Beginning, Section II, Next Section

Chapter 3

Posted on Wednesday, 22 October 2003

They were halfway back to the ranch and Lizzy was starting to feel bad about earlier. She glanced over at Will and saw that he was still clenching his teeth. She kicked her heels against her horse's side and pulled Buttercup alongside Thunderbolt. She touched his arm with her hand. "Will," she said gently.

He didn't look at her or even acknowledge the gesture; he just stared straight ahead. "What?"

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's fine." He shrugged away from her touch and nudged his horse into a canter, breaking away from her.

Lizzy watched his back for a second and blew out a breath of frustration. Her bangs went flying. She caught up to him and persisted. "No, it's not. You were just trying to be helpful and I went off on you, I'm sorry. I can see how you might have thought I would trip and fall. Next time, I promise I'll be more careful."

This time, he did look at her. "I just don't want to see you hurt," he said softly.

"I know," she said, her voice equally soft. "I don't purposely set out to endanger myself, despite what you may believe."

"You're just impulsive. It scares me a little sometimes."

Something inside of Lizzy fluttered. "I'll try to be more conscious of how my actions affect you in the future."

"Thanks."

They rode in companionable silence for the rest of the trip home, but when they neared the ranch, they spied the Bingley's truck parked out front. Lizzy did a quick scan with her eyes and sure enough found her sister, Jane, leaning against one of the corral posts.

She urged her horse into a run. "Jane!" she called out laughingly. "Hi! You came," she pulled her horse to a halting stop and jumped down to give her big sister a hug.

Will followed at a more sedate pace, but when he came up alongside them, he too jumped down from his horse. "Hello Jane," he leaned in and gave her a proper kiss on the cheek.

"Hello Lizzy, Will." She took in their dirtied appearances and smiled. "Looks like the two of you had quite a ride," she said knowingly.

Lizzy's eyes went flying high to the sky. Then she looked at herself and at Will and blushed. Their shirts had been twisted when they'd fallen on the ground and now both their shirts and jeans had patches of dirt on them. They even had smudges of dirt on their arms and faces. She felt her hair and grimaced; her ponytail had been pulled askew too.

Will quirked a smile and lied, "Your sister fell off her horse and I had to help her."

"What?!?" Lizzy burst out. "That's not true!"

"I'll take Buttercup so you and Jane can catch up on whatever it is sisters have to catch up on." He took Buttercup's lead in hand before she could even protest.

As they watched Will walk the horses back to the barn, Jane didn't think her sister could possibly turn a darker shade of red. "Come on," she urged. "I'll show you the things Charlotte and I bought this afternoon. She wanted to come over too, but her mom needed her home so I had to drop her off at the Lodge."

Charlotte's family owned a smaller dude ranch called Lucas Lodge. When the girls were younger, they'd spent a lot of their days at the Lodge either dodging Charlotte's five younger siblings or laughing at all the rich easterners who'd come to Lucas Lodge in the hopes of fulfilling their lifelong fantasies of living it up in the West. Each one had also taken great delight in showing off by lassoing various objects around the ranch, impressing the pants off the guests who couldn't believe that such young girls could be so talented. It was as though the guests had entered an entirely different planet and couldn't believe their eyes.

Lizzy helped her sister grab the bags from the truck's cab before they went bounding up to the bedroom they'd once shared. Jane dumped the bags and their contents on the twin bed that used to be hers and was closest to the door.

"Gees, sis," Lizzy said, looking at all of Jane's purchases. "I really don't think you bought enough."

"What's the point of having money if you can't spend it?" her sister wanted to know.

"You do know that you're going to be just a guest at the Barbecue and not the hostess of the Oscars, right? You only need one outfit, not ten."

"I know," Jane sighed. "But it's been so long since I've been shopping. It was like unleashing a bear in a honey grove after a long winter of hibernation. I just couldn't help myself!"

Lizzy snorted. "I can tell."

"Besides, I thought that if you found something you liked amongst my purchases you could wear it to the Barbecue."

"What? Oh, Jane. I couldn't do that."

"Why not? You and I, we wear the same size."

"And we have different colorings. You're blond and fair. I'm dark and brunette. You're spring, I'm fall. We couldn't be more different."

"There are some colors we can both wear. Here, at least look at the stuff that I bought first before you start putting up a protest, okay?"

"Okay, fine."

They began to paw through all the bags and even Lizzy started getting into it after a while. Eventually, they found something that they both thought looked good on her. Jane watched her sister preening in front of the mirror. Lizzy twisted first to the left, then to the right. She smoothed down the front of her jeans. "I like it," she finally pronounced.

Jane smiled from her reposed position on the bed. "Then it's set. That's what you'll wear to the Barbecue."

"Oh, but Jane," Lizzy turned around. "I can't take your clothes."

"Nonsense. I bought enough for more than two today. Take it," she waved her hand and looked away to avoid looking at Lizzy's persuasive eyes. "I won't take no for an answer. It's my gift to you for being such a wonderful baby sister."

"Aw, thanks Jane." Lizzy hugged her sister.

"So, when did you and Will become such friends that you go riding together?" Jane snatched the opening to ask.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lizzy would have stood and walked away, but Jane was faster and caught her sister in a vise-like grip.

"Come on, I want the details!"

"There are no details!" Lizzy laughed.

"Yes there is! I know there are! Come on, Lizzy, spill!"

"Stop it!"

The sisters struggled, forgetting that one was married and the other a college graduate. For a few minutes there it was as if they were both fourteen and fifteen again and they were trying to wheedle information about boys from one another. Shrieking and groping, they went tumbling to the ground, in between their beds.

They were hiccupping from laughter and trying to catch their breaths when Fanny stopped by. Pleased to see her girls together, she stood in the doorway and shook her head nonetheless. "If the two of you are going to sit up here and gossip all afternoon long, you might as well come downstairs and help out in the kitchen by doing it while you shell some peas."

"Alright, Momma." Jane's laughter rang like silver bells.

"Just let me change out of these new clothes Jane brought me." Lizzy's laughter was more of a golden timbre.

"They look good on you," Fanny approved, exchanging a covert wink with her eldest daughter. "Now come down when the two of you are ready. I'll have the bowl of peas waiting for you."

After some more minutes of giggling, they finally made it down to the kitchen where Fanny promptly sent them out front with two tall glasses of sweetened ice tea where they could speak in relative privacy. Each sister took a seat in her own rocking chair. Lizzy settled the large bowl of unshelled peas on the wicker table in between them. Grabbing a handful, she began to shell them into a smaller bowl she'd placed in her lap. Jane did the same.

"You never did answer my question earlier," Jane picked up.

"I declare, Jane, you're as nagging as a fish-wife," Lizzy said. "How does Charlie put up with you?"

"He doesn't keep secrets from me like my little sister does. But then again, he doesn't have anything to hide."

"I don't have anything to hide either."

"Then why won't you tell me what you and Will were up to?"

"Because we weren't up to anything," Lizzy cried out in exasperation.

"Didn't look that way to me from where I was standing."

"You're just seeing what you want to see."

"Am I?"

Lizzy didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, but when she finally did say something, she said, "It wasn't anything like that. We went for a ride, to clear our heads. We'd both had a rough morning."

"And you reappeared in a disheveled state because . . .."

Lizzy threw down the pea pod she'd just been shelling, turned to her sister, and with eyes flashing demanded to know, "Just what are you trying to suggest Jane Bingley?"

Jane was taken aback by the heat in her sister's voice. "Well, nothing, Lizzy, I just . . .."

"No, I'm the one that's sorry, sis," Lizzy quickly cut in. "Truth is, I don't really know what's happening." She saw Jane about to get excited, so quickly said, "Not that anything is happening in the way that you think something is happening.

"It's just that something has changed, and I'm not sure what it is. It's left me uncertain and I don't like that. You know how I like to be prepared for every occasion."

"From what Momma tells me and from what I've seen today, it seems like you are getting along better nowadays."

"We do, don't we?" Lizzy admitted with a small smile on her face. "I'm learning things about Will that I never knew before and it's affecting how I used to think of him."

"Oh, like what?"

"Well, I used to think Will was just a stern and stuffed up starchy sort of person. But, now I see that he kind of has to be. It can't be easy carrying all the responsibilities of running a ranch. He's got to assert his authority somehow, right?" Lizzy remembered something from their conversation during their ride earlier, and realized that it wasn't just the ranch that was his only responsibility, but he carried the weight of his entire family's legacy too.

"He genuinely cares about his people, too. He's not a rich, lazy person that expects other people to do his work so that he can roll around in wealth and idleness. He puts in long hours, side-by-side with his men, and he makes sure that the ranch turns a profit so that he can keep his men and their families employed.

"I guess my outlook on life has changed a little since I've come home from college," Lizzy said sheepishly.

"I think it's wonderful," Jane patted her sister's hand. "That's what college is all about - growing up. And you're description of Will's responsibilities is right on. I'm glad you're finally appreciating a rancher's life. I know you know all about the day-to-day activities; we grew up on a ranch, after all. But there's so much more than just fattening the animals and then selling their meat on the market.

