Lilian LaRoche hated people. She lived in her quiet little house out in the woods for that reason. She only went into town once a week for that reason. And she kept an empty nest for that reason.

Everyone knew it, and nobody bothered her, save for the boy that brought the milk and bribed her for an hour of her company with blackberry jam. He was her closest neighbour, from the Hollis Ranch on the east side of her massive chunk of land.

The man that strolled up the lane with a spring in his step was most certainly not the milk farmer's son.

Lilian scowled and stabbed her pitchfork into the dirt, wiping sweat from her brow. As the figure drew nearer, she ruled out the overbearing Sheriff of the nearby Lazarus Town. He was too tall. It wasn't the rosy-cheeked Pastor Taylor, either. He was too lean.

She squinted and pursed her lips as he approached the fence of her horse paddock. She didn't recognize the rugged man before her, with the deep-set eyes and wiry curls sticking out from beneath his dusty hat.

She pointed past him. "Town's back that way."

"Just came from there, ma'am." He tipped his hat, and then brought it down, holding it in front of him. "I'm looking for work."

Lilian rolled her eyes, and put a hand on her hip. "I ain't hirin'." She swept her long sweaty braid over her shoulder. "Town's back that way."

"Just came from there, ma'am," he repeated, the corner of his lip curling. "You come highly recommended."

She wrinkled her nose. "Nobody would have recommended me if they knew anythin' about anythin'." She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "Next town's a two day walk east."

He chuckled, a low throaty sound like stones rolling together. "You've got quite the chunk of land here, all to yourself."

"That's the way I like it." She turned back to the hay, wrapping her hands around the pitchfork handle. She stabbed it into the pile with an air of finality, ignoring his presence completely.

Or at least, she tried to.

"The name's Davien Stone," he said, as casual as if she'd invited him to speak.

"How nice for you." Lilian tossed some hay into the trough for the horses. Kral gave a chuff as he wandered over, his chocolate coat gleaming in the late afternoon sun. He ignored the hay completely and approached the newcomer, presenting his head for some attention.

Davien grinned at the horse and stroked his big soft nose. "Hey there, beauty."

Traitor, Lilian thought as she watched them in her periphery.

Not one to miss out on the action, Kwen trotted over, giving an excited whinny as she bumped her companion.

"Hey now." Davien laughed. "I've got enough hands for the both of you." He pet the happy horses and Lilian avoided looking at him, hoping that if she ignored him long enough he would go away.

He was still lavishing attention on the big babies when she left, taking her pitchfork back to the barn and then heading into the house to make supper.

***

Lilian finished off her stew and brought the clay bowl and spoon outside to the water pump to clean them. She nearly dropped her things when she saw Davien by the barn.

He'd slung his coat and bag over a fence post, and was in the process of heaving a wheelbarrow full of muck from the stables out to the manure pile, as if he owned the place. She stalked over, eyes blazing.

"I thought I told you to leave," she snapped.

He glanced up at her, seemingly unaffected by her ire. "You didn't, actually. You just told me where the nearby towns are located." He heaved the wheelbarrow up and over, dumping its contents.

Lilian pursed her lips and stomped into the barn, ready to give him an earful for daring to touch her stable, but the words left her at the sight of the pristine stalls. Everything was perfectly clean—even the horses had been brushed and dressed for the night.

She narrowed her eyes at Kral's happy chuff. Traitor! she thought again, even harder this time, and then whirled around. Davien parked the wheelbarrow in its spot and pulled off his hat, pushing his tousled sweaty hair off of his forehead.

"Do you make a habit of touching other people's shit without askin'?" Lilian crossed her arms. "It's amazin' your hands ain't been shot off."

He grinned at her, eyes twinkling. "No, ma'am. Just thought you could use a hand. Now you can just relax after your supper." He left the barn and headed for the fence where he gave his coat a good flick before slinging it over one broad shoulder.

"Well I ain't sharin' any!" She stormed out of the barn to block his path back to the house, should he be so bold as to try to head inside.

Davien shook his head and slung his bag over his shoulder. "I wouldn't dream of stealing your lovely-smelling stew, ma'am." He tipped his hat before producing a shiny apple from his pack and heading off down the lane.

Lilian stared after him in mild shock. She knew she should just let him go. He'd clearly stuck around to get under her skin, and it worked. If he was going to walk off into the woods alone at dusk to get eaten by predators wandering around, then that was his problem.

Totally, absolutely, completely his problem.

Fuck.

"Hey," she barked, and he stopped, turning slowly on his heel to look back at her. "You can sleep in the barn. Since you cleaned it up so nice." She held a finger up to stop the smile threatening to appear on his face. "But you'd better be gone by the time I get up. And I get up at dawn. So be gone by dawn. Y'hear?"

She didn't wait for him to answer her, didn't wait for an acknowledgment, didn't even wait to see if he'd accepted her offer. She stomped into her house and locked the door, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard and taking a long swig.

A few moments later, she glanced out the window to see Davien's silhouette in the moonlight, moving safely into the barn.