They rode north hard for a week barely stopping long enough to eat or sleep. Ethan knew he was pushing the two of them too hard but he had to get as much distance between them and his father as he could before they took any kind of break.

He was proud of the fact that though he could tell Caroline and Jasmine were both completely exhausted neither of them said or did anything in complaint. They rose when he told them too in the morning and they rode until he told them to stop. He still couldn't quite believe he had gotten them out without being caught. He hadn't told Caroline but he'd ran into trouble when he'd went back in town.

Crenshaw had seen him and was about to shout a warning but Ethan had grabbed the man and slit his throat before he could make a sound. That was the first time Ethan had ever murdered someone who wasn't trying to kill him and Ethan wondered if it was a bad sign that he wasn't more bothered by it. His only thought was that if he got caught they'd find Caroline and Jasmine and he couldn't' let that happen.

Ethan knew his father and his men had to be chasing them. Thankfully Ethan was real good at hiding a trail and evading capture. That was something you learned real quick when you were a bank robbing outlaw. And thankfully his dad and the men he had left weren't very good at tracking… That was not an important skill in their line of work.

888

It was early morning and they'd been riding for a week when Caroline saw the small town coming into view. She looked over at Ethan questioningly. She knew he'd been avoiding all towns thus far and wondered why they were riding straight toward this one.

"I don't know about you, darlin', but I'm getting a bit smelly." Ethan replied to her unspoken question. "That and I figure the horses could use a good rub down and a night in a cozy stable."

"What about Mitchell?" Caroline asked.

"We'll be alright stopping for the day." he promised. "Have a little faith in me, darlin'."

"I would trust you with my life, Ethan." Caroline replied matter-of-factly. "I know you'll keep us safe." Ethan looked at Jasmine who smiled trustingly at him as well and prayed to God that their trust was not misplaced.

They rode into town and Ethan put the horses up at the stable and got them a room at the hotel. Caroline didn't ask him where he got the money. She figured she didn't want to know. If she had asked him Ethan would have told her that he was using the money from the bank robberies he, his father and his fathers men had committed before coming to her farm. Ethan knew he shouldn't use it and he had no intention of ever robbing another bank but he'd darn near gotten killed getting it and since he was using it for the good cause of rescuing Caroline and Jasmine he figured it was okay.

"You ladies take ya a bath." Ethan said after the tub had been filled with hot water. "I'm gonna head down and get us some more supplies."

"Ethan…." Caroline started but then she bit her lip and stopped. She wanted to talk to him about them.. If there was a them. They hadn't kissed or really touched in the week they'd been riding. They hadn't spoken much either except for small talk and Caroline wondered if maybe she had just imagined it when she had seen something in his eyes as he'd looked at her before.

"Getcha a bath, darlin'." Ethan said again and then he walked out. He pulled his hat down as he walked out onto the sunny dusty street and blew out a long breath.

He loved that woman. No doubt about it in his mind but he knew there was no way she could feel the same. He was an outlaw. A bank robber and now a murderer. Not a man that deserved a woman like her. He walked over to the general store and made a list of what he wanted with the store keep. Then he walked out and the dressmakers shop caught his eye.

He walked in and the first thing he did was get himself a pair of black trousers and a black shirt. Then he picked out a dress for Caroline and Jasmine. He hoped they would fit but if they didn't the dressmaker assured him the alterations could be done by morning. He walked out with his three packages and carried them back to the motel.

He walked up to the clerk and his wife and tipped his hat.

"Ma'am, could I get you to carry these up to the ladies in room twelve?" he asked handing her the packages that contained the two dresses. "They were bathing and I…." the older woman smiled knowingly.

"Of course." she said. He thanked her and then walked back out. He went over to the saloon and rented a room upstairs and asked for some water to be brought up so he could bath as well.

Once he was clean, dressed and shaved he walked back out to the street and groaned when he heard the boots on the wooden walkway following behind him.

"Hey you!" a cocky voice called out. Ethan kept walking. "Hey gunslinger!" The voice yelled. Ethan stopped in the middle of the dusty road and turned to look at the man yelling at him. It wasn't really a man he noticed but a boy probably not yet even twenty.

"I recognize you." the boy said. Ethan shook his head.

"No, I think you're mistaking me for somebody else." he replied. The boy grinned a big toothy grin and shook his head.

"No. I'm not mistaken. I heard tell you're fast with them shooters." Ethan nodded.

"Yeah, I heard tell of that too." he replied. He didn't want to fight with this boy. That was one of the downsides to being a fast gun. Not very many people knew who Ethan Thompson was or would recognize him on sight but those that did were always eager to prove they were faster than him.

"Bet you ain't as fast as me." the boy said. Ethan shook his head.

"I ain't got no problem with you, boy. Why don't you just go on back in the saloon and have another drink." Ethan said. The boy shook his head and moved his hand closer to his revolver.

