I want you all to know that I spent pretty much the entire weekend trying to play catch up with this story and also Plum Crazy. I'm amazed that I was able to pull it off. Ladaane, you were right in your last critique. I tried to embellish the parts that I took directly from ASH in order to understand the things that Nate was feeling. Then, I missed a huge part of the chapter because I have been following the original manuscript. I had added the parts you addressed when I posted the story on FanFic. I learned a lesson. I need to follow the Fan Fic chapters, not the original manuscript. I hope you will forgive me.

Lila, Barbie, and Ladybug- I appreciate the reviews from each of you. I wish that others would take the time to express their opinions and feelings about the story. Sometimes, I feel like I'm writing the story for five people because they are the ones I hear from. It's a little frustrating writing 5000 words and getting no words in return.

I hope whoever is reading it at least liking the story….

THE COURTSHIP

09/11/2002 – Wanda is back. I'm thrilled beyond belief, but I'm also extremely nervous. She seems tentative at best about being here with me. I know she still loves Ian, and I don't want to rush things, but I don't want to go too slow either. It's a perilous tightrope I walk with her, trying to find the perfect pace that will neither scare her away nor bore her to death. I guess today I'll play it by ear and see if the right moment comes when I should kiss her.

Victoria has been very gracious. I try to spend as much time with her as I can. Yesterday, I ate dinner with both Victoria and Wanda, but the one who commanded my attention was Sarah. It actually worked out perfectly. I didn't make Wanda uncomfortable by being too pushy, and Tori wasn't privy to seeing me dote on Wanda. Sarah got the attention, which pleased her to no end, and the ladies found it no less than amusing.

I didn't see Gina at all. I think she's purposely avoiding me. I'm not sure if that is a bad thing. I have to admit it is easier for me to concentrate without her around.

It's early, but I can't sleep. I guess I'll get up.

It was quiet in the house. I took a quick shower, made coffee, and plopped on the couch. I watched the news, and I noticed that there was actually real news to report. There was a domestic dispute that escalated to name calling, which caused the neighbors to call the police. There was also a motor vehicle accident that also brought out emotions between the two drivers. It seemed to me that the peaceful souls were beginning to become a bit 'human'.

Suddenly, Burns entered the living room from Wanda's room wearing only his boxers. "Whoa! What the hell are you doing in Wanda's room?" I demanded.

Burns drew in a deep breath. "It's not what you think. Wanda had a bad dream. She was screaming. When I went in to check on her, she asked me to stay with her. I slept on top of her blanket," he said in an effort to reassure me.

"I wonder what the bad dream was about?"

"She didn't say, and I didn't want to push her. I'm gonna get dressed and head out to the bunkhouse."

"Okay, I'll be there later."

Ten minutes later, Burns was out the door, cup of coffee in hand. It was only a few minutes after that when Wanda shuffled into the living room in her robe.

"Good morning, Beautiful!"

Her hair was a mess, and she still looked sleepy.

"You're up early."

"I'm waiting for my pancakes."

She went to the bathroom and then headed back to the bedroom. She reappeared wearing pink sweats. As she passed through the living room, heading for the kitchen, she announced, "I'm really not opposed to help."

I jumped off the couch. "Your wish is my command."

I had already set up the bowl and the pancake mix. The water was sitting in a cup ready to be poured into the bowl. The pan was on the stove.

She placed her hands firmly on the counter. "You covered all the bases again."

"Yeah, can't help it. I'm the proverbial planner and schemer."

I slid up behind her, wrapped my arms around her waist, and put my chin on her shoulder. "You're having nightmares?"

"How did you know?"

"I saw Burns come out of your room this morning wearing only his boxers. It kinda caught my attention."

"I was upset. He stayed with me."

"Well, I could stay with you tonight—if you want." I turned her around to face me and pulled the hair away from her face. "You know—to protect you from those bad dreams."

"I made a promise. You'll never sleep in that room."

"Who said anything about sleep?" I said jokingly.

