Chapter Thirty-Four

"Cavanaugh! Cav, come look at this!" Bethany exclaimed as she came running down the stairs early Monday morning.

Cavanaugh jumped up from the couch, hand going to the gun on his hip, ready for a fight, and Nicole laughed lightly as she came out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee and laid a gentle hand on his arm, "Calm down, cowboy." she said gently.

Cavanaugh relaxed and rubbed at his thigh, which was still killing him from two nights ago when he had overdone himself trying to prove he was still young and tough. Instead he had proven that he was not only old and broken down but had a whole bucket load of stupid foolish pride to go with it.

It had been worth it though. Nicole had made sure to rub out all the kinks in that leg that night just as soon as they were alone together in that big old bed of hers. Cavanaugh couldn't help but smile at the memory as he sat back down on the couch and pulled Nicole down with him, careful to keep from spilling the coffee she was holding.

"What is it, Bethany?" Cavanaugh asked the girl as she came into the living room with what she had called an iPad. Cavanaugh noticed that Andrew was right behind her. He thought about warning the boy not to follow Bethany around like a puppy dog but since the girl didn't seem to mind it, Cavanaugh figured it wasn't any of his business. He kissed Nicole's jaw and held her a little tighter.

"People are all over Twitter about you! You should see some of these women's tweets!" Bethany exclaimed with a smile.

Cavanaugh was sure he flushed red, before clearing his throat awkwardly and taking a big gulp of his coffee. The hot liquid scolded his mouth and throat as it worked it's way down to his stomach, "Huh?" he managed to gasp through the pain as he felt his eyes water. "I'm not sure I want to see that."

Bethany looked confused, Andrew was grinning like a fool and Nicole burst into laughter. Cavanaugh normally didn't like people to laugh at him but Nicole's laugh was nice. Still it rattled him a little, "What are you laughing about?" he demanded with a frown.

"You," she replied with a gasp as she struggled to compose herself and put on a serious face. "What exactly do you think Twitter and Tweets are, cowboy?"

Images of naked women flashed through Cavanaugh's mind and he quickly pushed them away as he grinned behind his coffee cup, "Why don't you tell me what they are and then I'll tell you if that's what I was thinking?" he asked.

Nicole and Bethany both laughed as they struggled to explain social networking to him. Cavanaugh felt his head beginning to hurt and he didn't understand it any better than he did before. Though he realized that Twitter was a webpage where people shared their thoughts or something like that, and a Tweet was what they said.

He took a slow, long drink of his coffee and then shook his head and grinned, "Nope, that's not what I was thinking."

Nicole looked up at his crinkled smile and sparkling blue eyes and marveled at how much the man had changed since she'd met him. Gone were the sad eyes that had made her heart hurt every time she had looked at him. Cavanaugh looked happy. He was happy. Nicole was both humbled and pleased to know that she was responsible for the change in him.

"You have several marriage proposals and more than several one night stand proposals," Bethany informed him as Andrew's arms snaked around her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder.

"I'm not interested in either," Cavanaugh stated with a shrug.

Nicole snuggled into is embrace for several more moments and then glanced at the clock as Leslie came into the living room dressed in her scrubs, "I have to go to work," Nicole groaned.

Cavanaugh smiled as he kissed her hair, "I'll clean the barn while you're gone."

"I have classes all day," Bethany added with irritation.

Andrew smiled, "I have a job."

"A job?!" Ian demanded as he came in from the back porch where he had apparently fallen asleep the night before.

Leslie sent him a sharp look, "Madeline's asleep." she scolded.

He grinned sheepishly, ran his hand through his messy hair and began to tuck in his wrinkled shirt as he looked back at his younger brother, "I thought I taught you better than that! No self-respecting McEllis brother would lower himself to getting a job."

"Jamison and I have both always worked," Cavanaugh reminded him.

Ian snorted, "That's why I said no self-respecting McEllis brother," he clarified and Cavanaugh nodded as he stood up, keeping his arms tight around Nicole as if he was loathing the moment when he knew he'd have to let go.

"You have a job too," Leslie informed Ian.

Ian frowned, "And what's that exactly?"

"Watching Madeline," 'Keeping her safe' Leslie added silently in her mind.

Ian grinned as he flopped down on the couch that Cavanaugh and Nicole had just risen from and stretched out his legs. He laid his head on his hands and closed his eyes, "That ain't work," he countered. "That's living." Cavanaugh and Andrew both stared at their brother with wide eyes. Since when did Ian say things like that?

