Chapter 31

JD opened his eyes slowly, letting the light sneak in a little at a time. He looked at the floor of his room, noticing the way the sun came straight in and stopped. “Damn” he said jumping out of bed. He knew what that meant. He had slept late. “Damn it all to hell” he cursed as he put one leg into his pants. He had wanted to get over to Mary’s and talk to Lilly early. “So much for that idea”.

JD had been bothered by what he had seen with Ezra in the saloon. He had gotten a bottle of whiskey and taken it back to his room to try to make some sense of it. He had only meant to drink a little, but by the powerful pounding in his brain, he knew he had more than just a little. He had drank until he passed out. Hoping Ezra had slept even later than him, he finished getting dressed and headed over to Mary’s.

The sun was shining brightly already. “Ah, my head is killing me” JD said as he emerged into the sunlight. He could tell it was going to be another beautiful day. It was full summer so the sun shone high in the sky. The sky was a bright blue, paled only by a few stray clouds floating here and there. There was a gentle breeze blowing, which was quite unusual for the desert, but always welcomed.

The town was still fairly quiet for an afternoon. JD wondered where everyone was. As he turned the corner, he heard laughing. He was delighted to see that Lilly, Billy, and Buck were out enjoying a friendly game of ball behind the Clarion Office. Buck had the afternoon guard.

JD’s breath hitched in his chest at the sight of his sister. Lilly looked especially beautiful, JD thought as he approached the playing field. She had her hair tied back in a ribbon, tendrils of hair flowing free around her face. She wore a tailored white blouse with tan pants. A brown leather vest completing the look. She had a radiant smile that made JD’s heart awaken. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt her, but she had to know.

“Well good afternoon, my dear brother. From the looks of those blood shot eyes of yours, I would venture to say that you must have had an interesting evening” she said as she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck, and hugging him tight. Buck was right behind her. Her collision with him caused his head to jerk back, sending daggers through his eyes.

“Oh me too, me too. I want some.” Buck said mockingly grabbing JD in a bear hug and lifting him off the ground. The pain in his head was unbearable.

Laughing, Lilly punched Buck on the arm. “Will you put him down?”

Buck dropped JD who grasped for air. Buck and Lilly both could see the look of concern on JD’s face. “JD, what is wrong? Has something happened?” Lilly said, a hint of panic on the edge of her voice.

Grabbing her hand, “No, well, not anything to do with Ben, if that is what you are concerned about.” JD said as he fidgeted with her hand, turning it over in his own hands.

“What a relief” she said letting the smile return to her face. “Well, then what is it?”

“Lilly, I need to tell you something.” JD said looking down at Lilly’s hand. Buck was standing beside her. Just then the ball hit Buck in the leg. Billy came running up.

“Hey, aren’t you guys gonna play anymore?” Billy asked in a pleading voice. “Please, will you still play.”

Buck looked at Lilly. “I got him.” he said as he turned his attention to the little boy. “Well, I think it is my turn.” Buck said as he stole the ball from Billy, and took off running. Billy loved the idea of chasing Buck. He laughed joyfully and followed

“Okay, JD. What is going on? You are starting to scare me.” Lilly said, the concern creeping back into her voice.

“Lilly. I ....ugh....well, ya see.....I was.”

“JD, stop that. I am your sister. You know that you can tell me anything.” she said placing her hand on JD’s arm.

“When we got back from Farmour last night, I went to the saloon and Ezra was in there.” JD stopped, examining Lilly’s face.

She laughed. “Well that is nothing new. Ezra is always at the saloon. Come on JD......” she said impatiently.

“Well, .....it’s like this. He was with one of the bar maids. He was really close with her, laughing and touching her...” JD waited for Lilly’s reaction

Lilly was shocked. That was the last thing she had expected JD to say. She didn’t want JD to see her concern, so she smiled. “JD, there could be an explanation for that. I don’t think that it means anything. Maybe, he was telling her a joke or something.” she said, turning away from JD. “Come on. Let’s go play with Billy before he wears poor Buck out.” She started to walk toward the field, brushing the idea completely out of her mind.

“Lilly, I heard him tell her that she couldn’t tell you. That you could never find out, and how glad he was that you were at Mary’s and would never know. And he was laughing about it Lilly, like it was some kind of game.”

“What kind of game?” she said spinning around on her heels to face him. She eyed him closely. “There is gotta be a mistake” was the only thing that continued to play through her mind.

JD was startled by the quickness of her movement, and pulled back. “Lilly, I don’t know. I couldn’t believe it. That is why I went right up behind him and heard it with my own two ears.” JD turned his eyes to the ground in front of him. “And there’s more.”

“More” she cried as she threw her hands up in the air, letting them fall hard down to her sides. “What more could there be? I think that is enough right there.”

JD could hear the pain in her voice. He could tell that she was just beginning to let what he was telling her sink in. He looked up at her with eyes full of sympathy. “Lilly, he left with her. I watched them leave the saloon and go over to the hotel together.”

Lilly was dumb-founded. She stood there staring at him, no movement for a couple of minutes, trying to process what she had just heard. He could see the tears building in her eyes.

Finally, she snapped. “JD, you’re lying” she yelled, fury in her eyes. She rushed him, ready to pummel him with her bare fists. Lucky for JD, Buck heard her first yells and came to investigate. He grabbed her from behind, holding on to her by the waist.

“You already tried this once. You tried to break me and Ezra up” she said as she struggled in Buck’s arms trying to get free, yet not seeming to realize that he was holding her. Her only attention was on JD. JD watched as her fury turn to sorrow. “Why are you doing this? You know I have feelings for him.” The tears fell from her eyes. JD could see in her face that she knew he wouldn’t lie to her. If he said that he heard it, she had to know it was true. What killed him was the look of betrayal that had begun to creep in.

Lilly finally realized that Buck had his arm around her waist. She turned her head up to him. Buck, seeing that she was more in control, let her go. Lilly took a deep breath, turned her back to both men, and broken down into heart-wrenching sobs.

Buck looked at JD with wonder. He still had no idea what was even going on. One minute she was laughing with JD and the next, she was ready to beat him to a pulp. “Lilly, you okay?” he said as he stepped up beside her, putting his hand on her back.

“Am I okay?” she said in amazement. “Am I OKAY?” Still with her back to the men, she suddenly threw her head back and laughed. She turned to face Buck. “Am I okay?” Buck looked at the beautiful brunette with horror. She has lost her mind.....he thought as he watched her laugh so hard she doubled over.

As suddenly as the laughter had begun, it ended. A look of hate replaced it. “NO,” she screamed, “I am not okay. How can I be okay? Why is it that the minute I let my guard down, a man takes that opportunity to kick me in the face.” she yelled to everyone and no one at the same time. She started to walk away from them. Stopping abruptly, she turned and quickly walked back to Buck, stopping only inches from his face. Buck could see the confusion and pain in her eyes.

“Why is it men think that they can hurt a woman any time they please? Why? Is it cause it makes them feel more powerful?” she raged on as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “I just can’t believe....” she swallowed hard, trying to catch her breath. She stopped for a minute, finally letting the words sink into her soul. Her heart screamed out in pain. She looked from Buck to JD, “Why?” was all she could manage before she buried her head in her hands, her shoulders heaving with each sob.

Chapter 32

Buck pulled her to him, trying his best to comfort her, even though, he had no idea what was wrong. JD stood behind her, his hands on her back as he stroked her hair. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her away from Buck, turning her to face him. “God Lilly, you don’t know how sorry I am. I sure didn’t want to be right about this. I know you like him, but....”

Buck couldn’t take not knowing any longer. “Right about what?” he asked as JD put his arms around Lilly to comfort her. JD was about to speak when they heard a horse approaching.

“Hi Ezra” Billy yelled from behind them. Lilly could hear the scuffle of the dirt as Billy ran over to Ezra’s horse.

