She went with Travis the next day to survey the damage to the road. A deep gouge cut the road in half, and she wondered if that was a natural path for the water flow.

"Travis?" he looked up at her, "When it's bad does the road always split in the same place?"

"Pretty much, probably, why?" He went over to see what she was looking at.

"Would it help to place a culvert there? You know, put in a pipe to channel the water flow. Has anybody ever tried it?" God, I hope I sound like I know what I'm talking about, she thought.

"Well, I haven't seen the remains of a pipe, maybe no one tried it. It makes sense, if the water has someplace to go then maybe the road won't wash out there. Tell you what, we're going to have to do a temporary fix, then when I have the chance, I'll find a pipe and we'll put in a culvert. The next time we have a storm, and we will have another storm, we'll see if the fix worked."

"All I want right now is for it to be fixed enough so Katie can leave." There were tears in her eyes that would appear when she talked about her sister. She hated it, it made her feel weak.

He put his arm around her shoulders, "Don't give her power over you, Coralee. Once she's out of here she'll be out of your hair. It's too bad, you and she were so close, I hate to see this happen to you."

"I feel betrayed by my best friend," she said, "Never in a million years did I think she'd turn on me like this. She's the one who thought I should marry you."

"I don't know sweetheart, maybe she's angry because I took you away from her."

"Then why was she so insistent that I should marry you?" She looked at him, her eyes pleading for an answer.

"I don't know, but as soon as the road is finished, she's gone, and you won't have to worry about her anymore."

The next day the hands began the task of rebuilding the road. Like Humpty Dumpty, she thought, only this time all the king's men were succeeding. One of Travis's neighbors appeared and asked if he wanted a length of pipe that he had lying around.

This made Coralee smile. This wasn't coming from her, this was serendipity. What was true on this ranch was true for her father's farm and Uncle John's ranch, neighbors helped each other out. It was a universal truth that gave her faith in mankind.

It took almost a week. The need to complete the road became more urgent when the plentiful food stores were starting to run low. Once the repairs were completed, Elena would go into town with one or two of the wranglers and re-stock the pantries.

"Do you want to help Elena out with the groceries?" Travis asked her.

She responded with an emphatic "No!"

"What's wrong with Elena, why don't you like her?" he asked.

"I don't like her because she doesn't like me," she said, but he looked at her, puzzled. "It's a female thing, Travis, you wouldn't understand."

"You're right, I don't understand 'female things', women will always be a mystery to me."

"Good, I don't want to talk about Elena, but there's something else. I need a truck or an SUV that can haul a small trailer. I have the money that Uncle John gave me, and I have my prize money, I can afford something used, I don't need anything new. I need something to get around in so I can leave the ranch without depending on someone for a ride."

"You don't need to get something used, I can get you a nice new Ram, or GMC."

"New isn't necessary," she said, "Dad always bought used, and it worked just fine. We can have it checked out before I buy it."

"I can buy a truck for you, Coralee, you don't need to spend your money."

"Travis," she said, "That's really sweet, but I want to do this."

"My independent little wife," he said, "Let me look around and see what I can find. The priority is getting the road fixed, then we'll find you something to drive. I probably should have done this a long time ago, but I've had a lot on my mind."

She kissed him, "I should have said something. I want to see the road finished too."

With fewer hands available the road would have taken longer to repair. The culvert was built but was obvious that the road would be an ongoing project.

At least it was finished enough for Katie and Ryan to leave. Katie had come from the bunkhouse to pack the clothes she had left in the house. Coralee avoided her, Katie didn't need her help. She felt distant from Katie now, whereas before she had felt like Katie was her other self.

She had always been the carefree younger daughter, looking no further than the next boyfriend or the next horse show. She had always shone, had always been the golden daughter, both her and Katie. One had always been the shadow of the other, almost alone was almost ways in the other's company.

What had gone wrong?

She was lounging in the living room watching a film of the Calgary Stampede. Travis frowned on TV but watching rodeo and football was allowed. She liked the roping competition and loved the way the horses knew their jobs. She had no ambitions to try it, she loved reining and cutting and that was enough.

Katie sauntered into the room, her suitcase in hand. "Have you started packing yet? Ryan and I are leaving soon." She gave Coralee a meaningful look.

