A/N: Okay, I'm gonna try to start a new story. This one is a western, based a long time ago when the US was still a fairly new country (only like sixty years old). I love those times (the times movies like Open Range are based on) and finally came up with a way to write about it. R&R. Hope you enjoy!

()Set in 1832. Piper is a twenty-five-year-old cowgirl who has always lived for herself. She grew up in a family that she was not kin to, and grew to be a beautiful woman. Men were after her hand in marriage, and when she finally fell for one, she was hurt by him more than she knew was possible. When she was able to love again, she was again used and dropped. After a third try and a third fail, Piper came up with an answer to why this was happening to her: Men wanted her for her ranch. The one she inherited from her father. For the money that it brought her. They didn't want her for who she was. So she protected her heart. She hardened it. And no matter how much men wanted her, whether or not they seemed sincere, Piper turned them down. She knew that was the only way she could protect herself. And when a man comes into her life who seems to have had it as hard as she did, she turns away yet again. But he persists and shows her for the first time what true love can really do to a person...()

"Piper, grab that bucket, will ya?" Jack's voice came to Piper and broke her out of her daydream. He noticed the dazed look on her face when she stared at him. "What's on yer mind, girl?"

Piper shook her head. "Nothing."

"Piper, I know you better than that," Jack persisted.

It was true, he did know her well. Her mother died when she was three, and her father left not six months later. He left her with close friends of her mothers, Joanne and Jack Armstrong. The couple had a son and two daughters, Jacob, Prudence, and Phoebe. Jacob knew that he was not related to the girl that was somewhat of a sister to him, but was protective of her, and always there for her, though they were constantly teasing each other or fist fighting. Prue and Phoebe were Piper's best friends. Prue was three years older than her, and Phoebe was two years younger. Of course, though Jo and Jack had raised Piper since she was three, she never came to call them by anything but their names. Luckily, her father left her a farm--a big farm with two hundred fifty horses. Jack and Jo had taken care of the ranch until Piper was old enough to work on it, as well. The money went to the Armstrongs, but because Piper lived with them, she made just as much. The ranch was in her name, though, and that brought her pride, no matter how much she despised her father for leaving her.

"It's nothing."

"It's Daniel," Jacob said as he jogged past toward the two barns. Piper slapped at his arm as he went by.

"Is it?" Jack inquired.

Piper shook her head. "No."

"It is."

Piper sighed. "Yes, but it's nothing important."

"Piper, if you must see him, then by all means, go."

She stared at the man that fathered her since she was a toddler. "No," she said, looking at her boots. "I have to stay and work the ranch."

"Piper, go. He was by here when you were sleeping, anyway."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Because you were sleeping, duh," Jacob said as he ran back past them toward the house. This time, when he came back by, Piper cuffed him. He stumbled and she moved to kick him, but Jack held her back.

"Piper, just go. We can take care of the horses."

"No, it's my ranch. I have to work it, too."

"Well, he's also your future husband--"

"Is not!"

"--and the ranch can wait. Love can't." Jack pushed Piper toward the barn. She tripped a little, but caught her balance and ran for the barn Jacob had just gone back into.

She found the right stall and led her horse out. The fifteen-hand tall gray spotted Appaloosa named Spade threw her head as she was led by her rope halter. Piper quickly saddled her and was slipping the bridle over the mare's head when Jacob passed her, walking toward the end of the barn, where the doors were open at the time. He was leading two mares by ropes.

"Going off to see your husband?" he asked.

"He's not my husband!"

"Oh really?" Jacob stopped just behind Piper. "Well that's not what people are saying at the saloon."

"Wha--" Piper whipped around and shoved a balled fist into Jacob's side. She finished putting the bridle on her horse and jumped on, shooting out of the barn.

Daniel Gordon was at the saloon, talking to the man behind the counter. Lee Barlow, fifty-three-year-old with four grown children, was a nice enough man, though he, like every other father of young men in town, wanted one of his sons to marry Piper. But no one spoke of how much they wanted the young woman around Dan. He was possessive of her and everyone knew it. Truth be told, it did get on Piper's nerves, but she never complained or mentioned it.

Piper came through the doors and even those who weren't looking up knew it was her from the sound her boots made on the wooden floorboards. Her long coat whipped behind her from the gust of wind that came through the bar when she came through the doors. She'd pulled her hair back in one long braid, and wore her tan hat over it. Her white shirt only covered half of her stomach, and her dark tan pants hung low, so her belly button was clearly visible. She walked swiftly up to Dan, sitting on a stool at the bar.

"Hey," she said to him, sitting on a stool beside him.

"Hey."

"So when did you come by today?"

"Before you were up. Jacob said he'd tell you I was by."

"Mmm, Jack did, but... It doesn't matter. You need something?"

"I was just wondering where you were. I haven't seen you in three days."

"Oh, because--"

"Actually, there is something... Follow me."

