Rita would always arrive late after one of Travis's parties. The usual mess would greet her, garbage, dishes and recycles lying around waiting for her to take care of. It would take extra time out of her day to take care of it, but Travis paid her well.

This time it was different. When she came in the recycles and organic garbage had been separated and bagged. What dishes had been used were rinsed and put in the dishwasher. The deep fryer had been drained, and the leftover oil was sitting in a jug, ready to be sent to be transformed to biodiesel. And there was only one person she knew who could have been responsible for it.

"Buenos Dias, Rita," Anicka came into the kitchen and kissed the housekeeper on her cheeks, "I tried to clean up a bit, Travis left a mess! The dishwasher has still has room, so I didn't run it, sorry I didn't do much more than that." She spoke Spanish, her mother tongue, she preferred it to English.

"You did a good job, mija," Rita answered her, "You could have left it for me, but your mother raised you better than that, didn't she? How's Travis, I mean, how hung over is he? Travis likes his beer."

"Oh, I gave him something before he went to bed. I have a sister who's a dietitian and she's taught me a few cures and treatments for hangovers. He's a little under the weather, but not bad. He seems so used to this, does he throw a lot of parties?"

Rita didn't get a chance to answer. "I heard my name, but I can't keep up with you two when you speak Spanish," Travis said as he strolled into the room, "Annie here did the best job she could cleaning up. Say, Rita, can you make a breakfast for about ten people? We had some who spent the night, and I'd like to feed them before I send them home."

"Better that they stay than try to drive home drunk," said Rita. "I can whip up something and we have lots of bacon. Anicka can help me, we'll have it ready in an hour."

"Well then, I'll be out by the pool. Annie," he used the diminutive Rita used, "Honey, make some more coffee. I think we have plenty of clean mugs. The sooner we get them fed the sooner we'll get out them out of here." He wandered back outside.

"Here," said Rita, "I usually prepare fresh orange juice for him, but I use frozen when I have to make it for a crowd. There's an extra coffee maker in the cupboards, we'll make two pots of coffee and use canned for this crowd. I keep lots of eggs and bacon on hand, it's not unusual that I have to feed a crowd."

"Don't you get tired of it?" Anicka asked, "Travis seems pretty, well, spoiled. He likes to be taken care of."

"Only sometimes," Rita answered her, "And in case you hadn't noticed he seems to take pretty good care of you! When he's in the mood he likes to entertain, he's got a gregarious personality, he definitely doesn't shrink into the woodwork."

"Which is the opposite of me," Anicka answered, "I've always been the shy one in the family. I'd hide behind my parents, and they'd make me come out and face people. Travis expects me to be at his side and I have to force myself to look people in the eye and talk to them whether I want to or not."

"It's probably been good for you, hasn't it? "Rita asked and Anicka nodded, "And it won't kill you. Why don't you make biscuits, and I'll fry some bacon and make scrambled eggs. Juice, coffee, bacon, eggs, and biscuits should make a satisfactory breakfast. They'll have to settle for having their eggs scrambled, I'm not taking orders."

By the time breakfast was ready people were dressed and standing around drinking coffee. It had warmed up sufficiently that serving breakfast outside was possible, and neither Anicka nor Rita felt like having a mess in the house.

People grabbed food and sat wherever they could find a place and began eating. It wasn't boisterous, like the night before, but Anicka was looking forward to their leaving and she could have the house, and Travis, to herself.

She didn't know what she thought of Travis's crowd. So far, if asked, she would say that she didn't know what she thought, but they'd been nice to her, and she appreciated it. She just needed time to get to know them better. If she'd been overwhelmed by the party it was because it was her first introduction to Travis's friends. She was naturally shy, the opposite of her husband, and that made things awkward. Just give her a chance to get used to things, and get to know people, that was all it would take.

People were finally starting to leave. Most of them had lives to get back to. One or two lived on the ranch, but had their own living quarters. She needed to have Travis to herself, she'd barely spent any time on the ranch. The next day she would be starting her training and Travis had another film he wanted her to watch.

The puppy had been begging, but other than that had been well behaved. She snapped a leash on her collar and took her for a walk; the walk was as much for her as it was for her dog. She needed to get away from the crowd for a little while.

The puppy seemed to want to sniff every fence pole they ran across, then she would take off trying to run. It didn't bother her, she felt like running, too. A morning run would be nice when she could fit it in. It was nice and flat and though the scenery wasn't what she was used to, it had its own merits. If she tried, really tried, maybe she could get used to his ranch.