"Nate, stop." She pushed me in the mid section gently and turned back to the pancakes.

You're pushing too hard. Back off. I clapped my hands together. "O-kay—how about some coffee?"

After breakfast, we went on another little walk in the woods. This time I held her hand as we walked. I kept the conversation light. I pointed out things in the woods like nests and dens and snake holes. I steered clear of my mother's grave. She had enough sadness right now. When we got back to the house, I again took her hands in mine. "I'm going to go help the guys with the second building. We've decided to make four rooms and add a bathroom. I'll see you at dinner?"

"Sure. I've got some things to do today. I actually have a lot of dirty laundry I brought back with me."

"Good." I nodded my head, but I couldn't stop staring at her lips. I hesitated still not sure if I should kiss her. I wanted kiss her so badly. I leaned in slowly to see her reaction. She leaned toward my lips, and I kissed her. It wasn't a peck, but it only lasted a few seconds. As I pulled back, I licked my bottom lip to savor the taste. It took everything I had in me to stay in control. "Later, then."

I was on cloud nine as I walked away from her. The wall had been breached.

That evening we were supposed to have baseball practice, but it rained, so Wanda and I watched TV on the couch with some of the others. I draped my arm around her, and she snuggled into my side. It was nice. I saw no sign of Gina. I knew Tori was in the funhouse playing poker. There was no sign of Blake, so I figured she might be trying to cozy up to him. Tori's way of flirting was sarcasm, which worked great on me, but I wasn't sure if Blake would catch the subtle hint. The others didn't seem to notice my casual hold on Wanda probably because it wasn't unusual for me to snuggle up to someone. Just the other day, I was lying on the couch with Tori watching TV. It was Saturday night, so some of the older kids were staying up to watch a late movie. I was tired, and so was Wanda. She walked me out the back door into the cool night air to say good-bye.

When we got to the bottom of the steps, I put my arms around her waist, leaned back, and looked intently at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You're not ready to give up that ring yet, huh?"

"I'm sorry. It's such a beautiful ring," she said in her defense.

"It is that." I smiled at her.

"I'll see you in the morning?"

"Try and stop me." I backed away and took her hands. I pulled each of them up to my lips and kissed them. I released her hands, did a half bow, turned, and walked away.

I popped into the funhouse to check on Victoria. Rob said she went to bed. Gina kissed Evan on the lips and whispered something to him and bolted out the door ahead of me. I thought she might be waiting to interrogate me or even to yell at me. I exited the building and saw that Gina had taken off at a flat run.

"Gina!" I called.

She never looked back.

In the morning, I had breakfast waiting. After breakfast, I walked Wanda to the baseball field rather than the woods. It was a nice day, and we would most likely have practice later.

Before we entered the first dugout, I turned to her. "I wanted you to see this because I didn't want you to be surprised at practice."

"What?"

I held her hand and led her into one of the dugouts. On the back wall, Victoria had drawn a portrait of Ian holding a bat. It wasn't the best picture, but considering she had drawn it from memory, it was pretty good. It was obviously Ian. Wanda took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I told her she could do whatever she wanted," I explained.

"It's okay. I guess he should be on this wall. This is his field."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

She didn't look okay to me. I took her hand and walked her back to the house.

"Burns wants you to go with him to get some groceries, and after dinner, we were going to have practice. Burns is going to stand in as coach."

"That's why you showed me the picture."

"Yes. I figured you'd want to practice with the kids. Show your commitment to them." I smiled. "I'll see you when you get back?"

"Sure, are you going to work on the building?"

"No, I have other commitments today. Besides, Burns needs to get some supplies for the building as well."

I kissed her quickly on the lips and walked away. I turned around in a full circle to smile and wave at her. I was proud of myself for holding back. I wanted to give her just enough to let her know that I was still interested.

While Wanda was with Burns, I played chess with Uncle George. Then I did a physical inventory of the store rooms in the cave. Gina came to me while I was doing inventory.

"Nate?" she called from behind me.

