Joe's bored and well on his slow and steady way back to full health. Hopefully he has someone special to help him pass the otherwise monotonous time!
Candy only needed to spend the one night in the convalescence room. Seemed Joe's subconscious got the hint after that and completely quieted down about the subject of... death. Which was greatly appreciated.
Sure, Candy only needed to spend the one night, but that didn't stop him from nearly spending three more.
But Joe, reluctantly, argued against it. Winning when he pointed out that, partly so Candy's bunkmates didn't think he'd been mysteriously fired, and partly so Adam and Hop Sing had less opportunity for laughing at them, it was in fact a 'good' idea for each of them to sleep in their own bed.
Thankfully, that didn't stop the scamp from coming by for both a thoughtful good morning and good night. Every morning and night.
Joe's certain the scoundrel would have given him a good night kiss each time too, if it weren't for the memory of Adam and Hop Sing practically crying with mirth that one morning.
Apparently, there was no such thing as privacy in the house of Cartwright.
On the plus side, a few days had passed since the... cuddling incident, and the witnesses were ostensibly keeping to their sworn silences. Which was really more than Joe had been confident they'd get.
So, glad about that if about little else, Joe found himself lounging in the living room for a welcomed change of scenery, and was reminded of the many other times he'd had to take time off work in favor of laying around the house. Being useless. Or 'healing', as Ben liked to call it.
Feeling reminded especially by the part where he had people telling him constantly to 'stay out of trouble'.
As if he could somehow manufacture himself even a speck of trouble when he could barely walk from the sofa to the dining table and back on his own. Never mind that walking outside while the sun was out would probably give him a splitting headache. As opposed to the regular one he was trying to read through right that minute.
But, he was quick to realize, as annoying as trying to read words that wouldn't stop going double was, it barely compared to how very annoyed one could grow, natural like, just by virtue of having nothing better to do.
Nothing better to do than watch his family go about their days without a hitch in their steps, walking up and down the stairs Joe wouldn't dare try for at least a couple more days, waving as they left to go do things until the next scheduled meal time came around.
But being annoyed by the sight and sounds of his family being active and healthy only made Joe feel guilty. After all, he could never bring himself to wish anything else on them. Especially not injury or ill health.
So he mostly ignored that petty part of his mind and focused instead on being annoyed with his stupid eyes, because reading a plain old book had never been so trying. Not since he'd first learned how to read anyway.
"Hello, Joe," came an unexpected, whispered greeting from right next to his ear.
"Candy?! What in-"
"Hee, I got you good!" Said the cowhand as he slipped over the back of the sofa and settled himself on the cushion next to Joe for a nice little sit. "What ya readin'?"
"Isn't there something work related you're supposed to be doing right about now?" The guy who basically wasn't allowed outside asked, managing to hold back being snippy and settling for something closer to... patient. Sole reason for it being that Candy had at least had the decency to be quiet while he scared the daylights out of him. And since Joe hadn't flinched too bad, his headache was still just an annoyance at the middle ground of his mind.
"Ever heard of playin' hooky?" Candy breezed right on back. Completely unconcerned.
"Psh, I'll be happy when I get back to work; this laying around doing nothing thing is just- it's horrible!" Joe informed. A little gesture around the otherwise unoccupied living space rounding out his argument.
"Well now, I don't know 'bout 'doing nothing'," Candy said as he made a show of making himself comfy in his seat. "You're readin'. That's somethin'."
"It would be," Joe started, a hint of frustration audible even to his own ears, "if my eyes would let me read the words printed on the darn page."
To that, Candy simply sat a little straighter. Before he reached over and slipped the book from Joe's unsuspecting grasp. "Well, where should I start?" The book snatcher asked with aplomb.
Joe gave his hooky playing friend an incredulous look before motioning with his good hand and saying, "The beginning." To which, Candy raised a questioning eyebrow. "Like I said, didn't get very far on my own."
