Ethan left the hotel where he'd settled the children in one room while he and Amelia would share another with a suite between them. Claire had told him that the boys would be working on decorations for the children's party the next day. George had stopped teasing Ben about Emily being his girlfriend and they both settled down to express their more artistic sides.

Claire had given them directions on how to do that and George had gotten into right away with making a horse which didn't have much to do with the holiday but at least kept his mind occupied. She had to stop the two of them from running through the hallways. She hadn't been thrilled about leaving the ranch and staying in the hotel again but she knew she had to do her part to help her uncle and Amelia.

Ben walked up to her with his own version of a heart.

"How do...do you spell Emily?"

Claire smiled.

"Sound it out…remember it's sounds and letters…that you put together to form a word."

He tried that and got it right after a couple attempts. Ben had trouble in school with reading but she didn't understand why as he was clearly whip smart. She switched from thinking about the boys now that they'd calmed down a bit to wondering who her secret admirer could be. She'd thought it had to be either Charles or Lukas and that either one might have reasons for not disclosing their identities. Charles was quite shy in general and Lukas seemed quiet about her.

She had seen how Charlie watched her when she got up from doing the books and helped Dakota pick out a present for Rosie. Rosie had broken a few hearts but Claire didn't think that applied to Dakota who finally picked out a stylish pin for her. It was shaped like a boot spur which Claire supposed some women might find appealing as a gift to pin on their clothes but it just seemed…well like Dakota. But it's not like he'd taken any of her advice.

No one had asked her to the party and dance yet but she knew she'd attend on her own if not with someone else. She'd just volunteer to run the refreshment table or run the contests.

The door opened and Joseph came in after working a day with Doc Carter.

"How long are you staying here?"

She sighed.

"I don't know…Uncle Ethan just said we can't go back to the ranch."

Joseph sat on a chair in the living area.

"I'm glad I'm staying with Tiny," he said, "rather than in the hotel."

Claire didn't mind the hotel as much and at least it'd make their uncle feel better that they were safe from whatever was coming to Paradise. She'd heard about Buck, and she remembered what had happened when she'd been held hostage in the hotel.

"It's only until Uncle Ethan is sure that Buck's not showing up…or that if he does, he's stopped before he hurts someone."

"His cousins died in the hotel," Joseph said, "They'll be after revenge and Uncle Ethan and Dakota had better be ready."

She knew that her brother wanted so much to help them in that fight but her uncle would never allow it. Joseph would argue that he'd helped Ethan before even saving his life but his uncle would have the final word.

"I could handle Buck," he said, "if he tries to hurt anyone."

The last thing Ethan wanted was for Joseph or any one of them to get involved.

"Joseph…you're to do what Uncle Ethan told us," she said, "which is to wait and do what he says."

She knew Joseph didn't like it but ultimately that's what he'd do. He just seemed restless about waiting to see how it played out. She felt that way too but she'd grown used to crises since they moved to Paradise.

This was just another one and she felt that it would blow over soon enough, that her uncle would take care of it before anything bad happened.


Amelia watched Ethan and Dakota read the wires at the marshal's office.

"What's happened?"

Ethan looked at her.

"Buck and his gang robbed another bank. Maybe Virginia City is their ultimate target."

"They'll still have to pass by us," she said, "and if he wants revenge."

Ethan didn't even want to think about it. He knew that Buck probably knew by now who shot his brothers dead. He'd killed one, Amelia killed another before he could shoot Ethan and John Taylor killed the one who'd been for a while, a patient. What if Buck decided to target each one of them? The thought chilled him.

"That's why I wanted you back in the hotel with the children."

She sighed.

"I'll be all right," she said, "So should we cancel the party?"

He shook his head.

"No…I'll draft some men to help me make sure nothing happens."

She nodded.

"Maybe he'll just keep moving on to the next town."

A possibility but she didn't believe it. Dakota walked back in the room.

"A couple more posters were dropped off," he said, "some deputy who rode off again."

Ethan flipped through them and saw several sketches of Buck and some of the outlaws he associated most closely with between robberies.

Then he saw something that made his eyes widen. Amelia watched him.

"What is it Ethan?"

He paused.

"It's…Pierce…your ex husband."

He showed her the sketch on the poster which showed that he was wanted for land fraud and stealing people's money.

"Good reward," Dakota said, "though it sounds like no one knows if he's still alive."

Ethan watched Amelia's face when she heard that. She'd loved the guy once but that ended after he left her stranded in Paradise with the bank she built while he skipped out to avoid his angry marks. But then he had a way of popping in and out of Amelia's life and his…when he encountered him in Virginia City on the run and had wound up leaving with signed divorce papers.

He didn't like the guy at all. Even though he'd helped save him when he'd been locked up in a jail…which should have left him grateful but he had still distrusted the man.

Now he did more than that, he'd decided if Pierce showed up in Paradise, he'd shoot him. He didn't think that he'd get any argument from Amelia. In fact she already looked if not angry, just as if some old injury had been reopened.

Nothing to do with her marriage to the man…it had been what came later when he'd been the target of the wrath of two men in San Francisco. He had conned the wrong people out of the wrong parcels of land and they'd gone looking for him.

Ethan didn't know if they'd ever found Pierce.

"Ethan, it's all right," she said, "I'm past wanting to kill him if he's still alive."

Dakota spoke up.

"He was…when he was spotted two weeks ago in Carson City."

Ethan and Amelia looked at each other. Dakota just sighed.

"Someone will catch to him sooner or later," he said, "It doesn't sound like any of his victims will mourn him."

Ethan didn't think people would miss the conman who'd generated Ethan's ire when he'd used Amelia to steal money from her to pay off some angry customers in some land fraud deal. He'd been set to testify in Sacramento but of course, that never happened.

"I still will kill him if he ever sets foot in Paradise."

Amelia grabbed his arm.

"No Ethan…it's over with and we're married now and…"

They just looked at each other. But she knew he'd wanted vengeance since he'd found out the truth and she just didn't want anything to happen to him.

"We're going to have to focus on Buck and his men," Dakota said, "keep them from disrupting our celebration."

Outlaws loved wreaking havoc on holidays because towns were more vulnerable at those times to rob of their valuables.

But if Buck showed up Ethan knew he wanted much more than that and he knew that he had people to protect to stop anything from happening.