And the very very subtle foreshadowing is in this chapter. Someone did "mention" the thing, but they never actually guessed it explicitly.
Well anywayzzz... It is with a heavy heart that I bring WWW to a close. It was my first Lucaya multi-chaptered fic, the first lengthy/long term project I ever started, the first story where I realized just how attached to Lucaya I was, the story that started my crazy venture into writing a bunch of stories at once. The thing that started my obsession with writing Lucaya. And this story will always have a special place in my heart.
I know it's been ups and downs and this story is weird and oddly paced LOL and I just want to say thank you for being there with me through it all. Thank you for the sweet reviews and your unwavering patience and the favourites and follows. Thank you for the gentle reminders to update when I slacked and for being so understanding when I was too wrecked to update. But above all that, thank you for taking a chance on this story, though it was unrefined and needed a lot of work. Looking at the way I used to write to now, I hope I have gone through some sort of growth as a writer, and it touches my heart that you all stayed with me through that. And above all of that, I just want to thank you for giving this story a whirl and reading it. I love you all for that and it is with a bittersweet smile that I let this story go!
I hope you have in any small way enjoyed Wild Wild West! Thank you for sticking with me through the end, mes chéris! :D
That being said, à bientôt!
Disclaimer: I do not own GMW otherwise Maya would be kicking asses for real.
Dear Maya.
I'm writing this to you on a train to the east to go back to New York. By the time you've gotten this, I'll already have arrived at my childhood home before I was disowned. The truth is, I've gone back to see my mother. To make amends and heal from this life I've been forced to lead for almost twenty years. I need a mother to guide me and help me get through this nightmare now more than ever, and I can't be a mother to you when I'm so lost. I lost the love of my life, I was forced to give away my daughter, and the rest of my scars—both mental and physical—are even more gruesome.
You know, Lucas said something the night he went to kill Jed that stuck with me long after we told the townsfolk of Jed's wrongdoings. He said you deserve someone who can stay for you. Someone who can support you. I'm not that person, Maya. I deserted you when you were a baby. I can barely support myself. I know I wouldn't be good enough for you. Not when you have everything you need where you are.
I couldn't let you live your life with me when you've created your own family here after all these years I wasn't there for you. You've had loving parents, loving siblings, loving friends. You found love. I don't want to hold you back. I'm so happy you saved me from that fate. I'm so happy we found each other again after so many years.
But I can't stay.
One day we will meet again, I promise. I'll come back. But for now, forget about little old me and live your life. If you really need me, then come find me. But otherwise, I know you'll be fine without me. You managed to make it without me for almost twenty years. I'm so sorry for leaving without telling you, but I'm sure you don't need me now.
I will never forget you.
I love you, baby girl. I always will.
Until we meet again.
Love,
Katy Hart
"Well Maya," Mr. Biggins said, gently prodding her leg, "I'm sorry to say your leg has healed up completely. If you're still slightly limping now, it's going to stay for the rest of your life."
"I understand," she said, pulling her britches back over her leg.
"Let's see that hand of yours."
She lifted her right hand and gave it to the doctor, watching as he curled her fingers open and closed to see if she would feel any discomfort. He rubbed the familiar ointment on the skin over the faded scar. Maya stared at her hand, lost in thought. Her right hand wasn't disfigured, but the puckered scar on the top was gaudy and gross. It hadn't healed nicely and neither had a few of the other scars on her neck and body. The worst was definitely on her leg, jagged, rough and a harsh reminder each time she bathed of the year that her life took a turn for the crazy.
She didn't like to think about that time too much, but Maya couldn't lie that she liked her scars in some ways. They made her look and feel more rugged. And good news was, most people considered her unmarriageable because of her scars. Well, among other reasons too…
"Alright. You're good to go, Maya," Mr. Biggins said with a smile. "Come back again next month and we'll see if progress is happening on getting rid of the scar."
"Sure," Maya drawled, standing from her chair and leaving the medic's home.
She knew it was no use. Her scar was stuck for life. No matter how much they tried to get rid of it with ointment and herbs, she knew it wasn't going to disappear.