“Why hello there, young fella” Ezra said as he dismounted from his horse. He panted Billy on the head as he turned his attention toward Lilly and the others. Lilly was wiping at her eyes as if she had been crying. Panic began to fill his heart. Just as he approached them, she turned to face him and he could see hell fire in her eyes. It caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

“Good Afternoon Miss Lilly” he said as uneasiness crept over him. Before JD or Buck knew what was happening, Lilly was storming over to where Ezra stood. Ezra didn’t like the look on her face. It was filled with hate and anger and for some strange reason, appeared to be aimed at him. She stopped only a few inches away from where he stood.

“You bastard” she said as she brought her left hand hard across his cheek. Fire flared on his skin as he drew his hand up to comfort his burning cheek. “How could you” she screamed as she began hitting him on the chest. For such a small woman, Lilly had a powerful punch. He tried to block his chest from her blows, but she was relentless. To get her to stop, Ezra grabbed her by the arms. Amazingly enough, she still continued to hit him. He dug his fingers into her arms, not wanting to hurt her but also not wanting to get beat to a pulp. He could see the anger subside to pain as he continued to apply pressure on her arms.

She pulled her lips back, grimacing at the pressure. Instead of hitting his chest, she desperately crawled at his fingers, crying out for him to stop. It was her cry that finally wake JD and Buck out of their stupor that had held them in place, only watching the scenes unfold in front of them as if it was a play. They ran to her side just as Ezra let go.

Lilly immediately drew her hands to her arms, rubbing them, the tears flowing freely down her face.

“What the hell is going on here? What did I do?” Ezra pleaded with Lilly to know. She started to turn her back on him and walk away. He grabbed her arm, in the same spot where he had been holding her. She cried out in pain. Ezra immediately jerked his hand back. Lilly pulled up her sleeve to reveal four fresh long bruises, shaped like fingers. She looked from her arm to Ezra.

Ezra was shocked to see the marks. He hadn’t been holder her that hard, had he? He had never ever said cross words to a woman before, let alone, leave a mark on one. Especially one that he loved so very much.

“Lilly, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to put that much pressure” he said pleading for forgiveness.

“Yeah, that’s what Ben used to say.....I didn’t mean to.” she said so coldly that it chilled Ezra’s heart. She turned and walked toward the Clarion office.

“Lilly, what in the hell is going on here?” Ezra demanded to know. He was so confused that he couldn’t think straight. He thought Lilly just compared him to Ben, but he knew that couldn’t be true.

“Why don’t you ask Emily?” she said without turning around.

Ezra stopped, trying to process the information. “Emily?” he mumbled, trying to trigger a memory. Suddenly, it dawned on him. She must have found out about his surprise picnic. She must have somehow figured out that Emily was helping him.

“Aw hell” he said. “So that is what this is about.” But that still didn’t explain why was she so mad at him. “How did you find out?” he smiled, knowing that his little surprise was ruined.

Lilly stopped. She looked at him over her shoulder and saw him smiling. Fury burned her soul like a hot iron. Whirling around to face him, “You admit it? You are going to stand there and admit it to me. And with a smile, no less” she said, the shock was plastered all over her face.

Ezra noticed the look on her face and began to feel confused again. “Well, yeah. If you already know, why would I try to lie. You are gonna see eventually” he said looking at Buck and JD who stood beside him in silence.

“You unbelievable bastard” she said completely destroyed by his callousness. That was all Lilly could take. She ran for Buck’s horse, still tied where he had left it, in front of the Clarion office, earlier that afternoon.

“Where are you going?” Ezra said as he watched her mount the horse. She looked at Buck who nodded in approval before she kicked the horse into a gallop. She had to get away. This was just too much to bare.

Turning to JD, “What just happened here?” JD, who was finally beginning to process what was going on, was furious at Ezra’s callousness toward Lilly. JD punched Ezra across the jaw, causing a small split in Ezra’s lip. Buck had seen what happened and grabbed JD before things could get worse.

“I saw you with her. I heard what you were saying, ‘Don’t tell Lilly. She can never know. It’s a secret.” and right in front of the whole town. And then to top it all off, you went to the hotel with her. How could you Ezra? Lilly trusted you.” JD was saying but Ezra had stopped listening. He was wiping the blood off of his lip while all the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place.

“Oh no” Ezra said as he ran to his horse. He had to find her.

“Where are you going? Ezra, just leave her alone. You have hurt her enough for one day.” JD said calling out after Ezra as he galloped out of town, taking the same path Lilly had.

Chapter 33

Tears burned her eyes, blurring her vision but she didn’t care. “The horse will lead” she told herself. “It will take me wherever it wants to go.” The truth was she really didn’t care where she went. All she knew was she had to get out of there. He had actually stood there and admitted to her that he was with the barmaid. In front of Buck and JD and the whole town for that matter. She felt so betrayed.

And worse, she felt so stupid. She had always been really good at reading people and being able to keep her guard up, but she hadn’t expected him. And she had tried. Lord knows, she didn’t want to fall for Ezra, but everything happened so fast with finding JD and the attack by Ben, that it just sorta happened. Those gorgeous green eyes, that strong jaw, those soft lips......she shock her head.

“No” she told herself “he used you. Just like Ben did. He played you for a fool and you let him.” Her heart ached like no pain she had ever felt before. She just had to have time to think, to regroup herself. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she realized that she had ridden to the river that ran through south valley.

She reigned the horse to a stop by the river. She dismounted in the swift flowing motion that she had used since she was a girl. Buck’s horse was foaming, from the heat and from how hard she had ridden him. “I’m sorry, girl” Lilly said as she reached over to pet the horse’s nose.

Lilly stood overlooking the small river. It was a beautiful spot. The river, a small but fast moving one, cut through this valley in a northeast direction. The land on either side of the river rose to form small hills, the side that Lilly was on was larger than the one across from her. From where she stood, Lilly overlooked not only the river but the lush green valley on the other side. Various wild flowers were present along the banks of the river.

Off in the far distance was a small gathering of trees, thick and full. Other than the gathering, there was only one other tree. It stood about 10 yards from where Lilly had stopped on her side of the river. It was a grand tree, full and thick with leaves. It was much larger than any those that were in the gathering. From the size of its truck, Lilly assumed it to be very old.

Lilly walked closer to the river, listening to the sounds of the water passing over the rocks. She took a seat where she stood, clearing her mind of all that had just happened, and concentrating only on the flow of the water. Lilly had been using this trick, that her adoptive mother had taught her, to calm herself down since she was a little girl.

After her parents were killed, Lilly was plagued with nightmares and horrible fears of death. At one point, it was so bad that she didn’t sleep for a week. As a way to take her mind off of the images bombarding her, Marian would talk her though the steps of clearing her mind and focusing it on something else until her fears could be replaced by calmness.

It was a marvelous trick. It had saved Lilly on many occasions, especially since the whole nightmare began with Ben. Now, sitting before the river, she once again cleared her mind, thinking of nothing but the soft, soothing sounds of the river. She listened to the crackles the water made as it ran over the rocks. She breathed in the aroma of the river, pure and clean.

The approach of the horse took several seconds to penetrate her current state. “Oh God, it’s Ben” she told herself, startled by her carelessness. She had been so upset with Ezra, that she completely forgot about Ben. He was lurking around. She knew it. She reached for the small knife in her boot and tried to duck close to the ground, holding her breath.

Chapter 34

“Lilly, don’t be alarmed. It’s just me” Ezra said realizing how frightening his approach must be.

She let out a sigh of relief. “What do you want? Haven’t you done enough?” she said as she replaced her knife back in her boot. She stood up and dusted the grass off of her pants. “Please Ezra, I don’t want to fight with you right now. I just need to be alone.” she said as she turned her back to him, and started to walk away. To look at his handsome face only broke her heart more.

