Okay, last chapter before school starts back. I hope that I can post again next week, but we'll see. If not, I'll probably revert back to the every other week schedule. Thanks again to everyone for reading and responding. I hope that you'll continue read and enjoy the story.

Chapter Forty-seven

Jeremy stared at the money stacked on the bed, the money he'd saved from all of his allowances, and deduced that it wasn't going to be enough. It wasn't going to be enough to support him and Danielle until they could settle in a town far away from Lexington. So what was he going to do, the boy mused, what he'd hoped he wouldn't have to do, he now concluded, which was to resort to his old ways, resort to stealing. Jeremy had decided to resume his plan to take Danielle, after his talk with Ned hadn't gone like he'd hoped it would. For when he'd gone in to speak with the man, and stated that he'd come to talk about Danielle, Ned had instantly responded, perhaps sensing his nervousness and reluctance to continue speaking. And had asked if he'd given any more thought to telling the Chambers the truth... "I still think that coming clean is the best path to take." The man had added, after stating his question. "Considering you're still secretly visiting your daughter." The man had said; then went on tell him that he wasn't fooling anyone. That him continuing to see his daughter clearly showed that he wasn't ready to let go. "But that's okay." Ned had assured, which for an instant had encouraged Jeremy, until the man had then tied "it being okay" back to him telling the truth... "Maybe you and the Chambers could work through all that's happened." He'd said. "And come to an amicable agreement regarding Danielle. Where you could all be in her life, the Chambers as her guardians, who she'd live with, and you as her father, who could visit whenever you want, perhaps even keep her sometimes." The words "keep her sometimes" had rung in Jeremy's head, stuck in his mind like glue, and at that moment he realized that Marita was wrong. Ned would never agree to help him gain custody of his daughter he'd thought. Because the man believed that he should share her with the Chambers, which was something that he wasn't willing to do. Danielle was his little girl and he didn't want to share her with anyone, especially not the people who'd stole her from him. So Jeremy had kept quiet about asking Ned for help. And had instead told the man what he wanted to hear, admitting that he wasn't ready to let go of his daughter. Then lying, stating that he should probably tell the Chambers the truth, before he was again honest, declaring that he couldn't do it – not yet. Ned had seemed somewhat pleased to hear this response, and now more than two weeks later, Jeremy was putting the final touches on his plans to finally take Danielle...

"Jeremy?" The boy suddenly heard from behind, which prompted him to quickly throw a shirt that was laying nearby over the money he'd been counting, just as Alice walked into the room.

"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked with annoyance, after turning to face the young woman.

"The door was ajar…so I just came in." Alice answered awkwardly, now feeling embarrassed about entering the room. "I'm sorry." She added.

"What do you want?" Jeremy asked shortly, disregarding the girl's apology.

"I want to talk to you." Alice said unevenly, ignoring the boy's hostile mood, knowing that if she got into a tiff with him, she'd never get to do what she came there to do.

"About what?" Jeremy retorted. "Getting out of this house before Christmas."

"No." She sighed. "I want to talk about...the past few weeks..."

"Oh what you want to do a recap of how you've hated me for the past month?"

"No, I don't want to do a recap." Alice stated. "I'm well aware of how terribly I've treated you."

"Are you?" Jeremy scoffed. "Cause I could've sworn that I was the worst thing to every come into your life ..."

"Jeremy please…"

"Please?" The boy uttered mockingly. "Did I just hear you right? Did I just hear Alice Logan, little Miss. Perfect say please? I can't bel…"

"Jeremy stop it!" Alice yelled, causing the boy to cease to speak. "Now I know that you're angry and you have a right to be after the way that I've treated you, but you're going to listen to what I have to say…and if you still want to be angry with me... then that's fine." She ended strongly. Jeremy stared at Alice in shock, not believing what he'd just saw; what he'd just heard. Though Alice had blown up at him before, he didn't think he'd ever seen her so commanding and determined to state her peace. And he never thought that she'd admit that he had a right to be angry and that her treatment of him had been terrible; was she trying to make amends he questioned with hope; was she trying to patch up their friendship...

"So…" Jeremy cautiously began, breaking the awkward silence. "What is it you want to say?" He asked, now ready to listen to what the young woman had to say.

Alice didn't answer right away, but took a moment to settle her nerves and gather her thoughts; before she then took a breath and spoke…"These past few weeks, I've treated you bad, like you didn't deserve to be apart of this family... and I'm sorry." She said with sincerity, causing an insightful Jeremy to still be taken aback. "I was angry and I felt... used..." She continued. "But…I still shouldn't have said the awful things I said to you." Alice finished with earnest as she continuously held his stare, before he averted his eyes feeling happy about her apology, but at the same time sad in that he was about to disappoint her again.

