"Who's Kate?" Lena asked.
"A friend." Hayes said walking quickly to his horse. "If they do anything to her I'll kill
em'."
"Hey! Wait up!" Lena said following. "You've only been here fer 24 hours an' ya got trouble
tailin' ya already? Whut happened?"
"I'll explain while we look fer em'." Hayes said as he sat on his
horse. "Git yer horse."
As Hayes and Lena raced across the horizon trying to find clues to
get to Kate, Hayes explained the entire story as Lena tried to make some sense out of his endless
chattering.
In the meantime Kate was tied up to a stall in an old abandoned barn struggling to be free
from the ropes that chaffed her wrists and ankles. They were tight and they hurt as they bled.
The warm blood of her nose bleed from Jappy's hard punch trickled down her throat, as she
reluctantly swallowed she felt a headache coming on. She couldn't worry about that right now.
She had to find a way to escape or hope that Hayes would find her.
* * * * *
"I know what it feels like, Kate." Alex muttered to herself.
"I think we all do, Alex." Trivette smiled. " We've been through a lot these years."
"After you get done that story of Hayes you're gonna have to share some of those stories
with us." Sydney said in a suggestive tone.
"You've heard most of them." Alex sighed.
"Yeah, by C.D's words." Gage said as they chuckled and their smiles faded. C.D their close
friend, very much like a father to them had just passed away a few months ago and the pain
of losing someone they loved was still evident in their eyes.
"Ok, sure." Alex said. "When C.D told us a story we all fell asleep and didn't hear a damned
word he said. Did I tell you about Big Foot Johnson?"
"Nah." Sydney laughed. "But we heard it about 50 times from him. He always repeated where
he kept the jerky. Come on, I can't wait to hear the end of the story."
* * * * *
"Where do ya think she could be?" Lena asked.
"Dunno," Hayes sighed looking around. "But when I git my hands on Jappy an' Ben I'll kill
em'."
"Jeez'," Lena said. "If anyone had a friend of mine I'd kill em', send em' to hell an' bring
em' back jist to kill em' agin."
"I'd do more'n that." Hayes muttered.
"Woah, Little protective ain't we? Some ass surfin on yer turf?" Lena asked suspiciously.
"How special is she to ya?"
Hayes looked up to her not knowing exactly what to say about that.
"Nevahmind." Lena sighed in exsaperation as she rolled her eyes. "Howdcha meet?"
"On Paradise Trail with a group of mormons," Hayes said. "They were in trouble so I rode with
em' to their family. When someone ambushed us we caught im' an' he wouldn't shut up. Kept
sayin' he knowed he knowed Kate from somewhere. From Tulsa as Sully at the Red Line dancin'
Said she was bout' the hottest thing that ever hit the dance floor."
"A dancer?" Lena frowned.
"Yup." Hayes said.
"Is she still a dancer?" Lena asked.
"No," Hayes said. "She stopped dancin' after she found a home with the mormons."
"Have ya seen her dance?" Lena asked.
"No," Hayes said. "Why'd I want to?"
"Cuz' yer a man. " Lena sneered jokingly.
The hunt for Kate seemed to go on forever and the crooks were weren't anywhere to be seen
yet. Hayes began to worry but showed no fear. He sensed that Kate wasn't in any drastic
trouble yet. Truthfully he didn't want to know.
* * * *
"Damnit!" Kate muttered as she surrendered to the ropes. "Why do I even bother? It's too
dark in here and men are jerks. That son of a bitch is goin' down an' I'm gonna see it happen."
Her face twisted in an angry sneer as she tried to kick the bucket in front of her but failed
to reach it. The ropes were too tight. Finally she just screamed hoping someone would find her.
* * * *
"Why are we kidnappin' the girl?" Tommy asked Jappy annoyed. "She ain't got nothin' to do with
Cooper. We said we were only gonna git im'."
