Cowboy, Stay with Me

Chapter Eleven: Cowboy Chivalry

Lucy continued to go about her chores; making sure that all the horses had fresh hay and water in their stalls. She also took time out of her day to check on the barn cats. It was the height of kitten season and the gray barn cat, Misty, had just had her first litter.

Just these simple activities wore her out due to her hangover, but she could feel it slowly starting to fade off. She should be back on track by the evening, in fact. The Davenports were made of strong stuff, her mother had always said.

Lucy headed back into the house to grab a glass of lemonade. She smiled as she went to the back window to look out at Sean.

Flora materialized by her side and Lucy sighed, already knowing what was coming.

"Oh, have some mercy on that poor boy, Lucy." Her grandmother admonished her. "Do you really think he'd be here, hoeing the garden, if he didn't care about you?"

Lucy sniffed disdainfully at this. "I don't see why I should have mercy on him. He has a lot to make up for if he wants to be back in my life. Even as a friend." She added sharply when her granny grinned knowingly at her.

"Oh, Lucy. You want him back in your life, you know you do! You were both just kids when he ran off on you. He spooked, it's natural. Things were getting pretty serious and he knew that the two of you had different career paths to pursue. But now...oh, who knows what might happen, but go take that poor boy a glass of lemonade before he dies of dehydration out there!"

Lucy was too used to her grandmother's blunt mannerisms to be ruffled by this rather pushy bit of advice. She just smiled, kissed her grandma on the cheek, and did as she was told.

###

"Hey there, cowboy." Lucy said dryly, ambling up to the garden patch. "My granny told me you looked like you were about to croak out here, so I figured I couldn't have a US Marshal drop dead on my property. Questions would be raised."

Sean smiled, leaning the hoe against a vine post and accepting the glass of lemonade from her. "It wouldn't look good for the business." He agreed.

She shook her head, unable to hold back her own smile. "No, especially because it's a known fact that I loathe you. It would just be suspicious."

He raised his eyebrows in interest as he sipped the lemonade. "That so? Should I be concerned that you've poisoned my drink, huh?"

"Naw, if I wanted to kill you, it'd be more violent. You'd see it coming."

He chuckled, completely unconcerned. "Good to know."

Her own weak smile slowly faded away. "So, I've been meaning to ask, how's Jake? Is he okay? I was just thinking I should call him, but my phone's gone..." She trailed off. She tended to babble when she was nervous. Obviously, she had a house phone or she could borrow one from one of her many family members; she was simply spewing words because Sean was giving her that look. That dark look she associated with thunderstorms and the wrath of God.

"Jake is fine." Sean answered her tightly. "He was raging around with his shotgun, looking for you when we showed up. Fool coulda gotten himself killed, too.

"What the hell were you doing outside anyway? Jake said he took you to his place and that everything was going just fine, according to him, when suddenly you, quote, 'bolted from the house like a madwoman, for no apparent reason'. He said he chased after you, but couldn't find you.

"We found Fenton's body in the stables...were you out there; petting the horses?"

"Yeah, I think so." She took a deep breath. "I-I was so drunk. Things were happening so fast and I-and I just needed to get away, clear my head. I thought that being around the horses would make me feel better. Then Fenton showed up, scared me half to death, then the other guy showed up, scared me even worse and someone actually did die..."

"Hey, come on." Sean shifted on his feet. He thought about reaching out to her, then thought better of it. "It's okay, the shock will pass in time, I promise."

She lifted her face, tilting her head back as she gazed up into those deep brown eyes of his. "You must think I'm so silly and...weak. You see this kinda thing all the time, don't you? Brutal, violent, ugly crimes."

He studied her face in silence for a moment. Her pupils were dilated and she was breathing in a shallow fashion through her parted lips, which, while incredibly, almost unjustly erotic, wasn't a good sign.

"I do see some ugly stuff and you do grow numb to it after a while. If it makes you feel better, I threw up when I saw my first murder."

"Really?"

"Yep, all over my superior's shoes. She was not happy with me."

Lucy reluctantly chuckled at this. "You're not just saying that?"

He shook his head, smiling faintly. "I would never lie to you, Lucy, and I don't think you're silly or weak. Far from it. But I swear to God," and here his good countenance dropped away entirely to be replaced by a look quite menacing indeed, with his dark eyes glinting at her passionately, "if you ever do something foolish like that again and put yourself in danger, I'll-!"

Here Lucy notched her chin up as her own eyes flashed in challenge. "You'll what? Huh? You don't scare me, sir. I'm not one of your little subordinates."

Sean's face softened and he grasped her gently by the shoulders. "I just couldn't stand it, if anything ever happened to you. I would never be able to forgive myself."

She shook her head, feeling confused and angry and oh so vulnerable in that moment. "But...why? You've made it perfectly clear that you wanted nothing to do with me where responsibility was concerned."

Sean growled in frustration and simply kissed her then.

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