"What do you mean your leaving early?" Linda asked as she followed Vince to the bedroom. "Its only a few days earlier, its not a big deal." He said pulling the suitcase from the closet. "Maybe to you its not. You know Vince I'm not going to do this forever." He turned and looked at her. "What does that mean? He asked "It means exactly what I said. I'm not going to live like this forever. I can't do it. You act as if I don't exist. You never speak to me, you ignore me, you reject me and now you leaving to travel around and promote. And you expect me to be satisfied with what I got. This isn't a marriage anymore. It's like slavery and people who had slaves are a lot nicer then you are." It was certainly the most outrages thing she had ever said and he did not look pleased. "You seem to forget that I've been working" "And you seem to have forgotten were married." Linda said turning her back to him "It has been a very difficult year." He said. "You know I feel as I died along with Shane and so did our marriage." "It takes time, you know it." "It's been a year Vince." She said. "I'm aware of that, Bit I wasn't aware that you were issuing ultimatums." He said. "Well now I am." She said. "We'll talk about this when I return." He said continuing to pack. "I don't want to wait. This is not a marriage it's a nightmare." She couldn't believe she said it. He looked at her for a moment and continued to pack. "I can't believe your going to ignore me after what I just said to you." She walked into the kitchen and sat down, it was a few hours later when he came in, he was still wearing his starched white shirt from work, he had removed his tie and his hair was all a mess. It made him look young and a painful part was that he looked so much like Shane. She tried not to notice. "I know we can't escape what happened, but maybe this trip will do us both good." He said. "How? You being gone is not going to fix a thing." She said. "I can't be around you any more, every time I look at you I see Shane and it hurts so much. That I can't take it." "We can't escape the memory of our son. We not only lose him but we lose each other." She said, but in fact it was already true. "Will you be okay while I'm gone?" He asked feeling guilty for the first time. He had told him self it was the sensible thing to do, but now he felt bad about it all. "I'll be fine she said with more nobility then truth. She got up the morning and he was gone. She slowly got up out of bed. It wasn't long before the phone rang. "Hello." She said not her usually self, but was her usual self. This last year there was no telling who was who. "Linda, I've got an idea." Emily said from the other end sounding all excited even though she had lost her husband already. But it was just last night that Linda realized that she had lost hers the day she lost her son. "He left early." Linda said sadly. "He didn't even say good bye, or that he'll miss me. He just went." "Sweetie I'm sorry, I really am, but honestly you'd be better off with out him. He's given you a nightmare of a life this last year. Yeah you guys had your good times before, but it looks as if it's over." Emily said. "I know, I just wish that things would work out better then they did." Linda said. "Well dear it's a good thing I called. You remember those cowboy boots get them out sweetie. You're going to come to Wyoming with me and Angie." Emily said. "I don't know if." "Oh but your going, this is not an option. You plane leaves tomorrow morning at eight, I'll meet you at the airport and then we're going to fly up to the ranch." Emily said smiling from the other end. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Linda grinned. "Well sweetie you are. Now go get ready and I'll see you tomorrow." Emily said.

Linda hung up with her and couldn't believe she was about to drop everything and go on this crazy trip. She immediately called Vince and informed him that the board and J.R were going to be watching over things while she was gone. When he found out she be gone for two week he damn near had a stroke. But she calmly told him that this was her plan and she wasn't changing it.

