"LARABEE'S LADY" – CHAPTER EIGHT

Title: "Larabee's Lady"

Author: Michelle Heath

Rating: MA for adult language and situations

Summary: Mary's best friend causes Chris to re-think his future.

Date Written: September 15, 2010

Disclaimer: Chris Larabee, Vin Tanner, J.D. Dunne, Buck Wilmington, Josiah Sanchez, Ezra Standish, Nathan Jackson, Casey Wells, Mary Travis, Nettie Wells, Inez, and The Magnificent Seven are the property of TM CBS, The Mirisch Group, MGM and Triology Entertainment. Other characters, i.e., Catherine Stewart, Jonathan Stewart, Eloise Stewart, Miles Kettering, etc. are the sole property of the author. The author makes no profit from this work of fan fiction and no copyright infringement is intended.

(Catherine is gone to San Francisco for two weeks, and both she and Chris think long and hard about their "situation" while she's gone. Chris rides out to his cabin for a couple of days and takes the opportunity to take a look at what's going on at the Stewart property. The architect and contractor have already started on the three barns and they appear to be fairly large ones. Although they have not yet started on the house, they have laid out the foundation and it, too, looks like its going to be huge. Grudgingly, Chris admits that Catherine is sparing no expense on the barns, corrals and stables, and that her horses will be housed and trained in the finest facilities possible.

Although he was the one who decided he would rather not have anything to do with Catherine, he is still smarting over her refusal to speak to or even look at him the day she left for San Francisco although he refuses to admit it to anyone. More than ever he's sure that he has made the right decision and needs to stay away from Catherine at all costs.

(Catherine was glad to see Farley Moore, her new foreman, when she arrived in San Francisco, and even happier when the two of them were able to purchase two prime stallions and several fine-looking mares at the auction. Farley came to work for the Stewart family before Catherine was born and is more like a favorite uncle than an employee to Catherine. And while she is grateful that he agreed to move to Four Corners and help her with the ranch, she is not thrilled when he begins to question her about her frame of mind over dinner one night.)

Farley: "Well, now that we've got some good stock to start the ranch with, and you've got the stables and house underway, why don't you tell me what's got you all out of sorts?"

Catherine: "I'm not out of sorts."

Farley: "I've known you since the day you were born, Catherine Stewart, and you most definitely are out of sorts! Four Corners not to your likin'?"

Catherine: "The town's lovely, and the people who live there are wonderful. I'm very happy to be living in the same town as Mary again, and, once it's finished, the ranch is going to be amazing. Why ever would I be out of sorts?"

Farley: "What's his name?"

Catherine: "Pardon?"

Farley: "The man that's got under your skin. What's his name?"

(Knowing that she will not get any peace until Farley knows why she's in a strange mood, Catherine looks him in the eye and very matter-of-factly explains the situation. When she's through, Farley studies her with a concerned eye for a few minutes before speaking his piece.)

Farley: "You're a smart woman, Catherine. I don't have to tell you that one-sided love affairs ain't nothin' but trouble, and . . .

(She interrupts him immediately.)

Catherine: "Whoa, Farley, who said anything about a 'love affair'?"

Farley: "You did. Oh, you may not have said so in so many words, but it's plain as the nose of your face that you have feelins for this man. Sounds like he has some for you, too, but ain't willin' to act on 'em. You've got to make up your mind. . . Are you gonna be able to live in that town, see the man every day, talk to him, be polite, and be . .happy, or are you going to pine your life away over him?"

Catherine: "In the first place, I've only known the man a few weeks, and we really haven't said more than a few words to each other. I'm not even sure I like him, Farley. Why in the world would you think I'd be so foolish as to 'pine' my life away over him?"

Farley: "Don't matter if you've known him six weeks or six years. There's a look in your eyes when you talk about him. Seen it before with other folks, and it don't bode well when the other person ain't plowin' the same field."

Catherine: "Chris feels a lot of . . . guilt, justly deserved or not, over the deaths of his wife and son, and he just can't let it go; let them go. At least, that's what Vin and Buck think, and they know him much, much better than I do.

Farley: "These friends of his sound like good men. The kind a man wants to have his back. Lookin' forward to meetin' em'; all of 'em including your Mr. Larabee."

Catherine: "He's not my Mr. Larabee, Farley."

Farley: "No, he's not. And, Catherine, I meant what I said . . .You've go to decide if you can live in the same town with this man or not, and you've got to do it now before you go any further with startin' this ranch."