Ezra had left his horse next to Buck’s and was heading toward her. “Lilly, please just give me a minute to explain. There has been a terrible mix-up.” he said as he approached her from behind. She stopped so suddenly that he almost ran into her.

“Yeah, there was a mistake. I made the mistake of trus....” she said as she turned to face him, but was stopped by the sight of blood on his lip. His bottom lip was slightly swollen on the left side. There was also a faint hand print of his left cheek from her own hand. Without thought, only instinct, she reached up to touch it. Her touch was soft, lightly caressing it. “What happened?” she said having lost all of her previous thoughts.

Ezra could only stand there and watch. God, she was beautiful, he told himself. In all the chaos of the recent events, her ribbon had come very loss, allowing many small curls to frame her face. The sun was shining its rays down on them, and in the light, her hair looked like fire, sparks of red streaking the brown curls. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes, although slightly puffy from crying, sparkled with a light that made every fiber of Ezra’s soul long to hold her. He could smell that glorious scent of Jasmine on her as he always did. “It’s nothing” he finally managed.

His words broke into her trance and brought her back to her senses. She drew her hand away as if she had been touching fire. She looked into his eyes, confusion and pain filling them. She turned away from him, “Please Ezra leave me alone.”

“Lilly, I was not with Emily. It was all a misunderstanding.” he said as he grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him. She turned to look at Ezra again, tears flowing down her cheeks.

“Yes, Ezra. We are a mistake.” she said pulling her hand free with a jerk, and walking away. She couldn’t look at him anymore. The pain was just to horrible. She walked toward the big tree that was on her side of the river so that she could sit and think. As she approached the tree, she saw the strangest thing. There was a red-checked blanket laid out under the tree. On the blanket was a basket and a bottle of wine. There also appeared to be two wine glasses, and a book. As she got closer to the blanket, she was able to make out what the title of the book was. It was Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

“Wow,” Lilly thought. “That is my favorite book. But what is it doing out here?“ The closer she got, the more she realized that it was indeed her book. Now, she was really confused. How had her book gotten out here? And what was this stuff doing here as well? She turned to look at Ezra.

He stood about 10 feet behind her, his arms folded across his chest. He was watching her, with a big wonderful smile across his face. Slowly Ezra started to walk over to her, confusion still plaguing her mind.

“Ezra, I don’t understand. Did you put this stuff here?”

Still smiling, he shock his head yes.

“But why? Was it for Emily? Well, I hate to tell you but she works at the hotel cooking during the day so you.......” she stopped. Understanding was dawning on her face. She looked back at the blanket and the basket on the blanket, and then back at Ezra. “Emily works in the hotel during the day,” Lilly told herself. “She is a cook. She makes food. And here is a picnic with food.” Lilly was staring at Ezra as the thoughts raced through her mind. “And Ezra knows about this picnic, and he can’t cook.......”

Immediately she drew her hand to her mouth. Dear God, had it all been for her? Had he gotten Emily to make food for a picnic with her? Lilly knew Ezra had been wanting to spend some time alone together. “But JD heard you say you were glad I was at Mary’s house and would never suspect a thing” she said as she felt the shame rushing threw her body.

Ezra, being the wonderful man that he is, continued to smile at her. He approached her and ran the backs of his fingers down the side of her face. “I gather that you never made it back to your room today?” he said as he absent-mindedly twirled a wisp of her hair around his index finger. “Emily was able to get a key for your room so that I could get your book. I was hoping that we could read some of the sonnets to each other. I also had her fill your room with wild flowers.” He looked deep in her eyes. “I know how you like flowers, and I wanted to surprise you.”

Lilly felt like she had been punched in the gut. How could she have done this to Ezra? Here he had planned this wonderful afternoon for them and she suspected him of cheating on her. “Oh God Ezra, I am so sorry.” she felt awful. She had slapped him, hit him, someone else (most likely JD, she thought) had punched him and all because he had tried to do a good thing for her.

Chapter 35

Her first thought was that she didn’t deserve someone as kind as Ezra. “Why didn’t you say something? Ah God, Ezra” she said still holding her hand to her lips, her other resting on her chest. “What have I done?” she pulled both her hands to her hair, brushing back all the loss pieces. Again she brought both hands to her lips, tears brimmed her eyes.

Ezra stood before her, not a cross word escaped his lips. Instead, Ezra took her hands in his, and brought them up to his lips. He gently kissed the back of the left hand and then the right. Lilly stood shocked. Finally, something inside of her made her move.

She threw her arms around Ezra’s neck, pressing him tightly against her. “Please Ezra forgive me. It was just that......no,....I..ah”. She stopped, her right hand gently playing with the hair at the base of his neck. She buried her face against his shoulder. She felt so ashamed. She should have trusted him, or at least given him the benefit of the doubt.

“Lilly, it’s okay. I can understand that the facts that were presented to you could be misleading. You have been through a horrible ordeal as of late. You are not too trusting right now. But...” Ezra said as he stroked her ponytail, her head still resting on his shoulder. He pulled his head back from her so that he could see her face as he talked. She kept her eyes lowered.

He raised his hand to her cheek, brushing it lightly. She still wouldn’t look up. Finally he took his index finger and, with the finger under her chin, he raised her face to meet his. Their eyes locking in a lovers gaze. “You are going to have to learn to trust me Lilly.” Looking deep into her beautiful hazel eyes, “I love you and I give you my promise that as long as there is life in my body, no harm will ever come to you. You are my light Lilly.......” he said a few more things but Lilly had stopped listening.

“He said that he loves me” she thought to herself. She was stunned. She knew that he cared about her as much as she cared for him, but she wasn’t sure how far his feelings went. She had been trying to hide her true feelings from him and herself for some time now.

Interrupting him in mid-sentence, “you love me?” she asked him as if it were a foreign concept to her. Ezra smiled and kissed her softly on the lips. Looking deep into her soul, “Yes Lilly, I love you, with all my heart.”

She threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. “Oh Ezra, I love you too. I love you so much.” she said as she bombarded him with kisses, first on his neck, then his cheek, and then his lips. They were very brief at first, mere pecks. But they evolved until finally they were locked in a passionate embrace.

Ezra’s hands explored Lilly’s hair. He loved the way her hair felt in his hands, soft as silk. He moved one hand to the back of her neck as the other continued to grasp her hair. He stroked her neck, allowing his hand to trace the curve of her spin all the way back down until it came to rest in the small of her back. The passion of their kiss ignited fire in Ezra’s veins. He pulled her forward, pressing her body hard against his wanting to become one.

Lilly moaned at the sheer pleasure of his kiss. She felt weak and faint. She brought her hand up to his face, her palm resting on his cheek. Finally she pulled away, breaking their passionate embrace. They both gasped for air, Ezra resting his forehead against hers. Lilly ran her tongue across her lips, feeling the energy pulsing throughout her body..

“Ezra, JD heard what he did, granted it was totally out of context, but he believed it when he told me and I believed him because I knew he wouldn’t lie to me. I didn’t want....” Lilly said still keeping her forehead resting against his.

Ezra pulled back, and brought his finger up to her lips. “SSSHHHHH” he said interrupting her current thought. Once she had stopped talking, he said “It doesn’t matter what happened. All that matters is that you know that I love you and would never intentionally hurt you in any way. Okay?” He looked at her with intent eyes, waiting for her answer.

Lilly smiled, “I love you so much.” She kissed the tip of his nose, causing a big smile to overtake Ezra’s handsome face.

“Good. Now that we have that cleared up, are you hungry?” he asked, the twinkle back in his eyes.

“Starving” she said as she hugged Ezra tight.

Chapter 36

They sat on the blanket and talked for what seemed like hours. Emily had prepared sandwiches for them which were delicious. Lilly hadn’t realized how hungry she was. She had been planning on taking Billy inside to prepare food, right before the whole mess with JD had erupted. Now, sitting with Ezra, she savored the wonderful taste of the sandwich, the beauty of their surroundings, the warm of the sun on her back, and being so close to him.

