Nathan shut the door behind him and looked at Rain. "What were you doing? I didn't even know you had been taken." He paced the length of the room and ran a hand across his face. "I didn't even know…". The adrenaline from the last couple hours had worn off leaving him completely raw. He had been so close to losing her and hadn't even known. "Rain…what if…"

Rain stood up and pressed her fingers against his lips. "It is over and I am fine. Dwelling on what ifs doesn't change anything."

"What were you doing away from the village?"

"I was coming to see you." Rain waited for Nathan to process his initial self recrimination. "I am tired of being apart."

Nathan shook his head, "Rain, I don't think I can move to the village. I'm needed here."

"I know you are. Which is why I was coming to tell you that I think I should move here." She paused a moment and waited for her words to sink in. "That is, if you are ok with that."

Nathan grinned. "You want to move to town? You hate the town. It's loud and chaotic."

Rain shrugged. "You are here. The rest of it is just noise." She took a step back and looked at Nathan. "Besides, I am starting to like your friends."

Ezra followed Maddie into their room and shut the door behind them. "I wish you'd let Nathan check you out."

Maddie shook her head. "It's a minor cut and a little bit of smoke. Nathan had his hands full." Ezra had cleaned the dried blood out of her hair downstairs. She unlaced her dress and stepped out of it holding it up. She wasn't sure it was salvageable. Between the dirt and the smoke, it had definitely seen better days.

Ezra walked over and took the dress out of her hands. "I'd feel better if he checked you out."

Maddie frowned and stepped back from Ezra. "I'm fine."

Ezra sucked in a breath. The conversation was overdue. "I'm not sure you are." He paused a moment. "Maddie…three months."

Maddie's eyes snapped up and met his. "Ezra…don't."

He recognized the fear and pain. Hell, he'd seen it in his own eyes every time he thought about it. "Maddie…"

She pushed past him. "I'm fine. Can we please just go to bed and be glad this is over?" She glanced back at him as she pulled the covers down. "Please?"

Mary returned Chris's welcoming smile as she walked up the steps to the cabin and sat down on the chair next to him. The morning sun was casting a warm glow across the landscape. "That's a lot of horses and cattle." She looked out at the fences in areas surrounding Chris's cabin. Vin, Buck, and JD were all in the process of getting them situated.

Chris nodded. It had sunk in around 2am this morning that he was too damn old for an all night cattle drive. "Once we made sure the fire was contained we realized a couple of the fences were damaged. Last thing we needed was a cattle stampede through town." He shrugged and glanced over at Mary. "This was our closest option . We can figure out what to do with them later but for now at least we know they're fed and watered."

Mary nodded and watched JD chase down a foal that had gotten out. She had never really appreciated how good he was on a horse. "Chris…". She wasn't sure where to start. She had rehearsed a dozen versions on the way over here and none of them felt right.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into Royal's madness." Chris looked down at his boots trying to figure out what he wanted to say before glancing over at Mary.

"I'm not." Mary turned to look directly at him. "Nettie made some very astute comments about Royal's intention." She glanced back out at the cattle. Chris had met her eyes and she was suddenly very unsure of her next steps.

"You should have never been made a target because of me." Chris felt the old fear mix with the fear he had felt yesterday when he realized Mary had been taken.

"That's just it. Regardless of what you and I do or don't do people are going to make assumptions. And if I'm going to be a target because of you, we might as well enjoy ourselves." She realized as it came out of her mouth it wasn't exactly what she meant to say. "That's not…". A smile crossed her lips as Chris choked back a laugh. "You know what I'm trying to say."

"Mary…"

Sighing, she looked over at him. "I don't know what it looks like. All I know is that I'm tired of doing the dance that we do."

Chris stared at her for a moment and nodded. He was in completely unfamiliar territory. With Sarah, they had been young and foolishly in love. It had been so easy but he hadn't had the weight of the years in between then and now. "Mary, I can't be the reason something happens to you."

"I think I've proven that I'm perfectly capable of making myself a target."

Chris chuckled. "That you have." He paused to look at her. "I don't know if I can be who you need me to be."

"I don't need you to be anyone other than who you are. I'm enjoying sitting on the porch of your cabin with you and I think we can probably figure the rest of it out later." Mary settled back in the chair and glanced over at Chris who had relaxed back into his chair as well and seemingly content to just look at her.

The moment was broken by the sound of a hoofs they both looked up as a rider and horse approached. Chris stood up as Nettie came to a stop in front of them and dismounted. "Nettie…"

Nettie winked at Mary. "I'm glad you're both here. I just came from the bank. I didn't tell Casey yet, but the railroad made an offer last week and I took it." She turned and looked at the cattle and horses. "I used the money to buy the note on part of Royal's property." She smiled as she watched JD with the horses. "The way I see it, it'll give me a chance to give Casey a future…and JD if they can ever get their damn heads screwed on straight." She looked back at Chris. "I know you were trying to figure out what you were supposed to do with the cattle and horses…so I made a deal with the bank to include them with the land."

Chris smiled at Nettie. "I'll keep 'em here as long as you need. And I imagine we can probably stir up a couple helpers to fix the fences."

Mary leaned forward. "When do you have to be off the other property?"

"End of the month. It'll come much sooner than I want and there's a lot to get done between now and then. And the fact that the main house is a smoking pile of rubble means that Casey and I will be in town for a while." Nettie's was already cycling through what she needed to get done. "I was going to ride over and see what all's left and if there's any buildings that might be able to be used." She looked over at Vin who had joined the group. "Care to go for a ride with an old lady?"

Vin smiled. "It would be my pleasure. And Nettie, you ain't old."