Ford began noticing some changes around the house. His family seemed a lot busier. Guthrie also picked up on it and asked Ford if something was going on, but if there was, nobody told him.

It began when Brian took on extra work at the Middleton Lumber Mill when a couple of their regular guys had to quit the season early. Brian was one of the few people who'd been trained to work some of the heavy equipment up there, and when they asked him to help out, he jumped at the chance. A temp job to repair the Jeep a couple of years back had become a good way for him to stretch his wings a bit. It also reminded him how much he loved his home and the work he did on the ranch…absence making the heart grow fonder and all that. The time away always seemed to help him refocus when he returned to the Circle Bar Seven. And he enjoyed seeing Ben Shepard again. It was good, temporary work, so whenever the mill called, Brian occasionally took off a couple weeks to earn a little extra money. And a healthy portion of his earnings went into a new account at the bank…their Emergency Fund.

Hannah started working at the cafe for Marie whenever she needed extra help. And a caterer in Sonora asked Hannah to make desserts for his company after she won the Carbon County baking competition at the fair. The fact that she was used to cooking for a crowd worked in her favor, so she was able to add it into her regular routine without too much trouble. The extra money she brought in also went into the Emergency Fund.

Daniel kept working the ranch and with his band. A few members of the group changed as some of the guys moved away or decided to concentrate on other things, but Daniel continued working on his music. The group developed a reputation as one of the best bands in the region. And as the driving force behind their original material, Daniel was the main contact and de facto manager. Crane and Hannah got used to taking messages when people called to hire them; they soon needed a separate calendar to keep track of his gigs. Eventually, a real manager suggested a tour of the northwest. They were gone for about two months—most of November, early December, and the better part of January during Ford's junior year of high school. They had stops in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and ended up in Tahoe. They received good notices and reviews, and the tour was deemed a huge success. Daniel spent a small fortune in change calling home to update the family on the audiences, what he'd seen, where they were going next, and when he'd be home. The band even made a decent profit after expenses, and they got a lot of valuable exposure as well. People were calling, and more gigs were scheduled out of state. And again, most of the extra money Daniel earned went into the Emergency Fund.

He also had fairly regular work as a mechanic. After he and Adam had co-driven the winning car for Walt Henry in the Goldrush race, it got around that Daniel and Walt had rebuilt the engine in that car themselves. That kind of advertising was priceless, and Daniel occasionally got calls from people looking for assistance on their rides. He helped in out Walt's Garage from time to time, and Walt gave out Daniel's name and number on request. Daniel worked a few weeks a year for Walt and then on three or four cars for private owners. The proceeds generally went to the Fund.

Evan also donated to it. He'd always dreamed of being a professional rodeo cowboy, and he'd taken Cooper Johnson's class to improve his skills. The tough ex-champ had left a number of bruises on Evan's hide and ego, but he'd learned a great deal about how to stick to a bronc and bull and how to rope and wrangle against the clock. At the end of the class, Evan won the Carbon County Junior Rodeo, but a close friend had been seriously injured at the event. Evan's half-baked plan of dropping out of school to ride the circuit was quickly dumped, but he never got rodeo out of his system. He stayed in school, continued working on the ranch, but also entered regional events. And most of the time, finished in or close to the money. But in the year following Evan's graduation from high school, Ford noticed that Evan stepped up his rodeo participation, meaning more travel and fees. The increased practice and competition led to better rides, and Evan started scoring more prizes. And he always lived cheap on the road, so it wasn't as costly as it could have been. He bought an old pickup to drive to the rodeos and slept in it more often than not.

He also developed a reputation for training horses. Breaking a green horse to saddle and bridle and to respond to rein and leg cues involved hours of work. Evan loved horses, and they loved him; he excelled at training. Occasionally, folks brought their horses to the Circle Bar Seven. Other times, Evan went to the owner's ranch. Depending on the situation, Evan could make two or three hundred dollars a horse. So even when he wasn't at a rodeo, he was frequently working somewhere else besides their ranch.

