Emma was sat down at the porch with Mady next to her, just watching
the boys working. Like it had happened between Emma and Star, the
older woman was getting fond of Mady and considered the young girl
part of the family.
Star smiled at the sight of Mady, she had been through so much and
Star was glad to see her going so well. Although she seemed still
frightened and she didn’t let many people to be around her. Except
for Star, Emma , Ike and Teaspoon, the others had kept a certain
distance from Mady. Star let out a short laugh when she thought about
Ike’s role in that recovery; he had been around her since the day he
brought her in, even Buck was getting jealous.
Tilting her head slightly, Star looked from Gus to Cody. She couldn’t
believe Cody was married. It was so incredible; things had changed
some much since she had arrived a year before. Buck was busy looking
after Dakota, Star was trying to get closer to the Indian girl, but
she seemed so scared and fragile, Star feared she would cause the
girl some harm.
“Are you gonna help or not Star?” Jimmy asked annoyed. Teaspoon had
putted them to work on the fence, that had been destroyed by a wild
horse Star was trying to break it, “This is your fault”
“I was doing my job” Star replied back, pulling her tongue out to
Jimmy. The cocky gunfighter smiled and blushed when he caught Buck’s
gaze on him.
The sun was high and the heat was intense, Star watched the boys all
shirtless and didn’t think it was fair; they could stay like that but
she couldn’t it.
Leaving the work, she headed towards the barrel of water, Teaspoon
had placed next to them to ease the heat. Star filled a cup and
raising her head up, she let the water fall on her face and neck.
“Don’t you guys think Star is different?” Cody asked when the boys
stopped to watch Star.
“What ya mean by different?” Jimmy inquired not understand Cody’s
point.
“Grown up” Cody replied and signaled to her, “She ain’t the skinny
girl from a year ago..”
The boys examined Star, pondering about Cody’s discovery, she had
indeed changed but they had never looked at her in way different from
a brotherly way.
“She is the same Star” Jimmy groaned, “Now lets go back to work” he
ordered , the boys obeyed the perturbed Hickock and went back to
their chores.
Star took a long gulp of the water and licking her lips, she glanced
at the boys not realizing they were staring at her, she met Jimmy‘ s
staring her in a thoughtfully way; she gave him a bright smile and
seemed confused when he looked away quickly.
Star moved towards the boys again and there was an awkward
silence, “What?” she asked when they looked at her
“Nothing..” Buck said trying to remain serious.
Star narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, “What the
heck is happening here?”
“We were commenting how..” Cody started and Jimmy pulled him away
“Are you gonna help us with the work or what? ” Jimmy asked and
dropped the hammer in the ground, “Cause you wanna be like us but
while we work you keep showing yourself ”
“”What?” Star exclaimed furiously, “Showing myself? When?”
“Just now..” Jimmy replied and walked away, followed by an angry Star.
“There is something happening between those two” Cody commented, “I
can tell..” he added and laughed at the thought of the hothead Jimmy
Hickok in love with the stubborn Star O’Rilley.
“What are you talking about?” Star asked confused, following Jimmy
inside the stable.
“That thing with the water that you just did” Jimmy affirmed taking
his hat off and cleaning the sweat off his forehead with the back of
his hand.
“What thing?” the young woman still didn’t understand, “I was hot..”
she explained not seeing the big deal.
“Yes you were..” Jimmy breathed and Star raised one eyebrow in
confusion. Suddenly Jimmy stepped closer to Star and grabbed her face
roughly kissing her.
Star kissed him back immediately and placed her hand on his naked
chest, while Jimmy wrapped her arms around her small waist and held
her tightly.
When the kiss was broken, Jimmy and Star just stared at each other,
speechless and confused with the emotions that had surfaced and they
seemed not able to controlling.
“I don’t wanna see you doing that again” he affirmed storming out of
the stable.
“Jimmy?!!” Star shouted, “Damn you..”
“Are you going to work or what?” he yelled back and Star went after
him, she raised her arms up in frustration and receiving a smile from
Buck, she returned to the work and forgot about the kiss, or tried to.
