Abby Barrett rounded the curve on highway fourteen. She knew it would only be two more minutes until she pulled into her grandparents' home. She inhaled a deep breath. It'd taken a lot of cajoling to convince her parents this change was the best for her.

She'd spent the last twelve years as an EMT, had made her way up the ladder of command, ending as a lieutenant and when the opportunity to be the training officer and captain of the rescue squad for her grandparents' small town, she jumped on it.

Pulling into the drive she was hailed by the cacophony of the cattle dogs, announcing her arrival. Her Granny Daisy and Pops Donald Barrett were on the porch in the blink of an eye and before the truck was even in park, they were standing beside it. "Hey," She said with a smile as she jumped out.

"Hey, Tiger," her Pops greeted with his traditional bear hug.

She squeezed him back then moved to hug her Granny. "Hi, Granny." She moved to the back of the truck to pull out her bags. She sat them down on the ground as they were pulled out, and Pop reached down to pick them up. "I can get those."

"And what kind of a man would I be if I made you do it?" He headed for the door.

Knowing it was no good to argue, she picked up her small travel case and headed inside, her Granny right behind.

"You have 'your' room," her Granny said.

"Thanks Granny," she replied and entered the house.

Standing inside it was nice to see nothing had changed. A wood accented living room set, the fabric an old millstream scene done in browns and rusts was scattered about the living room. The cuckoo clock still hung above the love seat and on the opposite wall a print of a cowboy riding in the sunset. All made her feel like she was home.

She passed through the living room, through the dining room, into the hall and entered "her" room. It was painted a soft cream, accented with light natural wood. An armoire made of cedar from a tree her Pops had not only felled but also fashioned into the lovely piece dominated the room.

The curtains and bedspread were a pale yellow back ground with darker yellow roses, green stems dotted the material. The hands of time hadn't touched this room either, the bookshelf Pops had hand made in high school still stood against the wall next to the back of the chimney.

"Notice anything different?" Daisy asked as she entered the room.

"Nothing has changed and I love it!" She answered happily.

Donald Barrett entered the room, "Look again, Tiger."

Abby did as instructed and carefully scanned the room, spying the addition, she grinned. "A phone! You've never had more than one phone in the house before."

"Figured you need to be reachable. Someone as important as you needs to have a phone and until we can get Grammy's trailer cleaned up and ready to move into, I figured it would help."

"Well now, are you hungry?" Daisy asked. "Or would you just like to head for bed? Do you just want to sit and relax?"

"Stop clucking mother hen, Abby knows where everything is." Grinned Donald.

"If you have any cornbread made, I'd like that and some milk? Then I think I want to head for bed." She followed her grandmother to the kitchen.

"Here ya go. I could make some fresh if you want."

"Nope this is great." Abby replied and mixed the bits of cornbread into the glass and added the milk over the whole. She ate while her grandparents filled her in on all the happenings in town.

"Royce is doing pretty well, his office is up and running. It's nice to have a vet so close." Daisy added with a sly grin.

Abby's yawn was suddenly cut off, the piece of cornbread held suspended in midair. "Really? I'm so glad to hear that."

"He's still single," Daisy grinned and looked at Donald.

She looked at her grandparents, forced the yawn and stretched out her arms, and said, "I'm kind of tired from the drive."

"Well you head on for bed and we'll see you in the morning. Good night, Tiger." Donald stood and hugged her tight. "We're glad you're here."

"G'night Pops. Night Granny, see you in the morning." She moved off down the hall quickly changing into her pajamas and in minutes she was asleep.