"Cuz' Tommy," Jappy sarted sarcasticly. "If were right bout' this Coopers got a thing fer the
girl so he's gonna come runnin' an' hook, line, sinker we got im' an' we don't leave witnessess.
Are you stupid?"
"I jist don't think it's a good idea is all." Tommy said.
"I don't care." Jappy sneered holding his gun to Tommy's neck. "I want you to git out an' find
Cooper agin'. Before you say anythin' I jist want ya to know git im' I'll git ya before Cooper.
That's a comfort."
So Tommy did as Jappy told him. There was no way out of it now. The last time he got caught
by Hayes it scared the hell out of him and he hoped he wouldn't have to do that again. Wrong.
Just when he was thinking about getting caught again he saw what would be deep trouble to him.
Hayes Cooper was riding along the wooded path as the sun's rays blazed in his eyes. Soon another
cowboy figure peered out from around the corner behind Hayes. Tommy decided he'd play a little
game of hide and seek for a few hours before he was snipped again. Tip toeing from one tree to
another as he spied on his enemies he not only saw another cowboy, however that cowboy was what
seemed to be a female. 'Huh?' Tommy thought, 'odd. That'll make im' easier to git.' Tommy decided
to play his cards with a poor hand and charged at Hayes and Lena on his horse whooping and
screaming like a banshee. His horse came to a halt as Hayes' horse bucked in alarm and Lena's
whinned as if it saw a ghost. Tommy pulled a gun out and Lena drawed on him before he could open
his mouth to speak. He fell to the ground below his feet wincing in pain with a bullet in his
shoulder. Lena jumped off her horse and walked over to Tommy to get a closer look at him and
turned to Hayes.
"This the one?" Lena asked.
"Yup." Hayes simply said as he sat on his horse looking at him.
When Lena wasn't looking Tommy stood up about ready to deck her in the face but she reared a
kick out from behind her in his stomach sending him flying right in Hayes' horse's feet. Hayes
just sat on his horse watching as if he couldn't get enough action.
"Hi Mr!" Lena greeted Tommy with a punch in the nose. "I wuz' jist wonderin' if you seen
my girlfriend Kate.
"Who the Hell's Kate?" Tommy denied as he held his nose.
"Don't ride with me on this? I'm talkin' bout' Kate," Lena snapped as she kicked his knee watching him
fall. "Byrnes."
"I don't know whut yer talkin' bout'!" Tommy whined.
"Oh yes you do." Lena told him with a punch in the chest.
"Are you tryin' to kill me for nothin'?" Tommy shrieked gasping for air.
"If ya tell me where Kate is then jist maybe I won't kill ya, Stupid." Lena sneered.
"Over my dead body!" Tommy snapped.
"Ah-ha! You do know what I'm talkin' bout'!" Lena's fist rammed right in his nose and he
screamed like a banshee in a trap.
"You broke by dose!" Tommy whined.
"Looks real good on ya," Lena smiled. "But I like it the other way." Lena's fist was in mid
air when Tommy finally spoke up.
"NO! An old abandoned barn up on the hill." Tommy cried. 'bout 10 minutes from here tops. don't
hit me agin' an' please don't let Jappy after me."
"Didcha catch that?" Lena asked looking at Hayes as he nodded back. "Good I'll take him back
to his pals over at the county jail."
& & &
"God, Tommy is stupid." Sydney sighed. "I mean he should know better than to go after Hayes
the second time after being caught already."
"That's true." Alex nodded as she stretched and yawned. "Boy, I'm wiped."
"So am I." Trivette said. "Where on earth is Walker? I can't raise him on the radio."
"He's out for the Casey brothers in San Antone." Alex said. "He wanted to do it alone. You
know him. Let's get this story kaput."
