Chayton called it a cabin, but I think it's more a serious house. Five bedrooms, a sauna, a nicely equipped home gym with free weights, and a chef's dream kitchen. The view was killer. Halfway up the slopes of a nearby mountain, it was built into a cliff.

The pool was on the balcony, hanging in midair with a glass bottom. It wasn't very big, but when Chayton showed me the controls, I realized it was for serious exercise. The other one just around the corner of the balcony was accessible from the master suite as well. I could see myself there, after a long day's ride.

Patch and Snow explored the rooms, finally returning to the great room. They curled up on a grizzly bear rug. I wasn't sure where one dog started and the other ended. I dropped onto a golden leather couch, with a log cabin quilt draped over one of the armrests. Three huge decorative pillows splashed red and orange chevrons across the back. The dogs had a great idea. An afternoon nap.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Chayton's quiet comment brought me out of a dream I really didn't want to end.

"I was in the meadow out there." I pointed to the wildflowers blooming in multi-colored splendor only yards from the floor to ceiling windows.

"Come out with me, all of you." His command brought the dogs to their feet. Chayton grabbed my hand, a pulled me up as well.

"Need the bathroom first, and maybe some food?"

"Point taken. I'm as bad as you about forgetting to eat when I'm on a mission. This one is to show you the horse shelter and get the dogs some herding time. I have to cull the elk. I've let them get away from me. Called the butcher, and he's ready for at least ten."

"You breed them?" I asked. "I love venison when I can get my hands on it."

"It's an experiment. Exotic meats are all the rage these days with the five star restaurants. We ship all over the world."

"Show me." I forgot all about food.

"After we eat." He pulled me into the kitchen and brought a huge pot out of a double door fridge. He pointed to the next set of chrome doors, and said, "That's the freezer. I have a couple who take care of the place for me. Shelby leaves chili for me when I let her know I'm going to be home. Mauro, handles the livestock, except for the decisions as to when to cull."

"Mauro? Spanish?" He nodded.

"And Shelby is as Irish a redhead as you'll ever see. Great friends and employees too." Chayton lifted the chili onto the six burner restaurant stove.

"I'd love to meet them."

"You will."

"Let's let this heat up while we go take a look at the horses," I said. "Leave it on low,"

Chayton grabbed a massive wooden spoon, stirred the thick contents of the pot, and laid the utensil down on the granite counter. Gray with speckles of pink, it shimmered in the sun slanting through the windows. "Great idea."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

We left our saddles in the two stall horse shelter at Chayton's. Riding bareback, with our two Great Pyrenees pups loping along side, we went up the ridges into a high cirque maybe a couple of miles from the cabin.

Meeting Shelby and Mauro was a pleasure. The couple was about the same age as us, and I could see the close relationship between the men. More like brothers, they put their heads together, and came up with a way to let us ride out every day, with a meal ready for when we got back.

My dog whistle hung on a sturdy solid silver box chain, and the dogs responded like a seasoned pair of border collies. I was amazed at their endurance, even though they weren't fully grown. Lucy told us they would put on at least another fifty to sixty pounds before they were mature. There was a chance Patch could make it closer to two hundred because his sire was one of the biggest dogs in her operation.

Chayton took a path to our destination that went past a couple of gates in a ten-foot tall fence. "This is the summer pasture for the elk. We're culling out the yearling bulls. I got a disproportionate number of males this year. Only three female calves. Two sets of twins in there. Mauro will take the yearlings out to another pasture in the next month or so. The cows are giving birth."

"How many cows do you have?"

"Ten, and that's more than enough for now. I sell off my yearlings to other breeders. I've got an impressive bull in here. He'd be a record trophy if someone took him in a hunt."

"I hope I get to see him, then."

"Not likely right now. I expect he's on the other side of this fenced section. The cows will run him off as they get ready to calve." He slid off Bingo's back, and opened the gate, closing it securely as soon as we passed through.

"I hope the dogs don't go after a cow in labor." I shuddered at the thought.

"That's what I want to see. Pyrenees are instinctively gentle around pregnant goats and lambs. Mauro said all the cows were covered by late October. We should have babies around."

Patch stopped, snuffling hard. Snow paused and turned her head from side to side, sniffing constantly, before she took a few steps toward a small clearing between larch and lodgepole pines.

"Look," I pointed toward the spot Snow was approaching.

"I see them. Twins. Probably 325's calves. She's been producing multiples almost every year for the last seven. She retires after this year."

"Where's Patch off too?" I raised the whistle to my lips to stop him, but he continued over to small grove of aspens. I followed intending to remind him what the commands were when he started digging.

"What has he found?" Chayton asked as he trotted over with Bingo. Snow joined Patch, digging furiously.

I swung my leg over Star's rump and slid down. I bumped Patch in the ribs to get his attention and blew the whistle with the sharp short sit command. He backed away from the hole and sat reluctantly. Snow followed his lead.

"Shit Chayton."

He was already on his phone. So much for our holiday.