloped. Walter's laughing right along with him and Emma's grinning at the way her mother's caught between shock and amusement.

"I like him," she whispers conspiratorially. Regina just scoffs softly, her cheeks pink.

"Daniel?" she questions when he finally releases his mother and turns in her direction again. He has the good sense to duck his head.

"Aw, only my Ma calls me that. But I guess I don't mind you usin' it either," he grins crookedly. Pearl rolls her eyes dramatically and pokes her son in the ribs.

"Go make yourself useful and help your mother in the kitchen," she teases. "You too, ladies!"

Regina chuckles, turning to help Emma off the fence - but Daniel is already there, offering her daughter a helping hand with a gallant little bow.

"After you, lil' lady." He winks. Emma beams, flashing her mother an encouraging wiggle of the eyebrow before running on ahead to the main house. Regina walks with Daniel as Pearl and Walter lag behind (and she's pretty sure they're doing it on purpose, the buggers.)

"I hope you didn't take offence to my earlier suggestion," he says, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. "You've done a helluva job here, and if you'd rather run the stables yourself, I understand. I can always deal with the ranch side of things."

"Not at all." Regina smiles wryly and shakes her head at his familiar body language. She'd still had doubts earlier, but now it's hard to deny. Perhaps her Daniel had been given a second chance after all. "This is your family's lands. I'd be honoured to co-run the stables with you."

"Well then, miss Regina Swan-Mills," he says playfully, jutting out his hand. "Let's shake on it."

Regina puts her hand in his and chuckles. "You have yourself a deal, Daniel Swan."

The End.