They argued over who would pay the tab but Jamie insisted and would not hear of splitting. "Then I leave the tip," Coralee said and that was the only concession Jamie would agree to.

They drove back to the capitol building so she could pick up her truck and follow him to his house. She wondered how hard it would be to find her way as she trailed him as they navigated the unfamiliar streets.

Jamie's house was older but had a big, well-kept yard. It didn't look like the house of a bachelor but of someone who had a family or was planning to have one.

Inside it looked like the typical bachelor's house, with a lot of leather furniture. Why are men so fond of leather furniture, she asked herself. She didn't know if it suited the cousin she knew, but maybe the furniture that had come with the house. Jamie was busy, and maybe would not have the time to pick out furniture, and as far as she knew he didn't have a girlfriend to help him.

She liked the fireplace; it was old-fashioned red brick with what looked to be a hand-carved mahogany mantle. A few pictures were sitting on it, the largest was of a young boy, less than a year old with red hair. She walked over to get a better look, "Jamie, who is this?" she asked.

He came and removed it gently from her hand and replaced it. "That's my son, I thought I told you about him."

"Maybe you did, and I forgot. I'm especially forgetful these days, another pregnancy symptom. The more pregnant women I talk to, the weirder pregnancy-related things I discover. What's his name?"

"I named him after me, right now we call him 'little Jamie'."

"God, you men, why do you have to name your sons after you?" She smiled at him to let him know she was kidding. "It's so egotistical, at least you could give him a different name, so he'd have his own identity. If we had a boy, I'm sure Travis would want to name it after him. I think I may insist that this be our only child to avoid that." She paused and took a breath, "Tell me, does Uncle John know?"

Jamie shook his head.

"Well, does anyone besides me know?"

Jamie gave her a strange look, he had trouble making eye contact with her and suddenly she knew the worst.

"Oh god, Jamie, no. How did Beth find out?" she asked him.

"Well," he said slowly, "She wasn't supposed to. She'd gotten herself arrested for being in a bar brawl in Bozeman and had to spend the night in jail. She called me the next day and I had to drive to Bozeman and clean up her mess."

"God," Coralee said, "She's thirty-seven years old and still is depending on others to bail her out instead of taking responsibility for herself. I remember when Uncle John would call up Dad and tell him that Beth had gotten into some kind of trouble and ask him if he could get her out of it. Beth was lucky that she had an uncle who was an attorney, that saved Uncle John a lot of money."

"Well, this time it was up to me. I got the plaintiff to drop charges, reminding her that in Montana you can't claim self-defense in a bar fight. Beth wanted a ride back to the ranch. I didn't want to take her, I had things to do but I gave in like I always do.

"Like Uncle John expects you to," she prompted him, and he nodded.

"We started to head back to the ranch. She turned around, I don't remember why, and she saw the baby's car seat in the back and asked me if I had a kid. And asked me the sex and what I named it."

He sat down and put his head in his hands. "She started saying, 'God gave you a son? You had my baby and my uterus cut out of me and god gave you a son? I'm going to take him away from you, I don't care who I have to kill. She's also said that she's going to kill me, too. I'm scared, Coralee."

She sat next to him on the sofa. "And the baby she accuses you of cutting out of her she wanted to be aborted—she conveniently forgot that, yes? Come on! You're a lawyer for crying out loud, and you have a lawyer for an uncle. She threatens to kidnap your child and kill you. I'm sure she broke at least one law by threatening to kill you, and another by threatening to kidnap your son."

She put her hand on his shoulder. "Talk to Dad tomorrow, tell him everything. And tell Uncle John he has another grandson, he should know about him, Jamie. You need to tell him."

"There's something else, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner because I know I can trust you. About a year ago I needed to get a copy of my birth certificate and I found out I was adopted." He looked at her to see her reaction.

"Adopted? You're adopted? You mean, after all this time Uncle John still hadn't told you?"

"Maybe he thought he was sparing me," he said. "My natural father murdered my mother. Maybe he thought I would be better off if I didn't know. It's strange though, if you didn't tell your child he was adopted when he was a teen, you at least would at least tell him when he reached adulthood. He lied to me all those years."

She sank back against the sofa cushions, "This is crazy, Jamie," she told him, "And scary. No matter who your father was, Uncle John should have told you."

Now that the cat was out of the bag he started talking, and could not seem to stop. "I've met my father, he was in prison for almost thirty years, but he's been released. He told me what happened that day and why. It was all because of drugs. He's served his debt to society and seems to want to make it up to me." He waited to hear her response.

"Oh wow. Jamie, be careful, I mean, you don't know him, and you don't even know anyone who knows him, right? There could be a lot of things he doesn't want you to know. You're so vulnerable, Jamie, you're insecure and he may sense it and want to take advantage of it. He may have your best interest at heart, or he may be using you, you don't know. The Duttons are a rough family to be part of, but I love you, and Kayce loves you. If you need us, we'll be there for you, but don't do anything stupid, okay?"

