They had a morning ritual that Coralee cherished. Travis always woke before she did, so he would watch her as she slept. Eventually, her eyes would open, she would look at him and smile, and he'd take her in his arms and kiss her, then they would make love. After that, they would shower together, sometimes things getting a little out of control, and then would go down to the breakfast that Elena had prepared.

Every day began this way, and she loved it. The time would come when this routine would fade away and they would lose something precious that they used to share.

They always rode together to the barn, him driving and steering the ATV. After that they would part ways, she would go to the arena to train with the instructor that he had brought in and he would get on his horse and survey the ranch.

He had put Coralee's name on the business and the ranch, but he had not yet told her. She now owned fifty percent of what he owned, but she owned one hundred percent of him. He had had one bad marriage when he was younger, but he knew that this time he married the right one. He wanted to share everything with her.

Katie's arrival had complicated things. At first, she had been a lifeline for Coralee, but things had changed. Coralee was getting back on her feet now, and no longer needed her sister but was reluctant to see her go. Katie was a link to her family, and for that reason, she wasn't ready to have her leave.

Travis was beginning to suspect that Katie was causing trouble. He had asked Coralee to stay away from the bunkhouse, but Katie was encouraging her to join the wranglers. He also suspected that Katie didn't like him, something that hadn't been apparent at first. It was just a suspicion, and not an obvious one, but he had a feeling that Katie would be more than happy to have Coralee leave him and return home.

He had other things to worry about at the moment. The weather report indicated that there was a storm on the way, but it was not clear when and if it would reach the ranch. In the meantime, he was making sure that if the road washed out it could be repaired. He had the equipment to rebuild the road as well as a fire tanker to put out fires that might occur if drought conditions dried out the fragile grass and trees.

"Well, Coralee, Ryan's going to be here in two days, are you coming back with us?" Katie was removing her boots, and rubbing her sore feet. It had been a long day.

"No, I'm not, why would I want to leave my husband? Why can't you see I'm happy I have a husband who loves me the way Travis does." It upset Coralee to hear her sister even suggest that she should want to leave.

"You're a prize, Coralee, a beautiful young wife that he leads around by the nose. He doesn't care what you think or what you want. I even heard him telling you that you should remove your implant because he wants you to get pregnant." Katie hoped that she had scored a point.

"Of course he wants kids," Coralee protested, "He's forty, but I'm only twenty-four and I'm not ready and he knows it. He's hoping he can convince me, that's all, but it's not going to happen until I'm ready."

"Well, what about him not wanting you in the bunkhouse? I mean, where else are there people on the ranch who are your age? I mean, you're out in the middle of nowhere and the only people you're allowed to talk to are him and that bitch Elena. He practically keeps you prisoner here, he certainly has you isolated."

That stung, she did feel the isolation. In Montana, she had been surrounded by family and friends and never felt alone. She also had been in and out of the bunkhouse since was about twelve and had received a lot of tips about riding and cutting from the wranglers.

Katie wasn't entirely wrong about Travis, he could be jealous, possessive, demanding, and just plain stubborn. At the same time, he was loving, sweet, funny, kind, and generous. She didn't like the way he was dictating to her, but that was something that could be negotiated. So far, their marriage suited them both, but things weren't perfect. Were they ever?

"These are things we're going to have to work things like this out, okay? You're expecting me to leave the man I love just because you think I should?" She was starting to get impatient with her sister.

"Do you know what Bill told Bob the day after you spent the night with him? He said that if he weren't happily married with a kid on the way he'd leave his wife for you."

Coralee's jaw dropped as Katie went on, "He said he's never met anyone so sweet, so beautiful, and so fun. He said he hoped that Travis would appreciate you, and not consider you a prize he'd won."

"Get out, get out! Get out of my room!" Coralee threw a pillow at her, "How dare you say to me?"

"Ryan's going to be here in two days, you have until then to come to your senses. Get your tack packed and pack as many clothes as you have room for, you can send for the rest of your stuff." Katie slammed the door as she left Coralee's room as if to make her point.

That night she invited herself to have dinner with Coralee and Travis. She didn't bother to ask if it was okay, she just turned up making Coralee wonder what she was up to.

Normally having the television on during meals was something Travis would not allow but tonight seemed to be different. There was a storm making its way up to the panhandle bringing wind, hail, and heavy rain. and possibly flash floods.

"Damn," he said when he heard the forecast, then turned the tv off.

"Is it going to hit us, will it be very bad?" Coralee would rather know than not. This was her home now, she had to learn about these things.

"Yes, Coralee, it's going to hit us, it should be here in a few days. We'll need to put the horses in the barn and move the cattle to pastures that won't flood. I just hope the road doesn't wash out."

"How bad can it be?" asked Katie, "It's just a storm, rain, winds, hail, isn't that normal?"