Ezra talked like she had never heard him before. She had noticed, during her time in Four Corners, that Ezra seemed rather quiet when it came to his past, especially his mother. But now, he spoke of great adventures with cousins in the field behind his uncle’s house. He talked of his first love and his first heartache. He talked of broken promises and daydreams.

They talked about all kinds of things, both great and small. Lilly sat with her legs folded behind her, her hands in her lap. Ezra sat beside her, his eyes intently watching her as she talked. He had his left leg under him, his other knee pulled up. His arm rested on his bent knee while his other hand absentmindedly twisting his index finger in her curls. When they had sat down to eat, Ezra had pulled her ribbon out of her hair, allowing her curls to fall around her face.

With all her secrets laid out before the men, Lilly could now open up her heart fully to the gambler. She told him about her mother and how beautiful she had been. She talked about JD and a time when he was small, that he got into a bag of floor covering himself and their house entirely in white. She talked a little about Ben, but Ezra could see how sad it made her so he changed the subject.

He taught her cards tricks that he had learned very young and she read him sonnets that filled his heart with joy. Some much was shared between them that afternoon that if either had ever doubted that they loved one another, they certainly didn’t anymore.

As the sun was beginning to set, Ezra pulled himself up from the blanket, stretching his gorgeous long legs as he did. He put his hand out to Lilly who gladly accepted it. Pulling her up to him, he took her in his arms and held her tightly to him. He stroked her hair as she stood rubbing her hand up and down his back. “Lilly, I have something for you” Ezra said pulling back so that he was face to face with her.

A brilliant smile spread across Lilly’s face. “A surprise? For me? Oh Ezra, I love surprises.”

Ezra took Lilly’s hand and lead her over to the tree. He sat down first, his back against it and motioned for her to sit in between his legs which she gladly did. As she settled herself against his chest, she signed at how wonderful she felt. She turned her attention to the setting sun, breathless by its beauty.

The sun seemed red, casting orange and pink rays across the sky. The clouds closest to the sun were transformed into big orange and gold mounds of cotton candy. As the sun slowly slipped behind the horizon, she wondered if life could always be this good. “It’s quite breathtaking, isn’t it Ezra?” she said as she grabbed his hands, pulling them around her. She felt so safe with him that she completely forgot the Ben even existed.

Ezra, wrapping his arms around her shoulders tightly, kissed her neck. “Why yes darlin, you sure are.” Lilly giggled as he nudged her neck, causing goosebumps to erupt all over her body. She bent her head towards Ezra’s, trying to pull away. “Ticklish, are you?” he asked noticing the way she was squirming in his arms.

As the sun slipped half way behind the horizon, Ezra decided that the moment was right. Reaching into his vest pocket, he produced the small gray box and brought it out in front of Lilly.

She craned her neck to look as Ezra. “Ezra, you really didn’t have to get me anything. Just being with you today is the best gift I could ever have.” Smiling, she kissed him, and turned back around.

“I know that I didn’t have to do anything, but I wanted to” he said as he placed the box in her hand. Lilly placed the box between her fingers and gently pulled off the lid. Inside, laying on a blue velvet cloth, was the silver heart locket. A gasp escaped her lips.

“Oh Ezra, it is so beautiful” she cried as she turned to face him. She put her free arm around his neck, pulling him to her. She kissed him several times on the cheek. “It looks so expensive. Ezra, really, I can’t take this. You shouldn’t have.” she said never taking her eyes off of the locket.

Ezra took hold of her chin and turned her face to his. He was smiling the most perfect smile that made Lilly’s knees weak. “You deserve it. The moment I saw if I knew it was destined to be on this beautiful neck of yours. Here, let me put it on you.” he said as he took it from the box.

Lilly was smiling from ear to ear. She pulled her hair up to allow Ezra to fasten the necklace. Once he was finished, he rubbed the side of her arms. “There. Let me see what it looks like.” he said turning her toward him again.

Lilly was adjusting the necklace so that the pendant rested at the beginning of her bosom. However, the tailored shirt that Lilly was wearing was buttoned too high to see it. “May I” Ezra said motioning to her blouse.

She smiled, desire in her eyes. “Please do” she said raising her chin to allow him plenty of room. Ezra brought both his hands up to her neck, and slowly began to unbutton her shirt. Lilly watched closely as Ezra concentrated on her buttons. She could see the little beads of sweat that broke out on his forehead. This caused her to laugh.

Ezra looked up, startled by her laughter. “What?” he asked, unaware that he was sweating. She took her hand up to his forehead and rubbed it against his skin. She moved it around to his cheek, brushing her finger tips lightly over his lips.

He had unbutton all of the buttons on her shirt that he could without exposing her bosom. She grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled it open. “So what do you think?” she said as she proudly displayed her gift. Ezra looked at the locket resting against her silky skin, and couldn’t help but be drawn to her scar only barely visible. He smiled as he shifted his eyes back to her face. It hurt his heart to think of her pain.

“It is very beautiful. Just like you” he said as he bent forward, kissing her gently on the lips. He leaned back against the tree and pulled her back into his arms. She laid her head back against his shoulder, and he laid his head against hers. She brought her left hand up to the locket and caressed it between her forefinger and thumb as if she wanted to make sure that it was real.

Taking a deep breath and sighing against his chest, she smiled a brilliant smile. “Thank you Ezra........Forever thing.”

Chapter 37

They had sat there silent, nothing more needed to be said, watching the sun make its final descent into the horizon. They both must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing Ezra knew, he felt a drop of water hit his face. he had laid it back against the tree, turned up toward the sky. Lilly was slouched against his chest, his arms wrapped around her tightly.

Ezra tried to shake the drowsiness out of his mind when he felt two more drops hit his face. He lifted his head and looked around. It was almost completely dark, except for the light of the moon. It hung low in the sky, clouds advancing on it. Several more drops hit Ezra, this time on the arm. Realization finally set in. “Oh shit. Lilly” he said gently shaking her “wake up. It’s starting to rain.”

Lilly’s jumped, her heart racing. Her eyes darted around her, trying to place where she was.

“Lilly, come on” Ezra said as he started to get up behind her, pushing her forward as he went. Lilly shook the sleep out of her mind and got up. Feeling something hit her head, she ducked, looking around to see what it was. Ezra had begun to pack up the blanket and glasses into the basket he had used to bring the stuff there with. Lilly grabbed her book and stuck it in the basket with the rest of the stuff. Drops were large but relatively few. “We might be able to make it back to town before...” Ezra said as he grabbed her hand and led her to the horses.

No sooner had the words left his mouth, did the rains come pouring down. They were big drops, not real hard, but so many of them. Ezra pulled Lilly to him, trying to shield her with his coat. Lilly pulled back from him, allowing the rain to hit her face. She ran her fingers over her hair and laughed when she saw Ezra looking at her like a crazed loon.

“What is a matter Ezra? Don’t you like to play in the rain?” she said as she twirled around, her face raised toward the sky. Ezra laughed.

“My darling, you are gonna caught ill if we stay in this rain any longer. We still have quite a long ride back to town.” He said as he removed his coat, and placed it on her shoulders. She smiled as she drew her hand up to his cheek.

“Thank you so much, but I don’t need it. It is still warm out here. Can’t you feel it?” she asked as she pulled Ezra close to her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“Please” he said, his face growing very serious. She couldn’t help but notice how sexy he looked when he was being serious and in charge.

She took the coat back from his hands and wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled and kissed him briefly on the lips. “All right then. Let’s go” she said as she turned and ran to Buck’s horse. As she mounted the horse, Ezra was mounting his too.

“Thank you” he said flashing his most winning smile.