Linda's plane arrived and she stepped off wearing jeans and a blazer, carrying a Vuitton tote bag and wearing a pair of glasses. As usual she looked immaculate, and as though someone had pressed her jacket on the plane, and her hair looked as though she'd just had a haircut. "I wish I knew who you did it." Emily said smiling at her and then hugging her tight. "You always look so damn neat and clean." "It's congenital." She smiled. "Come on, our plane leaves in only a few minutes." Emily said taking her arm and walking toward their gate. They boarded their flight and were in the air the next time they talked again. "So tell me what happened the other night? What's going on?" Emily asked. "I'm not sure." She hesitated for a moment. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. I'm not sure if I want to go back." "To Connecticut?" Emily asked startled. "No to Vince. I don't know something happened when he left. Its like I'm expected to be there for him when he returns, I'm there to take care of the house, cook him dinner, take his messages and yet he doesn't even speak to me, or care for me. He's silently blaming me for killing Shane, or at least not stopping him. He acts as if were not even married any more. That's my punishment. Like a sentence to purgatory, and I've been letting him punish me because I feel so guilty." "Do you really believe that?" Emily asked, it was what she had tried to tell Linda earlier but she wouldn't hear of it. "I believe it now. We're not married to each other anymore. Em. It's all over. There's nothing left and I think he knows it too. If there were anything, I'd be with him." She said looking out the window. "Maybe he's just ready to face things yet." Emily tried to say but deep down she knew that everything Linda was saying had been true. All that she was going through, even Emily didn't want her to be with Vince. "I don't think there's anything left to go back to. It took me awhile to see it. I always thought we had a great marriage. But we had a long run and it was good when it was good. Now's it time to say goodbye that's all." "Would you try to fix it if he asked you to?" Emily asked. "I 'm not sure if I would want to." Linda sighed as she continued to stare out the window.

They arrived at the ranch by van from the airport; Angie was already there and was jumping up and down when she saw her two good friends step off the van. "It's been so long." Angie said hugging Linda. "A little to long if you ask me. How have you been Angie?" Linda smiled, in which was the first time she felt relief in awhile, she somehow felt better now that she was taking a whole new direction in life. "Not to bad, look how great you look, you haven't changed at all." Angie smiled. "Lets go inside and get settle down." Emily smiled They all choose what room they were going to stay in and it was shortly after seven and they were heading to dinner. Emily wore black suede pants and a beaded shirt, her hair tied loosely in the back. Angie wore a pair of jeans and a soft blue sweater and Linda was wearing grey slacks, a beige sweater and Chanel loafers. They had been put at a table in the corner and all though they all saw heads turn no one came up and tried to talk to Emily. Mary King the head of the ranch stopped at the table to make them feel welcome. She was a remarkable woman who knew what was going on at all times and who was where, she kept an eye on everything. "Well, we hope you enjoy your stay here with us." She said and looked as if she meant it.

They went back and sat around where they talked about all kinds of things, they talked about Steph, and Angie's little girl Annie, but not about Shane. And neither Emily nor Linda talked about their husbands. They talked about trips and music and friends and books. They talked about Angie medical career and Emily's Hollywood experience. Then they started reminiscing about the good old times back in college. The people they hated, the funny ones, the ones they most recent heard about, the dorks and nerds, the jocks. A number of people they knew had died in Vietnam just before the peace was signed.

