Memorial Video

I always make a tribute video to mark the anniversary of Peter's passing.   This year is no exception.   I love his sweet face so much and I remember falling in love with it all those years ago.  This is for you sweet Pete.  And as always......I love you. 

Pete's last hours

As you all know,  in a few hours it will be 41 years that Peter has been gone.  He took his life in the very early hours of December 31, 1971.  Though we will never know exactly what happened and why that night, we do know that he left a huge hole in our hearts and our lives when he left.  I have burned a candle for the past two years to honor his memory, but this year I have to work.  I asked for the day off tomorrow so I could keep vigil and keep my candle lit,  but circumstances that could not be helped did not allow for me to be off.  So I will burn a virtual candle for the next 24 hours in remembrance of Peter.   If you would, please join me in burning a candle tomorrow for Peter.

Another year has passed and still your memory burns bright in my mind and in my heart,  just like the candle I burn for you tonight.  You will always be loved and you will never be forgotten.  

I want to wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas!!!    My prayer is that you will be blessed today more than you ever expected and that you will be blessed beyond measure in the coming new year!!!

Gorgeous dimples - my Christmas gift to you.   

My thoughts and prayers are with you Newtown

It is difficult to find words when I witness something as horrific as the massacre of innocents at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday.  There ARE no words that will ever bring comfort or understanding to the parents who sent their children to school yesterday morning without fear that those children would never come home again.  All I or anyone can do is pray to the only one who understands why.  And the only one is God almighty.   I have not made it a secret that I am a Christian.  I am a born again, washed in the blood, baptized believer in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  If that offends you then I don't advice you to read my blog.   I am tired of being politically correct and trying not to offend people.  Atheists and those who don't believe certainly don't care about my rights or if I'm offended by their hate speech towards Christians, so I'm not going to care anymore either.  

Mass shootings and killings are becoming an epidemic.  When I was a child,  no one would have dreamed that such a thing could ever take place.  No one would have believed you if you told them that thirty years in the future,  kindergarten children would be shot down in their own classroom.    I contribute all of the violence to one main source.  Lack of gun control, you say?   No.  A madman who is hell bent on killing people will make a bomb out of fertilizer (Oklahoma) or high jack an airplane full of jet fuel (9/11) if death is his intention.  Guns are not the problem.  It is, my friends, the lack of God.   We have sat idly by while people like Madalyin Murray O'Hair, successfully had prayer removed from our schools and from public functions,  from government buildings.   This is a woman who tried to defect to Russia.  An admitted Marxist.  And our country, our government and its people let it happen.  If the young man who committed this unspeakable act had heard prayer in school,  he might have had a very different life and I would not be posting this right now.  Say what you will and mock me if you want,  but I know the power of prayer and the power of God.  I have seen it in my own life.   Prayer changes things.  

And so I say, "Shame on you,"   I say that to myself, to my fellow Christians and to my fellow Americans.   When we allowed God to be removed from our schools,  we allowed Satan to step in.   Take away light and all you have is darkness.   A heart and mind that has been exposed to the love of Christ could never do what that man did to those little children.   If you do not believe in God's presence,  I hope you do now that you see what his absence has wrought.   I urge you all to teach your children to pray.   Let them see you pray.   Let them know that there is a God.   They will not be exposed to God or prayer in school, so it is up to us to make sure they are exposed to it at our homes and churches.

I think I'm through with my rant for now.   I will close with this prayer and ask you all to say one as well for the families who lost their loved ones on December 14, 2012.

Father in Heaven,

You are the only one who can bring comfort to those who grieve.   I pray you will wrap your arms of mercy and grace around them all.   May they know the peace that can only come from the knowledge that their babies are in your arms now and that they will see them again one day,   I pray, Lord, that you bring healing to their broken hearts and that the deaths of these innocents will not be in vain and your people will rise up and declare that we will not take your absence from our schools any longer.  In the holy name of Jesus Christ, I pray.    Amen. 

Well, it's that time of year again.  I caught Hannibal Heyes trying to sneak down my chimney.  That sneaky little devil.    At least he was kind enough to stand still for a photo.  I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm still alive.   I know I haven't been posting much lately.   My job is crazy hectic right now.   My husband is back home as is my oldest son.  My house is as full as a tick on a coon dog's back.   I don't think there's ever going to be any worry of me having empty nest syndrome.  The baby chicks are going to be here when I die.   I hope you are all having a lovely holiday season thus far.   I probably won't be posting the next chapter of LLG until after the new year.    Be prepared for a new video tribute to Peter on the anniversary of his death on December 31.    That is, of course, if the world doesn't end on the 21st.   As soon as Heyes gets finished leaving me my gifts,  I promise I'll send him to your chimney next.     HO HO HO...Heyes is waiting....gotta go!!!!


Peace, love and dimpled smiles,
~Karen    
as always,  love you, Peter

Love's Last Gift ~ Chapter 7

"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong.  No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."   -  Terry Pratchett,  Reaper Man

She was perfect.   He couldn't stop looking at her.   She was sleeping peacefully in the center of the big bed of the room Livvy had insisted on renting.  Kid had wanted her and Gabbie to share a room with him, but she refused.  Kid sat on the edge of the bed watching his daughter, her little bow shaped mouth making sucking motions as she slept.  His love for her had been instant but had only grown stronger and deeper the longer he was around her. He thought he would never care about anyone as much as he cared about Heyes. But he was wrong.  He  would give his last breath so that this little girl could live.  And not just live,  live safely and happily.   He understood now how Heyes felt about Evie.  An instinct to protect and provide now dominated his very being.  And not just his child, but her mother as well.
  
"Well, let's have it.  Get it all over with,"  Livvy said from across the room.  "I know you want to give me a piece of your mind and I know I deserve it, so let's get on with it."

He stood and crossed the room to where the mother of his child stood.   She expected him to lay into her with a hateful and scathing rebuff.   She gasped slightly when he grasped her tiny waist and  pulled her to him and lowered his mouth to hers.  He parted her lips with his own in a tender, lingering kiss.   He lifted his head and stared into her eyes and said simply,  "Thank you."

She was stunned by his response.  "Thank you?   For what?"

"For giving me the most precious gift a woman can give a man....a daughter.  And thank you for taking care of her and keeping her safe."

"That wasn't the response I was expecting."

"What did you think I was going to do?   Sprout horns and fly around the room with a pitchfork?"

"No, I thought you might pull that six shooter and demand to know why I didn't tell you."

"Now that you mention it....why didn't you tell me?   You should have told me the minute you knew you were with child.   I hate the thought of you going through that alone.   Weren't you scared?"

"I was terrified.   But I wasn't alone.  Evangeline was with me every moment.   And I couldn't get word to you.  You couldn't receive letters or visitors remember.   Only from immediate family, which I'm not.  I suppose if I had tried hard enough and paid off the right people I could have gotten a letter to you.  But I didn't want to do that to you.  Being in that place was horrible enough.   I can't imagine being in there and knowing I had a child I would never see on the outside.   I would think it would have made life in there even more unbearable than it already was.  I was afraid you would try to escape and get killed in the process."

"But I've been out of prison more than a month.  Why didn't you tell me the minute I was out?"

"For the same reason.  Governor Ramsey knew I would do anything to keep you safe.  He told me privately that should I try to see you and tell you about Gabbie that he would make sure that you had a date with the gallows as soon as he could arrange it.   I couldn't bear the thought of you hanging.   And I knew he would make good on his promise if I told you.  So I kept it to myself.   Evangeline didn't know about my conversation with the governor.  Otherwise you still wouldn't know the truth."

A very subtle change came over Kid Curry's face.  It would have gone undetected to anyone else, except Hannibal Heyes and Olivia.   He was angry.   Years of living as a gunfighter and protector had conditioned him to hide anger and fear.  But Livvy saw it and it made her shiver.   "Please don't think what I think  you're thinking."

"What do you think I'm thinking?"   he said with a false calm.

"That you want to lay in wait for the governor to return and blow him to kingdom come, that's what.   But don't you dare do that.   I am this close to riding out of this town with everyone I love in tact.   And I'm not about to let you go and do something stupid and ruin it all."

 Kid hung his head for a moment and sighed.  "Alright.   I'll leave him alone.  Unless, he makes anymore threats.  Livvy, that's our child.  We made a child together.  From this point on, you are my number one obligation.   You're protection and your happiness are what's most important to me."

"Me?  Why me and not her?"  she asked as she looked up into his blue eyes.

"Because my father taught me something that I'll always remember.  And he not only told me but he showed me everyday of his life.   He told me when I grew up and had kids,  if I wanted them to be happy,  the best thing I could do was love their mother and make her happy.  And that's what he did everyday of his life.  He loved my mother and made her happy.  And that's what I intend to show her everyday of my life."

Her mouth fell open.  Had he just told her in a round about way that he loved her?  There was so much she wanted to say, but she was so afraid that if she spoke he would tell her she had heard him wrong or she had misunderstood.   Once again this man had made her feel delicate and feminine.   She had never feared speaking her mind.  No man had ever rendered her speechless.  But this man was coming very close.   But she wasn't completely speechless yet.  "So the best thing for our daughter is for you to make me  happy?"

He cradled her cheek in his big hand and softly caressed her bottom lip.  "And love you.   I love you, Olivia Vanderbilt.  I love you and our daughter.   And if you think I'm going anywhere,  you'd better think again.  I'm afraid you're stuck with me.   Life's too short to tiptoe around and not say what you feel.  If I learned anything from being in that hell hole of a prison it's that.  I don't want to take another day for granted and I don't want to waste any more time getting started doing it."

Now she was speechless.  She didn't want to cry.  She tried so hard not to let the tears come.  But they came.  She opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out.  She just stood there gaping at him as tears slid down her cheeks to drip from her chin.

He wiped the tears from her quivering chin with his fingers.  "What?    Whatever it is, Livvy, just say it.   Don't waste any more time."

"I love you.  I think I loved you the day I saw you strutting towards me at the train depot.   I've never met a man that could not only make me feel so weak but make me like that feeling as well."

"Weak is the last word I'd use to describe you.  But even if you were weak, that's alright.   I'll be strong enough for the three of us.   I plan to spend the rest of my life taking care of you and our baby."

"But I'm the one with all the money,"   she said between sniffles.

"Taking care of someone doesn't always mean providing them with money or material things, Livvy.   Boy, I've got a lot to teach you.  It's a good thing we've got the rest of our lives."

"What are you saying, Jedediah Curry?"

"I'm saying that as soon as we can make the arrangements,  we're getting married.  No daughter of mine is going to be without my name.   And no mother of my child either."

Her dainty brows drew together, her full lips pursed and she put her hands on her hips,  "You call that a proposal?"

"As a matter of fact I do.  I wasn't born with a silver tongue like Hannibal Heyes, so it's the best I can do.  What do you say?"

A smile slowly grew on her lips and spread to her eyes.    She didn't care if he hadn't proposed with poetry and eloquent words.  All that mattered was that he meant it.  He loved her and he wanted to marry her.   "I say, what are we waiting for?   I don't want to make the same mistake that Evangeline and Hannibal made.   I want to do this before anything can happen to stop us."

They looked at each other for a moment and then they both started laughing.   He lifted her in his arms and twirled her around the room until they were both a little dizzy.  They fell together across the foot of the bed, laughing and kissing.   They were interrupted by a tiny whimper that grew into an earsplitting cry.   Kid scooped his baby up without hesitation and cradled her to his chest.   The crying settled and finally ceased as the child cuddled closer to her father.   Livvy thought her heart would explode with love at the picture they created.   She had dreamed of this moment for so long, but had never dared believe that the dream would come true.   All that remained now was to make sure that Evangeline made it safely out of that dungeon everyone called a mansion and then her entire family would be together.   She and Evie would both be married to the men of their dreams and all would be right with the world again.  Until the party of six boarded a train headed for Nashville, she was going to be a nervous wreck.   She felt suddenly exhausted and extremely sleepy.   Adrenaline from all the excitement had been keeping her up. But now that all the excitement was calming down,  she felt the fatigue down in her bones.   She yawned.

"You should get some sleep.  I'll take care of her for a while.  We have some catching up to do anyway,"   Kid told her.  "I'll wake you if something happens that I can't handle."

Livvy kicked off her shoes and stretched out on the bed.  She reached for his hand,  "I love you, Jedediah  Curry."    He didn't bother to answer her because she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.   He stood with their child and leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.   They had come up with the plan before leaving Heyes and Evie last night.   Evie and Martha would leave the mansion on a shopping trip to Cheyenne as soon as the governor returned.  Once they were able to shake the inevitable watchmen that were to follow, they would all take private coaches to Colorado where they would take the first train east.   When they reached Nashville,  he and Heyes would forever become Thaddeus Jones and Joshua Smith.   Livvy's lawyers would make it all appear legal with birth certificates and school records.
 
