Lonestar Calling is my own idea, however, any and all characters from the other Lonestar books are owned by Colleen Coble. This story was inspired by Carrie Underwood's 'Cowboy Casanova', but the song itself is not in here. ^^ Thank you for reading!

As Tony finished cleaning up from his picnic, another few ladies came into the park, pushing strollers, wrangling toddlers, and laughing at some shared joke. He glanced their way and categorized them in his mind automatically. They were all already married, judging from their wedding rings, but that wouldn't stop him from a little smile, a wave, and a slight wink to the oldest child.
He figured Gail had had enough playing when she laid down on a bridge of the play-castle and sighed.
"Sweet, are you tired?" he called to her as he picked up his bag and walked towards her.
"Yes, Daddy,"she replied with a yawn.
"Ready to go home, then?" they had been at the park all afternoon, and she had not laid down for a nap before they left.
"Yes," her yawn was contagious, and he stifled it.
"What do you want for supper? Pizza?" he asked, as he gathered her in his arms.
"Mm, sketties," she laid her head on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck.
"Alright, Sweet."

~~~~~}{~~~~~

Tony shuffled his daughter carefully as he unlocked the door. He pushed it open with his foot, and left it that way while he laid Gail in her bed. After putting the bag in its place, he went to the door and closed it. As he locked the door, he saw an envelope in his mail box. He leant over and picked up the envelope, taking it to the table. When he was sitting down, he examined the outside, but there were no markings, or a mailing address.
He slit the envelope open, and pulled out the note inside.

Tony Sawyer,

You know what we want. We know where you are. Your wife and sister tried to hide it from us, but no one can escape us. If you don't deliver it to us, we will come for her, for your precious little brat. The same place as last time. If you try to cheat us, or call the authorities, no one will be safe. We found you once, we can find you again.

D

He sat in disbelief for a while before slamming down the note. Tony ran into his room, pulled a bag out of his closet and started shoving clothes into it. Then, he raced into his daughter's room, checked that she was okay, and gently shook her shoulder until she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. He grabbed her bag, and packed some of her clothes into each, making sure to grab her doll.
"Come on, Gail, Sweet. We're going on a trip," he said.
"Trip?"she asked sleepily.
"Yes, Sweet. Come on, let's go."
Slinging the bags over his shoulders, he picked up his daughter and ran.

~~~~~Bluebird~~~~~

"That's the last of it, thanks, guys,"Alys brushed her hands off on her jeans, and glanced over towards her son,"Hey, Ben, d'you want some dinner? Whatever you want."
"Is there any pizza?" he asked, not looking over from his video game.
"Yep, there's still some left. Do you guys want any dinner?" she turned to the men who had just brought in the last of her furniture.
Michael smiled,"No, thanks. I've got to get home, I promised Evan we'd play baseball before it got too dark."
Jack set down the box he was holding, and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly,"Err, today is... a date night. I'm taking Shannon out."
Alys giggled. "I'd love to stay,"Allie said,"I can help you unpack after dinner. Rick needs more alone time with Matthew, anyways."
"Alright, let me just throw some pizzas in the oven,"Alys crisscrossed her living room to get to the kitchen. She opened the freezer and pulled two pizzas out of their boxes, preparing them and putting them on pans, she turned to the others,"Ben likes mushrooms and onions, Allie, is a Hawaiian okay, other than that?"
"That's fine, Alys. I'll unpack the dishes."
She smiled,"Ben, will you put some things away in your room while we're waiting?"
"Sure," he got up, shoved his game into his pocket, and went to his room. Alys sighed.
"He misses his father,"she frowned,"It's worse here. I thought moving away from the memories would help, but he's worse here."
"It'll be okay, Alys. God will lead him through this time, and all we can do is help."Alys sometimes envied Allie for her unwavering faith. She smiled.
Together, the women unpacked and put away the dishes and kitchenware, chatting as they worked. Ben came out of his room a while later, and sat in the dimly lit living room, with a book. Alys was glad he had put away his game. "Turn on the light, please, Ben, you'll strain your eyes." He switched on a lamp next to his chair.
"Is supper almost ready?" he asked.
"Yes, just another few minutes." They poured their drinks and set the table."If your done with that, soup's on." She took the pizzas out of the oven and set them on the table.
"Good, I'm hungry."he set down his book on the table, turned off the lamp, and headed to the back of the house to the dining room. He sat down and reached for a slice of pizza. Alys swatted his hand away.
"Prayers, young man."
He smiled sheepishly,"Sorry. Dear God-."
The front door flew open, and a tall man carrying a small bundle burst in,"Where is my house!?"