“You are welcome” she said playfully returning his grin. “But please, try and keep up”. Her grin turned mischievous as she kicked the horse into a gallop. Ezra was caught off guard by her gesture, but quickly got his horse going right behind her.

Chapter 38

They rode that way all the way back to town, playing cat and mouse. One minute, Lilly would be in the lead. Ezra would then push his horse just a little harder, causing him to just edge past her. It continued to rain on them, but they didn’t seem to mind. In fact, they were enjoying it. Lilly knew Ezra hadn’t wanted to get caught in the rain. But now that he was, she noticed that he seemed to be having fun. She even caught him on several occasions, turning his face up to the sky, allowing the rain to gently caress it.

As they rode into town, all seemed quiet. There were no people out on the street. Lilly attributed that to the rain. They decided to take the horses straight to the livery before heading to the saloon. Lilly got to the livery first, dismounting and leading Buck’s horse inside. Lilly hoped that Buck wouldn’t be too mad for not only taking his horse, but for keeping it all day.

Ezra came in a few seconds behind her. “I beat ya” she said as she walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Ezra smiled, “it’s only cause I let you.” he said as he brought his arms around her shoulders. Playfully she pushed him.

“Yeah, right.” she said walking over to the horse to take his saddle off. he grabbed her hand, and whipped her back around and right into his arms. She laughed at being caught off guard.

He lowered his face to hers, allowing his lips to hover a mere inch from her delicate lips. Water dripped from his hair, landing on her cheek and his eyes blazed with desire. She raised her hand to his forehead where his hair had fallen forward, dripping water. Running her fingers through his hair, she could feel his breath on her face. Placing her hand on the back of his neck, she pulled Ezra to her, their lips locking in a passionate embrace. Although her whole body burned with the flame of passion, she shivered from the wet clothes.

Ezra pulled back from her, laughing as he did. Her teeth were chattering. “I’m sorry” she said smiling as she tried to press her body against his for heat.

“Don’t be” he said as he kissed the tip of her nose. He grabbed a blanket from one of the stalls and brought it over to he. He wrapped it around her shoulders, trying to soak up some of the water on her drenched clothes. After rubbing it on her hair, he decided that, without changing her clothes, that was as dry as she was going to get. he grabbed another blanket for himself, and tried to do the same.

Lilly stood by the livery door, the blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders, watching the rain. She had always loved the rain. Even when she was a small child, her and JD used to sneak out into the rain. They always got caught, but it was so fun while it lasted. Her mother would yell at them, smack their butts lightly, and then make them hot cocoa. Then when her parents had died, the rain was her comfort. It filled her with wonderful memories of midnight games and warm cups of milk.

She felt Ezra’s hands wrap around her waist, pulling her back against him. She sighed as she allowed those long ago memories to wash over her mind. she snuggled back against Ezra’s chest. She loved the feel of his arms. Turning around to face him, she put her arms around his neck. He smiled, looking into her eyes. He shifted his gaze down to the silver heart that hung around her neck. “It looks so beautiful on you”.

She instantly drew her hand up to it, turning it over in her fingers. “I love it. I can’t wait to show it to JD. And Casey too. She will love it”. Ezra couldn’t help but laugh at her schoolgirl response. “What are you laughing at?” she asked trying to be stern. Pulling him to her, she nibbled on his lip. Again she had that mischevious smile on her face.

“Why, you are in a playful mood” Ezra said as he kissed the tip of her nose. She glanced over at Ezra’s jacket which was laying on the stall divider. She smiled her most charming smile, gave him a quick peck on the lips and took off out the livery door with the jacket over her head. “Hey” he said as he ran out into the rain after her, “come back here”.

Chapter 39

Chris and the others had been in the saloon all afternoon. JD had filled them in on what had happened earlier. He told them about Lilly taking off and about Ezra going after her. JD had also talked to Emily shortly after they had left. She had told him of Ezra’s plans for the picnic and the flowers. JD was mortified with the prospects that he caused them both so much pain for a misunderstanding. He just hoped that they would not be too mad at him.

Chris didn’t like the idea of Lilly out there by herself, especially with Ben still on the loose. Buck had tried to reassure Chris that Ezra would be with her, but it didn’t seem to help. If Ben choose to attack them, Chris was certain that he wouldn’t do it alone. Chris trusted Ezra to try to keep her safe, but he was just anxious. He wanted her back where he could keep an eye on her. Together, they could handle anyone, but Ezra alone was at a disadvantage.

Chris had come to see Lilly as a sister. He cared a great deal about the woman and couldn’t stand to see any further harm come to her. She had been through enough already. He feared for her because he knew, from the look in Ben’s eyes, that he would stop at nothing to get to her. Chris was determined not to let that happen. There was something about Lilly, the way she smiled and her playful nature that reminded Chris of Sarah.

JD had reassured Chris that Ezra would turn up with her before sundown. Chris thought so too. Ezra knew better than to stay away from town at night. Out on the countryside guided only by the light of the moon, made them sitting ducks. But as the dark started to close in, there was still no sign of them. The later it got, the madder Chris was.

“JD, will you give me that blasted card!” Buck said as he reached across the table and snatched the card out of JD’s hand. “What the hell is your’ problem?” Buck growled at JD who thought the whole thing was funny.

“What’s a matter Buck? You mad cause I got you beat?” JD said in his most taunting way. He smiled at Buck with a grin that covered ear to ear.

Chris stood by the saloon window, looking out at the rain that had overtaken the night. Thoughts raced through his mind. He imagined that Ben had captured them and was torturing and beating them. Or that he decided to just do away with them, and left them lying in a field somewhere with their throats slit. “What if it wasn’t even Ben that had got them.” Chris thought to himself as he imagined Lilly and Ezra being attacked by thieves.

“Ain’t you the least bit worried about your sister JD?” Chris scowled, sending daggers from his steel gray eyes directly at the kid. Chris was appalled by JD’s lack of concern over his sister.

The smile quickly faded from JD’s face. He turned to look at the other gunmen, only to find them all staring at him with the same inquiring look. “Well,” JD said, dropping his eyes to the cards that he had in his hand. “After the mess that I made for Ezra and Lilly, I figured they needed a lot of time to talk about it. She is with Ezra. I trust him. He wouldn’t let any harm come to her. ‘Sides,” JD said as he looked up at Chris “I got a feeling that everything is okay. We ain’t see Ben for a couple weeks now. Maybe he left. Maybe he figured........”

“Maybe she is already dead.” Chris said with venom on his tongue. He turned his attention back to the window. “Shit” he said as the frustration was making him crazy. He needed more whiskey. So he turned and walked over to the bar.

“Hey, maybe we should go check the hotel” Buck said, turning his attention toward Chris. “They could have come back already, and just headed for.....”

“Nope. They ain’t there.” Vin said hurrying through the batwing doors. He took his hat off to shake off the water. “Mary and Billy are there with Sylvia, watching for ‘um. You know Chris,” Vin said as he shifted his comments to the man in black. “She still don’t look like she’s feel all too good. I tried to talk her into going home, but she is a stubborn women.” Vin went over to the table where JD and Buck were playing cards and sat down.

“Yeah, I know. She’s just worried, is all.” Chris said as he threw back the second shot, feeling the burn of the liquor as it made its way down his throat. He threw back one more shot before he started back over to the window. Just as he was passing by the batwing doors, he heard laughing coming from outside.

“You are so slow” a woman’s voice said. Just as he was about to look outside, Lilly came barreling in the door, soaked to the bone. She had a big smile on her face. She just missed running into the gunmen, having been able to sidestep him. “Geez, Chris. I almost knocked ya down” she said giggling. Ezra was right behind here.

“Well, you did cheat there my darlin” Ezra said as he too came barreling into the saloon, obviously anxious to get out of the rain. Ezra had been looking down at the ground, not wanting to trip and fall into the mud. Now as he entered the saloon, he looked up just in time to see Chris’s fist hit him right in the eye. Ezra was stunned. The punch was so unexpected, Ezra fell back on the floor. He landed squarely on his butt, his hands flew up to his face.

