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take Hwy 130 through Medicine Bow State Park.
    “Ladies, this is where I work,” he told them as he pulled over to the side of the road.  He made a point of showing them the sagebrush flats. “My ranger station is closer to the house in Saratoga, but these are the lands in which the legislation you fought to enact, protects,” he told Darlene.
    A huge smile covered her face when he said, “There are lots of hiking trails, fishing, and gaming in these areas now.”
    “It’s beautiful here,” she said softly.
    “There is so much more to show you,” he said.  “Ladies, let’s continue.”
    Darlene had a million questions as they rode into Saratoga.  Her breath was stolen as he pulled up in front of the cabin.  She wasn’t certain if she should be looking at the house or the gorgeous backdrop of natural beauty which surrounded it.
    “Come on inside ladies,” he said as the dog bounded off the porch to greet him.
    “This,” he said as he held the dog’s collar. “Is Sheila D,” he told them.  “I couldn’t use the E. since it is a registered trademark.” He clucked his tongue and she took off running around to the back.
    Daniel opened the front door to let them inside of the home.  “I am still working on the place.  It needs rugs, drapes, matching dishes...you know, those intimate touches, but I do have three plates, and I will get the grill going and make us some dinner,” he said. “But before I can feed you ladies, I have to feed my other two women. The bathroom is down the hall, the room where you will be staying is to the left.  Get comfortable, I will be back inside in a few.”
    They watched him scoop chow from a bin for the dog as he took it out onto the back porch.  Minutes later, he came back inside to grab a can of milk off the shelf, and a large baby bottle that he mixed the milk in with water and a shot of what looked like a vitamin and headed out the back door.
    Krysten watched him closely. “Gurl, you think he has a baby Sasquatch back there or something?”
    Darlene’s heart melted when he walked to the makeshift pen and the fawn came up to him. He sat on the ground as the animal climbed into this lap and nursed greedily on the bottle.
    “You like this one don’t you?” Krysten asked.
    Darlene’s eyes never left Daniel as he finished his task, started the grill and played with the two animals while he waited for the fire to get hot enough to cook the meat.
    “Yeah, there is something about him,” she said softly.

Chapter Six – Dead of Night
    T he one thing Daniel had hoped would not happen during Darlene’s visit, happened 55 minutes into her arrival at the cabin.  It never failed, each time he fired up the grill, his neighbor, and local raccoon aficionado, would show up.  Regardless if he fired up the grill at six am or if he fired it up in the dead of night, Cassandra always made her way over.  She lived only five miles west of him, but he wished that she lived more downwind. He could smell her before her physical body arrived. It had become habit for him that once a month when he would grill out, he would always cook a steak for her.  Between Sheila D. and Cassandra, those were the only two people to talk to outside of lost hikers and campers.
    “Hey there Park Ranger,” she said as she sidled around the corner of the cabin.
    “How are you Cassandra?”
    “Oh, fair to middlin’ Daniel.  I was planning on coming this way today anyhow...then I smelled the smoke and coals...,” Cassandra told him.
    Inside the house before Daniel went out to feed the animals, Darlene had asked if there was anything she could do to help with dinner, and she had begun to work on the peas and potatoes.  Krysten came around the corner with another one of her cheap bottles of wine that she brought in her carry-on bag.
    “Who is he talking to?”  She asked Darlene.
    “Is he talking to someone...I was in my own world over here,” she said as she pulled potatoes out of the