& & &
Kate was starting to get very tired. Praying for a soul to find her and struggling from
the ropes all day was tiresome so she decided to take a light sleep. She wasn't in any danger
yet as far as she could see and Hayes was probably going to be a while. While Kate slept she
had a dream. In that dream she saw Hayes saved her and in no time she was safe in his arms
smiling in her slumber. She heard the hooves of his horse clacking on the solid ground. She
was still asleep but the sound still never stopped. They seemed to come closer and louder. The
noise made her jump up and it seemed so real that she just had to look around the corner to see
what it was. It was Hayes. She smiled and called his name, "Hayes! I'm here.Help me."
Hayes lifted his head as he jumped off his horse and ran in the barn. Suddenly 2 men ran in through
the back of the barn shooting their guns.
"No!" Kate screamed as a bullet struck Hayes in the arm and the next bullet burned by her
thigh knicking it by an inch and she screamed as a pang of sudden pain went up her leg.
Wincing Hayes pulled out his gun and shot him to the ground like nothing. He crawled over to
Kate and untied the ropes on her ankles and wrists. She looked at his arm wincing.
"Let me fix this." Kate said as she ripped the front of her dress out and tied it around
the wound in the flesh of his arm wincing. "This has got to hurt."
"Yeah, it does." Hayes sighed in pain. "You get used to it. Does your's hurt? How bad is it?"
"Not as bad as your's." Kate smiled pained. "It only knicked me. I don't believe this. I won't
believe this."
"What?" Hayes asked as he looked at her. It was funny because it was the first time he ever
looked a woman in the eye without bringing his head down like always.
"I figured we'd be doing something else other than talking about bullets flying at us."
Kate chuckled." I thought we'd be sitting around gabbing."
"Let's go to town." Hayes smiled as he picked her up off her knees and helped her up on his horse.
They rode back to town and Kate held the reins as Hayes bandaged her wound.
& & &
Kate never got too much sleep when she had been kidnapped so she slept all afternoon. Just
before she fell asleep she made Hayes promise her he wouldn't leave until she woke up. She
dreamed that Hayes left while she was sleeping and she popped up in a little sweat. She needed
to see for herself if he hed left. She jumped her out of her bed forgetting she had been shot
in the leg. A sharp pain flew up her thighs and she fell to the floor groaning.
"Damn." She muttered as she pulled herself up holding on the foot of her bed and pushing
with her other leg. She walked to her window to see what she would see. Just a rainy day and
drops almost as big as golf balls pounded the glass.
"Who banged?" Hayes asked peering around the corner in her room.
"Me. Sorry." Kate giggled. "I got up and fell flat on my face. It was a long way down."
"Y'ain't suppossed to do that." Hayes sighed as he shook his head walking in.
Kate stared out the window watching contently as the rain poured in front of her face on the
window pane.'oh sure,' Kate thought. 'Hayes is leaving and it has to rain. it's enough to make me cry.
i hate rain.'
"I don't suppose you'll be back this way?" Kate asked.
"I don't suppose." He said.
"Whynot?" She asked.
"Whut kinda quesun' is that for a bounty hunter?" Hayes asked.
"Some bounty hunters live somewhere. Besides wouldn't it be nice to have roots in a place?"
Kate reasoned with him.
"It would." He agreed.
"Then stay." Kate said hopefully as she looked up at him.
"It's not that easy." Hayes started.
"Sure it is." Kate pleaded. "All you do is put yourself some place and stick in it."
"I would if I could." Hayes said solemnly.
"Remember what you said on the patio yesterday?" She asked. "you had a home with your
mother and father before they died and it was then you felt complete? Maybe it'll make you
feel better."
"Tempting." Hayes gulped as he looked in her eyes thinking, 'busted! she got me there. Damned
them eyes are creepy. they make me feel as if my skull is shrinkin'. Is it shrinking? oh larwd
it is!'
"Pleeease. Just for a little few days?" She begged and smiled as she knew she was winning
this dispute thinking,'Gotcha! Man I love wheedling him. it's so fun! I can't believe it!
I'm beating him! if that isn't the goofiest look of losing I ever saw in my life.'