Chapter 40

“If you ever do that again, I will kill you myself. Do you realize that we have been worried. Mary is at the hotel scared to death that something happened to you two.” Chris was advancing on Ezra so fast, terrible anger in his eyes. Everyone in the saloon stood frozen, watching as Chris brought his foot back and kicked Ezra in the thigh.

Finally, Lilly was able to react. She ran to Chris, screaming for him to stop. She grabbed hold of his arm, trying to pull him back. Chris was surprised by her charge and immediately responded by shoving her to the side. Not realizing the full extent of his anger, Chris pushed Lilly so hard that she fell back into a table, hitting the side of it with her lower back. She cried out in pain as the table overturned on her. It hit her in the back of the head as she went down.

Ezra was caught off guard by the punch Chris had laid on him, but he was able to gather his wits about him in time to see what Chris had done to Lilly. Rage filled Ezra’s heart. He jumped up and ran toward Chris. Leaning forward, Ezra rammed his shoulder into Chris’s midsection. The force of Ezra’s blow, knocked Chris back into the bar. Chris was trying to grab hold of a nearby chair to keep himself up right when Ezra punched him square in the jaw.

Buck grabbed Ezra from behind, wrapping his arms around Ezra’s chest. Buck was able to pull him back while Ezra fought in his arms. JD ran over to Lilly, lifting the table off of her. Chris had his hand covering his mouth which was filled with blood. When he saw his blood in his hand, his anger flared higher. He started after Ezra when Nathan stepped in front of him, grabbing his shoulders.

“Stop it” Nathan ordered as he stared into Chris’s eyes. Chris tried to pull free but Nathan held him to tight. He could hear Lilly howling in pain from behind him. Buck still had a hold on Ezra who was struggling to get free.

“Let go of me Buck. I need to check on Lilly” Ezra yelled as he was finally able to pull himself free. Ezra ran past Chris, never looking twice at the gunmen. Instead his attention was on Lilly. JD had her in his arms. She was holding her head, crying from the pain. The table had got her hard in the back of the head. Chris could see blood on JD’s hand when he removed it from her hair.

“It is bad enough that we have to worry about a crazy man trying to kill her and us all, but now we got to worry about you two beatin’ him to it.” Nathan looked over at Vin who was standing beside him. He motioned for Vin to get hold of Chris so he could go look at Lilly.

As Nathan walked away, Vin put his hand on Chris’s arm. Chris immediately pulled his arm away, throwing Vin’s hand off of him. Chris stood up, and wiped the blood from his mouth, spitting some of it on the floor. He looked over at Nathan who was applying pressure on Lilly’s head. She had quit crying, and had seemed to gather her composure. She was still soaked, her clothes clinging to her. And she shivered while the others looked on.

“I didn’t mean to touch her” Chris said quietly to no one in particular. Vin heard him, and put his hand on Chris’s back.

“We know” Vin said as he lead Chris over to Lilly to make sure she was all right.

Chapter 41

Ezra was crouched down beside her, holding her hand as Nathan looked closely at her wound. “You seeing double Lilly?” Nathan asked as he pressed in several different spots.

“No” she said wincing when he hit a tender spot. She looked over at Ezra and smiled. His eye was already turning a dark purple from Chris’s shot. It was a little puffy, not too swollen yet, but really bloodshot. She reached up her hand to it and touched it gently. This time it was Ezra that winced in pain. “I’m sorry” she said as she pulled her hand back. Everyone else thought she was talking about her touching his cheek, but Ezra knew she was referring to the whole thing.

He grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Not your fault my dear.” he said as he smiled.

“Lilly, you’re shiverin’. You’re gonna catch fever if you don’t get out of those wet clothes.” Nathan said as he lifted up her shirt to check her back. She had hit the table hard so he expected quite a bit of bruising. He was right too. Her lower back had a long wedge shaped bruise, starting at her spine and extending toward her right side. Nathan pressed on it, but didn’t see anything else wrong. “You got yourself a nasty bruise there Lilly. It is gonna be sore for a while.” Nathan said as he lowered her shirt back down.

Nathan put his hands under her arms and pulled her to her feet. “But I mean it. You better get some dry clothes on.” Nathan turned his attention toward Ezra, looking at his eye. He pressed the area around his eye, checking for any breaks. Satisfied with his observation, he patted Ezra on the shoulder. “You better get some dry clothes on too.”

Ezra smiled, “You don’t have to tell me twice”. He extended his arm out to Lilly who gladly took it. “Shall we?” Ezra asked turning toward the door.

“Wait Lilly. Can I talk to ya for a minute?” Chris said, lowering his eyes toward the floor.

Ezra turned around, irritation in his voice “Chris, we....” Lilly pulled on Ezra’s arm. He stopped what he was saying and turned to her.

“Ezra, it’s okay” she said as she let go of his arm and walked over to Chris. She stood in front of him and Chris could see that she had no hard feelings toward him.

Chris put his hands on his hips and shifted his weight to the other foot. “I really didn’t mean for you to get in the way. It happened so fast, and I was upset and.....” he stopped. He looked her in the eyes to see her looking back at him with love. “I thought Ben might have come back and maybe caught you two off guard. He could have had backup and....”

Lilly took Chris’s hands in hers. Stepping very close to him, she lean up and kissed him on the cheek. Pulling back, she said “Thank you Chris for worrying about me. You will never know how much you men mean to me. I know we should have let someone know where we were, but the whole thing didn’t exactly go according to plan.” she chuckled looking at JD out of the corner of her eye. JD sheepishly looked at the floor. “We had every intention of coming back earlier but we fell asleep. It was no one’s fault. We are sorry to have worried you, right Ezra?”

Ezra stood with his hands on his hips, watching the exchange between Chris and Lilly. Ezra knew that the whole thing had been a mistake but he was still sore about the punch to his eye. “Yes, Mr. Larabee, we are sorry to have caused you any concern.”

Lilly smiled at the sarcasm in his voice. Chris did too.

“So things are back to normal then” Buck said also sensing the sarcasm. This caused all of them to laugh.

Chris put his hands on Lilly’s arms and pulled her to him. Gently, he kissed her forehead. “Get some sleep” he said before he drew his hands back to his hips. JD took Lilly’s arm and lead her over to Ezra. Together, the three went out on the boardwalk.

Chris watched as they made a run for the hotel. He felt guilty for his reaction but he wouldn’t have been able to stop it if he had tried. His nerves were on edge. Things were gonna happen. Chris thought of Ben as a cobra waiting to strike. He knew that he would, he just didn’t know when. Turns out that it was sooner than Chris thought.

Chapter 42

A day had past since the incident over Emily. Ezra’s eye had gotten a little better. It was beginning to turn a dark yellow as the purple eased up. Lilly’s back was still a little sore, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Ezra had succeeding in splitting Chris’s lip which swelled up a bit. But nothing more had been said about the scene in the bar.

It was early in the afternoon. Lilly and JD were engrossed in a serious game of Gin in the saloon. Chris, Vin, and Buck were losing yet another game of poker to Ezra.

“JD, you’re cheating again” Lilly said eyeing him closely.

“Now, Lilly. How can you think such a thing from your brother” JD said trying out his most innocent look on her. She loved the way that sounded to her, her brother. She had waited a long time to hear those words. She looked at him and smiled.

She had heard the horse before the rider had ever come into the saloon. Her and JD both turned their attention to the swinging doors as he entered. It was Nathan.

“Chris, Judge Travis wants to see you and Vin. Says he got something he needs done.” Nathan said as he walked over to the table.

“Where’s Josiah?” Chris asked looking up from his cards.

