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Chapter 4

Chris, Randy, and Kurt walked into the saloon laughing. Chris had to admit to himself that it had been a long time since he had enjoyed any kind of male company as much as he had theirs. Both of the men were smart and funny, which reminded Chris that there were still decent people left around.

"I swear, this place gets better and better each time I walk in here," Kurt said watching the show on stage.

There were three dancing girls showing off their very shapely legs in a can-can dance. Torrie was the shorter blonde, Stacy was the tall blonde in the middle, and Victoria was the black haired girl. Kurt knew all of them and they were just the sweetest of girls. They were on their way to California to some big fancy dance hall when their stagecoach had broken down a few months back. Miss Stephanie had had no problems talking them into staying.

"I didn't know that there was a show tonight," Randy said with a smile on his face.

"Me either, let's go get us a table," Kurt said nodding his head at an empty one close to the stage.

The three men made their way to the table thru the rambunctious crowd. They sat down and watched the three girls dance. Kurt blushed bright red when all three of the girls yelled out, "Hi Kurt!"

"Ladies," Kurt said tipping his hat and blushing.

"Look at him, he's going to keep doing that until his face stays that way," Randy said with a chuckle.

Chris wasn't paying much attention to the boys. He was too busy looking for Miss Stephanie. He frowned a little when he couldn't find her. Granted, he didn't really know her at all but that didn't stop him from wanting to get to know her. He was starting to get frustrated. Where could she be?

"Are you looking for somebody Mister?" a familiar voice asked from behind him.

A small smile broke out on his face at hearing the voice. She was there and standing right behind him. He turned slightly to look and was stunned by what he saw. The pretty girl he had seen earlier today was standing in front of him as a beautiful vibrant woman.

Stephanie had taken extra special care with her appearance tonight. She had on a modest but slightly low cut midnight blue gown that barely touched the ground. The lace trim was black which seemed to accent her dark brown hair. Unlike earlier, it was curled and pulled back from her face.

"Miss Stephanie, how are you?" Chris asked trying to hide his shock at her appearance. She was more beautiful now than she was when he met her earlier in the day. He shook his thoughts mentally and smiled.

"I'm fine, how did you like the hotel?" Stephanie asked with a smile.

"It was great, just great," Chris said.

"Hello Kurt, Randy. What can I get you guys to drink?" Stephanie asked.

"I think we'll have three shots of that fine whiskey of yours," Chris said.

"Coming right up," Stephanie said walking off to get their drinks.

Stephanie could hardly believe that was the same man that was in the saloon earlier. If she thought he was cute before, he was downright handsome now. His blonde hair looked so elegant lying on his shoulders. He had shaved and it made him look so much younger. She could barely stop her hands from shaking as she poured the shots and loaded them on the tray. She walked back up to the table.

"Here you go boys," Stephanie said setting the drinks on the table.

"Thanks Stephanie," Kurt said handing her a coin. "The first round is on me boys."

"I'll drink to that," Randy said with a cocky grin on his face.

"Good, cause the next one is on you," Kurt said smugly watching Randy's face fall.

Chris was unable to take his eyes off of Stephanie. Never before in his life had he ever been attracted to a woman this strong before. It was almost has if his heart was whispering, "She's the one; the one you've been waiting for."

Stephanie felt as though she could drown in those beautiful blue eyes of his all night long. They were such a unique color of blue and seemed to see inside her very soul. There was something about this man that attracted her like a bee to honey; she couldn't fight the attraction even if she wanted to because it seemed so natural to feel this way about him.

Kurt nudged Randy in the ribs, grabbing his attention away from the girls. He looked at Kurt with an irritated look on his face then noticed him nodding his head towards Chris. He smiled as he noticed how Chris and Stephanie both were just staring at each other and not saying a word.

"Busy night tonight Stephanie," Kurt said grinning from ear to ear.

"What? Oh, yes it is," Stephanie said with a slight blush on her face. She finally broke eye contact with Chris to look at Kurt. "Did I tell you my good news? I finally paid the saloon off. It's all mine."

"Well, congratulations Stephanie," Kurt said with surprise in his eyes. "I'm real happy for you."

"Thanks Kurt, that means a lot. I guess I had better get back to work. If you guys need anything, just holler," Stephanie said turning back to walk towards the bar.

Chris was unable to keep his eyes off of Stephanie. There was something about that woman that he couldn't explain and didn't want to. Why should he? He was in new territory here; he had never EVER had a woman affect him as much as she did. Hell, he didn't even know what was going on with himself so how could he even begin to try and explain it?

"I think Chris has a crush," Kurt said with a slight smile. "Good luck with that one buddy," he said with a slap on Chris's back. "You'll need it."

"Why do you say that?" Chris said unable to take his eyes off of her.

"Well for one, do you see that giant sitting there in the corner?" Kurt said nodding his head towards the corner at the entrance of the saloon.