"You weren't kiddin' there, but this'll be better anyhow. Now I get to hear it from the beginnin' too," Candy assured with a sage nod. Before thumbing through pages until he hit the first one and scootching 'subtly' closer to a Joe who was sitting patiently, waiting for the story to begin.
The ranch hand in red cleared his throat before starting. "It is a TRUTH universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
Joe held back a snort when Candy just about set the book down right then and there.
"What in Sam Hill is this?" The guy who wasn't even supposed to be inside that fine hour demanded, flipping the book around in hopes of finding answers. "'Pride And Prejudice'?" At that he cut a sideways glance which Joe did snort at.
"Adam said it's good. Said i-it's a satire. Means it makes fun of folks," Joe explained at the drawn eyebrows. And the ever so slightly disbelieving eyes below.
"Well, if it's a satire," Candy said, sounding as if he was trying out a brand new word. One he was hoping to soon be best friends with. Then he opened the book back up to page one, gave his throat another clearing, and started from the beginning once more.
It took them a few days, but the two self-appointed biggest loafs on the Ponderosa finished the book and managed not to get caught doing it.
Sure, there were a few near misses along the way, but they got through it without anyone throwing a fit, so Joe chalked it up to a win for the book club team.
After all, if Hoss or Hop Sing or, Heaven forbid, Ben himself had barged in and caught Candy red handed, in the act of shirking work, there would have been some... explaining to do.
To make matters worse, the guy in the dark vest hadn't been reading just any old book. No, it turned out 'Pride And Prejudice' was a romanticsatire, so anyone walking in on Candy reading that out loud? The man would never have heard the end of it.
Unless it had been Adam walking in. He might've sat a while and helped them with some of the pronunciations, seeing as he'd been the one to recommend and lend it to Joe in the first place.
"Can't say it's exactly my cup of tea," Candy started as he set the finished book on the edge of the coffee table, "but I must admit: that Austin lady sure knows how to write. And make fun of folks."
"Uh-huh. So what you're saying, Mr. Canaday," Joe started, affecting a stuffy attitude, "is that you're sad to see it come to an end?"
"Well, I don't know 'bout 'sad', Mr Cartwright," Candy said, imitating his ailing friend's affectation, "but if'n I ever get the chance to read satire again, I wouldn't be against another Austin."
The snickering almost got them found out when Hop Sing poked his head out from a kitchen who's food smells were just starting to tease the living room air.
Thankfully, Candy'd seemingly trained himself to duck at the whisper soft sound of distant footfalls, so the chef had thought his patient was simply snickering to his own amusement.
Not strange at all.
Joe grew less and less annoyed with his daily life the farther he could walk unassisted.
Before long, once he was again confident in his ability to walk a straight line without taking a spill, he was venturing outside the house for the chance to breathe in the fresh Nevada air. Splinted arm in a sling, and eyes squinted against the harsh rays of the desert sun.
If the burning light in the sky didn't immediately magnify his headache, and he'd managed to time the excursion right, he'd soon find himself leaned against the family paddock fence and watching Rosy put Cochise through her paces. Diligently exercising her around the ring and facing off against a horned barrel so the cow smart pinto wouldn't lose her edge. Joe exchanging a little repartee with the groom while he did his best not to wish it was him up in the saddle.
Mostly exchanging barbs about how Cochise wasn't gonna be happy when she had to get back to real work after all this time.
The wry smile Rosy sent him at that told Joe she knew all about how restless and eager to be back out there he really was.
The snort his black and white sent him told him she knew too. And that she felt the same.
When the groom and horse finished up with their routine, if he was feeling up to it, Joe'd follow them back into the barn and sneak in a visit with Milkshake and Butterscotch. Slip them each a sugar cube before he slipped his way back in the house for a little alone time with the sofa and the inside of his eyelids. Attempting to soothe the ever present ache that seemed to live there those days.
