Amelia remembered the time that Ethan had fought the bully. Fists had flown and bodies had flung and rolled in the dirt of the street but when the man had stopped moving, Ethan had gotten back on his feet.
The whole town it seemed had been cheering on the fight, different people picking different sides with some cheering on Ethan. Others getting Amelia caught up on the back story of the bully's history in the town before her arrival.
The bully had begged for mercy but as soon as Ethan's back had been turned he'd picked up a shovel and hit him with it between the shoulder blades knocking him out when he hit the ground. Amelia had gotten Ethan into her house and cleaned up his cuts on his face while he'd naturally made a pass at her. They'd had the most unusual of courtships. Whereas Pierce Lawson had swept her off her feet and rescued her, her relationship with Ethan had grown more slowly, developed and matured at its own pace but her love for him, it just grew over time until she couldn't deny her feelings anymore. She hadn't been so sure that she'd ever fall in love again.
She thought about that as she went out of the cabin to go sit on the steps. She didn't feel dizzy like she had earlier. John Taylor's tea as awful as it tasted really had helped her mend up from her head injury. Now that she felt better, she was restless to get back to the ranch to help with running it. She'd spent way too much time laid up in bed in this cabin.
Her muscles ached but sitting outside made her feel better and she wondered when Ethan would return. She needed him to help her get back to the ranch because she didn't have her horse but she knew he might give her some resistance.
Virgil checked on her after returning with some dead rabbits for supper.
"You feeling better?"
She nodded.
"Those for dinner?"
He smiled and nodded. She got on her feet.
"Want some help skinning and cooking them," she said, "I'm not a bad cook."
He furrowed his brow.
"You are feeling well enough?"
"A lot better in fact," she said, "I've been getting enough rest the past several days. I need to do something."
He nodded and she followed him into the cabin where they sat at the table and skinned the rabbits to prepare them to be cooked. She knew Ethan might stay for supper and would likely be hungry after spending the day in town trying to get Darrin to allow him to talk to his security men. That worried her because she knew how ruthless Burke could be and if Ethan got too close to discovering the truth…he'd get hurt if caught off-guard.
"I'll get some vegetables from the garden out back…to go with the rabbit."
She nodded and oversaw the cooking while he went out to harvest some of his small crop. The rabbit smelled good as the meat cooked and she thought they'd enjoy it. She and Ethan had cooked over a campfire while out traveling from one place to the next more than once and she'd enjoyed it even when the reasons for them being out in the wilderness were less than pleasurable.
All this time away from him, she'd missed the time they'd spent together…even when they'd not had a lot of spare time from their jobs. All of it had been much more precious than she realized and now that she was back…she savored the time they were together. She'd wished she'd come back whole to him but she knew she'd been lucky to return at all. Somehow they'd work through the challenges that lay ahead of them.
If Burke didn't hurt anyone else…and that thought never left her head. The knowledge that he'd done horrible things to her and taking the life of Warrick and who knows how many others. Somehow because of Darrin, he'd wound up in Paradise working security for the businessmen like Axelrod. She didn't know how it happened but there had to be some connection between the Wyatts and San Francisco and she needed to find it.
But first she had to convince Ethan she was fully recovered and ready to go back to Bella's ranch. She knew he'd get her to promise that she'd rest up there for a few more days before doing any hard work. Okay, she could handle that and help out at the ranch, while trying to come up with the best plan for dealing with Burke.
She sighed as she checked on the rabbit just as Virgil came in with some vegetables, squashes and onions not to mention some herbs she recognized. They cooked up the vegetables while preparing a garnish for the rabbit using the herbs.
The door opened and in walked Ethan looking a bit tired. She smiled, leaving the kitchen to go greet him. He embraced her, kissing her on the mouth before going to remove his coat and hat.
"How'd it go?"
He looked over at her.
"Can't find them anywhere," he said, "Darrin's really covering for them and that tells me a lot without him saying anything."
She felt concern lace her thoughts about what Darrin might be up to and how much he knew about both men.
"You surprised by that? We know that they killed Walton."
He nodded.
"Can't prove it and can't talk with them long enough to get one of them to slip up on his story."
A chill hit her because she knew what might happen if Ethan caught one or both in a lie and they knew it.
"Ethan…you have to be careful with them," she said, "They might be very dangerous especially if cornered."
He eyed her carefully.
"You sound like you know what you're talking about Amelia."
She shrugged trying to be casual.
"Ethan…it's just what you'd expect anyway if someone's trying to hide something as awful as a murder isn't it?"
He conceded her that point but he still wondered.
"Why don't we go get some supper…before you leave?"
He took hold of her hands drawing her closer and looking in her eyes.
"What aren't you telling me Amelia?"
She felt pinned under her gaze.
"Ethan…I told you everything."
He didn't relent.
"Everything you know about Burke? You sure you never crossed his path in San Francisco?"
She inhaled and released it slowly.
"It's a big city Ethan…it's not likely we'd just bump into each other."
She hated lying to him but if he knew the truth, he'd just get hurt or killed. Burke was a ruthless man who didn't fight fair and if he got the edge on Ethan…she didn't even want to think about that. Not after they had reunited again.
"You didn't see him at all?"
She pulled away from him and headed towards the kitchen.
"Supper's almost ready and I'm hungry. What about you?"
He relented knowing he'd learned enough about her that he couldn't force an issue past her but he wanted to know the truth. He needed to know the truth about her and Burke because he guessed they had seen each other.
Virgil served them up some rabbit and as they went out to the dining table to eat it, Ethan's mind worked quickly to try to figure out how to coax the truth out of Amelia.
Her mind worked as quickly to stop him from finding it out.