I DO NOT OWN HATFIELDS AND MCCOYS.

After a very hearty dinner, Jed went out to smoke a pipe on the McCoy's front porch. The meal that Mrs. McCoy had made filled him up. it was good to eat actual food and not rely on game that he had to hunt and skin and cook with his own two hands; as well as nuts and berries and other edibles he could find. As he smoked, he was joined by Alifair McCoy. Jed tried his best to remain calm around this beautiful girl, but he was fighting a losing battle.

"Hey." She said softly as he turned around to see her.

"Oh...hey." He replied as she stood next to him.

"How did ya like supper?" Alifair asked.

"Best meal I had in a long time." Jed smiled. Sally McCoy was one Hell of a cook. The table had been loaded with cornbread and a delicious chicken that was cooked to perfection.

"Poppy says that you a traveling man." Alifair stated. "Ya been drifting long?"

"Seem like forever." Jed admitted. The younger McCoy daughter nodded as she stood next to him on the porch.

"Ya ain't selling something, is you?" She asked. The truth was Alifair has crushing hard on Jedidiah Graham and she didn't want to get her heart broken by a man who had no intention of settling down.

"Should I Be?" Jed asked in return.

"All I know is that mama says when a man rolls into town with no particular place to be, that man be selling something...or he running." Jed grew uneasy at this comment. He was indeed running but he couldn't tell Alifair, not yet anyway. What if she didn't understand? What if she rejected him. He didn't want to ruin what chance he had at maybe one day courting her.

"I ain't selling nothing." He assured her.

"So you running?" She asked with fear in her voice. Jed sighed.

"There was no future for me back home." He replied. "I had ta get away. I had to go somewheres where I could have a life. I could find a plot o' land, grow grops, raise animals, settle down...take a wife."

"And bear children." Alifair finished as she looked deep into Jed's eyes.

"Yeah..." he replied. It was as if time had stopped for them in that one moment. Unfortunately, it left as soon as it arrived.

"Alifair, come help me wit these dishes!" Mrs. McCoy hollered. Alifair sighed as she turned to Jed.

"I gotta help mama." She said.

"I understand." Jed replied. "Ya think, maybe we could talk again sometime." Alifair blushed at Jed's words. No man had ever before wanted to speak with her. Any suitors that had come around had always come for Roseanna, maybe Nancy; but never her. Now, this handsome stranger wanted her. She knew that he did and she wanted him just as much.

"I'd like dat." She insisted as she went back into the McCoy house. As Alifair went to help her mother, Jed sighed. He had only come to the McCoy farm to find work, not to fall in love. He just couldn't help it. She was so beautiful. No girl had ever aroused him like she did. Deep down, he knew that if he intended to court her, he would eventually have to tell Alifair the truth about his past. What if she didn't understand why he had done what he did? What if she rejected him and had Ol' Randall run him off. It ate at Jed considerably. As it was getting late, Mr. McCoy insisted that Jed stay the night.

"Tolbert, put down a pallet in yer room." Randall ordered.

"Yes Poppy." The eldest McCoy boy replied as he went to do as his old man bade him.

"Ya can room with Tolbert until ya git yerself a plot o' land." Old man McCoy insisted.

"Thank ya kindly, Mr. McCoy." Jed replied as he readied himself for bed. As Jed moved to enter Tolbert's room, he saw that Alifair was gandering at him from the bedroom that she shared with her younger siblings.

"Good night...Mr. Graham." She replied with a small smile.

"Good night miss McCoy." Jed replied as he laid down on the pallet next to Tolbert's bed. As sleep finally came to him, his dreams were filled with visions of Alifair McCoy. Her hands on his hands, her lips on his lips. He woke up several times during the night, only to realize that it was but a dream. A dream that he hoped to bring to reality sooner rather than later.

WILL JED BE ALLOWED TO COURT ALIFAIR? NEXT TIME, FLOYD HATFIELD BRINGS HOME THE BACON...AND A LAWSUIT. REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.