Kathryn almost wept with relieved joy as she spotted the ranch coming into view.

"Katie?"

She turned to see Mac, his look sympathetic. "You and I will ride into the yard and get our bearings, OK?"

All she could do was nod and try not to kick Vacquero into a run.

She and Mac were riding point; which meant that if they were fast enough, they could get the news they needed and ride back to the herd without stopping its progress.

She could finally breathe; they hadn't lost any more heads and they were so close to delivering the herd, to finally finishing this drive — a drive that should have only taken four days, but had turned into 10.

Ten long days—

"Kathryn!"

She was brought out of her grumblings at the exuberant greeting. Coming back to her senses, they were greeted by-

"Luther." She breathed with a sincere smile.

He walked up and she winced slightly at the sling on his right arm. "Guess it was broken after all, huh?"

Luther... beamed? "Nope, Doc said was only a crack and luckily, no concussion neither, just a nasty whack to the old noggin. Was also told that Doc said he could breathe easier since you came, having someone on the ranch who had a decent enough knowledge of medical herbs and such."

"Luther, where's everyone else?" Mac gently interrupted.

"I'm man behind. Mr. Heath and Jarrod figured you'd be arriving any day now and wanted to be up at the pasture when you arrived. Since we're all rested up now, we can take over the herd so ya'll can rest up for work tomorrow."

"No rest for the wicked, hey, Katie?"

They... were... waiting. Kathryn could have sobbed in frustration. She was hoping to camp out the herd, get some sleep and then, drive them to the pasture. But now, if they were waiting, had been waiting-

"Katie?"

Mac and Luther were giving her concerned looks.

Kathryn smiled; but even she could tell it was weak and watery.

"Sorry, sir, just-"

Mac reached over and gently took Vacquero's reins from her slack grasp. She belatedly wondered why Vacquero wasn't prancing in anxiety—

"Katie."

She looked up to find Mac giving her a sympathetic smile. "I'll ride back and tell the others we're going to the pasture and delivering the herd today. If we're lucky, we should have everything settled and be back around supper time." Nodding at Luther he told her "Luther can take care of Vacquero." When Luther nodded his agreement, Mac again met her gaze. "The herd is intact. We got them to the ranch; they're going to the pasture. It's done; you did good, kid."

Kathryn was blinking rapidly to keep those stupid tears from falling.

Mac must have somehow sensed her distress because he slid from Blaze's saddle, came over to Vacquero who, again, was not acting his usual belligerent self and held his arms up.

Kathryn just stared at him in silent confusion.

That d**n sympathetic smile again! "Come on, Katie, let's get you off Vacquero so Luther can take care of him. Since you didn't come back with the others, he's been working a lot harder than all the other horses; he deserves the rest."

Slowly, Kathryn slid from the saddle; if Mac noticed her unsteadiness as her feet touched solid Earth, he didn't comment on it.

Kathryn walked forward and clapped Luther gently on the shoulder in gratitude. "Don't let him get too comfortable; I'm just going to grab a few winks of shut-eye and then, I'll catch up to you at the pasture. Can't have the other men thinking that I got to duck out at the end because I'm a weak woman. I'm going to help you finish this cursed drive," she threw over her shoulder to Mac without glancing back at him.

From his saddle, sitting back on Blaze, he shared a surprised look with Luther.

Mac had a good feeling he knew what was behind Kathryn's out of character surliness; Luther was taken aback from the disappearance of Kathryn's amiable nature.

As she disappeared into the house, Luther continued. "She's not going back out today, is she?"

Mac shook his head sadly. "Nope, once her head hits that pillow, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't wake for a week."

"That bad, huh?"

When Kathryn moved forward to help the others with deconstructing the pen, and getting the herd organized and on the move, Mac interrupted her. "Miss Quinn, a word, please?"