Kid carried his baby to the nearby rocking chair.  As he rocked her he looked down at the sweet face of his little girl.   She was busy trying to figure out how to get the button on his shirt into her mouth.   "Do you put everything you touch in your mouth, young lady?"

Her response was a drool filled jumble of unintelligible coos and gurgles.   "That's what I thought.   I can't wait for you to get to know your uncle Heyes.  He's the smartest man I know.   And he's going to love you to bits.   And as soon as mommy wakes up,  I had better go check on him.  Because as smart as he is,  he still needs me to take care of him.  I always have and I always will.  Just like I will you and mommy."  

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

It was nearly noon.   Heyes had been out here keeping watch in the woods behind the governor's mansion for nearly eight hours.   He would not leave until he saw Evie leave.  Once the governor returned, she and Martha would take a private coach into Cheyenne.  He would follow and then they would meet up with Kid and Livvy.  Then hopefully this whole mess would be over.  And what a mess it was.  But if she hadn't gotten into this mess they would still be in prison.  He loved her courage and her determination.  Nobody else would have given up as much as she had for an outlaw like him.  God had certainly given him a jewel when he had let him find her in that valley nearly two years ago.

His love, his admiration and his respect for her had grown even more after learning all that she had been through just to keep him out of prison.   And the dark thing inside of him had gone to sleep and didn't appear to be waking up anytime soon.  He was glad.   That dark thing was not very nice and he didn't like it very much.  He knew it was part of himself.  The part that came out to deal with the hurt and the disappointment.  It had always been a part of him he supposed, but he had never loved another human the way he loved his Evie.  And so he had never had and occasion for that part of himself to emerge.    He hoped he never would again.  

Heyes drew his Smith and Wesson from its holster and cocked back the hammer when he heard a rider approaching from the south.     He stood behind a large spruce tree and watched until the rider came into view.   He exhaled and put the pistol back in it's holster.   He stepped from behind the tree and waved as Kid approached.   "About time you came to check up on me."

"You know I can't trust you to take care of yourself,"   Kid said as he dismounted.   "I went by Fannie's and brought you something to eat."   He handed Heyes the small basket that Fannie had packed for him.   "Here's your bedroll, a couple of canteens of water and your saddlebags.  I put everything I thought you might need in there.   Hopefully you won't have to be out here for very long.   Anything going on down there since last night?"

"Nope, not that I can see.   I've got a pretty good view of the west side of the house and part of the front from here.   If daddy in law comes home, I'll see him.  Unless he comes home after dark."

The boys sat down on the ground and Heyes dug into the basket of hot food.  Kid couldn't help but notice that his partner had actually smiled at him when he'd ridden up.  He hadn't seen a real smile from him in weeks.   And he was eating like a man who was starved.  He hadn't seen him really enjoy a meal in weeks either.   It was good to see him act like himself again.  And he knew that Evie had everything to do with it.   Without her in his life,  Heyes was like an empty shell of the person he normally was.

"Did you get any sleep last night out here on the ground?"

"Not much.  What about you?   How are things with Livvy and the baby?"

"We stayed up most of the night talking.   Heyes, I still can't believe that little girl is mine.   I had to keep looking at her just to make sure she was there and she was real."

"I'm still having trouble wrapping my brain around it myself.   When I first found out there was a baby,  I thought it was Evie's and mine.  I was sort of disappointed when I found out it was yours and Livvy's.  But then again,  when Evie and I do have kids,  I want to be there for the whole thing.   I don't want to miss a single bout of morning sickness or swollen feet.   I want to be the first one to hold him and I want to be the first one he sees when he opens his eyes.  I want to help bring him into the world.   So I'm glad that Gabbie is yours and not mine.  I would have been upset if I had missed all of those things and the first seven months of her life."

"Yeah,  I guess you can look at it that way.  But the way I see it,  I'm glad I missed all the morning sickness and the swollen feet.  This is Livvy we're talking about, not Evie.  Can you imagine having to deal with a swollen, cranky very pregnant Olivia Vanderbilt?   Especially if your the one who got her that way.   Whew."

"Point taken.  But I don't think Evie will be that way.  She didn't grow up spoiled with a silver spoon in her mouth the way Olivia did.  I can't wait until we can get married and start on babies of our own."

"This plan has to go off without a hitch before you can think about getting hitched.  And speaking of getting hitched,  Livvy and I have decided to get married."

Heyes eyes grew wide with disbelief and then excitement.  He couldn't keep from chuckling.   "I don't believe it.   You're gonna be the one to get married first after all.   I always knew you'd get to the alter before I did.   If we ever did."

"You won't be far behind me I'm sure.  As soon as we get Evie out of that SOB's hands we'll get Livvy's lawyers to work on that annulment.  Do you really think this plan is gonna work?"

"All we can do is plan for the worst and hope for the best, Kid.   The way I see it,  the worst that can happen is the governor will make good on his threat and he'll try to pin some bogus crime on us.  But we'll be a thousand miles away on the other side of the Mississippi living as Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones before he can pull it all off."

"And thanks to Livvy's money and influence we'll have official papers to confirm our identities."

"I really wanted to share my real name with Evie, but that's a small price to pay if we can all live free and be happy together.   It's really small when I think about the price she was willing to pay so that I could get out of prison.  I can't imagine how miserable she's been.   I wish she would have left with me last night.   Now there's just more opportunity for something to go wrong.  The sooner the governor gets back the better.   Yesterday was too soon to suit me."

"I put a pair of spy glasses in your saddle bags.   That will help you keep a better watch out for him."    Kid and Heyes silently watched the mansion that sat at the bottom of this tree covered ridge.   "You know what that place reminds me of?   The home for waywards we were shipped off to when we were kids."

"Yeah,  I noticed that too, but I didn't want to bring it up.   It's almost like there's a dark fog or mist that hangs over it.  Kind of gives me chills when I study on it too much.  I hate the thought of Evie being in there."

"Me too.  I'll be glad when we can leave Wyoming and never look back.   If you think you'll be fine without me I'm going to head on back to town.  I'm missing Gabbie already.   I can't wait for you to
get to know her.   As soon as you see Evie and Martha leave,  you head on into town and let me know. Livvy and I will be ready to leave."

"You head on back, Kid.  I'll be fine.   You need to be with your woman and your baby.   As soon as I know they're safely away from this place,  I'll ride on in and tell you."

"Be careful, Heyes.    If anything changes or goes wrong,  you know where to find me."

"Aww, Kid, like I always tell you,  have a little faith.   What could go wrong?"

"Did you have to say that?   I swear every time you say that...."

"Don't worry so much, Kid.   Just go and be with your new family.   We'll all be on a train to Nashville before you know it."

"I hope your right, Heyes."   Kid gave his partner a parting wave as he headed off into the woods towards town on Rusty's sturdy back.   He would try not to worry, but he wasn't going to rest too easy until they set foot on the eastern side of the Mississippi River.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The house was as still as the grave.   All the servants had retired for the evening.   Even Martha had called it a night.    The governor was gone.  And his son was most likely having his usual night on the town.  That meant she had the house all to herself.   She felt a freedom of spirit she hadn't felt in a long time now that she knew she would soon be leaving this place.    She was comforted by the knowledge that her beloved was nearby.  Knowing he was a few moments away and that he knew the truth about everything  gave her a bravery she had never had since she had begun living in this mansion.

She hated it here.    It would have been a beautiful place, she supposed,  had it not seemed so  dark and gloomy.  It was as if a foreboding presence seemed to hang over it like a shroud.  She thought it had been her own guilt and misery that had made her feel that way, but now even after the heavy garment of deceit had been lifted from her back,  she still felt a brooding darkness that made her uncomfortable. Even though that darkness seemed to lift slightly when he was gone,  she could hardly wait for the main contributor to that darkness to return.   Those were words she never thought she would hear herself say.  As soon as the governor returned she and Martha would leave this place and never return.    And then she, Hannibal, Kid and Livvy would all head for Colorado where they would board a train for Nashville.  Once there she and her beloved would figure out together where they would go.

 He had said Mexico, but she was thinking that perhaps Europe would be a better place.   When one was wealthy,  you could live anywhere and be comfortable.     She had to admit that since living with Livvy she had begun to like the advantages of wealth.   Everything just seemed to come so easily when money was no object.  At least material things.  But she would trade all the wealth right down to the very last penny if none of this had ever  happened and she and Hannibal had been married and he had received his amnesty.  Then they could have experienced their happily ever after.   But like it always seemed to do,  fate had forced them to change their plans.    She knew they belonged together.  She had never been more sure of anything in her entire life.  But forces unseen seemed determined to keep them apart.  That just convinced her even more that they truly did belong together.   Because why would those forces, whatever they were,  try so hard to keep them apart, if they didn't know the joy, the happiness and the good that seemed to emanate from them when they were together.

She took the single candlestick from her bedside and descended the grand staircase of the dark, quiet house.   She passed by the offices that the governor used for his state affairs and the library and the sitting room.  When she came to the parlor, the same room she had been in the first day she had ever set foot in the mansion,  she stepped inside and crossed the room to stand in front of the fireplace.  The two large portraits of the late Mrs. Clayton Ramsey, Jr. stood like sentinels over the room.  Evie looked up into the face of the woman who had shared a life with the man to whom she had bargained her life.   She had a very unassuming beauty and her face carried a distant sadness along with the demure smile.   Her eyes seemed haunted, like a caged bird who had once known freedom to fly and to sing, and was now caged,  flightless and songless.   Until now, the only place in this entire house that did not seem to stifle the very breath from her lungs had been the balcony outside her bedroom.  But now she felt the same peace of mind when she stood here beneath these portraits of a woman long since passed.  How had she died,  she wondered.  She would probably never know because her time here was almost over.

She thought of Livvy and Jed.  What would their plans be?   If things were different,  Jed would have been leaving with her and Hannibal to wherever they decided to go.  But she knew that he would never leave Livvy and Gabbie and Livvy would never leave Heavenly Hills.   But it didn't really matter where they all went as long as they were far from Cheyenne.   If they were far away, their whereabouts unknown,  no one could blame them for any crime.  Evie smiled to herself.   The governor's plan had failed.  His son had not stopped his nightly romps.   The community still witnessed his indiscretions and the governor's attempts to frame Heyes and Curry for a hanging offence would fall on deaf ears, because not only did everyone in Cheyenne love Hannibal and Jed,  they would be far and away from here.   And the two most wonderful ex outlaws who had ever cracked a safe or held up a train would walk away free men.

Evie had been stuck in her private wing of the house, which was really only four rooms,  for over a month now.   And when she did leave the privacy of her suite of rooms,   someone was always following her and watching her every move.   But tonight,  she had the entire house to herself.   The only other people awake were the men on guard outside.   She wrapped her robe more tightly around herself and  headed down the hallway towards the big kitchen at the rear of the house.   She was hungry.   The cook had sent up slices of a decadent spice cake with the meal that she and Martha had shared earlier this evening.   She had been lying awake for the past hour thinking about that cake, and desiring a second slice.   Such mundane thoughts had not been part of her life since she'd lived in Red Rock on the McCreedy ranch.  It felt good to be half way normal again.  

She passed by the closed doorway of the bedrooms of the governor and his son.  She recalled vividly the day they had mistakenly entered Clay's bedroom and Livvy had begun to nurse Gabbie.  When Clay had come in unexpectedly, showing great affection to a very young man,  she had quickly stood in front of Livvy to shield her from prying eyes.   When Martha had screamed and the two men became aware of their presence,  Clay had done his best to shield the young man from prying eyes, not wanting anyone to know his identity.    Clay had not even noticed that Livvy was nursing the baby and not Evie.  He was too busy trying to get his young lover out of the door.  But Clayton had come running in just in time to see Livvy sitting behind Evie, pulling her dress together and handing the baby to Martha.   She wished she could go back in time and lock that door.   If they had just locked the door, none of this would be happening.   But then again,  Hannibal and Jed would most likely still be in prison with no chance of getting out.  But it didn't matter now.  She would be leaving here soon and she was counting the minutes.

Raiding the kitchen in the middle of the night was a simple pleasure she had missed and had taken for granted before her life had become such a tangled mass of lies.   And she felt incredibly light and free as she enjoyed this simple pleasure once again.   She saw what she was looking for as soon as the candle light entered the massive room.    She opened the door to the maple wood pie safe and found the treasure it held.   A devilish grin that had more to do with the reappearance of a dimple faced cowboy in her life than with cake crossed her face as she eyed the sumptuous confection with its brown sugar frosting.   All she needed now was a knife and a plate.   She turned to go in search of a plate and almost screamed when the faint light from the candle she held caught the figure sitting at the big wooden table in the center of the kitchen.

"Good evening, darling,''    Clay Ramsey said from the darkness.

