Fort woke the next morning disoriented and frustrated. He'd had indecent dreams most of the night. Many of them had Cori underneath him writhing in pleasure. The others were with him under her. She hadn't talked to him since leaving the tracks last night. He wondered how today would go.

He rubbed a hand over his face and tried to get his shit together. There were jobs to be done around the ranch that required his lazy ass to be out of bed. Just like him, the animals were hungry. The sun was just beginning to break, bringing with it a dusty yellow light that painted a swath of color across his bed. Rolling softly onto his back, he glanced toward Cori, wondering if she was awake. He expected to find her dead to the world, but she was blinking back at him.

He dropped his head back onto the pillow. “You don't have to get up,” he said to her foot, extending an olive branch.

She said nothing, so he searched for the right thing to say. He knew he'd hurt her feelings yesterday, but it had needed to be done. She was hired for a job, but last night they'd forgotten that. Let things get carried away.

“Cori—”

“I think you're right about the rules. We were smart to make them. We should stick by them.”

“So no more of what happened yesterday,” he said. They needed to stay focused.

“Right. We call everything a wash and start over.”

He nodded and stared at her tiny feet. She carried so much on her shoulders. It was nice to see her laugh, and here he was an ass for trying to make it out like something it wasn't.

“Cori, calling it a wash is not the same as calling it a mistake. You see that, don't you? I don't think anything that happened last night should be a regret.”

She sighed so heavily the bed moved. “But I'm so good at regret.”

“Did you really have to sell everything when your dad went to prison?” he asked her, or more like her foot since that was closest. “What did you do when you all lost the ranch?”

“It would seem that good old Pops made sure to provide for Babs but not for the kid, so I worked at the supercenter and picked up odd jobs when I could. The thing for me was to get the most money possible. His lawyer told me if I let the government do it, they'd sell it for pennies. Since the money was going back to the city, I thought it only fair to do my best.”

When everything had gone to shit with his dad, Fort was free and clear to walk away and never look back. Something he'd done without hesitation. So had his dad, and Fort had no idea where he was. Leaving had been easy. A clean slate ahead of him had been refreshing. In the Navy, he hadn't been known as Gambler Karl's kid. Even in Wolf Creek where people knew about his dad somewhat, it was all-superficial, and he liked it that way. Liked that part being in the past.

Cori had experienced the exact opposite. “So you took this deal with Sabrina because...?”

“The money. I'm going to get a fresh start. A do-over. Also, I came to get pictures.” She said it so wistfully he wanted her dream, too.

“Are you going to open up your own studio or something?”

Cori sat up on her elbows, and he did the same.

“One day. But for now, I'd like to enter a national competition and maybe win some money. I'd like validation that I'm good enough. Might even finish my degree.”

He looked at her legs, stretched out beside him and thought about what it must be like to be here. To go through what she did. Now he knew why she was so skinny, because she gave to everyone first. Probably even her money for food. Damn that Charlie Walters. He'd loathed the man something fierce when his dad had lost the ranch, but now, now he was disgusted by him, too.

“I'm sorry, Cori. Your parents suck.” It was a pathetic attempt to say the right thing, but did such words exist in this situation? Doubtful.

She laughed and fell back onto the bed. “Boy, do they ever.” She looked back at him. “But thanks for noticing. How about we stop talking before we ruin the moment with another fight or something?” Without waiting for him to reply, she rolled off the bed and padded to the bathroom.

He was working again tonight so having Cori's help would go a long way. If he worked alone, there would be no way he'd get his share of the chores done before leaving for town, which meant he was making more work for Ma and Paul.

When she stepped out of the bathroom in bare feet, towel drying her wet hair, face fresh from makeup, dressed in jeans and a loose top, he forgot what he wanted to ask her.

“Take a picture, Be-so lame, it might last longer,” she said.

He picked up her camera and did just that.

“Hey,” she called, lunging for the camera. “No one touches the camera!” She laughed as he held it over his head, far out of her reach.

“I have a favor to ask,” he said.

“If I say no, will you harm my baby?”

He quirked a brow and grinned. “Try and see.”

She punched him in the stomach.

"Oomph,” he said, but stayed upright. “I was wondering if you would help me with the chores. I'm running behind and don't want to leave Ma and Paul in a lurch.”

Cori rolled her eyes. “Of course, I'll help. I have nothing to do today and would love to spend my time on the ranch. Now, give me my camera.”

He handed the heavy piece of equipment to her. She cradled it lovingly. “Never threaten my camera,” she teased.