He hid his smile as her hazel eyes widened in, what he could only describe as, terror. Heath had warned him, but he was confident in his ability to handle her. "I know that with Nick laid up and no real management, you took on the role. I'm just wondering if, now that you've had a taste of it, are we going to have any problems? I expect to not be challenged."

He could see her relief at his words. "No, sir."

He gave her a friendly smile. "Glad to hear it. Now, let's get moving."

Mac had to admit, he was impressed.

Kathryn was a good worker and had a sensible head on her shoulders.

When he asked where the wolf was, she had informed him, rolling her eyes in fond amusement, that she had sent him back with the Barkleys to "keep them out of trouble"; though neither the wolf or Nick has been too happy about it, apparently.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about Cody made his bristle; he didn't like him, he didn't trust him.

He shook his head in vexation; which was a problem because Kathryn did like him.

If he didn't know any better, he would say she was smitten with him.

Kathryn was focused on her job, but there were many times when he would glance to where she was to find Cody talking with Kathryn, a bright smile on her face.

He had to chase off the young man more than once; and each time, he didn't miss the contempt in those hard blue eyes.

He was a good enough worker, just something about him made Mac's gut uneasy.

And he would have to inform Heath that he had underestimated the girl.

When he had been asked to make sure she got some sleep and she was not expected to take anymore night watches, he thought it'd be an easy task. First, he'd admit, he had been angry; maybe there was some truth to what Jake had said about her warming a Barkley bed if she was getting the boss' approval to not perform an essential job on a drive. And then, he'd been forced to swallow some humble pie when Heath explained that she had been performing this essential job by herself for the past week.

Him? He would have cashed in on the boss' OK to not have to do it; why would Miss Quinn be any different?

He should have realized just how much trouble he was in that first night.

"Ben, you're on first watch tonight; Cecil, Fred and Jasper, you too."

Kathryn looked horrified. "Sir, I can take a watch. It's no problem."

He gave her a condescending smile. "That's nice of you to offer, miss, but we're here now. We got this handled."

Kathryn dropped her eyes. "Yes, sir."

As the men sat around the fire, talking, laughing and eating, it took Mac some time to realize that they were missing the girl.

Looking up, he saw her on the edge of the camp, staring out into the darkness.

Sighing in frustration, he ladled some of the stew into a bowl.

"You're not on watch tonight, miss; something on your mind?" He inquired when she turned around to face him at his approach; there'd be no sneaking up on her.

Taking the bowl with a grateful nod, she turned back to staring out at the darkness as she began to eat. "No, sir. I've just noticed that the presence of a woman isn't usually the most welcome thing when you've got the working of your group all figured out."

It took him a moment to muddle through what she was trying to say "Hey, now, we weren't ignoring you."

She gave him a kind smile. "I knew you weren't. However," and here, her hazel eyes turned impish "since you took me off night watch tonight, I figured I could satisfy myself knowing that the herd was OK without disobeying your order and... giving you trouble."

He sighed heavily and pinching the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes and muttered "Now I see why Nick is always so fired up after dealing with you." Opening his eyes and fixing her with a pointed stare he informed her "Not just tonight. You're not on night watch for the rest of this drive."

Her eyes, no longer impish, widened in horror.

"... Sir... I know I messed up bad, losing those heads, but that-"

"This has nothing to do with that." He interrupted her, growling, frustration clear in his voice. "It comes down to that's a job that is shared by everyone, as equally as can be managed, on a drive. You have been doing it by yourself for a full week. That is unacceptable; you need the rest. And with new, fresh relief now here, you don't have to worry about doing everyone's job — though why you would is beyond me — and since you were doing everyone's job for the past week, I'm not assigning you any duties for the rest of the drive."

"You can't do that!"

Both of Mac's eyebrows disappeared into his — starting to recede, showing his age — hairline as she shouted at him. Hadn't she just told him that she wasn't going to give him any trouble?

"Now, Miss-"

"The last time I wasn't on watch, that's when we lost those heads." She plowed on and he was confused by the absolute terror in her voice. "We can't lose anymore... I can't lose anymore... this whole drive is my fault in the first place."