"I'm sorry,  I didn't know anyone was still up except me.   I'll leave you alone. Good night,"   she said quickly as she turned to head for the door.

"No,  please.   By all means stay and have your cake.   That is what you were seeking wasn't it?   The cake.   I think that was the first time I've ever seen you smile.   Unless of course you count those forced smiles you offer to my father's foolishly blind constituents.  I've had that same cake many times and while it is quite good,  I find it hard to believe that it is good enough to put that kind of smile on your face."     He smiled and looked her up and down.  "He's been here hasn't he?   Your outlaw lover has paid you a visit I do believe.   Oh, my dear, you must be careful.  Father would not like that."

Evie said nothing at first.    Had they been seen?   Did Clay know or was he fishing?   She decided to change the subject and hopefully figure out just how much he knew.   "Why aren't you out for the evening like you usually are?"

"I don't go out when my father is away.   I prefer to stay home and enjoy the solitude and the peace of his absence.   Just as you were doing before you ran into me.   We really are more alike than you think.  You know, you and your aunt are a perfect fit for this family when I think about it.   Your both absolutely gifted when it comes to the game of deception.  You're both really very good at it.   You think I don't know everything, but you're wrong.   I know that baby isn't yours.   I know you think I was so startled by your presence in my room that first day we met that I didn't  notice that it was aunt's breast and not yours that baby suckled.   Although, I must admit that it didn't really dawn on me what I had seen until the day we married.   I even goaded you about the child that very day and you kept up the ruse with magnificent aplomb.  You even chided me for speaking about your child.   Brava, darling.   And all those excuses for the baby not coming with us on our outings,   again I say, brava.   Everyone bought those lies and the child wasn't even here.  She was a thousand miles away with her real mother.   And I do believe that everyone in town thinks we are a happily married couple, thanks in large part to your exemplary skills as an actress.  And what is acting but convincing everyone that you are someone you really are not with lies?    Oh, what a tangled web you weave, darling.   How ironic that your name would be Webb and now here you are trapped in one, just like a I am."

Evie could only stand there and listen as Clay rattled on.   She hated being part of any lie, but what choice had she had.   She knew she had to play the part or Hannibal and Jed would pay the price.   She supposed she had been born with the gift to deceive.  Her father after all was an expert con artist.   And she herself had pulled a con when she and the boys had been in a dire situation.   That did not put her in the same class with the likes of Clayton Ramsey or his son.

"And speaking of being tangled in a web of lies,  it's probably a good thing that your so practiced in the art, because once you get entangled in one of Clayton Ramsey's webs,  you never get out.   But don't take my word for it.  You should ask my mother.   Oh, but wait, you can't because she's dead.   Or maybe you should ask my sister.  Oh, but she can't string together a coherent sentence now thanks to my father."

Evie took a few steps closer so the light hit Clay's face.   He held a mug of coffee in his hand and he looked and sounded stone sober.   She had begun to think he was drunk, but she knew now that he was not.

"What happened to your mother, Clay?"  Evie asked, her curiosity piqued after seeing the woman's portraits only a few moments ago.

"My mother,"   he said quietly and with a note of sadness.   "She fell.   She somehow managed to go over the railing of the landing at the top of the stairs at our home in Casper.  Dr.  Graves said she must have fainted while standing too close to the railing and fell.   But my sister heard her scream as she fell to her death.   She didn't faint and she didn't fall.  She was pushed.   And the only other people in the house were my father and my sister."

A cold chill ran down Evie's spine.  He was accusing his father of murdering his mother.  Hadn't Livvy said as much after only knowing Clayton Ramsey for a few days?

"You must really love that outlaw.   And it is the dark one that you love, if I'm correct.   The blond one seems to have taken a fancy to your aunt if the child they produced is any indication.  Unless you and your aunt are into sharing."   His dark eyes narrowed as he inspected her face for a reaction.   "No?   Then I guess you really do love him, because there's no other explanation for why anyone would be so stupid as to enter into any sort of agreement with my father.  So I can only conclude that you are deliriously in love with him.  How sweet.  Which one is the dark one anyway?   It is Heyes or Curry?   I can't remember.  But I certainly remember what he looks like.  Umm umm,  no wonder you've gone to such lengths to get him out of prison.  Silky dark hair,  soulful brown eyes,  lean and fit and those dimples, my goodness.   If I had a man like that I'd deal with the devil to keep him too. "

If his intent had been to ruffle her feathers, he certainly had succeeded.   She grew angry as she listened to him talk about her Hannibal with a smug smirk on his face.   She wanted to slap that smirk right off.  But she didn't.  "His name is Hannibal Heyes.  And how dare you mock me.  What would you know about love?   Have you ever sacrificed anything for the sake of someone else?"  she spat at him defensively.

His face changed.  The smugness disappeared and was replaced by a look of complete and utter sorrow.  He looked at her like a little boy who had just buried his puppy.  "This might come as a shock to you, but as a matter of fact  I do know very well what it's like to lose someone I love.  Just as you know what it's like."

Evie felt suddenly sorry for Clay Ramsey.   Yes, she knew all to well what it was like to lose a parent.  And though hers were gone, at least she had known they loved her.  She doubted if Clay had ever felt loved by his father.  And his sister may as well have been dead from what she had heard of her condition.   "I'm sorry about your mother and your sister."   She took her lamp and headed for the door, the cake now forgotten.

She was just about to walk out of the door and into the hallway when he called out, "It's not true, you know.   All those things they say about me.   I don't do all those vile things to young boys like they say.   I admit I got a little carried away that day you saw me in my room.   I rarely bring company to the house.   And that young man was seventeen.  It was just that he reminded me so of.... I'm not a monster,  Evangeline.   You think me unfeeling and uncaring, when in fact the opposite is true.   I feel so much and hurt so deeply that the only relief I have from the hell that is my life is to drink myself into a blind stupor.   And the truth of the matter is I don't like to drink alone.   Grown men don't want to be around me.  But the young ones....you'd be surprised what the promise of free booze and food will make young men do.   They will even put a dress on over their clothes  and follow you wherever you go.    But they always leave before the morning comes.  They drink their fill and spend all my money,   all the while pretending to listen while I pour my heart out and then leave me to wallow in my own self pity."   He paused for a moment, staring into space with a sad, distant look.   "I was in love once, just like you.   His name was Nicholas and he was my everything,  my soul mate,  my destiny.   I would have gladly given my life to save his.   Do you not feel the same about your outlaw lover?    After all you have in a sense given your life in exchange for his, haven't you?"

Evie's first instinct was to simply ignore his question and leave the room.   What did she care if or how this man had suffered?    But her mind could not let go of the image of his mother's haunting eyes.   This man was her son.  It wasn't his fault that his mother had died and left him to be fathered by a soulless man.   Perhaps all he needed or wanted was someone to listen.   "I would have given everything I have, including my life to get him out of that prison," she said.

"And in so doing you put yourself in prison.    It really is like a Shakespearean tragedy, isn't it?   You can never be happy unless the man you love is free to be with you,  but the only way to free him is to bargain yourself into bondage, thus rendering yourself unable to be with him anyway.  It's both tragic and beautiful at the same time."

"And what of you and Nicholas?   Is that a tragic and beautiful story as well?"  Evie asked, her curiosity  piqued further.

"There's nothing beautiful about murder, my dear, Evangeline.    Nicholas was murdered.  Just like my mother.  But for different reasons.  Because I loved him he died.   His only crime was daring to love the son of the almighty Clayton Ramsey, Jr."

Evie was grateful for the dim light.  She didn't want Clay to see the look on her face.   "Are you saying that your father killed him?"

"Oh,  he didn't do the deed himself.   That's what he has Bartholomew for.   Bartholomew is the brawn and my father is the brains.   Good old Bart does all my father's dirty work and dear old dad in return covers his tracks and keeps him out of trouble with the law.  They've been taking care of each other that way since they were children."

Evie didn't know what to say.    Clay had basically just accused his father of murder,  Not once, but twice.  And he talked about it as if he were discussing the price of pigs in the market.   And Evie had no reason not to believe it.   She felt the bile rise in her throat.   She groped for the nearest chair and moved on shaky legs to sit down.

"I'm sorry.  I've upset you.  But I think it's only fair that if your going to be part of our happy family, you really must know what you're getting yourself into.   I couldn't have this conversation with you while he and Bartholomew were here.  I never intended to seek you out to tell you anything, but I had decided that should the occasion arise when we could be alone to speak freely, that I would share with you all of our wonderful family secrets. So it would appear that something or someone made plans for us to meet here tonight so I could enlighten you."

Evie sat in astonishment, trying to absorb all that he had just said.   Clayton Ramsey, Jr., governor of the territory of Wyoming was a murderer.   She knew he was a despicable, conceited, self-serving man who made her feel uncomfortable, but a murderer?

"Of course, my mother and Nicholas were just stumbling blocks for my father.   When he runs into an obstacle he simply removes it.   He did however draw the line with my sister and me. I guess he thought that too much tragedy in one man's life would be suspicious.   He didn't kill my sister  even though she could have told that he pushed my mother to her death.  Instead he just pays Dr. Graves a king's ransom to live with her at our home in Riverton and keep her sedated.   There's nothing wrong with her except that she knows too much that could mean the ruin of my father.  Laudanum is the drug of choice that the good doctor uses to render my sister practically comatose.   And my father looks again like the poor victim.   A dead wife,  a daughter gone mad from losing her mother.   And then there's me of course.   The biggest disappointment a man can have,   a son who's a fag.   When I was a boy I used to enjoy a nice daily beating for playing dress up with my sister.  And when I refused to court girls during my teens,  Bartholomew convinced me otherwise, with his fists."   Clay continued to speak as he rose from the table and moved about the kitchen.  Evie was so lost in her own thoughts as she listened to him that she paid on attention to what he was doing until a plate with a huge piece of cake was placed in front of her.   He took his chair once more and proceeded to talk.  "I fell in love with Nicolas when I was sixteen.   He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.   He had wavy brown hair and a pair of green eyes that could read my every thought.  But it wasn't just his looks that I loved.   He knew me,  really knew me, better than anyone ever has or ever will.    He made me feel like I was the only man in the world.  I felt safe and protected when he was around.  But most importantly,  I felt loved.  I knew if he and I could be together that nothing in this world could ever touch either of us.  We just had to get around one tiny mountain named Clayton Ramsey, Jr.  My mother played the devil's advocate for us but my father was outraged that his son wanted to spend this life with another man.   He was even more outraged that my mother was on my side.  That's when he forbade me to ever see Nicholas again.   When my mother tried to help me escape the house one night so Nicholas and I could leave town together,  he caught us.  He placed armed guards around the house and I had to be escorted by one of them everywhere I went.   It was only a few days later that my mother died and Nicholas disappeared.   His body was found floating in the river a few weeks later."   He paused as if in thought.  He looked at her untouched cake and asked,  "You're not eating your cake?"
      
She turned an incredulous frown towards his smiling face.   "I'm not hungry anymore."

His smile faded.   "I've upset you again.   I'm sorry.   I should have kept all these things to myself,  I suppose.   I thought that you would want to know everything since you're going to be in this family for the rest of your life.  I'm afraid that once you're in it there is no escape.   Believe me I've tried.   I was hoping to find a friend and an ally in you.   Misery does love company you know.  We could be miserable together."

"You'll have to excuse me, Clay.   I don't feel well.  I think I should go to my room and lie down."

She rose on shaky legs,  and started for the door, only to be stopped once more by Clay's words.  "Oh, just one last thing.   Not that it matters much,  but that amnesty your outlaw friends were hoping for all that time....he never intended to give it to them.   He only started that program to clear Bartholomew of his crimes.  They say he's killed over a dozen men, but no one can prove it.  Of course no one knows about that.  It wasn't until after Bartholomew was granted amnesty that the program was made public.  Why not draw in the unsavory element?  Who better to have indebted to you than a whole bunch of men who are inclined to mischief?   Grant them amnesty and they are willing to do just about anything for you.   Who do you think is guarding this place right now?   But what was my father to do when a sheriff no less comes seeking amnesty for two criminals who really do want to change their ways?   If he granted amnesty to two wanted men as famous as Curry and Heyes,  then there might be some investigation into the program.  Someone might discover that every petty thief he gave an amnesty to ended up on my father's payroll.  Or worse someone might discover that his right hand man was a murderer who had received the very first amnesty.  He couldn't have that.  So he came up with a creative plan, as always.   Make them prove that they can go straight.   I think he assumed they would never make it a year.  Too bad they got arrested. It would have been very amusing to see how my father would have gotten out of giving them that amnesty had they made it another year."

