Polly rounded the corner and deftly sidestepped the two farmers talking about the upcoming planting season, and hurriedly continued on. When Rachel came to the saloon and said that Lou wanted her at the Marshal’s office she immediately turned the few patrons in the bar out and closed up. She walked into the office and saw Lou sitting in a chair with Kid standing beside her, Buck standing near the stove and Rachel and Adelle sitting in the other chair.

   "What’s wrong?" she asked Lou, crossing over to her.

   "I’m fine," Lou assured her. "It’s not me, it’s Alexis."

    The worry lines in Polly’s brow eased some, but didn’t disappear completely. "What happened?"

    Lou explained about waiting outside for Kid with Jimmy and looking up and seeing Alexis and her anguished expression. She told of Jimmy going after her, and how that had been some time ago.

   "I’m worried about her," Rachel said. "She’s becoming so thin and pale."

   "I know," Polly agreed. "I can’t get her to eat, and I hear her movin’ around her room all hours of the night. I just don’t know how to reach her."

   "Well, maybe Jimmy can," Rachel said hopefully, but feeling defeated even as she spoke. By the look on the other two women’s faces they felt the same way. Even though she was being more civil to Jimmy, Alexis was still keeping her distance from him.

   "We can hope, but I’m not so sure," Lou said. She looked over at Kid and Buck standing near the stove, trying to look inconspicuous. "Buck?"

    He looked up, "Huh?"

   "Has Jimmy said anything to you, something he ain’t said to the rest of us?"

   "He hasn’t said much, aside from a few muttered cursings under his breath about her bein’ stubborn. I just know he’s worried ‘bout her. I think we all are."

    Silence fell over the room’s occupants, as they sat there wondering what they should do. Kid walked up to Lou and softly touched her shoulder.

   "Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

    She nodded as she hid her smile. He had seen her stifled yawns, and knew she wasn’t sleeping well at nights. It was hard to find a comfortable position now days. She couldn’t deny she was tired, but she didn’t want to leave until she knew her friend was all right. Kid squeezed her shoulder and she knew he understood. Apparently after a couple years of marriage he finally realized the situations she would dig her heels in on and refuse to budge. When it came to family, he understood there was no talking her out of anything.

    A soft noise caught Lou’s attention and she looked toward the source. Rachel had stood and was rocking Adelle in her arms as the young girl arched her back and rubbed her eyes.

   "Well, sweet girl," Rachel cooed, "I guess we better get you home for your nap. Come on, let’s go say bye-bye to Daddy before we go."

    She gathered her things and headed for the door, getting assurances from Polly that they would let her know what happened. As she opened the door and turned towards the blacksmith shop, Rachel stopped. "Would you look at that?"

   "What?" Polly and Lou asked almost in unison.

    A huge smile crossed Rachel’s face. "There, comin’ up the street."

    Everyone spilled out of the office onto the boardwalk and looked out past the blacksmith shop and the old Pony Express barn. Jimmy was walking with his arm around Alexis, supporting her as she leaned into his side. They walked slowly, heads leaning toward each other, seemingly oblivious to those around them.

    Jimmy raised his head as they drew closer, almost as if he could feel eyes watching him, and met the looks of the gathered group. The look on his face revealed no answers to their unspoken questions, and everyone knew they would not find out today what happened with the pair. Turning his attention back to Alexis, Jimmy continued to lead her through the street and around the corner towards Polly’s house. When they were out of sight, a collective breath was let out from the group.

   "Well, somethin’ sure changed," Rachel commented.

   "Indeed it has," Polly replied with a smile. "Now that I know she’s bein’ well taken care of, I better get back to the bar. It’s not good for business to close down in the middle of the day."

    The two women headed off and Lou slipped her arm around Kid, leaning into him. "I’m ready to go home now Kid."

    Kid smiled and nodded his head. Family. Now that she knew everyone in her family was safe, she was ready to go. "Alright, Lou. We can stop and pick up Teresa and Jeremiah on our way home."

    He helped her to the buckboard and safely up into the seat. Climbing up and grabbing the reins he looked over at Buck, standing inside the doorway of the Marshal’s office.