That caught Mac's attention. "Come again?"

She turned such pleading eyes on him, begging him to understand. "I noticed the cows were being slaughtered. And in my arrogance," she snapped out the word, angry at herself "I thought I could figure out what was going on, who was doing it; but I didn't. I had to confess and beg for forgiveness from Nick and Heath." She ended with what was almost a whimper.

Mac's brows furrowed. "That may be the case, but we're not on this drive because of a few slaughtered cattle. The reason we're on this drive is because the whole herd was killed."

Her eyes seemed to clear of the momentary hysteria so that he could now see the blue in her eyes that reminded him of a perfect day, when the only thing you could do to properly enjoy it was go fishing. But if you looked closely there were flecks of gold sprinkled, and there were hints of green like grass, vibrant in its newness and grey that resembled a pale blue, like in the winter, right before the sky starts to darken to forewarn that snow is on its way. "That's... that's right; the autumn festival, Nick's archery contest..."

Mac smiled as he berated "Yeah, you cost me a week's pay."

She gave him a small, demure smile. "I was about to make Nick a target for springing that on me."

Mac's smile gentled. "I think a lot of us learned that day to not underestimate someone just because she's a girl."

"But isn't that what you're doing right now?"

At his look of confusion, she gave her own kind smile. "You're taking me off night watches because, as a girl, I'm either too weak or need my beauty sleep?"

Mac's expression quickly transformed from confusion to a thundercloud. "No. The reason I'm taking you off night watches is because you're not supposed to do them, by yourself, all night, for a week, while doing everyone else's job."

As he saw her open her mouth to reply, he'd had enough. "Now, please, Katie," the arched brow copied the amused smile at the moniker. "I swear you're trying to frustrate me on purpose so I'll put you back on watches. It's not going to work," he took a small sense of devious satisfaction as her expression became crestfallen.

Gentling his tone, he continued "You've been doing everyone else's job; now, let me do mine. And that means using the nine fresh, uninjured men I brought with me to do their jobs so that the one tired, healing cowgirl can give me her full best for the rest of the drive."

She gave him a smile; however, if he looked close enough, it seemed to be fake. "Well, in that case, since you acknowledged me as a cowgirl and I don't want to be seen as not giving my absolute best — this is a working ranch after all and I'm no sack of lazy bones—"

Mac chuckled, deciding he'd accept her surrender in whatever form it took. "No one could ever accuse you of that. Now, eat."

Kathryn trudged through the foyer and — she would never admit it — may have let out a little whimper at the thought of having to climb the magnificent, albeit daunting grand staircase.

As she crept down the hallway, she noticed Nick's door was open slightly.

Peering in, she smiled softly at Raphael who was sleeping not only on the bed, but if she didn't know any better, he was sleeping on Nick's feet as he was prone to do with her, keeping them nice and warm, and providing a comforting presence.

She snickered softly at the last thought; not that Nick would ever admit it.

As she walked into her room, she sighed wearily at the thought of getting cleaned up.

Though all she really wanted to do was curl up in the comfortable bed and have a couple minutes of rest before catching up with Mac and the others, sleep would have to wait.

With the sweat and dirt of the drive clinging to her she would either have to forgo sleep or cleanliness. And between the two, sleep was more of the luxury instead of the necessity at this point.

She had sat down at the foot of the bed, on the little settee there so as not to be lulled to sleep by sitting on the bed proper.

She bent down, removed one soaked and cold boot, then the other.

And then, she knew no more.

Silas pushed Mr. Nick's door open a little more so he could properly poke his head in.

Nick was resting nicely and healing nicely, too, according to the doctor.

His face furrowed in confusion.

Something wasn't right...

Rascal wasn't there.

Silas looked around the room, but saw no hide or hair of the wolf.

As he withdrew, he thought back, wondering if he had seen him somewhere else in the house.