"Gina!" I smiled broadly. I missed her, and I hated that she was angry with me. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to know if I could borrow a book."

"Of course, you can have any book you want."

"Thanks." She turned to walk away.

"Hey…" I called out. "I asked Burns to bring back some mint chocolate chip ice cream for you."

She forced a smile. "That's nice of you."

"Gina, I don't want you to hate me."

"I don't hate you. I'm just sad." She walked away.

After dinner, practice went smoothly. Burns wasn't as tough on the kids as Ian was, so they had a habit of goofing off. A few times, Wanda had to get them back in line citing that they wouldn't want her to call Coach and report their bad behavior. Most of the kids didn't know about me and Wanda as a couple. They assumed the snuggling on the couch was just friendship. Anything else we had done was when we were alone. I was very careful not to flaunt our relationship, although up to this point, there really wasn't much of one. After practice, we went to the game room and played poker with some of the regulars which included Victoria and Holly. Holly kept giving Wanda weird looks. Holly had not been informed of state of affairs between Ian and Wanda. It seemed as though she was trying to piece together information.

At the end of the night, I walked Wanda to the front porch again. It was a chilly night; a sign that fall was almost here. I didn't sit but walked to the top of the stairs towing Wanda behind me. "Today was a good day."

"Yes, it was."

I needed to come clean. "I've been trying really hard to give you time to heal. Every time I'm with you it's a battle to not kiss you. Wanda, I'm losing this battle."

I pulled her hair way from her face and tucked it behind her ear. I leaned in slowly. I pressed my lips gently to hers. Her lips were warm, and I felt a jolt of electricity jump through my body. As I opened my lips to kiss her again, she put her arms around my back and pulled me towards her. My lips erupted in passion. I ran my fingers through her satin hair and held the back of her head. My tongue pierced her lips, and I slowly circled the tip of my tongue around hers. My dick was standing at attention in the hopes that he would get a little action as well. I was enjoying the moment. Slowly, I brought the kiss to a close.

I looked into her beautiful blue eyes. "Do you want to run away?"

"No."

"Good." I kissed her again. As I kissed her, I let my hand fall to her breast. They were small compared to Gina and Rachel's, but it just enough to fill my cupped hand. She raked her hands through my hair and pulled my head even tighter to her lips. I let my tongue dart around hers as I savored her sweet flavor. When we stopped, we were both panting and clutching each other.

"How would you feel if I made love to you right here on this porch?" I asked.

"Cold?"

I laughed. It wasn't the answer I expected, but I was glad that she was in a good mood. The moonlight that filtered onto the porch softened her already delicate features, and she looked almost like a ghost. My fear was that ghosts fade away. "Well, I guess I can wait another night." I kissed her one more time but kept the passion to a minimum before I whispered, "Good night, Beautiful."

I left her feeling good about the progress we had made. She didn't stop me because of Ian. I remained in control, and I felt that I had done just enough to keep her interested.

I didn't stop at the funhouse. I was feeling on top of the world, and I didn't want to see Gina. The sight of her would just bring me down. I settled into my bed and fell asleep quickly.

I slept well. I had high expectations for the day, and I couldn't wait to get on with it. I changed quickly and hightailed it toward the house. The smell of breakfast assaulted my nose as I entered the back door. I heard voices in the kitchen, so I knew that Wanda was already up. It sounded like Burns was in there with her. I went to the bathroom to do my morning routine before entering the kitchen.

"You were so excited to see me you couldn't sleep?" I said cheerfully.

"Yes, I miss your charm and wit," she replied with a smile.

"Well, you look beautiful today as always."

I sat in the chair, and as she walked past me to the sink, I couldn't resist the urge to hold her. I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into my lap. I decided it was time to push the flirtation to the next level. "Tonight, I am going to cook you dinner, and dessert will be at my place, so please dress appropriately."

"That's a little demanding, isn't it?"

"I think it's my turn to be demanding, but I promise you'll make out in the long run."

