Joe was sitting up keeping first watch and staring into the dancing flames of the small fire. There were owls hooting and crickets chirping in the distance, but Joe paid them no mind.

                Her mind was too busy thinking about Jonah and what the two of them had said to one another both this morning and mere hours ago in the woods.

                Something just wasn’t right. Jonah seemed to genuinely believe that he hadn’t known about Clayton. Even Joe could see how sad the man was. She had always loved the ease with which he smiled and the way he threw his head back with laughter so often…. Today he had barely smiled, other than while he was talking to Clayton, and Joe had yet to hear him laugh. 

                And then there was Bart. Bart had been beat all to hell. Broken ribs, swollen face, blacked eyes… He had been starved and nearly dead from thirst and yet he had taken off without telling anyone where he was going and Reb had said it was because he was afraid of Jonah…. And Jonah did seem to be awfully angry at the man.

                Why would Jonah be angry at the man who had helped care for his son after Jonah chose to turn his back on the boy? Joe would think that Jonah would be grateful to Bart, not angry with him.

                Unless…. But no, that couldn’t be possible. Bart had sworn to Joe that he had given the letter to Jonah. He had said that Jonah had read the letter right in front of him and then tossed it into the fire, basically called Joe a whore and told Bart to never come looking for him again……

                But something about that had always bothered Joe. While she had had no choice but to believe Bart, seeing as how the man had been like a rock for her throughout her pregnancy and for those few months after, it had never seemed right to her that Jonah would do what Bart claimed he had done. That was what had made it hurt all the more.  But what if…

                What if Jonah had never gotten that letter? What if Bart had lied to her? What if Jonah had been honest when he’d said that he never said he didn’t want Clayton? What if Jonah had been telling the truth when he’d said that he really had loved her and that he had looked back and missed her every single day since watching her ride away?

                What if the man simply thought that Joe had hidden the truth from him all these years and then told their son that his father was dead on top of that?

                Joe’s head whipped around to where Jonah’s bedroll was laid out and her breath caught when she realized he was lying there on his side, awake and staring at her.

                Without a word, Jonah stood and nodded slightly before walking off into the darkness. Joe knew he was giving her a choice. Either follow him and agree to let go of her anger long enough to truly talk, or stay behind and prove that her anger over the past was too great for her to get over.

                Joe stood, she had no choice. Jonah was her one and only. She had known that back then and it was just as true now. Whatever anger she had felt toward him was quickly fading as she realized just how foolish she had been! Why had she simply blindly believed Bart and never tried to find Jonah herself? Since when did she trust anyone enough to simply take their word without question?

                She walked to Reb and kicked the man in the leg causing him to grunt  as he jerked to wakefulness.

                “What?” he mumbled.

                “Jonah and I are leaving you in charge of Clayton for a while.” Joe informed him and he grinned as his sleepy blue eye twinkled in the firelight.

                “Y’all have fun now…” he teased and Joe was thankful for the darkness that kept the blush on her cheeks from being visible as she simply growled and then walked off in the same direction that Jonah had taken.

                Joe squinted in the darkness, searching and scanning for Jonah, and she nearly screamed when a set of arms grabbed her and pulled her into a hard body.

                Then her near scream quickly turned into a hungry moan when she felt Jonah’s mouth close over hers, his demanding lips burning and searing her with their heat.

                Joe felt her body respond instantly. An ache began to grow and pulse low in her belly as wetness gathered between her thighs and her nipples hardened against the wrap they were pressed tight beneath.

                She felt Jonah’s hands roam down her back and then lower, gripping her backside and pulling her against him. His arousal pressed heavy against her stomach and caused a wave of pleasurable trembles to wash down her spine.

                Joe raised her hands to his hair, knocking off Jonah’s hat and burying her finger in the thick blond strands. She heard him groan against her lips, his mouth instantly deepening the kiss as he thrust his tongue into her mouth and her own tongue met it roughly in a battle of wills.

                Jonah’s body propelled her backward and Joe felt her back come up against the rough bark of a tree and, in a movement that was endearingly familiar about Jonah, his hand came to the back of her head, protecting it from injury. Then his free hand moved to her cheek and his thumb stroked her jaw tenderly.