   "Be safe you two," Buck said as he let his eyes sweep over the ever blackening clouds. The pair drove off and Buck turned and walked inside, shutting the door behind him. He sat down at his desk and picked up his coffee, prepared to have a long afternoon by himself. The storm would keep many people inside, and he didn’t expect Jimmy to return any time soon.

    Jimmy opened the door using the key he pulled out of the drawstring purse that hung limply from Alexis’s hand, and ushered her inside out of the wind. The sky was growing ever darker and he could barely make out the shapes of furniture. She walked into the sitting room and sank onto the sofa, pulling her coat tight around her. Jimmy quickly set about getting a fire lit in the fireplace. Once the kindling was going and the flames licking at the larger pieces of wood, he walked over to Alexis and sat down beside her.

    He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She molded herself to his side and a soft sigh escaped her lips. Jimmy smiled, and squeezed her gently. He stared into the growing fire, and rubbed his hand gently across her arm, feeling the cold escaping from her coat. "You warm enough?"

   "I’m sure I’ll warm up with the fire," she replied, not raising her head off his shoulder.

   "Here, let’s get this coat off you. I’m sure there’s a blanket somewhere in this house that’s warmer."

    Alexis took off her coat and handed it to Jimmy who was standing in front of her waiting. Her face lit up with a gentle smile as he hung it up and then brought over a shawl, wrapping it softly around her shoulders before sitting beside her once more. He leaned back, pulling her close against his chest as he wrapped his arms securely around her.

   "You’re half frozen," he said.

    A small laugh bubbled up into her throat. "I’ll be fine Jimmy."

   "I know," he replied. "Doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you."

   "I don’t think you ever stopped," she smirked, reveling in the comfort of his embrace.

   "No, I never did," he said, his voice losing its laugh and growing tender. "I’m sorry for pushin’ you ‘Lexis."

   "I know, I’m sorry as well."

    Silence fell over them and Jimmy gently cleared his throat. He hated to bring up the subject, dredge up painful memories for Alexis, but he wanted to put this subject behind them tonight. Once they dealt with it, they could freely move forward with their lives.

   "How did you find out?" he asked gently.

    There was no need to ask what, she knew what he was referring to. It was hanging between them, and she knew it was time to finally deal with it since she’d been running from it for too long.

   "Little over a year ago," she started out in a small voice and Jimmy wrapped his arms tighter around her. "I took a fall from my horse, got banged up pretty good. When the doc was takin’ care of the ribs I bruised, he saw the scars and asked what happened. I told him about Robert and losing the baby, and he said I may never be able to have children considerin’ everything that happened."

   "I’m sorry," Jimmy said in a thick voice. "That’s why you were pushing me away? You thought I’d turn my back on you again?"

    He tightened his arms around her and placed a kiss on her head. "I won’t. It doesn’t matter to me. You believe that don’t you?"

    Alexis turned so she could look at him directly. "I do Jimmy. For so long I thought it was impossible for any man to know and not run."

    She placed her hand on his arm and look up into his eyes, "But I believe you Jimmy. I’m sorry I doubted you."

    Jimmy gently brushed a stray lock of hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. "We’ve both done some things I’m sure we could apologize until next month for. Right now it doesn’t matter to me. Teaspoon taught me that you can spend your life livin’ in the past or you can move forward. I’ve been stuck in place for too long ‘Lexis, I want to move forward. I want to move forward with you."

    Tears welled up in her eyes and before they could spill over Jimmy pulled her close and kissed her tenderly. Too much time had been wasted and he didn’t plan on losing any more. He pulled her close again and she rested her head on his shoulder, once more molding herself into his side as she drew closer. Staring into the fire, Jimmy was sure that at this moment he couldn’t possibly be any happier. The woman he loved was finally by his side.

    Jimmy felt his head roll to the side and he snapped it up quickly, blinking as he looked around. He had no idea how long he’d been sitting on the sofa with Alexis, but he realized it was long enough for the fire to start to die. They had sat together, sometimes talking, mostly just reveling in their renewed relationship. Both were relieved that all pretenses had finally been dropped and they seemed to be on the path to a new start.