"Jist for a little while." He said pointing his finger at her. "I'm not stayin' ferever so
don't git too atattched."
"Yes!" Kate yelped as she jumped in his arms giving him a big hug knocking them both on the floor.
The pain of where they had been shot was very painful. "Oooww, My leg."
"My arm," Hayes grimaced in pain. "Hurts like hell."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Kate laughed apologeticaly and helped herself up then helped Hayes up.
"Now, seeing how you're staying I think we should talk of old times and go somewhere. Hey,I know.
Let's ride our horses and...
* * *
Alex stared off in space as she closed the book smiling, "Ain't nothin' like a nice happy
ending."
Trivette, Gage and Sydney looked at Alex grinning until they couldn't hold it any longer.
Bouts of laughter erupted the room and brought Alex's attention back to present time.
"What?!" She yelped.
"Geez, A face can't get any cornier than that." Gage snickered.
Alex rolled her eyes and threw a balled up paper napkin at him. He ducked and the ball flew
into Walker's head with a plomp.
"I'm telling you Gage," Walker warned. "If she throws anything else at me I'll kill you. Also
she'll do a lot of damage. Like she hasn't already. Yesterday she threw a dead plant out the
bedroom window upstairs and it went smack dab on my poor head. So what are we doing?'
"Nothin'." Alex said as innocently as hell. "Just hangin' out."
"You look like you feel better." Walker said as he wrapped her arms around her.
"You had to remind me." Alex smiled but it quickly disappeared and she broke free of his arms
with eyes as wide as saucers and hand over her mouth running straight to the washroom. "You
had to remind me."
"Sick again." Trivette sighed.
"Syd, how long does this morning sickness last?" Walker asked.
"How should I know?" she asked back scrunching her face.
"I'm just glad I don't get anything like that?" Walker said as his face curled.
"God, men are whimps." Sydney sighed
Gage, Walker and Trivette exchanged glances and started to talk all at once.
"Can't argue with that." Trivette said.
"We're men." Walker nodded.
"We're whimps." Gage admitted.
"A friend." Hayes said walking quickly to his horse. "If they do anything to her I'll kill
em'."
"Hey! Wait up!" Lena said following. "You've only been here fer 24 hours an' ya got trouble
tailin' ya already? Whut happened?"
"I'll explain while we look fer em'." Hayes said as he sat on his
horse. "Git yer horse."
As Hayes and Lena raced across the horizon trying to find clues to
get to Kate, Hayes explained the entire story as Lena tried to make some sense out of his endless
chattering.
In the meantime Kate was tied up to a stall in an old abandoned barn struggling to be free
from the ropes that chaffed her wrists and ankles. They were tight and they hurt as they bled.
The warm blood of her nose bleed from Jappy's hard punch trickled down her throat, as she
reluctantly swallowed she felt a headache coming on. She couldn't worry about that right now.
She had to find a way to escape or hope that Hayes would find her.
* * * * *
"I know what it feels like, Kate." Alex muttered to herself.
"I think we all do, Alex." Trivette smiled. " We've been through a lot these years."
"After you get done that story of Hayes you're gonna have to share some of those stories
with us." Sydney said in a suggestive tone.
"You've heard most of them." Alex sighed.
"Yeah, by C.D's words." Gage said as they chuckled and their smiles faded. C.D their close
friend, very much like a father to them had just passed away a few months ago and the pain
of losing someone they loved was still evident in their eyes.
"Ok, sure." Alex said. "When C.D told us a story we all fell asleep and didn't hear a damned
word he said. Did I tell you about Big Foot Johnson?"
"Nah." Sydney laughed. "But we heard it about 50 times from him. He always repeated where
he kept the jerky. Come on, I can't wait to hear the end of the story."
* * * * *
"Where do ya think she could be?" Lena asked.
"Dunno," Hayes sighed looking around. "But when I git my hands on Jappy an' Ben I'll kill
em'."