Evie couldn't listen to anymore.   She had heard enough.   With the candlestick in one hand and her skirts in the other she ran on bare feet through the dark house and up the stairs.  Once she was in her room, she slammed the door shut and locked it tight.   Dear, God, what have I gotten myself into.   Please help me out of this.   She felt like she was trapped in a waking nightmare and the darkness that surrounded this place seemed to swirl about her feet, waiting to consume her.   She didn't want to spend another second in this house.   But how could she escape with all the guards outside the walls?   She wasn't Hannibal Heyes or Kid Curry.  She didn't know how to sneak in and out undetected.  She would be caught for sure.   If only she could let him know somehow that she was ready to leave right now, he would come for her she was sure.  He would get her and Martha out of here tonight.   But he was waiting for her to leave the first morning after the governor arrived back home.  That was the plan.   But things had changed now that she knew exactly what kind of monster she was actually dealing with.   She was afraid.  She had been uncomfortable around Clayton Ramsey that was for sure.  But she had never been afraid.  But now, she was afraid.

Hannibal, please come and get me,  she screamed inside of her head.   She looked at the candle she held, the flame dancing.   "If you need me, set the gardens on fire or something.  I'll be here."   That's what he had told her before he had left her last night.   She ran towards the open French doors and out onto the balcony where she hurled the flaming candle over the edge with all of her might.   She watched as the candle landed in the vining morning glories that grew beneath a weeping cherry tree.   But the growth was too green and the recent rains had made the ground too damp.   The flame sputtered and went out.  Her shoulders drooped and she felt hopeless for a moment.   Then she thought of Hannibal,  waiting for her outside those walls.   He would tell her to be calm and stick with the plan.   That was always the secret to a successful operation, Hannibal had told her.   Always stick with the plan.

Now she really did hope Clayton Ramsey returned soon.   Because the sooner he got back, the sooner she could leave this place and all of it's misery behind.   She shivered though it was not cold.   And the swirling darkness seemed to laugh.        

Chapter 6 is Fixed

I'm so sorry about chapter six.  I don't know what happened to it but I recopied and pasted it.  It's getting late and I didn't do the editing to separate the paragraphs, so it may seem a little jumbled up, but I will try to fix it tomorrow night after work.  But at least you can read it now.   Sorry again for the mix up.   ~Karen

Chapter 6

No man can possibly
know what life means, what the
world means, until he has a child and loves it. And
then the whole universe changes
and nothing will ever again seem
exactly as it seemed before.
~ Lafcadio Hearn

Heyes lifted the mug strong, black coffee to his lips and let its contents flow down his throat.   He had been on the boardwalk out front of the Long Horn this morning when Gus had came down from this room upstairs to get the place started for another day.   They weren't open for business yet this early, but Gus had seen the former outlaw standing outside the window and had let him in.   He should have gone back to the hotel and let Kid know where he was.   He was probably pacing the floor,  in between naps of course,  wondering where the devil his partner had been all night.  But Heyes just couldn't see the Kid right now.   He had too many things to work out in his mind right now.   He needed to be alone.

He had left her while it was still dark.   He had not wanted to leave but he knew it was probably dangerous to stay, even if Ramsey and his lackey were gone.  He didn't want to take the risk.  And now that he knew how to get into the mansion without being seen,  he knew he would go back.   The dark thing had taken over him last night as he sat alone in his hotel room.   He had wanted to get blind drunk and pass out so he didn't have to keep thinking about Evie,  his Evie, kissing another man.   But that nasty thing had wanted to stay sober.   It wanted to stay sober so that it could go there where she was and show her exactly who she belonged to and always would, regardless of her last name.   And it didn't want drunkenness to be considered its driving force.  It was the rage that drove it.   How many times in his life did he have to let go of everything that he loved?   How many times in his life did he have to walk away and accept his plight as penance for his past actions?    Well this time he wasn't going to let go and this time he wasn't going to walk away.  And this dark, cancerous thing inside of him would make sure that he didn't.  Until he knew the whole truth about her decision to marry Clay Ramsey this thing inside of him would not be satisfied and it would not slumber.  

But after being with her last night and lying in her arms for just a few hours, it had gone to sleep momentarily.   He had been cruel to her when he had first found her there alone on the balcony.    But at that moment he had not cared.  In fact the dark thing had enjoyed her torment and her subsequent surrender to his touch.   It had wanted to laugh at the tears she shed.  But when he had carried her to her bed and he had felt her in his arms like a child,  the tender part of him began to re emerge.   He had then let that part of him make love to her gently and thoroughly.   She had fallen asleep as he lay awake, his head on her belly,  fighting the urge to scoop her up and run away with her.   But exhaustion from his own lack of sleep and the exertion from their lovemaking  had made his eyes heavy and he had fallen asleep himself.  He had awakened at four a.m.  He went to the balcony and found the discarded white gown that had blown against the railing.   He picked it up and shook away the petals of the late spring blossoms that had collected on the thin, wet material.   He had rubbed the softness of it against his cheek and inhaled her scent that still clung there.   His body reacted swiftly to her scent, but he knew he could not stay long enough to properly finish what he wanted to start.   So he had plucked a rose that was growing from the trellis and vined up along the balcony rail.   He kissed her forehead and placed the rose on the pillow next to her before he quietly sneaked from the room.

The encounter had left his body momentarily satisfied, but not his heart or his soul.   And even when he discovered the whole truth he knew his heart and his soul would not be satisfied until she was his once again.   His in name and in spirit.

"You just getting in or just heading out?"   Gus asked as he stacked empty shot glassed under the counter in preparation for the Saturday crowd that would be coming in later.

"Getting in.   I had a late night."

"So it would seem.   The Kid  was wondering where you had went off to.   I told him you'd took a bottle and headed out.   He came back a while later and said you'd barely touched the bottle but you was gone.   He was awful worried about you."

"I figured he might be.   I just had some loose ends to tie up.  I couldn't get back as soon as I thought I could."

Heyes didn't have to look up to know that his partner had just entered through the swinging doors of the saloon.   He didn't have to turn around to know he was standing right behind him.   And he also knew he was in for a good tongue lashing from his partner.   Heyes straightened his spine and took a deep breath,  waiting for the onslaught of words.

"Where the devil have you been?"  

Heyes took another sip of his hot coffee,  because he knew there was more to come before he would be able to answer.

"I have been up all night looking for you.   Do you have any idea how worried I was?   I've been to every saloon,  every whore house, every casino and card parlor in this city.   Not to mention the hospital, the jail house and the undertakers."     Kid came to stand at the bar on his partner's right side.   "Now do you mind telling me where you've been.  And please don't tell me you've been to the governor's mansion.   Because if you do Heyes,  I swear....."

"I went to the governor's mansion."

Kid smacked the counter in frustration with his gloved hand.   Gus slid a mug of beer his way.  He picked it up and took a long drink.   "Why would you go there, Heyes?"

"You know why?'

"What part of 'no contact'  didn't you understand?    Now it's one thing if we meet her out on the street,  but you going there in the dead of night and sneaking in there that's something else.   What did you do,  climb up to her room,"   Kid asked sarcastically,  thinking that Heyes had only went to the property and stood watch.

"No, I went in through the kitchen and up the stairs."

Kid turned stunned blue eyes to his partner who still stared at the scarred counter top.   "You mean to tell me you actually went through  the house and up to her room?   Heyes, you've gone crazy.     Nobody saw you did they?"

"Relax.  I'm kind of an old hand at sneaking into places at night without getting caught, or have you forgotten?"

"Well,  at least you finally got to talk to her.   What did you find out about the reasons behind her marriage and our pardon?"    Kid asked, but was met with a prolonged silence.   "Heyes you did talk to her didn't you?   After sneaking in there and taking that kind of risk, please tell me you got some answers."    Again only silence.  "You didn't talk to her at all?   Did you even see her?"

"Of course I saw her,"  Heyes said, still not looking at his partner.

"Then what the devil were you doing all night long?"    Kid realized the stupidity of his question as it left his lips.   He held up his hand when Heyes opened his mouth to speak.  "Never mind.   Just please tell me that you got some real answers."

Heyes finally turned slowly to look at his partner.  "We didn't exactly do a lot of talking."

"Aw, no.   Heyes.......I can't believe you."

"Awww, don't lecture me, Kid.   You know you would have done the same thing in my place.  If Livvy had been there half naked on the balcony, you would have went in there too and you wouldn't have talked too much either.   Especially when her husband was gone and the governor was out of town."

"Where was her husband?"

"She said she didn't  know and she didn't care.   She said he's never touched her and never will."

"You believe her?"

Heyes downed the last of his beer and thought about what Kid had asked him.   He wanted to believe her.  God, he wanted to a believe so badly.   His heart did believe her, but his head and the dark thing that still lurked in the back of his brain told him there was no way a man would marry a woman and not expect to exercise his marital rights.  Especially a woman that looked the way his Evie did.   But thinking it and saying it out loud were two different things.   If he didn't admit his feelings out loud maybe they wouldn't be true.  And he felt the need to defend her to the Kid.   "Yeah, I believe her.   She sure didn't act like a married woman last night."

"I hope you ain't planning on going back.   Even if the governor is gone,  it's too risky."

"I've got to.  I want those answers.  I won't rest until I get them.  And I wasn't very nice to her last night.   I can't leave things the way I left them."

"What do you mean, you weren't very nice?"

"Forget it,"  Heyes said quickly, not wanting Kid to know about the raging monster that lurked deep inside of him.     "I'm going back tonight and I'm going to get some answers.  Please, don't argue with me about it, Kid."

Kid knew when his parnter wasn't to be argued with, and this was one of those times.   "Have it your way, Heyes, but I'm not letting you go by yourself this time.  I'm coming with you.  I've got a few questions I'd like answered myself.  Like, where the devil is Livvy?"

"Suit yourself.   But first let's grab some sleep."

"Sleep.  Now that's something I could use.   But I don't think I can sleep on an empty stomach.   How about a trip to Fannie's for some breakfast first.   She should have the first batch of hot biscuits just about ready."

Heyes took out his gold pocket watch and checked the time.   Seven a.m.   "Alright.  I guess I could use a hot meal at that."

The partners left the saloon and headed down the street towards Fannie's.   The streets of Cheyenne were beginning to fill with people.   Shops and stores were opening their doors for a short day of business.   Most places only stayed open for half a day on Saturday and didn't open at all on Sunday.   So folks from surrounding farms and ranches tried their best to make it to town early on Saturdays to do their business.   As they walked along in the early morning sunshine they watched as many wagons carrying entire families poured in from both ends of Main Street which extended the entire length of the city.   Heyes stopped and did a double take as he noticed something out of place.  Among the many wagons, buckboards and surreys that were filing into town there was one horse drawn coach that looked oddly out of place.   It was fancy and expensive.  The driver was dressed better than most folks were in their Sunday best.  The coach looked familiar.    He stood and stared at it for a moment.   Where had he seen that coach before?    Before he could recollect,    two gentlemen came out of the alley way beside the building where the coach was parked.    They each supported a man in between them who was obviously incapable of standing alone.      They were carrying him to the waiting coach.

"Looks like you're not the only one who pulled an all nighter, Heyes,"  Kid said with amusement as he stood next to Heyes and watched as the young man was hoisted into the open door of the coach.

"Kid.   That's him.   That's Clayton Ramsey, III."    He looked at his partner.   "That's Evie's husband."   They watched as the two men who had dragged Clay to the coach got inside and the coach sped away.

He remembered now.  He had seen that coach in front of the governor's mansion last night as he had sneaked through the gardens toward the back of the house.   He looked again at his partner and they held a mute conversation.   They both headed toward the alley way the man had been dragged through.   The building to the left of the alley was a cobbler's shop that was not yet open.  The backside of the shop appeared to be the cobbler's dwelling.   The building to the right had one small placard on the single door.  "Dr.  Milton Graves M.D."  Below the placard was a wooden sign with the painted message "Out of Town Indefinitely."    They looked at each other with a puzzled expression, then headed for the rear of the building.   Again there was one single door way.    Heyes knocked on the door and was met with only silence.    He tried the knob and the door opened.    He stepped inside the dark entryway of a back staircase.   There was one doorway which must lead to the rear of the doctors office  next to the staircase.   Heyes found the doorway  locked.   He looked at Kid, who, reading his partner's thoughts, pulled his Colt from its holster and cocked it.   They ascended the staircase and Heyes knocked.   Again, silence.    Heyes gently turned the knob and the door swung open.

He stepped into the large room.    It was vacant.   But that had not been the case a few moments ago.   This was definitely the place from which Clay Ramsey had been dragged.  Kid stepped in behind Heyes and uncocked his gun and put it back in its holster.   "Is this what they call a love nest?"    he asked as he scanned the room.

"I would say so, Kid,"  Heyes responded as the walked around the room.  There was an enormous bed against one wall that had obviously just been vacated, two sofas near the fire place,  a fully stocked bar against the opposite wall,  a water closet with a flushing toilet and brass fixtures.    Heyes opened the doors of a  glossy varnished wardrobe to find several expensive looking suits of men't clothing,  underclothes and shoes.   There were also two ladies dresses hanging along side the suits.    There were discarded clothes on the floor and the air was thick with the smell of cigars, brandy and men's cologne.   "He must bring his mistress here,"   Heyes pondered aloud.   The dark thing inside of him began to wake once more.   Only this time its rage was targeted at Clay Ramsey.