Chris turned his head and his eyes widened. The man, as if on cue, stood up when Chris turned his head. He had never in his life seen anybody that big before. He looked like what Chris had pictured the giant looking in Jack and the Beanstalk.

"What in the hell is that?" Chris asked in awe.

"That, my friend, is the Big Show. We call him Show for short," Kurt said.

"He's like Stephanie's bodyguard except they are really good friends. When Stephanie first moved to town, he was right beside her and has been ever since," Randy said.

"Oh, so Stephanie has not lived here all her life?" Chris asked.

"No, she moved here around a year ago. She was real quiet and didn't talk much. The old man that owned the saloon before her, old Freddie Blassie, well, she looked just like his long lost daughter. He tried to give her the saloon but she wouldn't hear of it. She made him give her a price. She went to the bank and borrowed the money," Kurt said.

"Wow, Freddie, man I sure do miss him," Randy said with a sad smile on his face.

"He told the best stories of anybody here in town. He could have laughing your ass off one minute and crying like a baby the next. God Bless you Freddie," Kurt said nodding his head up at the sky.

"I take it Freddie is no longer around," Chris said.

"No, bless his soul, he passed away about three months ago. He made sure that Stephanie was took care of but she doesn't know it," Kurt said with a little bit of pride in his voice. "A lot of people don't know it but Freddie owned a lot of land just passed the Evolution ranch. Hunter doesn't know it but Freddie left that land to Stephanie free and clear."

"Why didn't he tell her?" Chris asked.

"He didn't want to put her in danger. As long as she doesn't know and Hunter doesn't know, then there is nothing to worry about," Randy said.

"Does Show know?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, he knows. He and I talked right after Freddie passed away. He wish Freddie hadn't of done it but there was nothing that could be done about it once Freddie was gone," Kurt said.

"What about her parents? Where are they?" Chris asked only to be met with dead silence.

He looked at Randy and Kurt with a puzzled look on his face. He could tell from the expressions on their face that he had asked the wrong question. The only problem with that was that he didn't know why it was a bad question.

Randy looked at him with a soft look on his face. Chris was new in town and he was asking a normal question. He understood; he had done the exact same thing at times. "I'm going to let you in on a secret. If you want to stay on her good side, never mention her parents," Randy said quietly.

"Why? I don't understand. She seems like the kind of girl that most parents would love to have," Chris said getting more and more puzzled by the minute. This didn't make sense to him but family matters rarely did. He only knew that if he would have had a family that he would have been proud and loyal. He just didn't understand how people turned their backs on their families.

Kurt saw the puzzlement on Chris's face and felt sorry for him. It was difficult for people to understand why families did what they did with each other. It really wasn't a good time or place to go into the subject of Stephanie's family. "Listen, we'll talk later when there aren't so many ears around."

Chris picked up his shot of whiskey and downed it quickly while the other two did the same. He didn't know what was going on but he decided to drop it for now. It really wasn't a good idea to stir up trouble on his first night in town. Besides, he was having a good time with Kurt and Randy. It had been a long time since he had had decent male conversation. He didn't realize how much he had missed it until right then.

"Why don't I get us another round?" Chris asked.

"Sounds good to me," Randy said with a gleam on his eye.

"Same here, but Randy IS buying the next round," Kurt said smugly.

Chris laughed when he saw how Randy's face dropped completely when Kurt said that. Shaking his head, he picked up the three shot glasses and headed towards the saloon. He still couldn't help staring at Stephanie in awe. She was just so beautiful and just so radiant. Every time that he looked at her he felt like there was nobody else in the world but him and her.

Stephanie noticed Chris walking up to the saloon and tried to act nonchalant about it. She knew that he had noticed her. She also had a pretty good feeling that he knew that he had her interest. She cleared her throat and said, "What can I get you Chris?"

"Another round for me and my buddies," Chris said with a grin.

Suddenly the music stopped and the place was silent. Chris turned his head towards the entrance and noticed three men standing there. One man was white-haired and much older than the other two. The other was dark and seemed to fill the room with his presence; the third one was so smug looking that Chris wanted to walk up and slap the piss out of him just for standing there looking like that.

He turned to look at Stephanie and noticed the color drain from her face. She quickly poured his shots and set them on a tray. She then smiled at Chris and said, "Here you go, would you mind carrying them to your table?"

"No ma'am, for you anything," Chris said. He tipped his hat and carried the tray back to the table. He then quickly put his eye on Stephanie to keep an eye on her. Something was right and he had to do with the three men that walked into the bar. There was danger in the air and it surrounded him like a thick fog on a dark rainy night.

Chris felt a keen sense of relief noticing that Show was already behind the bar. He also noticed how Show looked at the three men with a bored look on his face. There wasn't anything that Show wouldn't do for Stephanie and beating the three men that had just walked in the door would give him immense pleasure.