                When Jonah finally broke the kiss and pulled his lips away from hers, Joe was gasping and Jonah’s breaths were ragged. He kept his body pressed tight against hers and his thumb continued to stroke her jaw while her hand stayed locked in his hair.

                This close to him in the darkness, Joe could see into those gray eyes and she swallowed hard and nearly let her own tears fall when she saw that Jonah’s eyes were red rimmed and bright with tears of their own.

                “Joe, I need to get a few things straight with you right now.” He whispered roughly and Joe found herself unable to do anything but nod as her body moved on its own and pressed tighter against him.

                “I’m sorry that what I could offer back then wasn’t enough. I’m sorry that I hurt you and I’m sorry that you felt like you couldn’t come to me when you needed me. I’m sorry that you felt you had no choice but to tell our son that I was dead.”

                “Jonah…” she began but Jonah’s hand moved to her lips and pressed tight to keep her from speaking further.

                “I’m not done.” He urged and Joe saw a single tear slip from the corner of his eye, running down the lines that crisscrossed the sides of his eyes and over his sharp jaw. She wiped it away with the palm of her hand and Jonah leaned his face into her touch. “I tried to find you. I searched every little town I could think of and I went to your old cabin at least twenty different times. I didn’t live as ‘purty as I pleased’ or ‘never think of you again’. You couldn’t have been more wrong when you said that. I lost everything that mattered when I lost you and I tried desperately to fill the hole with whiskey and… other things…” his gaze shifted and Joe knew he was talking about whores.

                Part of her wanted to get mad but she shoved that emotion down. The man was clearly in pain and, if her suspicions were right about Bart, Jonah had every right in the world to hate her and yet here he was opening up and baring his soul to her as they stood against this tree in the moonlight.

                Jonah’s hand was still pressed against her mouth so Joe said nothing and instead waited on Jonah to speak again. “I swear to you that I had no idea about Clayton. When I rode up to your cabin the other day, praying like hell I’d find you alive, and instead found myself staring down at a boy who was me nearly thirty years ago, I couldn’t breathe. I was hurt. I was mad. But now….. It was my fault, Joe. I hurt you and I let you down and you felt like you didn’t have a choice……”

                Joe had heard enough, she grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from her mouth. “Jonah, I tried to tell ya ‘bout Clayton. I sent Bart to find ya with a note that I’d wrote. Bart came back a couple months later and said that he’d found ya alright. He said that you read that note, told him I was a mistake and there weren’t no proof the boy was your’n and then you tossed the note into the fire and told him to never hunt you down again.”

                Joe nearly cried out with disappointment when Jonah backed away from her and shook his head with disbelief.

                “No….” he said as he ran his hand through his thick hair. “No one found me. I never got a letter. I swear that to you. When I saw Bart last night that was the first time I’d seen the man since we reached Barbadine with Scarlett.”

                The truth of Bart’s betrayal was like a knife through Joe’s gut. And she had no doubts that it was Bart who had betrayed her. Jonah was too open in this moment, too raw, to be lying to her.

                “I’m sorry, Jonah. I shoudn’t have believed him like that… I should have realized that ya’d never do somethin’ like that…” Joe swallowed hard, trying desperately to hold back her tears. She was Joe Redding, she was tough, she couldn’t cry.

                Jonah closed the distance between them again and slid his hand along her jaw. “Please, don’t, Joe… Don’t hide from me. Not me.”

                Joe felt a smile curve her mouth even as a tear slipped down her cheek. Jonah captured that tear with his lips and Joe let her body sag against his. This was her Jonah. How could she have ever believed him to be monster enough to turn his back on her and their son? Only with Jonah had she ever been allowed to be weak. He knew a side of her that no one else in the world had ever seen.

                Jonah pressed his forehead against hers and they simply stood there for several long moments, holding one another and doing nothing more than breathing. The pain of five long years of separation beginning to fade as each realized the other was not to blame.

                Then Jonah stiffened and pulled away from her yet again. “You and Reb should be able to get Clayton back to the cabin without me. I’ll rejoin y’all in a few days.”