"Jeez'," Lena said. "If anyone had a friend of mine I'd kill em', send em' to hell an' bring
em' back jist to kill em' agin."
"I'd do more'n that." Hayes muttered.
"Woah, Little protective ain't we? Some ass surfin on yer turf?" Lena asked suspiciously.
"How special is she to ya?"
Hayes looked up to her not knowing exactly what to say about that.
"Nevahmind." Lena sighed in exsaperation as she rolled her eyes. "Howdcha meet?"
"On Paradise Trail with a group of mormons," Hayes said. "They were in trouble so I rode with
em' to their family. When someone ambushed us we caught im' an' he wouldn't shut up. Kept
sayin' he knowed he knowed Kate from somewhere. From Tulsa as Sully at the Red Line dancin'
Said she was bout' the hottest thing that ever hit the dance floor."
"A dancer?" Lena frowned.
"Yup." Hayes said.
"Is she still a dancer?" Lena asked.
"No," Hayes said. "She stopped dancin' after she found a home with the mormons."
"Have ya seen her dance?" Lena asked.
"No," Hayes said. "Why'd I want to?"
"Cuz' yer a man. " Lena sneered jokingly.
The hunt for Kate seemed to go on forever and the crooks were weren't anywhere to be seen
yet. Hayes began to worry but showed no fear. He sensed that Kate wasn't in any drastic
trouble yet. Truthfully he didn't want to know.
* * * *
"Damnit!" Kate muttered as she surrendered to the ropes. "Why do I even bother? It's too
dark in here and men are jerks. That son of a bitch is goin' down an' I'm gonna see it happen."
Her face twisted in an angry sneer as she tried to kick the bucket in front of her but failed
to reach it. The ropes were too tight. Finally she just screamed hoping someone would find her.
* * * *
"Why are we kidnappin' the girl?" Tommy asked Jappy annoyed. "She ain't got nothin' to do with
Cooper. We said we were only gonna git im'."
"Cuz' Tommy," Jappy sarted sarcasticly. "If were right bout' this Coopers got a thing fer the
girl so he's gonna come runnin' an' hook, line, sinker we got im' an' we don't leave witnessess.
Are you stupid?"
"I jist don't think it's a good idea is all." Tommy said.
"I don't care." Jappy sneered holding his gun to Tommy's neck. "I want you to git out an' find
Cooper agin'. Before you say anythin' I jist want ya to know git im' I'll git ya before Cooper.
That's a comfort."
So Tommy did as Jappy told him. There was no way out of it now. The last time he got caught
by Hayes it scared the hell out of him and he hoped he wouldn't have to do that again. Wrong.
Just when he was thinking about getting caught again he saw what would be deep trouble to him.
Hayes Cooper was riding along the wooded path as the sun's rays blazed in his eyes. Soon another
cowboy figure peered out from around the corner behind Hayes. Tommy decided he'd play a little
game of hide and seek for a few hours before he was snipped again. Tip toeing from one tree to
another as he spied on his enemies he not only saw another cowboy, however that cowboy was what
seemed to be a female. 'Huh?' Tommy thought, 'odd. That'll make im' easier to git.' Tommy decided
to play his cards with a poor hand and charged at Hayes and Lena on his horse whooping and
screaming like a banshee. His horse came to a halt as Hayes' horse bucked in alarm and Lena's
whinned as if it saw a ghost. Tommy pulled a gun out and Lena drawed on him before he could open
his mouth to speak. He fell to the ground below his feet wincing in pain with a bullet in his
shoulder. Lena jumped off her horse and walked over to Tommy to get a closer look at him and
turned to Hayes.
"This the one?" Lena asked.
"Yup." Hayes simply said as he sat on his horse looking at him.
When Lena wasn't looking Tommy stood up about ready to deck her in the face but she reared a
kick out from behind her in his stomach sending him flying right in Hayes' horse's feet. Hayes
just sat on his horse watching as if he couldn't get enough action.