"Whoa,"   Kid said as he held one of the dresses from the wardrobe out at arm's length.   "Ol' Clay must like 'em a little on the hefty side."  

Heyes turned to look at the dress Kid held.  It was quite large and was crudely made of homespun.   He shrugged.   "Maybe that's why Evie said he would never touch her.   Maybe he only gets his jollies with a woman who has some meat on her bones."    He examined the broad width of the dress.    "A lot of meat."

"Oh, my goodness!"   shrieked a female voice from behind.   Both boys turned to find a young woman of no more that fifteen standing in the doorway clutching a bucket and cleaning rags.   "Begging your pardon, sirs.   I'm sorry.  I thought you had all gone.  I'll come back later."

"No, wait.   Don't go,"   Heyes called after her.

She stopped and held the bucket up in front of her like a shield.  She was scared to death and it showed in her shivering body.   Heyes tried to calm the young woman by flashing one of his most charming dimpled smiles.  "Do you clean his place up once everybody's gone?"

Terrified, in spite of the handsome dimple faced cowboy, the young woman could only nod her head.

"Who do you work for?   I mean who pays you?  Is it Mr. Ramsey?"

"No, sir.   The doctor,  he leaves me money every month."

"But the doctor is out of town,"  Kid observed.

"I'm just paid to clean in here once they are finished and then he leaves me money once a month on the staircase."

"When who gets finished?"   Heyes asked.

She looked at him with confused eyes.  "But, I thought that's why you were in here."   Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head vigorously.   "I ain't sayin'.   I ain't supposed to say."    She turned and bolted down the staircase and out the door.

"Something just don't smell right, Heyes.   And I ain't just talking about the aftershave in here either."

"Yeah.   Come on, Kid.  Let's go have that breakfast.   I think I need to ask Fannie a few questions."

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

"Here you go, Kid.   More biscuits and gravy,"   Fannie said with pride as she set the second plate of steaming, hot breakfast in front of Kid Curry.   "Anything else for you, Heyes?"

"No, Fannie, not food anyway.  But I would like for you to sit down and talk for a minute if you have time."

"Oh, sure, I've got a few minutes."   She pulled the chair out and sat down across from Heyes.

"What is it you want to talk about."

"I was curious about something.   We noticed this morning that the governor's son was being helped into a private coach.   He looked like he was passed out drunk all night.    Seems kind of strange that a man who just got married to a pretty young widow would be spending his nights out drinking."

Fannie chuckled.   "Honey,  that man has been doing that ever since his daddy was elected governor and they moved here to Cheyenne.   I guess old habits die hard.    He comes into town just as the sun starts to sink and he goes into one of the casinos or saloons.  Once he's there he commences to drinking.   And the way I hear it,  if he sees someone who strikes his fancy, it's just a matter of time before they head up those stairs.  Of course,  everyone thought he was a  confirmed bachelor, if you know what I mean.  So the fact that he married at all was a real shock to everybody in town.  But I have a feeling that poor, pretty wife of his is spending some lonely nights at home."

"So he takes a different soiled dove up there to that apartment every night?"   Heyes asked, trying to keep his poker face in tact at the remark about Evie's lonely nights.

"Oh, not every night.   But two or three times a week.   I'm sure that beauty of a wife of his would be able to keep him at home if she was sporting the proper equipment,  if you know what I mean,"   Fannie said with a roll of her eyes.

Kid stopped chewing and swallowed hard before he turned his blue gaze to meet the brown eyes of his partner.  "Equipment?"   Kid asked,  as confused as his partner.

Fannie's eyes darted back and forth around the room before she leaned in closer to whisper,  "Fellas,  it's not  women he takes up there.   It's men.   He disguises them by putting big old dresses on them over their clothes, but everybody knows they're really men.    Or should I say,  boys.  rumor has it he likes them young.   But you didn't hear this from me.   Now, if you'll excuse me, boys, I've got some strawberry rhubarb pies in the oven.   I'll save a piece for each of you."  

The boys respectfully stood as Fannie rose from her seat to return to the kitchen.   Kid pushed his half eaten plate of food away from him, his appetite gone.   "Did I hear what I think I just heard, Heyes?"

"Yep."

"He doesn't take women up there.  He takes men?"

"Yep."

"He prefers men in his bed instead of women?   Is that what I'm understanding?"

"That's right, KId.   It's all starting to make more sense now."    The corner of Heyes mouth lifted in a twitching motion.   First one corner and then the other, until both sides finally turned up into a genuine smile.   She had been telling him the truth.   She had never been touched by her husband.   Her husband didn't even like women.   Suddenly, referring to him as  her husband made him nauseated.  That dark and vicious thing inside of him,  became angrier.   But not at his Evie.   And not at the man she had married.   It was the man who was obviously holding all the cards and making all the deals...the governor.    Evie's marriage was a complete ruse.   It was a completely fabricated attempt to take attention from the governor's son and the lifestyle he led.  He had promised a pardon in exchange for her hand in marriage.   He had to force her to sever all contact and keep silent because he feared she would eventually let the cat out of the bag and he wouldn't stand a chance at running for president because the public would never be accepting of a man who's son courted other men.  What a low life piece of pond scum,  Heyes thought.

Evie was trapped in that mansion.  She was trapped in a loveless marriage.  She had sacrificed her freedom so that he could have his.  He felt sick to his stomach for real this time.   He needed some fresh air.

He rose from the table and went outside.   The early summer sun stabbed his eyeballs and made  his head hurt.   He drew in several deep breathes.  He had treated her so horribly.   He had to see her.   He had to tell her how sorry he was and that he understood now that she had sacrificed so much to set him free.  Dammit, why hadn't she told him the truth from the beginning?   He knew the answer to his own question.  It was because she knew him too well and she feared he would do exactly what he was thinking about doing right now - ride through the front gates and just take her and say damn the consequences.   What could the governor really do if he did take her away?   If he threatened to frame him and the Kid for crimes they didn't commit,  they could just start screaming their heads off about his son.  So why then hadn't Evie just agreed to keep silent about his son in exchange for their pardon?   There had to be more to it.  There must be something else he was holding over her head to get her to agree to marriage and to keep her trapped in this ridiculous deception.   He had to see her.  He had to know the truth.  The whole truth.

"You alright, Heyes?"    Kid asked from behind him.

"Yeah, I'm fine.  Nothing a little sleep and a few answers won't cure.   Come on, Kid.  Let's grab some shut eye and then see where we go from there.   We've got a lot to think about."

"That's for sure.   But I'm not sure I can sleep now."

Heyes just rolled his eyes.   The day Kid Curry lost any sleep was the day pigs sprouted wings and flew.   And he was glad of that fact.  Because right now he needed Kid to sleep.  Because he was seeing Evie as soon as possible.   And he was seeing her without the Kid.

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

Evie wanted to scream to release some of the frustration and tension she felt.  The hot bath she was soaking in had helped a little, but she still felt the need to just open her mouth and wail.   She was so tired of this stupid, creepy house.   She was tired of this stupid room and her stupid decision to ever embark on this journey into the depths of deception.   She wanted so badly last night to tell Hannibal that he need never fear Clay being in her bed.   Clay preferred boys.    But she had not told  him anything.    He had been so angry and bitter.  She feared what he would do if he knew the truth.   She was afraid he would toss her over his shoulder and take her away and they would have to live the rest of their lives running,  the one thing he had told her he was so weary of.   She had sacrificed everything so he could be free and not have to run.   She wouldn't back out now.

But seeing him and touching him,   having him touch her,  had almost been her undoing.   She had been so sure that he would ask her question upon question that she would have to either lie about or remain silent about, causing him to become even angrier and more bitter.    But he had not asked her anything.   He had hardly spoken once he had carried her into the bedroom.   And so she too had remained silent.  She offered him nothing so there would have to be no lies.  She hated lying and she hated even worse keeping things that he didn't even know about from him.   She must talk to Livvy as soon as she returned.  They had to tell the truth about the baby.   Even if it did lead to financial disaster.   This was about right and wrong and about letting a father know he had a child.   Evie was ready to collapse under the pressure of keeping the promise to Livvy that she wouldn't tell.   She regretted now making that promise to her aunt.

Livvy was due back at anytime.   And as much as Evie wanted to see her and as much as she missed her and baby Gabby,  she hoped she wouldn't return until the morning.   Because Evie knew that Hannibal would return tonight.   She knew it as sure as she knew his eyes were brown.  He'd left the rose on her pillow to let her know he loved her and he would be back.   And she knew him well enough by now to know that he wasn't going to be satisfied until he had learned the truth.   It would eat at him until he had the whole story.   Which was another reason she had to have that talk with Livvy.  Once Hannibal Heyes started digging for the truth, there would be no reason to keep secrets, because he would figure them all out anyway.

She closed her eyes and tried to relax and let the warm water massage the tension from her body, but it didn't work.   She wouldn't be able to relax until her beloved ex-outlaw knew the truth and trusted her again.   She knew he still loved her.  Her fear of his hatred had died last night as he made love to her.   But he did not trust her.   Even though she had given her all to secure his freedom.   He was hurt and he would not trust her until he knew the whole truth.

"You're going to turn into a prune if you don't get out of that bath soon,"   Martha announced as she entered the room with a large towel.    "The water must be getting cold by now.  Would you like me to add more hot water?"

"No, it's still quite warm.   But I suppose you're right.  It's time to get out."   She rose gracefully from the the water and stepped out of the porcelain, claw foot tub and into the waiting towel that Martha held up for her.  "Martha,  can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly, my love.   What do you wish to know?"

"How far should one go with their loyalty to family,  if it means being dishonest to the man you love?"

Martha's eyebrows raised in question.   "So, you're thinking about going back on your word to your aunt, are you?"

"Don't you think it's time they knew the truth?    Shouldn't Jed know that he has a child?  Even if I don't tell Jed, I feel like I should tell Hannibal.  And you know he's going to tell Jed.   How long do I have to sit on that secret when I feel like I'm being not only dishonest but unfair and disloyal as well?     Where do I draw the line and tell Livvy that I won't keep it from him any longer?  Martha,  what would my mama have done and what would she tell me to do?"

"It's a very touchy situation.   And I would never want to say anything to cause a quarrel between you and your aunt, but...."   Martha paused,  trying to think of what was best to say.   "If I had a man like your Mr. Heyes in love with me and I with him,  I don't think I would do or say anything to drive him away.   I know your current situation doesn't allow you to be with him, but I have a feeling that  this situation won't last for ever.   And Ms. Livvy will always forgive you. In fact you might even be doing her a favor by telling the truth.  Because I must say that I have to agree with you that it is unfair to keep the truth from that sweet bundle of joy's father   And as for your mother, God rest her precious soul,  she would never have kept her mouth shut in the first place and she would have let her sister know that.   Livvy has always been too worried about what others thought of her and about the Sanders family name.   But your mama,  once she fell in love with your father,  there was nothing more important to her than him.   She didn't care what others thought."

"So you think Mama would have told me to tell the truth, and you think I should tell Hannibal the truth?   Even if it means Livvy will most likely have me tarred and feathered?"

"Even if I do think you should tell him, how on earth would you tell him?   You aren't to have any contact with him.  And none of us are going to make it past the governor's minions to go into town."

Evie, now toweled dry,  slipped on a fresh nightgown and sat on the edge of her large bed.   "What if he came here?"

Martha's eyes grew wide.   "Do you really think he'd try to come here?  Even with the governor gone it would be dangerous and almost foolish?  There's no crowded party to get lost in now."

Evie  chewed her bottom lip,  not knowing if she should tell Martha of Hannibal's visit last night.  "I think there's a good chance he might be here tonight."

"What gives you that impression?"

Evie took a deep breath and spoke on the exhale,  "Because he was here last night.  He knows the governor and Bartholomew are gone."

Martha's mouth fell open.  "You mean he climbed the trellis and came into the house?"

Evie nodded.   "But he came through the house and up the stairs, not up the trellis.   I don't know how he pulled it off, but he did.   And I think he intends to come back again tonight.    And I don't think I can keep things from him anymore."   Evie braced herself for the trusted family servant to scold her about the consequences of having contact with Hannibal,  and not just the consequences involving the loss of his freedom,  but the consequences of being with a man alone in her room.  But that scolding never came.

"Well, it's about time he started showing me what he's made of.   I thought he was going to disappointment me for good when he disappeared after that night of the garden party."

"What do you mean?   Did you have something to do with him finding out where I am?"