"So, Andrew, where did you get a job?" Nicole asked.

Andrew grinned, "Silas's ranch," he replied. "I'm gonna follow in my big brother's boot prints." he added as he put his arm around Cavanaugh's shoulders.

Cavanaugh couldn't help but smile, "Good. Hard work might just settle you down a bit."

"No, Bethany did that. But hard work will earn me my first bit of honest money."

A gag could be heard from the couch and everyone glared at Ian who was still lying there with his eyes closed a broad grin on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Nicole asked dryly.

Ian shook his head, "Just threw up a little in my mouth is all," he replied. "The words 'hard work' and 'honest money' tend to do that to me."

***

"Ian, look!" Madeline said as she pointed to a small brown paper sack on the kitchen counter. "Mommy forgot her lunch."

Ian looked away from the picture of a flying pony he'd been coloring and nodded, "Yep she did. I'm sure she'll just buy something at the hospital or in town to eat," he replied. "What color are we making her mane?"

"Purple," Madeline replied after several moments of careful consideration. Ian found a purple crayon and began to fill in the white paper. "And mommy won't buy anything to eat. She says we don't have any money for things like that. That's why she's been taking her lunch."

Ian frowned. He didn't like the thought of Leslie missing a meal. She was actually beginning to look less like a starved, scared runaway and more like a pretty woman and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn't take the time to question the care giving instinct suddenly forming inside of him. He didn't think he'd like the answers and truths that he'd find if he dug too deep.

"Well then I guess we better take her lunch to her," he stated.

Madeline frowned, "You can't drive."

"No, but I can ride a horse."

"To town!?" Madeline exclaimed with a giggle.

"Sure, why not?" he asked with a grin. "Let's go out there and have Cav saddle up Saraphine for us."

Madeline was laughing happily as she led Ian out the door.

***

Leslie's stomach growled loudly and she laid her hand over it as she winced. She was starving! She had called herself a fool a hundred times already today for forgetting her lunch bag on the counter, especially since she had overslept and skipped breakfast. Now it was noon, everyone else was gone on lunch and she was left here with her stomach eating itself.

She had a few dollars in her purse but she would need that for gas money. The rest of her check had gone to a lawyer and to Nicole. Nicole had been angry but Leslie had insisted that she had to pay her some sort of rent. Leslie knew that Nicole had quite a bit of money thanks to her parents insurance policies and their own assets they'd left behind but Leslie refused to take advantage of her kindness without offering some form of compensation.

She tried to lay back on the patient bed in an empty room and ignore her stomach but it was no use. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Nicole's house, deciding that talking to Madeline might take her mind off her hunger.

After ten rings she decided that no one was going to answer and hung the phone up. Ian must be playing outside with Madeline. Leslie smiled as she thought of the two of them. How much different life could have been if Madeline had had a father like Ian. Sure he wasn't much of a worker, he liked to sleep more than anything else and he was a terrible flirt but he really cared about that little girl and he was able to make Leslie smile, which was a feat in itself.

Leslie's stomach growled again and she reached in her pocket and felt the change inside. She pulled it out and counted. Eighty-five cents. That should be enough for a candy bar from the snack machine. She made her way to the back of the clinic and down the long hallway that led to the snack machines. She hated this hallway. It was long and always empty. Only half the lights worked and so it was dark and her footsteps echoed off the walls. It had always made her nerves jumpy and made her feel as if she was being followed. She assumed maybe she had watched too many zombie movies in her life.

She made her way to the humming machines, worshipped by the junk food gods. She bit her lip as she thought of all the times that she had told Madeline that you couldn't eat junk food for meals. But adults didn't have to follow the same rules as children, did they? Leslie grinned guiltily and deposited her seventy five cents for her candy bar in the machine.

The chocolate deliciousness thudded down into the bottom of the machine and Leslie scooped it out quickly. She wasted no time before pulling back the plastic wrapper and taking a bite, chewing it slowly and moaning. It wasn't very often that she let herself waste the money to indulge in chocolate.

"You keep eating like that and you'll get fat, Les."

Leslie felt the chocolate she'd just eaten fall like a rock into the pit of her stomach at the sound of Frank's voice behind her. She turned slowly and saw him standing twenty feet away, in the middle of the long dark hallway. He was smiling coldly at her and she wanted to run but knew there was nowhere to run to. She could always scream but the man could do a lot of damage to her before anyone finally made their way back here.

"Frank, you shouldn't be here," she warned, though her voice was shaking.

"I shouldn't?" he sneered, taking a step toward her.

"No, you shouldn't."