He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. "You know, sometimes I forget that I'm not alone in this family. It's not all Dad, or Beth, I have you and Kayce too."

"And Dad and the rest of my family. We don't judge you, you know that don't you? When Dad realized he wasn't inheriting the ranch he decided he would live his life on his terms. He told me it was incredibly freeing. Now, maybe, you can start living your life for you and to hell with what Uncle John wants. It's not easy, but it was rewarding for Dad and it will be rewarding for you."

Talking to Coralee made him feel better, he got things off his chest that he couldn't reveal to anyone else. For a while, he thought that Christina, little Jamie's mother, would provide that missing piece in his life, but she didn't. Eventually, she left him, but he retained partial custody and was the child's legal father.

He didn't want little Jamie to have the kind of childhood he had. Growing up on the ranch had been the good part, the rest of it had been hell.

He'd always felt like he was missing a part of himself. He didn't look like his Dutton brothers and sister but told himself that didn't always mean anything. If his father and mother seemed indifferent, he could rely on his brothers. Their closeness provided him with the affection that he seemed to be lacking from his parents. The three boys were tight and depended on each other.

Evelyn Dutton had been motherly, but not always warm and affectionate. Gemma Dutton had a no-nonsense character, but she was easier to approach. John Dutton had been distant, often only a disciplinarian, it had been his brothers who had been his source of belonging. The three were tight, even though Kayce was much younger.

As difficult as Evelyn could seem, he missed her when she was killed. For a long time, he did not blame Beth, but as he grew older it was not hard to resent her. The enmity between the two siblings became more apparent, but John Dutton did nothing to resolve it. In his eyes, Beth could do no wrong. He was not so tender towards the boys.

He envied Coralee her upbringing and her family. Benjamin Dutton was a warmer person than his brother, less withdrawn, and available to his children. Although there were six kids, no one seemed to suffer from a lack of attention. Benjamin and his wife were not indulgent and often sent the kids to the Yellowstone to work, but none of them complained. They were a close family and loved each other, and Jamie hoped to pass that on to his son.

Coralee looked at her watch and was astonished at the time that had passed. She was also tired from rising early and the drive. All the talk of the family ghosts was taking a lot out of her, and she needed to rest.

"Jamie, what do you have planned for dinner?" Her pregnancy was catching up to her and she was hungry, she needed to eat.

"Well, we can go out if you like. If you're too tired, I'll go out and find us some takeout. I know you're tired, Coralee, would you like to rest? The guest room has a very comfortable bed, why don't you lay down for a while, and take a nap if you like? What sounds good for dinner?"

"Something not spicy and easy to digest. That leaves out Mexican, Thai, or Indian. Chinese sounds good but I don't know if you have a decent Chinese restaurant here. Chicken teriyaki is nice, lots of flavor but not spicy."

"Well, I've got some work to do. Rest for a while then I'll go out and find something for dinner. I know of a place that has good teriyaki and I'll get us something to go." He picked up her bag and helped her to her feet. "First bedroom on the right. If you need anything, let me know."

It was a comfortable bed. She abandoned plans of finding a hotel and decided to spend the night. She wasn't aware of how tired she was when she laid her head on the pillow, but she closed her eyes and fell instantly asleep.

The knocking on the door startled her awake. The light in the room had faded and she realized it was getting dark. How long had she slept anyway?

They ate in the living room out of the Styrofoam containers, opting not to dirty dishes. The teriyaki was seasoned just right, the sauce not too salty and the meat was moist. They joked about the terrible salad but at least it was not coleslaw, cabbage was hard on her digestion.

They made trivial conversation until they finished eating. Then Coralee asked him, "Jamie, were things always so bad in your family? I mean, things seemed normal up until Aunt Evelyn died, then over time things started unraveling. Beth was always out of control, but not like this. It seems like she's carrying this burden of guilt that's too much for her to handle. I mean, she blames herself for her mother's death, and as much as she tries to cast the guilt on you for the hysterectomy, I think she blames herself."

"It's a lot of 'ifs'. If she hadn't gotten pregnant, if she hadn't asked you to help her instead of calling Planned Parenthood herself. If she and Rip hadn't been having unprotected sex. She's blaming other people so she won't have to take a good look at herself." Coralee looked at him, and there's more, isn't there?"

"Yes, there is. The ranch is under attack. There are outside interests that want the land and will resort to any means to get it. Someone's been breaking into some of the pastures and setting the cattle loose. These people aren't even stealing it, they're trying to sabotage the herd. Your father probably isn't telling you, but they want to seize some of the land for development. They want to build what will be a small city and an airport. It means a lot of jobs for Montana, and we need it. I can't convince him to sell, even though it would mean a lot of money, enough to move our operation elsewhere." Jamie's voice grew heated, he felt frustrated.

"And so he brings in Beth to try to fix it his way. It won't work, will it Jamie? And he won't listen to you, no matter how much sense you make, no matter how much you want to help him. God, I feel sorry for you. My branch of the family may only be the poor cousin, but I wouldn't trade it for all of the Yellowstone. What a fucking mess!"