TITLE: It Was Never Meant To Be
AUTHOR: Cheryl McCreary
FEEDBACK: cm324292@oak.cats.ohiou.edu
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: The Young Riders don't belong to the author, but to
MGM/UA Television, Ed Spielman and Josh Kane. No copyright infringement
intended.

                          It Was Never Meant to Be
                             by Cheryl McCreary

                                 Chapter One

James Butler Hickok sat in the empty hotel room and looked out the window
into the beautiful night sky. He took a good swallow from the bottle of
whiskey in his left hand. Much earlier that night he'd giving up on using a
glass, seeing no point to it anymore. In his right hand he held a worn
letter. His eyes followed the words on the yellow paper for the thousandth
time.

     Dearest Jimmy,
     This letter brings sad news. A week ago Kid was killed while doing his
duty of protecting Sweetwater. The deputy, who is now the marshal, made sure
that all of the men who did this paid. Me and the kids are doing alright.
Emma and Rachel have come to help out. I just couldn't not let you know. I
know that he always meant a lot to you. Take care and remember that you're
always welcome.
     Love, Louise

His finger traced the words Kid was killed. He knew how much it must have
broken Lou's heart to write those words. He should go and check up on her,
and the kids. As a good friend of Kid's it would be only right to make sure
that his wife and children were okay. But Kid's wife wasn't just any women.
She was Louise.

In his drunken state his mind slipped back to that memorable night and that
kiss. When he closed his eyes he could still feel her lips pressed against
his. He thought back to that young man, his heart full of love for a woman
he could never have.

Love, Louise. Those words spoke the truth. He knew that she had loved him.
And not like the rest of the riders. She loved him as a woman loves a man.
But her heart belonged to Kid. Even now in death, Kid still held her heart.
Although they had never spoken the words to each other, Jimmy knew that she
loved him and she knew that he loved her. And they had left it at that,
unspoken words and one kiss. That one unforgettable kiss.

Jimmy had known several women in his life. He had loved several of them too.
But not one had so consumed his every thought like Louise McCloud. He
doubted that he would ever meet another one that would.

Jimmy took another long swallow of the whiskey, glad to have something to
numb the exposed nerves of his soul. Jimmy had known from that day Mills had
hung that Lou belonged to Kid and always would. He had longed for her to
look at him the way she looked at Kid, to feel those soft lips on his again,
to hold her in his arms. And even though The Kid was the best friend he had
ever had in his life, somewhere deep down in the dark recesses of his soul
he had wished for Kid's death. Knowing that that was the only way Lou would
ever turn to him. Jimmy had buried that fact deep inside himself. So deep he
had almost forgotten that the thought had ever existed.

Until the day his eyes had graced those words, written in Lou's own sweet
handwriting. Kid was killed. He remembered the thought of the grief that
caught in his throat and the nausea that overcame him when those long buried
thoughts surfaced. Kid was dead. Lou's heart was broken. And what he had
wished for as a love stricken young man had come true. Long ago he had
thought that upon hearing those words he would have come running to the arms
of his love, Louise. But now that the moment had come he sat in the empty,
lifeless hotel room and drowned himself in whiskey.

He should go to her. He should comfort her. But he knew that nothing could
fill the hole left in her heart from Kid's lose, not even him. He still
wanted to wrap her in his arms. Hear her gently sobs on his chest. Tell her
that she'd learn to live without Kid. But he was sure that Emma and Rachel
would do a better job than him at comforting her.

He took another swallow of the whiskey. Looked out at the calm night sky.
Folded the letter and tucked it in his vest, next to his heart. He had made
up his mind. He would do the one thing that he had known all along he had to
do. He would go to her. He would comfort her. And he would once again bury
all those feeling and longings from long ago. She needed him. She needed him
as the good friend that he was to her, as the good friend that he had been
to Kid. And he would go to her.

Jimmy had no idea when he first realized that he had feelings for Lou. But
he knew a long time ago that he'd always have feeling for her, no matter
where life led them both. She had married Kid like they'd all known she'd do
someday. The two of them had settled down at the old way station in
Sweetwater. They had a ranch, raised horses, and made a family and a life
with each other. And the two of them were happy.

It was quite a few years before Jimmy went to visit them. Him and Kid hadn't
parted on the best of terms. But he had finally gone to visit and it had
felt good. When he was with Kid and Lou and their family he almost felt like
he was home. He had realized long ago that a family was not in the cards for
him. But he did at times wonder what if things had gone differently.