Maya walked through the town, dragging her feet as she headed back from the medic to get back home to Cory's ranch. She watched people hustle past her as they began their days. A lot had changed since then.
After everything with Jed was over, it had taken the town a bit of time to clean up his mess. But in the end, they managed to reconstruct the town as it had been and gotten back their stolen lives. Well, most of them had anyway. It'd been a slow and rough transition, but Maya could easily see that the town was starting to strive. It helped that they'd elected Topanga as the new mayor and she'd done really well to implement a constructive plan to get the town back to the way it was before Jed became mayor. There was no new sheriff yet since it was difficult to determine who could be the most trustworthy and couldn't be bribed, but crime had gone way down for the time being since everyone was still trying to recover.
Their town had expanded in the past two years, growing larger and attracting more people and businesses to come live there since the negotiated plans for a new railroad between towns included theirs. Deeds for land had been sold for fair prices and word had spread of the better reputation of their town. Among some new businesses, they had more stores and even a new livery run by a long bearded man named Mr. Squirrels. No one really knew why he had suddenly relocated to their town since he remained silent, but he watched the horses of people resting in town as they passed through and no one questioned his presence.
As Maya passed through town on her way to get back home, she caught sight of Auggie standing on the porch of a candy store and staring inside the door. Every few seconds, he would quickly pull his head out of the doorway and hide before he peeked back inside.
"Auggie?" Maya called out. "Aren't you supposed to be finishing up delivering the milk?"
Auggie spun around, surprised to see Maya watching him. "This is my last stop."
She smirked. "So why are you standing out here?"
Auggie hesitated, his brows furrowing momentarily before he turned back around to look inside the store. Maya walked up to the porch, leaning in to look inside the doors where a young blonde girl with curly hair was unpacking things from crates. It was obvious from the way Auggie's gaze wouldn't stray far from her that he had a pretty big crush on her. Maya thought it was a little weird to think about Auggie growing up and becoming interested in stuff other than the cowboys and bandits in his dime novels and learning how to shoot, but she supposed after all this time, it made sense. He was getting older. He was just about her height now, growing taller consistently and probably on the way to getting even taller than her soon enough. His voice had even deepened the slightest bit, though he still wasn't anywhere near her skill in shooting yet.
"What's her name?" Maya asked.
"Ava Morgenstern. Their family just moved in to town two nights ago. What a woman…" he said absentmindedly, a slight blush on his cheeks.
"Just go talk to her."
"No way!"
Maya sighed, shaking her head in amusement. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth.
"Special delivery for the Morgensterns!" Maya shouted into the store.
Auggie gasped when Ava turned around from where she was and noticed them standing outside the door. She set her things down and began to make her way over to them, and Maya watched the tips of Auggie's ears turn a bit red.
"You're welcome, Auggie boy."
Maya left the porch of the store and continued on her way through town, heading over to visit Billy since she was already in town. Of all the places that had changed the most, Bull's Sleaze had been the biggest one. After the end of the mess with Jed, his followers had been put in jail for being accomplices in his crimes. The rest with the more terrible criminal activity had been sent to work in mines out in California. But the damage to the lives of the women had already been done. Most all of them who no longer had husbands or whose families had abandoned them had no choice but to stay. Working in Bull's Sleaze had been the only life they'd had and their only source of income. Without it, their futures looked a little bleak since they had no homes, no land, and no money to build homes.
Billy and Maya had worked together with Katy to turn the Bull's Sleaze saloon into a cabaret for people to pay for dancing and singing and theatre entertainment. It allowed the women who had been stuck in Bull's Sleaze to continue to earn wages on their own with lodging, but without the prostitution aspect to it. Bull's Sleaze was a more reputable source of entertainment now, and the girls and women were not so uncomfortable with their line of work anymore. It pleased Maya to see that the town had for the most part been able to shuck away the worst parts of their lives under Jed's leadership.
When Maya walked in, Winny was leading some of the girls in rehearsing a number for the performance that night on the stage. Billy was at the bar counter, checking numbers in the log book.