"Okay. Are you going to work on the building today?"

"If it's okay with you."

"It's okay."

"Good. I have to get going since I'm leaving early to cook your dinner. I hope you like Italian food."

"I guess I'll find out."

She got off my lap, leaned over, and kissed me on the lips. She tried to pull away, but I grabbed her face and kissed her again. It was a great feeling. I really didn't want to leave her to go to work, but I told myself that those buildings could be for our wedding.

The day dragged by. My thoughts were not on creating the framework for the rooms in the bunkhouse. My head was filled with thoughts of Wanda. Tonight, I was hoping to seal the deal, but if I couldn't, I would at least want to try to strengthen the relationship. It wasn't as if Wanda and I were strangers in a new relationship. We had traveled down this road before. The big difference was she didn't have to feel guilty about her attraction to me. My problem was I was afraid that she still would. At four o'clock, I knocked off leaving the others as they continued to work. They suspected there was something going on between me and Wanda, but they couldn't be sure exactly what. I showered and dressed in a pair of black pants and a button down dress shirt.

I entered the kitchen and began pulling out the ingredients I would need to make baked Ziti. I was pleasantly surprised when Wanda entered the kitchen wearing my favorite black, gray, and white, three tier, babydoll dress.

"You're early. I haven't even started dinner yet." I skipped a few beats as I admired her beauty. "Although, I must say, you look good enough to eat."

Her face turned a faint shade of pink. "I wanted to help. You don't mind, do you?"

"You're asking me if I mind spending time with you?"

"I guess I am."

I walked up to her and took her hands in mine. "Sweetheart, every moment I get to spend with you is like a little moment of happiness that's wrapped up in a tiny bubble. I'm hoping to fill an Olympic sized pool with those bubbles."

"How do you always say the right things?"

I placed my hands on her face. "What makes me happy is that you think they are the right things to say." I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, and the jolt of electricity went through my body like a Tazer. We stood in the kitchen kissing for several minutes before she brought me back to reality.

"Nate," she managed to say in between kisses.

"Yes?" I kissed her again.

"Dinner?" I kissed her again.

"Right," I said as I pulled away.

"One more," she said, as she pressed her lips to mine and pushed her delicate tongue into my mouth. "Mmmmmm," she hummed.

"Okay," I said as I licked my lips. "We are making baked Ziti."

We cooked together, and it was fun. There was lots of touching and flirting and the cooking was peppered with little kisses as well the occasional make out session. When we placed the Ziti in the oven to bake, we started to make a salad, but I ended up pushing her up against the counter. I kissed her again passionately. "Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?"

"Can we eat dinner first?"

I laughed. "Sure, but I'm looking forward to dessert."

Dinner was delicious. After we cleaned up, she took my arm, and we walked to the caves. I led Wanda to the place where the stars were. I had my partner in crime, Victoria, lay out a picnic basket and a blanket. I bade Wanda to sit on the blanket, and I sat next to her.

"In case I didn't say it before, you look ravishing tonight." I opened the picnic basket and produced a plate with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

"Now I brought dessert, but the rule of thumb is that you can't feed yourself. You can only feed me, and I can only feed you." I picked up the strawberry and dipped it into the tub of Cool Whip. "Open up, Beautiful."

She opened her mouth, and I held it to her lips. As she bit down on the strawberry, some of the whipped cream smeared onto the tip of her nose.

"Let me get that," I said as I used my finger to swipe the cream away. I licked my finger. "Mmmm, tastes almost as good as you," I quipped.

"Now your turn," she said before I could feed her another. Just as I had let the cream wash over her nose, she did the same to me. Instead of using her finger, she leaned forward and licked it away. She was being playful, and I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to make the most of it. I leaned forward and kissed her. She didn't fight me on it but placed her hand on my face welcoming the kiss. I slowly pushed her down onto the blanket and hovered above her. The make out session began. Her skin was so soft—like silk. I gently ran my fingers along her face. Her full lips caressed mine, and the thoughts in my mind began to swirl around as I fantasized about how I wanted this night to end. After a while, I finally stopped kissing her because another minute and I would literally be tearing her clothes off. My dick was screaming to get at her. I lay next to her on the blanket. We were facing each other staring into each other's eyes.