After Mills was hung they had never brought up that kiss again. He knew that
she had never told Kid about it. It had remained their secret all these
years, as had their feelings for each other. As if one spoken word of that
night would make it and the emotions it created disappear. And neither of
them truly wanted those emotions gone. But they knew, both of them, what was
to be. Kid belonged with Lou and Lou with Kid. And Jimmy was to lead his
life alone. That was the way the cards had fallen and there was nothing the
three of them could have done about it.

Instead he lived his life in hotel rooms. Wearing a badge and keeping the
peace in the most lawless of places. He was good at his job. And glad that
he was on the right side of the law. Instead of a family, ranch and home, he
had whiskey, gambling and saloon girls. At least they helped to fill the
void in his life and in his heart.

When Jimmy reached the outskirts of Sweetwater, he stopped. He thought of
what to say to her. What to do. And he thought of turning back. But he knew
he couldn't. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He needed to face
the woman he loved. And for the first time in their lives Kid wouldn't stand
between them.

The day that Kid had died Louise felt like her heart had been ripped from
her chest. Years ago she had a lost a child. He had only been a babe. He was
their second child and they had named him Jed after Kid's brother. When he
was 8 months old he had taken sick. Nothing the doctor did helped and 2
weeks later he had died. She had been with him when he took his last breath
and her heart had stopped when he hadn't taken another. Dealing with that
grief had been hard. But she'd had James, their first child, still. And less
than a year later she'd had Mary and later Caleb. And always she had Kid. He
had promised long ago that he'd never ride off without her. And while he was
alive he had kept that promise.

The day he died he had broken that promise. He had ridden off to heaven
without her and left her behind to wait for her time to follow him. She did
still have the kids. They anchored her to this world. They needed her. And
even if the grief of living one day without Kid was unbearable the idea of
leaving them in the world with no one, just as she and Kid had been left,
was more unbearable. She wouldn't let the same fate befall her children.

After the funeral she had written everyone to let them know what had
happened. Rachel and Emma had come to help her deal with her grief. She had
needed them. They were her best friends and had always been there for her in
her times of need. That had been some months ago.

Not having Kid with her still made her heart ache. She knew that the pain
would never go away. And she would never find a man to replace him. Rachel
believed that she was wrong. Rachel herself had lost a husband and had
eventually found someone to replace him in Teaspoon. But Lou knew that
things were different with her and Kid. Long ago the two of them had been
fused into one. Lou knew that she would be the lost half of a whole till the
day she died and joined Kid in heaven.

Everyone had come to check in on her and the kids. They had all been sad to
have had to lay another member of their family in the ground. And they all
knew how much the Kid had meant to her. They worried about her. Everyone had
come to check up on her but the one person that mattered most to her, Jimmy.
She wondered if she would ever see the famous lawman again.

Jimmy had a way of hiding from things in life that truly mattered to him.
Like the way it had taken him so long to come see her and Kid. He hadn't
wanted to face up to how important Kid was to him. They had parted with a
lot of bad water between them. And all of that had to be dealt with the next
time they met. She also knew that one of the reasons it had taken him so
long to visit was his feelings for her.

Kid had always known that there was something between her and Jimmy. But she
had chosen him. And married him. She had never told him what exactly existed
between her and Jimmy. And he had let her keep it to herself. Maybe he
really didn't want to know that his best friend and his wife loved each
other like that.

What her and Jimmy had was one fleeting moment and the rest of eternity at
the same time. She didn't know when she had really fallen in love with him.
But she knew that it was that one fleeting moment that their lips touched
that she had made her realize her feelings. She let her mind think of that
kiss. It had been passionate and full of promise. And she had returned it
with the same passion that it had been given. She wondered how far her and
Jimmy would have gone that night if they hadn't been interrupted.

She had loved them both. And had often wavered between the two of them. But
Kid had always held her heart. Jimmy however haunted her soul. She couldn't
have them both. The choice had been an easy one. It had taken no thought.
She couldn't live without Kid.

She longed to see Jimmy. To have him wrap his strong arms around her and
hold her. She knew that he could comfort her in a way no one else, but maybe
Kid, could. Jimmy had never been a replacement for the Kid, simply an
alternative. She needed that alternative now.

She wondered how Jimmy and her would exist in a room with the Kid gone. He
had always been there between them. And she figured that in a way he always
would. But ever since she had married Kid, both of them had buried their
true feelings for each other deep inside themselves. Jimmy knew is wasn't
right for him to love his best friend's wife, just as Lou knew it wasn't
right to love her husband's best friend.