Evan's rising reputation on the circuit and as a horse trainer also increased the prestige of the Circle Bar Seven which was now breeding some excellent stock out of their two blooded bulls. Adam, Brian, and Crane had worked hard to put money aside, and just before Evan graduated high school, they'd been able to purchase a second stud. It increased the quality and number of their own stock, and they were also able to service more local herds and sell semen to distant ranches that didn't have their own bull. The studs generated extra money, allowing them to pay off the ranch's loans quicker and put money into a second emergency fund as well. Ford wasn't exactly sure why they needed two accounts for the same purpose, but that's what his older brothers did with the money.

Another change in the family had nothing to do with new bank accounts. Doctor Molly McGraw returned home soon after Ford finished his junior year of high school. After completing her internship in equine surgery, Molly came back to California, and she and Crane picked up right where they'd left off. It wasn't long before Crane proposed, and they quickly married. After the wedding, Daniel moved into Evan and Ford's room to give the newlyweds some space of their own. Eventually, Crane and Molly moved into a local rooming house, and Brian and Guthrie took over their empty bedroom.

As all these changes in the house, ranch, and family occurred over almost two years, Ford certainly noticed but was too busy to mention it very often. Mostly, he just assumed it was the natural order of things. Of course, Crane and Molly would want a little privacy—they were newlyweds. Just because Adam and Hannah had settled in the ranch house didn't mean the rest of the brothers would. After all, space had always been a problem. Crane came to the ranch every day to work with his brothers like before; he just didn't live in the house anymore. And on the up side, Guthrie got a permanent bedroom for the first time since he was little.

And Daniel had always longed for a career in music—they all knew that. Ford loved to sing, but not like his brother. For Daniel, it was like breathing...necessary for continued life. And though Ford missed Daniel when he was touring with the band, Ford wanted his brother to succeed. They all had dreams. Ford couldn't very well expect Daniel to sit on his just because Ford missed him when he was gone.

But what really bothered Ford was Evan. He'd had a talent and dream for rodeo since he was little, but Ford thought Evan mostly worked it out of his system when Coop Johnson's daughter got hurt. After that, he quit talking about going on the road. He continued working the ranch and only occasionally participated in rodeos held fairly close to home. But a few months after graduating high school, it seemed like Evan got rodeo fever all over again. He started entering events that were farther away—some so big they lasted for days. Or he entered several distant rodeos held on consecutive weekends and would be gone for weeks at a time. He always planned these trips around important ranch activities, but still, it seemed like home was becoming a stopover for Evan. He joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, and the ranch frequently got mail about upcoming events. Ford was about to start tossing out the announcements before Evan even saw them just to keep him home a little more. Evan slept in their room when he was there, but he was on the road a lot. If he arrived home after everybody had gone to bed, he usually just slept on Guthrie's old bed under the stairs. It wasn't at all unusual for the family to come down for breakfast and find him there. And when Evan wasn't on the circuit, there was a good chance he'd be off somewhere training horses. At least then he was usually within driving distance (instead of Wyoming or Colorado or who knew where) and might come home on weekends or every other Wednesday to remember what his family looked like. But even then, it was for just a few hours and he was gone again.

Ford had known their lives would change as everyone grew up. Nothing ever stayed the same—it couldn't. But the changes made him sad...and sometimes angry. Except for Adam, Hannah, and Guthrie, everybody seemed to have something more important to do that kept the family scattered. Adam, Brian, and Crane had always insisted on keeping the family together. After their folks died, nothing was more vital. The family and the ranch existed and subsisted on the maintenance of the other. Without the family, the ranch would cease to exist. Without the ranch, they couldn't maintain and support the family. Now it seemed the ranch was finally on solid financial footing—they even had two healthy emergency funds—but the family was a bit thin and far flung. It didn't seem to be a priority for anyone anymore.