"I'm also glad that you're finally beginning to see Will's worth. You always were too hard on him," Jane gently admonished. She'd always liked Will, gotten along with him, and looked up to him as an understanding, protective elder brother, unlike her younger sister, who'd seen him as a domineering, interfering person.

"Well, not everything has changed," Lizzy said. "There are times where we'll be getting along great, and then there are times when it's like nothing has changed and I'm still six and he's sixteen and we're getting on each other's nerves.

"I don't know what it is about us, but we're always provoking one another."

"Rome wasn't built in a day," Jane quoted the old saying.

"I know. And I'll even concede that sometimes I'm in the wrong."

Jane's jaw dropped in utter shock. Was her baby sister actually admitting that she could be wrong?

"There's no need for you to look like that, Jane. I know I'm not the easiest person to deal with. I'm impetuous and hot-headed, everything Will likes to remind me of every once in a while," she said soberly.

"You're impetuous and passionate," Jane corrected. "And those are the exact same reasons for which we love you," she reminded her sister sternly, fisting her hand over Lizzy's and giving it a good shake. "But you do tend to go overboard sometimes, scaring the beejeezus out of everyone."

"I know. But, I just wish Will didn't still see me as a little girl that needs to be taken care of. I'm a big girl and I'm capable of taking care of myself."

"I think you've been trying to persuade him of that fact since you were walking around in diapers, Lizzy."

"Don't laugh at me, Jane!"

"I'm sorry, honey. Look, you can't fault Will for doing what comes naturally to him. And, I'm sure that Will is having the same sorts of doubts about your relationship as you. You've been apart for many years - first he went away for school and then you were away - now you're both back and you're sharing the same living space again. You're having to readjust to no longer being a child and a teenager, but two adults. It's going to take some time, but it sounds like the two of you are making wonderful progress.

"Who knows," Jane added. "You might even be friends by the end of the summer!"

"Wouldn't that be the day?"

Lizzy entered the office, unaware that Will was in there with someone else. She opened the door, saw that it was occupied and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Will. I didn't know you were in here. I'll come back later."

She was already backing out the door when Will said, "It's alright, Lizzy. I'll only be a minute longer and then the office is all yours."

"Okay, thanks."

She almost shut the door, but then the stranger whose back she did not recognize turned around and said, "Lizzy? Is that you, Lizzy Bennet?"

Lizzy stared hard for a minute, recognizing the face but unable to place it, and then broke out into a wide grin. "Oh my gosh! George Wickham? Is that really you? Why, it must be years since we last saw one another!"

She rushed forward to give him a hug, which he returned, much to Will's chagrin. Then, he held her an arm's length away and said, "My how you've grown up. You look nothing like you did the last time I saw you."

"I should hope so!" Lizzy laughed. "The last time I saw you I was only eight, I think."

"At least," George agreed.

"Wow. I can't believe you're here. Look at you! You look great!" Will didn't think she needed to sound that impressed and enthusiastic. "What have you been doing all these years? What are you doing back at Pemberley after all these years?"

"Whoa," George laughed. "The same old Lizzy, always full of questions."

"Hmm... yes," Will said wryly from the opposite side of the desk. "Some things never change, do they?"

"I won't bore you with everything that I've been doing for the past fourteen years, but what I'm doing here today is I'm hoping that your Boss Man over there will give me a job." He sent a pointed glance Will's way.

"Really?" Lizzy asked with unabashed glee. "You're really thinking about coming back to Pemberley?"

"Would that make you happy?" George asked.

"Well yeah, I mean, it'd be so cool!" Lizzy smiled, always eager to see an old friend again.

"Nothing's decided yet," Will reminded the both of them in his deep, sullen, business-like tone. "I believe we were still discussing the issue when we were interrupted."

Lizzy blushed when Will sent a pointed glance of his own in her direction. "Sorry, Will," she whispered contritely.

To George, she said, "I'll see you on your way out. Hopefully we can catch up then. It's really good to see you again, George." She walked to the door and turned around to give a half wave before exiting.

"You too, Lizzy-Bear." It grated on Will's nerves to hear him use the moniker that up until now had always been reserved for her parents.

Once Lizzy left the office, Will got right back to business. "So, you were saying?" he resumed his seat and gestured for George to do the same.

"Oh, right. Well, here's the thing, Will. I would really appreciate it if you would give me a job, here at the ranch. You know I know everything there is to working on a ranch and I'd really appreciate if you gave me a chance and a job."

Will was aware of George's credentials. Like the Bennet girls, Georgiana, and himself, George Wickham had grown up on the ranch. Only, he'd left at age eighteen and hadn't been back since. "I thought you were following the rodeo circuit. I'm not going to take you on just to have you riding off in a couple of months when the rodeo comes through town."

"Yeah," George drawled. "I was following the rodeo, and doing pretty well for myself, I might add. But I'm not anymore."

He didn't say anything more, but Will figured there had to be more of an answer than that. With George, there usually was. "I see. So why me? Why here? Why now?" he asked bluntly.

"C'mon, Will. What is this? Twenty questions? I thought we were buddies. Do we really need to go through all of this? I need a job, and you've got a ranch. Can't you cut an old friend some slack?"

If they'd been standing next to one another, Will bet that George would've been punching him in the arm by now, trying to pretend that they were still the boyhood friends they'd been and that nothing had happened in between then and now.

He was glad that he was sitting on the other side of the desk. Truth be told, Will didn't particularly care for George Wickham.

His father had been one of the finest men to have ever worked at Pemberley Ranch. Old George had even been a really good friend of his father's. Between the two of them and Tom Bennet, they could've run the ranch on their own they were that good, Will reflected.

The son, however, was definitely questionable. It wasn't that he didn't have the skills. George had the skills aplenty, not surprising considering his parentage. It was his character that Will questioned.

George and Will were the same age and from their cradles they had been raised by their parents with the hope that one day they would be the great friends that their fathers were. For a while it seemed as though that would come true, but as they got older and their dispositions changed, they grew farther apart.

George was a talented horseman and he made for a damned fine rancher, but he was a show-off. His tendency towards the flamboyant made him a liability instead of an asset when they were on the job. He wasn't a team player either, he saw himself as above the rest. But that wasn't the worst of it, Will thought. George was, very simply put, a selfish person.

Will was glad that Old George had died before he could see how his son would grow and turn out. If he had, he surely would have been disappointed. As for his own father, he had been blind to George's faults. But, that seemed to be the way it was with George, Will thought bitterly. George was a man full of charms and a silver tongue; he was friends with everybody and could talk an Eskimo into buying a bag of ice. On some level, Will not only resented George for his abilities, he was also envious of his smooth, easy ways.

Now, with George standing before him asking for a job, he didn't know what to think. He crossed his arms and kicked the bottom drawer of his desk repeatedly.

On the one hand, he knew what George's reputation was. He had friends on the rodeo circuit and once in a while news would trickle back. He was well aware that the boy who'd started chasing skirts at the tender age of twelve was now a full-blown womanizer, and he didn't relish having that around the ranch. Especially not when Lizzy looked so damn happy to see him again. Did she have to be so welcoming, he seethed.

On the other hand, a part of him felt like he owed it to Old George. He'd respected the man, just as his father had before him. It was a tough decision, balancing between what he wanted to do - kick the guy's butt from here to hell - and what he felt he ought to do - roll out the welcome mat. He figured it wouldn't hurt to try things out on a trial run.

"Here's the thing," he said, finally, planting his hands on the desk so that George would know he meant business. "I'm not really hurting for help at the moment, but since you've come to me as an old friend, and out of respect to your father and the past we've shared, I'm going to help you out."

He could see George's face brightening and knew that George was gearing up to spew out his usual ream of effusive thanks. Will didn't want to hear the false words though, so he headed him off by continuing with his terms and conditions, not giving him the chance to pretend that they were still friends.

"I'll expect you to earn your keep. The favor got you the job, but after that you're on your own. If I think that you're not pulling your weight, you're out of here in a minute, George. And you'd better know now, that's not an empty threat. I know you're an experienced ranch hand and you've got experience up the wazoo, but around here, as far as I'm concerned, you're bottom rung on the ladder." Will didn't think it would hurt to be even more blunt with George. "You'll take your orders from me and from Tom, who's still the foreman, and anyone else for that matter. You'll work your way up the totem pole just like every other cowboy who's come along expecting to stay on.

"I don't have any free beds in the bunkhouse, but there's a cabin that's standing empty right now. It's a little rundown; we just fixed the roof a couple of days ago. But, it'll have to do if you want a place to stay. I don't have any other space for you." And he certainly wasn't going to invite him to stay in one of the guestrooms in the main house.

"That'd be fine," George said, finally getting a word in edgewise.

"You'll get a day off every seven days, just like all the other new cowhands," and then he named a salary that reminded George why he'd come back to Pemberley and why he was going to put up with all this crap. George stuck a tongue in his cheek, nodding his acceptance of the stipulated terms.

It grated on George's nerves to be spoken down to like he was some sort of an imbecile. He resented that he'd be starting out at the bottom when Will had started out at the top; it had always been like that. An accident of birth. His mother had always said that life wasn't fair, and it wasn't. Why'd he have to be the one born to the lowly cowhand, while Will had been born to the lofty ranch owner? No, life wasn't fair.

