Chapter 2 – Lou's POV

"Lou? What's wrong honey?" I hear Buck say, the worry evident in his tone. I know my face is dangerously white as I point to the lone rider on the ridge. I try to get my voice to work but I can only manage one word, "Kid". Then my world goes black.

When I come to I'm in our bed. Rachel is leaning over me. I can hear my children nearby. "Rachel please tell me I was dreaming. Tell me I didn't see Kid". I plead with the woman who was like my mother. "I wish I could honey. But we don't know. There was someone there, but he's gone now. Jimmy sent Cody back to get Buck. The just left, Buck will track whoever it was and find out what he was doing there." Rachel said trying to put me at ease. It didn't work. I give her a weak smile as she leaves the room to check on the kids.

This can't be real. Kid's dead. It can't have been him. Oh God, if that really was Kid that means…I'm still married to him, Buck's not my husband! This can't be happening. Why now? Why after all this time? Where the Hell has he been for the past eight years? Why did he never contact me? What are we going to do? God what must Buck think? Please don't let it be Kid.

Buck's POV

I should have just let him ride away. I shouldn't have sent Jimmy and Cody after him. I shouldn't have tracked him down when they couldn't find him. I shouldn't have made him come back with us. Looking at the man before me now, I still can't believe my eyes. None of us can. He's supposed to be dead. We had a service for him eight years ago, I made the cross myself.

He still looks the same but he's changed. He's not the man we knew. He's not the Kid we knew. The Kid we knew wouldn't have abandoned Lou. He wouldn't have let her think he was dead. He wouldn't have waited eight years to try to contact her. This man may look like Kid, but it's not him.

"Why are you here Kid?" I asked my tone icy. "I came looking for Lou. This was the only place I thought she would go." The look-a-like says his tone indicating I should have known that. "Why?" I ask with no emotion, I can't afford to show it right now. "Because she's my wife Buck" the man said. I glare at him, "She's my wife, I married her eight years ago. We have four children together and another on the way!" I yell at him. I'm losing my temper I know. "I married her ten years ago, you were there you know that. Your marriage to her is not legal, Buck." The Kid look-a-like says. I want to throttle him, Jimmy holds me back.

"You were dead." I said stating the obvious. "Clearly I'm not; I want to see my wife." He says to me with a smirk. "Why now? Why after all this time? Where have you been? Where were you when Lou's brother and sister were killed? Where were you when she had to sell the horses just so she could eat? Where were you when she got word you were dead? Where were you when she used the last penny she had to come home to her family? Where the hell were you Kid?" I shout at him, my voice having gotten steadily louder with each question I threw at him.

"You weren't there! When she needed you the most you abandoned her, left her alone so you could go fight in a war! When she needed you, you let her think you were dead! And now when she has moved on and has a new life with me you show up. The Kid we knew would not have done that. You are not Kid and Lou is not your wife!" I know I'm shouting loud enough for the people in town to hear me, but I don't care. How the hell could Kid do this to Lou, to me, to all of us? He was our brother, how could he make us all think he was dead? How could he show up now, after all Lou and I have shared together?

"Think what you want Buck, but she's my wife. I love her and want her back. You have shamed her by turning her into a half breed's whore." Kid said mocking me.

That was it, what little control I had over my temper just broke. I launched myself at this stranger. Jimmy and Cody didn't even try to hold me back. I wanted to beat this man to within an inch of his life for what he has done. Only Teaspoon stopped me before I inflicted too much damage. With Cody's help they dragged the Kid look-a-like away to the main house. As I sit down on my porch and put my head in my hands. Jimmy sits next to me, his arm around my shoulder.

"You ok Buck?" he asks concerned. "I don't know Jimmy. I still can't believe it. What am I going to do? Kid's right since he's not dead Lou is still married to him. Jimmy what if she doesn't want me anymore? She loved Kid first, what if she goes back to him now that he's back?" I ask turning my face to look at him. My misery clearly evident on my face. "Buck, Lou may have loved the Kid when we were younger but we've all grown up. That ain't the Kid she loved. She ain't that Lou anymore. Besides I never saw her look at Kid the way she looks at you. She won't leave you. I know." Jimmy said trying to reassure me. 'I hope your right Jimmy. I really do." I say to him, but I really don't know if what he says is true.