"Of course, I did.   I didn't come out and tell him where you were, because I'd been sworn to secrecy.  But he might have overheard me when I told James to head back to Cheyenne."

"You mean when you yelled it out the window so he couldn't help but hear, right?   Martha, shame on you.  You weren't supposed to give anything away.  Their pardon depended on it."

"Don't get your garters in a ruffle, my bonny girl.    It all worked out fine.   And besides,  if I hadn't let him know where you were he might never have come here and you might not be thinking about letting the cat out of the bag, thereby ending all this ridiculous pretending.   I know it's not my place to tell you or your aunt what to do, but I love the both of you and I can't sit idly by while you let the men you both love just slip through your fingers."

"So you think Livvy's in love with Jed, too?"

"Aye.   I know that she is.  There have been times over the past year that she would confide in me just how much she missed the man.   She would go on and on about how handsome and strong he was.   And about how she had never met a man who could make her laugh and forget that she was anything other than a woman.   Oh, aye, she's definitely in love."

"And that is all the more reason why I can't continue to keep this secret.   They have to be together.   It's even more important for Livvy and Jed to be together than it is for me and Hannibal to be together.   And as soon as I tell Hannibal the truth,   he's going to tell Jed.  And that will be the end of all these secrets.   I don't know why Livvy has to be so stubborn."

"She's afraid.   Pure and simple."

"But why is she so afraid?   Who cares if everyone knows she gave birth to the illegitimate child of a former bank robber   And who cares if they all pull their money out of our banks?   We've got enough money  of our own right now to last three lifetimes."

"My, love, it isn't the money she's afraid of losing,  it's the control.   The control of her life, her heart and her child.   When Mr. Curry learns that Livvy has given birth to his child he's going to want a say in its upbringing and he's going to want to stake a claim to Livvy's heart.   She's never let anyone have control of either and she's terrified.  But I think she's afraid of the other side of that coin even more."

"What do you mean?  What other side?"

"She fears he won't want either her or their child."

"Oh."  That possibility had never entered Evie's mind.  "I guess I can understand that fear, but I know Jed Curry and that's not going to be the case. He will definitely want to be a father to his child.  He's already missed the first seven months of his daughter's life.   It's not fair to him or the the baby.  How much longer does she want to wait before she tells him?  Does she want Gabbie to be grown before she knows her father.  It just isn't fair to Jed or to Gabbie.  And the longer I go without telling Hannibal that Jed has a child,  the more likely he is to never forgive me."

"I would be more concerned about him finding out the lie from someone on the street.   If your Mr. Heyes should overhear someone talking about the governor's daughter-in-law and her child,  he's going to believe the lie you've been telling everyone and think that it's your child.  And he will assume of course that he is the father."

"I hadn't thought of that.   Oh, my, God.   I've got to tell him as soon as possible.   The way the press is so obsessed with any little thing about Clay and me,  there might be something in the papers about my baby,  which isn't really mine.  But he won't know that."   Evie rose and went onto the balcony and let the warm winds from the south and the last lingering rays of the sinking sun begin the process of drying her long, thick hair.

Oh, God, please let him come back tonight so that I can tell him the truth, before he finds it out from someone else.    She would tell him the truth.  She would tell him that Livvy had given birth to a baby girl and Jed was her father.    Then she would explain all the reasons for telling everyone that the baby was hers instead of Livvy's.  He would understand.  He just had to. And she would also tell him about Clay.  The sooner he knew the truth about Clay the sooner he would believe her that he had never touched her and never would.   Then once all the truths were out,  they could begin  to figure out a way to be together again.  

"I wish we had some way of knowing the train schedule, so we might have an idea when Ms. Livvy might be arriving.   I can't wait to hold that precious baby in my arms again,"    Martha said from the doorway.

"Oh, dear.  If Hannibal comes tonight and Livvy arrives tonight before I can tell him,  he's bound to see the baby.  He'll jump to all kinds of conclusions."

"If that happens you will have to be quick to set him straight.   It's Mr. Curry you'd better be hoping doesn't show up.  He'd be the one falling out from shock when he sees his spitting image staring back at him in that little girl's face."

Evie released a sigh of relief.  "You're right, Martha.     But I don't think we have to worry about Kid Curry coming into this house.   Hannibal Heyes,  yes.  Kid Curry, no."

Evie felt like a ton of bricks was lifted from her chest now that she had decided to tell the truth.   It didn't get her out of her arrangement with the governor, but it sure made her breathe easier.   She could deal with the governor and play acting to be his son's wife,  as long as the man she really loved knew the truth and stayed a free man.   For the first time in months,  Evie felt like laughing.  She went to the piano and for the first time since she could even remember, she played a happy song.

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

Heyes had slept for a few hours before he rose and dressed.   He left Kid still sleeping in the hotel room while he went back to Fannie's to have a piece of that strawberry rhubarb pie.  It was late afternoon and he knew Kid would be out for a while longer.   He wanted to grab a bite to eat and head towards the governor's mansion before Kid awoke.   He didn't want Kid to follow him.   If something were to go wrong and he was caught sneaking onto the property,  he didn't want Kid to be anywhere around.  That way he would have an airtight alibi and he wouldn't have to worry about losing his pardon.   But that wasn't the only reason he didn't want Kid along.   He wanted answers from Evie,  that was for sure,  but he wanted something else as well.   His appetite for her had not been satiated last night.  If anything, the too brief encounter had made him more ravenous to see her and hold her and make her senseless with his touch.   He couldn't do that with Kid hanging around.

"Hello, Heyes.   Back for more?"    Lou asked as the former outlaw walked into the dining room of her establishment.

He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he thought about Evie saying those same words to him when he saw her tonight.  "Sure am, Fannie.   How about some of that pie you promised and a cup of coffee."

"Coming right up.   Where's your partner?"

"Still sleeping.   I kept him up all night.   He's trying to catch up on lost sleep.  The only thing that might get him out of bed early would be some of your pie."

Heyes was still smiling to himself as he watched Fannie disappear into the kitchen.  He couldn't help but smile now that he knew Evie had never been touched by the man who called himself her husband.   He couldn't wait to tell her that he knew the truth about Clay Ramsey.  And he couldn't wait to tell her how sorry he was for the way he had treated her.   He hadn't felt this good since he'd first seen Evie in the warden's office at the Wyoming Territorial Prison and she'd told him he had been pardoned.   He thought about that day.   He knew now why she had been so carefully guarded.   The governor couldn't allow her to speak to him in private.  She might spill the beans about her phony marriage and his perverted son.

Heyes didn't care what the man did in his bedroom, behind closed doors, or who he did it with,  but he just couldn't understand a man who would want to do those things with a kid.   He didn't like Evie being around a guy like that.   But she seemed to have an entire wing of the house to herself and he doubted if she even had any real contact with Clay Ramsey.    He wasn't really worried about Clay.  It was his father, Clayton,  Heyes was worried about.   Heyes could almost hear the dark thing growl inside of him at the thought of the senior Ramsey.   He was the architect of this whole thing and he was the one that Evie needed to stay away from.   He was going to do his best tonight to convince her to leave with him.   He didn't care about living on the run.   If living on the run was the only way to live with Evie, then so be it.   She would be twenty-one in a few months.   She would have her trust fund and they could disappear into Mexico or even up north into snow country.   He didn't care as long as they were together.

"Here you go, Heyes,  pie and coffee,"   Fannie said as she went to place her wares in front of Heyes on the table.   But before she could set the pie in front of him,  a loud bang came from the street outside the front door and she yelped as she jumped and dropped the whole thing on the floor.   "Oh, shoot.   Look at what they made me do."   She stomped to the door, hands on her full hips,  "You kids get out of here with those fire crackers!"    She stood and watched until she was satisfied that the the small gang of youngsters had moved their shenanigans somewhere else, and she came back to find Heyes had already scooped up the spilled pie onto the unbroken plate.   "Thanks, Heyes.   Them young'uns has been hooping and hollering for two days, ever since the governor announced that he's running for president.   I saw some of his men passing those fire crackers out the day he made the announcement.    But he's not the one who has to listen to them all day long, is he?    That man will do anything to get a vote.  I'm surprised he didn't bring that poor, innocent babe out and parade it around to try and win people's votes."

Heyes just chuckled as he listened to her rant about the governor and his campaign tactics.   Then suddenly he realized what she had just said.   "Baby?   What baby?"

"His new grandchild.   That pretty, young widow his son married had a baby from her first marriage.   Beautiful little thing.  I saw it only once, but it was beautiful.   Honey, are you alright?   You look pale as a ghost.   You better sit back down."

Heyes did sit down.   Had he heard her right?    A baby?   Evie had a baby?    "Uh, Fannie?   How old is this baby?"

"I don't know.  Six or seven months old I'd say from looking at the size of it."

Heyes was able to do the math in his head quick enough.   The time of conception would have been around January of 1881.   Around the same time that he had last seen Evie before he'd been arrested and sent to prison.   The last time he'd done what it takes to make a baby before he'd been shipped off to spend the next year behind bars.  He groaned aloud as he laid his head on his forearms which were folded on the table top.

"Are you sick, sweetie?   Do I need to get a doctor?"   Lou asked with concern.

"Nope.   I just need some fresh air."    And some damn truthful answers.  He rose and staggered to the door and took several deep breaths of air.   Evie had a child.   His child.   How could she keep that from him?   He now had an even bigger reason to see her alone.   She had a lot of explaining to do.   He had lied countless times in his life.   He had made a career out of being dishonest and he knew there were many reasons for a person to lie.  But what reason did she have for not telling him she had given birth to his child?  He was going to find out tonight if it killed him.  He didn't care who saw him or what the consequences.  He headed to the livery stables to saddle Odin.

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

As Evie let her fingers play the last notes of the a soft Mozart melody,   she found she was growing anxious again.   Playing the happy tunes on the piano had relaxed her earlier, but now her nerves seemed all atingle.  Martha and James had already retired early and she had tried to sleep as well, but found that she could not.  She was too wound up.   She knew he would be here.   She had been anticipating it all evening.    She had stood on the balcony hoping to see him in the garden as she had before, until her nerves were wound so tight that she just had to leave and seek the familiar comfort and calm of her beloved music once again.  But now as she lifted her hands from the piano keys,  she felt as if the air was filled with an energy that she couldn't deny.   If she hadn't seen the clear sky full of stars only moments ago,  she would have sworn a storm was coming.   And then again, perhaps it was.   But not a storm like the one that had passed through last night when he had been here.   There was a strange and ominous feeling in the air.   Maybe it was just her nerves.   She dreaded Hannibal's reation when she told him the truth.  But she knew that it would soon pass when he was no longer in the dark.   But that wasn't all that troubled her.  She just had a feeling that something was going to happen.  Something unexpected.

She looked at the clock on the mantle.   Nine o'clock.   He would be here soon, she knew.    She also knew that it was a very real possibility that Livvy could be here as well, and she had prepared herself for all possible scenarios.   She took the single candle she had lit and headed back to her adjoining bedroom.  She had left the French doors leading to the balcony open, as she did most nights.   She would wait there and hopefully catch a glimpse of her beloved when he arrived.  She entered her room and stopped short when she saw his unmistakable profile silhouetted against the moonlit night sky.

He leaned against the door frame looking out over the dark night.   The glowing end of his cigar was the only light besides the half moon in the sky and the dim light of the candle she held behind him.  He took a long draw of the cigar making the glowing end burn a deep dark orange.   He smiled as the took the cigar and thumped the ashes onto the balcony floor.   The guards the governor had left on duty were so inept.   If he had been guarding the governor's daughter-in-law he would have  smelled the cigar in the air and he certainly would have noticed the glowing embers of the burning tobacco in the darkness.   These buffoons hadn't noticed either.   He had made it past them again tonight without being detected.   If he had been someone dangerous who meant harm to Evie and his baby these idiots wouldn't have made a bit of difference.  It made that dark thing in him want to strangle each and everyone of them.  But it had gone quickly back to sleep when he thought about the baby.  He snuffed the end of the cigar out against the outside brick wall and thumped the end over the balcony rail.    He knew she was standing behind him, waiting for him to say something.  

"I've missed hearing you play.   I love to hear you play.  I used to dream about it in prison.  It was another one of those things that kept me from going crazy - hearing your music in my head."

She walked timidly into the room and set the candle on the bedside table.   "Is my music all that  you've missed?"  she asked coyly.

"Apparently, I've missed many things, Evie,"  he said in a quiet, almost sorrowful tone.

She went to stand in front of him where she could see his face in the moonlight.   She saw hurt in his deep brown eyes.  She hated to see that hurt look on his beautiful face.  She was hoping to remove it all completely when she told him the truth about Clay, her marriage and about the baby.  "I'm so glad you came back.   I knew you would."

"It's hard to stay away, Evie.   Don't you want to hear about some of the many things I've missed?"  he asked her.