He was almost out the door when Will called him back. He turned around and cocked an eyebrow to show he was listening. "I know how you enjoy the ladies, George, but around here we like to treat our women with respect. I'll expect you to do the same." Hell, he thought, the man sure didn't beat around the bush.

"No problem," he said, the entire time damning Will and his stupid gallantry and pride to purgatory.

Lizzy and Georgiana were talking out on the porch when George left Will's office. He stepped out into the sun and put his hat back on, tipping its brim when he saw he wasn't alone. "Afternoon, ladies."

"Did Will give you a job? Are you back for good?" Lizzy wanted to know.

"I've got a job and I'm here to work," he said, not willing to put a time frame on his whereabouts.

Lizzy squealed her delight and launched herself into his arms. Georgiana stared curiously at him from where she stood, recognizing him but not really knowing who he was.

He took off his hat and stepped forward, "You must be Miss Georgiana Darcy, more affectionately known as Georgie. Last time I saw you, you were about yay big." He held his hands out to some indistinct length.

Georgiana could have swooned from his fine display of charming manners, and just barely managed to whisper, "Do I know you, sir?"

Lizzy slid an arm through the crook of George's arm, and with a wide smile, said, "Georgie, meet George. George Wickham."

"I know that name," Georgiana gasped in surprise.

"As well you should," Lizzy said, coming around to swing an arm around her shoulder. "George, here, grew up at Pemberley. You were just a baby when he left to seek his fortune and fame elsewhere, but his daddy was Old George. You remember hearing stories about Old George."

"Oh, sure. Of course. I should've recognized your name. I'm so sorry. It's very nice to meet you, sir."

Georgiana had held her hand out in a polite gesture, belying her gently bred background, but George waved it aside. "What is this 'sir' business?" he demanded to know. "You'll have me halfway to my grave if you keep that up. You just call me good ol' George like everyone else. All right?"

"All right."

"Good." George winked at both the ladies and slapping his thigh, said, "Well, I'm off, ladies. I've got to get the rest of my stuff and settle in. Lizzy, I'm looking forward to catching up with you later!"

The interest that she saw twinkling in his dark, stormy eyes had Lizzy's heart pounding. She ran and grabbed the porch railing, hoisting herself up, and called out, "I'll keep you to your promise, you know!"

"I'm counting on it!" George waved from the cab of his truck, and in the next moment he was peeling down the dirt road that would lead to the main road back to town.

"Wow," Georgiana whistled, once his truck was out of sight. "He's hot!" She playfully fanned herself with one hand to give illustration to her words.

Lizzy turned around and laughed at the young girl's expression of absolute adoration and appreciation, suspecting it was mirrored on her own. "I know!" She waggled her eyebrows, acting no better than a fifteen-year-old and knowing it.

Will came out, the screen door slamming shut behind him. His sleeves were rolled up and he had a towel in between his hands. "Who's hot?" he asked as he dried his hands.

"The weather," Lizzy quickly said. She and Georgiana looked at one another; they burst out into a fit of giggles. Not wanting to have to stick around to explain themselves, she grabbed Georgie's hand and they went running off to the barn.

"Right, the weather," Will muttered to himself. He flung the towel over his left shoulder as his right shoulder leaned against the column of the wooden porch, his feet crossed at the ankles. He was a simpleton if he believed they'd been discussing the weather before he interrupted their conversation.

He wasn't sure what they'd been talking about, but he certainly hoped they hadn't been talking about George.

Chapter 4

Posted on Tuesday, 4 November 2003

Rivulets of sweat ran in a steady stream down Will's toned and muscled back. Sitting on the back of his horse, he pushed back the brim of his gray Stetson hat, impervious to the heat, long accustomed to the penetrating rays of the hot, Texan sun. He surveyed the land before him, admiring and taking pride in what had thankfully flourished under his hand. Hordes of cattle surrounded him and his men, and nipped at their heels as he and he other cowhands attempted to move the herd from one grazing field to another.

Rounding up and moving cattle was always one of the hardest tasks he and his men had to tackle. Unfortunately, it was a task that needed to be done every season. When the weather grew warmer, they moved the cows to higher plains where it was harder for the grass to grow in the winter months. When the cows grazed all that they could, and the weather turned colder, the cows were moved back closer to the ranch, on leveled ground where the grass grew fertile year round. Moving the cattle around allowed the grass to replenish itself before the cows returned to mow it back down again.

It had taken them almost a week to move this particular herd. They'd started on Tuesday and already it was Friday. Will was glad that they'd be done after today. He was tired of eating food off the chuck wagon and though he usually enjoyed camping out under the starry night sky, he found that he was tired of sleeping on bedrolls every night and too embarrassed to admit that his back was beginning to ache. He'd be grateful when he was home tonight and could enjoy a long, luxurious bath before ensconcing himself in between the plush comforter and king-sized down mattress that was his bed.

For the cows that had taken this trip many times before, the move was an easy one. Inevitably, however, there were other, more free-spirited, cows who would break free of the herd and wander off by themselves. Sometimes they were enticed into joining another herd by the cows they passed. Oftentimes other cows followed their lead. When that happened, one or more of the men, depending on the size of the rogue herd, would have to follow after them to direct them back to the herd. It slowed everything down. Thankfully, it hadn't happened too often this time around.

One of the cows came too close to Will's stirrups, and he kicked it aside gently, moving forward to join Tom who was a ways away. "Things are looking good so far," he said, dragging down the bandana tied around his mouth, as he pulled up beside Tom's horse.

"Aye," his foreman agreed. "We've only lost a few so far."

"Here comes some returning now," Will nodded in a direction somewhere behind Tom's left shoulder.

Tom turned around to look and saw four of their rogue cows rushing forward with two of their men pursuing the cows from behind. "He seems to know what he's doing. Have to say, does a good job."

Will nodded, not needing a name to know that Tom was referring to their latest cowhand acquisition at the ranch.

"Still, you think it was the right thing to hire him?" Tom asked.

Will knew he couldn't answer the question with a definitive yes. So, instead he asked, "What was I to do?" knowing he could speak plainly with his trusted foreman. "He came to me looking for a job. He asked it of me as a favor. Out of respect for his father and our past, I decided to give him a chance."

"You did the right thing then, son. Only time will tell if your trust was well-deserved," Tom sighed.

Like Will, Tom had respected Old George Wickham as a fellow cowboy and cared about him as a friend too. Knowing what a profligate person his Old George's son had turned out to be, Tom often wondered what his old friend would think of his son were he still alive. Tom always thought of the younger George with a shake of his head, thinking it to be such a shame. He'd held such promise as a child.

"The other men seem to like him," Will observed, not that he was all that surprised. George had always had an easy time making friends. He'd been blessed with a pleasant face and a gracious disposition. Whether he could keep those friends, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter altogether.

They watched as George twirled a lasso around his head, let it loose, and rope one of the brown and cream-colored cows before it could break away from the pack again.

"The boy's got skill," Tom said approvingly, studying his technique. "His father's influence and his rodeo experience shows."

"In his card-playing too," Will said, and then he repeated to Tom what his men had told him the day before.

Though George lived in the broken down back cabin by himself, he spent his evenings in the bunkhouse with all the other younger, bachelor cowboys. There, they'd drink, watch television, talk about the women they'd had or pretended they'd had, and play poker until they remembered they had to be up early in the morning and hiked off to bed.

"He wins often, but you can't fault a man for his luck at cards," his cowboy, Denny, had told him when Will had asked his men how they got along with the new cowhand. At the time, Will had struggled to keep his mouth shut to refrain from asking how much of George's winnings had to do with luck or manipulation.

"He's a lot of fun, Boss," Denny had continued. "We sure like him down in the bunkhouse. He's always got the grandest stories to share about his days with the rodeo. Damn shame he had to quit the circuit; he's a good cowboy, that's for sure. Managed to lasso eleven straight bulls the other day, damn if that didn't break yer own record of ten, Boss.

"We'll have to have us a real showdown one of these days, yes sir, we will," Denny had said, all the while punching him good-naturedly on the arm.

Will had inwardly grimaced at the thought of having to compete with George. He could still remember all the times he and George had been unwittingly pit against each other as children, and how George had reacted every time Will had pulled just slightly ahead. One thing was for sure: George Wickham didn't play fair, and Will suspected that growing up hadn't changed a thing.

Sandy, so dubbed for the grainy color of his hair, and ever known for his bluntness, had even ventured to ask him, "Heard you and George grew up on the ranch together. His old man was Old George."

"That's right," Will had confirmed.

"George says he should've been foreman when his old man died, except that your pa had gone ahead and named Tom foreman when it should've been his own pa. Says Old George had more experience. Why'd your old man do that, Boss?"

Something in Will's stomach had tightened after hearing that familiar story. So, George was still touting his old lies, which he had begun soon after the elder Darcy's death. It always sickened Will to think that George could spread such slanderous stories about the man who had loved him like a son, and defended him to the last, even to his own son.

Will remembered the first time he'd heard George spouting the lies like it was yesterday. It had been at his father's wake, when all their friends and neighbors had come to the house to pay their respects and share their condolences. Will had been on his way to see how his much younger sister was holding up when he'd passed by the corner of the living room where George and a couple of the other young cowboys had been ensconced, taking advantage of the time away from work and the free food.

