"But it is my business, Mr. Collier. My fathers will is very much my business." Callie said trying hard to keep her voice from raising in her anger. Raymond Collier sighed as the anger flashed in her blue eyes. He hated keeping secrets from this beautiful woman that he had watched grow from a baby but Thomas Whitaker had been his friend his entire life and quite frankly Raymond knew that Thomas would kill him if he did not do as he had asked and keep the financial details of Frank Logan's will to himself.

"Callie, you are a woman. This is a mans business. There is no reason for you to worry your pretty mind about it." he said in a gentle tone trying to calm the woman before that record setting temper of hers reared it's ugly head. He saw her light freckles darken as the red flush colored her cheeks. It appeared it was too late to avoid the temper.

Callie was fuming. How dare all of these men act like they could keep things from her just because she was a woman. Seven long years it had been since her father had died. One year since the loss of her mother and still she had not been permitted to see her fathers will.  She had no idea where her fathers money was and her stepfather was insisting that the farm belonged to him. Since Raymond Collier had all the documentation on the farm and her fathers will and he was refusing to let her see either, Callie had no way of knowing whether or not Thomas was lying.

"Mr. Collier, I will worry my pretty mind about whatever I choose to worry it about." Callie snapped.

"Callie, I have business I have to attend to. No one is keeping anything from you, dear. Why don't you just talk to Thomas about all of this and I am sure he will tell you the same. The money is gone. Your father spent it all before his death and the farm belonged to your mother. Since she is gone now it belongs to your step-father. The will is nothing but a bunch of legal dribble that a woman could never understand."

"Never understand!" she demanded her voice raising to an octave that Raymond Collier was afraid might shatter the windows in his office. "How dare you, Mr. Collier! If you and my witless step-father can understand it then I assure you that I can understand it as well." Raymond shook his head and stood up. He walked over and opened his office door signaling with his hand that he wished for her to leave.

"We have discussed this enough for today. It is not necessary for you to see that will, Miss Logan. Now if you don't mind I have work I need to be getting done." Callie stood and smoothed out the skirts of her light blue dress. She adjusted the belt around her waist and after taking a deep breath to try to ease her temper, she squared her shoulders and walked out of his office into the early spring sunlight.

The wind still had a chill to it but the long sleeves of her thick cotton dress kept the air off her arms. Callie looked up and down the street and then leaned on the porch banister outside of Raymond's office and sighed. She fought the urge to knock her head against the wooden banister beside of her in her frustration.

Her mother had been gone about a year now. The alcohol and laudanum finally proving too much for her body to survive anymore. Callie felt the familiar ache in her heart when she thought about her mother lying in that casket. Her death had not come as a surprise. Callie had been expecting it for a while as her mothers habits became more and more serious.

Callie had her suspicions that her stepfather had been more than happy to supply her mother with whatever she needed to keep her drunken and medicated state intact. Of course when she told Sherriff Baker about it he simply said there was nothing illegal about a grown man buying alcohol and laudanum and therefore there was nothing he could do.

Callie had been forced to move from the farm shortly after her mothers death. Not because she had wanted to leave the one place that had always been her home but because her step-father had begun making advances toward her that as far as Callie was concerned were highly inappropriate. He would run his hands through her hair if he saw it down. His hand would touch her arms and her neck any chance he could and Callie shivered when she remembered how the cold skin of his hand had felt against her.

She now lived in town at the boarding house and worked at the Annie's Dressmaking shop. She was quite good at sewing and she loved her job because she finally had dresses, skirts, shirtwaists and blouses that were not ripped and tattered. But she missed the farm and her home and hated that Thomas Whitaker was out there living in the house that her father had built with his own two hands.

Callie walked down the boardwalk toward the Annie's Dressmaking shop, deciding that she might as well go ahead and get a little sewing done, even though today was supposed to be her day off. She did not have anything to do to keep her busy and she desperately needed to keep her mind busy. James had been gone nearly a month in his search for Grayson. Callie and Lauren had hoped he would send them word to let them know how his search was going but so far they had received nothing.

"Callie! I didn't expect to see you in here today." Annie said when Callie walked in. Callie smiled at the thin, middle aged woman with graying flyaway black hair and a toothy smile.

"I decided to come in and get some of those alterations done for Trina's wedding dress." Callie replied. Annie nodded.

"That woman is going to have to quit sampling all those cakes! That dress can't be let out too much more before we're going to run out of fabric!" she said with a laugh. Callie laughed as well and then headed for the back room to get to work.