Lou knew that by the time Jimmy showed up at their door, years after they
had all parted, he had made peace with himself about his love for her. It
was buried and would stay that way. She had made her choice long ago on that
day Mills hung. They had both known the choice she would make. But it had
still broken both of their hearts.

Would Jimmy kiss her? With Kid finally out of the picture would the thought
cross his mind that they could be together? But could they ever really be
together. It would be nice to feel his lips on hers again. But would her
mind still think of Kid in their moment of passion, like it had all those
years ago? She didn't know what would happen. What she would do. What Jimmy
would do. But she did know that she wanted the option to do whatever life
had meant them to do. To finally close the issue of their unfulfilled love
for each from so long ago.

                                 Chapter Two

Lou was hanging the laundry on the line. Jimmy saw her from a distance. Her
back was turned to him. She was busy with work and didn't know he was
watching. So he watched. He had always been amazed at what a beautiful woman
Lou had become. Her hair was now half way down her back, loosely bound at
the nape of her neck. The sun had given it auburn highlights. She was still
petite and small. But having had four children had made her slightly plump
and given her gorgeous curves. She wore a green gingham dress, and filled it
quite nicely. He imagined that the color probably complimented her eyes
well.

Feeling eyes on her. Lou looked up. She saw Jimmy standing there, looking at
her. His brown hair was long. It hung free and wavy on his broad shoulders.
A bushy, well-groomed mustache covered his upper lip and part of his mouth.
He wore a clean white collar-less shirt, a black vest, a black duster, and
black pants and boots. On his narrow waist he wore his matching silver navy
pistols and a silver badge graced his vest. She wondered how look he had
been standing there watching her.

Neither of them talked. They had so much to say. But neither of them had any
idea where to start. And so they stood there, in the afternoon sun, by the
newly hung laundry, staring at one another.

Finally Jimmy walked toward her slow and gentle. He stopped before her and
softly said, "I'm sorry Lou."

Lou looked up into his deep brown eyes and saw tears. She was sure her eyes
where filling with tears too. She took a ragged breath. She wanted to tell
him so much but no words were able to escape her mouth. He reached out those
strong arms and brought her to him. He enfolded her in his arms and she let
him. She rested her head on his chest and gently sobs racked her small
frame. Jimmy leaned his head to rest on hers and wet tears slowly dripped
down his cheeks.

                                    *****

"Do you know how long you'll be staying Jimmy?" Lou asked as she served up
dinner to her family and guest.

The two of them had stood and held each other for what seemed like forever.
The laughter and yells of the children returning from school had ended the
embrace. Neither of them wanted the children to see them like that. To the
children it would seem perfectly normal to find their mother crying on the
shoulder of her and their father's dear friend. They would think nothing of
it. She had done the same with several other of her friends. But both Jimmy
and Lou knew that it hadn't been the same with the other friends.

Jimmy noticed that the children appeared to be doing all right. It had been
months since their father's death though. He was sure that they all missed
their father dearly and always would. Just as he missed his mother. But that
kind of pain you can live with. For Lou he knew it was a different matter.

"Not sure yet," Jimmy replied to the answer taking a bite of the delicious
meal. Cooking was something that Lou had, he was sure through lots of
practice, finally learned to do well.

James, Kid and Lou's oldest son, gave him a long stare. The boy had been
named after him. He was a wonderful mixture of Kid and Lou, in appearance
and personality. Jimmy matched his stare momentarily. He didn't blame the
boy, he was now the man of the house. It was now his job to watch over his
mother, brother and sister. He couldn't have been more than 13.

The younger children talked throughout dinner of the exciting events of
their day. Jimmy smiled and nodded whenever appropriate. He longed to look
at Lou, to drink her in with his eyes. But he knew he shouldn't and
couldn't. So he made sure that he only gave Lou an occasional glance.

"It's getting late," Lou commented. The children knew that that was her cue
that they needed to be getting ready for bed. The younger children kissed
Lou and then said good night to their Uncle Jimmy and headed up to bed.
James stared at Jimmy, "Good night Uncle Jimmy," he said. There was warning
in that voice. Jimmy wondered if the boy knew his feelings for his mother.
Putting on his best poker face Jimmy responded, "Night James," and smiled.

And then the two of them were alone. "Do you want some coffee?" Lou asked.
She was being the polite hostess. But she didn't want to know what either of
them would do now. She had seen Jimmy trying to avoid looking at her over
dinner. She had tried to avoid looking at him too.