That's when he noticed Kathryn's door was open.

He smiled and walking to the door teased "You miss her, too, huh? Don't worry, she'll be back soon and then—"

He stopped short as he entered the room, the rest of his encouragement dying away as his eyes landed on the young miss, sitting on the settee, her head and back reclined on the foot of the bed, asleep.

His smile widened.

With Miss Kathryn now home, the household would no longer be out of sorts.

He chuckled warmly as he noticed that the only thing she had accomplished was removing her boots, with Rascal now curled up next to the stockinged feet.

Meeting the wolf's gaze, he winked conspiratorially. "Let's let her sleep before everyone welcomes her home." Going to the closet by the door and opening it, he frowned at how bare it was and took stock of what was missing. "Well, this won't do at all." He told himself.

Coming back into the room a few minutes later, he set about relieving his heavy load that he was ladened down with.

He put a few extra linens and pillows in the closet, and coming back to Kathryn, gently draped the quilt over the young lady. "Guard her well, young Rascal," he gently ordered, scratching the wolf behind his ears. "I'll make sure she's not disturbed."

Jarrod walked into the house, a broad smile adorning his handsome features; Heath right behind him.

He had been thrilled when he'd seen the group approaching the pasture. That excitement had been diminished slightly with concern when he'd noticed that Kathryn was not with them.

"Forgive me, Mac, but you seem to be missing someone." He had tried not to let the foreman hear his distress.

Mac had sighed heavily. "She's OK, Jarrod. Well, maybe not OK, but she's back at the house; hopefully resting."

Jarrod arched a brow. "Oh?"

Another sigh. "I apologize. I had thought it would be easy to make her get some sleep. I underestimated how much of a challenge it would be."

"So she didn't get any sleep?" Heath asked, his face showing his disappointment.

"Well, I can assure you she wasn't on any night watches. And even that she grudgingly accepted because she had told me she wouldn't give me any trouble. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what sleep she got, if any. She—" at this, he sighed wearily and his expression begged them to understand "she feels guilty about losing the heads. She thinks it's her fault. I think, because of that, she wasn't going to let her guard down again until we not only finished the drive, but delivered the heads to this pasture."

Said heads were roaming about said pasture, making a very pleasing sight to behold.

"Well, Mac, another job well done. Now, I think Heath and I agree that it's time to return home."

"If I didn't know any better, Jarrod, I would think that smile was for me."

Jarrod rolled his eyes as Nick met him and Heath at the bottom of the staircase. Heath instantly moved to stand next to Nick. Jarrod was pleased at the unthinking action; those two were halves of the same coin and he was glad that this relationship was intact.

When they had returned home, it was evident that whatever anger Nick may have harbored toward Heath before leaving on the drive was gone. Jarrod could tell Heath still felt guilty; he was sure Nick was aware of it, too. But without calling attention to it, he had assured Heath, in the way the two had, that he had nothing to feel guilty about; and it seemed that Heath was slowly coming to terms with it.

Now, if they could only work the same magic on a certain stubborn, fiery-haired young lady—

"As pleased as I am to see you up and about, and not laying around — this is a working ranch you know—" he thoroughly enjoyed seeing Heath try to hide that small, gratified smile and Nick's outburst of indignation as Jarrod threw his coveted phrase back at him, "but the smile is to let Ms. Quinn know I am ecstatic at her return."

Nick's eyes widened and he soon wore a smile to match his brothers'. "Well, tell her to get in here; we'd all like to make sure she's in one piece."

Jarrod's smile fell and turning to Heath, he saw his own confusion mirrored back at him. "She's not with us, Nick. Mac told me her left her here at the ranch."

"And so he did."

All three turned to see Silas descending from the landing, making his way to them, a bright smile splitting his face. "I jus' left her room. She's sound asleep with Rascal looking out for her."

Nick shook his head with a big smile. "I should have known when I woke up and saw him gone." He turned and made to move past Silas.

And was blocked.

