Kid stood there in the barn, his mouth slightly open. He replayed their conversation in his mind... again and again... the words still seemed to make no sense.

Jimmy Hickok made her feel like a woman, a real woman! She had all but come out and said it. What happened? What had he missed? How long had things been growing between them? Kid couldn't fathom it... had she and Jimmy? Nah- Lou would never, not his Lou....

Ike walked into the barn as Kid stood there wrapped in his own world. Ike was concerned about his friend and stood before him signing questions that Kid didn't see.

Taking matters into his own hands, Ike took a bucket full of water and dowsed Kid with it. The Kid came around in a second, his arms waved as he spit out the water that he had almost swallowed. "IKE! What the -?"

Ike shook Kid looking him dead in the eye, What happened?

Kid shook his head..."It's awful Ike, I don't know what to do." He sucked in a breath as he tried to find the words, "It seems like everywhere I turn, my world is falling apart! I don't understand what Lou is going through... she won't talk to me and what's worse... She's spending all her free time with Jimmy!"

Ike stood still, watching his friend pace the length of the barn. After a moment the Kid looked up, "Well?" he asked.

Ike raised his hands slowly and began to sign, Is it that Lou does not talk to you, or, he paused, phrasing his gestures carefully, is it that you won't listen. His peace said, Ike left the barn.

Late that afternoon Jimmy Hickok rode into the waystation exhausted.. the ride was hard, but nothing special. What weighed hard on his mind and body was the thought of facing Kid again.

Riding over the dusty roads Jimmy had ample time to come to a decision. It was time to stop avoiding the issue.

He entered the bunkhouse and found Kid sitting at the table. In a moment Kid was on his feet and the two men faced each other in the middle of the room.

From where they stood at the fence Noah and Cody watched Hickok enter the bunkhouse, "Time?"

Noah looked at his watch, "I give them 5 minutes before a chair comes through the door."

"Three." They shook hands and turned back to watch Buck school one of the horses.

Lou rode up and Jesse took her horse. Lou thanked him... all she wanted to do was grab some clean clothes and, she stopped outside the bunkhouse door.

"You've got some nerve askin' me that Kid!"

She let go of the door knob and stood there, held captive by her heart.

"Well, I had t' know if the two of you had..."

"You shouldn't have to ask... you know Lou-"

"That's the thing," Kid argued, "I don't think I do." Jimmy backed off a step and leaned against one of the bunks, Kid continued, "I don't know how, but I missed it. I had this vision of Lou and me. How our lives would be... and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get her to see it."

"Now I realize that I was the problem... I spend so much time shielding her from the world I had blinded myself to the truth." He looked over to the bunk where she slept everynight, where her dresses were hidden in her trunk. "She became a woman in spite of me."

Kid became silent for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. There was a fire in Lou's eye, one he knew deep down inside, he couldn't match. He saw it when she took the hand off at the station, when she guarded a friend's back in a fight, and when she rode hellbent to be there for her family.

"I spent so much time tryin' to 'refine' her that I missed seeing the fine woman she already was." He looked back at his friend, "but you saw it."

Jimmy kept his mouth shut... so far Kid was doin' a fine job of whippin' himself... "I guess I am the mule-headed one of the bunch, huh, Jimmy?"

"If you say so."

"Just tell me one thing," Jimmy nodded, "What does she mean to you Jimmy? What can you offer her?"

Jimmy laid his hat on his bed, "Nothing, ... except my life." Kid looked up as Jimmy's tone shocked him... this came straight from his heart. "You know how I feel about the future Kid. I always have someone doggin' me where ever I go. I can't do much to change that, but what I can tell you is that no matter what, I will do everything I can to keep her safe, but I want her right be my side for whatever time I got on this earth."

"And when things get bad..." Kid questioned?

"Doesn't matter - rich or poor, thin or flush all I need is her."

Kid stood there for a minute... thinking on what Jimmy had said... and walked to the door.

On the other side of the door, Lou felt like a feather could knock her over. She couldn't see him, but Jimmy's voice had her entranced.

She once more moved to the door, but it opened before she could touch the knob. Kid stepped out and stopped when he saw her.

He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw the look in her eyes... he knew she had heard them... how much? He didn't know, but he knew it had been enough.

"Lou," he paused and looked away from her sweet brown eyes, "I think you should talk to Jimmy..."

"I know Kid," she leaned forward and kissed his cheek tenderly, her eyes closed. She never saw the tear in his eye before she turned and walked in the bunkhouse.

Jimmy stilled when he heard Kid's steps stop so abruptly on the porch... he knew she had been there. He didn't look up at the door... he didn't move ... he didn't breathe.

"Jimmy?" His heart pounded when he heard her voice, "Jimmy, I ..."

He started to turn away, but stopped himself.. he was going to face her, now.

She was just a few inches away and looking straight into his face. "I never knew..."

He tried to straighten up, to put some distance between them. She had other ideas... she grabbed the collar of his shirt. "Jimmy Hickok, the only thing I want in this life is to be right by your side.... today, tomorrow, however long God grants us." Jimmy leaned into her embrace as their lips met in a kiss. Like the kiss they shared that night by the fire, this kiss was filled with all the longing and passion within them. It promised many more of the same and as they clung to each other, they realized what they had found together - love... and complete acceptance.