Kathleen was startled by the harsh knock on her door. She let the hairbrush rest on the bed and went to answer.

"Who is it?" she asked, holding the doorknob, waiting.

"It's me, Buck. Open up, I gotta talk to you!"

Kathleen unlocked the door and let him in, s wild look in his eyes concerning her.

"What's wrong, Buck?" she asked.

"I gotta know, Katie, how's it gonna be this time?" he asked directly, still panting from the hard ride into town and the run up the stairs.

"What do you mean? Buck, calm down and tell me what you're talking about," she spoke softly, Buck taking a deep breath.

First now he realized she had been in bed until just moments before he came - she was only dressed in her white lace nightgown, her hair just sorted out on one side.

"The way things ended last time, I gotta know what you're asking from me now," he said.

"I'm not asking anything from you," she assured with a frown, still not sure she understood what he meant.

"Don't you? No hidden meanings, no other men, no lies?"

"Buck, I never lied to you. I understand if you don't believe me, but I never lied. Not once. You said yesterday you were falling in love with me, and I didn't answer, 'cuz I was afraid I'd lie. But I've thought about it now, and I'm falling for you too. I mean it, Buck," she spoke honestly, taking his damp face in her hands, looking him deep in the eyes.

"You sure?" the words came out like a whisper, and he met her eyes with a fear he'd see something he didn't want to see. But her eyes smiled at him.

"Positive," she smiled, kissing him.

He kissed her back, taking her face in his trembling hands, frenetically moving toward the bed. She followed him, letting him pull her down, remove her nightgown. She pulled at his jacket, managed to get it off with some effort. They made passionate, desperate love, neither of them thinking any more on lies and past events. It seemed for a moment there was no past, just the present.

Lou had watched Buck ride off, and wondered in what state he would return home. She hoped he would at least be alright with some time. She had watched him heal once before cause of this woman, and she knew she didn't want to see it again. The heartache her friend had gone through had been painful for them all to watch, but Buck had unwillingly allowed her to be the one to hear the details. She had offered a shoulder to cry on, and even if it never came to just that, he had shared with her all the feelings he had for Kathleen. Or thought he had.

She watched the men work by the barn - mending the broken windows and fences. Jeremiah and Theresa were painting the walls where necessary. She walked over to help them, but couldn't get the thoughts of Buck and Kathleen out of her head. She wanted to tell somebody, but knew Buck would hate her forever if she betrayed his confidence. So she kept silent, but Kid instantly noticed there was something wrong. But, gentleman as he was, he too kept quiet about it.

Buck took Kathleen's hands in his and kissed her fingers. She giggled softly, blushing slightly. She had lead him to the alley behind the hotel, where she felt they could talk in private.

"Stop it, listen to me," she begged, unable to stop giggling at his behavior.

"I don't wanna listen," he smiled wistfully, causing her to sigh deeply, in both frustration and amusement.

"Please, just for a minute."

"I'm counting."

She sighed again, swatting at his chest. "Shut up. Now, my father wants me to learn everything at the bank, so I can take over. Or actually, so I can teach my husband to take over, when daddy resigns," she started, not realizing what effect her words had on Buck.

"You're married?!" he cried.

"No, no, silly, I'm not married!" she assured him. "Let me finish. My father wants me to marry as soon as possible, and then he and I will teach, whoever that will be that I marry, to run the business. You with me? Good. So, I have to spend a lot of time at the bank with my father, but I want to see you tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yes. Is that alright with you?"

"I think so... When?" he asked eagerly.

"Around seven? Here, at the hotel restaurant?"

"Sure," he smiled, kissing her fingers again.

"I'm not finished just yet," she smiled, pulling her hands back. "Now, I'll be at the bank until six, and if you could be there too by then, that would be perfect," she said.

"Why so early?"

"I want you to make peace with my father."

Buck's face fell, the spark in his eyes dying instantly.

"No, I can't do that. He'll kill me."

"No, he wouldn't! You saved him, and me, from Rance. He owes you his life!" she smiled.

"You make it sound so easy. But I know better, I'm sorry," he nodded firmly, taking a step back.

"Buck, you'll be fine! He would never hurt you, he'd hire someone for that!" she smiled, walking toward him again.

Buck smiled too, but shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'd love to have dinner with you at seven, but don't count on meeting me at the bank."

"Okay," she sighed, looking down, turning around.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, walking after her.

"I was just hoping you would be the one to learn the business, that's all," she said, turning to him with honest eyes.