"Looks like someone's been busy," Maya said, coming up to the counter and plopping down on one of the stools.
"Maya!" Billy looked up with a smile. "You haven't stopped by in almost two months."
"Yeah well… Sorry I haven't been able to help much recently."
"No, I understand how much you have on your hands right now. Want something to drink? How about the temporary House Special? Brandy and whisky with cherry."
Maya's face twisted in slight disgust. "Sounds disgusting. I'd rather drink piss, to be honest. Or beer. They taste the same anyway."
"I thought so too…" Billy sighed. "I've never really been a good bartender."
"That's okay. You'll get the hang of it eventually." Maya chuckled. "How's Missy?"
"She's fine. Just resting. You'd think at five months in, she'd get used to all the waves of nausea by now."
"You'd be surprised how hard it is. And Missy is paralyzed so there's also that added difficulty."
"I have no doubt. She can't get to the bathroom when she needs to vomit so she's taken to crawling when I'm not around to carry her. Thankfully, Mr. Biggins has fashioned a wheelchair for her. How's little Abby?"
"She's fine. Really energetic. She's walking all over the place and it's getting hard to find her when she wants to hide."
He smiled. "That's great. Sounds like she's got a great family to care for her though."
"Yes, she does. We all love her to bits and pieces."
"…How's the um…" He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Have you heard anything…? You know… about um…"
Maya stared at the counter, a frown on her face.
"No."
They fell silent for a few seconds, both lost in their own thoughts as they listened to the practice in the main lounge room behind them.
"Look, I've been with Lucas for several years," Billy finally said when the silence had been stretched out to its limit. "He does this. He'll disappear for a while and then he'll come back when he's handled whatever thing he's trying to get over. When I got bitten by a pit viper, he thought it had been his fault and went off into the woods in solitude for about two days to get over his guilt, but he came back when he was ready. They didn't find his body with the Jed's, Maya. He's alive somewhere out there. I know he is. He'll return to us."
"Unless he already got drowned and carried away in the river," Maya said crossly.
She was tired of hearing all these bullshit, hopeful speeches about Lucas possibly being alive. The fact of the matter remained that two years had gone by since Maya had woken up in her bed, alone, with only his stupid hat beside her. He'd left her. And he still hadn't returned.
He was dead to her.
Billy winced. "Well there's that too. But they only found Clay's body caught by the rocks in the rapids."
"Unless Lucas' dead body got past the rapids and ended up down the waterfall."
Billy chuckled nervously. "Well… I guess that's true…"
"Billy, we've had this argument a thousand times. I don't want to talk about this anymore." Maya stared at the scar on her hand. "He left me. Even if he comes back—which he won't—it doesn't change anything. I told you Lucas doesn't mean anything to me anymore."
"You're wearing his hat." Billy pointed out.
"Because it shields out the sun," Maya said sharply. "Nothing more, nothing less. Don't read into this."
Billy nodded solemnly. "I understand."
Maya rose from her stool, stretching her leg from the slight cramp she'd gotten. "I'll try to stop by a little more often when things are less hectic."
"Take care of yourself, Maya."
"You too, Billy."
Maya left the cabaret saloon and headed to where she'd left Clutterbucket before she'd begun her errands that morning. She climbed her horse and set him off on a gallop out of the town to go back to the Matthews' ranch—now turned mayor's mansion after furious citizens had burned the old one to the ground. She kept her thoughts from straying to dangerous territory by focusing on the horizon and everything going on in the town around her. It frustrated her to no end that after all this time, she still hadn't made peace with anything even though she continued to behave as if she did. She just knew if she didn't act okay, everyone would continue to try to console her and "help" her and she didn't want anyone's pity.
Once Maya got home, she brought Clutterbucket to a slow trot in the front of the fence and hopped off, hurrying inside to get her chores for the day done. There was a man animatedly speaking with Topanga in the entrance of the parlor.
"Miss Mayor, can I get the approval for an increase of land?"