"Hi Mr!" Lena greeted Tommy with a punch in the nose. "I wuz' jist wonderin' if you seen
my girlfriend Kate.
"Who the Hell's Kate?" Tommy denied as he held his nose.
"Don't ride with me on this? I'm talkin' bout' Kate," Lena snapped as she kicked his knee watching him
fall. "Byrnes."
"I don't know whut yer talkin' bout'!" Tommy whined.
"Oh yes you do." Lena told him with a punch in the chest.
"Are you tryin' to kill me for nothin'?" Tommy shrieked gasping for air.
"If ya tell me where Kate is then jist maybe I won't kill ya, Stupid." Lena sneered.
"Over my dead body!" Tommy snapped.
"Ah-ha! You do know what I'm talkin' bout'!" Lena's fist rammed right in his nose and he
screamed like a banshee in a trap.
"You broke by dose!" Tommy whined.
"Looks real good on ya," Lena smiled. "But I like it the other way." Lena's fist was in mid
air when Tommy finally spoke up.
"NO! An old abandoned barn up on the hill." Tommy cried. 'bout 10 minutes from here tops. don't
hit me agin' an' please don't let Jappy after me."
"Didcha catch that?" Lena asked looking at Hayes as he nodded back. "Good I'll take him back
to his pals over at the county jail."
& & &
"God, Tommy is stupid." Sydney sighed. "I mean he should know better than to go after Hayes
the second time after being caught already."
"That's true." Alex nodded as she stretched and yawned. "Boy, I'm wiped."
"So am I." Trivette said. "Where on earth is Walker? I can't raise him on the radio."
"He's out for the Casey brothers in San Antone." Alex said. "He wanted to do it alone. You
know him. Let's get this story kaput."
& & &
Kate was starting to get very tired. Praying for a soul to find her and struggling from
the ropes all day was tiresome so she decided to take a light sleep. She wasn't in any danger
yet as far as she could see and Hayes was probably going to be a while. While Kate slept she
had a dream. In that dream she saw Hayes saved her and in no time she was safe in his arms
smiling in her slumber. She heard the hooves of his horse clacking on the solid ground. She
was still asleep but the sound still never stopped. They seemed to come closer and louder. The
noise made her jump up and it seemed so real that she just had to look around the corner to see
what it was. It was Hayes. She smiled and called his name, "Hayes! I'm here.Help me."
Hayes lifted his head as he jumped off his horse and ran in the barn. Suddenly 2 men ran in through
the back of the barn shooting their guns.
"No!" Kate screamed as a bullet struck Hayes in the arm and the next bullet burned by her
thigh knicking it by an inch and she screamed as a pang of sudden pain went up her leg.
Wincing Hayes pulled out his gun and shot him to the ground like nothing. He crawled over to
Kate and untied the ropes on her ankles and wrists. She looked at his arm wincing.
"Let me fix this." Kate said as she ripped the front of her dress out and tied it around
the wound in the flesh of his arm wincing. "This has got to hurt."
"Yeah, it does." Hayes sighed in pain. "You get used to it. Does your's hurt? How bad is it?"
"Not as bad as your's." Kate smiled pained. "It only knicked me. I don't believe this. I won't
believe this."
"What?" Hayes asked as he looked at her. It was funny because it was the first time he ever
looked a woman in the eye without bringing his head down like always.
"I figured we'd be doing something else other than talking about bullets flying at us."
Kate chuckled." I thought we'd be sitting around gabbing."
"Let's go to town." Hayes smiled as he picked her up off her knees and helped her up on his horse.
They rode back to town and Kate held the reins as Hayes bandaged her wound.
& & &
Kate never got too much sleep when she had been kidnapped so she slept all afternoon. Just
before she fell asleep she made Hayes promise her he wouldn't leave until she woke up. She
dreamed that Hayes left while she was sleeping and she popped up in a little sweat. She needed
to see for herself if he hed left. She jumped her out of her bed forgetting she had been shot
in the leg. A sharp pain flew up her thighs and she fell to the floor groaning.