"Look I know ...that we can probably never get back... the kind of friendship we had before all this happened…"Alice tentatively resumed, disrupting Jeremy's thoughts, prompting him to bring his eyes back to her. "But I would like for us to at least try." She said. Jeremy still didn't utter a response, but only stood quiet, wanting to speak, but not knowing what to say; fearing that if he said anything he'd be lying to her again... "But if you don't want... to be friends again." Alice sadly pronounced, when she saw the boy's reaction to her words. "I underst…"

"No!" Jeremy finally asserted, stopping Alice before she could complete her thought. "I do…want to be friends again." He said cautiously.

"Really?" Alice questioned nervously, with a hint of joy in her voice.

"Yeah." Jeremy said, conveying it from his heart. "And I'm sorry… for lying…and for using you and your family." He stated with sincerity, cringing inside at the lies that he was still telling.

"I know." Alice replied, making the young man feel good and horrible at the same time. "So let's just forget it…" She suggested with earnest. "Let's just... start afresh."

Silence –

"Okay." Jeremy agreed as guilt raced within. "We'll start afresh." He said, repeating Alice's words, forcing himself to return her smile, while aching inside at his continuous lies.

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Isaac made his way across the restaurant, towards his daughter, who was seated at a table that was nestled in the corner. She was hurting so much he thought, as he drew closer to her, watching as she stared sadly out the window, hurting seemingly more than she had before, when she and Sean had parted ways the first time. For she was hardly eating, and he suspected that she wasn't getting much sleep, given how tired she'd sometimes be, even after going to bed early the night before. Isaac wanted so much to help her, to erase her pain with just an utterance of soothing words, but that wasn't how such things worked, he mused with sorrow, only time and being away from Sean would work to heal his daughter's wounds...

"Honey aren't you going to eat your breakfast." Isaac asked as he returned to his seat at the table, noticing that his daughter hadn't touched her food.

"I'm not hungry." Marita quietly replied as she continued to gaze out the window.

"Honey you've barely eaten since we've been on travel." Isaac declared with worry, while continuously staring at his daughter.

"Pa I know." Marita said, now turning her eyes to him. "I just ...don't have much of an appetite." She explained, briefly lowering her gaze; choosing not to mention the queasiness she'd been feeling, for fear that he'd suspect what she'd been wondering for days.

"I know that you don't have much of an appetite." Her father stated. "Considering...all that has happened, but won't you try and eat something?" He implored. "You need to eat before you make yourself ill."

"I'm sorry pa, but I can't." Marita sighed, hating to worry her father this way, wishing that she could take a bite of her food, but knowing that if she did she'd become ill.

"Marita..."

"But I promise I'll try and eat something at lunch." She quickly asserted, attempting to quell his growing concern. But her father continued to study her with worry, still not liking the answer she'd just given. But what could he do? He thought. He couldn't force her to eat. He could only hope, pray that she'd take some food at lunch; otherwise he'd have to resort to the only option he'd have left, which was to take her to a local doctor, in hopes that he could somehow convince her to eat, before she made herself seriously ill.

For a moment the Peters remained quiet as Isaac returned his attention to his plate and slowly finished his food, while Marita resumed her stare out the window; her mind heavily on Sean, wondering what he was doing, wondering if he was still okay. All of his bruises should be healed by now, physically he should be fine she grieved, but inside she knew that he was far from well, that his heart was aching just as much as hers. Marita briefly closed her eyes at the pain that ceaselessly rush through her. She didn't know if she could keep this up. She didn't know if she could continue on like she had before, going months on end without Sean. But somehow she had to – right? For it was for the best wasn't it? She didn't know anymore. She mused with confusion and angst. She didn't know if being apart was the best thing. For now there may be an extension of their bond, if what she feared had indeed happened. And even if what she suspected turned out to be false, in her soul, she'd still feel that she'd done the wrong thing in walking away from Sean again...

"So what do you want to do for Christmas?" Isaac abruptly asked, breaking his daughter's thoughts in an attempt to brighten the mood.

"Christmas?" Marita nearly sighed as she turned her gaze back to her pa; her heart aching at the thought of all the Christmases she and Sean had spent together; at how they planned to be married by then. "I haven't really thought about it." She said, forcing a casualness in her tone.

"Well I figured that you hadn't." Her pa calmly responded; seeing right through her attempt to sound okay. "So I was thinking that we could go up to Louisville and visit with Winfred." He continued. "He's been trying to get us to come up and visit for years. We could stay with him and the family through the holidays, and after the New Year I could accompany you from there, back to Cholena."