"What have you missed?"  she asked cautiously,  because something in his tone was off.  A huge lump formed in her throat.

"Seven months of my child's life apparently.   And the nine months that you carried him or her.  I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl.  I've been here in this house with you twice before tonight.  So it's not like you haven't had the opportunity to tell me.  I have to learn from someone in town that the woman I love has given birth to my child."

She was shaking her head the entire time he was speaking.   "No, no,  I didn't.  You don't understand everything."

"What's there to understand?   The entire city of Cheyenne knows that you have my baby and you don't even have the common courtesy to mention that little detail to me when I lay here all night with you just last night.   How long were you going to wait before telling me that you've given birth my baby."  

Heyes was about to demand that he see his child when a thought that had not occurred to him before entered his mind.   And it was a  thought that almost made him want to throw up.  "Evie, it is my child, isn't
it?"
Evie's stormy eyes grew cloudy with anger.   How dare he think that if she had given birth to a child that it would have been anyone's but his.   She would just let him stew for a moment before she told him the truth.   "As a matter of fact, no, it isn't yours,"  she said venomously.  But she regretted the words as soon as they exited her lips.

Though the words were true, they did not reveal the entire truth of the situation and she watched helplessly as Hannibal Heyes' face turned a pale greenish color.  She feared he was going to pass out.   This was not what she had expected.  She expected him to explode with anger.    Instead he gripped the door for support as he groped his way to the balcony railing.   He took several deep breathes of the evening air.   "It's not mine?  Then whose is it?"

She opened her mouth to tell him that the baby wasn't his or hers but Kid's and Livvy's, but before she could say anything,  the door of her bedroom opened and Olivia Vanderbilt swept into the room with her usual grace and commanding presence  carrying the sleeping baby.  

"Whew.   I'm finally back.   That train ride was exhausting.  And then I had to hail a taxi to bring me here.    I didn't think I would ever get here."

Evie walked into the room as Livvy laid the sleeping baby on the bed.  She  tried to get a word in edge wise to let her aunt know that Hannibal was out on the balcony.  But she was unsuccessful.

"Why in the world are you standing around in the dark?  Light some lamps for Pete's sake,"  she said as she went about the room lighting the sconces on the walls.    "Are Martha and James in bed already?   It's awfully early to be in bed.   I was hoping to get some help with my bags.  They're still sitting on the front porch."

"Livvy,  I think I should tell you....."

"I've already heard the news of the governor throwing his hat in the ring for president.   The thought of that man running the country makes me ill.   But it makes me even more ill to think about you being here alone all this time.   Have things gone well?   No major occurrences?"

"Well, now that you mention it, ...."

Before Evie could say anything else, the youngest of the Sanders women decided to make her presence know with a hair splitting cry.   Her little arms and legs stiffened in protest as she screamed her little head off.  She had awakened in yet another unfamiliar place and was making her displeasure obvious.
Heyes had heard Livvy's voice and had not really cared.  It wasn't Livvy he was concerned with.  He stood on the balcony trying to make sense of what Evie had just said when he heard the cry of an infant.   He turned slowly around.  The room was well lit now and he could see clearly the small being that lay squalling in the middle of Evie's large bed.   The baby had not been there before.   He was sure of it.   But he could see it clearly now.   The child must have been with Livvy this whole time.  If that baby wasn't his,  he wanted to see for himself, dammit.   He wanted to look at the child and determine for himself.   He took a few steps closer to the door, but was stopped in his tracks when Livvy spoke.
"Oh, my goodness,  miss fussy britches.   What in the world is all that racket about?  Mama is right here."    Livvy picked up the fussy baby and held it tight to her breast.   "Mama's baby is tired of all this running around isn't she?  Shush now,  Mama's got you."

Heyes stepped closer and into the light of the room.   Livvy gasped upon seeing him and looked at Evie,  who could only shrug and give her a half hearted smile.   Livvy stood rooted to the floor as Hannibal Heyes came to stand in front of her.   He seemed to tower over her small frame, but she wasn't afraid as he reached out his hand and gently pulled back the white lace bonnet that covered the baby's head, revealing an abundance of golden blonde curls.   When the cherubic face turned towards him, the tear filled blue eyes that looked up at him told him all he needed to know.

There was a strained and stunned silence in the room.   Heyes looked at Evie and then back at the baby,  then back at Evie and then at Livvy.   "Is this the baby everybody thinks is yours?"  he turned to Evie and asked.   She nodded affirmatively.  He turned back to Livvy.  "This baby is yours?   Not, Evie's?"      He looked closely at the angelic face that stared back at him.  There was no doubt who the father of this child was.   "Kid has a....kid?"

"See, I told you it wasn't yours,"  Evie couldn't resist saying.

"It's not yours either.  It's Livvy's and Kid's,"   he said with astonishment, unable to take his eyes off the blue eyed, blonde haired baby.

"That's right."

"Then why are you telling people that it's your child?   I don't understand."

"It's a long story and I think you should sit down."

Heyes let Evie lead him to the winged back chair that sat near the fireplace.   He couldn't keep his eyes off of the gorgeous little baby girl that Livvy held in her arms.   There was no denying that it was Jedediah Curry's baby.  She was his spitting image.   His mind was blown.   On the ride over and during the wait for the sun to go down so he could sneak into the house, he had been mentally preparing himself to meet his child.  He had been thinking of all the questions he wanted to ask her about the pregnancy and he had envisioned in his head what he thought the baby would look like.  He had been looking forward to being a daddy.   And now he finds out that he isn't a daddy but Kid is.

"How could you let things get this far out of hand while I was gone, Evangeline?"

"Olivia.   It's been out of hand ever since you begged me not to tell him or Jed the truth.   Hannibal knows the truth and now you have got to tell Jed.   I know you want to be the one to tell him so I suggest you start figuring out how you're going to do that, because one of us will tell him if you don't.  This has gone on far too long.   So whether you tell him or one of us does,  Jed Curry is going to know the truth."

"I'm going to know the truth about what?"

All eyes went to the open French doors that led to the balcony.   Standing there with his hands on his hips was Jed Curry.  Heyes jumped up quickly and hurried to where his partner stood.  "Kid, what are you doing here?"

"No, Heyes, what are you doing here?   I told you not to come here without me.   But what do you do?   You up and leave me while I'm sleeping.  I'm getting real tired of you doing that, by the way.  I can see now why you didn't climb that trellis.  Those thorns are killers.   I got about halfway up and..."  

Kid's words trailed when the whimper of a baby caught his attention.  His eyes were drawn to the petite blonde woman he knew so well, who was trying to shrink into the corner with her back to him.   And try as she might, her slight frame could not hide the small thing that she held in her arms.  He looked at Heyes,  who could only speak to him without words.   All their lives they had been able to communicate without speaking.   And what Kid saw in his partner's eyes, he just could not believe.

"What is that?"  he said pointing in Livvy's direction.

"Now, Kid..."  Heyes cautioned.

"What the hell is that?"  he asked more firmly,  as he pushed his partner out of his way and marched towards the petite woman in the corner.   He grasped her shoulder and spun her around to face him.   She said nothing.  What was there to say?   The truth was plain to see.  He had a million and one questions, but at the moment he couldn't put a single one into words.  He looked at the sweet little face and the head full of golden curls and knew that this was the most important thing in his life.   He reached for the baby and lifted it from the hesitant arms of its mother.

What could Livvy do?  She could not protest a father wanting to hold a child that was obviously his.   And in truth she didn't want to.   If she was honest with herself,  her biggest fear had been that Jed Curry would be indifferent and would not want anything to do with his child.   That had been the reason she had begged Evangeline not to say anything.   But she should have known her fears were unfounded.   Jed Curry was one of the most caring people she had ever met.  Livvy's heart swelled and stuck in her throat as she watched the hands that drew a gun as fast as lightning,  gently touch the delicate skin and soft hair of his daughter.

As Kid sat on the edge of the bed with a baby in his arms,  he felt like the whole world had just been turned upside down.  Everything that had mattered to him before,  seemed somehow trivial and unimportant.  This little human being was all that really mattered.  "Hi,"   he said into her tiny face as she grasped the stampede string of his hat and tried to cram it into her little mouth,  "I think I'm your daddy.   Who are you?  I don't even know if your a boy or a girl."

Livvy looked to Evie and Heyes as if she didn't know what to do.  Her eyes pleaded with them for help.   But she knew this was her place.  She was the one who must do this.   She slowly lowered herself down on the bed beside the man with whom she had created this little miracle.   Her voice shook a little when she finally spoke.   "A girl.   Her name is Gabriella Jeanette.   We call her Gabbie."

"Jeanette?  That was my mother's name."

"I know.  I remembered.   I thought it would be wonderful if she shared a name with her grandmother as well as her cousin Gabriel."   Livvy sat there trying to absorb what  was happening.   In a few short moments, everything had changed.  Her life, her daughter's life and Jed's life had all changed.  There lives were irrevocably intertwined now.   But she knew that the worst was yet to come.   She was in for a long night of explaining.

"What in the world is going on in here?"  Martha and James came bursting into the room having been awakened from sleep by the many voices.   They didn't need any explanations.   What they saw told them both that the truth was finally out.  Jed Curry now knew that he and Livvy Vanderbilt had created a child together.  She and Evie exchanged smiles.   The entire room watched in silence as Jed Curry met his daughter for the first time.

Martha could see that it was going to be a long night as well.   "I'll put on a pot of coffee to boil.  Come along, James.  I'm sure Ms. Livvy's bags are downstairs.   Let's leave them to sort it all out."

Heyes and Evie watched in awe as Jed Curry came to grips with the reality that was literally in his lap now and Livvy came to terms with the fact that she was no longer alone in the world when it came to raising her child.  Their child.  She would have to get used to saying that.

Kid looked over his shoulder at the man who until a moment ago had been the most important person in his life.  "Did you know about this, Heyes?"

"No.  I only found out myself just before you got here."

Gabbie began to whimper and squirm in her father's arms.   Not knowing what to do when she began to cry in earnest, he handed her back to her mother,  but he couldn't take his eyes off of her.   He had never dreamed when he climbed that trellis to find Hannibal Heyes that he would instead find a living, breathing part of himself that would forever change the way he thought and how he felt.   As he watched the mother of his child settle the baby at her breast and feed her, his heart ached for something it had never ached so deeply for until now.  These two people were his life now.   And he would do whatever it took to keep them safe and together.

Once Gabbie had filled her little tummy, Kid lifted her carefully and carried his daughter to meet the only other relative he had left.  "Look at her, Heyes.   Ain't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"

Heyes was startled by the uncanny resemblance Gabbie had to her father.  But he could definitely see her mother in there as well.   "Yeah, Kid.  She really is."     Heyes held his hand out to the baby and she grasped his  finger and pulled it towards her slobbering little lips.  "There's no doubt that she's yours, Kid.  Just like you, she'll eat anything."

Evie couldn't keep a small tear from escaping the corner of her eye as she watched the man who was so deadly with a gun,  hold his baby daughter so tenderly.  And the man she loved was so genuinely happy for his friend that it shone through the wide dimpled grin he now displayed as he talked in a silly little voice to the baby.  Her soul seemed as light as a feather now.  She bowed her head for a moment and silently thanked the good Lord that the truth was finally revealed.

Before she knew what was happening,  she was being pulled by the hand out onto the balcony where her beloved swiftly grasped her face and trapped  her mouth with his own in a soulful, devastating kiss.   Her eyes slowly fluttered open when the kiss ended to find the loving face of her beloved outlaw staring deeply into her eyes.   "What was that for?"  she asked in a husky voice.

"For not having my baby and keeping it from me."   His love for her was evident in the depths of his chocolate colored eyes.  Those eyes broadened in shocked surprise when Evie's right hand slapped his left cheek with a hard smack.  "What was that for?"

"That was for the way you talked to me the other night.   And for thinking that I would ever give birth to your child and not tell you the moment I laid eyes on you."

"But you did keep the fact that there was a child from me."

"As you now see, it wasn't my secret to tell.   And I was going to tell you tonight.   I knew you would be here tonight.  And I told Martha I was going to tell you the whole truth.  About the baby and about Clay."

"I already know about him."

"What do you know?"  she asked skeptically.

"That he likes his women the way he likes his coffee....he doesn't like coffee."

"How did you find out?"

"It doesn't matter.   All that matters is that I know now that he hasn't been warming his feet in my woman's bed."    He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close.  He lowered his mouth to kiss her again and was slapped on his other cheek.  "What was that for?"  he said as loudly as he could without yelling.

"For even thinking that I would ever let any other man warm his feet in my bed.  And for having the audacity to ask me if it was your baby.  If I had been the one to give birth, of course it would have been yours."

"I'm sorry.   I should have known better."

"And I'm sorry for not telling you everything from the beginning."

"That doesn't mean you're off the hook, you know."