"Do I look like I'm packing? Do I look like I'm ready to leave my marriage? I'm happy, I have the life that I want and the husband I want. Sorry, but you're not going to sabotage my marriage and I don't understand why you want to."

"Don't you? You've always been the prettier one, the smarter one. You're better at reining so Mom and Dad got you an expensive horse. Then, Travis gave you one that was even more expensive, The guys always looked at you before they looked at me, you got the cutest guy and I got his friend."

"None of that is my fault. I worked hard in school; I worked hard when I was a barrel racer and worked harder when I learned reining. I never asked any boy to look at me, they looked at you as much as they looked at me. You wanted to be elected homecoming queen and you got it. Then you got elected rodeo queen. I never cared about that stuff. All I cared about was showing horses."

"You're two years younger than me and you've snagged a rich husband, I should have been married first, you should have been maid of honor at my wedding, not the other way around."

"Well, I'm glad to hear of all the ways I've wronged you, Katie, but they're all in your head. Do me a favor, stay out of my life. I'm happy, I would be happy for you if it were the other way around. I hope Ryan doesn't figure out what you're really like." She looked at her sister, and folded her arms, "Just get out of my sight, would you? I don't want to see you again."

Travis walked past Katie as she left the room. "She doesn't look happy," he said to Coralee.

"No, I don't imagine that she does. She's out of my life, for good, I hope. I've found out some things I never knew and they're not very pretty."

"Well, I've got some news that may cheer you up. Would you like to start planning your wedding? We could do it in the middle of May, then take a week for a honeymoon, wherever you want to go."

She hugged him laid her head on his chest and whispered, "Thank you. Things have been so awful, I need something to distract me from all the shit that's been happening."

"Well, you deserve something to make you happy. I promised you a wedding and I talked to John and he's looking forward to having it at Yellowstone. If the weather isn't warm enough, we'll have it inside the house. Go buy yourself some bridal magazines and get yourself the prettiest dress you can find. Your mom can take care of the flowers and the wedding cake. Gator will do the catering, and we'll have friends, and family, just like you wanted."

"I love you, Travis, I love the way you do things to make me happy. I never expected to marry so young but I'd marry you all over again."

"Well, that's exactly what you'll be doing. I never dreamed that you would marry me, Coralee, as far as I'm concerned, I'm the luckiest man on earth."

Travis did not know what passed between the two sisters the day that Katie left, but once Katie went out the door Coralee retreated to their room. He came in and found her sitting on the bed, crying.

He put his arm around her, "Hey, enough tears Coralee, don't give her that power over you. She wanted to upset you, don't let her succeed."

"She said such vicious things, Travis, maybe she's been holding back all these years and she let them out. These are the last tears I am crying over her."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" He tried to keep his voice soft and even, but he was angry at how Katie had treated his wife.

"I wanted to makeup, I wanted us to reconcile. She's my sister, damn it, my other self. I wanted her to be my maid of honor, but she told me that I was a fool. I was just your little toy and when you got tired of playing with me, you'd set me aside. She said that you didn't love me, I was just a prize for you to show off. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I still can't."

"Well, you tried and now you know. I always liked Katie, I never knew she held this venom inside her, this hate." He pulled Coralee close and kissed her. "Don't listen to a word she says. I've known you since you were a little girl, I watched you grow into the woman you've become, the woman I love."

"I know, I just didn't believe that Katie…" her voice trailed off.

"I know, sometimes it takes a while for people to reveal their true colors. I'm sorry this happened, it's not the way it should be."

"I don't want us to turn into Jamie and Beth, you know? "She lifted her hands helplessly.

This was the first hint he had of the feud between John's two oldest. He didn't want to know, the secrets of the Dutton family didn't concern him. The only Dutton he cared about was snuggled in his arms, her beautiful sad eyes looking up at him.

Coralee would never give up on her sister, but he wished that she would. He didn't want to see her drained and sad, he didn't want her happy, lively nature destroyed by her jealous sister.

"Tell, you what, give it time, Coralee," he told her, "Who knows, it may take years but someday Katie might regret what she did. If you want to keep loving her then do just that. Just don't expect a miracle."