The evening the book was finished just so happened to also be the evening Joe was allowed once again the freedom to sleep in his own room. Which made for a happy evening indeed. To top it off, what with the sheets being freshly washed and the pillows fluffed to perfection, he slept like a well fed babe.
The following morning, Candy knocking on his door to inform him that breakfast was ready, Joe finished the mostly one handed buttoning of his shirt with a smile which didn't quit until the meal was over and done with. It may even have grown. Knowing that Candy, the sly dog, had made sure to walk down the stairs in front of him so that, if Joe stumbled, he wouldn't have far to fall.
Something else that never failed to draw a smile from him was the thoughtful little visits that Candy peppered through those lonely days full of little other than monotony and familial overprotectiveness. Whether he came by to read to him, or read over his shoulder until Joe noticed he was there, play a quick game of checkers or chess, or even just update him on the smaller goings on in the outside world.
Before long, the thoughtful little visits turned into thoughtful little outings which Candy dragged him off on soon as Joe was permitted to leave the premises for more than 10 minutes at a time.
Being walked around the house to watch Candy sweat in the heat as he cut more and more firewood than the main house was ever going to need, doing his part by rounding up and handing over the occasional log when it tried to escape its fate by rolling off toward the tree line, all put a warm feeling in Joe's chest. An infinitely more enjoyable thing than the petty jealousy of days previous. More productive too.
Even got him to forget about his ever present headache for a spell.
Watching Candy move fresh hay into the barn, then watching him and Rosy use it to clean out and freshen up the family horse stalls was its own kind of fun. What with the way Candy kept whining about 'backbreaking labor' and how it wasn't fair Joe wasn't allowed to join in the fun.
"Now, Candy, you know why Joe isn't allowed to join in," said the main barn's dedicated groom as she rested a foot on the prong base of her pitchfork. Inadvertently pushing it deeper into her heap of fresh hay.
"Oh do I now?" Candy asked as he mirrored her relaxed stance. Joe chuckling at the show the two were putting on.
"He's got a head start on us. Already has a splint. By the end of today, all of us will match," Rosy explained. Smirking when the barn filled with the sounds of definitely not worried laughter.
Yep, thought Joe, on what was promised to be his last day of Pa imposed house arrest, as he cozied himself further into the sofa cushions and opened the new book Adam had just recommended and left him with, things were going alright. What with Hop Sing having finally given the all clear and proudly presented Joe with an officially unsplinted arm. Which was staying in its homemade sling until 'long time from now' further notice.
Freedom, even if it was only gifted to his arm, never tasted so sweet.
"Joe," came a call for attention from the front door. Which, when the sofa's lone occupant turned to check, was open with a red shirted someone standing silhouetted right inside. Hand on the doorknob.
"Candy." Joe acknowledged as he turned back to the new, hopefully entertaining, gift Adam had left him.
"Joe, why aren't you ready?" Asked Candy as he stepped into the foyer.
"Ready? What for?" Joe asked as he resigned himself to not reading. Even though his eyes were well and truly back to normal on that front.
"Our picnic. Or would you prefer to spend today inside as well-"
"I'm ready!" Joe said. Cutting Candy and his ridiculous notion off same time as he barely held back tossing the book away from him in his haste to stand. Instead setting it respectfully on the coffee table.
"Huh. Well that's more like it. Now c'mon, the day's beautiful and Milkshake 'n' Butterscotch are gettin' restless!" Candy said, meeting Joe as he came around the sofa and taking him cordially by one arm as he directed him for the door.
Joe hurried to keep up with Candy's excited strides and nodded thanks when his escort snatched his cream colored hat from its hook by the door. Settling it firmly on his head just as the two of them hit the porch and the first small shafts of warming, mid morning sunlight.
When he blinked the sight back into his dazzled eyes, Joe smiled with the realization that his head didn't hurt any worse than it had back in the living room. And that hadn't been more than an 'eh' on his headache scale, so the day was shaping up to be something special indeed.
