Chapter Twelve

*Represents towns that have come and gone through the years. If there's a Kannaville on the California/Nevada border, I don't know it.

Excerpt from Ch Eleven

"God bless you, both." Bea was beaming as the couple left. "We might not be related to them, but," she smiled as she gazed upon her husband, "I'd say they'll blend right in."

Paul wasn't as sure as his wife, but he was very hopeful. He nodded. "I think so too."

It had been a month since Nick and Elizabeth left Taylorsville with Paul and Bea Gyver. Traveling had been slow, due to the weather. In fact, traveling had come to a screeching halt the moment they reached *Kannaville-a town almost on the California/Nevada border. Winter had definitely set in and traveling in it would be insane. The problem of what to do to survive the winter had come in an unexpected way. Nick had stepped into an alley and stopped two strangers from robbing and killing an older gentleman in his late seventies. The gentleman had turned out to be Henry Billings, a rancher whose health was starting to fail him. His assailants had, shockingly, been his ex-foreman and the man's brother. When Mr. Billings had learned that Nick had grown up on a ranch-and ran it-he'd asked him if he'd run the Billings ranch for the winter.

"My nephew and his wife are coming to take over the place in the spring. Until then I need someone who knows how to give orders and has the backbone to make sure they're carried through." The elderly gentleman looked at Nick as the sheriff had hauled off the two robbers and would be murderers.

"Won't your employees who have been with you longer resent that?" Nick asked-even if he was more than interested.

"I only have a couple of those, and they have no interest in the job of a foreman. I already asked them. Right now, my longest employee- Raymond Miller- is temporarily doing the job. However, he made it crystal clear, he wants me to find someone else. With my health the way it is, as long as you let me know what you're doing and why, ten to one I'd let your orders stand." Mr. Billings then asked Nick again if he thought he could handle the job until spring.

When the sound of someone kicking on the front door reached her ears, Elizabeth jumped up from the rocking chair that sat in front of the fireplace and ran to the front door of the home the ranch's owner given them. "What…" She opened the door and stepped aside, her eyes wide as Nick carried a new born calf into the house. Soon he had set the calf in front of the wood stove. One of the other ranch hands – wiry brown haired, twenty five year old gentleman named Aston- had some of the calf's mother's milk in a half gallon jug which he set on the kitchen table and then excused himself.

"We need to get this calf nursed." Nick snapped-not with any meanness, just with a sense of urgency. "I replaced my gloves this morning. Take one of my old pair-I haven't thrown them out yet; they're on the bottom shelf in the mud room. You can cut an extremely small notch out of one of the tips. That way the calf can nurse on it. You have to make sure it's not too big. If it is, the calf will choke on the milk."

Elizabeth wasted no time in retrieving one of the gloves and doing as her husband had said. It wasn't long before she was sitting on the floor coaxing the baby calf to suck the mother's milk. She couldn't help but grin as she remembered getting a few animals up in the mountain -ones she'd found hurt and in need of help-to do this very thing. "What happened? Why did you bring him here? Did the mother die?" She hated the idea.

"No," Nick walked over to the cook stove and picked up the coffee pot which was full of fresh coffee. Pouring himself a cup, he explained the calf was one of two. "Its twin is stronger, and the mother doesn't seem to want to care for the weaker one." He then looked around, realizing Paul and Bea were nowhere to be seen.

Before Nick could say anything, Elizabeth-who pretty well guessed what her husband was wondering-spoke up. "They are at the main house visiting the Billings, probably swapping stories about their children again." The moment she said the words, Elizabeth saw a flash of pain shoot through Nick's eyes. She didn't have to ask what the problem was, though she said nothing. Not that she didn't want to, she did. Only problem was, she had no idea what to say other than what had already been stated. What was done was done, all she could do was make sure she did her best to make it so he wasn't sorry for taking her as his wife. "Why don't you go sit down and relax for a bit. I can take care of this baby." She turned her attention to the calf in front of her.

In spite of the sharp twinge of pain he'd felt when he thought on his family-and what they must think about his choices-Nick couldn't help but smile. Elizabeth, who had admitted not to knowing a thing about ranching, had stepped up to bat the moment he'd taken over as Mr. Billings' foreman. She'd been a quick learner when it came to doing various chores around the place, and she, along with 'Aunt Bea'-as she'd started calling Bea Gyver before they ever left Taylorsville-had been a blessing to Mrs. Billings. At least, that's what both of the Billings had claimed. The Billings had said the same thing about 'Uncle Paul'-another thing Elizabeth, along with 'Aunt Bea' had started. Paul Gyver was more than willing to step in and do what he could. "Got to earn my keep until we can leave for Wyoming," had been the man's words.

Wyoming… Nick had to inwardly sigh. While he had thought things through better than he had in the past, he was still plagued by guilty feelings-ones that scolded him for putting his family through the wringer-as it were. It didn't matter how his mother or Jarrod had reacted. He could have stood his ground with them; he'd done it in the past. Out of the blue- or so it seemed to his wife-Nick spoke up. "We have to find a way to communicate with my family on a regular basis even though it's impossible for us to 'resurrect ourselves' while Cass is alive."

Elizabeth couldn't agree more only she had no clue how to do it without giving away their secret….and said as much. "If you can come up with something, tell me. I'll be more than happy back you up." She told him-though she kept her eyes on the calf the whole time.

Again, Nick couldn't help but smile. For everything that had happened, he was grateful Elizabeth had turned out to be worth the sacrifices he'd made so far. He was glad she had not chosen not to go back to Hayden and to her brother. "I wish I could. I have to go back outside though. I'll be back in a couple of hours." He told her, before giving her a few more instructions and then leaving the house.