When it finally occured to her that she still had the now crumpled-up piece of paper in her back pocket, having slid it in there on her way in the door, she searched through the dirty clothes and dug it out. Pulling her cell phone out, she glanced at the clock. It was a little after eleven P.M., but she decided to give it a shot in spite of the time. After all, the paper did read URGENT.

On the second ring, a girl who sounded just a few years younger than Katherine answered, "Hello, Dunlap residence." Katherine jerked so hard she nearly dropped the phone, but quick thinking reminded her that her dad did have a brother, so taking a shot in the dark, she asked, "Can I speak to Mr. Dunlap, please?"

"Who is it, Claire?" she heard a man ask in the background.

"It’s for you, Father. Here."

He cleared his throat and said, "Yes? This is Donald."

"Umm, hello, Donald, er, Mr. Dunlap? This is Katherine Dunlap. There was a note in my mailbox with your number on it. I’m really sorry about the time. I guess you know what happened, so I am sure you can understand that I have been a bit preoccupied. Is there something I can help you with, sir?"

A long pause followed as he presumably gathered his thoughts.

"Well, Katherine, as you know I haven't spoken to my brother in some years. I really did not want the distance between us, but frankly, my dear, your father was not a forgiving man. When I finally found him again, he told me, in no uncertain terms, to stay away from him and his family; he no longer acknowledged me as his brother and did not want us around. Sadly, I obeyed his wishes thinking that with time, I would have a chance to make it up to him, but now I hear this sad, terrible news. I was wondering, my dear, if you mind very much if your aunt and I brought Claire, that is your cousin who answered the phone, down to see you? We would all very much like the chance to get to know you and for you to know us. You see, we are the last of the Dunlaps, and so the line stops with us, and seeing as how neither of us has any other family, it would be comforting to get to know each other, wouldn't you agree?"

She was unsure of what to say. Her father, unforgiving? That just was not right. She started to tell them no. After all, if the kindest and most generous man she'd ever known couldn't forgive him, then there must be a serious problem, but he was right. They were the only family she had in the world—and a cousin. She wondered how old she was, trying to picture her for just a second.

"Katherine, are you there?" he sounded impatient, so she answered him quickly, her voice coming out a little too sharp.

"Of course, you must come down; I live right outside a little town called Wolf Spri—"

He cut her off mid-sentence to inform her that he already knew where she lived, having left the note in her mailbox, and that they were staying in Dallas, not very far from her at all. She suggested dinner at the diner. Right before hanging up, he said, "My dear, since we will be staying with you at your parents’ home, I hope it won’t be terribly forward of me to ask that our rooms be ready upon our arrival from dinner. I'm sure we will all be extremely exhausted."

"I’m sorry, sir, but that would be impossible. You see, a close family friend is staying with me for a while, and we do not have any extra rooms. This is only a three-bedroom house, and I am sorry, but I am not ready to clear out my parents’ room."

"Where exactly do you intend for us to stay?"

"Well, naturally, I assumed that since it was your idea to come down, you would be staying at the local hotel. While I am truly sorry for any inconvenience, I’m sure that you will understand."

He took a deep breath, as if trying to steady himself, and told her that he would make the necessary calls to move into the hotel temporarily. "Well, we will see you tomorrow as planned. Good-bye."

After learning that she was no longer alone in the world, she was so excited that she rushed to the door to Sean's room and knocked softly.   "Sean?" She tried the handle, finding it unlocked, so she turned the knob and stepped into his room.

Looking around, she was thankful to find that he was still a tidy person, even sleeping on one side of the bed, the other remaining neat and made, although this could actually be a bad thing. Was he used to sleeping on one side because Courtney kept to the other side? She walked closer to him, leaning over, and gently shook his shoulder. "Sean? Please wake up. I’m sorry but AHH!" she yelled out in surprise as his arm snaked out to wrap around her waist, jerking her down onto the bed. It all happened so quickly that he didn't even realize she was lying below him with his arm above her bracing him against the headboard and a hand covering her mouth. As his eyes cleared and he realized it was her he was holding down, he quickly jumped up out of the bed and dropped the cover.

Forgetting that he had nothing on underneath.

All she could do was stare at him, all muscled and toned from years of riding bulls, pink and white scars scattered on his body, proof of the many battles both won and lost in the dirt arenas of rodeo grounds from all over the country. He followed her gaze, instantly realizing he had nothing on, and quickly grabbed the blanket to cover himself, immediately reaching for his pants.  

At this point, she climbed off the bed in a mad rush to get on the other side of his door. As her hand touched the knob, she heard his soothing voice from across the room. "Peach, wait, you don't have to leave. I'm sorry I reacted that way; I was dead asleep and didn’t know what I was doing. I'm really sorry, darlin’," he said as he crossed the room, pulling her into his arms when he reached her.

"Did you have a nightmare?" She shook her head negatively in response, not trusting herself to speak and also trying not to act as awkward as she felt in such close proximity to his naked chest after so many years. And she had just seen the man naked.

Holy hotness. He is sexier than ever.

"What is it, then? Is someone in the house?" He took an involuntary step toward the door with her still in his arms. "Damn it, I knew I should have stayed with you! I’ll kill them! You just sit right here and lock the door, and I will be back when the coast is clear. Do you have your cell phone?"

Finally, she regained her ability to speak. "Sean! My family... They’re coming here. They'll be here tomorrow."

He stiffened. "Family? Katy, baby,” he spoke gently, “I’m not trying to be too blunt, but darlin’, you don’t have any family; any blood kin, I mean, do you?"

“Ok, here’s the deal. You remember that note that was in the mailbox earlier today? I called the number on it a little bit ago, because in all the chaos I completely forgot about it until then. I called, and a chick around my age, I’m guessing, answered the phone. We had the same last name, so I asked to speak to her dad because I know that Pop had a brother, but I had never met him. I was right and the man was Pop’s brother. He wants to meet me. They are driving in tomorrow to meet me for dinner at the diner. You'll go, right? I really need you in my corner."

He looked her in the eyes and gave her a dramatic eye roll. "Of course, I will. Try to stop me, Peach. No one messes with my girl."

Her heart began to flutter wildly and her stomach started to churn. Once again, she had to remind herself of their past and how his definition and hers were so opposite. Of course, he did not mean it the way she wanted.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. He had a girl; it just wasn’t her.

There was an awkward moment where neither of them spoke, then he sighed and dropped his hand from her arm and she went through the door. After a few steps, she heard another deep sigh, then he rested his arm on her shoulder.

"Might as well tuck you in, since you obviously don't know how to stay in bed once you get there."

She playfully shoved him, then walked through her door. Lying down in her bed, she childishly crossed her arms. "Happy now?"

"Almost," he whispered softly before reaching down to gently brush his lips against her brow. He rested his forehead against hers, eyes closed tight for a moment, just breathing the same air as her then he breathed, "Good night, Peach," against her lips, sending chills down her spine; before he abruptly rose and headed to the door, not sparing her a second glance.

When the door slammed shut behind him, she was already cursing herself mentally, because she just had to react so dramatically every time he showed any friendly affection towards her.