Chapter Seventeen

"Mary?" Evelyn whispered as she walked across the cloudy expanse around her. "Mary, I need to talk to you."

"Well that would be why I brought your spirit here," Mary replied, as she stepped out of the clouds and came to stand beside Evelyn. Mary's dirty, knotted hair and stained clothes contrasted sharply with their snow white, pristine surroundings.

"I'm worried about my boys," Evelyn stated, wasting no time in getting to the point.

Mary sighed and crossed her thin arms over her concave chest, "You are supposed to simply have faith that I know what I am doing," she scolded.

Evelyn glared at the woman and pointed down in the general direction she suspected the world to be, "Jamison is back home now but you have him chasing after murderers that could very likely end with him killed! Andrew is drinking himself into stupors, Ian is throwing himself at everything in a skirt and doesn't show any signs of wanting to gain responsibility and Cavanaugh?" Evelyn sighed. "Cavanaugh is still refusing to let himself move on."

"Things will work fine, Evelyn. Jamison has to take his journey to heal the sins of his past. Your three sons still in the future will find or have already found the women they need that will teach them all they need to know about life. And the women they meet or have met need help just as badly as they do. All of this is written and shall happen in time."

"So what happens when my boys fall in love and then have to leave their women and go back to their own time?" Evelyn asked skeptically. Mary shook her head, "Time means nothing. Perhaps the women they meet were not meant to live in the time they are in."

"So you're saying they'll go back to 1875 with my sons?" Evelyn asked with a raise of her graying brow.

Mary shrugged, "Perhaps, yes. Perhaps, no. It is not my duty to explain my plans to you. I promised you that I would help your children and that is what I am doing. Now let your mind be at peace, Evelyn, and you will see everything you've hoped for your sons come true in time."

"I have never been good at giving up control," Evelyn stated flatly. Mary smiled, "You have no choice in this." she assured the other woman.

Evelyn didn't like this and yet Mary was right. All she could do was sit back and watch the future unfold in whatever way was destined, "When you see them again, make sure you tell my boys I love them." she stated with a sigh and Mary nodded and then faded back into the clouds.

***

Nicole had never felt so warm or safe in her life as she felt curled up against the warm, hard body holding her close. She snuggled deeper into the cocoon of warmth and heard a deep, rumbling moan as the arms shifted and pulled her closer.

Reality fought its way through the groggy, dream fog she was in and suddenly she realized she was lying on her couch in the arms of a man. What man?

She opened her eyes just a crack and found herself staring at a plain black cotton tee shirt, stretched smooth over an impressive expanse of chest. She felt her body heat and instantly the long neglected parts of her body came to life once again and began to burn with desire. Wasn't it only men that were supposed to get so hot in the mornings? The proof of that fact was pressed against her leg right now.

She bit her lip but didn't have to look up to know who this was. There was only one man that had ever made her body throb like this and that was Cavanaugh. But how had they ended up curled up together on the couch? And just how angry was he going to be when he woke up?

She glanced up at his face to find that his blue eyes were open and looking down at her. They stared at each other for several long seconds. Nicole felt several strands of hair fall across her face and before she could move them, Cavanaugh's rough, calloused fingers were dancing across her skin and pushing them behind her ear.

"Well good morning, sunshines!" Ian's voice broke whatever spell had held both Nicole and Cavanaugh captivated and they pulled away from each other and moved to opposite ends of the couch. Nicole noticed that Cavanaugh kept his arms crossed over his legs and she knew he was hiding his bulging arousal from his brother.

Thoughts of that had Nicole biting her lip and forcing her eyes to look away from Cavanaugh and up at Ian, "Good morning." she muttered as she stood up. "It would have been better if you'd have stayed upstairs," she added as she shuffled past him and toward the kitchen to make coffee.

"She's so sweet in the morning," Ian said with a laugh as he stared at those fuzzy pink things on her feet. "I'm proud of you, Cavanaugh," Ian added as he turned back to face his brother.

Cavanaugh scowled up at him, "Why's that?"

"Because you're jumping back into the saddle! Getting back into action!"

"No I'm not, " Cavanaugh grumbled. He realized that the throbbing desire that Nicole's body had caused in him had faded and it was safe to stand up. He stood and stretched his arms over his chest before rubbing furiously at his thigh. It always ached the worst in the mornings.

"I couldn't have picked a better woman for you, Cav. Hell she can shoot, ride, make you laugh and cook like nobodies business. All in all she seems like she was just about heaven made just for you."

"Shut up, Ian," Cavanaugh warned.

"Yep, it's like God said to himself 'Self, I think I need to make a woman that would be absolutely perfect for Cavanaugh McEllis. She should have that full soft body he likes so much, a killer smile, big green eyes, a big heart, soft hands, be good in a kitchen, funnier than hell, and able to put up with his moody ass without much complaint. I think I shall call her Nicole.' Personally I think that's exactly what happened."

"I hardly think that God says the word ass," Cavanaugh grumbled as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, "And when I want your opinion I'll be sure to shoot myself."

Ian was about to say something else when Nicole came back into the living room and had him grinning as he rocked back on his heels. She handed Cavanaugh a glass of water and held out two blue and red pills in her palm.

"What the hell are those?" Cavanaugh demanded as he looked down at them with a frown.

"Tylenol," Nicole replied. "You put them in your mouth and swallow them whole. They'll help with the pain in your leg."

"I don't like taking laudanum. It makes me feel funny," he replied.

Nicole shook her head, "It's not like laudanum, I promise," she assured him. "We've come a long ways since those days."

While Cavanaugh was angry at himself for giving in to temptation last night and allowing himself to curl up with Nicole and hold her, the fact remained that he trusted her. He took the medicine from her hand and popped the capsules in his mouth before swallowing them down with a big drink of water.

