Yellowstone had always been their second home and Coralee and Katie treated it that way. They never knocked, unless they were fooling around, like knocking on the door and yelling, "Trick or Treat" when it was opened.

Beth hated it, but she'd given up complaining about her cousins. Her Uncle Benjamin had grown up in the house, along with her father, and he never thought of it as anything other than home. But she hated the way her relatives would go in and out, treating it like it was still their home, as far as she was concerned, it wasn't.

"The Twins", as Kayce called them even though they weren't, annoyed her. They were ten years younger than her, spoiled by everyone in the family, and treated like little princesses, and she resented it. She hated the way they went through life as if they didn't have a care in the world. To make things worse, when she was young Katie started flirting with Rip who didn't always seem to mind, although she thought he should.

"It's harmless, Beth," he told her, "They're teenagers, for crying out loud, they're just silly kids."

"I was never a silly kid," she replied, "They know we're together so why are they doing it?"

He shrugged, "To annoy you because they know it bothers you? And yes, you were never a silly kid, you've always been serious. Sometimes, lady, you've even been a little scary."

She was standing in the hallway, holding her drink, when the girls came in. Coralee took one look at her and said,

"Not now, Beth, I'm not in the mood, I don't feel like fighting." She and Katie went to the living room, leaving Beth, and her drink, and an annoyed look on her face.

Jamie was standing in the living room pouring a drink for himself. Where Kayce called them the twins, he called them "The Heavenly Twins". They were lovely and lively and affectionate and didn't have Beth's sour outlook on life. When he saw them, he smiled, the little puckered smile his lips formed.

They tackled him, one coming from each side. "Hey, stop that, you're not five anymore, act like ladies will you?" He poured them each a drink and they clinked the glasses together.

The front door opened and closed, and they could hear voices. They could hear the voices of Kayce, and Uncle John, coming up the hallway and soon she saw Travis smiling at her. Their eyes met and she ran to him, putting her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

'I'm so glad to see you," she said as he tightened his arms around her.

"Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now," he said and kissed the top of her head.

"Congratulations, honey," Uncle John said, "You're going to have to tame this cowboy, think you're up to it?"

"I don't know about that," said Travis, and he and John laughed.

Gator had prepared a feast of barbeque spareribs and sweet potatoes, and John brought out a bottle of champagne from the cellars. Everyone, except for Beth, drank their health and congratulated them. Beth looked as if she were going to be sick but no one paid attention. Rip toasted them, he harbored no ill will toward either sister, and he liked Travis. Beth would be Beth, but though he loved her he did not always understand her.

It was going to be an early morning, they would be up before sunrise. She was heading up to bed, looking for Katie, but she was nowhere to be seen. I can guess where you are, big sister, she thought, but you better get here before dawn. You think I'm good at getting into trouble, but you can still outdo me. I wonder if Ryan knows what he's in for.

Travis kissed her good night, "I'll see you in the morning," he told her, "I've got to talk to John."

"Good night, honey," her uncle said, "Get a good night's sleep, big day tomorrow."

She crawled into the bed she had slept in so many times before and fell asleep, only to be wakened by someone turning on the bedside lamp. "Go away," she said and pulled the covers over her head.

Travis pulled them down, "Where's Katie?" he asked.

"Probably fucking Ryan, unless they're already asleep. I'm tired, Travis, I want to sleep."

"Oh, you'll get to sleep all right, I promise I'll make it quick." He pulled off his clothes and crawled into bed with her, "But not too quick, I haven't seen you in a while."

The alarm clock went off at 4:30, the sun had not yet risen. "Come on, baby," Travis shook her shoulder, "Time to get up, we've got cattle to drive."

The family filed down to the breakfast Gator had set out. Everyone made sure they ate a good breakfast because cold camping meant they would not eat until they returned. Somehow it made the food taste better.

Beth said goodbye to Rip. Kayce and Tate kissed Monica farewell, it was Tate's first big outing working on the ranch. This was a family endeavor and all the family was sharing in the work.

The hands had already saddled their horses and two were saddling the mounts for the Duttons. Travis took care of his horse, then came out of the barn leading a pretty palomino mare saddled with Coralee's working saddle.

"I thought I was riding one of the ranch's horses," Coralee said, "Who's this?"

"This is Trixie, she belonged to a barrel racer who needed the money. I've ridden her, she's a good little horse and we'll see how cowy she is. I think she might make a good cutting horse, you've told me you wanted to learn." Travis was grinning broadly, obviously pleased with himself.

"You can't keep giving me horses, Travis," she felt both happy and perturbed, She loved his generosity, but she didn't like the suspicion that she was being bought.

