Hi everyone, I'm really sorry this has taken so long to update, my real life has been hectic recently but updates should not be so long again. I hope you enjoy this, it ends differently to how I intended but I am happier with it this way. As I said in an earlier post I have bits of later in the story already written the problem I am having is connecting the two ends where they get to know each other. Any suggestions would be appreciated and your reviews are always helpful to let me know If I am doing this in vain or if people are really enjoying it.

Anyway, as usual it's not mine I don't own anyone

Chapter 5

At dinner that night there was the usual Sunday evening feeling. The weekend was over and they all had to return to work the next morning after their day off having fun. The meal was a quiet affair, with little talking for the most part. Mr Monroe had begun to outline to them what needed done in the fields this week until a stern challenging look from his wife stalled him. Danny had to hide his smile, he recognised that exact look: he had seen it on Lindsay the other day. It was when Mrs Monroe asked the table generally what they thought of the service that morning that the trouble started.

"And Danny, we haven't heard about your congregation back in New York. Have you undertaken much missionary work in you community?" The question from Mrs Monroe made Danny uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat and scratched at the back of his neck.

"Uh, not really, I have a very busy job, and that really keeps me on my toes. I coach little league in the summer though". He hoped this would deflect the conversation away from his church attendance, or lack of it.

It did not work though. Mrs Monroe persevered.

"You didn't seem familiar with the hymns we were singing, surely they can't be so different from the ones in New York?"

Danny resigned himself to having this conversation.

"No, Ma'am", he said, "just I was taught them in Latin that's all, and I'm not usually one for attending church much, not since my Ma stopped making me go be an alter boy at St. Theresa's."

There was a long pause.

"You're Catholic", she stated. It was not a question; Anna Monroe was a clever woman in her own way and knew what he meant. The statement was accompanied by a stony silence and she pursed her lips into a thin line. Danny was not fazed by the reaction his statement received. This was a common enough reaction when people found out. In many places, like being Jewish, being a Catholic could be quite stigmatising. People associated them with poor immigrants, rough gangs and families with too many mouths to feed.

"Yes I am", he stated, continuing with his meal. "There's no problem with that is there?" It was a subtle challenge that he knew no one would take.

"Of course not", stated Mr Monroe, trying to diffuse the situation and not looking his at his wife who was glaring into her plate. "Now, lets get this dessert shall we?"

After dinner Mr Monroe retired to his chair and most of the men congregated around the radio, which was airing a football game. They leaned forward in their seats and silently smoked as they listened intently in the dim light to a commentator thousands of miles away as they pictured the men running across the field.

Danny had lingered in the back of the room for a while, shifting from foot to foot, still a bit awkward and not feeling like he fitted in, until he gave up on the game and snuck out of the back door during the cover of a particularly raucous round of cheering and hooting as the favoured team scored a touchdown. As silently as possible he shut the door and took a seat on the porch steps. This side of the house had an unrestricted view of the fields and mountains between which the ranch was nestled; the big red barns being on the other side of the house. In the rapidly dimming light Danny slowly watched as the constellations appeared as if by magic in the sky.

There was a roar of laughter from inside the house, closely followed by the sound of the door opening again and he could not help a smile forming on his face as he twisted his body around to see Lindsay gently closing the door as he had just done and creeping over to where he sat.

"Whom are you hiding from", he asked in a mock-whisper, his smile turning into a cheeky grin as she gave him a very dirty look. She couldn't hold it though and a faint smile broke through as she took a seat next to Danny and let out loud puff of air.

"I'm not…really", she answered with a quick darting look behind her, "I just don't think my parents would like me being out here and my mum has a list of things as long as her arm she wants me to do."

Danny felt sorry for her. She looked trapped in this place, constricted by her well-meaning family.

"You don't like football?" he asked gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder into the house.

"It's OK. I don't really follow it like the rest of the family. Why aren't you in there?"

"Nah, football's not really my thing," he shrugged. "Baseball however, then we're talking."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah," he answered. "It was always a dream as a kid to go pro. But I decided I didn't want the life that it entailed. Plus I wrecked my hand when I was in school." He glanced down at his hand and trailed a finger across one of the scars that was, although faded, a prominent reminder of that day in the schoolyard. Lindsay took his hand and mimicked his action, finding the line on his palm. He continued, "I'm still a huge fan though – New York Yankees, and I coach a little".

"Oh yeah," she said, "You mentioned you coached Little League at dinner".

He smiled at her again although this time it was tighter and appeared forced.

"Yeah it was interesting dinner conversation". He added. She looked at him with sympathy as he absently started to kick some of the stones on the floor gently. "Who really cares these days what denomination you are, right?"

She nodded slowly although Danny couldn't tell if she really agreed or whether through her silence she was merely trying to appease him.

"Oh, never mind" he said testily as he moved and tried to get up from his perch.

A hand on his arm stopped him though. He looked back down at her as she raised he eyebrows at him.

He let out a puff of air and reluctantly sat back down again; heaviness was apparent in his stature. He was weary and tired. Looking at him Lindsay could see that this new life was taking a toll on him. Not just his body, but his mind and soul.

"Sorry", he muttered almost inaudibly.

She let out a sigh.

"Please stop jumping down my throat at the least provocation, Danny", she said her eyes flicking between his bowed head and his clenched hands in his lap. "I can tell you have had trouble because of this in the past. My Uncle Mac, you know he sends me books," Danny nodded with a slight smile as he remembered the man fondly, "well I read one of the articles about a man called Mahatma Ghandi in India", she continued. "He said that 'all religions are different paths to the same enlightenment', or something like that", she screwed up her nose trying to remember exactly but shook he head slightly as she gave up.

Lindsay gently cupped Danny's cheek with her hand and lifted his chin so she could look in his eyes.

"I think it's important that people believe something to give their lives meaning, and really, why should it matter if those beliefs differ slightly if the intention to be a good person is the same?"

"Thank you", Danny whispered softly, his voice breaking and his Adam's apple jumping. The hand on his cheek was so warm and her thumb gently stroked across the faint stubble. His eyes bored into hers and she met his gaze with every bit of feeling as he was. His face was inches from her own and on impulse he leant in closer. He could smell her scent from this distance; it was a fresh, clean fragrance that reminded him of the pollen from the wildflowers in the meadow at the side of the house.

He leant a fraction closer, pausing to see if she was going to protest, but when she didn't he closed the gap between their lips, where they met with the lightest of a feather touch which lingered for only a moment.

Danny pulled his head back to find her eyes closed and a smile now softly gracing her lips where his own had lain only moments before.

A cheer from inside the house broke them from their reverie and they both whipped their heads around as if caught before they were calmed to see that no one was there. With the atmosphere broken they both looked at each other again with shaky laughs before going back inside to rejoin the family as the game ended and everyone headed to bed.