"Forgive me, but I won't let you be disturbing the young miss. She's plumb tuckered out; poor thing only got her boots off and fell asleep on the couch."

Heath with his charming, innocent "country boy" smile approached Silas and cajoled "Now, Silas, she's been on the road for 10 days, sleeping on the cold, hard ground. Now that she's back, are you really going to have her sleep on the couch when her bed is so close?"

Jarrod quickly hid his smile at Silas' hesitation and indecision.

"Tell you what, Silas, you and Heath make sure Kathryn is tucked good and properly into bed while Nick and I inform Audra and mother of the good news."

"What good news?" Victoria asked casually as she and Audra walked into the foyer, removing their coats and gloves.

Jarrod took the protesting Nick and manhandling him down the stairs to meet the ladies of the house as Silas and Heath made their way upstairs, he smiled broadly and declared "Miss Quinn is back."

The tension at the dinner table was so thick you almost felt suffocated by it.

Victoria sighed, breaking the tense silence, and placing her napkin in her lap, informed them with a sad, compassionate smile "Well, it seems our table will have to go one more meal without Miss Quinn gracing it."

As Silas brought in the dishes, Nick sulked. "Three days, three days we've been back without her and now, now she's under this roof and the only ones who have seen her are Silas and Heath."

Heath mirrored the matriarch's actions. Placing his napkin in his lap, he smiled softly "Nick, she didn't move at all when I placed her on her bed."

"On?" Jarrod leaned back in his chair, a teasing smile matching the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Now, Heath, didn't I tell you to tuck her in?"

Heath blushed and shyly ducking his head answered haltingly. "Silas wasn't lying. The only thing off was her boots and believe me, I wanted to make sure she was comfortable; but her clothes were so dirty, and I could feel how stiff and cold they were when I moved her. I figured, if she wakes up later, she can get ready properly and have nice, clean sheets waiting for her."

"So... you left her in dirty, stiff, cold clothing?"

Heath snapped his head up, fires blazing in his eyes, but caught himself when he saw that Jarrod was now leaning forward, elbows on the table, fingers steepled and a taunting smile telling him that the "reprimand" was a jest.

Heath rose to the challenge. Gracing his "man of the law" brother with a bright smile he poked "Silas and I covered her with quilts. Being a Barkley, I made sure that I helped her with honor."

"Which makes me the only Barkley without it."

All attention snapped to Nick, who was staring down at the table, his mouth in a grim line of self-disgust.

"Nick?" Victoria's tone mirrored the confusion on her face.

On all their faces.

Nick growled, before lifting his gaze, and meeting each and every one of them stated "I was angry, stubborn and prideful."

Audra gave a small smile and gently teased "And that's different from any other day how?"

Nick's eyes met Heath's, unwaveringly. There was a moment of shock that flitted across Heath's features at being on the receiving end of Nick's intense attention. But even though Heath was Nick's opposite, he was in every way his equal.

He returned the look, gentling it to encourage Nick to continue.

And so he did.

He sighed heavily. "The drive was a bad decision. Sure, the heads are here now; but look at the time and supplies we lost. We're lucky we didn't lose any lives! We're fortunate that I was the worst off, but easily fixed by bed rest; and Luther with a broken arm and Sid with a sprained ankle. That stampede could've, should've, been worse. And we only lost 14 heads. We survived that drive by the skin of our teeth and with someone obviously looking out for us. Heath," he took a fortifying breath "when you wouldn't go, I should have listened not only because of your experience and because I respect you, but for the simple fact that you're my brother. You're the more calm, cool-headed of us. I'm just glad that, of the two of us, you're also more forgiving. Lord knows, I didn't expect you to be the one to ride out and save me. After the way I treated you, I would've understood — I counted — on you staying home and making me eat a big slice of humble pie. And after all this time, you haven't demanded the apology you're owed. And knowing you," he growled affectionately "you never will. I'm going to though. Heath, I'm sorry."