"Jacob, I told you you can't have that land. It is part of Miss Howard's home. If you want this strip of land, you need to speak with her and come to a negotiation. I cannot grant you the land when it legally belongs to another."
"That old prune is two nights from dying anyway."
"And when she does, her son will inherit that land," Topanga said dryly. "I suggest if you want that land, you befriend Cam and stop referring to his ailing mother as old prune."
Jacob turned and left begrudgingly, grumbling under his breath. Topanga sighed, rubbing her temples tiredly as Maya walked into the parlor. Cory was sitting on the couch, playing peekaboo with a giggling baby girl, her blonde curls bouncing around her face as she clapped her tiny hands.
"I'm home."
They all turned to her as she walked into the room.
"Ma!" Abigail called out, reaching out to Maya.
Maya stared at her, momentarily frozen in place when she met the familiar sea-foam green eyes of her baby girl. It'd been months, but there were times when Maya couldn't lie, looking into Abigail's eyes affected her more than she wished it did, especially when with each passing month, she continued to resemble him more and more.
"You okay, Maya?" Topanga asked in concern when she stood there for a handful of seconds.
"I'm fine."
Maya smiled and she walked over and took her baby from Cory, lifting her up and resting her on her hip, bouncing her gently.
"Hey baby girl," she cooed softly. "You have a good morning?"
Maya nuzzled her little girl's nose, and Abby giggled, squishing Maya's cheeks together with her hands.
"Pway?"
"I'm sorry. Mama's got a few more things to finish up, and then I promise we will for as long as you want." Maya tucked some flyaway, unruly blonde curls behind her ear. "Grandpappy Cory will play with you in the meantime, okay?"
"Otay."
"That's a good girl."
She kissed her forehead softly before handing her back to Cory. Then Maya stooped and picked up the last small crate of milk to be delivered that Auggie hadn't gotten.
"Maya, how did it go at the doctor's?"
"Still no results. I don't expect the scar to go away anyway." Maya glanced around. "Where's Riley?"
"She went to the seamstress with that nice girl Sarah to try to get the little tear in her dress fixed for the debutante ball tonight."
"That's right, I forgot…"
Maya felt a little bad since she had been pretty uninvolved in her family's life for a while now. It wasn't that she was doing it on purpose. It was just that she spent a lot of time alone or with Abby and wasn't keeping up with what was going on.
"She's a little troubled by the number of suitors pursuing her. She should be back by the time you finish your delivery though. I'll tell her you want to talk to her."
"How many suitors does she have now?"
"Four now since the Gardener boy and the son of Stuart Minkus both seem to have taken a liking to her as well."
Maya's eye twitched slightly at the mention of Minkus, and Topanga grimaced a bit, realizing what she had accidentally said.
"There are just three more milk deliveries to go, right?" Maya turned around. "I'll be back soon, Mama."
"Okay…" Topanga said uncertainly as Maya left.
Topanga knew Maya was trying to be strong, but there was something missing from her usually vibrant eyes. She smiled, but there were many occasions when it felt like she was just going through the motions to keep up appearances. Topanga sat next to Cory where he was trying to avoid Abby's little fingers trying to poke themselves up his nose.
"I'm worried about her, Cory… She's slowly sinking into herself. It's been almost two years now that she hasn't truly been herself. Anything that has to do with Lucas or anything that reminds her of him, and she completely closes herself off."
"Give her some time. Lucas disappeared and then her mother left a few months later. I wouldn't be okay either if two people I loved ejected themselves from my life. She feels abandoned, even if she won't say it out loud."
Topanga sighed, stroking Abigail's cheek. "I just… I'm worried."
"She needs some time to heal. There's not much we can do, but always be here for her," he replied, though he wore the same expression on his face as Topanga. "She didn't really have a chance to heal, to be honest. And especially not since Abby looks just like her father. She's a reminder of Lucas to Maya each day. I know she loves Abby, but it probably hurts a lot to look at her."
"You're right. We'll keep giving her her space until she wants to talk."