Finally the music started back up and the men walked over to a table and sat down. Stephanie nodded her head at Show and walked up to the table. "Hello fellas, what can I get for you to drink?"

"I believe we will all have a shot of whiskey please," the older man said with a slight smile. "Business is looking good Stephanie."

"I'm doing ok Ric," Stephanie said with a polite smile. "I'll be right back with your drinks."

Stephanie quickly walked back to the saloon and fixed their order. She started to have Show take the drinks to them but changed her mind. She wasn't afraid of them before and she damn sure wasn't afraid of them now. They might have power but she had been trained her whole life on how to deal with power.

Hunter kept his eyes on Stephanie like a hawk watching its prey. She was an attractive woman and those kinds of women were hard to find here out here in the middle of nowhere. She also owned the saloon that he wanted and there was nothing that would stop him from getting what he wanted. There was just too much at stake. He enjoyed the high life way too much to be knocked down from it now.

Stephanie quickly brought their drinks and set them down. Ric handed her a coin and a small smile. She smiled back as a courtesy from one businessperson to another. She didn't like any of them but they were paying customers and their money was as good as anybody else's money. She quickly turned hoping to escape before Hunter spoke but she was too late.

"So Stephanie, have you thought any more about my offer?" Hunter asked in a deceptively calm voice. "I would give you top dollar for the place." His eyes narrowed as he watched her for her reaction. She never liked him talking about her selling the saloon to him and he doubted that would change anytime soon.

"Hunter, I don't mean this to be rude but I'm not selling. You just can't seem to understand that," Stephanie said trying to keep her anger in check but failing. Her eyes showed every emotion and she had never learned how 'not' to do it.

The anger flashing in her eyes was showing Hunter that he was pushing all the right buttons. Soon it would be time to make a move. Exactly what kind of move he made rested solely on Stephanie's shoulders. "I'm sorry to hear that Steph, you know what they say, 'Here today; gone tomorrow,'" Hunter said with a cold gleam in his eye. "I would just hate to think of something happening to you or your saloon."

Dave sat there quietly trying to keep his stomach from rolling. He had no idea how much longer he would be able to stand by his family but his gut told him that it wouldn't be much longer. He hated they way they bullied everybody and then used him to keep everybody in line. He was a big man but he was also very quiet.

Living in Hunter's shadow all these years was a very bitter pill to swallow. His dad, Ric, never paid that much attention to him. "You're too much like your mother," Ric would say whenever he pulled himself a good drunk. "No good account Indian bitch, you're lucky I even consider you my son."

Shaking his head slightly of his thoughts, he turned his attention back to the situation on hand. Stephanie was a very nice girl that had never said one cross word about anybody in this town. He was getting tired of his brother's high- handed ways but now was neither the time nor the place for that to come out. He had to pick his time and place carefully or he would never be able to break free from them.

Show noticed the fire flashing in Hunter and Stephanie's eyes. He knew the situation between the two of them was very explosive. He was going to let Stephanie handle them all by herself until he saw that. "Is there a problem?" Show said walking up behind Stephanie.

"No, no problem," Stephanie said with a cool look in her eyes. "Hunter was just asking if I was interesting in selling but I've turned him down yet again. You think some people would take the hint." She turned and walked off feeling pretty darn good about getting the last word in for a change.

Chris sat in the corner admiring the courage of Stephanie. She had quite a bit more spunk than he had originally thought which surprised him. He had sat quietly watching her anger flash in her eyes only for her to cool it down quickly. She seemed to know the 'right' time and 'wrong' time for certain things.

Kurt enjoyed watching the dance girls but it was getting late. "Well guys, I am going to have to call it a night," Kurt said standing up. "I've got a long day ahead of me. You come on to the ranch tomorrow and we'll see about getting you hired on."

"I'll do that but it will probably be in the afternoon. I've got a few things to take care of first," Chris said with a slight smile on his face.

"I reckon I'm going to be heading out too. Miss Ivory likes to wake me up before dawn," Randy said standing up and stretching.

"You just don't want to pay for the last shot," Kurt said knowing his friend all too well.

"Jeez, I promise to buy the first shot tomorrow night," Randy said grabbing his hat and slapping it on his head. "Will that make you happy?"

"Immensely," Kurt said with a grin. "We'll see you tomorrow Chris."

"Later," Chris said with a nod of his head.

Randy and Kurt quickly walked across the saloon hoping to avoid Hunter. It was bad enough that Kurt had to work for him but to have to deal with him outside of work was asking too much. Luckily for Kurt, Hunter was too interested in the new guy in town to even notice that his foreman was walking out of the saloon.

Hunter sat there staring at the longhaired blonde man sitting at the table by himself. He made it a point to know everybody in this town and that was one man that he didn't know. Grabbing his drink, he walked over to the stranger and said, "Hi there, mind if I join you?"