On their first morning there Emily and Angie stood in the doorway, "Should we wake sleeping beauty?" Emily smiled. They grinned and laughed all the way as they tiptoed over to her bed. The both pounced on it on either side of Linda. She was wearing a white satin nightgown and a sleep mask and she acted as if they were waking the dead. "AH.Stop. I hate you both.Stop!" Emily had ripped the blanket off and Angie had smacked her with a pillow. They were just like two kids. Linda was overwhelmed and tried to hide, but so found she couldn't. "Take off your sleep mask." Emily said "Breakfast is in fifteen minutes and the papers on the desk says we have to be at the corral at eight thirty to pick out our hoarse. Now get you ass out of bed and let's go." She said sounding in charge. "God when did this turn into a boot camp." Linda said as Angie pulled her out of bed. "Come on you can shower later on, we're going to be late and it's all going to be because of you." Angie argued. "Great now I'm going to smell like the horses." Linda said dragging out of bed. They waited for her as she stepped out of the bathroom. "Christ look at you, it makes me sick on how perfect you look." Emily said as Linda stepped out wearing a blue cotton shirt, fresh pressed jeans, and new boots from Billy Martin's. Her hair was brushed and it was never out of place, her skin beautiful and just a hint of pale pink lipstick. "That's not human." Angie said looking at her. "I can spend a week in the bathroom and come out still looking like me." "She does that to make us feel bad." Emily said "Are you done yet? Cause now's it you who's going to make us late." Linda smiled. Angie was the only one who had any kind of real riding experience, but she made sure she was able to ride with her friends, and both Linda and Emily were fair riders. As it turned out, their names were among the last on the list and there were only three other guest besides them. Charles had been assigned the small group there was a middle-aged couple from Delaware who introduced themselves as Dr. Smith and Dr. Jefferson, but appeared to me married. They even looked alike which amused Emily. And then there was a man alone. He looked to be about fifty-five, and Linda kept staring at him, she could swear she knew him. He was tall, had gray hair and sharp blue eyes that examined the whole group with interest. He was a good-looking man and even Emily couldn't help noticing he had distinguished features. It was once that they saddled up that Linda sided up to Emily. "It's Hartley Bowman." "Who?" Emily asked, but it took a minute for it all to register. "The writer?" she whispered. Linda nodded. He currently had two books on the bestseller list. And he had a highly respected career. "Is he married?" Emily leaned over and asked. "Widowed." Linda supplied. She remembered reading about his wife in time Newsweek magazine. Linda and Emily had rode side by side for a while. Angie has taken to the doctors and was interested in talking to them. "It's incredible, isn't it?" Linda heard a voice next to her and jumped as Emily rode ahead toward Charles the leader of them all which left Linda alone for only a brief moment. Hartley Bowman had joined her. "Have you been up here before?" He asked casually as if they were old friends, but the atmosphere at the ranch was very informal. "No I haven't." She said quietly, "Its lovely." And she could help but glance over at him as he rode along side of her. He was very nice looking, he was clean and he had lovely hands, she noticed as he held the reins and a riding style that told her he rode English. She mentioned this to him and he laughed. "Are you from the west coast?" He was intrigued by her. And the group she was traveling with he had recognized Emily and Linda and wondered how Angie fitted into the entourage. "I'm from Connecticut." She said. "I just came out for two weeks." "So did I." He said, looking very much at ease with her, as he smiled. "I come every year. My wife and I loved it here. But since she passed away this is my first time back." "It's the mountains, I fell as if they are here waiting for someone to tell them their troubles and they're waiting to embrace you." Linda said. She thought she sounded funny, but he knew just how she felt. "So how do you three know each other?" he asked. "We were college roommates." Linda said with a smile. "And your still friends? How amazing. Now there's a story. For a book not a tabloid." He specified, and they both laughed. "Thank you, she gets a lot of rough press. It's sometimes unfair." Linda smiled "That she does." He said. "They really rip her apart sometimes. She calls it life as an object." Linda said. He wanted to ask about her family, they too were sometimes the objects of bad press, while she wasn't but her company was. And her husband or hopefully it was ex-husband. "She must be a strong spirited person." And then he smiled at Linda, admiring her impeccable good looks. He loved her style, by the dared not to tell her. "She's fortunate to have such good friends." "We're all lucky to have her." Linda smiled again. "It was really serendipity that we came here. It was all last minute" "How fortunate for the rest of us." He said. "The three of you certainly improve the scenery." "I have all you books." She blushed as she said it. "Do you?" He looked pleased and held a hand out to her and introduced himself, "Hartley Bowman." "I'm Linda McMahon" They shook hands across their horses and rode on together comfortably. They chatted for a while about books, New York, the literary scene, other authors and Europe. When she said she had a daughter traveling and was not currently in Paris. They seemed to touch on a wealth of subjects. They were surprised when the wrangler turned around and started to lead them back to the corral for lunch. Hartley and Linda were still talking as they dismounted. She noticed the odd look on Emily's face. "Are you okay?" She asked as Emily walked over to join them and she was introduced to Hartley. "He hates me!" Emily said.