"Damn." She muttered as she pulled herself up holding on the foot of her bed and pushing
with her other leg. She walked to her window to see what she would see. Just a rainy day and
drops almost as big as golf balls pounded the glass.
"Who banged?" Hayes asked peering around the corner in her room.
"Me. Sorry." Kate giggled. "I got up and fell flat on my face. It was a long way down."
"Y'ain't suppossed to do that." Hayes sighed as he shook his head walking in.
Kate stared out the window watching contently as the rain poured in front of her face on the
window pane.'oh sure,' Kate thought. 'Hayes is leaving and it has to rain. it's enough to make me cry.
i hate rain.'
"I don't suppose you'll be back this way?" Kate asked.
"I don't suppose." He said.
"Whynot?" She asked.
"Whut kinda quesun' is that for a bounty hunter?" Hayes asked.
"Some bounty hunters live somewhere. Besides wouldn't it be nice to have roots in a place?"
Kate reasoned with him.
"It would." He agreed.
"Then stay." Kate said hopefully as she looked up at him.
"It's not that easy." Hayes started.
"Sure it is." Kate pleaded. "All you do is put yourself some place and stick in it."
"I would if I could." Hayes said solemnly.
"Remember what you said on the patio yesterday?" She asked. "you had a home with your
mother and father before they died and it was then you felt complete? Maybe it'll make you
feel better."
"Tempting." Hayes gulped as he looked in her eyes thinking, 'busted! she got me there. Damned
them eyes are creepy. they make me feel as if my skull is shrinkin'. Is it shrinking? oh larwd
it is!'
"Pleeease. Just for a little few days?" She begged and smiled as she knew she was winning
this dispute thinking,'Gotcha! Man I love wheedling him. it's so fun! I can't believe it!
I'm beating him! if that isn't the goofiest look of losing I ever saw in my life.'
"Jist for a little while." He said pointing his finger at her. "I'm not stayin' ferever so
don't git too atattched."
"Yes!" Kate yelped as she jumped in his arms giving him a big hug knocking them both on the floor.
The pain of where they had been shot was very painful. "Oooww, My leg."
"My arm," Hayes grimaced in pain. "Hurts like hell."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Kate laughed apologeticaly and helped herself up then helped Hayes up.
"Now, seeing how you're staying I think we should talk of old times and go somewhere. Hey,I know.
Let's ride our horses and...
* * *
Alex stared off in space as she closed the book smiling, "Ain't nothin' like a nice happy
ending."
Trivette, Gage and Sydney looked at Alex grinning until they couldn't hold it any longer.
Bouts of laughter erupted the room and brought Alex's attention back to present time.
"What?!" She yelped.
"Geez, A face can't get any cornier than that." Gage snickered.
Alex rolled her eyes and threw a balled up paper napkin at him. He ducked and the ball flew
into Walker's head with a plomp.
"I'm telling you Gage," Walker warned. "If she throws anything else at me I'll kill you. Also
she'll do a lot of damage. Like she hasn't already. Yesterday she threw a dead plant out the
bedroom window upstairs and it went smack dab on my poor head. So what are we doing?'
"Nothin'." Alex said as innocently as hell. "Just hangin' out."
"You look like you feel better." Walker said as he wrapped her arms around her.
"You had to remind me." Alex smiled but it quickly disappeared and she broke free of his arms
with eyes as wide as saucers and hand over her mouth running straight to the washroom. "You
had to remind me."
"Sick again." Trivette sighed.
"Syd, how long does this morning sickness last?" Walker asked.
"How should I know?" she asked back scrunching her face.
"I'm just glad I don't get anything like that?" Walker said as his face curled.
"God, men are whimps." Sydney sighed
Gage, Walker and Trivette exchanged glances and started to talk all at once.
"Can't argue with that." Trivette said.
"We're men." Walker nodded.
"We're whimps." Gage admitted.