"Lou, you sure you got those boxes," Rachel asked.  She couldn't help but smile at the sight before her.  Lou stood next to her in front of Thompkins' Dry Goods Store trying to balance two smaller wooden boxes on top of a larger one.  All three boxes were full of the day's supplies.  However, they were leaving the store with all the extras the boys had requested.

Lou paused to readjust the boxes again.  "I got 'em, Rachel," she replied in a slightly annoyed voice.  "Ya know, it sure was nice of those big strapping men at the station to offer to help us with all these extras they wanted."

Rachel laughed lightly as they started walking along the wooden sidewalk toward the waystation.  "Now they were busy Lou," she admonished gently.

"Well it wouldn't have killed them to offer," Lou replied.  "It woulda been nice if they'd at least offered to help."  Before she could say more, the top two boxes slid across the bottom one, careening out of her grip to land with a loud thud on the walk in front of the women.  Louise bent down to pick them up but was assisted by a mysterious pair of hands.

"Here, let me help get those," a voice said.  "Looks like the two of you've got your hands full."

As they rose, Lou found herself looking up into a familiar pair of weathered blue eyes set within a tanned and lined face.  "Jack!"

Jack's eyes looked slightly startled, one sandy brow lifting curiously before he broke into a grin.  "So, you're Lou," he replied.  Kid's fiancee impressed him more each time he saw her.  He extended a hand to the thirtyis blonde next to Lou.  "Hi, I'm Jack Trvis and you must be Rachel DUnne.  It's a pleasure, ma'am.  Could I help you carry these back to wherever you're headed?"

Rachel smiled and cast a glance at Lou that said 'see there are still some gentlemen around'.  "It's nice to meet you Mr. Travis and we'd love the help," she replied pleasantly.  They resumed their walk, Jack stepping in on the outside of the walk next to Lou.  "Lou tells me you're a friend of Kid's.  If ya don't mind me askin', has he written you all this time?  I mean how'd you find out he was here?"

Lou watched Jack's eyes take on a faraway look as he answered.  "We're more like fmaily really.  Kid's been writin' his aunt in Richmond--his mama's sister sctually--and she's been lettin' me know how he is," Travis replied.  He smiled down at Lou.  "That's how I found out 'bout the weddin'.  I just couldn't believe all the stuff Sadie told me he'd written about this girl, so I had to come see for myself.  Figured Kid oughta have at least some family there."  He shared a smile with Rachel as Lou flushed at the praise.

"So what did you do before now, Mr. Travis?" Rachel asked as they approached the bunkhouse.  She opened the door hurrying in to put her small box on the table before going to hold the door for Jack and Lou.

Jack set the boxes on the table also and took a glance around.  "This okay for these?"  Rachel nodded and he began heloing the two women unpack.  "Well, I gotta be honest with ya Mrs. Dunne, I ain't done a whole lot.  I just got outta Fort Bragg two and a half years ago."

Startled, Rachel looked up sharply dropping a tin of peaches onto the table wioth a clatter.  "Oh," she said softly.  "Why were you there--if ya don't mind me askin, that is?"

Jack chuckled at her reaction.  He was used to it because it was the same one he got everywhere he went.  That was why he'd strated being very upfront and honest about his sentence--better to get it all over with early.  "I was there for somethin' I didn't do while the man who really did it got away.  And I don't mind ya askin'.  Won't know if ya don't ask," he replied simply as he walked to the pantry and began placing things on the shelves.  "I ain't sore about it though.  Prison was the best thing to happen to me.  It made me think about the stuff I'd done in my life and it made me straighten up my act, too.  I'm not the man I was goin' in.  I'm better.  I've been a pretty good carpenter these last two years."

"Whay a carpenter?" Lou asked.  She pulled out three new dime novels for COdy and placed them on his bunk.

"What better tribute to our Lord than to follow in His footsteps?"