"I kinda figured."
"I want to know everything.   No lies and no holding out this time, understand?  I want to know about your deal with the governor with all the details."

"I'll tell you everything.  I'm so tired of living this lie. I want us to figure a way out of all this so we can finally be together."

"Hey, figuring is one of my strong points, remember?   Don't worry, we'll come up with a plan.  Right now though we better be coming up with a plan to get Kid out of here.   I have a feeling he's not going to go quietly."

"Whatever we're going to do, we had better be figuring it out.  I don't know when the governor is going to be back and I don't want you two to have to tangle with Bartholomew."

"Is that his name?    No, I don't want any trouble either if we can avoid it.  But I'm telling you right now,  I'll tangle with whoever I have to if it means getting you out of this mess."

"I love you, so much.   Let's go see what the other half of our family thinks."

"Our family.   I like the sound of that."

They found Jed and Livvy standing beside the bed watching a sleeping baby Gabbie.  Heyes and Evie joined them and just stood there for a long moment staring at the perfect little girl.

"Aint' she something, Heyes?"   Kid asked with pride in his voice.

"Yeah, Kid, she sure is.   I still don't understand why you let everyone belief she was yours,"  he turned to Evie as he asked.  "Do you mind explaining that to us?"

"I'll explain everything.  When you two were sent to prison we tried everything we could to get visitation rights.  But visitation was only for immediate family.  Since we weren't married, I didn't qualify.   I couldn't even send you a letter.   Lom tried to help me get a letter to you, but because you were both such infamous criminals,  they said they couldn't allow it.  If you two got letters from non family members, then everyone would want letters from non family members.   He did give me all of your belonging though.  That's why I had your hats."

"That still doesn't explain the deception.  Why did you want everyone to think that you had the baby?"

"I'm getting to that.   When we finally came to terms with the fact that we were never going to see or speak to either of you again,  we came back home to Nashville.   I was a walking shell of a human and Livvy buried herself in work that she had been neglecting.    We just muddled through until one day in March when Livvy told me that she was carrying your child.    Do you have any idea how people would react to a prominent business woman,  a pillar of the community known by almost everyone being pregnant out of wedlock?    Our banks would have been cleaned out.   But nobody knew me.   If we could keep Livvy's pregnancy a secret then we could just tell everyone that I had given birth to the baby.   Of course we had to invent a husband for me.  We told everyone that I had just gotten married when my husband was murdered by the Harlan Mathis gang along with the rest of my family.   That was the reason everyone assumed I had come to Nashville to live with Livvy."

"So you stayed out of public the entire time you were pregnant?"    Kid asked Livvy.

"No.   We went to Boston.   I was able to pull a few strings and get Evangeline enrolled in the spring semester at the Boston Conservatory.   No one knew either of us in Boston.   So while we were there  I was the one who was recently widowed who had been left in the family way.   We stayed in Boston until after the baby was born.    We went back to Nashville briefly before Evangeline started her concert tour.  But everyone assumed it was her baby that she had given birth to in Boston.   It was a little tricky when we were around her music professor, because he knew the baby was mine.   But somehow we've managed to pull it off for the last seven months."

"Where does the governor come into the picture?   And does he know whose baby she really is?"    Heyes asked.

"Livvy and I knew that we had to get you both out of there no matter what.   Especially now that Gabbie was here.    When Professor Schindler asked me to come along on a tour of the western states and territories,  I agreed on one condition - that I be allowed to play for the governor of the territory of Wyoming.   He arranged it easily enough.   Our plan was simply to bribe him.  Livvy was willing to pay whatever necessary to get you both released.   But we found out upon meeting him that he was wealthy in his own right.   Money held no interest for him.    We were here in this mansion  trying to come up with a plan B when something unexpected happened that would open a window of opportunity.

"When we realized that Clayton Ramsey was rich from years of being an attorney and from inheriting his late wife's estate,  we knew we would have to appeal to him on another level.  We just didn't know what level that would be,  until Gabbie decided to demand her next meal.   We went into a bedroom to feed the baby, not knowing we had gone into the wrong room.   We had mistakenly gone into Clay's bedroom and he came into the room with his hands and lips all over a young boy.   Martha screamed and the governor came running in to find Livvy breast feeding a baby that was supposed to be mine.   It didn't take him long to figure out that we were hiding the fact that she had an illegitimate child.   So we each had a secret that we wanted kept secret and we each had something that the other wanted.   We wanted you two out of prison and he wanted to convince everyone that his son wasn't a homosexual."

"And thus your arrangement was born,"   Heyes finished for her.

"Yes.   Of course he had to keep tabs on me to make sure that I told no one that my marriage to Clay was nothing more than half of a business arrangement.   That's why he made it part of the agreement that should I tell anyone,  he would make sure you two were blamed for heinous crimes.   And I have no doubt after being around him the last month that he will follow through with his threats."

"Why wasn't he afraid that Livvy would tell the truth?    She comes and goes as she pleases it seems,"   Kid asked.

"I had quite a long conversation with the governor after he discovered that I was really Gabbie's mother.   He knew that I was desperate to keep the secret from getting out to the public.   I was terrified of the financial backlash.  Especially since he knew that Kid Curry was her father.  Lom had confided in him about Hannibal rescuing Evangeline from those murderers and he knew that we had spent considerable time in your company.  So it wasn't hard for him to figure out that you were her father.   He didn't even worry about me telling anyone.  But it wasn't me that he had to convince to accept the deal.  It was Evangeline.    He met with her privately while I wasn't around to stop her.   Before I knew it she had agreed to marry his son and never have contact with you again, in exchange for a full pardon."  

"Does this agreement have any sort of time frame?   How long does he expect you to keep up this charade?    It's not working anyway.   Everybody in town still knows his son's preference for men.   He doesn't even do a very good job of trying to hide it."    Heyes took Evie by the arms and looked down into her face.   "We have to get you out of this.   It's a huge pack of lies that's going to blow up in the governor's face.   And I don't want you any where near when it does."

"I agree,"  Kid said firmly.  "Livvy, you and Gabbie are not staying here one more night."

Livvy's mouth fell open.   "Now wait just a minute.   Don't think that you can come in here and start bossing me around just because you happen to have fathered my child."

"Oh, I'm sorry,"   Kid said with mock remorse as he stalked towards her backing her into the wall, "let me put it to you this way then.   Either you get your stuff together and come with us or you can stay her by yourself without the baby.  Because with you or without you, she's coming with me.   I don't want her in this place one more day."  His gaze swept the dark colored room.  "It looks like an undertaking parlor around here."

Heyes and Evie exhanged a worried look.   Heyes stepped to his partner,  "Kid,  calm down.   We're going to work all of this out.   Now first of all,  Livvy, did anyone see you when you came back to the mansion tonight?"

"The guards at the gate saw me."

"Would they be suspicious if you left again tonight?"

"No.   I can come and go as I please."

"Don't you think it would be best if you and Kid went somewhere to be alone so you can sort out all the things that obviously need sorting out."
Livvy looked up into the handsome face of the ex-outlaw she had thought of everyday since she had met him.  He was the father of her child.   He was the man she loved, even if she was too stubborn to admit it.   "Yes.   I think we probably should.   James can have my private coach ready in no time."

Kid stared back at the tiny woman who was now even more important to him than she had been before he'd climbed that trellis.   He was angry at her that was for sure, but he knew that his anger would not last long.   He would forgive her anything.   "I've got a room at the Dyer Hotel.  I'll get my horse and follow you there."     Kid turned to eye his partner.   "What about you?   You can't stay here?"

"I wasn't planning on it.  And you're not staying here either,"  he said as he pointed his finger at Evie.

"Grab a bag and start packing your stuff."

"Now who needs to calm down?   I can't just leave tonight."

"Why not? I don't want you here another night.  I want you to leave with Livvy."
"Even if I could make it past the guards at the gate, which is doubtful,  as soon as the governor gets back, there will be some sort of phony bank robbery at the Cheyenne National Bank and somebody will get killed.  And I'll bet that the persons responsible will bear a striking resemblance to two former outlaws I know.   You'll both be back in jail so fast your heads will spin."

"They'll have to find us first.  And besides, two bit crooks have been pulling jobs and claiming to be us for years.  It's nothing new.  We can handle it."

"Robbery, yes.  Murder, no.    And I wouldn't put it past him to hurt woman and children to get back at me if I cross him.   We have to be more subtle about this. I can't just leave.  That will be too obvious and then everything will blow up in our faces.   I'll be fine here.  Martha will be with me.    Once the governor has returned,  I can leave the grounds without any trouble.   And in the mean time you'll have to figure out a way to give Bartholomew the slip.   He's never far behind me wherever I go."
"Where did the governor go anyway?   Do you know how long he's going to be gone?"
"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling he's gone to Riverton.  He has a daughter who lives there in his childhood home.   She's very ill and has to be taken care of by a doctor."

"A doctor?"   Kid asked while he eyeballed his partner.   "Do you know the doctor's name?"

"No, why?"

"Clay's cozy little love nest where he takes his friends these days is an apartment over a doctor's office.  The sign out front says the doc's out of town indefinitely.  And the girl who cleans the place said the doc is the one who pays her.   I wonder who's paying the doc if he's not in town to do any doctoring?  My guess is the the governor."

"You should have plenty of time to find out about the doctor while you're in town waiting for  me.   But please don't worry about me.  I've been here all this time,  I can take care of myself a little longer."

"I don't like it.   I wish you would just leave with me tonight.   Nobody will see you.   These guards wouldn't see an elephant if it walked through the yard.   We can be on our way to Mexico by morning.   Nobody will know you're gone until it's too late."     His eyes were pleading with her, but he could tell she wasn't going to listen.

"You hate Mexico.   You've told me so.   And you know if we just disappear we'll have to stay there for a long time.   We have to be smarter about this, so that we don't have to live our lives running.  That's the one thing you told me you were so tired of.  I need to stay here and keep up appearances until you can figure out a way to get out of this and keep your pardon."

"And if I can't think of anything?"

She smiled at him.   "I have faith in you.   You'll think of something.  You always do."

He pulled her into his arms and held her tight.   "I'm not going far.   I'll be camped right out there in those woods behind the rear wall.   If you need me,  you set the gardens on fire or something.   I'll be here."  

"Everything is going to be fine.   I feel like a new person now that I'm not hiding anything from you anymore.  Now that we're all together again it almost feels like we're back in Red Rock on Mr.
McCreedy's ranch."

Heyes frowned at her.  "I wouldn't go that far.  I won't feel that good again until I hear a minister say, "I now pronounce you man and wife."  

"I love you and I'll never keep anything from you again."

"I love you, too, sweetheart."

"I've missed hearing you call me that.  I didn't think I would ever get to hear you call me that again."

"I'll call you that everyday for the rest of your life if you leave here tonight,"   he said flashing his dimples in a manipulative attempt to sway her.

"Wow, you must be really desperate.  You've resorting to the dimple treatment."

"Is it working?"

"No.   As much as I love you and your dimples,  I think I need to stay.   There's no need to rush as long as no one is suspcious.   And there will definitely be suspicion if I leave tonight.   As much as I've given up to get you your freedom,  I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize it now."

"But I've been without you for so long.  I don't know if I can wait much longer."

"It won't be much longer.   Once the governor gets fully involved in campaigning for president,  I have a feeling I'll be able to walk out of here and not look back and he won't even care.  That's when I'll get this marriage annulled and we can start the rest of our lives together."

"I like the sound of that."

They said goodbye to Livvy and Gabbie as they left with James to head for town.   They watched as Kid braved the thorns of the rose vines once again and climbed down and jogged through the gardens and out the garden gate to mount Rusty who waited for him.   He would join Livvy and their baby at the hotel.   Martha,  unable to stop smiling,  said goodnight to them and left the room closing the door behind her.
When at last they were alone,  Evangeline looked at the clock.   It was only eleven o'clock.  In only two hours everything had changed.   Just like that day in Texas when her family had died two years ago.  In a matter of hours her world was forever altered.  They knew they had only precious hours left before he would have to leave her again.  They didn't waste a single second of that time.   They spent the next five hours,  talking and laughing, planning and crying.   They shared every part of each other,  their minds,  their bodies, and their souls.  

She watched from the balcony as he made his way through the gardens and toward the garden gate.  He turned before slipping through the gate and blew her a kiss.   She wanted to yell out "I love you!"  but knew she couldn't.  Instead she returned his kiss with a puff of her lips.  And with a flash of his dimpled smile he disappeared behind the tall brick wall.   Her shoulders sagged in relief.   The truth had been told.   It was almost over.   With her conscience clear and her heart full, she fell asleep feeling safer than she had in months, knowing that her beloved would be true to his word and he would be nearby if she needed him.  Only she didn't think she would.   She had a feeling that it was going to be a piece of cake to simply drift out of the lives of both Clayton Ramsey Jr. and his son.