“He’s scouting the area. Everything seems too quiet. He just wanted to have a look.” Nathan said as he put his hand on Lilly’s back and rubbed it. She looked up from her cards and smiled.

“That’s a good idea. Nathan, why don’t you go out there and help him look. Better not to have anyone by themselves right now.” Chris said before turning his attention to Vin, “Better see what he wants.” He threw his cards into the center of the table. “I’m losing anyway.”

Vin threw his cards in the center as well. “You reckon’ we’ll ever learn not to play cards with Ezra?” Vin asked as he got up from the table. This caused everyone to laugh.

“Lilly, please don’t leave the saloon by yourself, okay?” Chris said trying to stress the importance of his words. She smiled, nodding her head yes and turned back to her cards. Chris had a bad feeling in his gut. Things didn’t seem right. Turning his attention toward Ezra and Buck. “You guys stay here, okay?” Chris really wasn’t in the mood to argue. “And keep an eye on them.”

“All right Chris,” said Buck motioning for whiskey to be brought over to the table. ”We got ya.” With that, they left the saloon.

Lilly and JD continued their game for another 30 minutes. “Man, I am starving.” JD said as he was gathering up their cards after beating Lilly at yet another hand. “Lilly, you want to go get something to eat?”

“Yeah, sure” she said shooting him her best smile, “beating you at cards makes me hungry.”

“Now wait a minute” Buck said protectively, “you two heard Chris. He said to stay here.”

“No, he said not to leave by myself. I won’t be by myself. JD will be with me” Lilly said as she locked her fingers around JD’s arm.

“And we are just going over to the hotel. For hell’s sake Buck, you can almost see it from here,” JD said pointing over the top of the swinging saloon doors.

“Can we bring you all back anything?” Lilly said walking over to stand between Buck and Ezra.

Knowing it wouldn’t do any good to argue because it was just across the street, “Thank you Lilly, but no. I think I’ll eat later” said Buck, smiling his most charming smile.

“All right then, what about you Ezra? Can I bring you back anything?”

Before he could take advantage of that wonderfully open comment, “I mean food!!!” she said laughing. Ezra and Buck joined in.

With a hurt look on his face, he said “Well, I guess not then.”

Smiling her ‘I should have expected a comment like that’ smile, she leaned down to him and kissed his cheek. Shifting her face so that she could whisper in his ear, “We can save that for later”. She kissed her ear lobe softly and started toward the door.

Her warm breath on his neck and ear sent shivers through his body. Ezra could hear Buck laughing. “Where is mine, Lilly?” he asked playfully.

“In your dreams darlin” she said flashing an equally playful smile. Her and JD continued out the door. Buck turned all the way around to admire her backside as they were leaving. Looking back at Ezra, he smiled and shock his head. Ezra was sure that he should be offended by Buck outright ogling of Lilly, but he wasn’t.

The truth was that, although he didn’t trust Buck, he trusted Lilly. It was strange to him too. He had never trusted a woman in his life. Not even his mother, although he loved her to death. But he knew he could trust Lilly, and that felt good to him. He watched as she walked toward the swinging doors, hips swaying as she went. She looked back at him over her shoulder just as she went through the doors and winked. He felt his heart flutter. “What an amazing woman,” he said once she was gone.

“Yes, my friend. That she is,” said Buck as he stood up from the table. “Hey, what is the deal anyways? Have you two.......ya know....?” settling back down to hear all the juicy details.

“Buck you insatiable fiend, Miss Lilly and I are very good friends. And even if we were more, I most certainly would not share the details of my relationship with you” Ezra replied confidently.

“Well, I take that as a No then.” Buck said laughing hysterically. “Aw hell Ezra, I got plenty of friends. With a woman like that I would want........” Buck was stopped short by a scream.

“Nooooooooo, you son of a bitch.” It sounded like Lilly. Ezra and Buck both ran for the saloon door. Running out into the street, they were just in time to see a gang of men riding out of town with Lilly and JD. Lilly was fighting the man holding her and screaming as they went. JD, on the other hand, was laid belly down over one of the other horses.

“Shit, they got them both.” Buck said turning to look at Era. Chris and Vin came running up the street. They had heard the commotion from the Clarion office where they had been visiting with Mary and Judge Travis.

“What the hell happened?” said Chris as they approached the two men.

“They must have been waiting for her to be alone. I guess they just decided to take JD too.” said Buck trying to fill in his friends.

Ezra was off running toward the livery to get his horse.

“Ezra wait. We got to get Josiah and Nathan. Ezra, you can’t go off half-cocked. You’re liable to get them both killed if you do that.” Chris yelled after him, trying to get him to listen.

Ezra slowed his run to a trot, then finally stopped in the middle of the street. He knew that Chris was right but he just wanted to have Lilly safe in his arms. He turned around, his hands on his hips. “Shit” he said to himself. He walked back toward them, thinking to himself, “I just hope we aren’t too late.”

Chapter 43

Lilly felt her body THUD hard against the ground. Trying to shake off the daze that clouded her mind, she looked around to see where she was. It was dark and there was a lot of movement going on. She tried to push herself up and felt a shooting pain in her head. She reached up to rub the aching spot, only to find a huge lump and some moisture. She pulled her hand back to see what it was and found blood.

Darting her eyes around her, she saw a campfire, several horses off to one side, and a bunch of men about ten feet away from her. Seeing the men brought back the events of the afternoon. Her and JD had gone to get some dinner when Ben and several men rode up on them unexpectedly. She had been walking with her arm around JD and Ben had seen this. He hadn’t liked it much.

When they had ridden up on her and JD, Ben had immediately hit JD on the back of the head with his pistol, knocking him out cold. One of the men with Ben had grabbed him and thrown him on his horse. She remembered running after the man who had JD to try and stop him. While she was running, Ben rode by and plucked her right off the ground and onto his horse.

She fought him with all her might. Once she almost fell of the horse, but Ben had her by the arm and held her on. She screamed and twisted her body to get away but Ben only held her harder, crushing her already bruised back. At one point he even tried to cover her mouth so that she wouldn’t scream but she bit his hand, drawing blood from it.

Ben yelled and had gotten so mad, he hit her in the head with the butt of his pistol. She must have blacked out at that point because she couldn’t remember anything beyond that.

“AAAUuuuugghhh” Turning her attention toward the fire to see where that sound came from, she heard his voice.

“Tell me how you know Lilly, you fuck” said Ben as he landed another punch to JD’s jaw.

“Go to hell” shouted JD as he spit in Ben’s face.

Ben drew back his fist again and that was enough to get Lilly on her feet. She ran at Ben with all her might, hitting her shoulder into his lower back. Ben flew forward, falling face first in the dirt. Two men were on her before she could even manage to get back to her feet. They drug her backwards, and dropped her a couple feet away from JD.

She heard a moan and turned her attention to her brother. A gasped escaped her lips when she saw what this madman had done. JD’s face was beaten pretty bad. He had blood running from a pretty deep looking cut above his left eye, and also from the corner of his mouth. Getting quickly to her knees, she crawled as fast as she could to him.” Oh God JD, I am so sorry” she said as she took his hand.

He looked up at her through his right eye, his left mostly swollen shut now and forced a smile. “I’m all right”. She was dumb-founded by the courage and dignity that her brother had. Anger began to flood her. “You Bastard!!!!!”

She got to her feet and again charged Ben. Several of the men started after her, but she was able to land a good punch to his jaw before they grabbed her. Ben looked at her, blood trickling from his lip where she had split it. He smiled his insane smile before he drew his hand back, and then let it go. It connected with her cheek. He hit her so hard that she was surprised he didn’t break her neck. She flew back about three feet before hitting the tree behind her.

She hit the tree with a thud, immediately crumbling to the ground. She wanted to scream but the pain was too unbearable to get anything out. This time it was JD who went after Ben. He clipped Ben’s knee, sending him face first to the ground again. Ben’s henchman hit JD across the back with a rifle.