Buck was stunned, flattered and at the same time confused. It hadn't yet been twenty-four hours since they re-met after all that time, but she was already proposing to him. Or was she...?

"Katie, I don't know what to say," he said, walking up to embrace her.

"It's okay, don't say anything. I shouldn't have said that, I'm moving too fast aren't I?"

He hugged her tightly against his chest, leaning his chin on her head.

"Ask me again in a week," he smiled, feeling her body quiver against him in soft laughter.

Buck reluctantly returned to the station, where everyone looked his way without speaking. He knew he should explain his behavior earlier, but felt they had some explaining to do themselves. Or at least, he expected to hear one or two of them apologize. He put his horse in a corral and walked toward the bunkhouse.

"Nice of him to lend a helping hand…" Cody muttered, Jimmy and Kid looking at each other.

"You can't blame him for being upset, we crossed the line this morning," Kid said, leaning down to pick up a plank on the ground.

"Yeah, but it's been hours!" Jimmy argued, waving the axe he was holding.

"Take it easy with that, Jimmy! Help me instead," Cody whined, grabbing a saw.

Jimmy picked up the other end, but his eyes never left the figure on the bunkhouse porch, dusting off his jacket before disappearing inside.

"Buck, are you sure you're doing the right thing? I don't want to sound like the enemy, but have you really thought things through?"

Buck looked up at Lou with a sigh. She was making sandwiches for her younger siblings, who were seated at the table waiting.

"As a matter of fact, I have," he said proudly.

"Oh? And what did you come up with?"

"That I'm having dinner with her at seven," he said, leaving the bunkhouse before she could argue.

"Buck!" she called but he was already outside.

Jeremiah and Theresa heard their older sister growl something, and they looked nervously at each other. They both recalled how their sister would behave when she was angry. They drank their milk and ate the sandwiches without commenting the conversation.

Chapter Four

Buck helped his friends with the barn and horses until it was time to leave for town. Kid, Jimmy and Cody had waited for Buck to say something about their behavior earlier, but he had remained silent about it and focused on his work. They figured it was up to them to apologize, but they still wanted to hear who this woman was. But before they could say anything about it, Buck had ridden off again.

"Lou, where's Buck going?" Kid asked.

"It's not because of us, is it?" Cody cut in.

"Yeah, we weren't fair before, he has every right to be mad at us," Jimmy said, sitting down by the table, where dinner was just about finished.

"He's going to have dinner with his new friend. It's not because of you," Lou stated plainly, casually placing a pot on the table and returned to the stove.

"You sure?" Kid asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll talk to him again later, I feel like I should apologize," she said.

"Us too, we had no right to make fun of him like that," Jimmy said morosely.

They contemplated what Jimmy had just spoken and their eyes glanced around the room for a minute.

"But I'm still worried about him," Lou said finally."What if it doesn't work out?"

"Yeah, it wasn't all that long ago Ike died," Kid said, sitting down beside Jimmy.

"I know, he's still healing in a way... More heartache wouldn't make anything better..." Lou stated.

"Come on, who says it's not gonna work out?" Cody asked.

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked.

"You're taking for granted that it won't work out, but what if this womanhe's met is, you know, the one?"

Lou bit her lip. As much as she wished Cody was right, she knew what Kathleen had done before. She nodded silently, placing the last pot on the table and was seated. They soon started a new conversation, but in the back of Lou's mind the memories of Buck's pain played non-stop. She had to smile occasionally to pretend she was into the subject the others discussed. But her husband knew something was wrong, and decided to ask her about it later.

Buck took off his hat and walked nervously to the stairs, across the hotel lobby. He only just touched the first step when he saw Kathleen on the top, smiling at him.

"I thought I'd save you the trouble of coming upstairs," she said lightly, holding her skirts high as she carefully descended the stairs.

Buck shook his head in disbelief over her beauty. The dress she was wearing was slimly closing around her upper body, only to spread widely below her waist. It was clear burgundy, which made her hair seem more blonde than before. The dark fabric ended in a low V-cut, and instead a white, very delicate and almost see-through material covered her upper chest, ending in a high neck. A dazzling brooch, also dark red, was pinned straight under her chin. The white material also covered her wrists, being attached to one finger of every hand, and followed her when she moved them. The middle part of her gorgeous dress was basically a burgundy corset, tied together with crossing ribbons of the same color. They ended in a rosette at the very point of the V-cut, right between her breasts. Buck drew a deep breath and had to look up at her face to keep his self-control. She smiled widely, reaching out to loop her arm through his.