Adam was still the nominal head of the family...he certainly was of Ford and Guthrie. But he let the rest of them make their own decisions by and large. Of course, they were supposedly grown up and legally responsible for themselves, but their choices made it seem like the family was of secondary importance. And Adam didn't seem inclined to do anything to change their minds. He, Brian, and Crane might mention that they expected attendance on certain jobs. And to their credit, everybody showed up. Things generally ran on a yearly cycle at the ranch, and the brothers tried to work around the big events. It kept Adam, Brian, and Crane pretty busy trying to schedule everything on one calendar that included Brian's logging, Daniel's gigs and mechanic work, and Evan's rodeos and horse training.

Ford was certainly happy for his brothers—that they were successful at what they loved—but he thought their priorities needed an adjustment. He'd tried to talk to Adam and Crane, but they brushed off his concerns. Ford just couldn't understand how they didn't see the problem. And if Ford was able to get enough money to go to UC Davis, what would happen to the family then? Of course, Crane had gone to school and the family managed to stay together, but that was when most of them were kids. Now, almost everybody was grown and scattered around the country half the time.

Ford finally decided he wouldn't go to college. Yes, he wanted to continue his education and had planned to study animal science and management, but nobody else seemed to care about keeping the family together. If he had to be the one to hold them close, then that's exactly what he'd do. He'd just concentrate on the ranch. It was good enough for his father and Adam; it would be good enough for him, too.

So he decided to withdraw his name from the scholarship committees. But as his senior year progressed, he never got around to it. When the deadlines arrived, something always came up. Ford finally decided he just didn't have the gumption to give up his own dreams of college. He was disgusted to find he was no more committed to the family than anybody else. And that made him angrier and more frustrated than ever. Just a couple of months before graduation, and he was full of loathing for himself and anger at his brothers.

Ford was stewing on his own selfishness and working in the barn the afternoon before heading out on spring roundup...meaning everybody was home. He should enjoy having them all together again, but he couldn't help being angry about the changes happening around and to his life. It seemed like having everybody there just made Ford dwell on what was missing when someone was absent. All this was going in circles in his head when Evan came into the barn with Diablo as Ford was mucking out the stalls.

"Hey!"

"Hey." Ford's voice was cool and clipped in anger.

"How's it going?"

"Fine." Rage ran so close to the surface, Ford couldn't stand to even look at his brother.

"Just...fine?"

"Yep."

Evan paused, then, "Okay. Need some help?"

"Don't know why I'd need it now." Ford kept shoveling and felt Evan's gaze as he unsaddled his horse.

"Anything going on?"

"No more'n usual." Ford refused to allow an interruption in his work or his seething anger.

Evan picked up a brush to groom Diablo. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Don't know how. You're never here."

Evan stopped to look at him. "I'm here now."

"Yeah. You show up when we need help. Otherwise, it's all about you and your career as a bronc rider and horse trainer."

"What're you talking about, Ford?"

Ford's voice rose with the bite of anger. "I'm saying you don't care about anything except yourself and your big career!"

"What?" Evan moved closer and touched Ford's arm, "Ford—"

Long pent up fury exploded, and his roundhouse punch landed on Evan's cheek. Evan went down like a ton of bricks, and he shook his head to clear the cobwebs. His face was a picture of stunned disbelief as Ford stood over him.

"We get along just fine without you when you're out working for yourself—you and Brian and Daniel all! We don't need you to come home just for roundup! There's more to being a family than just getting the work on the ranch done—not that you care! You're too self-centered to understand or even notice, so why don't you just stay gone!"

Ford took a breath and suddenly realized what he'd just said…to the brother he'd roomed with almost since birth. The brother who'd shared a bed with him when Ford cried for their parents. The brother he'd missed so much.

The brother he just punched and told to stay away.

Ford didn't know what to do with so much anger; it was burning him up inside. "Just leave me alone!" He threw down the shovel and fled, leaving Evan where he fell.