"Dodger, I did-." Carmen started to apologize when the sheriff stopped her in mid-sentence. "Please, call me Ash. Can we forget the formalities? And I know you were going to apologize but there's no need too. I don't mind tellin' you my story, if you dont mind listenin'." Dodger was practically pleading with the uncertain blonde to stay.

Carmen knew better than to make eye contact with the beseeching deputy, fully aware that she would do anything those eyes asked her too. "Okay, I'm all ears." she fave the sheriff a genuine smile. It had been sometime since someone was worthy enough to capture her attention and keep it for any length of time. Dodger's eyes lit up like a child on their birthday, she commenced to tell her tale.

"Well hell, where should I start?" she said as a rhetorical question.

"At the beginning, duh sher-, Ash." the blonde said teasingly.

"I know that, smart ass." Dodger jived back with a smile. "Mkay, let's see. Well I was born in the summer of 1982. Unfortunately my mother didnt make it. They said she had some sort of infection, they were surprised I made it. Before I came along she had three other births, all boys. Guess I was the last straw that broke the camels back. Ya know, daddy, he never blamed me for her death. He tried to raise me right but after rearing three corn fed boys into men, he didnt have much as a clue on raisin' a girl into a lady. Like I said, he did the best her could. We wew by no means rich, no where near that. So I got all my brother's hand me downs, I still get them till this very day. Anyways, I was raised in a family of full blown testosterone, rough housin', bare back ridin', cow tippin', joy ridin,' beer drinkin', bar fightin', lady lovin' men."

Carmen listened intently, so immersed in the unfolding tale of this mystery woman in front of her.

"So, in order to survive I had to learn to hold my own. I did everything that my brothers did and I mean Everything." Dodger paused, not sure if she should tell her next memory, but it would explain why and who she is. She took a sip of her tea and looked at the blonde before her, she was patiently waiting for her to continue, she was actually listening. It impressed Dodger, she put her glass down and continued.

"I learned how to treat a woman from watching my all male inclusive family. My daddy didn't know how to teach me to court a boy because to him I was a boy. I didn't know that it was wrong for me to like women, my brothers and dad did it, so I copied what they did. I think I tried to start datin' in middle school. Boy howdy, that was a rough time for me. I was shot down many a times and would go home cryin or ride off on my horse until my ass was too sorry to do anything else but return home. My brother, Dicky, comforted me many tear filled nights, he understood how to deal with rejection. He told me to keep my head up and don't stop tryin'. He told me to never chase after love, to let it find you. It comes when you lease expect it. High school was a lot better, I had grown considerably over the summers, from 5'7'' to 5'10''. Almost as tall as my youngest brother, who was the shortest of the three boys. Working on the farm sculpted my body and kept my knockers from growin'. Most of the girls didn't know that I was a girl . All they saw was a tanned, short dark haired cowboy with a can of Copenhagen in the back pocket. I was every girls' dream, until they wanted to fool around. At first they'd freak out but I'd make'em soar so high, to levels that no guy could every make'em reach. They'd always ask where did I learn to do that and I'd just say that I have many skills, wink, and smile and they'd be mine...until an actually guy came along and they would have some excuse as to why they couldn't or didn't want to me with me any more. That was my younger more stupider days, I'm much wiser now." Dodger ended her tale and smiled sheepishly, "I hope that answered your question Ms. Santiago."

Carmen was in complete utter awe at Dodger's story of her life. She honestly didn't know what to say. She actually felt like an ass for asking about the deputy's character and lifestyle when in reality she didn't have much of any say in how she was brought up. She didn't realize it til now that she had held Dodger's hand for the entire duration of the explanation. By now she could've cared less, she wished this moment could last forever. Carmen was about to respond when a hurried looking man came in, took off his cowboy hat and waited politely until Dodger acknowledged him.

Dodger saw Hank out of the corner of her eye, "Aw doggone it, what now. Everytime he shows up, I'm in the middle of something good." She sighed mentally and addressed the town crier. "Evenin' Hank, what can I do ya for?" she said while her eyebrow rose slowly.

"Well, uh, sheriff," Hank was sweating bullets, must be pretty bad, "There's been a bad wreck. Some kids foolin' around joy ridin' and they ran off into a watery ditch. Two of the boys got out but a girl is trapped and is knocked out. We could use your help." Hank fumbled with his hat.

"God damned kids." Dodger mumbled. She jumped up and laid a twenty on the table. Her demeanor had totally changed as she put on her hat, a wall of seriousness traded places with the carefree country girl. She look up and caught the worried green eyes of Carmen. "Hey Darlin'," she said softly. "I'm sorry I'm havin' to bail on ya, but if you're staying in town and dont have a place to sleep, you're more than welcomed to stay at my place, if you want to that is. Its down the road towards the stop signs, make a right and follow the road until you see some longhorn cattle, when you do, you know you're at the right place, honk and I'll come get ya. Hope to see you again." Dodger winked and smiled and ran out the door with Hank trailing behind.

Carmen heard the Bronco's engine roar, tires squeal, and sirens blaring. As the beastly noise faded, Carmen's thoughts and heartbeat increased in speed and volume. "I can no be fallin' in love with fake man."

End Ch. 4

A/N: ooh wee, this is gettin good aint it? Sorry so slow updating, work has been pretty hectic the past week. With the holidays coming up, it may be delayed even more... sorry =/ drop me a comment or a PM on how you did or didnt like this chapter, mkay. =)