    After all the pain of the past, Jimmy couldn’t believe Alexis was wrapped safely in his arms. He thought he’d lost her forever after he’d turned his back on her to go off with Rosemary. When she finally told him the real reason she’d been pushing him away, he’d been surprised at first. He wouldn’t deny that to himself, but it wasn’t enough to make him turn his back on Alexis as she’d feared. He wanted nothing more than to raise a family with her, but having children was not the most important thing. He loved her and he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

    It was almost a startling realization as that thought came to Jimmy. For so long he’d never focused much on the future. He remembered asking Lou one time why should he look to the future if he didn’t know what was coming up behind him. The Legend of ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok that J.D. Marcus wrote had caused so much trouble in his life that he didn’t feel it would be fair to ask anyone to share it with him. How could he ask someone to become a target or a means of getting to him just because he was selfish enough to want a wife?

    Now his feelings were different. He always knew that there would be people looking for ‘Wild Bill,’ but he was learning not to let the fear of that completely run his life. Lou told him he shouldn’t always push women away, because he just might find someone who was strong enough to share his life with him. For a while he’d thought and hoped that woman would be Lou, but that simply hadn’t happened. When he met Alexis the first time, on the run from Jake Colter and her husband’s brothers, he thought he might have found someone strong enough to be with him. They’d really been starting down that path until he stupidly gave it all up to run off with Rosemary.

    Jimmy shook his head and refused to follow that line of thinking. It was the past; he couldn’t change it no matter how much he wished. The most important thing was that Alexis seemed to have forgiven him, or at least seemed willing to do so. He had a chance to start over with her and he was determined to take it. He knew he loved her and wanted to marry her, just like he knew he wanted to be with her again from the first time he saw her at Nathan and Celinda’s house. He was content to wait however long it took for Alexis to agree to marry him, no matter how much time she needed.

    Jimmy looked down at Alexis nestled against him, her soft breathing telling him she had fallen asleep. It was a moment he didn’t want to disturb for fear that the spell might be broken and he wouldn’t get it back, but he knew they couldn’t stay as they were forever. He had responsibilities to attend to, Polly would probably be home soon, and he knew Alexis would get a crick in her neck if she slept all night curled up as she was.

    Slowly disentangling himself, he stood and lifted her into his arms. He carried her down the short hall to her bedroom and placed her gently on her bed. He lit the lamp on the table beside the bed and turned it down so it gave just enough light that he wouldn’t trip over the furniture. Carefully lifting her feet he picked up the thick quilt and spread it out to cover her with. After he tucked it around her shoulders he brushed her hair off her face and then turned to leave.

   "Jimmy?"

    He was almost to the door when her voice, still thick with sleep, broke the silence. Jimmy turned and was at her side with three long strides. The desperation in her voice and her face had him holding her hands with one of his while he placed the other on her shoulder.

   "Shhh," he said softly. "Just go back to sleep. You look worn out. I’ll see you tomorrow, promise."

    He brushed a kiss on her cheek and started to rise, but she hung on to him and looked up pleading, "Please don’t go."

   "’Lexis?" Her worried tone concerned him. She wasn’t asking him to stay as a lover would; there was something almost frightening her.

   "Please stay," she repeated, a half smile forced on her face. "I just…I…"

   "’Lexis, what’s wrong?"

   "I haven’t been sleeping," she said. She didn’t want to tell him about the haunting dreams of Robert, his taunting voice that echoed in her mind even after she woke up, or the fear she had of falling asleep.

    Jimmy wished he could smooth the worry from her brow. "You’ve just been worried. It’s alright now."

   "No, it’s…I just…could you at least stay until I fall asleep?" she finally asked.

    There was no way Jimmy could refuse. After weeks of Alexis pushing him away, she was reaching out to him, asking him for help, needing him. He knew what this meant for her to ask. She had long since proved to him that she was capable of taking care of herself and he never thought otherwise. So for her to ask for him to stay, to be there for her, there was simply no way he could say no. Especially not after all the progress they made today.