"So what are we doing today?" Ian asked and Nicole glanced around him and toward the stairs.

"Where's Andrew?"

"Still snoring. He'll sleep most of the day after all the whiskey he had yesterday."

"He'll probably need some Tylenol when he wakes up for the headache," Nicole mumbled and Ian shook his head.

"No, Andrew can drink all he wants and doesn't ever seem to feel the effects the next day like normal men do."

Cavanaugh snorted as he stretched his arms over his head. "There's nothing normal about Andrew,"

Nicole's eyes were drawn to his stomach and the tanned skin that became visible as he raised his arms. His pants were riding low and she could see the sexy v-shaped muscles of his low stomach. Her mouth went dry and it wasn't until Ian cleared his throat loudly in her ear that she realized she'd been staring and blushed blood red as she tore her eyes away.

Nicole couldn't bring herself to look at Cavanaugh's face and so she quickly turned and went back into the kitchen, keeping her back to the brothers as she pulled out a pack of sausage to fry for their breakfast.

"Like I said, big brother," Ian stated as he realized Cavanaugh was still staring hard after Nicole, "Heaven made and heaven sent. I know a couple folks up in heaven that just might have sent her in your direction."

"Like I said, when I want your opinion I'll shoot myself," Cavanaugh grumbled and he limped away out to the porch.

Ian just shook his head. Jamison had gone home, Cavanaugh probably never would if they were waiting on him to let himself fall in love, Andrew was probably stuck here for good too if it was calmness he was supposed to find and Ian? Ian had no earthly idea exactly what he was supposed to be learning here.

***

"So what are we going to do today?" Ian asked after the three of them were done eating breakfast.

Nicole went about cleaning the table while Cavanaugh lit a cigarette and she shrugged, "I have to get to work on my house cleaning. The yard needs to be mowed so I'll let one of you do that. There's no point having a bunch of hot cowboys here without using them."

"What exactly does one do to mow the yard?" Ian asked with a grin as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his long legs out in front of him.

Nicole sighed, "There is a thing called a lawn mower. It has a string that you pull and it turns on and there are metal blades that rotate very fast and as you push the lawn mower it cuts the grass."

"So it's hard work?" Ian asked as he wrinkled his nose.

"Yes," Nicole replied.

"I'll do it," Cavanaugh said as he stood up, "Ian's allergic to that kind of thing and whatever that was you gave me has actually made my leg feel pretty good."

"I told you it would," Nicole replied with a smile and Cavanaugh smiled back. This was the first time in years that his leg hadn't pained him at all.

"I need something to do." Ian whined.

Nicole nodded, "Yes you do. The truck, you can clean it out."

"Fun. Fun. Fun. I had more of a saloon and poker thing in mind."

"We're fresh out of saloons around here but if you help me get the truck cleaned out then I'll take you out to the bar tonight."

"Bar?"

"Yes, the modern day saloon," Nicole replied with a wink.

Cavanaugh found himself chuckling, "Well show me how to work the lawn mower and I'll get that done," he said as he headed for the door and Nicole followed after him.

"I'll just rest awhile.. You know build my strength up for cleaning the truck!" Ian called after them.

***

Nicole pulled the lawn mower out of the building and Cavanaugh's eyes widened when he saw it, "Damn. That cuts the grass, huh?"

"Yes," Nicole replied. She felt awkward standing here with him now after sleeping in his arms all night. She had no idea what he thought about the intimacy they had shared and she wasn't at all sure her heart could take it if he proved to be upset.

"About last night..." Cavanaugh started.

Nicole held up her hand and stared at his chest instead of his eyes, "Let's just not talk about it, okay? It was nice. I thought it felt right and it felt good and that's how I want to remember it. There's no pressure for anything more and I won't ask you for a thing but don't take that nice memory from me by letting me know you thought it was a mistake."

Cavanaugh stared at her for several long, silent moments and then he sighed and nodded. Nicole's heart broke a little but she was no stranger to heartache. At least he was letting her keep the memory of his strong arms holding her tight without tainting it and calling it a mistake.

She grabbed the pull cord on the mower and yanked hard, bringing the engine to life. Cavanaugh winced at the noise it made and she motioned for him to take the handle, "There you go, Cavanaugh, " she offered. "Don't kill my flowers," she added warningly and then Cavanaugh watched her walk away, wishing he could give her what she wanted but knowing that he couldn't.

***

Nicole opened her laptop and went straight to her play list of downloaded fast paced house cleaning songs. Nothing made housework go faster than music and nothing took her mind off of things like housework did, so music was certainly needed right now. She pushed play and then walked to the hall closet to get her broom and get started.

Ian watched her disappear from view and stood from the kitchen table. He sighed as he looked at the mess. He really should help her clean it up but then again she hadn't mentioned wanting him to so why should he trouble himself with it?

He found his foot tapping along with the music coming from whatever that was in the living room that Nicole had turned on and then the sound of the phone ringing came to his ears. He knew it was the phone and it wasn't dangerous, though he had learned that the hard way after Nicole had smacked him hard when he had nearly shot the telephone the first time he had heard it ringing.

He walked over to it and pulled the receiver off the wall. He stuck it to his ear and waited but didn't hear anything. He frowned and was about to hang it back up when a woman's voice reached his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" Ian mimicked.

"Uh.. Um.. Is Nicole around?"

"She's cleaning or something," Ian replied as he scratched at his stomach and yawned.

"This is Bethany. I told her I would come over today so I wanted to call and make sure she was home."

"Yeah she's here," Ian replied and then he hung up the phone. He hated those things! It didn't seem right to talk to someone you couldn't see.

Bethany was coming over. Ian chuckled to himself. It was time to go wake up sleeping beauty.