"No, I ain't afraid of you. I'm gonna be the one that takes down the fastest gunman in Texas." he said. Ethan cocked his head to the side. Did people really call him that? He knew he was fast but he wasn't sure about being the fastest one in Texas.

"Kid, I really don't to draw against you." Ethan said.

"Too bad." the boy replied and pulled his gun. Ethan didn't give him time to pull the trigger before pulling his own gun and putting a bullet in the boys arm. The boy dropped his gun and Ethan shook his head.

"Get to the doc boy and then go and get ya a drink." Ethan said and he turned to walk away. He heard the revolver cock behind him and he rolled his eyes and groaned before crouching quickly and turning on his heels. The boy fired a shot which would have hit Ethan's head if he'd still been standing and Ethan placed two bullets quickly into the kids chest.

The sheriff pushed through the crowd of people gathering on the street and walked over to Ethan.

"What happened here?" he demanded. Ethan sighed as he reloaded his gun and dropped it back in his holster.

"The kid drew on me first, sheriff. It was self defense." he said.

"It's true, sheriff! He told the boy he didn't want to fight but the boy drew on him anyway and even then the man just wounded the boy and was gonna walk away but the boy shot at him again and he had to kill him then." A short man with red hair said matter-of-factly. The sheriff looked at Ethan with bright blue eyes that Ethan was sure didn't miss much and had seen pretty much all there was to see in this godforsaken land and he nodded.

"Alright. I believe you and I believe Ernest." he said motioning to the red haired man who had vouched for Ethan.

"Did he have any friends I should be worried about in town?" Ethan asked. The sheriff shook his head.

"No. He was just a drifter. There wasn't nobody in town with him." Ethan nodded.

"Am I still welcome to stay around till morning?" he asked. The sheriff nodded.

"Yeah, I reckon ya are. This wasn't your fault. What's your name though, kid?" Ethan knew it was safe to tell the sheriff his name. Ethan wasn't a wanted man because Ethan had never come close to being caught and Thompson was a common enough last name that people wouldn't' just assume he was related to Mitchell Thompson.

"Ethan Thompson." he replied. The sheriff held out his hand and Ethan shook it.

"Sheriff Burns." he said. "Now go on about your business boy while I get this mess cleaned up." Ethan nodded and turned to walk back to the hotel and saw Caroline and Jasmine standing there watching him. He felt his heart fall to his feet. Now that the woman had seen him kill a man he didn't stand a snowballs chance in hell with her.

He walked over to them and stood there with his thumbs through his belt loops.

"Hey ladies." he said. Caroline shocked him when she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly with her face pressed into his neck.

"I was so scared when I saw him follow you out! I thought he was going to kill you." she said. Ethan hugged her tight and breathed her in. Even though he knew he was bad for her she was an addiction that his body needed to survive. He needed to hold her like this. He needed to breath her scent and feel her against him. And his heart needed her around just as much as his body did.

"There ain't nobody gonna take me away from you that easy, darlin'." he promised and Caroline felt her heart soar at his words. She knew cowboys and outlaws didn't say the words 'I love you' and so she knew that this was his way of saying those words without actually saying those words.

"There ain't nobody gonna take me away from you either, outlaw." she replied looking up into his dark eyes. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at her and ran his hand across her soft cheek and smoothed some of her dark hair away from her face.

"You sure about that, darlin'? I ain't no saint as you can tell." Caroline smiled up at him and laid her own hand on his freshly shaven cheek.

"I don't want a saint. I want you, outlaw." she replied surprised at the deep husky sound of her voice. She saw his eyes darken with passion and wondered if hers did the same.

"Thank God, Caroline. Cuz I don't know if I could walk away from you even if I tried, darlin'." Caroline smiled and Ethan swore the Texas sun got even brighter. Ethan lowered his mouth toward hers but before their lips could touch they heard Jasmine tapping her foot impatiently beside them.

Caroline blushed red and looked over at her.

"Sorry, Jasmine. I guess we got carried away." she said. Jasmine just smiled and then hugged her sister tight before turning to Ethan and hugging him as well. Ethan patted her blond hair awkwardly.

She pulled away from him and then held out the skirt of her new yellow dress.

"She is telling you thank you for the dress." Caroline said seeing the confused look on Ethan's face. "And so am I." she added looking down at her soft blue cotton dress.

"You're welcome." he said to both of them.

"How did you know blue was my favorite color?" she asked.

"You mentioned it once or twice." he replied with a smile.

"You didn't have to buy us new clothes."

"Sure I did. It's my job to take care of you now." he replied. Jasmine rubbed her stomach and made a pained face.

"Hungry?" Ethan asked. She smiled happily and nodded. "See I'm starting to understand her." he said. He held out both arms and Caroline and Jasmine both grabbed onto one and he led them down the road to the café.