"I thought you'd be out here." Swayde greeted. The wooden screen door slammed shut behind him. Renne looked over at him from her laptop screen. "Coffee?" He asked, holding out a mug to Renne. Renne gladly accepted the steaming cup of rocket fuel. "So you're up early." Swayde said, sitting down next to Renne on the porch swing.

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep." Renne replied, taking a sip of the hot coffee Swayde brought out for her.

"Is my bed too hard? I've kinda gotten used to sleeping on the ground with my saddle as a pillow, so to me, my bed is like sleeping on a cloud." Swayde said, partially teasing, but also serious. He folded his leg so his ankle rested on his knee. He sipped his steaming coffee.

Renne let out a small chuckle. "You're bed was very comfortable. I was just thinkin' about stuff." Renne pulled the blanket that rested on her shoulders tighter around her in the brisk early morning Wyoming breeze. She pulled her legs tighter under her.

"So how did you sneak out here without wakin' me up? You know I'm a light sleeper." Swayde asked, looking over at Renne from under his cowboy hat.

"Oh, I just snuck out your back door." Renne replied as she looked out at the gorgeous Wyoming scenery. Swayde's view from the house looked like something from a postcard. It was magnificently beautiful.

"Ah, that sounds familiar. D'you remember when I would drop you off after one of our dates and I would sometimes have to sneak out through your back door?"

"Or my window. That was your typical escape route." Renne hid her smile by lifting her coffee mug up to her lips.

"Sometimes I wonder what your parents would've done if they were still alive when we were dating." Swayde said it with a smile on his face, but as soon as he processed what he said, his smile quickly faded. "I'm sorry I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, Swayde. I often wonder what they would've done too." Renne replied. She stared at the picture on her laptop screen.

"What are you lookin' at?" Swayde asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, just some pictures of Mallory and I as kids." Renne turned her laptop so Swayde could see. "I was workin on stuff for my ranch, but got distracted." Renne flipped to the next picture. It was a picture of her and Swayde in the last year that they were dating. She quickly kept clicking to the next picture, but there were several pictures of them together. "Sorry, I didn't know these were in this folder." Renne kept flipping through them. Swayde's hand on Renne's made her stop her frantic clicking.

"Those were some good times, weren't they?" Swayde said when he looked at the picture they had stopped on. The couple was at a pumpkin patch and Renne had picked out the biggest pumpkin she could find and Swayde picked the tiniest one. In the picture, Renne was turned sideways, facing Swayde, and Swayde had one arm wrapped tightly around Renne's waist. They were both looking at the camera, but Swayde had a goofy smile on his face as he held the palm sized pumpkin in his hand.

Renne smiled at the memory. "Yes they were." They had so many great memories together, despite how things ended between them. Renne genuinely missed their once in a lifetime relationship. No one, not even Matt, had ever looked at Renne with that much love or shown that they care so much about her as much as Swayde did. Attempting to get their memory out of her head, Renne minimized the picture screen and pulled up the stuff she was working on for her ranch. "No offense, but I have to get back to work on placing these orders and paying the bills for the ranch."

"No offense taken. I should probably start breakfast for us anyways." Swayde said, standing up from the swing.

"Ooh, well I should probably hurry up with this so I can make sure that you won't burn the house down cooking eggs." Renne cast a teasing grin at Swayde.

"Ha ha. Very funny, missy." Swayde teasingly shook his head. "I'll call you when it's ready."

"Okay. Thanks for the coffee." Renne said as Swayde walked into his house. There certainly were things that she missed about him.

"Did you want to swing by your grandparents house now to pick up your clothes, or do it after we get done at the hospital?" Swayde asked Renne later that day as he drove them to visit Mallory in the hospital.

"Um, we can do it after we see Mallory." Renne replied. "Are you sure you're fine with me stayin' at your place?"

Swayde glanced over at Renne. "I'm positive. I know that you need time to process everything that's goin' on, and I know that you could use a break from your family and the kids."

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Renne smiled at Swayde.

"That's what friends are for, right?"

Renne nodded in response. "So I was thinkin' I could make tuna fish casserole for supper tonight, does that sound good to you?"

"You know I love everything you make, Reagan." Swayde said, flipping on his turn signal.