Dan stood up and walked out of the saloon. Piper gave him a questioning look that he didn't see and followed. He climbed onto his bay quarter horse and Piper got onto Spade. She was named for a time Piper was playing poker outside with Jacob, and the little filly came right up behind Piper and ate her six of Spade. She followed Dan down the road out of town to Dan's house. He had five horses and a dog, and lived alone. Piper had been with him for seven months, but refused to move in. She had to live with the Armstrongs; that was where her ranch was. But it would be nearly impossible to get Dan to move in with her; the house was too crowded, and it was right for the woman to move in with the man, not vice versa.

They stopped in front of Dan's front porch and Piper watched him dismount. She jumped down from her horse only when he looked back at her. She followed him with curious eyes into the house. He turned around and took her hand as he led her to the back of the house and outside.

"Dan, if you wanted me back here--"

"Oh, come on."

Dan led Piper into the barn and to a stall. She looked into it and gasped. "Oh my God, Dan!"

"I know. I was gonna call someone for her, but I figured you were just as good."

"Yeah, and you know I won't leave you with a bill," Piper said, slipping into the stall. She knelt down in the straw to look at the mare, standing proudly, her belly still swollen. She examined the mare's two foals with her eyes, being sure to stay near the door and away from the three horses, standing in the far corner of the stall. "How'd she make it through twins?"

"Not twins, triplets."

Piper whirled around, standing up straight. The mare threw her head at her. "She should be dead."

"Well, the third filly is, but these two made it and so did Mom, so I figure that's a good thing."

"They're what, a week old?"

"Yeah."

"Which stallion?"

"The black one."

"They'll grow up to be wonderful horses, then, you know that? A perfect match. Look at them..."

The filly was a brown and white paint, like her mother. She had a white background and forehead, but along her stomach was a wave of brown, like swooping mountains. Her nose was brown and pink, and her ears were straight up and alert. One was brown, the other white. Her short mane and tail followed a pattern of a block of brown, a block of white. Her brother was all black like his father, and had a white star on his head in the shape of an upside-down raindrop, just like his mother.

"They're beautiful... Riding horses?"

"Maybe... I'm thinking I may sell them. Twins are expensive. I could sell them and get thirty horses."

"Dan!" Piper turned to look at him. "You can't sell them! They're perfect!"

"Fine, fine, I'll keep 'em." Dan held his hands up in surrender. "Maybe when they're grown you'll ride 'em."

"Are you kidding? Of course I will. You can't let horses like these go to waste. Look at that mare, she's still standing..."

Dan smiled. Well, then, since you're hear, wanna stay for dinner?"

"Dan, it's noon." Piper came out of the stall, sliding the door closed behind her.

"Okay, then come back."

Piper smiled. "Okay."

"I'll walk you out, then."

Piper walked around the house with Dan and to their horses. "I'll be back at sunset."

"Just before. We'll watch it."

"Okay." Piper smiled at Dan and kissed him before getting on her horse and riding away.

Piper rode up to her house and to the barn. She cleaned down Spade and put her in her stall before going back into the house. It was near sunset by then, and Jacob, Prue, and Phoebe were getting ready for dinner. Jacob came out of the bathroom and wiped his hands down on his pants. Prue slapped him with her washcloth and turned to check the food. Phoebe was setting the table.

"Hey, Piper! Where ya been?" Jacob asked.

"With her husband," Phoebe teased.

"Come over here and say that to my face," Piper warned.

Joanne came into the kitchen. "Oh, Piper, where have you been all day?"

"Riding."

"Dinner's almost ready, so--"

"Actually, I'm just here to change. I'm uh... going out."

"Going to see Dan, maybe?" Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow.

"As a matter of fact, yes."

Phoebe giggled.

"Hey, I think it's good that Piper's got something else to keep her busy. It's good for her."

"Thank you, Prue."

"And it keeps her away from here," Prue added.

"Ha... ha... ha..." Piper replied.

"Well hurry up, then," Jo said.

Piper rode her horse up to Dan's house and tied her to a hitching post. She stepped up onto the front porch and up to the door. She knocked on it softly. A few seconds passed before Dan opened it. Piper followed him into the dimly lit house. She sat on the couch and smiled at him when he handed her a drink.

"Mmm, no thanks. I gotta ride home," she said.

"No? Okay, fine, then follow me."

Dan walked outside to the hill behind his house and Piper followed. She sat down on a blanket he already had set out. He sat down beside her and she leaned against him to watch the sunset.

Just as the last bit of sun sunk into the horizon, Dan made his move. He shifted a little to make Piper sit up. She stared at him for a moment. "What is it?"

"Nothing, just..." Dan took a deep breath and took Piper's hand in his. "Marry me, Piper."

"What?"

"Marry me and we'll live together here and watch the sun set everyday."

Piper was stunned. She looked into Dan's eyes and smiled. "Yes, I will marry you. Of course I will."

A/N: I know the aren't my spider things, but those are specially reserved for One Little Mistake only.