Even now, years later, Will could still hear the boastful words dripping from George's mouth, not a cadence of humility present. "My old man was the best cowboy 'round these parts when he was alive. You should have seen the way he rode. And the way he roped the meanest bulls, not a single bull ever escaped his hand.

"This ranch would have gone under if it hadn't been for my old man. Old Darcy always said he didn't know what he would've done if he hadn't a met my old man."

"Then why didn't the Old Boss make your pa the foreman?" one of the cowboys, already on his way to drunkenness, had asked.

"Because the Old Boss was a bastard," George had said, his voice eerily low and chilling. "He robbed my old man of the job that should've been rightfully his, and sent him to an early grave."

"What are you saying, George?" another cowboy had asked.

"Old man Darcy cheated his best friend. Told my old man time and time again that one day he'd be foreman. Then, when the time came, he went and made Tom Bennet foreman. The betrayal damn near killed my old man. He never could get over the shock of it all, and then he went and drank himself till he kilt himself."

Will had wondered how George could have conveniently erased the fact that George Wickham, Sr. had begun drinking years before his father had named his other best friend foreman of the ranch. In fact, Will knew that the elder's drinking problem had begun the day his wife had left him and his son behind for her younger, wealthier lover. The loss, the shock, and the pain had sucked all the energy from George's father, including his will to live. The only thing George's father had managed to hang onto was his fondness for the bottle.

Seeing George's father drink himself to a slow death had been agonizing for Will's father, and Tom Bennet too. The three of them had been life-long best friends having grown up together, much like Will and George. However, when it came time to name the new foreman, there could be no doubt that Tom deserved the job, especially when George was always hung over and unstable.

"Just about kills me," George had continued, not realizing that the heir to Pemberley Ranch was standing behind him, hearing every single word he spoke, "when I think about the fact that had my father been named foreman as he should've been, that position would now be mine. My old man groomed me for the job, knowing that one day the position would pass down to me. He taught me everything I know, and because of my old man, I'm the best, damned cowboy this ranch has seen in a long time.

"Tom Bennet's so old he's off his rocker half the time. Doesn't know a good thing when he sees it. And Will's too damn cocky to know what's good for him. What does a man who's had everything handed to him on a silver spoon know about putting in a hard day's work? I tell you, boys, it's me that runs this ranch. Not Will Darcy and that pansy foreman of his."

Those had been the last words George Wickham had ever spoken at Pemberley Ranch. Until now. Without a moment's hesitation, Will had hauled George off to his office and told him in no uncertain terms that he was no longer welcome at Pemberley. For his troubles, and to ease his own conscience, Will had given him a year's worth of wages.

Not that George had even deserved that much.

Not after the way he'd so casually abused the good name of the man who'd done everything in his power to see that his best friend's son was raised without a single want in the world.

"We'll have to keep an eye on him, that's for sure," Tom said, bringing Will back to the present, and repeating what he'd said so many times ever since Will had told Tom that he'd hired George on for at least the summer.

"Definitely."

A few minutes later, after some consideration, Will decided to tentatively approach Tom about his daughter and her potential interest in George. He shifted in his saddle, but kept his gloved hands on the horn of his saddle. "I know it's not my place to speak, but there's been something weighing on my mind lately, Tom."

"Yeah?" the older man asked. "What's eatin' at ya, son?"

"Your daughter."

"Which one? Lizzy-bear?" Tom asked, even though he knew that Will could mean no other.

Will nodded his head, purposefully averting his gaze so that the two men rode onward as though they weren't really having this conversation at all. "Yeah. I was thinking that seeing as how you feel about George, maybe you should say something to Lizzy."

"Why?" Tom asked sharply, his gaze turning to narrow at Will. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"No, no, of course not," Will hurried to reassure.

"Good," Tom grumbled. "I was sure my Lizzy-Bear had more sense than that."

"Well . . .." Will wasn't so sure about that, but that was another discussion for another time. "I get the sense that she's intrigued by him."

"Well sure she is. What right-minded woman wouldn't have their heads turned by a good-lookin' cowboy with lots of blue-colored rodeo ribbons under his belt? How do you think I met her ma, boy?"

Will coughed politely and shifted just a bit in his saddle. "So, you aren't worried the least bit?"

"Hell, no," was Tom's staunch reply. "I raised both my girls to be sensible girls. My Lizzy-bear ain't blind nor is she a fool."

"She's certainly blinded by his looks," Will grumbled under his breath.

Tom wasn't sure he'd heard what he'd heard, but if he hadn't, he could certainly guess at what had just been said. He leaned over the horn of his saddle and peered at Will in a curious sort of manner. There was just the faintest upturn at the corners of his mouth when he asked, "You startin' to feel a might jealous? Afraid you'll no longer be the catch of the ranch?"

He didn't feel the need to be the least bit subtle or coy in his questioning. Seeing as how it startled the younger man though, Tom took pity on Will and laughed out loud saying, "Don't you worry, son. I'm just teasing ya.

"As for my Lizzy-Bear, don't you worry about her. She's a big girl, and a smart one at that, my Lizzy-Bear. She can take care of herself, and if she doesn't have the right of it now, she'll figure things out eventually."

Will wasn't so sure about that, but who was he to say what was what. All he could do was wish that Tom would do something, but he'd never been an interfering father. In the meantime, he comforted himself in knowing that he'd done everything he could. Everything else would have to be left up to providence, and he sincerely hoped that Lizzy would be able to open up her eyes and exercise discretion and judgment, for once.

A day later, Will wasn't feeling the least bit hopeful. In fact, he felt downright pessimistic as he watched Lizzy blithely chatting away with George. They stood on opposite sides of the corral fence, but they were both leaning in towards each other. George gestured with his hands and Lizzy's eyes followed, laughing all the while. Sensing, rather than seeing, that Lizzy's eyes were sparkling for George, Will gritted his teeth as he watched, hidden behind the floral curtains his mother had so long ago strung along the windows of the office that had been his father's before him and was now his.

They'd only been back a couple of hours, riding back to the ranch sometime in the wee hours of the morning, and already George was working his charms on the women of the ranch. Will was utterly disgusted.

When he saw Lizzy step back from the fence and begin to walk away, back towards the Big House, Will quickly retreated to the safety of his desk. Still, he couldn't help but get back out of his seat a few minutes later when he heard Lizzy speaking animatedly with his sister in the hallway.

"Hey Georgie," Lizzy called out, "What's the matter with you? You look so down."

"Mariah and I were supposed to go to the movies tonight, but she just called to tell me she's sick and can't go," Georgiana answered, talking about Charlotte Lucas's younger sister who was also the same age as Georgiana and her best friend.

"Oh, that's too bad," Lizzy frowned. "Tough luck. I'm sorry, Georgie. I know how much you've been looking forward to your night out at the movies."

There was a moment's silence and Will could picture his sister looking glum and down in the dumps. "Hey!" she said after a while, her voice somewhat brightened by a sudden thought. "What are you doing tonight? Wanna go to the movies with me?"

"Sorry, kiddo. Can't. I've got other plans."

"Really? Like what?"

"I was talking to George just now and it seems that he and a bunch of the other cowhands are talking about going down to the Silver Spur tonight. He invited me along and I think I'm going to go."

"Ohhh, I see how it is," Georgie replied in her knowing voice. "Well, I can't blame ya. George is hot! You are so lucky to be going out on a date with that piece of meat, Lizzy!"

Will was absolutely mortified by what he was hearing, although he wasn't sure what was more disturbing . . . his sister calling George Wickham a "hot piece of meat," or the thought of Lizzy going out on a date with George Wickham. It was definitely a close call.

"It's nothing like that at all, Georgie." Lizzy blushed. She'd just had the most wonderful conversation with George and couldn't wait to be in his company again.

"Uh-huh, sure it's not."

"It's not," Lizzy protested. "I'm not going to the Silver Spur with George, nor is he the reason I'm going."

"Sure, Lizzy. Whatever you say," Georgie said, clearly not believing her friend at all.

"I'm going to the Silver Spur because it's been a while since I've been there, and I've been meaning to stop in one night ever since I got back from school. Jane and Charlotte keep saying we'll go one Friday or Saturday night and have one of our old girls' night outs, but then we never do. Jane's got Charlie and Charlotte's always too busy with the dude ranch."

"But you'll have George tonight," Georgiana pointed out.

"The Silver Spur won't be the same without Jane and Char, but I suppose the guys will keep me company, yeah," Lizzy said somewhat evasively.

How they would keep her company, Will thought. His gut twisted as he imagined every one of his damn cowboys panting after her. Lizzy obviously didn't know what she was asking for. He would have to do something about that.

"Look, Georgie, it's not a date, despite what you may think. George just happened to mention that he and some of the other guys were thinking about heading into town tonight, blow some steam off from the week. It's like . . . a gathering," she finally described.

"Oh, well in that case, let me come with you, Lizzy! Please?" he heard his sister say. "That sounds like so much fun. Please, please, please let me go! Otherwise, I'll have to stay here all night long and I'll be bored out of my mind."