"Did I ever tell you, you look great," he smiled, and she giggled in reply. He noticed a pair of white pearl earrings decorating both sides of her face, and with the cork-screw curls her hair had been formed into, her looks couldn't possibly improve. He smiled again, walking proudly beside her into the parlor of the hotel restaurant.

"I almost feel like I don't do you justice," he whispered into her ear, referring to his simple, but fresh choice of clothing.

She threw him a quick look, stated he was dressed in a white shirt, his usual black vest and a pair of brown trousers. He had bothered to tie his hair into a pony tale, combing it all backwards with water.

"You look great," she whispered back, smiling into his still not fully convinced eyes.

They seated at a table far from the windows, and were almost alone at that part of the room. Eating and chatting was no problem for Buck, but the wine she insisted he drank made him feel slightly dizzy. He made no comment about it, just sipped at the dark drink every now and then, and somehow felt more and more at ease the more he swallowed. He remembered he had refused to drink wine the last time they shared a meal together, then a picnic, but this time he had no excuse. He had tasted wine once or twice before, but never this much. He hoped it wouldn't make him do anything stupid, though he couldn't think of anything they hadn't yet done.

"At least this time you didn't have to open the bottle with that knife of yours," Kathleen smiled widely, the memory of how the cork broke for her, when she tried to open the bottle on their picnic, playing in her head. And Buck's. He chuckled.

"No, and I'm glad. And I think most people in here are too," he smiled, Kathleen's soft giggle reaching his ears like a melody.

"We should do it again sometime," she said, raising her glass to her mouth.

"I'll drink to that," Buck agreed with a smile, raising his glass too. Their glasses met slowly, and as they both drank, their eyes met just as sensually.

Kid watched Lou pace the room back and forth.

"What's the matter, you've been walking on needles all day," he finally said, content to have her back at the bed.

"The woman Buck's been seeing the past two days…" she replied, knowing she could trust Kid to not spread the word, but still hated herself for betraying Buck.

"Who is she? You sure seem to know," Kid stated, pulling her to his chest, waiting for her to clear her thoughts before answering.

"Do you remember that woman Buck was with about a year ago? After that horse race he won?"

"Kathleen Devlin," Kid stated, voice dark and harsh.

"I believe he's really fallen for her, again, and I just feel like he's gonna get hurt, again."

Kid felt the hopelessness in his wife's voice, only nodded silently, hugging her closer.

"What is she doing here now, I thought she left?"

"I don't know, Kid, but what if she's just out to hurt him again?"

Kid sighed deeply.

"I hope she ain't. And somehow it just feels like that is none of our business. If Buck loves her, we should support him, no matter how things turn out. I think we all need to apologize to him in the morning," he said.

Lou nodded silently, thinking how much like Teaspoon her husband had turned out. Always had wise things to say, and since their marriage he seemed to think things through at least twice before acting. She loved him for it, and sank into his embrace with a wide smile.

Buck and Kathleen walked hand in hand through town, both just content with the silence. They stopped at the livery stables, leaning against a corral fence, watching the stars and the moon.

"It's full," Kathleen's word broke the silence.

"Huh?"

"The moon. It's full," she smiled, looking up toward the bright planet, seeming to want to reach it's surface with her eyes.

"Yeah, it is..." Buck said with a smile, looking up too, but his eyes soon fell on her face instead.

They shared a passionate kiss, looking deep into the other ones eyes. No words were necessary to explain what they felt for each other at that moment, and Buck felt dizzy just from thinking about her. They clasped each others hands again and walked toward the hotel. Buck felt himself falter slightly, staying on his feet thanks to Kathleen's grip of his sleeve.

"Are you drunk or something?" she laughed, leaning against his shoulder as if daring him to sway again.

"Either that or it's you," he smiled back.

"Me? Innocent little me?" she giggled, kissing his cheek briefly.

"Nah, it's the wine, now that I think of it," he said jokingly, receiving a light slap on the arm as the woman by his side laughed uncontrollably.

"And I believe someone else has had a little too much as well," he added.

"What are you gonna do about it?" she asked, a light of challenge in her beautiful eyes.

"Oh, believe me, I have that part all figured out," he whispered huskily in her ear, rushing toward the hotel with her - still laughing - holding his hand.

Feedback is welcome!

Fan Fiction Main Page