"Pappy? Pway?"Abby asked with a toothless, goofy grin, and Cory smiled happily, his heart just about melting at the adorable little girl.
"Of course we can play, sweetheart."
~.~.~
"Delivery for McKinney."
Maya knocked on the front door of Clint's town home, hoping so badly that he wouldn't be there. She'd managed to avoid him all this time since his father had temporarily resumed managing household affairs after Jed's misdeeds became known so he could fix up the mess of their bank statements. This was her last delivery and she wanted to get it out of the way so she could try to finish out the day in a somewhat good mood.
The door swung open, and to her displeasure, Clint stood in the doorway, staring down at her with a sneer on his lips.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the dirty little whore who spread her legs and got knocked up by someone else while courting me. Last I heard, you still had a fatherless child and no suitor. How does it feel to have lost the best thing that could have happened to you? No one will marry you now when you have that many ugly scars, dress like a man, and have a child."
"Then I've certainly succeeded," Maya said dryly. "Now if you could take this delivery, that'd be great."
"So what's your deal now? Do you whore yourself out on the streets since you can never be married to a reputable townsman?" he snarked nastily.
"Reputable townsman? You mean like you?" Maya snorted. "I have a daughter to go take care of. So can you please take this so I can go?"
"Tell you what? I'll do you a favour. I'm sure you're going to need money to raise your ugly little shit kid, right?" He leaned down with a nasty smirk. "If you sell your body to me, I'll pay you. You can be my personal whore on the side. I'm saving you the trouble. You would have ended up being a prostitute anyway."
"Oh Clint." Maya smiled sweetly. "Clint, Clint, Clint. When will you learn to shut your fucking trap?"
Then the smile dropped completely from her face, and she pulled her pistol out of the holster under her arm, cocking it and pointing it directly at his head, pressing the barrel against his forehead.
"I don't think I heard you correctly. Care to repeat those words, you cock sucking, horse faced lowlife piece of donkey shit?"
She advanced into the foyer, chuckling darkly as she steadily approached him. Clint swallowed thickly, his eyes wide as he backed up slowly, hands up in the air.
"You know, I don't think I ever really paid you back for trying to put your hand in my skirt during that one dinner, did I? Or the time you tried to kiss me. Endless harassment on your part and it seems like you haven't learned your lesson at all. Should I shoot off your hand? Or maybe that tiny dick of yours? Might save some other poor girl from your harassment."
"C-calm down… I was honestly just joking…"
"Wasn't very funny. Apologize."
"I-I'm sorry!"
Maya glanced down briefly and started snickering at the stain of liquid darkening the front of his trousers. What a dumbass.
"Now. Will you be taking your delivery, or will you be getting a new asshole?"
He reached over blindly and took the crate of milk, shaking slightly and cross-eyed as he kept his eyes on Maya's pistol.
"I'm glad you see things my way," Maya muttered darkly, her expression going serious. "If you ever talk to me like that again and if you ever insult my baby again, your life is forfeit. We clear?"
He nodded rapidly, his lips trembling in fright.
"Good."
Maya uncocked her gun and put it back in her holster before she left the McKinney manor, rolling her eyes. The idiots were always the same. So cocky up until the point where they were threatened and then they couldn't even defend himself.
Sighing, Maya climbed back on Clutterbucket and rode quickly back to the stables of the Matthews ranch, happy that she was finally done. When she got back, she hopped off her horse and guided him inside so she could clean off the dust he'd accumulated all over his shiny onyx coat. She snatched his brush off the wall to clean him up.
"I need a hard, long ride, Clutterbucket. You might get exhausted, so be prepared."
Clutterbucket whined, nuzzling her gently with his nose as if concerned for her. Maya chuckled, stroking his mane gingerly.
"I'm okay, Clutterbucket. I just need to clear my head a bit more."
The stable doors opened behind her.
"Riley, I'm going for a long ride," Maya said over her shoulder. "Do you want to come with me before your debutante ball? I know you don't like to get dirty so close to these things, but I've got a bit of free time."
"I'm looking for a Maya Matthews. Have you seen her?"