"Georgie!" Lizzy sounded shocked. "You know I can't take you to the Silver Spur!"

Will unwittingly exhaled a breath of air. Thank goodness Lizzy exhibited some signs of common sense.

"Why not?" Georgiana demanded.

"Well, you're too young for one thing and, not to mention, your brother would kill me if he ever found out that I even entertained the idea of taking you with me."

Damn straight he would, Will thought.

"I'm not a baby anymore," Georgie said petulantly. Will could just picture her, crossing her arms, and looking down with that seductive pout of hers. She'd perfected that look to the point that she could have a tiger eating out of the palm of her hands if she wanted.

"Of course you're not a baby, Georgie. You're fifteen, hardly a child." Lizzy could see that Georgie was about to chime in agreement, so she quickly put up a finger and added, "But you're still too young for the Silver Spur

"I've been there before," she argued.

Lizzy laughed, "Yeah, in the daytime and accompanied by your brother or some other adult. Sure, it's okay to stop there for a meal in the daytime, but at night it's a bar! A loud, wild, crazy bar, with drunken people and who knows what else. Definitely not for the likes of you, Georgie."

"I still don't see why not."

"I wasn't allowed to go there by myself until I turned twenty-one, the drinking age," Lizzy told her.

"Really?"

"Really. I remember the first time Jane and Charlotte went. They went without me. My father wouldn't let me go because I couldn't legally drink, and therefore wasn't old enough in his opinion. I was so mad and we argued for hours, but he wouldn't back down. It was the first time my batting eyelashes hadn't done the trick," Lizzy admitted dryly. "I was so very jealous of my sister and Charlotte. The three of us had always gone everywhere together and when they got to go to the Silver Spur, just because they were a year older, and I couldn't, it hurt because they were getting to do something I wasn't yet able to and I had to stay home by myself.

"But, I waited my turn and so will you. When you turn twenty-one, Georgie, I promise we'll go together."

"Will probably won't let me go even then," Georgiana continued to pout.

Lizzy took her friend's chin firmly in hand and solemnly said, "I promise you that if you turn twenty-one and your brother still insists on keeping you on a leash and chain, I'll come to your rescue."

Will had no doubt that she would too. He could see her in his mind, rushing to the window with a long ladder to prop against the tower's outer wall so that the trapped princess could climb down and escape.

"Well . . . all right," Georgiana said after some consideration.

"We'll do something tomorrow night. Rent a movie or something."

"You mean it?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay," that suggestion brightened Georgiana considerably. "I like the sound of that."

Will heard Lizzy and his sister exchange several more comments. When their voices grew fainter, he knew they'd moved well beyond his listening distance.

He stepped back around to his desk, ostensibly to get some work done as he'd planned earlier. However, his latest eavesdropping had provided him with other fodder for thought.

His hands steepled beneath his chin, Will began to plot.

Lizzy wasn't prone to spending lots of time in front of the mirror. In fact, she scorned those women that insisted upon spending the better half of their mornings primping and getting dressed. It made no sense to her. Lizzy preferred to keep things simple and do things quickly. Any more time spent on something as simple as putting on a shirt and bottom just seemed like a waste of time.

In college, whenever she and her friends had gone out, she'd always been the first one ready. She'd never had to go through ten different outfits or try matching this top with that bottom before settling on something to wear; her entire wardrobe coordinated with one another. No matter what she pulled out of the closet, her shirts always matched whatever pair of jean was cleanest on that day. So, while her friends jockeyed for prime positions in front of the mirror, and fussed with their make-up and hair, Lizzy had flopped herself onto the bed with a groan. "Just call me when you're ready," she'd always said, closing her eyes to catch a brief catnap.

And yet, here she was on this night, sitting in front of her vanity, still wrapped in her terry cloth robe, wondering what she was going to wear. The afterglow of the hot shower still shone brightly in her cheeks, but Lizzy knew that wasn't the only thing that had her blushing so. She was looking forward to seeing George again and hopefully spending some more time with him. They'd had such a wonderful conversation out by the fence that afternoon that she hoped she'd get to talk with him again.

She'd gone down to the stable to check on Buttercup and had run into George. "Hi," she'd said with some surprise. "I thought you'd still be abed after the hard run you've had these past couple of days." Most of the other cowboys, she knew, would still be sleeping off the affects of the celebratory drinks they'd imbibed after returning from the round up. It was always the same after every trip.

"Nah," George shrugged. "Me, I can't sleep in. I'm always up at the first light. I have to be up, doing something, working. You know how it is."

Though some would have interpreted the words to be cocky, Lizzy beamed, pleased that here was a person who didn't shirk his responsibilities. "How was the ride?" she asked.

"Great! I didn't realize how much I'd missed it until I was on it. It was a lot of fun. A lot of work." George purposely rolled his shoulders and flexed his muscles.

The effect was not lost on Lizzy. Spit puddled in her mouth.

"I've always wished I could go along one of those trips. Will and Daddy never let me though," Lizzy sulked. "Sometimes, I wish I were a guy!"

"Well, I don't know about that," George drawled, raking an appreciative glance over Lizzy's body. It sent shivers of delight down her spine. "Female company certainly would shake things up, make things more interesting. And I bet you could do just as good a job as some of the other cowboys on this ranch."

"I could!" Lizzy exclaimed, pleased as punch that he sided with her. She sighed. "I wish you'd tell that to Will and Daddy." George chuckled.

"Aren't you sore from the ride?" she asked. She thought of how her mother always gave her father a nice rubdown and massage whenever he returned from a round up.

"Me? Nah . . . I've had worse rides on the rodeo. Now, that's some hard riding! With the horses bucking underneath you and you, trying with all your might to hold on tight. It's something all right!"

"What was it like on the rodeo?" Lizzy asked with excited interest. "Did you like the constant traveling? You must have seen so much, been to so many places. What an incredible experience it all must have been."

With such an audience, George was only too happy to share. If he embellished some of his stories, she had no way of knowing. He talked of all the prizes he'd won, and of the hard falls he'd taken. The former won him worshipful praise, the latter clucks of sympathy.

"Do you miss it?"

George pretended to think about it. "Yeah, a little. But I'm pretty happy where I am right now too." He reached out and gave her braid a little tug.

Lizzy picked up the same braid and fingered it. Glancing down, she said shyly, "I bet you had a ton of pretty girls running after you. All those rodeo bunnies."

"None so pretty as you are," he assured.

"Do you think you'll ever go back?" she asked, looking him in the eye again.

George crossed his arms. "Absolutely. I loved the rodeo circuit. And besides, don't forget. I still have to go back and defend my title. I should've won the last contest I entered, and I would have, only my horse threw his shoe right before the event."

"Aw, that's such a shame," Lizzy said, feeling acutely his disappointment. George was pleased by her reaction. He saw no reason to tell her the truth. That the real reason he'd lost the last contest was because he'd never made it to the event. He'd been sleeping off a drunken night in the bed of a woman whose name he hadn't even remembered the next morning.

"That's okay," she continued. "There will always be next time." Though she said it with fervor, at first, she realized that the next time he entered a rodeo would also mean that he'd left Pemberley again. Her face crumbled. She wasn't ready to see him go.

That was when he told her about Silver Spur and the men's plan to go there that night. Lizzy hadn't stopped thinking about the invite ever since.

She was still caught up in her thoughts about their talk when her mother stopped by her room and paused in the doorway. "Are you going out tonight, hon?"

Lizzy turned long enough from the mirror to nod her head and say, "Yes."

"Mind if I ask where you're going?"

"Not at all. The Silver Spur."

"Ah. That sounds like it should be fun."

"I hope so."

"Is that what you're going to wear tonight?" Fanny asked, glancing at the dress laid out on the bed. The question was asked with some surprise for Fanny couldn't remember the last time Lizzy had worn a skirt or dress willingly. Even to church on Sundays Lizzy generally chose to go wearing a nice pair of trousers.

Lizzy frowned. "I was thinking about it. But, I don't know." A part of her, the feminine core of her, wanted to wear it and impress the boy. But, the practical side of her noted that she'd feel more comfortable in her usual uniform of shirt and jeans. The doubtful side of her wondered if George was really someone she wanted to dress up for; Lizzy tended to err on the cautious side.

"You'd look lovely in it," Fanny offered. "Who are you going out with? Will?"

"Will?" Lizzy asked with displeasure and a frown. "No way." She had to see him daily at the dinner table and whenever they met to go over work. She didn't want to spend any more time with him than what was necessary. Of late, she'd been spending way too much time with him. "I'm going to the Silver Spur, maybe catch up with some of the other guys that are thinking about going there tonight too."

"Might one of those guys be George Wickham?" the ever-astute Fanny asked.

"Maybe," Lizzy hedged.

"Well, if it does, may I, as your mother, impart a few words of caution?"

Lizzy frowned. She didn't take kindly to being told what to do or think. "I guess," she said reluctantly.

Fanny came to stand behind Lizzy. Leaning over, she placed her hands on Lizzy's shoulder and rested her chin over Lizzy's head. Watching each other through the mirror, Fanny said, "Be careful. And think with your head, not your heart. Or worse, your hormones."