Kid's POV

I know that was hitting below the belt but I said it anyway. I didn't expect Buck to attack though; he had always been the peacemaker. My former friends didn't even try to stop him. Buck was a better fighter than I remembered. I didn't stand a chance against him. Teaspoon finally stopped him. With Cody's help they took me to the main house.

"Alright now I want answers!" Teaspoon demanded of me once they had me sitting down. "What do you want to know?" I asked already knowing the answer. "Care to explain why you're not dead for starters." Teaspoon asked me. 'Well obviously because I haven't been killed yet. I didn't know I was supposed to be dead until Buck told me." I shot back. "Why didn't you try to contact Lou before now?" the old man asked. "Well I was fighting a war." I said snidely, didn't he know that. 'The war ended five years ago Kid." Cody said angrily. Everybody was anger with me it seems. "I wasn't ready. I saw a lot of terrible things in the war. My entire company was wiped out. Most of them younger than me. I just wasn't ready to go home." I admit to them, I know it's not much of an excuse but it was all I had.

"Why Now?' Teaspoon asked me. "I missed my wife. When I returned to our home two months ago the neighbors told me Lou had moved on. So I came here, I knew she would come here. I didn't expect to find her married to Buck with children." I say shaking my head, how could she just move on like that? "What did you expect Kid, for Lou to just go on alone? Even if she hadn't thought you were dead, it's been eight years." Cody yelled at me. That was what I had expected. I thought she loved me so much, she would still be waiting on me. 'Cody, go check on Buck, I'll deal with Kid." Teaspoon said, I think he saw the murdering look in Cody's eyes. Cody hesitated a second before leaving.

"What is it you want Kid?" Teaspoon asked sitting down across from me. "I want my wife back. I want Lou to come home." Why does everybody keep asking me that? "Kid I married Lou and Buck eight years ago. They have made a life together. This ranch is theirs. They have four children and another on the way. You can't just expect Lou to forget all of that and go back with you." Teaspoon tells me. Why does everybody keep telling me that Lou and Buck have shared a life together? I figured that one out myself.

"Teaspoon, you married us ten years ago. Since I'm not dead she is still my legal wife. I don't care if she has kids with Buck. I love her and want her to come home." Why can't they see that? "What about the children?" Teaspoon asks. I haven't thought about them. "What about them. Their Lou's, I'll raise them as my own." Teaspoon looks angry to me, 'Their Buck's too. Don't you think people back home will question their heritage when they see them? The boys look just like Buck."

Teaspoons right, I don't want people back home to know Lou has been with a half breed. 'Fine Buck can keep them. But I'm taking Lou home." "She is home Kid. Her home is here with Buck and their children." Teaspoon yelled at me jumping to his feet. "She's my wife! I want her back!" I shout getting to my feet as well. Teaspoon gave a small laugh, "But what about what she wants Kid?" he asks softly. What did Lou want? She thought I was dead after all, surely that was the only reason she married Buck. She can't possibly love him like she did me. No Lou will want to come home. 'Now that she knows I'm alive she'll want me back, you'll see."

Teaspoon walked over to me and put a fatherly hand on my shoulder, "She loves Buck Kid. I've never seen a happier couple. And I'm going to be looking into the legal end of this mess. Until we know for sure if your marriage still stands. I want you to stay away from Buck and Lou. Do I make myself clear Kid?" Teaspoon says squeezing my shoulder tightly.

"Perfectly." I say glaring at him. You'll see, she's still mine. She will want me. She still loves me. It doesn't matter that Buck has turned her into a brood mare, she is still my Lou. I will get her back even if I have to force her. She is my Lou. Mine!