"Who says she's yours, she's ours. Once we're married I'm going to give you a share in the business and teach you how to train. You can do it, I have faith in you. You're going to start showing with me, too, you've earned it."

That touched her, she liked the faith that he was showing in her. What she needed to do now was earn it.

They began the long ride out to the pastures where they would round up the cattle and drive them down to the stock pens. Almost everyone in the family was involved, except for Beth and Monica. Even Jamie had taken some time off so he could help, he loved the ranch, and he loved the work of ranching.

John led them out, Travis and Rip at his side. She rode a little ways back from them, Jamie at her side. Kayce followed with Tate and the wranglers took up the rear.

She looked ahead of her and saw that the sun was rising, gold, pink, and streaks of violet. If she had been tired, the sight of the sunrise energized her, and she looked forward to the day ahead, grateful that she could participate in this life.

It was a long ride to the pastures, but soon the first group of cows was spotted. Someone, maybe Ryan, broke out and kept an eye on it, not allowing it to stray far. Cows started appearing here and there, and the work of consolidating them into a larger herd began.

She loved this, she always had, despite having to cold camp. Travis had hung a coil of rope on her saddle, and she used it to encourage cows to join the growing herd. She was experienced enough that she could ride after a cow if it tried to get away, coaxing it to join the others.

Travis was watching her, and she tried hard not to notice. For all the years she had known him he had paid her scant attention, now he seemed to be studying what she did. What he expected, she did not know. She had grown up doing this, helping out had always been expected of her. She knew how to work on a ranch. She'd had good teachers who'd guided and cowboying was in her blood and she loved it.

Now, as the day wore on there were fewer cows to find and so they drove the herd to a place where they could rest for the night. They would take turns watching the cows, rounding up the ones that tried to wander off. Rip would wake the hands in the morning and the long process of driving them to the ranch would begin.

A picket line was set up, and saddles were removed from horses for the night. The horses would be tied to the line and soon they would start falling asleep after the long day's work. The cowboys would begin dropping off, too, it had also been a long day.

Someone built a big fire, not what John wanted but it would provide warmth until they went to sleep. Fires were a good place to socialize, even if all they could do was sit and talk. All were tired, and all were hungry, but when they returned to the ranch Gator would have a large spread set out.

The sun was going down and it was getting chilly but everyone had brought warm clothes and though it would not be a comfortable night they would manage to get some sleep. The hard work was done, all they had to do now was endure the uncomfortable sleeping conditions and their empty bellies.

"Hey, come with me," said Travis. He had her blanket tucked under his arm and he took her hand with his free one and they began to wander into the woods. Did he already have a place picked out, she wondered, and he must have because he led her to a little hidden clearing. He spread the blanket on the ground then sat down and pulled her to him. They removed their jeans and boots and began to make love in the privacy of the woods.

They lay cuddled up after they finished but it was too cold so they dressed took their blanket and found a place not far but not close to the others. They could hear the crackling of the fire and people talking in low voices and lulled by the sound they went to sleep.

Powered by some internal clock they woke as the sun was coming up. People were saddling their horses and checking the herd, looking after any strays that wandered off during the night. Cowboys began to get ready to drive the herd to the corral in Yellowstone.

Coralee felt as if she had just fallen asleep when Travis took her arm and shook her awake. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty," he said, "You can sleep tonight, but for right now we have horses to saddle and cows to herd. It won't be so bad once you get up. I'm going to borrow the trapper's cabin and we can have a nice, long, undisturbed night. Come on, we've got cows waiting."

He pulled her to her feet, laughing as she grumbled, "This is what I hate about cold camping. What I would have given for a pad and a nice warm sleeping bag, not to mention coffee." They saddled their horses—this time she would not let him help—and untied them from the picket line. Once she was in the saddle she felt better like she always did after a cold camp night. They joined the others and began the long trek back to the ranch, bearable because they knew breakfast would be waiting and Gator would have gone all out.

She watched the sunrise, then figured the time by its movement. The day was cool and sunny, making the ride bearable despite her fatigue. To help her stay awake she occupied herself with chasing cows when they tried to leave the herd.

She herded a half-grown heifer back into the herd when she heard the telltale rattling. She couldn't see it but attempted to ride away from the sound when it struck out of nowhere, missing her horse but startling it, making her rear.

Oh no, she thought, she tried to stay on, she had before, but somehow she lost her grip on the rains. She felt herself falling, powerless to stop, and her head hit the ground and she lost consciousness, even as she tried not to.

Note: Folks, I've herded cows before and it's fun, maybe it's fun, maybe because I was doing this as a student and not as a full-time cowhand. Also had to watch cattle being branded—yech—but I insisted on working the gate. Oh, and I didn't cold camp and we always got fed afterwards.