"Pa I don't know." Marita uttered with hesitance; hurting at the thought of being hundreds of miles from Sean, during a time that was so special to her. "I'm really not up for visiting right now…"

"Honey I know." Isaac acknowledged, understanding his daughter's pain. "But visiting with old friends may be just what you need. It may just help... take your mind off Sean and…"

"Pa nothing will take my mind off of Sean." Marita interjected softly.

"Honey I'm sorry." Isaac quickly apologized. "I know that this is difficult. That it will be difficult for you to spend Christmas in Louisville." Her father continued with compassion, now clasping his daughter's hand. "But being in Lexington won't be much better." He contended. "In fact, I think being on the ranch would make things worse…it'll just remind you ...of what can never be with Sean."

Marita closed her eyes; grieving at the truth in her father's words. She knew that it would tear her apart if she spent Christmas on the Ranch without Sean. Yet she couldn't imagine spending it someplace else. And no matter how painful, she wanted to be on that ranch.

"Honey you don't have to make a decision now." Isaac said, seeing the conflict and pain in his daughter's face. "But just think about it…and remember that you have to try…no matter how hard it is... to start moving on from Sean."

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"Mr. Campbell?" Ned said as he lightly tapped on the door of the State Land Auditor's Office, getting the attention of the man behind the desk.

"Mr. Logan?" The man replied, now looking towards the door.

"Yes. Ned Logan." Ned said as he entered the office and made his way to the man's desk.

"Jim Campbell." The man pronounced as stood from his chair and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Campbell." Ned stated, shaking the man's hand. "Thanks for taking the time to meet with me." He added.

"Well when Assemblyman Clancy telegrammed that you had an urgent matter that only I could resolve, I felt that I had to make the necessary adjustments to meet with you immediately."

"Well thanks again." Ned uttered.

"You're welcome." Mr. Campbell said as he returned to his chair and offered Ned a seat. "So what is that I can help you with?" The man then asked after Ned sat down.

"Are you familiar with the Winters Development Deal?" Ned queried.

"Why yes." The man answered with hesitance. "But I was under the impression that knowledge of that deal would not be available to the public until the deal had closed."

"You're correct." Ned smoothly confirmed. "Actually I'm one of the businessmen planning to invest in the deal." He fibbed with skill. "However, it's recently come to my attention that the property due to be developed through this deal, may have a lien on it." He said. "And that's why I've come to you." He explained. "I'd like to know if there's any truth to what I've learned before I contribute my funds to this project."

"All right." Mr. Campbell declared with caution. "But is there any reason why you couldn't get this information from the Franklin County Land Auditor?" He questioned.

Silence –

"Well..." Ned paused; then calmly resumed, not the least bit alarmed by the man's somewhat wary demeanor. "I don't know how to say this except to just say it." He said. "But I was informed ...that the initial report on this property, which in fact came from the Franklin County Land Auditor's office, was incorrect." He revealed, now thinking how Sean had got the ball rolling, after he'd told him what he'd learned from Andrew, and discovered the possible lien on the land, and had then gotten Clancy to contact Mr. Campbell so that Ned could meet with man one on one. "That's why I'm here." Ned continued. "Because I thought that only you, the State Land Auditor, could give me an accurate report on the land in question."

"Well this is true." The man acknowledged with an uncomfortable sigh. "Even though I can't imagine why Mr. Hawkins wouldn't release an accurate report." He said, while Ned deemed that it was probably due to Mr. Hawkins being paid off. "But I guess it won't hurt to pull the file." The man continued as he stood from his chair; then made his way to a file cabinet that was nearby. Moments later Mr. Campbell returned to his desk and opened the file he'd pulled for review... "Hm." The man uttered in a strange tone as he closely studied the documents before him.

"What is it?" Ned asked with remarkable restraint, even though he was anxious to know what the man had found.

"Well... it looks as if you may have cause for concern." Mr. Campbell stated slowly and with a frown, still gazing at the file. "Because according to what I see here, there's still a considerable lien owed on that land...which means that it shouldn't be apart of any development deal unless the parties involved are informed of it's debt..." Ned remained quiet as the man continued to speak, maintaining the piqued look on his face; when in reality he was fairly pleased, knowing that Asa Winters would soon get what was due him.