"Wow," she whispered.

"Did you like that?" I asked still caressing her face with my knuckles.

"Uh-huh."

"Good." Silence followed, and we rolled onto our backs and stared out at the stars. After a few minutes, I rolled towards her and spoke. "I wish I could see the real you."

"You might not like it."

I stroked her hair as I spoke. "I've been thinking about that actually. On earth, we've always thought of the soul as the life force of the body. It is not something you can touch, but without it, there would be nothing but an empty shell. It's what makes a person who they are. If they took you out of that body, would the body come back to life?"

"No."

"Then I would see a true soul, and it would be real. How could that not be beautiful?"

"Kiss me," she said softly.

I did as I was told. I let my hand travel to her breast where I caressed her over her bra. This went on for a while and again my male member was crying to be released. I had to stop.

"I need to get Cinderella home before I turn into an ogre." I got up and pulled my beautiful porcelain doll to her feet.

"Why? I was having a good time," she protested.

"Because—another five minutes and I'll be ripping your clothes off. I have only but so much control."

"Thank you for being honest about it."

"Thank you for giving me tonight."

I walked her to the back steps. The house was jumping because it was Saturday night, and the kids were up late watching a horror movie.

"I should take my leave," I said still being careful not to broadcast our budding romance. "I'll see you at breakfast?"

"Sure but no pancakes."

"No pancakes?" I gave her the puppy dog eyes.

"How about omelets?"

"I'm hungry already." I smiled and kissed her palms. "Good night, Beautiful."

"Good night."

The next few days with Wanda were filled with tender moments. We took turns preparing breakfast for each other. We always made sure the other guys were gone before we had our private meals in the kitchen. The others around the mountain were beginning to realize that there was more than just friendship between us. We were caught more than once in a lip lock, and it was usually while we were in the kitchen.

I made sure I had showered and shaved before dinner each day, so the rest of the night would belong to Wanda. Unfortunately, Victoria was right. She was being ignored for the most part. Gina looked like she was going to explode when she caught us in the root cellar making out while doing our laundry. I had to give Gina credit though. She never gave away the fact that she and I were lovers. She merely excused herself citing she thought the laundry room would be empty. I recognized the agony in her eyes, but I think Wanda saw it as disappointment that she couldn't do her laundry at that moment.

We spent most nights in the game room playing pool. I enjoyed these moments because I got to touch her. Anytime I had my body against hers was a good moment for me. Sometimes, we played cards with some of the others. These were the times when I got to hang with Victoria. I often joked with Tori, and I could almost detect a twinge of jealousy on Wanda's part.

It was Wednesday evening. Wanda and I were in the game room playing pool when her phone rang. She immediately went into a panic thinking it might be something bad. I stood by as she answered the phone.

"Hello?"…"Hi, no I wanted to call you, but I knew I wouldn't get through." She placed her hand over the phone and said, "It's Sunny," as she left me standing at the pool table and exited the building. Wanda returned after a few minutes. She looked distressed. She approached me almost cautiously. "I'm going to call it a night."

I could read the panic on her face. "Did you talk to Ian?"

"No, I couldn't."

"You should have."

We walked outside and continued the conversation.

"Why? I'm here with you," she replied trying to justify herself.

"Are you? You just said you were calling it a night."

"Ian. I'm doing the best I can."

Ian? She called me Ian?

"I'm not Ian."

"Crap! I'm sorry!" She turned and bolted for the house.

"Wanda!" I called out but she didn't stop. "Fuck! One phone call, and she's reverting right back to where we started!

I debated on whether or not to go after her. I couldn't beg. I could flirt with her and I could court her, but I couldn't beg. It had been a perfect week, and Ian destroyed it in one phone call.