"Okay. Tuna noodle casserole it is." Renne replied, glancing out her window at the scenery flying past. Something in her snapped and she realized just how much she missed this tiny town. With everything going on now, Renne wished more than anything she could go back five years and change the fact that she left. Renne was beginning to realize that that was the biggest mistake of her life.

Once Swayde and Renne arrived at the hospital, they signed the visitor's log, then made their way down to Mallory's new room. Sometime this morning, she had been moved to a private room, and would stay there as preparations for hospice care were being arranged.

Renne knocked before she opened the door to her sister's room and walked in with Swayde behind her. Mallory had her bed adjusted so she was sitting more upright. Doug sat beside her bed in a chair holding on to her hand as he talked to her. The television was on, but neither Doug nor Mallory was watching it.

"Hey, darlin' you have some visitors." Doug said to his wife after Swayde and Renne walked in.

Mallory slowly turned her head from Doug to look at the door where Swayde and Renne still stood. "Hey, y'all, come on in." Mallory said, her voice tired and weak.

"We brought you some flowers." Renne said, showing her sister. "Blue carnations, your favorite." Renne smiled as she walked to the side of her sister's bed. She placed the bouquet on the nightstand that was crowded with so many other bouquets of flowers, cards, and little stuffed animals.

Renne bent down and gave her eerily thin sister a hug. Mallory's hands slowly wrapped around Renne. "I never wanted for you to see me like this. I'm sorry." Mallory's soft voice whispered into Renne's ear.

Renne pulled back to look at her sister. "It's okay. You don't need to apologize. Besides, I know my big sister. She's way to stubborn to stay sick." Renne forced a smile. She said it to be encouraging, not necessarily because she believed it.

Mallory smiled a weak smile and attempted to chuckle. "Thanks for the flowers, Rebel."

"You're welcome. Swayde helped me pick them out."

"Thank you, Swayde." Mallory said, turning her head to look at Swayde.

A knock on the door welcomed a nurse who carried in a brown plastic tray. "Ooh, looks like it's a party in here." The nurse said, looking between Swayde and Renne.

"Reagan, Swayde, this is Melissa, our favorite nurse. She's been incredibly kind to Mallory." Doug made the introduction. Melissa stood about 5"5', 210 pounds, and about 34 years old. Her black hair matched her ebony skin. She looked like the type of person who never ran out of energy, nor needed caffeine to keep her awake.

"Hi, it's nice to meet y'all. You must be Reagan, Mallory has told me so much about you." Melissa stretched out her hand to Renne. Turning to Swayde she said, "And you must be the handsome Swayde I've also heard lots about."

"Yes ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you." Swayde replied.

Just for safety precautions, Melissa washed her hands at the sink, then slipped on latex gloves before returning to Mallory's bedside. "Well, sweetie, it is time for your supper. Tonight's feast consists of strawberry jello, corn, and the typical hospital mystery meat that I think is supposed to be a hamburger. Oh, and I also brought you your apple juice." Melissa said, lifting the lid off of the plate. "And it's also time to take your medicine." Melissa said, handing Mallory a little plastic container that had her pills in it.

After Mallory took her medicine and took a couple nibbles of her jello, Melissa told everyone, "The doctor should be in soon to talk to y'all. You behave young lady." Melissa winked at Mallory.

Once Melissa left, Doug helped feed Mallory her supper as they waited for the doctor to come in. To pass time, Swyade and Doug told funny stories about anything and everything. Just as Swayde was making everyone laugh as he retold the story of a runaway calf that Doug had a hard time catching, Dr. Whitley walked in.

"I see that you finished most of your supper, Mallory. And you took your medicine?" Doctor Whitley asked.

"Yes." Mallory responded.

"Okay. Good. Well, I would like to speak to you about your chemo." Dr. Whitley said to Mallory. He glanced over at Swayde and Renne.

Before Dr. Whitley could ask Renne and Swayde to leave, Doug spoke up. "They can stay."

Sighing, the doctor started his speech. "Mallory, the results from your MRI came back. I'm afraid that the chemo has stopped working, which you already knew, but now we know why. When you had breast cancer a few years back, we treated you with chemo therapy. Although it was an early stage, it still weakened your immune system to the point now where your body no longer responds to the current chemo treatments...we will..."