"Mom!" Lizzy jerked away. She didn't want to talk about hormones with her mother. They'd had their requisite talk about the birds and the bees when Lizzy was younger and after that experience, Lizzy never wanted to talk about such intimate matters with her mother ever again. Just the thought of her mother knowing . . . Lizzy shuddered.

There were some things better left not discussed.

"I'm just saying!"

"I'm not stupid, Momma."

"No you're not," Fanny agreed. "And that's why I trust you. Just don't fail me when it matters the most," she warned lightly.

The message was rather cryptic, so Lizzy just took her mother's warning for what it was at face value. "All right."

"Take every opportunity of enjoying yourself tonight," were Fanny's departing words.

With her mother gone, Lizzy went back to completing her task of getting dressed. Standing, she walked to her bed and fingered the skirt of the pale peach dress she'd laid out earlier. It was pretty she thought wistfully. But, it wasn't her. With a sigh, Lizzy returned the dress to her closet and pulled out instead one of her old, but favorite blouses. One of her male friends from college, she remembered, had complimented her on it more than once. She matched it with a clean pair of jeans. A light hand with the blush and lipstick would complete the ensemble.

While Lizzy saw to the finishing touches of her wardrobe and dreamt about kicking back her heels and getting a dance or two in with George, something else was happening across the road by the old, rickety cabin that had become George's home while at Pemberley.

George shifted the gear of his truck into drive and headed towards Lambton, the small Texan town to which Pemberley and the other neighboring ranches belonged, but not to the local watering hole as he'd intended earlier.

He had slipped on a fresh shirt, buttoned it up, tucked it into his pants, and was just about to comb his hair down to perfection when the phone call came. It was unexpected and deep down, he'd been hoping that it would take them a couple weeks before figuring out where to find him. That they had managed to find him so soon had him sweating profusely again. His attempt at showering and cleaning up had just gone to waste.

Now that he was in the car and on the way to meeting them, he wondered what he was going to do. He was no more closer to having the money they were demanding than he'd been a week ago. No doubt about it, he needed to do something fast.

But what?

Chapter 5

Posted on Monday, 17 November 2003

Lizzy took one last glance in the car's rearview mirror, patting down her hair and checking her lipstick. When she was satisfied with the way she looked, she grabbed her purse and slipped out of the car. She paused just outside the front door to the bar. Even outside she could hear the loud music and voices booming from inside.

Lizzy looked up at bar's flashing neon sign, the cowboy's spur, outlined in fiery red. It had been a while since she'd been at the Silver Spur, and never had she been here without her sister and friend. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Lizzy stepped into the crowded bar, trying to see over the crowds, scanning its perimeter for the familiar faces of the men from Pemberley Ranch.

One in particular.

She hitched the strap of her purse higher onto her shoulder, and shoved her way through the crowds, until she reached the bar. The crowd was stifling and Lizzy was glad when she reached the bar to see a familiar face on the other side.

"Marvin Lucas, as I live and breath. What are you doing on the other side of that bar? Are you even old enough to be serving drinks like that?" Her head nodded to the bottles of liquor behind the man.

The young man, with his boyish good looks, looked up from where he'd been wiping down the well-worn oak bar top, laughed aloud and exclaimed, "Well look what the cat dragged in! Hey Jack, come on over and see who just walked into our bar!"

Jack Elliot, the owner of the Silver Spur, came on over to join Marvin. His eyes squinted, he took out the toothpick in his mouth before saying, "It's about time you stopped on by, Lizzy. We've been looking for ya ever since we heard you was back in town."

"Sorry, Jack. I've been a bit busy. But when did you start hiring schoolchildren to man your bar?" She pointed her head towards Marvin. "He hasn't even started growing peach fuzz yet!" she teased, leaning over the bar to scrub at Marvin's baby soft cheek.

"Aw, hell, Lizzy." Marvin blushed and scooted out from under her reach.

Jack laughed a bellyaching laugh. "You talkin' 'bout Marv, here?" The old man put a proud arm around Marvin, and brought his head down so that he could rub it with his knuckle. "Why, he ain't no child!"

"You've been away for four years, Lizzy. You're not the only one that grows up," Marvin said, pulling himself up to show off his full six feet and two inches height.

"No," she agreed with a fond smile. "I guess not. You look good behind the bar, Marv. It suits."

"You're not lookin' half bad yourself," he replied.

Marvin Lucas, a year younger than his sister's best friend, had always had a bit of an infatuation on Lizzy Bennet. Charlotte, with the zeal of a sister's prerogative, had always relished in teasing and taunting him with that bit of knowledge. If Lizzy had ever known about it though, she'd been kind enough to pretend that she didn't.

"Thanks."

"So, you want a beer or something?" Marvin asked, spreading his arms across the top of the bar and grinning down at her.

"You going to ask to check my I.D.?" Lizzy quipped.

"Nah, I don't need to look at your I.D. One look at that face and I know you're over twenty-one!"

Lizzy feigned and astonished face. "Are you trying to suggest that I look old, Marv?" He only smiled back at her. "I hope you don't aim to charm a woman with those manners," she grumbled under her breath.

Marvin chuckled. "How about it? You wanna Bud Light? Jack's running a special on it tonight; it's goin' real cheap."

"Actually, how about making me a gin and tonic?"

"Fancy, fancy," Marvin joked, but he set himself to the task.

Lizzy watched him for a minute, admiring his fluid movements on the other side of the bar, then hitched herself onto a stool and settled in to make herself comfortable. "How's your sister doing, Marv?" she asked. "Every time I call over to the Lodge, she gives me the run around. Says she's busy. When's your old daddy going to let her off the hook so that we gals can have one of our girls' night out and go scaring up some trouble for old time's sake?"

Marvin set the glass tumbler down in front of Lizzy and she took a sip. "Mmm, this is good," she approved.

"Oh no, Lord help us all," Jack rolled his eyes. He'd returned from serving someone down at the other end of the bar and caught the tail end of Lizzy's question to Marvin. "Please! The trouble you and Charlotte used to get into . . . just thinking about it give me a headache about the size of this." He gestured with his hands and shook his head. "You two were nothing like your older sister. Now, Jane. She was always a good, docile sort of lass."

Lizzy took another sip of her drink and snorted. "I can't believe you really think that. That's just what she would have others believe. Live with her, grow up with her, know her your entire life, and you'd know differently."

"I don't believe you."

"If you had your hair yanked and dragged by my sister, you'd believe me," Lizzy said solemnly.

Jack merely patted his bald head, scratched his belly, and shook his head.

"You wanna know why Char's been so busy every time you call?" Marvin asked Lizzy, getting back to the original question. Lizzy set the rest of her drink down on the bar top and nodded.

"Why don't you ask my sister in person and find out why she's been so busy lately," Marvin suggested, nodding in a direction somewhere behind her.

Somewhat perplexed and not a little bit intrigued, Lizzy turned around and got the shock of her life. "What on earth?!?"

There on the dance floor was her best friend dancing, if that's what you could call the way they were standing melded together, shifting from one foot to another, with Richard Fitzwilliam.

William's cousin.

And her ex-boyfriend.

Not that they'd had much of a relationship. Not only had it been so long ago, it had also been one of those middle school relationships where the most you did was giggle about him with your girlfriends, sit beside him at lunch if you could withstand all the furtive glances of the lunchroom, and walk down the hallway in between classes, holding hands. If a girl was lucky, and Lizzy had been lucky, the boy had even carried her books.

They might have shared a peck or two on the lips, but theirs was a relationship that had ended just as innocently as it had when it began. Ever since, they'd been the best of friends and had more of a brotherly and sisterly sort of relationship than any other.

"Well, what the . . .." Lizzy stared in wonderment.

Marvin grinned, obviously amused. "I know."

"How long has this been going on?" Lizzy asked, arching her back and leaning her elbows against the bar.

"Couple of months," Jack grumbled. "Demmed fools. They come in here almost every other weekend making cow eyes at one another. It's sick, that's what it is, I tell ya. First your sister, now her. I suppose pretty soon it'll be you."

Lizzy turned around and affectionately stuck her tongue out at Jack. There was a reason the old bar owner had stayed single all these years. For him, women were good for one thing, and one thing alone.

"You know I've been waiting for that one perfect man to come and sweep me off my feet, Jack. But you keep insisting that you're going to remain a bachelor until the day you die! What's a girl to do?" she sighed dramatically.

Knowing what his friend was thinking, Marvin leaned over the bar top and whispered into her ear, "Give 'em hell, Lizzy."

"I think I will," she said with a gleam in her eyes.

But, before she could get two steps away from the bar, though, she was accosted by Denny and Sandy, both of whom had heavily painted women on their arms. Lizzy recognized one to be Lydia, the new maid at Pemberley Ranch, and the other Kitty Blithe, who painted nails at the local beauty parlor.

"Hello boys, Lydia, Kitty," she said politely. She tried not to stare at Kitty's shocking, electric blue head of curly hair.

"Hey Lizzy," Denny said somewhat drunkenly. "You lookin' for George?"

"Um . . . why? Is he around here somewhere?" Lizzy tried to act all nonchalant.

"Don't worry, Lizzy," Sandy laughed, also slurring his words. He knew that Lizzy was trying to pretend that she wasn't scanning the room for a glimpse of the tall, dark-headed cowboy. "All the girls have the hots for Georgie Peorgie."