She worked for several hours and her back and fingers were starting to cramp so she decided it was time for a break. She stood and stretched her arms over her head twisting from side to side to ease her sore muscles. She was about to walk out into the main part of the store when she heard a voice come from there and froze.

"Hello Annie." Thomas Whitakers cold voice said. "I am looking for Callie. You haven't seen her have you?" Callie prayed that Annie would lie for her and of course the woman did. She knew how he had been harassing Callie the last year.

"No, I haven't seen her. Today was her day off, Mr. Whitaker." Annie replied. Callie looked around the backroom. She had to get out of here. No doubt Thomas would check back here for her. She did not want to have to see the way his ice blue eyes leered at her or feel the way his hands lingered on her arms and her hair.

There was no door in the room but there was a window. Callie opened the window, thankful that it was not too small since she had inherited her mothers plump waist and then climbed up into it. She hoped no one was in the back alley since there was simply no lady like way to climb out a window while wearing a dress and she knew her bloomers would be on display for anyone to see.

She tried to slide down the outside wall but misjudged the distance and ended up landing roughly on her backside in the dirt. She cursed under her breath as she stood up and tried to brush the dirt off of herself. She was stretching to try to reach the window to close it so Thomas would not know she'd come out of it when she heard someone laughing behind her.

"What in the world are you doing?" Peter Hanes asked walking into the alley. "I do believe I saw your bloomers, Miss Callie." Callie flushed red with embarrassment as she adjusted her bonnet over her light blond hair.

"A gentleman would not comment on having seen a ladies bloomers, Peter." she replied trying to sound angry yet she couldn't hide her smile. Peter had become a good friend over the last few years and in truth they were more like brother and sister than they were friends.

"Yes, well a lady would not have been climbing out of a window, into a dirty alley and showing the world her bloomers, Callie." He teased his dark eyes flashing with amusement. "And besides I would not be a real man if I had not stolen a peek." he added. Callie slapped his arm even as she laughed.

"Well I hope you enjoyed your peek, Peter, because it's the only one you are every going to get." she said. Peter laid his hands over his heart and pretended to be in pain.

"You break my heart, Callie!" he exclaimed. Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he led her out of the alley. "As I take you to lunch maybe you can explain to me why you were climbing out of Annie's window." Callie made a face and wrinkled her nose.

"Thomas." she replied.

"Is he still sniffing around your skirt tails?" Peter asked. Callie nodded.

"Yes." she said not able to stop the shiver that passed through her. Peter tightened his hold on her.

"That man is just disgusting. He was married to your mother for chrissake. You were his step daughter!" his disgust was plain in his voice. Callie nodded.

"I know. He was always touchy feely before she died and it always bothered me but I truly thought it was innocent. Now that she is gone he has become more insistent. Do you know he even mentioned marriage a few weeks ago before I managed to get away from him?"

"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Peter asked coming to a stop and stepping in front of her so he could look at her face. "I would have beaten him good for that! That man has problems if he thinks that I would ever let him marry you." Callie grabbed his arm and forced him back to her side so they could continue walking.

"I know you would protect me, Peter." she said gently. What she really knew was that Peter would try, but Peter was more of a jokester than he was a fighter and Thomas Whitaker was a cold, cruel worthless man who would not think twice about hurting her best friend.

"You know if you would just marry me like I beg you to then he would have to leave you alone." Peter teased while poking her in the ribs with his elbow.

"Hush." Callie said with a smile. "I thought you were head over heels in love with Peggy Sue." Peter's face suddenly became more serious.

"I am." he replied. "But Peggy Sue says it's hard for her to trust me." Callie thought this was the craziest thing she'd ever heard.

"You are one of the most trustworthy people I know." she said. "Why would Peggy Sue say something like that?"

"Because I walk around town with my arm around a pretty woman all the time." he replied matter of factly as he looked down at her.

"She thinks that you and I….." Callie made a face and then burst out laughing. Peter tried his best to look insulted but Callie's laugh was infectious.

"Yes she does. I told her I have a second arm that I would be more than happy to wrap around her but that this one belongs to you." he said squeezing her tighter. Callie sighed and pulled herself away from him.

"Peter, that is just plain dumb on your part. You love Peggy Sue and she loves you too. I wouldn't want my man walking around with his arm around another woman." she said. Peter shrugged.

"If she loves me then she needs to trust me. You are my friend and nothing more. You aren't my type anyway. I like red heads with big green eyes…." His eyes took on a faraway look and Callie knew he was picturing Peggy Sue. She laughed.

"I'll talk to Peggy Sue or better yet I'll go ahead and find me a husband so that she doesn't worry about me and you anymore." Callie said. She was joking about the husband part but Peter nodded.