"Sure," Jimmy answered shifting in his chair. He rested his elbows on the
table and his chin on his hands. When Lou turned back around with the
coffee, Jimmy was staring at her. That look chilled her spine and warmed her
soul at the same time. That look was full of love and longing. It reminded
her of the way he had looked at her all those years ago when they were
riding with the Pony Express.

"Maybe we should take this outside," Lou said. She defiantly didn't want any
of her children walking downstairs and catching the two of them together.
She took her cup and walked to the swing on the front porch. Jimmy quietly
followed.

And then they sat there in silence. Drinking the coffee. Jimmy knew he
shouldn't have looked at Kid's wife like that, but he couldn't help it. The
porch was a better place. He quietly took a sip of the coffee. He could feel
Lou looking at him. Should he look back? If he found love for him in those
brown eyes could he resist? He turned and matched her look with his own. It
was full of love for him.

They sat staring at each other. Memorizing each other's faces. Remembering
what they had looked like all those years ago. They said no words. No words
needed to be said. They loved each other. They had always loved each other.
They always would. And both of them knew it. But neither of them wanted to
say it. As if the love between them would disappear with those three little
words, 'I love you.'

As they had stared at each other they had slowly and gently moved closer.
Their noses were now almost touching. Their eyes still locked. Jimmy tilted
his head slightly to the right. Closed his eyes. Lou closed hers as well.
Nothing but a promise existed between their lips. He wanted to kiss her. His
heart longed to taste her again. Lou's heart was beating fast and hard in
her chest. Jimmy could taste her breath in his. But still he wavered, a
second away from making his heart happy.

"We shouldn't," Lou softly said. Her lips brushing against his as she spoke.
"I know," he answered his voice rough with desire. "I want you to," Lou said
her voice filled with desire also. And still he wavered. Then with one
sudden movement he drew her to him. Kissed her passionately. And Lou kissed
him back. The kiss grew more passionate and the promise of sex filled it.
"No," Lou said as she pushed her way out of Jimmy's arms, jumped from the
swing. Jimmy let her go. "I'm sorry Lou," he quietly said. Jimmy sat in the
swing. Lou stood before him. They were both out of breath. Their hearts
pounding in their chests. It took all the will power they had not to once
again reach out to one other.

And they stayed like that. Looking at each other with love and passion.
Wanting each other so bad. Doing nothing more about it. Until they're
breathing was once again normal. They're hearts had stopped pounding. Jimmy
stood up. He stood close enough to Lou to once again take her in his arms,
to resume that kiss. The kiss on that swing, the kiss from long ago. He
looked down at her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted that more than he had
ever wanting anything in his life. Lou looked up at him. She longed for him
to kiss her. She knew she didn't have the power to do it herself. They both
knew what would happen if they kissed again. They both wanted it to happen.
They both didn't want it to happen.

"Good night, Louise," Jimmy said slow and sweet. He then turned and walked
into the house. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to make love to her.
But he didn't.

The next day Jimmy helped James and the ranch hands with various chores. It
helped to occupy his time and empty his head of thoughts. He didn't need
those thoughts rattling around in his head. Kid might be dead. He might have
dies months ago. But that still gave Jimmy no right to think about Lou that
way. And it gave him even less right to do anything about those thoughts. So
he worked and for awhile stopped thinking. He had forgotten how good manual
labor was at doing that.

Lou went about doing her normal household duties. She and Jimmy saw very
little of each other. She assumed that that was probably a good thing. After
that kiss they shared last night she figured that the less they saw of each
other the better. She felt guilty about that. She had asked him to do it.
Had given him permission. And then she had realized where that kiss was
leading. Kid was dead. She was allowed to do what she wanted. But she
certainly didn't want the children to know that her and Jimmy had thought
about doing something like that. To them he was Uncle Jimmy. And it
certainly wasn't the Christian thing to do. Still she was a woman and Jimmy
was a man. And they did love each other. It was the thing people did when
they were in the same situation.

Every once and awhile throughout the day Lou and Jimmy crossed paths. At
first they had been cordial to each other when that happened. Neither of
them wanting others to know what went on last night between them. Then they
had gotten more laid back, friendly. More like old times before Kid was
dead. Before that kiss on the porch swing. They had talked of old times on
the porch after lunch. It had rekindled a spark in them. A spark both of
them thought had died years ago. But they both knew it hadn't. They had
protected that spark. Shielded it from the harsh world of reality for all
those years. Both of them had known that nothing would ever become of that
spark of love they had shared long ago. But neither of them had wanted to
let it go. They still didn't.