Lizzy blushed.

"He said you might be comin' around here tonight. Said that if you did, we was to let you know that something came up and he couldn't make it after all."

"Damned shame," Sandy piped in. "I was lookin' forward to playing a mean game of pool with that cowboy."

"Yeah, but good thing he didn't come with us after all. Think we'd have these pretty ladies on our arms if he'd been here tonight?" Denny gave a leering glance at Lydia and Kitty, who both giggled at his comment.

"That's true," Sandy scratched his forehead. "He always gets the women."

"So, George isn't coming tonight then?" Lizzy asked, trying not to feel so crestfallen.

"Nope. The man didn't say what it was that he had to do, but must've been something tur-ibly important. He went rippin' out of the ranch as soon as he'd stopped by the bunkhouse and dropped off the message." Denny explained.

"Well, thanks for lettin' me know."

"Sure, Lizzy. Hey, you wanna join us boys for a drink?" Denny sounded as if he'd hit upon a really good idea and was just beginning to warm up to the idea when the women he was with started objecting.

"Denny," Lydia whined, yanking on his arm. She didn't exactly relish the thought of having to share.

"Are we going to do some dancing, like you boys promised, or are we gonna stand around yappin' instead?" Kitty wanted to know as she chewed a wad of gum and inspected her fire engine red fingertips before flicking some imaginary dust off of Sandy's shoulder.

"Eager and feisty, are ya, eh?" Sandy practically growled.

It was an effort for Lizzy to not roll her eyes. "Thanks, boys. But you go on ahead and enjoy yourselves."

"Well, all right. We'll see you back at the ranch then."

Both Denny and Sandy tipped their heads respectfully. Lydia and Kitty had them dragged out onto the dance floor in record time.

Lizzy grunted her disgust at their display of bump and grind on the dance floor, and then sighed with the knowledge that her efforts to come into town this evening had been a wasted one. Well, not entirely wasteful, she thought, as she narrowed her gaze once more on Charlotte and Richard. Determined that she wasn't going to be interrupted a second time, she walked purposefully towards the dancing couple.

Her friends were so caught up in their own little world that Lizzy was able to step up to them without them knowing. She tapped Charlotte on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, may I cut in on this dance?"

Charlotte, who had been prepared to tell the finger-tapping harpy to go to hell, whirled around in shock and surprise at Lizzy's voice. "Lizzy! Oh my goodness! What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same thing," Lizzy retorted, her hands on her hip. "I thought you were too busy at the Lodge to come out and have a drink. Guess you were just too busy to have a drink with me."

"Lizzy," Charlotte protested, "it's not like that. Let me explain."

"Hey Lizzy. Good to see you again," Richard ventured to interrupt from where he was standing behind Charlotte.

Lizzy spared him the briefest of glances. "Hi Richard." She held out her cheek in an absent manner for the customary greeting kiss.

Richard obliged her and then said, "I think I'll just leave the two of you to talk then. Throat's feeling a little parched, now that I think about it. Could do with a nice tall glass of beer. You girls want something?"

The girls were too busy staring at each other, their emotions running rampant across their faces, to answer.

"Right," Richard swallowed. "Guess not. Well, I'll just be on my way then." He pointed lamely in the bar's direction.

As soon as Richard left, Lizzy dragged Charlotte to the nearest corner where they could talk in peace. "How long has this been going on?" she demanded.

"Several months," Charlotte admitted.

"And you didn't see fit to tell me? Or Jane?"

Charlotte shook her head.

"How could you, Char? How could you keep something like this from me, from us?"

"Well, it just happened so suddenly. I was in the middle of it before I knew it. And, oh, it's been so special for me, for us. I didn't want to say anything for fear that everything would be ruined?"

"How would it be ruined? Did you think Jane and I would deliberately set out to ruin things for you?" Lizzy demanded.

"Well . . . no."

"Well, what then?"

"I don't know," Charlotte whined pathetically.

Lizzy waited patiently.

"I'm so in love I'm so confused and afraid," she finally confessed in bursting tears. "I guess I didn't know how to tell you and Jane when I couldn't even explain it to myself."

"It's all right, Char. I'm happy for you!" Lizzy said, squeezing her friend's hands. All anger dissipated at the sight of Charlotte's heightened emotions.

"I'm so glad you've found someone you love. Finding someone to love is a good thing, not a scary thing. You should be ecstatic, not confused," Lizzy gently chided while reaching for a napkin to hand to her friend. "I just can't believe it's Richard . . . after all these years. But, I'm so glad that it finally happened if he really is the one for you, as you seem to believe. Richard's a good man and you deserve nothing less."

"You aren't mad at me?"

Lizzy looked confused for a minute. "No, I'm not really mad at you. I was a little annoyed though that you didn't tell me and that I had to find out like this."

"I know, Lizzy. And I'm so sorry," Charlotte sniffled, dabbing at her eyes and nose.

"Every time I asked you if you wanted to come here, you said you were busy. All along it was because of Richard," Lizzy said with some amazement. "Why didn't you just say so, Char? I would have understood! I thought you knew me better than that." The anger was gone, but the hurt still evident in her voice.

"Had it been any other man, I would have, Lizzy. But knowing that it was Richard . . . it just made it that much harder. I wasn't sure how you'd feel."

Lizzy looked up, wide-eyed and shocked. "What?"

"Well, you know. I mean . . . you did have that mad crush on him when we were younger," Charlotte finally spilled in a gush. "And you did date him . . .."

"Yeah, like in middle school!!! Charlotte Lucas, you silly little thing . . . You can't possibly think that I still have feelings for Richard, do you? I mean it's been ages since we dated and broke up. Richard and I, we're friends. Nothing more. You must know that it's been many years now since I have had any of those sorts of feelings for Richard!" Lizzy said with not a little bit of indignation.

Charlotte did not say anything.

Lizzy exploded. "Do you mean to tell me that all this secrecy about your relationship with Richard is because of something that happened between him and me almost over a decade ago?"

Charlotte nodded. "Partly."

"Richard doesn't think that . . .."

"No," Charlotte said. "In fact, he's been emphatic from the start that I should have said something to you and Jane earlier. But, I've been so afraid."

"Phew! I'm glad to hear that Richard's being sensible . . . for once, at least. I'd hate to think his ego was so big that he thought I was still hankering after him all these years.

"Look, Charlotte," Lizzy said, taking her friend's hands in her own. "Whatever Richard and I might have had was long-resolved when we were children. Children," she reemphasized. "You don't have to worry about me or what I think.

"Richard and I . . . we get along so much better as friends. And that's the only way I've ever thought about him ever since the sixth grade when I was young and foolish enough to believe that he was the man destined for me. I think of Richard as a friend, and only a friend. A very good friend, mind you," Lizzy said, with a hint of a smile.

"So you're okay with this then?" Charlotte asked.

"Very okay," Lizzy affirmed.

Charlotte breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I'm so glad. Now I feel stupid. I should've talked to you months ago. Thanks, Lizzy. You're the bestest friend a girl could have."

"Yes, I am. I'm so glad you've found someone," Lizzy sighed. "And, if you ever start doubting that, just remember: it takes a strong woman to put up with the likes of Richard and I, for one, am quite ill suited to that task. I think that you, on the other hand, would know just how to keep him on the end of your leash."

"Amen to that," Richard said, returning with two extra bottles of long-necks, which he passed around.

Lizzy reached for his hand, joining it with Charlotte's. "I'm very happy for you both. Truly." Rising on her tiptoes, she kissed first Charlotte, then Richard, on the cheek.

To Richard, she whispered, "You'd better take good care of my girl, or I'll have you strung up by your you-know-what."

The mental image was enough to have Richard gasping and leaning over slightly.

"I think I've had an exciting enough night to satisfy even me," she then said. "I'll leave the two of you to have your date in peace.

"Char, give me a call some time this week. We'll chat. Really chat," she said with some emphasis.

Charlotte nodded, but said, "Won't you stay, Lizzy, now that you're here? We'd love for you to keep us company."

Lizzy looked at the two of them, standing arm in arm. Together, they made a perfect a picture. "No, Char. But thanks. Rather than stick around and be a third wheel, I think I'm just going to go home and prop my feet up for a good rest. Thanks for the beer, Richard!" she held up the brown-tinted glass bottle. "Try and stay out of trouble."

"Will do," he called out after her. Lizzy, who had already turned to walk the other away, raised her arm in a wave.

Lizzy was looking forward to going home at this point, having first discovered that her best friend was seeing someone and she didn't know about it, and then learning that George, the person she'd come to see, hadn't even bothered to show up. What a flop of an evening.

Just when she thought it couldn't get worse, it did.

"Lizzy Bennet! I thought that was you over there, talking to Charlotte Lucas. I think I would know the back of your beautiful head anywhere. What a pleasure it is to see you here tonight." Billy Collins scurried up to her from out of nowhere.

Oy, Lizzy thought, was she to run into everyone tonight?

