Be Mine

Abby had been bothering Jimmy all week about Valentine's Day. It was coming up the following week and she'd wanted to do something special. But he already had plans for the two of them and there was no way he was going to tell her what they were.

Not wanting to let on that he had something up his sleeve, knowing she'd hound him until he gave up his surprise, Jimmy told her he didn't celebrate such things as Valentine's Day and Halloween.

"But Jimmy," Abby cried, "How can you not want to do something for Valentine's Day? It's a day that celebrates love." Seeing that he wasn't budging on his not wanting to do something special, she tried another approach.

"Unless you don't love me like you say you do. Is that why you don't want to do something special with me?"

Jimmy felt like a heel. The look in his wife's eyes tugged at his heart and he hated feeling guilty like he did over dashing her hopes of planning something special with him. But it couldn't be helped.

Two weeks ago, when he'd been in Tompkins store, he'd asked the shopkeeper about the heart shaped boxes of candy that he'd seen in a catalog on the counter.

"Why those are for Valentine's Day, Hickok," Tompkins grinned knowing the young man was an easy mark for such things now that he was married.

"They are boxes filled with chocolate candy made by a company called Whitman's."

Jimmy had studied the pictures wondering if Abby might like something like that. "They any good?" he asked the shopkeeper.

"I guess so," Tompkins shrugged. "They've been around quite a while. I remember my mother getting some when I was a boy."

Jimmy figured that if they'd been around as long as Tompkins then it must be some good candy or they wouldn't still be making it.

Pointing to the biggest box on the page, Jimmy told the shopkeeper, "I'll take that one."

"You sure that's big enough?" Tompkins teased the young man, but wrote down the order.

"Here's the money," Jimmy said handing over the several coins not liking Tompkins tone. Though the two had come to somewhat of a truce, he still didn't like the man very much.

"Can you promise it will be here in time?" Jimmy wasn't going to pay that much money and not have it delivered in time.

"Oh, it'll be here on time, don't you worry Hickok. You can pick it up the day before Valentines."

"It better be," he grumbled walking out the door.

Tompkins laughed, shaking his head. Yep, that boy had it bad.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So you won't do anything with me?" Abby asked once more, hands on hips, watching her husband.

Squirming under her glare, Jimmy told her, "I won't be able to sweetheart. Teaspoon has me scheduled for an overnight run." He hated telling her the lie but he refused to let her know he was planning something for her already.

"Oh," Abby said softly. That changed things. If he wasn't going to be there, there was nothing she could do to change his mind.

Seeing the dejected look on her face, he walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead. "There will be other Valentines…"

Sighing, Abby nodded. "I suppose so."

Before his guilt could make him blurt out his surprise, he made an excuse about needing to check on their animals before turning in and made an escape to the barn.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jimmy had to take the other riders into his confidence the next day. If Abby had begged one of them to take his run on Valentines, his ruse would be up.

Amid the ribbing he received, he got their promise to help him keep Abby in the dark about his plans.

Teaspoon got a kick out of his dilemma, hemming and hawing about how he couldn't lie to Abby if she asked him out right about his sending her husband on a run but in the end gave his word that he would make sure that she didn't find out anything from him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The days before Valentine's weren't the most pleasant for Jimmy. He could see the hurt in Abby's eyes even though she didn't say anything else about the matter.

Tompkins was true to his word and had Jimmy's package wrapped nice and neat when he stopped in the store the day before his supposed run.

"Have a good Valentine's Day Jimmy," he called out, laughing as the rider strode out of the store with the candy under his arm.

Dropping the package off at the station, Jimmy left a change of clothing with it so he could clean up before heading over to the house to surprise his wife the following evening.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'll see you tomorrow when I return from my run," Jimmy told Abby, giving her a kiss.

"Have a safe run," she said softly, feeling saddened that they wouldn't be together for their first Valentine's.

Giving her a wave, Jimmy rode off in the direction of the station. He was going to take care of his usual chores then hide out over at Three Crossings until it was time to get ready for his romantic evening with his wife.

Lou was the one who suggested he leave the station in case Abby decided to come visit Emma so he wouldn't be seen.

Jimmy spent the afternoon whiling away time trying to read a book that Cody had lent to him but never having been much of a reader, he soon tired of it and took a nap.

From the position of the sun when he woke, Jimmy figured it was safe to head back to the station so he could get ready to surprise his wife.

Once he'd washed and changed his clothes, he checked his appearance in the mirror in the bunkhouse before grabbing the now unwrapped box of chocolates from the table.

"What do you think?" he asked Buck, Ike and Cody who were sitting out on the porch.

Grinning, Cody commented, "Don't you look all pretty Jimmy. Marriage sure has changed you!"

Ducking out of his friends reach, Cody chuckled at the scowl sent his way.

"Good thing you're taking that box of candy with you. The way Lou was after Kid about why he didn't get her something like that, I think he was gonna take it on you if it was here when they got back," Cody teased.

"Not if he knows what's good for him," Jimmy replied haughtily.

Ike and Buck grinned, and both told Jimmy he looked nice and that they were sure Abby would be surprised when he showed up at the house.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On the ride home, Jimmy stopped in a field filled with wild flowers and picked a bouquet for Abby. She loved flowers and loved it when he surprised her with them.

Not wanting his wife to hear him ride in, Jimmy stopped the horse a ways from the house and walked. Quickly taking the saddle off Sundance, he promised to give him a good brush down in the morning.

Walking around the back of the house, Jimmy could see a lamp lit in the bedroom. Since it was still early, Abby was probably reading.

Going to the back door, he eased it open quietly and left his boots near the door. Grabbing a roll off the counter, he tiptoed down the hall to their bedroom.

Standing in the doorway, he watched his wife who was lying across the bed on her stomach, reading as he thought she would be. A smile tugged at his lips at the picture of her, hair cascading down her back, lost in the story, legs swinging back and forth.

Trying not to make a sound, he slowly made his way into the room towards the bed. He stopped when she rolled onto her back, holding the book up above her as she continued to read.

Knowing that if he moved again, she'd see him for sure, he decided to make his presence known.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

Abby dropped the book she was reading and jumped at his voice. Her hand flew to her chest, trying to stop her racing heart.

"Jimmy! My god, you practically scared me to death!" she cried before getting up off the bed and hurrying over to him.

"What are you doing home? I thought you were gone until tomorrow." She was thrilled that he was there.

"You didn't think I'd leave you all alone on Valentine's Day did you?" he gave her a quick kiss before handing her the flowers.

"These are for you," he told her as she took a deep breath of the flowers heady scent. "I got you this too."

Abby looked at the red heart shaped box. "What on earth?" she asked taking it over to the bed. Setting the flowers on the bedside table, she excitedly lifted the top off the box.

"Candy! Oh, Jimmy! Thank you," Abby threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

"I don't have anything for you," she pouted when the moved apart. "First you told me you didn't want to celebrate Valentines and then you said you were going to be gone…"

"You can make the plans next year. I've taken care of this years," he told her, gathering her in his embrace again.

"Abby Hickok, will you be my Valentine?" he asked huskily, his eyes turning dark with passion.

"Forever and always," she whispered, her lips meeting his eagerly as they sank onto the bed.