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Pete rode his horse under the shed, ducking out of the rain that was steadily coming down. Dam this weather he thought with frustration, and dam Asa Winters for insisting that they meet out here, in the middle of nowhere. Well at least there was a shed on the land, Pete thought, otherwise he'd be catching his death waiting in that cold rain. And at least he was finally going to get his money from Asa he now mused. After weeks of stalling, using every excuse in the book not to meet him, the man had finally "found a time when he could meet" to pay him the rest of what he owed on the snow job Pete had done on Sean. Pete knew that it was somewhat immoral for him to be taking the rest of that money after telling the Logans that he was sorry and attempting to make amends by telling Clay what he knew about the attack, but a deal was a deal. He'd done what Asa had asked, and even though he was truly sorry for carrying out that deed he thought with guilt, now recalling how it had hurt Vivian and had caused Sean more problems than he wanted to think about, he expected to be paid the money he was ow...before Pete could finish that thought, he heard noises behind him; the sound of horses, galloping in the rain. Pete quickly turned around and was stunned to see horsemen, swiftly approaching, instantly knowing that he was in trouble, that they were coming for him. He'd be set-up Pete angrily deduced. That bastard – Asa Winters had gone back on his word to not seek vengeance against him. But thankfully he was prepared Pete mused as he reached for the weapon in his saddle, watching as the men drew closer. There was no way he was going down he vowed. There was no way he was going to fall prey to Asa's treachery.

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Asa stood outside the office of Regional Affairs, the Deputy Director's office of Regional Affairs, which was still Sean Logan's job, due in part to his daughter's lies. Asa thought with rage, as he recalled all that should've gone on. Vivian should've been in Europe by now, and Sean Logan should've been completely destroyed. Yet that wasn't the case Asa seethed. Sean Logan was back as Deputy Director, facing no real consequences for his involvement with that Negro. And Vivian, his sweet little conniving daughter was still in town, blackmailing him into helping her get Sean back. Asa could hardly believe how far off course things had gone. That he was here, standing outside this door, about to do his daughter's bidding. But what else could he do? Even though Vivian was betraying him in the worst way, by threatening to inform the authorities about what she knew, he couldn't deal with her the way he dealt with other betrayers. Because she wasn't just another betrayer, she was his daughter. And in spite of everything he couldn't destroy her. So, he'd do what she wanted he mused with fury, he'd "convince" Sean that it'd be in his best interest to make his daughter happy. But this wasn't over by any means, the man angrily vowed; for there was no way in hell he was going to let his daughter marry Sean Logan, or turn him, her father, in to the authorities. It just wasn't going to happen; somehow he was going to stop her. But not now he thought. First he had to appease his daughter by "talking" with Sean Logan; then he'd figure out how to put her back in her place. Asa sighed with ire his mind racing with this mess he was going to have to fix. Well at least Pete was out of his hair he mused, briefly thinking how the man should've been taken down by now. Asa then moved to knock on the office door, but changed his mind and instead entered the office; concluding that Sean didn't deserve the respect of him knocking...

As soon as Asa barged into the office, a busy Sean, who was pulling files from a cabinet, looked up with surprise; then responded with anger...

"What are you doing here?" He questioned tightly, piqued by the sight of Asa and by him storming into his office.

"We need to talk!" Asa stated firmly, as he slammed the door behind him.

"About what? I told you that I wouldn't tell Vivian the truth." Sean responded shortly. "Now get out of my office!" He commanded.

"You told me, but you sure as hell aren't acting like it." Asa retorted, as he moved towards Sean, ignoring the young man's command.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Last evening Vivian came home upset, crying about how you're pushing her away. How you barely have time to spend with her. And how she had to beg you to join her for breakfast today."

"Asa I'm a busy man." Sean contended stiffly, even though he felt terrible about Vivian. "And thanks to your antics, I have a lot of work to do to get this town back behind me." He stated heatedly.

"Spare me the lies!" Asa rejected. "You're pulling away from Vivian because you want to tell her the truth. So that you can run back to that Neg..."

"Get out!" Sean exclaimed fiercely.

"But if you think that I'm going to let you hurt my daughter again you're sadly mistaken." Asa continued lividly, making no attempt to move. "See I know about your little Negro's teaching ventures; I know about her job at that school in Michigan, and I can make that job disappear if need be." He threatened.

"I swear if you go near Marita or anything involving her I will destroy you." Sean warned with rage, now closing in on the man before him.

"Well if you don't give me a reason to go after your precious Neg…" Asa began, but didn't have a chance to finish his threat, due to Sean grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the wall.

"I'm going to say it again." Sean uttered viciously as he held a shaken but fuming Asa against the wall. "You stay. Away. From Marita. Otherwise your daughter will lose more than a "fiancé," she'll lose a father too." Sean vowed with fury, as wrath emanated from his eyes.

"Well that's your choice!" Asa countered venomously as he pushed back on Sean, managing to free himself from the young man's grasp. "You either make my daughter happy and your Negro remains untouched, or you break my daughter's heart and it all goes to hell! You choose Logan!" Asa bitterly threatened, fiercely holding Sean's gaze, before he then turned away, and angrily left the office.