With a thought to what Candy'd said about his prized pulling team getting restless, Joe turned just enough to look the man who was guiding him bodily right in the face. "You already hitched them?"
The two kept walking even as the one without the sling shifted just enough to return the look. "Naw, Joe, I know how much you like watchin' me work," Candy said with a smirk "The twins know they're goin' somewhere today is all."
"Oh."
"Plus, they haven't had their sugar cubes yet," Candy added with another smirk.
Candy was right, thought Joe as he watched the ranch hand hooking up his team to a Ponderosa buggy, he did like watching him work.
Liked the way his deceptively strong arms never faltered, the muscles just recognizable as they bunched under the sleeves of his shirt.
Liked the way the man was every bit as gentle with his horses as Joe himself was, even if he looked a tad confused when he spoke low words of encouragement to the pair.
And, it turned out, Joe really liked it when the guy who'd sprung him from another boring day inside looked over at him from across a horse's back or over one shoulder... and winked. Just for him.
Was almost enough to make him blush.
Huh. If a wink was all it took, maybe that teasing look Rosy was suddenly angling his direction was more warranted than not.
Turned out, Candy had had the machinations regarding their little outing figured out for days.
How he got Hop Sing to pack them a basket, Joe figured would forever be a mystery, but he'd be surprised if Adam didn't have something to do with it.
For some reason, their chef seemed to have a soft spot for the eldest Cartwright boy. One that may well have stretched as far as respect even.
As Candy disengaged the brake and asked the creamies to, "Walk on," Joe sat back and happily reacquainted himself with the feeling of his team's gait.
Before they reached the end of the drive though, feeling his brows scrunch minutely, Joe opened his mouth to pose a question of his abductor. "Why the picnic? Today, I mean?"
"To celebrate the splint coming off!" Candy explained as they reached the main road, where he swung the buggy around and pointed them off and away.
"Uh-huh. And where exactly might we be going in order to celebrate this momentous occasion?" Joe asked. Unable to keep the wry teasing out of his question.
"Oh, don't worry; you'll figure it out soon enough," all the coachman seemed willing to say on the matter. So Joe leaned back and breathed in the sweet, sweet smell of freedom. The swaying of the buggy making it easy to pretend that Candy's shoulder repeatedly brushing against his was unintentional and one hundred percent accidental.
The fact that every brush felt less and less like a bump and more and more like a testing of the proverbial waters making Joe wonder why he felt compelled to pretend at all.
The way the last brush was clearly close kin to a caress made him unwilling to do anything when the shoulder forgot the part where it bounced away at the end.
Made him realize he didn't want it to.
So, almost without meaning to, Joe rested his head just a bit on the solid shoulder of the driver next to him and breathed deep that familiar scent that had so long meant 'friend'. Thinking as he did, that he might need to revise that association just a hint. After all, best friends generally didn't kiss each other on the lips. Especially not more than once.
"Alright, we're here!"
Joe blinked his eyes open to the sight of a stand of trees and a pair of cream colored horses coming to a stand between the harnesses of a buggy.
"You want lunch or not?" Candy asked as he leaned forward to set the brake and tie the reigns in place. Careful as he did to continue supporting Joe's slightly confused head.
"I fell asleep?"
"More like hibernated," Candy chuckled as Joe sat himself straight and surveyed their surroundings.
"Is this-"
"Yep!" Said Candy, hopping down off the driver's side and making for the harness on the closest horse. "Same place we picnicked last time!"
All Joe could do to that was sit there and try not to smile like a fool.
Candy'd taken them out to that special place where they'd had what one could argue had been their first date. The pond with the ducks and the nice breeze and the-
"Well? Ain't you gonna help me control these wild animals while I get 'em unhitched?" Candy asked with a cheeky smirk. One meant just for him, thought Joe as he rubbed the vestiges of a good nap from his face. Pleased knowing the simple action would also hide any potential blush from the guy who was almost done freeing the first half of the pulling team.