                Joe frowned and shook her head. “Where the hell ya plan on goin’?” she demanded. Jonah rubbed the back of his neck and began to pace.

                “That bastard is going to pay for what he did. I lost years I can’t back. I lost five years with you. I missed my son being a baby. Bart will wish he’d never been born by the time I’m done with him.”

                Joe blinked several times and then quickly stepped forward and grabbed Jonah’s arm when he tried to walk away.

                “Don’t…”

                “Are you saying he doesn’t deserve to be punished?” Jonah demanded as he whirled on her. “Do you have any idea what he stole from me?! I missed everything. I missed his first steps, his first words. I wasn’t there to rock him at night or pace the floors with him in my arms when he had a stomach ache.” Jonah’s voice broke. “Bart turned be into the father that my father was…”

                “No.” Joe cut in, hating the hurt she saw in his eyes. “You are not yer pa. Yer pa knew ‘bout ya and walked away anyway… .You didn’t know.. and that’s my fault. I should have tracked ya down myself. Pa always told me not to trust other folks to do my work. Clayton and I have lived without you fer a long time, Jonah. I don’t’ want ya to leave us now….”

                Jonah cut her words off by pressing his lips to her in a feather light meeting of flesh that stole her breath more quickly and more completely than the hungry kiss they had shared minutes ago had.

                He pulled away and kissed her brow gently.  “How is your leg?” he asked. Joe shrugged.

                “Feels ‘bout like I got shot in it but it’ll be fine.” She assured him as she shifted her weight to her good leg. “Thank you, Jonah. Thank you for coming for me and saving my life even after what I put you through….”

                “Joe, I’d do anything for you.” He assured her as he took her hand and she realized he was examining her wrists. “I’m just sorry that it took me so long and they were able to do what they did.” His finger traced the bruise along her temple.

                “I asked fer most of it.” Joe admitted. “I didn’t ‘zactly take kindly to bein’ kidnapped.”

                Jonah smiled at her and then Joe felt her heart race when he threw his head back and laughed, reminding her of the old him.

                “God, I missed you, Joe.” He kissed her swollen and cut wrists in turn. “I’m so sorry…”

                “Let’s not say sorry anymore, Jonah. It don’t do no good. Just…” Joe stopped and licked her lips.

                “Just what, Joe?” Jonah urged. “You can be weak with me… You can be my Josephine.”

                Joe smiled and looped her arms around his neck. “Just love me, Jonah.” 

                “Oh, Joe…” Jonah sighed as he pressed his forehead against hers and looked deep into her eyes, causing both of them to go cross-eyed. “I’ve loved you since I found you crying in that alley all those years ago and I’m going to be loving you ‘til the day I die, that much I can promise.”

                Joe cut Jonah off by all but leaping into his arms, throwing her legs around his waist and kissing him hungrily. Jonah laughed against her lips and then walked forward until her back was once again pressed against the rough bark of the oak.

                Neither knew how long they stayed that way. Kissing, moaning, whispering.  Joe wanted more but when she tried to lift her buckskin shirt, Jonah broke his lips away from hers and shook his head.

                “No.”

                “Why?”

                “Because I’m filthy. You’re filthy. We both stink. Your leg is messed up and bleeding again. Your wrists are hurting you, I can tell because you winced when they touched my neck. And our son and Reb are just beyond those trees.”

                “Jonah, I don’t want to wait… I need you…” Joe admitted. Jonah sighed and kissed her nose.

                “I’m not going anywhere, Joe. I am yours until I die, I vow that to you right now. But I’ve been waiting for a long long time to make love to you again and I sure as hell am not gonna do it while we’re covered in dirt, dried blood and week old sweat with an oak tree for a bed.”

                Joe grumbled under her breath but knew he was right.

                “And we have to be careful around, Clayton for a while.” She added. “I’m not sure how I’m gonna tell him that yer really his pa.”

                Jonah sat her down on her feet and took her hand in his, kissing her knuckles as he smiled. “We’ll figure out a way to do it together.” He promised.

                “I love ya, Jonah.”

                “I love you too.”