"You don't know a thing about Texas storms," said Travis, clearly exasperated, "This isn't Montana. A storm like this will cause floods, wash out the roads and we won't be able to get in or out of here until we can repair them. With the amount of rain this storm may bring we may lose power for several days if the grid doesn't hold up. When is your boyfriend due to show up?"

"Tomorrow or the day after," Katie replied, sounding subdued, "He's bringing Coralee's filly with him."

"Well, you better hope he shows up sooner than later. It may take a couple of days for the storm to hit, but it will. He's going to be stuck here until he can get out again, and that may take more than a few days. I hope he cleared this with John Dutton before he left."

Ryan arrived the next evening, with Sadie in the trailer. Coralee rushed out and unloaded her, putting her in a stall next to her other two horses. Ryan told her that Sadie's behavior had improved and that with work and patience, she'd be an excellent cutting horse.

Ryan was put up in the bunkhouse, and Katie moved back in, much to Coralee's relief. She couldn't stand having Katie in the house. The things Katie had said to her had upset her, but she was not ready to tell Travis.

"You're lucky you arrived when you did," Travis told Ryan, "According to the weather report, the storm ought to hit tomorrow morning. You'd probably find yourself getting stuck and not able to get out.

It clouded over the next morning, and gradually the clouds grew heavy and black, blotting out the sky. It started raining, gently at first, then the hail came with the accompanying lightning and thunder.

"No sense getting up early," Travis told Coralee as they lay in bed, "There's nothing the hands can do, and the horses need to stay in their stalls. Hopefully, the cattle won't spook and stampede, that would be all we need." The thunder cracked again, and Coralee clung tightly to him.

"Sweetheart, it's only thunder, that's not what does the damage. It's when the rain starts getting heavy and you've never seen rain like this in Montana." He got up and built a fire in the great stone fireplace, soon it was burning and the flames crackling as the mesquite logs burnt.

For the first time, he seemed to relax, although she wondered how much relaxing would be possible when it came to dealing with the storm. She was content to lay next to him, holding him as tightly as she could.

The rains began in earnest. Soon it was coming down in torrents, pounding on the roof.

"Don't worry," he told her, "This house is a hundred years old and was built to stand up to the weather, it'll rain until it stops, then we'll have to survey the damage. This is how it's always been and how it always will be. Elena will sleep in, then when she wakes, she'll fix breakfast. In the meantime..." He began to kiss and caress her, touching all the places he'd learned could set her on fire. "I intend to make love to my wife."

For a few days, the ranch seemed to exist in a bubble. The only constant was the sound of the rain on the roof, sometimes accompanied by the occasional hailstorm. The power went out and they brought out the generators so the food would not spoil. They only used certain rooms and for light used Colman lanterns and candles. It gave out a warm golden glow that could not be duplicated with electric light.

Finally, the rain eased up and the men went out to survey the damage. Most of the roads on the ranch were intact, but the one that led from the house to the main road had been washed away. Travis and the hands, with the addition of Ryan, would repair the road and when it was completed, Ryan and Katie could drive back to Montana.

"Put some rubber boots on," Travis told Coralee, "I have something to show you."

They walked out the front door, damage from the storm around them but it had not touched the house or barns. The ground was wet, but the rain was seeping into the ground and soon fresh grass would be growing. The storm was both destroyed and restored.

They walked for a couple of miles until they reached what Travis had wished to show her. A big section of the road had washed out, a big gouge dividing the two halves. There was still water flowing but soon it would evaporate and run itself out. In the meantime, it was no longer even recognizable as a road.

"Wow," Coralee had seen the damage that heavy snow could inflict, but never anything like this. A child of the mountains was unfamiliar with the damage the monsoons could inflict, she never thought it would rain like this in the desert, or that the damage would be so severe. They still had no power or cell service.

"How long will it take to fix?" she asked.

Travis shrugged his shoulders. "Depends, we won't know until we get to work, it won't be easy. I have some equipment but it's going to take all the hands, including Ryan. He's stuck here until it's rebuilt, I'm sure he wasn't planning on that."

"Katie wasn't either, she was ready to leave, thank god."

"Why, thank god?" he asked.

"She-she told me I should leave you. That you were too controlling, and I was doing nothing about it. I told her I was happy, that I love you, but it didn't make any difference." She started to cry and tried to wipe the tears away.

He took her in his arms, "It's all right, sweetheart, you should have told me. I would have put a stop to it. I won't have her upsetting you, once the road is fixed she's gone."

"Thank you," she said, "I don't know why she's doing this. When I was having doubts, she would tell me I should marry you. Now, she's telling me to convince me that I should leave, I don't understand.

"She's jealous, you're younger and prettier and you're married with a home of your own. She can see that you're happy and she can't stand it. She's trying to come between us, and I won't stand for it."