"Yeah, keep your hat on, I'm coming," Joe assured as he disembarked. Going for griping but hitting something closer to eager, to his dismay.
"Hold yer horses there, pardner," Candy said, holding a haltered, fuzzy head out from himself so that the guy with only one working arm could take charge of the first of the beasts of burden.
It took a bit not to laugh at the word play.
Never mind, thought Joe, as a chortle broke through his play annoyance, Candy deserved to know when he made him laugh.
Before long, the two of them were more than halfway through their picnic lunch and having nothing if not a good time. Admiring the ducklings and the fact that they were at least twice the size as they'd been the last time they'd blown through for a lunch break.
Lounging on a large gingham square, munching on good food, and enjoying the view, Joe sighed a contented sigh and stretched himself out. For once not minding the sling as it held his arm against his chest at a comfortable angle.
"Well Joe, what do you think? Isn't it just the most beautiful thing you ever done seen?" Candy asked of the guy who's head he'd invited to rest on his red shirted belly.
Joe, grinning at the way he could feel his lunch date's question rumble from underneath his head, hummed as he considered.
"I think… that it's the second most beautiful thing 'I ever done seen'," Joe started, glancing up at Candy from where he was laid back, enjoying his first headache free moments in... forever. "In fact, it's so beautiful, it makes me want to spend the rest of my life looking at it. That is," Joe paused to let out a contented sigh, weighing his words for one more moment before forging ahead, "if I can spend the rest of my life looking at it alongside the most beautiful thing 'I ever done seen'."
A half second and Candy's face had lined itself in confusion, brows drawing together as he tore his gaze from the picturesque scene before them.
"Joe?"
"That is: If I can spend the rest of my life looking at it with you, Candy Canaday."
The look on Candy's face was priceless. Worth more than a silver mine and the mountain on top of it. Hands down.
"You mean that?"
"Mmhm."
"But, we've only just begun-" Candy cut himself off to wave a hand in semi-desperation at the picnic blanket beneath them and the quaking ducks down by the water.
"Well, way I see it, we've actually been doing-" Joe mimicked the strange motion his date had so recently gifted them, "for a while now." Then he couldn't stop the fond, exasperated smile that curled half of his mouth. "If you ask Adam though, this's been going on just as long as your average courtship. Maybe longer."
"On account of you mentionin' me in yer letters?" Candy asked. Voice soft.
"Yep. He never said anything about it, till recently, but he claims to have known about 'us' since he opened up my 'latest correspondence' after making port in Melbourne. Sipping chocolate and being bored by the chess competition."
"That brother of yours. He's gonna get us in trouble someday," Candy said with a nearly silent chuckle.
"Eh, according to him, we do that just fine on our own," Joe reminded, turning his face a little further towards his date turned pillow.
"Well, if he says so," Candy said, surprising Joe ever so slightly with the way he leaned down to plant a sudden, soft kiss on his slightly parted lips.
"Yes."
"Huh?"
"Oh, now don't leave me hangin', Joe," Candy lamented. Apropos of nothing. "Which is it gonna be?"
"Which is what 'gonna be'?" Joe asked
"You wanna spend the rest of your life with me or not?"
"Of course- That's what I've been tryin' to tell- Hey," Joe stopped to push himself a little straighter; closer to a sit than a lay. "That's my line!"
"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Candy snickered. Before just about losing it with a peel of fond, mischievous laughter that Joe couldn't bring himself to hold against the guy.
Especially not when his date sealed the deal with another surprise kiss. Followed by a tender hand sliding against one side of his jaw, coaxing Joe closer for another.
And another.
And another.
Yeah, Joe thought as he allowed the man currently kissing him to angle his head just so, there wasn't a thing about this he was ever going to regret.
So long as this was Candy's way of saying 'yes'.
Oh. My. Gosh. I think that was a marriage proposal y'all. And I think they both said YES.
I'm so happy right now!