Amelia took the cup of tea that Bella gave her in her kitchen. They walked back to sit down in the front room. Bella looked straight at her.
"So what happened in the barn?"
Amelia looked down at her cup.
"A man showed up," she said, "Someone I never saw before..."
"Did he give a name?"
Amelia shook her head.
"He acted like he knew me but I don't know him. He said that someone old him he'd find me here."
"Did he say who?"
"He didn't mention any names at all," Amelia said, "but he kept telling me he wanted to have fun…someone had told him about my talents."
Bella put her tea down.
"Did he say anything else?"
"No…I grabbed a pitchfork and threatened with it," she said, "When he moved to grab me, I stuck him in the arm with it."
"Good girl…sounds like he deserved worse."
Amelia leaned back in her chair.
"I've had to deal with men like that all my life," she said, "I was taught how to defend myself."
"Part of being a woman in a man's world," Bella said, "It's true even for outlaws."
Amelia smiled at that and she sipped some more tea to try and relax. But she felt so unnerved by what happened in the barn.
"He knew about me…about what happened in San Francisco but how could he?"
Bella sighed.
"It'd be a stretch…but without knowing anything about him."
"I don't even know his name," Amelia said, "It wasn't that he confused me with someone else because he knew my first name…he knew where to find me and what he said…"
Bella moved to sit next to her on the sofa.
"Maybe it's someone he knows…or crossed paths with at some point."
Amelia considered that but what were the odds he'd wind up in Paradise unless he'd coming looking for her. But if that were the case, then who was he and why?
"It sounds like you scared him off."
"Ethan showed up with his gun," Amelia said, "I don't know how much he heard."
Bella looked at her.
"Enough…he's very concerned about it and you," she said, "and you just walked away from him."
Amelia nodded slightly.
"I can't talk to him about this because if I do…he'll find out everything and I can't…I don't know what he'll do if that happens."
"You think he'll judge you for it," Bella said, "Amelia, it's not your fault what happened."
"I know…but it doesn't matter," Amelia said, "I know he'll be angry and it won't be at me but if he does something…"
"You mean go after them…"
Amelia nodded again.
"I won't be able to stop him," she said, "and if something happens to him…"
"He can take care of himself…he's very good at what he does…even if he lives by the gun."
Amelia didn't want to go back into the days and nights she'd been so worried about him, when he didn't show up for a dinner date or at his ranch at night…all the days he was on the road hunting outlaws. But if he found out what happened…she'd have to get scared all over again…if his personal feelings undid his professionalism.
"I know that… but I thought of all the ways to come back to him and this wasn't one of them…"
Bella smiled.
"Life's like that…you can't prepare for everything that can happen," she said, "The important thing is that you're here home where you wanted to be."
Amelia knew that but it had gotten a lot more complicated.
"You've enjoyed spending time with him?"
She nodded.
"Very much…I realized how much I missed him," Amelia said, "and for a while I was able to forget…"
"You should just tell him," Bella said, "He's not going to go off and do something rash. He's too smart a man."
Amelia knew that he was the most professional of gunfighters but sometimes his emotions had driven him especially when his family was involved.
"I don't think that's what you're afraid of Amelia," Bella continued, "I think it's something else…"
Ethan rode to the saloon before heading on home. He ordered an ale and sat at the bar as Sam argued with Scarlet who had been cutting her nights back enjoying her job at Bella's ranch.
Dakota came on over to order another drink after winning a poker match.
"You want another round Ethan," he said, "It's on me."
Ethan looked at the bills that Dakota dropped on the bar.
"How much did you win?"
Dakota smiled widely.
"Enough…more than enough…"
"Should quit while you're ahead," Ethan said, "put it in the bank…"
Dakota shook his head.
"Don't trust them…they always get robbed."
Ethan sipped his drink.
"So how was your night with Amelia?"
"Good…we had dinner and took a walk down the street and then I rode with her home."
Dakota leaned against the bar.
"So you are taking her out again?"
Ethan looked at his empty glass as the bartender filled it.
"She ran into some stranger in the barn tonight…but he took off."
"You scare him off?"
"She threatened him with a pitchfork…"
"Good for her…you want to go looking for him?"
Ethan sipped his ale again.
"I don't know who he is and he doesn't look familiar either," he said, "I checked the wanted posters in the office before I came here and none stood out."
"Maybe he's no outlaw."
Ethan had considered that but then what explained his actions?
"He's not from around here," he said, "Maybe a neighboring town…passing through."
Dakota looked at him knowingly.
"You don't really believe that do you?"
No he didn't, Ethan thought, his gut instinct told him that the man tied into whatever had happened to Amelia before she came back home. What Bella had hinted at but wouldn't tell him. She had told him to get the story from Amelia instead but she wasn't talking.
"I don't…I think the man's tied to Amelia someway," he said, "When she was back in San Francisco, a man she met at a party was killed."
"A beau…?"
Ethan shook his head.
"Someone she just met who walked her home afterward. But he wound up dead in the street shot to death and Amelia wasn't anywhere to be found."
"Did you ask her what happened?"
"No…but I think it's time to ask," Ethan said, "I think it might tie in with Daggett and his gang and they might be coming her after Clara."
Dakota shook his head.
"We can't let that happen," he said, "We've got to stop Daggett and his men in their tracks before they hit Paradise."
Ethan agreed with that but he wasn't so sure Daggett had anything to do with what happened to Amelia.
He just didn't know why she wouldn't tell him.
Amelia got undressed and into bed, so tired from the day which she'd enjoyed immensely until the man came after her in the barn. She closed her eyes to will herself not to see him again, frozen there trying to scare her.
She thought about Warrick and what happened to him and forced herself to think of more peaceful things. No, she didn't want to remember how nice he'd been and what he'd looked like when she last saw him.
After burrowing herself underneath the covers, she tried so hard to sleep, her muscles exhausted. The adrenalin that had filled her so quickly had driven her to act but left her feeling drained afterward.
She thought what it had been like to leave Ethan, but she couldn't stay there and face them. When she told Bella that she worried what he might do when he found out what happened to her, that had only been part of it. She couldn't admit the rest of it even to her self.
It'd been so nice to have dinner with him at the saloon like old times and she knew what she wanted and that was what she had walked away from months ago. But he wanted more from her than she could give him and she didn't want to see his face when he realized that, the fact that as much as she loved him, he scared her too.
No, he could never know that…and if she went out with him again, he'd find out. A part of her really wanted to tell him, to feel the load she'd been carrying lifted off of her but every time she thought about it, she knew she couldn't say anything.
Maybe she shouldn't have come back to Paradise, just stayed away but then something primal had drawn her back. She couldn't live without him in her life but now…she couldn't let him in too close.
He just knew her too well like she knew him. She knew that he wanted her back and how much.
But the man in the barn meant something, he didn't just show up out of the blue. The men who she protected with her silence…they must have something to do with it but what?
She closed her eyes to force any memories of them away while she found herself focusing on the man she loved as she felt herself drawn into sleep.