Cami waited patiently on the steps to her house, keeping her eyes fixed on the road. No sign of Buck. The dance was soon to start at the other end of town and her date hadn't shown up yet. She cursed silently and threw an eye through one of the sitting room windows, where she could see the clock on the wall. Less than five minutes left. Her sister and brother had left already and her parents kept glancing out through the window. They had come back from their honeymoon just a while ago and were too tired to attend a dance, but they were more than happy to see all of their children going. Even young Michael had been asked to join a group of boys his age. But they must have realized by now their youngest daughter would miss her first dance, and that she would be stood up on her first official date. They must have understood by now that she was made fun of, sitting there all alone in her finest dress; a creation designed in Boston made out of finest dove blue silk from Europe and expensive white lace from Georgia. It embraced her perfectly around her waist and cascaded freely down to her ankles. Her hair, her precious auburn hair, had been laid by her sister in a very stylish way she had been taught at the theater in Denver, and a handful tiny pink roses made out of satin were piled up on top of her head. She looked so pretty she couldn't believe it herself, but she refused to sit indoors and wait for her beau. Besides, he was supposed to have been there by now.

Couples passed her continuously. Some she recognized, some she envied. They all laughed or smiled or at least held hands with their dates. Her date hadn't even shown yet. She both loved and hated him at the same time, since he was the most perfect man she had ever met, if only he could walk down that road. Now!

She had nearly given up on him when he finally came strolling down the road. She could see on his face as he came nearer that he was very happy. She immediately demanded to know why, since she had been sitting there all by herself waiting for him. He owed her an explanation.

"I just told everyone about us," he admitted and pulled her close to give her a kiss.

"You did? What happened? What did they say?" she asked nervously.

"Well, they accepted it..."

Cami could hear the tease in his voice and only grunted. "Really, what did they say?"

"Rachel's gonna be staring a little next time she sees you, but otherwise..." he trailed off again.

"Otherwise?" Cami asked impatiently.

"Otherwise they all want us to be happy," Buck concluded and smiled at his date. "Oh, except Lou maybe, she apparently went and got me a date for tonight. But that's not my problem, so I don't care."

Cami smiled and looped her arm through his, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I never thought people would take it so well," she admitted.

"Why wouldn't they?" Buck asked back rhetorically. Then he grew silent and stared at her before he continued to walk. "You look wonderful, by the way."

Cami smiled until her cheeks began to hurt, while looking at her gentleman with curious eyes. She had never seen him in a suit before. His hair had been combed back with water, but he hadn't tied it up like she had seen him do a couple of times before. She liked it better this way. "So do you," she said and continued to walk down the road with fast steps. Buck could tell she was anxious to get to the dance before it started.

Lou saw him walking through the crowd. She also saw a young woman at his side, whom she assumed had to be Cameelia; the woman Buck had told her about before. Catherine was stomping impatiently beside her and Lou felt her stomach tie up in a thousand knots. She had tried to explain to Catherine that Buck had somehow managed to get himself another date, but Catherine refused to accept it before she saw it with her own eyes. She had always found him husky and sexy, not to mention incredibly handsome, and accompanying him to a dance would have been a dream come true. Lou's promise he'd be available had almost made her heart stop. And now when she saw his date, it most definitely did.

"You?!" she spat in shock.

Cami looked up with wide eyes, staring into her sister's face. "Hi, Cath."

Lou and Buck exchanged glances, none more surprised than the other. "You know each other?" Lou asked carefully.

"She's my sister!" Catherine sighed agitatedly and took a step back to look at the couple in front of her. Yep, just what one could expect, she thought. Being played by my own sister!

"Where's your date?" Cami asked her sister who snorted.

"Oh, he's probably swingin' it with some other young lady," Catherine chuckled sarcastically and gave Buck a hard glare. He only frowned back and glanced at Lou again. A much too young lady, Catherine thought angrily but dared not voice her hurt feelings.

"Is this..?" Buck asked.

Lou nodded and bit her lip. "Catherine, I'm sorry this had to happen, I lay it all on myself."

"Oh, don't. I'll have found me another man before the night's come to an end!"

She walked off as gracefully as she could; she tried to sway her hips to make Buck jealous of any other man she might find herself and realize what he'd missed. But he only turned to Lou and gave her a wry face. "Go figure," he muttered and Cami finally tore her eyes off her sister's backside.

"Wonder what got to her... Anyway, now you've met everyone in the family," she said and tried to hide her frown. What just happened here?