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way of keeping track of her, making sure nothing had happened to her.
    Tory’s husband had passed away, but like many families who work a large operation, family usually all worked together. Bill was the owner of the ranch, and usually made all of the decisions. He was advised by Jackson, who practically grew up on the ranch and worked with Bill’s father and grandfather before that. It’s just the way everything worked, a large dysfunctional family dynamic. When Tory’s husband died, they moved her closer to the main house to help keep an eye on her. She’d show up and work in the kitchens when she could, always helping out to sew and darning clothing that we’d always rough up and was a great fount of herbal remedies and knew more about doctoring than a lot of the docs who visited the ranch once a month to check up on everyone.
    I heard somebody walking behind me, trying to be quiet. When I first heard the footfall, my instincts were to make myself blend into the shadows and circle around whoever it was but the tread was too soft and too quiet to be Tim or any of his family. I was trying to decide if it was Karen, and if it was, was she coming for payback? A thousand paranoid thoughts danced through my head as I walked, waiting for those steps to suddenly speed up, signaling that whoever it was, was trying to close the distance.
    I veered to the left as the wind changed, letting it hit me from my back. The extra noise of the wind muffled any sounds but it did what I’d intended it to do. I smelled strawberries and vanilla.
    “You following me, Alison?”
    “I… How did you?”
    “It’s what you have to do sometimes. To survive,” I stopped walking and let her get close.
    She reached out and touched my shoulder. I saw the movement in my peripheral vision and turned to see her shaking.
    “Things are going to get bad now, aren’t they?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Tyler, Carl, Karen, Tim…”
    “You did what you had to. You won’t get in trouble for-”
    “I was only going out with Tim to help out with Dad.”
    I took her hand and we started walking again.
    “Help him with what?”
    “The ranch butts up to the Bart ranch and…”
    “You were thinking an arranged marriage situation?” I asked, stopping and turning her to me. I couldn’t help letting some anger into my voice.
    She shrugged, her eyes tearing up.
    “That’s something right out of the 1800’s. Nobody does that anymore,” my tone harsh.
    “I think that’s why Tim always thought that when he was ready…”
    “We don’t have to talk about this right now, not if you don’t want to.”
    “Maybe later then? This has all been so much, so fast. My head is spinning,” she admitted.
    “Yeah, it’s a lot to take in for me too. I leave one war, and step back into another one,” I grinned.
    “It’s not that, it’s just that-”
    She jumped as I poked her in the ribs, the same way she’d gotten me in front of Jackson earlier. A surprised squeak escaped her lips and she went to swat at my arm. I took off running. I let the gentle breeze push my hat off backwards, the straps holding it behind me as I heard Alison’s feet pounding the soft ground in pursuit. I wasn’t far enough away from the cabin to worry about her catching me over the distance and I easily beat her there. I had half a second to play with the knob when she crashed into me, almost knocking me off my feet.
    “Damn,” I said, rubbing my head where it had banged into the door.
    “Sorry about that. I couldn’t stop fast enough,” she was smiling.
    I didn’t mind, she’d crashed into me and had wrapped her around my chest to keep her from bouncing off. Then I remembered she was someone I couldn’t like this way, couldn’t get close to.
    “Come inside,” I told her, opening the door.
    “Don’t mind if I do,” she told me, sticking her tongue out at me and then smiled.
    My head was a bit fuzzy tonight. It was the first alcohol I’d had in a long time, and