I nodded and smiled at her.
"She was going to vet school, but she ditched it," Ty said, causing the lady to glance at me curiously.
I smiled and shrugged. "I didn't actually start vet school. I was just focused on that during most of my undergrad studies—the pre-vet stuff. But I was working at a vet's office, and honestly, I just couldn’t do it. I'm too sensitive, and they were all hurting, and the owners were hurting, and I was just… crushed every day."
"I could understand that," Jen said. "I've had to detach myself quite a bit, owning a ranch like we do. It helps to know that we give our animals the best treatment. That makes me feel good about what we're doing."
"I can understand that," I said, nodding.
"It's different in a vet's office, though," Jen said. "Seeing them sick, and their owners all stressed. It takes a certain type of person to work in health care in general, for humans or animals."
"Yeah, I really wanted to be a vet. I grew up saying that. But, no, I don't think I have that gift, so I switched gears. I'm still in school, and I'm not pursuing any jobs yet. The dog business I was talking about is just something I've considered."
"And what about you, Ty?" she asked my sister.
"I'm majoring in communications, and I've got about ten irons in other fires."
"Ty's really active in her sorority, and she has a YouTube channel."
"Oh, is it about your sorority?"
"Yes, and college life as a whole. I'm getting into putting on shows, too. It's all college-based stuff. Eventually, I'll branch out, but for now I market the shows to students."
"Where do you go to school?"
"USF in San Francisco. Amelia and I both go there."
"She's one of the most popular girls at our school," I said, bragging on her. "Everybody knows Ty."
"Well, that's so neat. I guess you're working it out with your school when it's time for you to come film the movie. Jude was telling me how most of the cast are normal people and not really actors."
"That's us," my sister said, raising her hand guiltily. "I think we're the only ones who have had absolutely no experience. The others have at least done a school play or a musical recital or something."
"We'll be fine, though," I said. "We're hoping this trip teaches us everything we need to know."
Jen laughed like she didn't quite know what to say. Or maybe she was just thinking about teaching us something we needed to know.
I laughed with her. "It's no pressure. It's our childhood friend who's directing it. Alex. That's Judd's friend. Anyway, he promised we'd be fine. He said that he'd coach it out of us as we went along." I shrugged. "I believe him. I just wanted to come here and see what it was like."
"Well, Hank and I are happy you came," she said. "Our kids as well. Bailey's so excited about the series being made out here. That's our teenager. She's a cheerleader at the high school in town, and she's busy tonight. But she'll be here some tomorrow and Sunday. Henry's the opposite. That's our son, the one who was in here earlier. He's here tonight, but he probably won't be here for the rest of the weekend. He works with us here on the ranch. It's Henry's first weekend off. He's been here every dayfor the last month. He got this new horse, and he comes by on his days off to work with her."
"Aw," I said.
"Yeah, Henry's good with the horses. He focuses mostly on that. He has more horses than usual right now since you guys are going to be filming out here. He's working it out with Judd and your friend where his horses are featured in some of the scenes."
"Yes, ma'am, it's in the script that some of the shots will be with horses. I'm excited about it. My character is the one who heads west with the travelers, so I have to do a few scenes with them. I’m excited to meet them."
She smiled at me. "Well, I know Henry's excited about having his horses in a film. He's like you two. He's started his own business. He's breeding and training horses, and Josh is helping him with that, too. Henry's made him part owner in that business." She paused and waved her hand at us. "I'm giving you too many details. Josh will spend most of the day with us tomorrow, and I'm sure he'll tell you more. He's the one who's taking you down on the trail in the afternoon."
I told her how excited I was about the trail ride. My sister was distracted, though. Her phone was on the table, and it had lit up several times since Jen had been at the table talking to us. Ty pressed the screen to check the time, and I knew it was time to wrap things up.
We told Jen thanks for the meal and that we would see her in the morning. She said breakfast was going to be served at nine, and we agreed that we would see her then.
Chapter 4
Saturday morning passed in a blur.
We ate breakfast, toured the barns and pastures with the owner. She gave demonstrations about her tallow business, and we gathered eggs from the chickens. Then Ty and I took a basket with picnic items Jen had packed and drove the ATV out to a covered area with tables. It was on the back side of the farm, near the corner of a pasture.