Renne stopped listening to Dr. Whitley's diagnoses the second she heard the words "breast cancer." At that moment, Renne looked over at Swayde for an explanation. He gave her an apologetic look before looking away, his jaw set firm. Renne knew she would definitely need to have a talk with Swayde later. She shook her head in disbelief; this was just yet another secret that her family had kept from her...and she knew for a fact it wouldn't be the last.

The truck ride back to Swayde's ranch was the longest hour of Renne's life...and one of the quietest. Swayde must have picked up on the fact that Renne was mad at him for keeping yet another secret from her. Whether if it was the way that she made sure she walked at least two steps in front of him out of the hospital and to his truck as fast as she could...or the way that she slammed the truck door a little bit harder, whatever it was, Swayde obviously caught on that she was upset.

Once Swayde put his truck in park once they got back to his ranch, Renne jumped out of the truck and immediately walked up to the front porch. Trying the door knob, Renne hoped it wasn't locked. Relieved when it was unlocked, Renne opened the door and walked inside. She walked straight to Swayde's kitchen.

The sound of cowboy boot heels hitting the hardwood floor told Renne that Swyade was right behind her. The footsteps sounded heavy as if Swayde knew there was about to be a tense conversation. Renne threw her purse and cowboy hat on the kitchen island, then turned to get a glass out of the cupboard. "When were you goin' to tell me?!" Renne slammed the cupboard door shut and turned back around to face Swayde who just walked into the kitchen.

"Tell you what?" Swayde said. He didn't sound angry, just confused. Swayde set his Stetson and keys down on the kitchen island beside Renne's hat.

"Oh you know exactly what." Renne said, glaring at Swayde.

"Actually no, I don't. Please, tell me why you're upset." Swyade reached a hand out to Renne's shoulder.

Renne reeled back. "Don't touch me." She growled.

Swyade retreated his hand. "Then tell me why you're upset!" His hands were spread out wide; they slapped his thighs as he let them drop to his sides.

"How about the fact that my sister had breast cancer and none of y'all told me! And she was only given a year to live then. Oh yeah, and she got married and had another child. None of which I was notified about." Renne filled up her water glass, then turned back to Swayde. "It's like I'm not even part of this family anymore! What else have y'all kept from me? Hmm? What other secrets are y'all not tellin' me? It seems to be a Walker-Lawrence-McAllister family tradition to keep secrets." Renne squinted her eyes at Swayde and stepped closer to him. She slammed her glass down on the counter. "You do remember the secret that y'all kept from me for over ten years, right? You do remember that don't you, Swayde?" Renne could visibly see Swayde getting upset. Good! He deserved to feel the pain that she felt. Renne's voice got louder and louder with each word that she said. "Y'know, the secret about the accident that killed my parents. About what really happened. About who was drivin' the car that killed my-"

"I lost someone too in that accident!" Swayde snapped. He yelled, his voice conquering over Renne's. It was a tone that she hadn't heard in over five years...since their last huge fight. Swayde lowered his voice when he saw that he hit the nerve in Renne that would hush her up. Swayde's eyes were sad, and his voice held traces of anger still, but mainly hurt. "I lost someone too. Don't you remember that? How could you be so selfish and forget that? I hurt every year on the anniversary too. Not just because your parents were friends of my family, but also because I also lost someone that I loved in that crash as well. I hurt too, Reagan. And every day, I think to myself what would've happened if I had just stopped-" Swayde couldn't finish. He ran a hand over his face as he took in a breath. He rested his hands on the kitchen island, turning away from Renne.

"Swayde, you know that there was nothing that you could've done...you were only nine at the time. You couldn't have stopped your brother even if you tried..." Renne stepped closer to Swayde. She placed a comforting hand on his back. "Swayde, you do know that, right?"

"He was supposed to be babysitting me, but he decided to invite his friends over, and one of the older guys brought booze...I guess my brother was the one who'd had the fewest beers, and even though he was still drunk, they sent him out to go get more beer. His buddy gave him his license since my brother wasn't 21. I was too scared to tell him to stop. But lookin' back now, I should've told him that he was supposed to stay home and babysit me, but I didn't. I was a coward...I just sat on the couch drinkin' my juicy-juice and watched him walk out. Before he left, he ruffled my hair and told me he'd be right back. But he never came back..." Swayde stared at the counter on the kitchen island.

