"What next? I've got to admit that you're the expert at this, not me." Rowdy stood with his hands casually on his hips, waiting for instructions.

Coop leaned back and studied their work with a critical eye. "The left side is just slightly too big," he said, and re-measured it.

Coop and Rowdy had until the end of this day of rest to fix Cecelia's family's wagon. After that, all loss of profits from additional time off would come directly from their pay. Cecelia would be getting a new axle after all, along with a new back end and repairs to both real wheels.

"I think we'll make it," Rowdy said, wishing that he had more sawing and nailing to do to take his mind off the dull ache in his muscles. "About two hours until the sun goes down."

"Mmm," Cooper said, bending over and making small, precise cuts. The two men certainly weren't friends, but they'd been working companionably for several hours. Cooper suddenly stopped, his shoulders tensing. He glanced to the side. "Thanks for covering for us."

"Sure. It was for her." Rowdy sighed. "I hope you can make her happy."

"Me too." Cooper returned to his work. He didn't mention that he had no idea what his status with Cecelia was.

Rowdy noticed a slight movement in his peripheral vision and moved his head tentatively, then swiveled completely around. "Cecelia!" He had no idea what to make of her presence there.

Cecelia looked slightly uncomfortable, but then her signature smile broke out on her face. "Hi, guys."

"Hi." The two men regarded her warily.

Rowdy frowned in confusion when she and Cooper didn't greet each other more warmly. He nodded toward a bowl on the ground. "What's that for?"

She shrugged. "Oh, I'm trying to help someone find their dog that ran off. I'm hoping she'll be attracted to the milk."

Cooper didn't appear interested in the explanation. "I'd love to see you properly after we split up with these cowhands, darling, but I'm not sure the three of us should be alone out here after…this morning."

Cecelia blushed. "I'm so sorry, I never meant for that to happen. I couldn't watch." Her hands were clasped behind her back in a girlish gesture that Cooper found endearing.

Cooper's face instantly softened, and he took a step toward her. "Oh, honey—"

"No!" She suddenly looked to be a perfect cross between angry and scared. "No, stay right there! Don't come near me, Cooper!"

Cooper was shocked. "What's this now? You've sure got more than enough personalities to keep us completely occupied."

"Come here, Rowdy, I want to tell you something." By this time Rowdy was looking suspiciously from Cooper to Cecelia and back again, and had his hesitations about following her orders. "Rowdy, come on. All I want you to do is come here."

Finally, Rowdy cautiously took small steps until he was directly in front of her. He refused to soften his stance. "Yes?"

She hesitated. "I've got to whisper it in your ear, Rowdy."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Cooper growled, the sting of rejection now turning to rage. "You're going to explain to me—"

"Cooper! Stay there, don't move!" Cecelia screamed.

Just as Cooper took a step forward, a rattlesnake darted past his left foot, making a beeline for the bowl of milk. Cecelia pulled her hands from behind her back, throwing a pocketknife toward a spot below the snake's head. It began to convulse, and when she assessed it was safe, she quickly grabbed the knife handle and sliced cleanly through the snake's body to end its suffering.

Cooper was still frozen in the same spot as when he'd begun to take a step. Both men stared wonderingly at her.

Cecelia turned to wipe her blade in the grass. "I can't believe you idiots would choose to fix the wagon here, in the exact conditions of Snake Heaven. As soon as I heard, I grabbed this milk and a knife and came running for you and saw a snake right away. Since you noticed me, I got Rowdy to safety and I was going to tell him about the snake when everything went down. Obviously I couldn't tell you, Cooper, or you might have panicked and moved."

Rowdy and Cooper looked at each other, mouths open and eyebrows up. "Uhh, thanks, ma'am," Cooper said, his mouth dry.

"Alright, can we get this stuff into a less grassy area?" she asked, business-like.

"Sure." Cooper made a move to obey, and then stopped and stood straight up. "You know what, hold on. Let's all take our chances for just a few more minutes. What's going on here, Cecelia? We've seen so many sides of you, we don't know which one is the real you."

Cecelia hesitated, and then uncrossed her arms. "Thank you for being noble for me, both of you," she said, meeting their eyes in her first truly genuine look. "It was unnecessary, however, even though you would have been in trouble whatever the story had been. I'm not exactly a woman of good repute."

Rowdy felt like a rock had settled in the pit of his stomach, and Cooper felt like he'd been punched in his. "What?" Rowdy croaked.

"I've worked hard since I was young, just like the both of you. The only difference is that I work while lying on my back." She met their eyes openly, unashamed.

Cooper swallowed, and coughed when it went down the wrong pipe. "So we're…clients, to you?"

"Potential clients," she corrected. "I wasn't sure if I'd need your business or not. My prospects are better now with a mail-order husband I'm planning to meet in Oregon. I paid that woman and her grown son to pretend I was her daughter, since there are no single women allowed on this wagon train." She focused on Cooper. "I'm hoping your last act of chivalry will be to keep that fact to yourself," she said quietly.

Cooper sat down heavily and rubbed his forehead. Rowdy forced himself to speak despite this newfound sadness, a rush of emotion about discovering her disadvantages in life. "You must have quite a story," he said to her. "I'm sorry for whatever my kind has done to you."

Cecelia nodded. "Thank you. And I'm sorry that my type of business involves using people, not money or things."

Cooper squinted up at her, adjusting his hat. "I don't believe you know quite what you can do to a man, ma'am. I'm sure you can make a man's body feel good, but you can break his heart, too."

Cecelia nodded. "I would rather the three of us part on somewhat better terms than they would have been," she said.

The three looked at each other and offered wistful, conciliatory smiles.

RWTH

Four days later, Bill offered his hand in parting friendship, which Gil shook firmly. He smiled.

"I know my men were appreciative of the new company, even if my cattle weren't," Gil said with a grin. "I consider this agreement to have been a success."

Rowdy knew this was his signal. "My apologies again, sir," he said, tipping his hat to Bill. Cooper nodded agreement to Gil.

Bill waved this statement away. "As long as we were all able to move on from it. I hope we can be a team again in the future, should our paths cross again in such favorable conditions."

"Likewise." Gil nudged him conspiratorially as they saw Cooper and Rowdy lean in to whisper their goodbyes to each other. Bill raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"I think she'll be faithful to this new husband of hers," Cooper said in a low voice. "Maybe this is her time."

Rowdy nodded. "I think so, too." He stuck out his hand. Cooper met it without hesitation.

The teams broke apart then, each following their predestined path at the fork in the road. Gil reigned in his horse close to his lead cowhand. "So, was it love or lust, Yates?"

Rowdy turned to take one final look, hoping that he wouldn't turn into a pillar of salt. Cecelia gave him a simple wave, which he returned. "Both, neither, or somewhere in between," he answered. "But now I feel the most important emotion: respect."

Gil grinned and clapped him on the back. Feeling the wanderlust once again stirring in their veins, the two men broke into a gallop and joined the rest of their team on the horizon.