Billy Collins was one of the younger cowboys that worked on Rocking Rosings Ranch, which was worked and owned by Richard, his much younger half-sister Anne De Bourgh, and their mother, Catherine De Bourgh. The ranch had been left in the care of Catherine and Richard upon the death of her first husband and his father. Catherine's second husband, Anne's father, was a wealthy and successful businessman who had commuted from the ranch to his place of business in Houston, and loathed the ranch lifestyle, but tolerated it for his wife's sake up until the day he died.

She wished she'd spotted Billy earlier. If she had, she might have been able to avoid this confrontation. Billy had a most unhealthy infatuation for her, and had for several years now. Though she'd done nothing to encourage it, he was pretty persistent for someone not so overly bright and rather obtuse.

"Billy. It's nice to see you again."

A lie, she thought, a lie. She'd told a lie, and amazingly her nose hadn't grown a mile long with such a whopper of a lie.

"I've been meaning to call on you."

"Oh?" she tried to be interested.

"I wanted to ask you out on a date."

That got her attention. "Um, look, Billy . . .." Lizzy wondered how she could phrase things without overly hurting the cowboy's feelings.

"But now I see things are much better this way," he interrupted.

"Excuse me?" Lizzy was jolted from her thoughts.

"Well, if I come a-callin' on ya at the ranch, then it'll be obvious that we're a courtin' and then everyone will be into our business."

A-Callin'? A-Courtin'? Lizzy choked on the words! She was rendered speechless and horrified, and didn't know what to say. Billy was, on the other hand, for the first time in his life, not at a loss for words.

"If we meet in town though, like here at the Silver Spur, no one will ever guess the truth. It'll just look like we happened to meet up here at the bar. No one will ever need to know how serious things are between us. That's nobody's business but ours, after all," he said rather heatedly.

Oh dear. Billy thought they were serious? Lizzy obviously had to set him straight. "Billy, look, we really have to talk . . .."

As soon as he let her.

"Sure, Lizzy. We'll talk. You know how much I love to talk to you. You always have something brilliant to say. You always were a smart one, my Lizzy. I'm so proud of you. A college girl. Beauty and brains, what man could ask for anything more?"

In an odd sort of way, she felt flattered by his attentions. But, she did not want him to encourage him into thinking that there was anything more between them than there was. Nor did she want to hurt his feelings.

"How about a dance?"

When he would have grabbed her arm, Lizzy put her arm out first, creating some distance. "No, Billy, I don't think that's a very good idea." Better to put the roadblocks down now, she figured, than to somehow unintentionally lead him on.

"You're right. I bet you're hungry. I want you to know, Lizzy. I still think you're beautiful, but you are looking a bit on the skinny side." Billy shook his head reprovingly. "I don't think you did a very good job of taking care of yourself while you were away at school. But, now that I'm here, you won't have to worry about that anymore. I'll take care of you. Why don't we grab a table and order something to eat. We can chat and catch up in the meantime," he suggested, clearly unperturbed.

"Billy, you're not hearing what I'm saying." She tried not to sound all exasperated.

"Yes, I am, Lizzy," trying to placate the woman he believed to be his girlfriend. "What's the matter? You don't want to dance? No problem! You don't want to sit down and eat? No problem! Just tell me what you want and I'll make it happen. You know I'll do anything for you."

"I want to go home."

Billy frowned. He hadn't been counting on that. "But we haven't even gotten to hang out," he pouted.

"You said you'd do anything for me," Lizzy said, turning his words against him. "Let me go home in peace. Please? I'm really tired and I just want to go home."

She did look a little pale, he supposed. "Fine. I'll drive you."

"Alone, Billy. I want to go home alone."

"But . . .."

Lizzy could see that Billy wasn't about to budge, and she lost her patience. "Billy, I don't know how we ever got to this point, but you have to leave me alone. And you have to listen to me, really open your ears and listen to what I'm saying. You and I, we are not a couple.

"I'm sorry if my words hurt you, but as I've tried to explain to you time and time again, we're not dating."

"What a funny thing to say, Lizzy Bennet!"

"We're not, Billy. We've never gone on a date. We've never even done anything together that could be remotely construed as dating!"

"That's not true! We talk all the time!"

To a person like Billy, Lizzy supposed that could be construed as dating. She doubted that very many women willingly had conversations with Billy, and most women probably just brushed him aside. If she were smart, she would've done the same thing. She probably wouldn't have these problems if she had.

"Have you ever noticed Billy that whenever we talk, you're always trying to convince me that we're dating and I'm always trying to convince you that we're not?"

"Only because you're such a tease, Lizzy."

"No, Billy. Because I'm telling the truth. I'm sorry; I'm just not interested in you like that. I never have been, and you're going to have to accept that."

"You're just saying that. All women say things like that when they don't really mean it. It's a reverse psychology trick. That's what my A Cowboy's Guide to Dating handbook says."

Lizzy thought he should get a refund on that book. "Well believe me when I say that I never mean the opposite of what I say."

"I don't believe you," was Billy's stubborn reply. "And I'm getting tired of your attitude, Lizzy Bennet. A man shouldn't have to tolerate such behavior from his girlfriend."

"I'm not your girlfriend, Billy . . .."

"Especially after the kindness and consideration I've shown you. Everything I have ever done was always with your best interest in mind. All I've ever wanted to do was to please you, and look at how you repay me. I won't stand for it, Lizzy! I won't." He shook his fist and stomped his foot.

Billy's frustrated, and almost violent, reaction was beginning to alarm her. The last thing she needed was some hysterical cowboy on her hand.

"There's no need to get all bent out of shape."

"No need? No need? You try and tell me that you're not my girlfriend and there's no need to be upset? My God, Lizzy. I love you! I'd do anything for you! You know that!"

"I don't want you to do anything for me except let me go home!"

Billy wanted to weep. "And all this time, I thought you loved me!"

"How on earth did you ever come to that conclusion?" Lizzy wanted to know. Just how on earth had Billy Collins ever gotten the impression that she was in love with him?

"From all the attention and kindness you've shown me throughout the years."

"But, Billy, that's not love. That was friendship. All I've ever wanted was to be nice to you. I don't love you. I never have, I'm sorry, but that's the truth. I just don't love you, Billy. We're completely wrong for one another," she desperately tried to explain. Lizzy was beginning to grow frantic. This was what she got for trying to show a little bit of kindness, she thought ruefully.

"No we're not. You don't know what you're saying. You're just confused. You do love me. I know you do. Say it, say you love me."

"I can't! And I won't because I don't!"

"Yes you can!" He was so quick that Lizzy never saw it coming, but the next thing she knew her wrist was shackled by his hand.

"Billy?! What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Not until I shake some sense into you. Come on!"

"Where are you taking me?" Lizzy cried out. "Wait, Billy, stop! You don't know what you're doing!"

"Shut-up! Shut-up! Just shut-up!" He stopped to shake her and then dragged her once more towards the door.

Lizzy looked around, trying to seek help, but it was useless. There was no way she could shout and be overheard over the noisy din of the bar. She couldn't even see Marvin and Jack from where she stood, and Charlotte and Richard were lost somewhere behind her, within the crowds. Everyone else around them was too preoccupied to pay them any mind. If anything, they looked like just another couple who was involved in a domestic spat, not unusual for a place like the Silver Spur. People often got a little ugly once they'd had one too many drinks.

Lizzy suspected that Billy had also had one too many drinks tonight. For all that he'd been delusional about the state of their relationship in the past, he'd never treated her so harshly as he had tonight. This new side of him was more than alarming. Unpredictable as he was, Lizzy didn't know what to expect.

She tried to shake free of him, but Billy had a surprisingly strong grip. The more she struggled, the worse he became. It was as if something within him had snapped.

Lizzy prayed for help. Billy managed to get them outside. Without the crowd to slow her down, she began to drag her feet knowing that once they got into a car, there was no telling where he would take her or what he would do.

Billy sensed that she was doing it on purpose and jerked her along. "Stop that," he ordered. "There's no use trying to stop what should've been years ago. We're meant to be together, Lizzy. I waited for you to finish college, but now that you're done, there's no point in us waiting any longer."

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see."

"Billy, this isn't going to work! My family will miss me. They'll look for me."

"But they know how much you love me. They'll figure it out and once they realize you're with me, they won't worry. They know I'll take good care of you," he stopped mid-stride to turn and look at her, run a hand through her hair, and caress her cheek. Lizzy tried not to shudder. "Your family knows how much we love one another."

Lizzy wasn't sure what to think about Billy's state of mind. He had everything planned out just as he wanted it in his head. It was more than disturbing.

"Help!" she cried out, now that they were in the parking lot and could be heard. "Help me!"

This only served to anger Billy. He'd started to drag her towards his truck again, but now he whirled around and slapped her hard on the cheek. Lizzy's head snapped back from the forceful blow. It stung, it more than hurt. Blood trickled in a very thin line down the right side of her mouth. Lizzy could already feel her face burning and bruising.

To look at Billy, you wouldn't think he was capable of that much strength, but she should've expected that someone who worked the land would be pretty strong. And despite her instincts to stand up for herself, she cowered when she saw his arm rise once more.

Fortunately, when he would've struck another blow, his hand was stopped by someone else who'd grabbed him at the wrist. Lizzy's prayers had been heard.

Her angel of mercy had arrived.

Continued in Next Section