"You need to find a husband. You are a pretty woman and you deserve to be happy." he said. They walked into the diner and sat down at a small table. Callie pulled off her bonnet and ran her hands over her hair which was half up in a braid.

"There is not one man in this town worth marrying." she said. Peter made a face and looked down at himself before looking back at her. She smiled.

"You already said I wasn't your type." she reminded him. Widow Brenner brought them both out a bowl of soup and some fresh bed for their lunch. They thanked her and then Peter looked back at Callie.

"What are you waiting for, Callie? Don't you want to be married and have a family?" Callie bit her lip to keep it from trembling. She blinked her eyes to hide the tears that had tried to form there. She never cried. At least not when anyone could see her.

"Of course I do." she said finally. She used her spoon to push the vegetables around in her soup. Suddenly she didn't feel so hungry.

"Grayson isn't coming back, Callie." Peter said gently. "He isn't the kind of man you should marry anyway. He's got a terrible temper, a bad reputation and the entire town thinks he murdered his brother in cold blood. His father kicked him out so he has no home, probably not any money and no land. He would have nothing to offer you…" Peter's voice trailed off when he saw the anger on her face. Looks like he was fixing to get a big piece of the famous Callie Logan temper.

"Do not say those kinds of things about Gray!" she practically shouted. "Not the entire town believes that ridiculous story that my worthless stepfather made up about Gray being drunk and killing Phillip! And Gray might have had a temper with all of the idiots in this town but he never, not once, lost it with me. He is the best man I know and I will not stand for anyone, even you, saying anything bad about him!" Peter put his hand over her mouth to silence her rant since everyone else in the diner was staring at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"Calm down, Callie. I'm sorry I made you mad. I know that you have some kind of childhood crush hero worship thing going on for Grayson and I should have known better than to mention him. Just for the record I don't think he killed Phillip in cold blood either but that doesn't mean that he'd be a good man for you." he said. Callie eyes flashed and he removed his hand suddenly just before her teeth clicked together.

"You tried to bite me!" he said with disbelief.

"You had your nasty hand on my mouth." Callie replied.

"Hell what do I know, maybe you and Grayson would be perfect for each other. The only person I know with a temper nearly as bad as his is you… I can already picture you married and standing in front of a pile of rubble where your home used to be after you two have your first lovers quarrel."

"I think you need to go talk to Peggy Sue." Callie said matter of factly. She wanted Peter to leave. She loved her best friend but sometimes he was a real insensitive jerk. Callie knew she was going to cry soon and she wanted to get back to her room at the boardinghouse before the tears fell.

"Callie, don't be mad at me." Peter begged. He tried to reach across the table and take her hand but she jerked hers back.

"I'm serious. Go talk to Peggy Sue. Just because I'm a pathetic woman pining away after a man who clearly doesn't care about me because he hasn't even bothered to check on me in five years, doesn't mean that you should be lonely too. Tell Peggy Sue I'm just your friend and from now on I'll keep my distance from you. You wouldn't want to be around me anyway and hear about my childhood crush hero worship."

"Callie…." She stood up cutting him off.

"I must be going now, Peter. I have work to do." Peter let her walk away. He could tell by the stiffness in her step and the set of her shoulders that she was about to cry and he knew that she would punch him in the mouth if he saw her tears. He felt like the biggest horses ass in the world for causing her pain. But Grayson Fields was an asshole. He was not a good man for Callie and he wasn't coming back anyway. Peter just wanted to see Callie happy.

He was just finishing his soup and fixing to eat the rest of Callie's when Annie came running into the diner.

"Peter, where is Callie?" she asked.

"The boardinghouse, why?" Peter asked hearing the mixture of excitement and fear in the older woman's voice.

"Because Grayson Fields is back." she said wringing her thin hands. "He and James just passed through town, on their way out to Grayson's fathers house I imagine." Peter's eyes widened at the news. He wondered if he should tell Callie or if he should let Grayson go to her first. After all maybe Grayson wasn't here for Callie and Peter did not want to get her hopes up only to have her hurt in the end.

"Annie, let's keep this to ourselves." Peter said. "I don't want Callie hurt." Annie nodded.

"I won't tell but I'm sure I'm not the only one that saw and recognized him. He's even bigger and seems even more ill tempered than he was before if that is even possible." she said. Peter didn't really think that was possible but he just shrugged.

"I'll never understand what Callie sees in that man." Annie added and Peter shook his head.

"Me either but whatever it is she sees, she likes it a lot and there is nothing we can say that is going to change her mind."