Ben stood back up. He walked over to JD and kicked him in the stomach with tremendous force. It seemed to Lilly that JD must have raised about two feet off the ground. Ben then turned his attention back to her. He walked over to her, and grabbed her by the hair. He yanked her up off the ground, drawing her face very close to his. His breath reeked of alcohol.

“Another one Lilly. Don’t you think he’s kinda young. Who is he Lilly?” Ben slurred, spitting in her face as he talked. She would say nothing. Shaking her, he asked again. “Tell me Lilly. Who is he? I thought you were whoring with that gambler fella. Now you got this boy.......” he said, eyeing her closely. He looked from Lilly to JD and back to Lilly again. He dropped her on the ground again and pulled his gun. Cocking his pistol and pointing it at her temple, “Tell me Lilly or I will kill you”.

Chapter 44

She knew he would but she would rather die than to tell him anything. Ben knew this too. Realizing that he had taken the wrong approach, he walked over to JD. He grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head up off the ground. JD moaned in pain from the hold Ben had on his hair. Ben pointed the already cocked pistol to JD’s temple this time.

“How about this, Lilly? This make you want to talk. You always make me do it the hard way. You always have. So do I kill him or are you going to tell me who he is?”

“All right, all right. I will tell you, Ben. Just put the gun away please,” she pleaded, trying to reason with a man who didn’t even have any sanity left. But amazingly, he uncocked the pistol and put it back in his belt.

“He’s...um...he’s my brother.” she said, knowing that she should have kept her mouth shut.

“Your brother? Your brother....the one you thought was dead? That brother?” Ben said turning his attention back to JD. Again, he looked from JD to Lilly to JD. “You’re lying” he said as he pulled his gun again and pointed it back toward JD’s head.

“For God’s sake Ben, why would I lie now? I know that you could kill me at any moment,” she said trying again to reason with him.

Liking what she said, he dropped JD’s head and rushed over to Lilly. “That’s right,” he said standing right in front of her, his face only inches from hers. “I can kill you at any moment. Like right this very second,” he put the pistol to the middle of her forehead, “I could decide that I have had enough of you and give you what you deserve, whore.”

He looked at her closely, shifting his head slightly to the side as he seemed to be contemplating why. “I could never kill you first though. Then you wouldn’t be able to watch me kill brother dearest.” he said laughing, waiting for the begging and pleading to begin. “And I want you to watch every minute of your dear sweet brother’s death.” he started to walk over to JD, but stopped. Turning back to face Lilly, “It’s sad that you finally find him, only to get him killed.”

He turned his attention back to JD. Lilly looked around for anything that she could use on him, anything at all. She spotted a large piece of wood laying beside the fire and scooped it up as she ran towards Ben. She hit him across the back with every ounce of energy in her body . He fell to the ground just as the henchmen were pulling their guns. “AAAUUUUGGHHH” he shouted as he fell to his knees, then a second later, “Kill her.”

Lilly closed her eyes, knowing that this time, they would shoot. She heard the first shot, and waited for the pain to begin. She heard a loud yelp and then more gunfire began. This time she ducked, not sure of what was going on around her. She looked at Ben’s men to see that one had just taken a bullet in the gut. He fell backwards and hit the ground with a thud.

Turning her attention to the direction that the bullets seemed to be coming from, she saw Vin motioning for her to come to him. He was about ten feet away from her, using a tree for cover. She scanned the area around Vin, and saw the rest of the men there as well. She turned her attention back to JD. She had to get him out of this mess.

She crawled over to him, and tried to get him up. He was hurt pretty bad and she couldn’t move him by herself. She decided that they would crawl then. Pulling JD with her, she managed to get him a couple of yards before she felt a strong hand grab her ankle.

She pushed JD as far away from her as she could get before she felt herself being drug backwards toward the camp. It was Ben. Trying to hold on to anything around her, she managed to grab a gun that one of Ben’s men had lost when he was shot. Realizing what she had grabbed, she began trying to organize her thoughts. She knew she would only have one chance at this before Ben killed her.

He drug her, her belly to the ground, to a nearby tree. When he was safely behind the tree, he stood up and kicked her in the side. She howled in pain, but stayed over on the stomach. “Get up you Bitch. They can kill me, but not before I kill you.” he screamed as he reached down to turn her over.

But she was prepared for him this time. He wasn’t going to hurt her anymore. She wasn’t going to live in fear. It turned out to be one quick movement. As he was turning her over, she had the gun held in front of her stomach. She cocked the gun and fired off two rounds right into his chest. A stunned look spread across his face. She could see his disbelief that she had gotten him first.

He clutched at his chest as if he were trying to get something off of it. Looking back at her, she began to see a change in his features. Gone was the insane man who had nearly gutted her in Colorado. Or the man who had sent all those horrible letters. Or the man who had tried to beat her brother to a bloody pulp.

Falling to his knees at her feet, she saw only the kind eyes of the man she had loved in another lifetime. She saw the eyes of children that they would never have. She saw love, real true love that had somehow gone terribly wrong. And then....she saw nothing. He fell backwards on the ground as the life left his body. And all she could feel was relief.

Chapter 45

As the last of Ben’s men were taken down, the others moved in to get JD and Lilly. They found JD in a crumpled mess on the ground. His face was beaten badly and he was only semi-conscious. Looking around the campfire area, the men saw no signs of Lilly.

“Where the hell is she?” Ezra screamed searching the area with his eyes. That was when they heard the gun shots coming from a nearby tree. The six men rushed to the tree, pistols drawn, hoping that they weren’t too late. They saw the dead body first, and then Lilly.

She sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, the pistol in both hands held out in front of her. She was staring at the dead corpse of Ben in front of her. She looked like she was in shock.

“Lilly?” Ezra said, bending down beside her, unsure of what reaction he would receive. Slowly, she seemed to be regaining her faculties. She turned her head toward Ezra, still not fully comprehending that he was there. She had several new bruises and a couple of fresh cuts that were trickling blood from them.

Finally, reality settled back into the pretty brunette. She threw her arms around Ezra’s neck and began to cry. It was the most heart-wrenching cry that Ezra had ever heard. It was chalked full of sorrow, fatigue, but most of all, relief.

Noticing that she still had the gun in her hands, Buck carefully took hold of the pistol. At first, he didn’t think that she was going to let it go. But he was finally able to pry it out of her hands. She never even seemed to notice that he had taken it.

Lilly had buried her face in Ezra’s shirt, sobbing with all her might. Ezra picked her up and carried her back to the others.

“She all right?” said Vin, very concerned with the way that she was crying.

“I think so,” Ezra said softly. “I think it may just be shock. How is JD?” he said motioning over to where Nathan was looking at him.

“He’s beat up pretty bad. We need to get him back to town so Nathan can treated him. Actually treat them both.” said Chris. “It looks like she’s got some new ones too. Can you get her Ezra or do you want me to?”

Not about to let her out of his arms, “Nah, that’s okay. I got her. Will you hold her for a minute while I get on my horse?” Ezra asked.

Chris took Lilly out of his arms. He was afraid that she would fight, but she was too tired to fight anymore. Once Ezra was mounted, Chris passed Lilly back to him. He was glad to have her back in his arms. He never wanted to let her go. Through the whole exchange between Ezra and Chris, Lilly never made a sound other than to cry.

There were so many reasons for her tears. She cried for all the pain she had been through, her body and face aching in so many places. She cried for all that she had lost, three years of her life spent running and never looking back.

But most of all, she cried for what she had found. She had made friends in the town of Four Corners; friends that had risked their own life for her. She had found a love, the kindest sweetest man she had ever known.

But most importantly, she had found her brother. And in his eyes, she would find the help she needed to get over the loss of their parents. In his eyes, she would be able to find a part of her she thought was lost forever. In his eyes, she was loved..........

The End

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