And she dropped the brush, stiffening and freezing in place because that was not Riley's voice. It was a drawl she had hoped desperately to hear again two years ago. A voice coming from someone she thought she'd never see again.
Maya turned around slowly and sure enough, leaning against their stable wall was a smirking Lucas Friar, a blade of wheat in between his lips. Part of her thought she was hallucinating. After all, she'd dreamt and imagined he had come back before in the past.
They stood there staring at each other, silence reigning between them as Maya tried to keep her breathing even. He was the same.
"Afternoon, Miss Matthews."
Was that all he had to say? After everything that happened, did he really think he could come back and say 'afternoon miss' like some dumbass, and she would run into his arms? She glared at him, spinning on her heels and storming out of the stables. She could hear him sigh behind her, his steps languid as he followed her.
"It's Maya Hart. And don't talk to me."
"Maya."
"I hate you. I hate you! How dare you do that to me! How dare you leave?!" Maya turned around, stomping over to him and jabbing her insults in his chest. "You prick! Cocksucking ass! You fucking piece of shit! You deserting motherfucker! Go back to hell where you came from!"
Maya fell silent, breathing a bit heavily, fighting the tears pricking the back of her eyes. He was alive. No matter how angry she was, he was still alive and standing in front of her and she wanted to cry, but she refused to let him see her tears. Lucas didn't say anything, slipping his arms around her back and holding her lightly.
"Why did you leave me?" she asked softly.
"I'm sorry."
"You're a fucking ass." Maya tried to pull away, but he tightened his hold on her. "Let me go."
"I'm sorry." He repeated, his gaze softening.
"You're an idiot."
"I needed time."
"Unacceptable. You know who also needed time? Your daughter. With her father."
His brows rose, his face looking so surprised that Maya almost started laughing. Almost. She was pissed off and angry and now that she knew he had willingly stayed away, most of her wanted to kill him herself. He should have stayed dead and gone because knowing that he had been alive this whole time, yet decided not to come back was one of the worst things to her.
"I have a…?"
"Yes."
"…How?"
"How do you think, you asshole? I can recall two different occasions."
Lucas was silent, still looking a little shell shocked at the realization.
"And don't you dare ask me if I'm sure she's yours. You're the only person I've ever…" Maya averted her gaze. "Abigail looks just like you, you know. Especially her eyes."
"Maya… If I had known—"
"Shut up. Save your breath; your apologies mean nothing to me." Maya spat, cutting him off. "Do you know how hard it is to look into the eyes of my daughter and realize that she's the spitting image of the man who left me and went and supposedly died, going missing for almost two years? And as if that isn't bad enough, all he left was his stupid hat, as if that would make up for it."
"You're wearing it," Lucas said in slight amusement.
"That's not the point!" Maya growled, pushing against his chest to get away from him, but Lucas wouldn't relinquish his hold. "You left me. And I've struggled to deal with it. Can you imagine waking up one morning and vomiting out everything in your body and going to the doctor only to get told that you're pregnant? And then a dread fills you because you know exactly how this happened and who the father is. And then when you realize said father is dead? That's the worst moment. Because you know your baby will grow up without one of her parents. And it will affect your child eventually, regardless of how happy a life she grows up in. What am I supposed to tell her now? Here's your bastard father Abigail, now you have to get to know him after sixteen months without him in your life. That's not fair to her, and that's not fair to me after I built up this new life without you."
"Maya, if you never want to tell her I'm her father, I understand. If you don't want me in her life, I can pretend to be some random asshole. I know I messed up. Your mom said she would never forgive me if I didn't come back and if I broke your heart. But I had my reasons for not coming back sooner." Lucas' gaze looked far off. "I woke up in a pool of blood, next to the man who singlehandedly ruined my life and threatened the new one I started to build. Seeing him dead; I didn't know who I was anymore. I'd pursued revenge for so long that after I had gotten it, I didn't know what to do with my life. I was going to die if I didn't get help though, and I wouldn't find it in our town. So I managed to get a ride from some travellers to Feeny's to heal. I had two bullets lodged in my back, one close to my heart, and Jed stabbed me and got my lung. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Jed told me he was my biological father."