“I still think we should have a dance” Star commented glancing at
Gus, who sat across from the table, “You just got married” the dark
haired girl pointed out.
“Its not a real marriage Star ” Emma said, looking up from her sewing
and catching each one of the girls looking hopefully at her.
“Its look real ..” Star replied with a frown and dropped herself on
the chair, with her arms over her chest, “ It could be a welcome
party too Emma..”
“How so?” the housekeeper asked as she stood up.
Star cleaned her throat and glanced at the girls; oddly Gus, Mady
and even Dakota seemed interested in the party idea.
“Well, we could celebrate Cody’s wedding ” Star started to explain,
picking her words carefully, “it would make the wedding more real and
it would work as a welcome party for Dakota, Mady and Gus ..”
“I don’t know..” Emma pondered and met Star’s brown eyes. That girl
had something in mind, Emma couldn’t help but think.
“We could do a barn dance” Gus mentioned and catch Star’s glare. It
was really strange how those girls had learned to read each other in
the short time they had met.
“I’m not sure that its a good idea” Emma replied and Star sighed in
frustration, “Mady ain’t healed up yet and Dakota ain’t used to our
way of life”
“I help Mady and Dakota ” Star stated and she moved closer to Mady
and touched her new friend’s shoulder, “ Come on Emma .. we can
invite some of the girls in town and this dance might help the girls
to blend in”
“Are you sure you are up to this Mady?” Emma asked concerned with how
the party could affect Mady.
The dark haired girl hesitated but forced a small smile, “If Star
think is a good idea I suppose it can’t cause any harm Emma” Mady
replied and shrugged.
“I’ll take care of you Mady” Star leaned over Mady and whispered.
Emma stared at each one of the girls for a few seconds, perhaps they
were right and this could be a good idea and would make it easy for
the new girls to interact with the people in town and even with the
boys at the station.
“I’ll discuss this with Mr. Spoon and we will see..” Emma finally
broke the silence and smiled at Dakota, who hadn’t said anything
against the idea, though Emma wasn’t sure how she would react to be
around the folks from the town.
“Thanks Emma” Star and Gus exclaimed together as Emma walked away.
Star gave Mady a quick hug and smiled at Dakota, “This is gonna be
fun girls.. I swear” the tomboy girl stated before she left to the
bunkhouse, it was past her bedtime, “See ya’ll in the morning”
In her way to the bunkhouse, she met Jimmy standing in the middle of
the yard; his glare fixed in her brown eyes as she moved towards him.
“Hey” he said quietly blushing slightly. Star didn’t say a word, the
kiss was still fresh in her mind and in her lips and she didn’t know
what to say to Jimmy.
“About what happened earlier today” Jimmy started and Star started
to shake her head.
“We don’t need to talk about it” Star replied seriously, “ It was the
sun and the heat” she added giving him an embarrassed smile, “It
didn’t mean anything..”
“Yes it did” Jimmy interrupted her and Star sighed, “it wasn’t the
heat or the sun.. I wanted to kiss you ..”
“Jimmy..” Star replied, somewhat afraid of everything she now started
to realize she was feeling, “I don’t want things to be different ..
not between you and me .. I need you.. you are my best friend”
“Nothing will change” Jimmy breathed as he stepped close to Star; she
bent over him, resting her head on his chest. Nor Jimmy or Star were
sure about their feelings and the last thing Jimmy wanted was to
scare Star away from him.
“You promise Jimmy?” she asked cocking he head up and meeting his
intense look.
“I promise” Jimmy replied and kissed her forehead. She gave him a
bright smile and again the gunfighter blushed, “Its late and we need
to get some sleep..” Jimmy affirmed and pulling the small girl by
the coat lapel headed to the bunkhouse.
The boys were all asleep when Jimmy and Star stepped in; in silence
their headed to their bunks. Jimmy helped Star to get on her bed,
that was atop of his and waited until she was under the blanket to
lay down.
“Good night Jimmy”
“Good night Star”
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