Nova brought Twilight to a standstill. A gas lantern glowed from inside the homestead; weakly illuminating the porch. They'd ridden their horses home without a word being uttered. "Go ahead," Nova instructed. "I've got to change."

"I'll wait." Bringing his horse to a halt he motioned for her to dismount.

Nova sat in stubborn silence.

"I'm not going to leave," Jese snarled. "Someone's got to stop you from returning."

"Don't be silly. I won't be going back tonight."

"You won't be going back ever. Once you've taken those clothes off, and removed that ghastly wig, I'm going to dispose of them."

"I'm not owned by anyone. No one tells me what to do."

"On the contrary."

Nova glanced at him in confusion.

"If you don't do as you are told I'll let the entire town know of your double life. Starting with your mother."

Nova sat defiantly with her shoulders back, ready for combat.

"Hello?" Nova heard the weak voice, as it drifted on the evening breeze.

With a closer look, Nova could see Helaku's frail figure. She was hunched over, seated on the porch, a weak hand patted the pup on her lap.

One glance at her mother's vulnerable frame and all of the fight left Nova's body. She would rather die a thousand deaths than have her mother - hallucinating or not - find out where her daughter had been working for the last year. After a lifetime of hardship, the poor woman deserved a little rest.

"Who is out there?" Her Mama's voice called.

"Nova and I," Jese called back.

"Damn you, Jese Calhoun!" Nova hissed. Dismounting she rushed to an elm tree to protect her disguise from her mother's sight. "Avert your eyes," she snapped to her husband angrily. Seeing that he had turned his face, she unrobed and submerged her calf muscles into the stream below the elm tree. Nova scrubbed at her body with a bar of soap that had been hidden in one of her dresses billowy pockets. The white paint washing off into the clear water was visible in the moonlight.

Using her robe as a towel she patted herself dry and slipped on a pair of linen pants and a cowboys shirt. Nova had just done up the top button when Brandon emerged from the garden.

"Nova?" His brow creased. "What on earth are you doing out here?"

"I would love to hear this," Jese drawled.

"It is nothing." Nova jerked the pins out of her wig quickly. Hurrying to push the disguise from his sight.

"I saw a strange woman, and came out here to inspect." His gaze alighted on the pile of clothes at her feet and the blonde wig in her hand. "Oh." Realization dawned.

"Well," Jese murmured. "I will give you some privacy to explain this." He snatched Twilight's reins. Before giving her an encouraging wink. "Tell him something creative," he hissed as he passed.

"What is this all about Nova?" Brandon asked in confusion.

Nova sighed. Watching her husband's figure disappear from sight. There were plenty of stories that she could fabricate. Role playing with her husband, a romp through town... The options were endless. She tried to decide which tale was the most believable.

But the only story that dared to pass her lips was the truth. After all, it was the only tale that her husband wouldn't expect her to share. "I've been in a difficult predicament, Brandon," she paused. There was still time to stop. Time to try to keep this her deceit alive, but what had it got her so far? Except further in debt. "I'm struggling to make ends meet. Some months I've been struggling to pay the workers." She stared at her hands in shame. "So I started working."

"What kind of job, exactly?"

"It is nothing like that! I'm a saloon girl."

"Oh." He seemed almost let down. "How many people know about your other job?"

"Only one."

"Jese?" He asked.

She nodded.

"And your mother is ignorant?"

"Completely." Nova watched him carefully. Was he planning something? To divulge her secret? "Please, Brandon. Don't tell anyone about this! I only told you because I trust you-"

"Your secret is safe with me." He glanced in the direction that Jese disappeared. "But your husband? How does he feel about this?"

"It was a marriage of convenience," she said. "I needed to keep my ranch from being repossessed, so Jese paid my debts."

"And what did he get out of it?"

"At first I wasn't sure. But I've since found out that he is in love with another woman," Nova's voice broke. "I found a note addressed to her. I'm lost. Under state laws the land is his ... if he decides to get rid of me..." her voice drifted off.

"Oh." His mind obviously so preoccupied with her troubles that it made his reply sound uncaring.

"I've continued working so I can pay him back - and then I will annul the marriage."

"Yes." Brandon walked a few steps away, his face a picture of concentration. "But you will need to make a lot of money..."

"I know."

"Otherwise you could be working for years before you could pay him off."

"That is true. Every dollar I make is quickly swallowed up by expenditures."

A perplexed look crossed Brandon's face. "A bulk sum would be the only way out in a hurry."

"But I don't have anything."

"I wish I had something to lend you. This Jese must be a very rich fellow, being able to pay off your mortgage."

"Well, that is not something that husbands divulge to their wives..."

"Yes. A bulk sum," Brandon continued. Not hearing her comment.

"Everything that pays well is usually illegal," she smiled sadly.

"Illegal." Brandon's face was a picture of consideration.

If he wasn't trying to awfully hard to help her out, she might have found his disjointed speech amusing, Nova decided. "It's not worth the risk," she said. "Being hung by the neck won't help my mother."

"Of course. Nothing illegal," he mulled. Silence fell between them. "Let me think upon it for you," Brandon spoke suddenly. "Give me a day and I'll have the solution."

"You will?" She felt a huge weight rise from her heart. "I would be forever grateful!"

"Go in now, but don't let your husband know what we've spoken of."

"Of course I won't!"

"Treat him well, so he lowers his defenses. Otherwise, you won't get a spare moment to move." He went to go before turning back, "and Nova?"

"Yes?"

"Are you quite sure that I'm the only other person that knows about your secret life?"

"Very sure."

"No one suspects anything?"

"Nothing." She bundled her costume up. "I won't be needing these anymore. I shall let my husband dispose of them."

"Why don't I take them for you?" Brandon asked. "I can throw them away without your mother seeing them?"

"Thank you." Nova passed him the pile, feeling like she was trading more than just a bundle of fabric.

#

Nova glanced up at the sound of the door slamming. She was seated in front of the fire with the puppy lying on her lap.

"Where is your disguise?" Jese asked as he strode into the room.

His domineering tone was light-hearted in comparison to his posture. He stood above her like a school head master. Would she ever have a peaceful moment in her sitting room again? Or would he continually stomp around disrupting her meditative state? Then she remembered Brandon's words and smiled.

"Brandon is disposing of it."

His angry facade was - momentarily - shocked away. "Why?"

"He doesn't want my mother to find it. You ought to have heard the riveting story I told him about -"

Jese's eyes flashed angrily. "I don't care," he ground out.

"I beg your pardon?" The happy smile faded. After talking with Brandon her mood had lightened for the first time in years. She was going to be free of Jese and free of the hardships her father had left. One bulk sum. Of course, he hadn't found anything for her yet, but - she hoped - he'd become a man of his word.

With Brandon shouldering her main problems she'd been allowed to focus on smaller things. Like getting to know her four-legged-friend. But then Jese's attitude had halted her. If she hadn't known of his Darling Magda she might have been forgiven for thinking he was jealous.

"It's of no consequence to me whether you are lying or not. You know the outcome if I catch you in that attire again." With that, he marched out of the room and up the stairs.

"Men," she whispered to the pup. "Have you noticed how they stride about? He couldn't walk calmly if I paid him."