Amelia rode until she found the abandoned barn. She dismounted and tied her horse up loosely by a tree before heading to the barn. She knew the area well as she'd ridden out here with Ethan back when they'd been courting and gone past it to do some fishing out on the lake.

Now, the lake lay off in the distance likely deserted and her focus was on the dilapidated structure. She walked inside its door which tilted at an angle and heard some fluttering of birds up in the rafters. There were several stalls all empty and bales of straw with sections strewn loosely around the floor. But that's not what caught her attention.

She saw a man standing there.

"David…what are you doing here?"

He looked at her troubled, not saying anything.

"Where's Miranda?"

He sighed.

"Didn't you get the wire?"

She hadn't gotten anything today but then her mind had been focused on riding out to the barn before it got too late.

"Nothing today…I was hoping she would be here."

David glanced around the barn nervously.

"Clinton's looking for her…she's disappeared he says…and he's blaming it on outlaws."

Amelia tilted her head looking at him. She figured Clinton might do as much…but then he could never admit to anyone including the powerbrokers of Virginia City that he couldn't keep his own wife at home. In a way she knew what it'd be like…having spent months hearing snickers and whispers behind her back about her inability to keep her husband from running out on her. It must be harder for a man but he didn't deserve any sympathy because unlike her, Clinton was a bully and a brute. Most people in Virginia City in his circle didn't know him like his wife did. Amelia had sampled that side of him as well…that's how she met Miranda.

"She'll never let him find her."

"He won't stop looking and he'll go after anyone who's in his way…including a woman."

Amelia didn't worry too much about that. All she knew was that she had to help Miranda and the baby. It'd be harder without being able to find her. But if Miranda wasn't here it was because she worried about being found by Clinton…better for her to lie low somewhere until she'd lost him.

"So do you know where she is?"

David shook his head.

"No…I think she never left Virginia City and if she didn't make it out…he'll find her soon enough."

Amelia closed her eyes but her mind kept working…maybe they needed a new plan.

"Damn…we can't let that happen…maybe we'll have to go there and get her."

David didn't look too thrilled at that prospect and shook his head in response.

"I don't think that's wise," he said, "Clinton's a very powerful man and dangerous when he thinks he's been crossed."

Amelia knew that too. But she couldn't leave Miranda to be found by him…she had to do something.

"We don't have a choice…"

He countered quickly.

"We can't do it alone…we'll need help."

Amelia figured that too and her mind zeroed in on one man she knew would be the best source of help they could ever get but…no she hadn't even crossed paths with him yet…hadn't had her words with him so how could she ask for his help?

"Amelia…it's too dangerous any other way."

She nodded.

"I know that…and I know someone," she said, "I just have to figure out a way to ask him."

David narrowed his eyes.

"Is he someone who'd give you trouble?"

She shook her head. No, she knew Ethan wouldn't…at least not that kind of trouble…What the man could do to her heart was a different matter…but she'd never let him get that close. If she went to him for help, it'd be business…and only as a last resort.

"I just don't want to go to him…unless we have to…unless there's no other recourse."

David looked around the barn again as if expecting someone to jump out at him. But Amelia knew Clinton made a lot of men nervous.

"We need help Amelia…if we're going to get Miranda and the baby out of Virginia City."

She bit her lip realizing he was right but damn if she wanted to go pleading her case to Ethan…for all she knew he might slam the door in her face. After all, she'd left him all those months ago…she didn't add that she'd run from him because that was still tough to admit.

"I'll think some more about it," she said, "We might think of something else and not need him."

David looked doubtful.

"You do what needs to be done Amelia," he said, "and don't take too long with it."

She heard the sense of urgency in his voice…along with the love that he had for the woman who'd been his childhood sweetheart until she'd been swept off her feet by the wealthier silver tongued man she'd married. Amelia knew what had possessed Miranda to do that…after all that's how she'd wound up with Pierce when she'd been even younger.

She just nodded and they both left the barn and she headed back to her horse to ride to Paradise while thinking of all the ways she could avoid asking her ex-fiancé for help by using the one talent he had that had driven them apart.

Ethan looked at Amelia as she pecked away at the stew that Scotty had made for their lunch. She had dressed up nicely enough, was definitely a pretty girl…not that it mattered much. But it didn't hurt either…if he had to get married to keep the children…he'd rather marry a pretty woman. After all, he might be thinking of fatherhood first but he was a man too.

Still he didn't think about love and romance and all that. He'd only allowed that once in his life and it had gotten him a broken heart. He'd only admit it to himself and no one else that he had a heart to get broken by a woman…the fact that John Taylor had picked up on it didn't count.

"I'm a great cook," Edwina said, "I can do desserts including the most lovely custard pie you'll ever eat."

He fancied good cooking and it'd be nice to have someone else it besides Claire who had taken that chore upon herself like the others involved with running the household.

"That's…important," he said, "The children need to eat three good meals a day. Got two young boys growing up big and they have big appetites."

She smiled at that and then wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

"I…see…well I can handle that and other chores," she said, "I also can do stitching to mend clothing…I even made curtains once…"

He just nodded. She volunteered so much information he didn't have to rely on the questionnaire he had tucked inside his memory.

"I can sing too," she said, "I was in the choir at church back home."

He listened to her but his mind wandered as he ate his stew. Edwina seemed nice enough and he was sure that she'd make it a tough choice between her and Stella but he couldn't stop thinking…he'd been standing waiting to get married to Amelia a time or two. Then some crisis would steal him away from even getting close to the "I do" part of it. Amelia had just given up on it all together and he couldn't blame her…but she'd looked so damn pretty in her dress. The way the ivory lace molded to her body…he'd never forget that.

Still no point thinking about it…Amelia was off traveling the world somewhere probably having a great time…maybe even hitched up with another man at this point. After all he hadn't heard from her in months and despite what John Taylor had told him, he didn't think she'd come back.

"Excuse me…didn't you hear what I said?"

He blinked his eyes and looked at Edwina. He hadn't heard her say anything.

"What…I'm sorry…something came to mind…"

She pursed her lips.

"I see…did I say something that bored you?"

He recovered quickly…not wanting to alienate half of the candidates to be the wife he needed to keep the children with him.

"No…just thinking about whether or not I need more deputies…"

She seemed to accept that and he told himself he'd pay more attention to her which meant pushing that other woman, the spirited brunette with the accent who always kept him on his toes. He couldn't afford to think about her…as if she were still real to him.

After all she hadn't wanted to marry him in the end and he needed a wife. He figured in a day or so he'd make his choice, pick the woman to marry and get the deed done. It sounded like a plan at least as far as his mind concerned itself…as for his heart…that didn't matter.

If he lost the children, he'd lose everything not to mention a promise he'd made to himself in his sister's memory to keep their family together no matter what. If that meant forgetting what it meant to fall so in love with a woman who still held onto a piece of him, then that's what he'd have to do.