“Wait for me, and I'll find you a jacket.” He escaped into the bathroom. He dressed quickly, brushed his teeth even faster, and skipped shaving. When he stepped out into his place, Cori was gone. Outside he found her feeding the goats.

“I'm almost done here. Stalls are next,” she called when she saw him coming. She was swarmed by goats and laughing as she hand-fed a few. His Carhart jacket hung off her.

“You should borrow a jacket from Mathias. He's more your size,” he said, coming up behind her and then leaning on the fence.

“I saw your mom. She said you need to ride out with Paul. Go grab some food before you go. I got this.”

Fort was instantly alert. “Did she say something was wrong?”

“She didn't. Sorry. Do you think it’s the aliens?” She chuckled and worked her way out of the goats.

“I'll let you know. Are you sure you're good if I do this?” She looked good, fresh with bright energy pulsing off her. She climbed up on the fence he was leaning against and sat on the top rail, looping her legs threw the one below to give her stability.

“I miss being on a ranch. So I'm better than good with doing all this.” Her camera hung from a post and she lifted it, aimed the lens across the yard, and began capturing pictures of the horses.

“There are wild horses up near the foothills. We could ride out sometime and try to catch them. You might get some amazing shots of them fighting. They can be brutal.”

Cori sucked in air, her eyes large. “That would be awesome.”

Judas Priest, she was adorable. She could easily distract him from...well, everything. He blew out a deep breath and searched for his bearings. He caught sight of Ma near the house and remembered he was needed by his step-father. “I should eat before I ride out,” he said, restating the obvious.

“Better hurry on then Be-so-lame.”

The sound of a truck coming down the lane caught his attention. He frowned. “Looks unlikely,” Fort said and pointed to the truck. “That's Bryce. Either Hannah's had the babies last night or something's up.”

“You know that simply because he's coming down the drive?”

“I know it because he's going faster than normal and is supposed to be going to a livestock auction today in Cody. Considering the time, it's too late for that. Something's stopped him from going.” Fort pushed off the fence and went to meet the truck, Cori behind him.

Bryce brought the truck to a quick stop, and the passenger door flung open. Hannah leaned out. “Don't make me come to you,” she hollered.

Fort chuckled and went to her. “Bryce, Hannah. Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” she said and handed him a stack of papers. “We've been at the library all morning. The big one in Elk’s Pass.”

Big was subjective. Elk’s Pass was the town to the east and boasted a population of a few thousand more people than Wolf Creek and Bison's Prairie combined, hence the “bigger” library.

“If some of the smaller papers would archive online, then we wouldn't have had to go. Don't get me started, though.” She crossed her arms.

“Yes, please don't,” Bryce said, then winked.

“What do these mean?” Fort asked while flipping through the pages. There were maps, and he figured he needed to spread them out to get the full scope.

“I did a sheet on those numbers you gave me and something odd popped up.”

“I'm listening.” The familiar pinging in his gut kicked in.

“Apparently not only in our county but the next one over, ranchers are reporting weird cases of cows disappearing. Not large numbers either. Some as many as fifteen. Others as low as two. At the library, I found similar stories throughout Wyoming. I even found an article about this happening to a rancher in Montana. “

“Aliens?” Cori said with a laugh.

“No explanation,” Hannah said. “No clues either. Like the cows just up and vanished. Here's the thing, though. When you add up the numbers, it's pretty substantial. We're talking a couple thousand cows in the last six months alone. That's statistically significant. It's not even a blip when considering individual ranchers. A cow here, a cow there, but combined… Something is going on.”

Fort rubbed his chin. “Okay, thanks Hannah. I'm gonna take a look at all this and see if I can find anything from other states.”

“If you get me numbers, I'll run them through the sheet, look for something to pop.” Hannah rubbed at her belly. “Sooner than later, too. I think these two aren't going to stick to the schedule.”

Bryce crossed both his fingers. “I'm ready for the next stage.”

“Anyone else locally been complaining about losing heads?” Fort asked Bryce.

As the local vet, he heard all kinds of stories. “Not specifically. Usually when I'm involved, we have bigger problems. But I'll ask when I see people.”

Fort nodded then faced Cori. “Do you think you might have time to go to town?”

Her grin gave the bright sun a run for its money. “Sure, I need to get some photos of Deke for the election. I was planning that for tomorrow, but I can go today. I also figured while I was in town, I might stop by the diner to tell everyone about your awful prank last night and casually drop that y'all are missing some cattle and see if anyone pipes up.”

“That's my girl,” Fort said and slung an arm across her shoulder.

“What prank?” Hannah asked.

Cori wagged her finger. “No spoilers. You'll have to come to the diner to hear it firsthand or wait for the rumor mill.