It was a normal evening in Colorado Springs, like many others they have had before until a girl rode in on a horse in the dead of night. She dismounted with a little difficulty and tied the reins to a post. No one knew this would be one of the most interesting nights of their lives.

Hank Lawson was sitting in his empty saloon drinking a few shots of whiskey by candle light when a young blonde walked in. She looked about seven and her eyes kept searching for something. Hank downed the shot he had in his hand and got up from his seat as his chair scrapped the wooden floor. He slammed the glass on the hard table top. The girl shot her light grey eyes up to meet Hank's.

"Children shouldn't be in here," he stated. She nodded her head nervously. He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Why are you here little girl? Where's your ma and pa?" he asked. She looked up at him and bit her bottom lip. Hank was getting frustrated.

"Well?" he said with impatience, expectantly. He was frustrated for two reasons. One, he had been drinking all day and had one hell of a head ache. Two, he hated being ignored especially by a woman. He slammed his fisted on the table in frustration. The girl whimpered and backed up until she back up into a chair and it also scooted across the floor. Hank sighed. He didn't mean to scare the kid. He decided to start over.

"Ok," he said to the ground and began to make his way over to the girl. Her bottom lip quivered so she bit down on it again and braced herself against the chair, griping it firmly with her eyes wide. He finally came to her and knelt down to her size to look straight at her face.

"Stop looking at me like that," he ordered gently in his country accent. She did as she was told but still had a firm grip on her bottom lip. "Get that lip out of your mouth and tell me your name."

"Emma," she said in a small voice. Ok, now we were finally getting somewhere.

"Where's your ma?" he asked next. Emma bit her lip again but quickly released it when she noticed the look from Hank.

"My ma is gone," she answered. Oh.

"Well who do you live with?"

"I lived with my grandma but she went to live in heaven so I'm coming to live with my pa." He didn't mean to get her whole life story. The alcohol was giving him a buzz again.

"Oh hey," he said with his usual smile. "Well do you see anyone in here?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes," she answered innocently, "you." 'Smart aleck,' he laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so. Go run along and find ya pa now, little girl," he said with a gesture with his head. He got up and reclaimed his seat and poured himself another drink. She didn't move.

"Well, go on now. Get," he dismissed with a wave of his hand. She still didn't leave.

"I thought I already had," Emma said.

"What?"

"I thought I had already found my pa," she clarified.

"Little girl, it's late so what the hell are ya talking about?"

"Are you Hank Lawson?" He narrowed his eyes again.

"Yeah..."

"My name is Emmalee Rose Lawson, sir. You're my pa," she said. "Grandma said my pa's name was Hank Lawson because I asked why my last name was Lawson and not west like mas."

"West like Kara West?" he asked finally remembering a whore he had slept with almost eight years ago.

"That's my ma," Emma confirmed. Hank rubbed his head. His head ache was back. How could that happen? It was like he fell into a woman's sappy novel.

"How do I know you're not lie'n?"

"I wouldn't lie to you, sir. Not about something this important," she swore, offended her father would accuse her of such things.

"Gahd," Hank exclaimed rubbing his face with his hands. He knew that it was a very real possibility. She looked just like her mother except her hair and eyes. That was Hank made over. He didn't know what to do with her now and it was late. He studied her for a quick moment and got up from his seat again.

"You," he said pointing a finger at her, "come with me." She hurried to follow him up the stairs. She followed him into a room. It wasn't large or very small but it was huge in the eyes of a little girl who grew up with nothing.

"This is my room but you can sleep somewhere in here," he said awkwardly. She nodded and opened the bag he never noticed was on her arm and pulled out a quilt and spread it out in the corner and rested her head on her bag. Hank nodded.

"Go to sleep," he ordered. "We'll figure something out in the morning." She nodded and closed her eyes as she turned toward the wall. Hank stripped off his shirt and took off his boots and continued until he was just in his long-johns. He got in his bed and fell asleep.

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