By the time night had fallen and the children were all tucked into bed they
both knew what they wanted to do. They both knew what they would do. Kid no
longer held them apart. They knew they shouldn't. They knew that nothing
would come of it. They knew it was never meant to be. But just once they
wanted to give in. The follow their hearts. To hold each other as lovers and
fully know the others every desire.

Lou softly blew out the lamp, casting Jimmy a look of insatiable desire. It
was all Jimmy could do to resist running to her. He wanted to fill her
desire. He slowly rose from his chair. Walked toward her calmly and
casually. His eyes the only thing giving away his burning desire. They
burned into Lou's skin and put her soul on fire. She felt her knees growing
weak, her stomach full of butterflies. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to
have him.

Then Jimmy stood before her. They kissed soft, sweet. Moving like old lovers
that knew everything about each other. Then more passionate, like young
sweethearts learning about each other for the first time. And one kiss led
to another and then another, and they both knew were it would end. And
neither of them cared.

Jimmy basked in the afterglow of love making, in Lou's sweet arms. Lou's
head lay on this bare chest her long auburn hair running down her bare
shoulders and back. She propped her chin up on his chest and smiled up at
him, a smile of contentment. Jimmy smiled back. And for the first time in
his life he was truly happy. Lou leaned up and kissed him softly. Jimmy
kissed her back passionately. They rolled over. Lou softly laughed from joy,
breaking the kiss. Jimmy was above her, looking down. She smiled up at him.
Her face beamed with love. She hadn't been this happy in a long time.

Jimmy looked down at her, the woman he loved, Louise. "I love you, Lou," he
said without thinking. He was as surprised as she was when the words, those
words, were voiced aloud. The words had come from his soul, were they had
been bottled up for so long.

Lou's face fell. "I'm sorry," Jimmy said, his face filled with gloom of what
those three little words would change. They both knew that they loved each
other. They had known since that kiss long ago. But neither of them had said
it aloud. Neither of them had dared until now. "Don't be," Lou said softly,
"I love you too, Jimmy."

It had been done. They had unbottled all that love, all those emotions. It
felt good. Like a weight had lifted from their shoulders. But their hearts
broke at the thought of what those seven words would do.

Jimmy rolled onto his back. Lou curled up beside him. The thought crossed
his mind. This was their bed, Kid and Lou's. They had loved each other under
these sheets, made four children. Lou seemed to instinctually know what
Jimmy was thinking. He thought that he was invading their marriage bed. But
Kid was dead.

"He's still here isn't he?" Jimmy asked quietly, knowing that both of their
thoughts had been on Kid. The third member of a triangle that life had
created so long ago, woven together so tightly that the bonds couldn't be
broken even in death. Lou cringed at the spoken words. Her heart sank as she
realized that the answer was 'eyes'. She hugged Jimmy even tighter. She
nodded her head, afraid to say the words aloud. Jimmy knew the answer before
he felt Lou's head move softly on his chest. He knew that Kid had always
been there. He always would. Jimmy was glad that for awhile they had both
forgotten that.

"I don't ever want you to let me go," Lou whispered into Jimmy's chest. "I
never have and never will," Jimmy answered softly. Lou realized that Jimmy
wasn't talking about holding her in his arms, but holding her in his heart.
She knew that he had and would always love him. It was nice to hear him say
it. She lay in his arms, content. Jimmy hugged Lou closer to him. Neither of
them wanted this night to end. Both of them knew that it must.

Dawn was just breaking when Lou came downstairs to prepare breakfast. She
and Jimmy had fallen asleep in each other's arms. It had felt good to be
that close to him. She had still been sleeping when he left early this
morning. She had stirred softly. Jimmy had kissed her sweetly on the lips.
She had kissed him back. That would be the last kiss they would share. They
both knew it. They had finally finished what they had started all those
years ago with that passionate kiss by the fire. And now it was all over.
They would always love each other, but life had chosen separate paths for
them long ago.

Lou's eyes graced Jimmy's duster and vest on the back of one of the kitchen
chairs. She heard the faint sound of hammering outside. She knew it was him.
She didn't think that he'd be able to sleep. Too many thoughts were whirling
around in his head. She could have looked out the window. But she didn't.
She began to fix breakfast. She needed to do something to calm the thoughts
in her head also.