Leslie felt relief in its truest form wash over her. She had no idea what Ian was doing here or how he had found her back here but hearing his deep voice had her fear waning drastically. She looked around Frank as he turned around and saw Ian standing there with Madeline standing with him. Her daughter had a death grip on Ian's hand as she stared in fear at her father.

"You again?!" Frank demanded.

Ian grinned, "That's funny because I was about to say the same thing to you." he replied.

Frank looked at Ian's empty hip and chuckled, "You don't have that big ol' gun today. You don't look so scary without it."

Ian's grin just widened as he raised his pants leg to reveal the handle of the pistol he kept strapped to his ankle, "I've got more," he assured the man. He lifted the other pants leg to reveal the hilt of his boot knife. "Even if I didn't, I don't need a weapon to wipe the floor with a man like you. You're nothing."

Leslie watched the veins in Frank's thick neck bulge as he glared at Ian, "Is that right?"

Ian nodded and moved Madeline behind him, "Yeah, that's right." he promised. "A man that proves how tough he is by beating up a woman and a child so much weaker than himself ain't nothing to be scared of. What do you do in your spare time, Frank, kick puppies?"

"I'll show you what I do, you son of a bitch," Frank growled as he strode toward Ian. Leslie nearly cried out with fear, both for Ian and for her daughter.

She started toward Frank, not sure what she was going to do but knowing she had to stop him. She was stopped in her tracks when Ian sent her a look and then he swung out his leg and caught Frank hard in the jaw. Frank's jaw snapped back and he went stumbling backward, before falling on his backside with a heavy thud and sliding across the cold, smooth tile.

"Stay down," Ian warned and Frank glared up at him as he wiped blood from his mouth. "Good boy," Ian added with a wink and a grin.

He motioned for Leslie and she quickly sidestepped Frank and ran to him, not pulling away when he lifted Madeline into his arms, propping her on his hip, and then slid his arm around Leslie's waist and led them back toward the main clinic. Leslie was about to turn to look back at Frank.

Ian tightened his grip and gave a shake of his head, "Don't look back there, Leslie," he said with a smile. "That man ain't worth it."

His senses had been sharply honed during his years living hard and he knew that Frank was still sitting on the ground and no threat to them. If the man moved, Ian would just pin him to the floor with his knife and beat him until he couldn't stand. Maybe that would teach the man to mind him when he said to stay put.

Ian let Leslie guide their steps back to the doctors office she worked in. He shocked her when he reached in her shirt pocket and pulled out her cell phone, "Call the police and tell them that he's here and he's cornering you in hallways. That's gotta be against that restraining order thing you talked about." he ordered as he adjusted Madeline on his side.

Leslie shook her head, "No! Do you have any idea how angry that would make him?" she demanded.

Ian shrugged, "I really don't give a shit how angry it makes him. That man isn't gonna keep scaring you and threatening Maddy and get away with it."

"Ian..." Leslie scolded as she looked at the patients seated in the waiting room and realized that all eyes were on them.

Ian just shrugged and shoved the phone at her, "Make the call," he ordered.

Leslie wasn't sure what to make of this new side to Ian. Gone was the lazy jokester and protective grinner. Now he was no nonsense and bossy, as the look he gave her told her that he expected to be obeyed. She shouldn't like being treated that way after what she'd gone through with both her parents and Frank, but coming from Ian? Well she had to admit that it turned her on a little bit. She took the phone from his hand and dialed the police. While she was talking to them she listened in on Ian and Madeline's conversation, "I'm scared of Frank," Madeline said shakily. Leslie was surprised to hear her call the man by his name. Always before Madeline had called him daddy.

"Why are you afraid of him?" Ian asked before kissing her nose. "I'm much more dangerous than he is."

"You made him fall down," Madeline replied with a giggle and Ian chuckled.

"They're on their way," Leslie said as she hung up the phone and then flagged down the old man that served as security guard, and chair getter when the clinic was too crowded. She explained the situation and he promised to go take a look at the back hall.

"Now what are you both doing here?" Leslie asked as she turned back to Ian and Madeline. "And more importantly, how did you get here?"

"We rode Saraphine, mommy!" Madeline replied happily as she curled up against Ian's side.

Leslie was happy knowing that Frank hadn't ruined Madeline's trust in men. Leslie had gotten her out in time before permanent damage could be done, "You rode a horse all the way to town?!" Leslie demanded.

Ian shrugged, "I've ridden a horse clear across the country before. Riding one into town really ain't that big of a deal. I found a shady spot with some trees and grass and tied her up there."