Maya's eyes widened as she stared up at him, her breath briefly catching in her chest.
"I had an identity crisis. I kept thinking I would turn out like Jed because we were so alike and I never realized it before. My whole life got turned upside down, and I struggled to reconcile it all. I tried to figure out who I was while healing. But besides that, there was no way I should have survived. I wasn't supposed to. George and Lila kept saying it was a miracle I'd managed to stay alive long enough to even get to their home in the first place." Lucas cupped her cheek, and Maya felt like her heart was about to explode in her chest from the sincerity in his warm gaze. It was different. She could see it. The lingering emptiness and darkness—that rage in his gaze—was gone. "What kept me alive was picturing your smile on your face. Your real one. I've only seen it once, you know? And I just kept wishing that maybe someday I'd get the chance to see it again.
"Did you?"
"What?"
"Figure out who you are?"
"Not exactly. But I do know that when I was with you, I felt like I could be someone different. Someone better. I could find myself past all of the revenge and the fucked up past. And I knew I had to come back and find you again."
"So then you decided to come back just because you need some purpose in your life?" She brushed his hand off of her face, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. "And what happens when you find a new purpose? You follow that and leave again?"
"I'm here to stay, Maya. For good. I know I was being stupid—"
"That's not a lie."
"I want to make it up to you." He smiled. "Marry me."
She cocked a brow. Was he being serious?
"Do you really think after dying, disappearing, and leaving me pregnant that I'm just going to up and marry you?"
"Yes."
"I'm going to kill you. You have a lot of nerve."
"You never said no."
Maya broke away from his embrace and took a wide step back, glowering up at him.
"Maya, say yes."
"I have no reason to. I have a life with a family, I have a daughter, I have work. I'm doing well on my own." Maya shook her head. "Why should I open my life up again to a deserting asshole?"
"Because I propose a game."
"A game?"
Lucas walked up to her, a slight smirk on his face as if he knew that Maya was intrigued. And though she hated to admit it, she honestly was.
"The one shot in Shoot 'Em Up we never finished. Sudden death. On the banister. No handicaps. Proper form," Lucas said. "You beat me? I won't ask again. I beat you? You become Missus Friar."
"I'm not playing any games with you because I want nothing to do with you. Kiss my ass, cocksucker."
Lucas reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. Maya's pulse quickened, and she tried not to let him see how much he was really affecting her.
"Give me a chance to win you back, Maya," he said softly. "I'll never be able to find anyone so right for me."
He pulled her close, his other arm snaking around her waist. To her annoyance, she could feel her cheeks rouging despite her best efforts to try to keep from getting flustered. She wondered if he could feel her rapid heartbeat because he looked way too sure of himself.
"If I win, I'm also getting my curved blade bayonet back."
"Fair enough." His hand slid to her chin and he gently lifted her face up. "When I win, I get my hat back."
"Insufferable grump."
"Pain in my ass."
"…I hate you," she muttered, the corners of her mouth tugging up into a smile.
His gaze was on her lips. "I know."
Lucas leaned down and closed the gap between them. He drew her closer by the waist and Maya rose to her tiptoes, holding his face in her hands as they kissed. Her heart felt like it was about to fly out of her chest.
"Does this mean you'll marry me?" he murmured against her lips, his hands trailing down her side and grasping her hips.
"You have to win first, Ranger Rick."
He smiled. "So that's a yes."
"Idiot."
She shut him up by pressing her lips to his again, an indescribable happiness bubbling up inside her.
So much had happened to Maya, more adventure than she could ever have imagined would happen in her lifetime. Finding her real mother, fixing a conspiracy, taking down the mayor, having a baby. She'd lived her life aimlessly in the past, a little lost, not knowing who she was, but through her adventure had found herself and a happiness she hadn't expected.
And wrapped in Lucas' arms, she felt her life and journey was strangely complete.
~Fin!~