Normally, religion bothered Louise.  Mary Louise McCloud had raised her children to be good Catholics, but it had been years since Lou'd seriously gone to church and even longer since she'd gone to mass or confession.  She'd seen too many bad things happen in the name of religion to feel at ease with the topic.  Sure, she believed in God and Jesus, in salvation and the power of prayer, but it was God's people she tended to have problems with.  But, now, looking at Jack, she knew he wasn't like those others.  He wasn't flaunting his belief or banging you over the head with it.  It was simply a part of who he was, what he'd been through, just as much as his hair or eye color.  The look in Travis' eye said he was no saint or angel, that he was just like you--a flawed and imperfect individual in need of some unifying, sanctifying faith to make it through the day.

"A carpenter, you said?"  Rachel's hazel eyes took on that 'I've-got-a-great-idea look'.  "Can you build rooms?"

"Sure," Jack replied.  "Need a little help gettin the frame up.  Dependin' on how big and how fancy ya want it, I could probably have it done in four or five weeks."

Rachel beamed.  "That'd be just perfect.  We'd pay ya and for the materials too and you're more than welcome to have your meals here with us."  She sat at the table and grabbed a piece of paper and charcoal pencil left over from Jesse's studies, placing them in front of Travis.

"Now, hold it, Rachel," Lou protested.  "What're you talkin' about and who's we?"

The blonde stationmistress placed a calming hand on Lou's shoulder.  "You know how we were wonderin' last night where you and Kid would stay after the weddin' 'til you could get your own place?"  Lou nodded.  "Well, we'll just add a room onto the house."  The petite rider's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest but Rachel stopped her.  "And before you say we can't afford it, Teaspoon said Emma and Sam sent some money to help since they won't be able to make the wedding."

Lou lowered her voice.  "Actually, Kid wasn't too thrilled to find out Jack's in town Rachel."  She had images in her head of her fiance going completely ballistic when he found out and beating poo Jack to a pulp.

Rachel in turn smiled at Jack winningly.  "Well, your husband-to-be's just gonna have to get used to it.  Mr. Travis is doin' some work for us just like you riders.  Now Mr. Travis...."

"Uh, it's just Jack, ma'am," he interrupted.  "Mister's just too formal for a plain ol' Virginia boy like me."

She rose from the table.  "And I'm only Mrs. Dunne to my students.  Why don't you and I go take a look at the house and you can run some ideas by me."

Jack held the door for both women as they proceeded him outside.  He looked up at the corral where the male riders were busy chasing down a mustang.

"Uh, Louise," Rachel said, stopping Lou just short of stepping off the porch.  "Would you mind stayin'?  Someone needs to be here to tell Kid about Jack and those groceries still need to be out away."

Lou groaned audibly.  "Why do I have to tell 'im?" she asked as the two began heading for Rachel's.

"He's your man.  He won't kill you," Rachel tossed back with a grin.

She turned walking back into the bunkhouse.  "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Rach," she muttered.  Nervously humming, Lou went back to unloading the crates.

She was so preoccupied, she never heard the footsteps behind her as she stretched on her toes to reach one of the top shelve of the cupboard.  Lou'd just managed to push the tin of yeast onto the shelf with the tips of her fingers when her legs were scooped out from under her and she was swept up into sstrong arms.  She gave a yelp and flailed for something to hold onto, her hands finally wrapping around the man's neck.  There was a flash of familiar blue eyes before the man kissed her quickly in a hard and passionate kiss that left her breathless.

"Kid?!" she exclaimed, shocked and surprised before letting out a helpless giggle.  "Put me down.  You're filthy!  Looks to me more like the horse won today."

Kid lowered her feet to the floor but kept his arms wrapped around her waist.  "So, you wanna help me clean up," he suggested archly as he nuzzled her neck.  "You know, make sure I don't miss anythin'."

Lou squirmmed, giggling as his lips brushed over a particularly ticklish patch of skin just below her ear.  "I woulda thought you'd be exhausted after last night," she said, hinting at the hours they'd spent together "making up" after their earlier argument the day before.  She smiled in remembrance.  Sometimes I think I fight with him just because the makin' up's so good, she thought wickedly.  "Damn!  I'm losin' my touch," she said in a mock pout.