    He knew there was something bothering her, more than the stress and worry she’d had of keeping him away. There was a frightened tone in her voice. If she didn’t want to tell him now, that was all right, he’d wait. They’d had one major breakthrough today; he wasn’t about to push any further.

    He smiled down at her and said, "Sure, anything you want."

    She sat up and hugged him tightly. "Thank you Jimmy."

    Jimmy slowly walked into the dimly lit room and stopped at the foot of the bed. Slow, labored breathing could be heard, and Jimmy didn’t know if that should comfort him. He’d failed her. He’d failed to prevent this, and now she was laying there, struggling for every breath. Walking to the chair by the bedside he sat down and reached out for her hand.

   "Come on, ‘Lexis, you gotta wake up. We need you here, darling. Our little Princess, she keeps asking me when her mommy is gonna wake up. She doesn’t understand why she can’t come see you. She thinks you’ve had the baby and she wants to come see her baby brother."

    He placed one hand on her swollen stomach and blinked back the tears from his eyes. The doctor was concerned about the baby. He’d worked quickly to close the wound in Alexis’s shoulder, but he was fearful she might have lost too much blood. He told Jimmy they may have to perform surgery to remove the baby if Alexis failed to make it, but it may already be too late. That was a possibility Jimmy didn’t even want to face, but the more time that passed without her waking up his hope began to fade.

    Jimmy dropped his head and a few tears fell onto the bed. He hadn’t slept more than a few hours in the two days since Alexis had been shot. His mentor and friend, Teaspoon, had been killed rushing out to help him, and he’d been unable to prevent either of them from getting hurt. The shooters had disappeared without a trace, causing Jimmy even more pain. If he’d been able to find them, find out why, if he’d been able to accomplish anything, he wouldn’t be tearing himself up as much as he was now.

    Teaspoon was now buried, and every day he searched for any clue about the shootings. But the persons responsible were getting farther and father away and Jimmy feared he’d never find them. But he couldn’t share that fear with anyone. He was the marshal; it was his job to find the people who did this. His daughter didn’t understand what happened to her mother, and every night he came to the doctor’s clinic and prayed and pleaded and tried to will Alexis to wake up.

   "’Lexis, sweetheart, please," he whispered, tears sliding down his cheeks. "Please wake up. I’ll find who did this to you and Teaspoon, but you have to wake up. I can’t leave you. I have to know you’re going to be alright."

    He was so tired and he longed to hold her, so he carefully lay down beside her on the bed. Their unborn child pressed between them, Jimmy tenderly reached up and lightly touched her cheek. It was warm to the touch, and he wanted to be hopeful that the chill of death was not setting in, but the doctor said it was probably a fever.

    Their lives weren’t supposed to be like this. They were supposed to raise their children, watch their children get married and become parents, and enjoy their lives together. She couldn’t leave him now. He couldn’t live knowing he had failed her, their daughter and his friend.

    He cradled her in his arms, gently pulling her closer. Tears fell freely on her hair, and the comforting darkness of sleep tugged at his body until he finally fell asleep.

    Alexis awoke, disoriented and slow to open her eyes. It had been so long since she’d slept without being plagued by dreams of Robert or Jimmy walking away from her. She couldn’t remember the reason for her deep slumber, until she felt strong arms squeeze her tightly. She hadn’t shared her bed with anyone for so long, that at first she was frightened, until she remembered the evening with Jimmy.

    Jimmy knew the truth and he hadn’t walked away from her. They’d returned to Polly’s house and spent the evening talking until she had fallen asleep. She’d begged Jimmy not to leave her, to stay with her until she’d fallen asleep after he moved her to her room. She realized that he must have fallen asleep as well.

    In the dim light of the lamp on her table, she looked up at him, taking in every feature of his face. In sleep the lines on his face were softened, but the firm determination that was such a part of his countenance, remained. She brushed a strand of hair from his face and noticed that tears were on his cheeks. Gently, she wiped the moisture from his cheek and snuggled into his chest. They may have made progress today, but there were still things they needed to talk about. Some day she’d tell him about her troubling dreams with Robert, and she hoped that one day he’d be able to tell her what demons were haunting him.

On to Chapter 19!