Jimmy banged the hammer down fast and hard. He heard the noise it made echo
throughout the homestead. He hoped that he didn't wake anyone. He had left
Lou hours ago. Had shared one last kiss with her. Neither of them wanted the
kids to know where Jimmy had spent last night. But the thoughts in his head
had been too much to control. He had needed to do something to make himself
relax. And so he had gotten the supplies for the new fence that was to be
built today out of the barn.

He brought the hammer down again. Heard the noise echo. The fence would
probably be done by the time Lou finished breakfast. His thoughts were under
control now. Those long hours of solitude and work in the pre-dawn hours had
helped him to realize what he must do. He wanted to stay with Lou, to help
James protect her and the kids from the evils of the world. And he knew that
if he asked her she just might say 'eyes'. But he had chosen the path of his
life long ago. A family and home were not on that path.

The reason why he had never done anything about his love for Lou all those
years ago was he couldn't have her and know she was safe at the same time.
The life he led was full of danger. He never wanted Lou to be part of that
danger. He would have never been able to live with himself if trouble from
his life had harmed her in any way. And so he had let her chose Kid. Had put
up no fight about the issue. If he had pressed the issue more maybe things
had been different. But that was not the way the cards had fallen.

He still couldn't protect her from his world. If she had chosen him all
those years ago it might have been different. Lou was a tough woman. She
could have handled living his life with him then. She probably could still
handle it now. But they weren't the only people involved this time. Lou had
a family. He knew that she would never do anything to take away the mother
of her three children. Jimmy was no longer a choice. Sharing his life was
not an option. Even if she did love him.

And so Jimmy knew what he had to do. He had to walk away. He had to make
sure that last night was the beginning and the end. And then he had to get
on his horse and ride away from the woman that he loved. The woman that he
had loved for so long, the woman that he had longed to have for so long,
Louise. And now that he had finally given into that love he had to leave
her, for both of their sakes.

                                    *****

Things had been quiet at breakfast. The younger kids quietly chattered
amongst themselves. James kept a good eye on Jimmy. Lou and Jimmy sat there
silent, both thinking of the other. Both knowing that neither of them could
let on to the children what they had done last night. What they true
feelings were for each other. After breakfast Jimmy had packed up his stuff
to leave. Telling the kids that he needed to get back to Abilene.

Before he left Jimmy stood with Lou on the porch. The kids had gone to do
chores. They were alone. They looked at each other, love in their eyes. They
knew this was good-bye. Chances were they'd see each other again. But it
would never be the same. Last night had wiped the slat clean. They no longer
silently desired each other. They'd had one another. All those hidden
emotions had been released. They still loved each other. They always would.
But now they had memories instead of desire. They both thought that it had
been a good trade.

Jimmy held his hat awkwardly in his hands. He reminded her of that boy he'd
been so long ago. "Thanks for last night, Lou," he said.

"No, Jimmy," Lou said shaking her head, "thank you."

"If things had been different," Jimmy started thinking of the life the two
of them could have shared, a life that would never be.

"It was never meant to be," Lou commented softly, sadness showing in her
eyes.

"No, it wasn't," Jimmy softly added, the same sadness filling his eyes.

How their hearts longed to be together. But they knew it wouldn't happen.
Knew it wasn't meant to happen. They'd know that the whole time. Jimmy
slowly turned from Lou. Now he had to walk away. He had to walk away from
happiness, from love, from Louise. It was the hardest thing that he'd ever
had to do. And Lou had to let him go. They would always hold each other's
hearts but they could never hold each other. And all they had now were
memories, those sweet memories of last night, the one night that they
shared, the only night that they would ever share.

James was waiting for him at his horse. Jimmy wondered if the boy knew what
he and his mother had done last night. "James," Jimmy said.

"Uncle Jimmy," James said back.

"You take care of them, do your father proud," Jimmy said to him.

"I will sir," James answered.

Jimmy's eyes followed Lou as she went back into the house. Then he turned to
the boy before him. Not hiding the feelings he had for Lou from him. "Take
care of her for me James," Jimmy asked quietly.

"I will, Uncle Jimmy, I will," James replied nodding his head.

"I know," Jimmy said. He mounted his horse. Gave a slip tip of his hat and
rode off. He wanted to look back. But he didn't. There was nothing but the
past to look at. So he kept riding. Riding down a path that he had chosen
long ago. The chapter in his life that he and Lou had begun but not finished
so long ago was finally over. At least he had the memories. And he knew that
wherever he was she loved him and always would. He wished things could have
been different, but Lou was right 'it was never meant to be'.

                                  The End