"Nah, I just like this kinda tired," he muttered nibbling on her earlobe.

"Kid!"  She pulled back with a laugh and framed his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.  "Kid, you keep this up and we'll have the family before we have the house.  And I'm not havin' any babies in this bunkhouse, you hear me?"  We may yet, she thought briefly, if I get any later

Now that's strange, kid thought.  lou was usually always in the mood, except when her body wouldn't let her.  "You sayin' you don't want to?" he asked, confused.

Lou placed a hand on his arm and a cloud of dust rose making her cough.  "I'm sayin' you need a bath and I need to finish puttin' these things away," she replied, pulling away and resuming her task.  Okay, the shot and powder are Jimmy's, the book goes to Noah, paper and pen to Jesse along with the lemon drops, Teaspoon gets....

"Why is Jack here, Lou?"

The too-casual question interrupted her thought and Lou turned to find Kid seated at the table watching her with an expectant look.  She put down a pair of suspenders and crossed to him settling herself cautiously on Kid's lap, her fingers carressing his tense jaw.  "Now don't go blowin' this outta proportion yet, Kid.  It wasn't my idea.  rachel's havin' him add a room onto the house--our room--until we find a place.  He's workin' for her and he'll probably be eatin' with us too."

He pushed her off his lap and stood to pace.  "Dammit, Lou, I told you...."

"Stop it!" she shouted harshly.

Kid stopped pacing and looked at her unable to do anything but blink.  She'd never used quite such a sharp tone of voice with him.  Sure, she'd yelled at him, but this was different, more commanding.  Lou sounded like Rachel and Emma--like his own mother before she'd gotten sick.

"You're acting like a child!  Now I don't know what happened between you two, but Jack wants to make amends," Lou said less harshly, but still in the same commanding tone.  "He's not a bad man and he's gonna be around for a while.  You don't have to like it, just be civil to him, okay?"  She crossed to where he stood tensely watching her and hesitantly reached out to stroke his shoulder.  "Please, for me?"

"Lou, you don't understand...."

"You know, I'd give anything to have some family alive who cared about me enough to spend two years looking for me just to apologize."

The memory of how he'd killed Lou's father flashed through his head.  She'd long ago forgiven Boggs for who he was.  Kid didn't think he could do the same where Travis was concerned.  Just because he was civil didn't mean he had to talk to Travis or really interact with him.  Once the room was done and he and Lou were married, they'd have their own life to focus on and maybe Travis would leave town.  no one would have to know anything.  "Alright," he sighed.  He stroked her cheek with a thumb and smiled ruefully.  "I never could say no to you."

Lou smiled widely and hugged him tight.  "Thank you, sweetie.  you won't regret this, I promise.  He's a nice man, really," she gushed.  She turned back to the crates placing a couple small bags of spices on a shelf above the dry sink and continued the unpacking.

Kid sat down at the table on her side resting his elbows on his knees.  "Ya know I'd only ever do this swallowin' my pride thing for you," he said.

"I know," she said softly.  Lou leaned forward to place an exaggerated kiss on his forehead, allowing her fingers to unconsciously straighten his rakish hair.  "You know, you can't expect a moth to look or act like a butterfly."

He chuckled.  "What's that, more of Teaspoon's wisdom?"

"No, I'm just sayin' that you can't expect more of people than they can give you is all," Lou replied.  She watched him roll his eyes and sighed.  "Listen, honey, I've been in your shoes before, remember?  Only the man was my own father.  Boggs could never be the man I wanted him to be.  It wasn't part of him and never would be, even if he were still alive.  Instead of thinkin' about what would never be, I started focusin' on the few happy memories I had of him.  Maybe you and Jack could start over from there."

The happy memories were so few, though, he thought grimly.  How do you forgive a man you can barely stand to look at let alone speak to?  How do you forgive the man who destroyed your childhood and forced you to become a man at ten-years-old?

Chapter 5