"And why are you here?" Leslie asked. "I'm glad you're here, don't get me wrong, I'm just confused."

"Happy to see me, huh?" Ian asked with a wink.

Leslie felt her knees shake and her thighs tremble a little. She was sure a flush rose on her cheeks as she reached out and took Madeline away from Ian in order to have something to do with her hands, "That could have gone a lot worse if you hadn't been," she stated, though she knew that dealing with Frank wasn't the only reason she was happy to see him. Something about Ian tempted her and that temptation scared her.

"I also brought you lunch," Ian informed her as he held up the brown paper sack he'd had in his hand the whole time. Leslie hadn't noticed it before but now she recognized it was her lunch bag.

She frowned, "You came all the way here to bring me lunch?"

"Couldn't have you going hungry," Ian replied gently.

Leslie felt tears fill her eyes. She knew it was stupid to cry over something so simple but she couldn't seem to help it. No one had ever taken care of her before.

Ian's heart was racing as he reached out and swiped some chocolate off her lip with his thumb. He saw her eyes widen and then darken with passion. His hand was shaking as he pulled it away quickly and shoved it deep in his pocket. What the hell was this he was feeling? He had no idea and he wasn't sure he liked it.

Neither of them spoke anymore to each other, just entertained Madeline, until the cops arrived. They took a statement from both Ian and Leslie and then searched the premises but came up empty handed. Frank was gone.

"I'll stay till you get out of work," Ian stated once the police were gone and Leslie was preparing to get back to work.

"No, take Madeline on home," she argued.

Ian sighed and caught the security guard by the arm as he walked by, "She doesn't leave this clinic alone. You walk her to her car," he warned.

The guard nodded, "Of course."

Ian nodded and then looked at Leslie, "I'll see you at home," he told her, before kissing her cheek, taking Madeline by the hand and then walking away.

Leslie watched his back as he disappeared from view and rested her fingertips against her tingling cheek.

"Your man is hot." A preteen girl said from where she sat in the waiting room chair.

Leslie nodded, not really putting much thought into it when she said, "Yes he is."

***

"Boy, you sure weren't no ranch worker back in your day were you?" Silas asked as he wiped his sweaty brow and watched Andrew trying, and failing, to rope a calf.

"Nope," Andrew said with defeat as he gave up on his task and walked over to the shade of the barn eave. He slid down the wall and flopped down in the dirt. They'd been busting their backsides for hours. Hard work was hard and he was tired.

Silas laughed and handed him a canteen.

"I can't," Andrew said, thinking it was whiskey. "I promised Bethany I wouldn't drink anymore."

Silas nodded and pulled the canteen away as he leaned against the barn wall, "Got a drinking problem then, do ya?" he asked.

Andrew shook his head, "No, I had a living problem but Bethany fixed that." he replied honestly.

Silas grunted and reached the canteen out to him again, "It's water," he assured the boy and Andrew took it and drank greedily. "So what did you do back in 1875?" Silas asked.

Andrew pulled the canteen from his mouth and wiped the water from his chin with his sweat and dirt covered sleeve, "I was actually making my living as a gambler," he replied as he pushed himself back up to his feet. "I'm damn good at poker and gambling of any kind. I'm good at knife throwing too and I made some money doing that."

"Did you save any of it?" Silas asked.

Andrew shook his head and grinned sheepishly as he picked at a knot in the barn wall, "No, sir. I always seemed to find things to spend it on." Silas chuckled, "Yeah, I'll bet you did." Andrew took another drink and then swallowed hard when Silas fixed him with an intense stare, "What are your intentions with my granddaughter?" he asked suddenly.

Andrew frowned, "Intentions, sir?"

"Yeah, intentionsm" Silas replied. "You planning on marrying her or just playing around for a while."

Andrew stood straighter and squared his shoulders, "I promise you right now that I ain't just playing around." he replied. "As a matter of fact, I want nothing more than to marry the woman but I can't."

"Why the hell not?" Silas asked. "You ain't already married are ya?"

"Hell no!" Andrew exclaimed. "I reckon you need all kinds of things to prove who you are nowadays because a mans word apparently don't mean nothing and I don't have anything proving who I am."

Silas studied him carefully for a moment, "So you really do love her then?"

Andrew let out an exasperated sigh, "Of course I do! I've done told you that I love her. I'm really startin' to worry about your memory, old man."

"Well then let's do something about that marriage, shall we?" Silas asked with a smile and Andrew found himself grinning back as he nodded like a fool.