"Swyade, that was his choice. There was nothin' that you could've done..." Renne said, placing a hand on Swayde's arm. "Swayde, please look at me..." Renne pleaded.

Swayde drew his gaze over to Renne. Renne placed both of her hands on the back of Swayde's neck when he turned to her. Swayde just kept his hands at his sides. "Swayde, that accident was not your fault. Please tell me that you seriously don't feel guilty about it."

"Reggie," Swayde ran his hands up and down Renne's arms. "If I had stopped my brother that night...he would still be alive...and your parents would still be alive. I've never forgiven myself for that."

"Swayde...honey...it was just a coincidence that my parents were out on that road that same night. It was your brother's choice to invite friends over, and to even get in the car and drive." Renne started. Swayde looked away, but Renne drew his face back to look at her. "Swayde, you had just turned nine, and your brother was nineteen. There was nothing that you could've done. It was not your fault. At all." Looking into Swyade's hurting blue eyes, Renne added, "I never knew that you felt this way. I had no idea that you blamed yourself for it. I'm so sorry...Please tell me that you rally truly believe that you don't blame yourselves for my parents death."

"Reagan, I don't want to talk about this right now." Swayde said, pulling away from Renne. He stepped back.

"Swayde, please..."

"I said I don't want to talk about this, Reagan! Please, just leave it alone." Swayde turned to walk away.

"Swayde, don't walk away from me! We need to talk about this." Renne said, but Swayde kept walking; he went into the guest bathroom to change clothes and take a shower. Once he was in the bathroom, he slammed the door. Renne sighed and took her glass of water over to the breakfast bar in Swayde's kitchen. She took a seat and waited for Swayde in hopes that they wouldn't end their night fighting.

After almost a half hour later, Swayde came out from the bathroom, and on his way to the living room couch, he passed the kitchen. As he stopped in the doorway, Renne stood up from her seat, but didn't say anything. Swayde looked at Renne and looked like he wanted to apologize, but instead he looked away and said, "Goodnight, Reagan."

"Swayde..." Renne started. She knew how much Swayde hates fighting and he knew how much she did to, so she was really hoping to resolve this tonight, but she knew they wouldn't. It was late and they were both exhausted. Granted, she was still very upset that her family kept yet another secret from her, so it was probably better that her and Swayde don't try to resolve this tonight. At this point, it would most likely get worse, not better.

Defeated, and hurting, Renne took her glass of water into Swayde's bedroom and set it down on the bedside table. After slipping on the pajamas that Swayde was letting her borrow, Renne slid into bed. Grabbing her phone, Renne dialed Matt's number. She needed to tell him that she wasn't going to drive home tomorrow after all, and was hoping that he could comfort her after her fight with Swayde tonight. Matt picked up right before her call went to voicemail.

"Hello?" Matt answered. "Hey, yeah, just open that gate. Phil, you get behind them." Matt said, giving orders to folks on his end of the line.

"Hey, Matt. It's just me. Sorry, I know it's late."

"Yeah hey babe. What's goin' on?" Matt asked Renne before saying something to one of the other cowboys on his end.

"Matt, I wanted to talk to you about something. I need to fill you in on Mallory and I had a really bad day and am upset and I was hoping we-"

"Now's not really a good time, Renne. We are really busy with the horses and they're not cooperating. I need to focus on this right now. I'm sorry."

"Wait, why are the horses just now being brought in?" Renne asked, rubbing her forehead. Could tonight get any worse?

"You're not the only one who's had a bad and hectic day, babe. I'll call you tomorrow, okay? I'm sorry; now's just not a good time. But we will talk tomorrow and you can fill me in then. I love you."

Renne hesitated. She just wanted to talk to him...they had a lot to talk about and she just wanted him to be there for her. "Yeah. Yeah okay." Renne replied. She hung up before he could say anything in response.

Sighing, Renne out her phone back up on the dresser right beside the bed, then closed her eyes, attempting to fall asleep so this day could finally be over.