The silence that followed the sincere words might've felt daunting to anyone looking in, holding their breath in anticipation of Heath rejecting the apology for that was surely the reason why he hadn't given his answer to it by now.

But the Barkleys knew better.

The silence was Heath's way of showing that he understood the significance of the heartfelt apology and he wasn't going to disrespect it by being too quick in accepting it. After all, an apology between him and Nick, while in no way less sincere, usually wasn't accompanied by words; it was a look, a silent understanding.

Heath gave him his trademark soft smile, his eyes conveying his gratitude that Nick would do something so unlike him so that Heath was given the overdue respect; and that he would humble himself by voicing it not only out loud, but in front of others — family — they shined with fondness for his brother as he finally replied "Thanks, Nick. I appreciate it."

With both wearing a relieved smile, Victoria stated "Now that that's settled, let's say grace."

As her other children found their way to their own rooms, bidding the other family members a good night, Victoria made her way into Kathryn's room.

As she approached the sleeping figure, she examined her with a mother's eye.

She seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough; however, if what her boys had said was true, she sorely needed it.

She smiled at how young she looked. Without thinking, she reached out a hand to smooth away a wayward curl from her face; and realized what she was doing as Raph stared at her, a goofy grin on his canine face, his tongue lolling out as he panted happily.

Victoria relaxed in relief. "Well, since you're not warning me off, I'm going to take it that mean's she's not sick or injured." As he continued to give her his attention, she added with her eyes twinkling conspiratorially "Let's make sure she stays that way, hmmm?"

Opening and examining the closet and every drawer in the room, she realized that Kathryn did not possess a sleeping gown.

Sighing heavily, she found a pair of pants made of a softer material than the other pairs. She was deciding between a shirt with short sleeves versus one with long, when Silas crept into the room.

He didn't start on seeing her in the room. With a kind smile he stated "I'm making sure the missus' fire is good for the night."

Victoria nodded her head in acknowledgment.

In the time it took for Silas to bring the fire to a comfortable roar and leave the room, Victoria had decided the shirt with short sleeves would probably be best.

Though they were now in November and the snow that had arrived was staying with more on the way, the fire in her room, the quilts and the wolf would keep Kathryn plenty warm.

That being said, she was going to go and grab one of her sleeping robes, just in case.

She must be losing her touch, Victoria mused ruefully as she shut the door behind her as she entered Kathryn's room again.

As she had been — what she thought was quietly — sneaking down the hallway, Audra's door had opened.

"Mother?"

Victoria smiled. "I'm getting Kathryn's one of my robes, just in case she gets cold."

Audra's face brightened. "I have the perfect one."

Before Victoria could reply, her daughter had disappeared back into her room and had reappeared with a robe that reached to the floor, was not too thick and not too thin with sleeves that ended between the elbow and wrist. It was of a soft brown material that flowed like liquid chocolate following a fashion that was not form fitting which is why it was accompanied with a sash to cinch it shut.

"I'm so happy she's back."

Victoria returned the sentiment and wished her daughter a good rest of her night.

Returning to Kathryn's room with the robe, a washcloth and basin of warm water, she went about removing Kathryn's dirty clothes. Thankfully, her under garments, though cold, were not so wet and dirty as to dirty the sheets; she had a daughter after all, she knew what to expect. Her hair had been trickier, but Victoria was satisfied enough with how much of the road she had removed; with everything that had been caught in those curls, she could probably build a small forest. The pillow cover would need to be changed out, but at least Kathryn would sleep comfortably.

Raphael was another matter.

Though he moved out of her way so she could tend to Kathryn, he had gotten it into his head that this was some kind of game.

Victoria had had to stifle her laughter as she indulged his playful nature.

Victoria stood in the doorway, looking in at the exhausted young lady who had found her way into their lives.

And hearts.

She smiled affectionately. She'd leave the door open, just a crack, in case Kathryn should need anything during the night.

"Sweet dreams, dear child."