The dog did her thing, and they turned around and headed back to the house. She liked the way Travis had it landscaped, there were enough bushes and trees to provide shade and privacy. He had promised to show her the arena, she'd be using it for practice before shows so she could get a feel for how being in one felt.

"Travis, what were you thinking, she's just a child." Anicka could hear Sadie speaking. She held tightly onto Candy's leash and hid behind some bushes.

"That child is twenty-three, she's not that much younger than you were when we started dating. And she's been through a lot, she escaped an abusive marriage and then had to escape him again when he came to the Yellowstone. She was scared but handled herself well when he confronted her. I brought her back with me so she could be safe." He didn't fill Sadie in on the other details, he knew she could guess.

Anicka wished she could see what was going on. Sadie had spent the night, which was fine with her, but she hadn't expected to stumble upon this conversation.

"I was twenty-five and you were younger than you are now. We had an age difference, but you weren't twice as old as I was. And is that really why she's here then, because you need to protect her? Just how long were you planning on protecting her, anyway?

"What is she doing here with you? Are you leading her on, how is she going to feel when you get tired of her and want to send her away?" Sadie's voice sounded irritated.

"I won't get tired of her, it's more likely that she'll get tired of me. I'm afraid of what I'll do when she finds someone younger than me and realizes that I'm an old man compared to her. I'm afraid she'll leave me, Sadie, and I don't want her to." There was pain in Travis's voice as he spoke.

"Do you realize that you might see your kids grow up but there's a good chance you won't see any grandchildren. You're not being fair to her, you should let her go." If Sadie was trying to make sense she could tell he was not listening.

"I don't want to let her go," said Travis, "I know I'm being selfish, but I want her to stay with me. I'm going to do everything I can to make her happy. Are you having last minute regrets about breaking up with me?"

Sadie sighed, "No, Travis, I'm not. You didn't want to commit, remember? I got tired of waiting for you to change your mind, so I left you. Tell me, how do you feel about her, do you love her?"

"What's the matter, Sadie, are you jealous? We haven't been together long enough to call it love. I know that I want to make a life with her, and someday, maybe have kids. If she'll have me, I want to marry her."

"Marriage? You don't know her and you're talking marriage? Travis, don't lead her on. Maybe she'll leave you, and maybe she won't, but I still think you're too old for her. All I can say is I wish you luck." The tall, leggy brunette strode away, leaving him alone.

Anicka wanted to come out of her hiding place but if Travis saw her she was afraid that he would know that she had heard the conversation between him and Sadie. She stayed, secluded where she was until Travis walked away and she could come out of hiding and let Candy off her leash.

She followed her dog as she wandered around, still in shock at what she heard. Travis had said that he wanted to marry her, but he had not said that he loved her. Well, she wasn't sure how she felt either. Travis had swept her off her feet, but she had bad memories still from her first marriage. She didn't think Travis would hit her, but what had happened to her was always in the back of her mind.

She had been swept off her feet by her first husband. After their first date he had sent her a beautiful floral arrangement. Compliments flowed freely from him and in those days she had a body that she was took pride in.

He had been a little angry to find out she wasn't a virgin, but she was nineteen, after all, and had decided to live her life on her terms. She wasn't ready for marriage, she wasn't looking for it. The fact that he was seriously courting her had put her off a little, at first, but he slowly wore her down.

Travis was almost twice as old as her, and this was a new experience. She had admired her father, wouldn't have minded finding someone like him, but wasn't looking for it. She had not been in a hurry to get married, and she wasn't now.

Or was she?

She couldn't deny her attraction to Travis, that had been obvious from the start. There had been Ryan to consider, but when Travis started flirting with her, seriously flirting with her, she'd succumbed to his advances.

She liked him, liked being with him. She hadn't taken it seriously and thought he didn't either. But now, here she was living with him. And she felt comfortable. Travis never talked down to her and rarely snapped at her, When he did she gave as good as she got. She could hold her own and he knew it.

But now, hearing Sadie's words she wondered how he saw her. Was she a much younger girl that he had fallen for, or did he see her as an adult? She never would have given this any thought but Sadie's words had stung.

Was he too old for her? Should she be with someone who was closer to her age? She had thought that Sadie liked her, now she wasn't so sure. Was Sadie still in love with Travis despite the fact that she was engaged to someone who had given her a very expensive ring?

I'm not going to let it bother me, she told herself, but it did. She wasn't going to say anything to Travis, though, she would keep it to herself, but Sadie's words bothered her and she didn't like it.