Chapter 6

The next morning after breakfast, Lou got to work on throughly cleaning and scrubbing the small house. She put up the new curtains she had been able to make the previous afternoon and changed the linens on the bed. She wished that she could change out the tick but she didn't have anything to stuff the mattress with. Buck had hay in the loft she could have used but with that Jeb Spencer sleeping up there she didn't want go up there. There was something really familiar about the man and she couldn't figure out what but he gave her the creeps. It had taken her a better part of the morning to fix up the cabin, she wanted it to be perfect for when Emma and Sam arrived. They would have to put them up for the night at least since the place was so far from town but she had no idea where they would sleep. She figured that her and Buck would just give up the bed to them. It wasn't like she wasn't used to sleeping on the ground anyway and she was sure Buck would be fine on the ground too.

Around noon, Buck and Jeb came up to the house for lunch. True to his word Buck had rigged up a plank on the porch for a table and some barrels for seats. So after laying out the food and dishes, the men chowed down while she just picked at her meal.

"You alright Lou?" Buck asked her quietly.

"Yeah I'm fine Buck, just thinking about Emma. I want everything to be perfect when they get here. I haven't even had a chance to start on my new dresses." Lou said quietly.

"Don't worry so much Lou. The place looks great, you've worked hard this morning. Why don't you take a break this afternoon and start on one of your dresses or better yet why don't you take a swim in the creek while me and Jeb are down in the lower pasture repairing the fences." Buck suggested.

"I just might do that." Lou replied with a smile, unaware that Jeb was listening to their conversation.

After the men ate and went back to work, Lou cleaned up the dishes and then decided to take Buck up on his suggestion and take a swim. Lou walked quickly to the creek behind the cabin, she looked around to make sure the men were long gone before she sat on the bank to remove her moccasins. Then standing she undid the ties of her buckskin dress and let it drop to the ground before stepping into the cool waters of the creek. Lou waded out to her waist, the cool temperature of the water feeling wonderful in the hot afternoon sun. She splashed water up over her chest and face before sinking down to her shoulders before laying back on her back to float on top of the water with her eyes closed, never seeing the shadow move in the tree line.

He knew he had seen her somewhere before and that scar that ran down her side from her shoulder to her waist confirmed it to him. That was the whore that had refused to service him, like she got to pick who she serviced. He knew that scar because he was the one that gave it to her when she had fought against him. He thought she had died, but apparently she had just run off. Well he'd make sure she either provided him the services he wanted or he would finish the job. He was sure the breed wouldn't mind sharing, he had after all bought her to warm his bed. He bet he could buy an hour or two with her from him. And if not well he could deal with Cross if he had too. It wasn't like anybody ever came way out this way, it would be weeks, months, maybe even years before anybody realized something had happened to him. And the woman, nobody knew about her did they. Yes that was it, why pay for an afternoon when he could just get rid of the man and have her all to himself, hell he could even stay out here for awhile, there was food and nobody would bother him. Yes, that sounded like a good plan, he just had to wait for the right moment. He had to wait for the breed to let his guard down. Cross was to suspicious right now, he would just have to wait. Maybe until after the auction, men would be expecting Cross to go into town to hire some hands to help get the stock to the auction, if he didn't show they would come out to look in on him. Yes, after the auction was the best time, he would just wait and watch and when the time was right he would strike.

That evening after supper, Jeb went to the barn leaving Buck and Lou alone for the rest of the night. Buck sat at the table inside sipping on a cup of coffee reading a book while Lou sat quietly working on a new dress using the pink fabric she had bought.

"You have a good afternoon Lou?" Buck asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah I did...I took a swim in the creek for awhile. The water was nice and cool." Lou replied looking up at Buck.

"That's good ...Lou, I want ya to be careful around Jeb. He wondered off for a little while this afternoon and when he came back there was something off about him. Just be weary." Buck told her quietly.

"Oh? Well I've been avoiding him anyway. He gives me the creeps, not sure why." Lou stated.

"Just to be safe, I want you to carry a gun or knife at least at all times alright." Buck stated.

"I ain't got either Buck." Lou told him, "I lost the one ya gave me when the Lakota took me. They took my gun too."

"I've got an extra knife in my trunk. Next time we go to town I'll see about getting ya a new gun. In the mean time, the rifle under the bed is loaded if you need it." Buck told her before returning to his book.

A couple hours later, Lou decided she was ready for bed. She stood up and put her sewing away before grabbing her nightdress from the hook over the bed. Buck was still reading at the table so she turned her back to him as she untied her dress and let it drop to her feet.

"My God Lou! What happened?" Buck gasped taking in the sight of the scar for the first time. He had gotten to his feet and moved closer to her to run his fingers over it without even realizing what he was doing.

Lou shivered at his delicate touch on the puckered flesh. "It happened just before I left the whore house."

"Who did this to you?" Buck asked his eyes not leaving the harsh scar, he didn't know how she could have survived such a wound.

"One of the men at the brothel...He wasn't one of my clients but he wanted to be. When I refused to service him cause of the things he would make the other girls do he attacked me." Lou supplied not giving much detail.

"You could refuse service?" Buck asked confused, he didn't think working women had a choice in their clients.

"Yeah that was my stipulation to taking the job. I had complete control over which men I took into my room and to what I allowed them to do. There were many men I refused because of how they treated the girls. I would take the ones the others didn't want cause they were either too shy, or had the wrong skin color or heritage." Lou explained looking down, her arms crossed over her naked chest.

Buck took a step back so she could slip her nightdress over her head, "This man attacked you because you wouldn't take him as a client?"

"Yes. Most of the other men had quit asking for my services once they found out that I would entertain negros and half breeds just the same as white men." Lou replied turning to look at Buck's face now that she was dressed.

"Would ya recognize this man if ya saw him again?" Buck asked.

"I dunno, I only saw him the once really. He wasn't a real regular in the brothel but I knew the name. I had heard the other girls talking bout him. He went by the name Jethro Mills." Lou stated as a face flashed in her mind twisted in anger beneath a bushy beard, hard grey eyes flashing as the steel blade slashed her skin causing her to shiver at the memory.

Buck put his hands on her shoulders in a comforting gesture, "If you ever see him again, though it would be unlikely way out here, but if you do tell me and I will deal with him."

Lou smiled up at Buck before pressing a kiss to his cheek, "Thanks Buck."

Buck stood stock still in shock at the gesture while Lou turned and climbed into bed. He quietly went back to the table and turned out the lamp before returning to the bed and stripping down to his long john bottoms. He lay there beside Lou in silence for a few minutes before his curiosity got the better of him.

"Lou." He said quietly.

"Yeah Buck?" She asked, her voice sounding sleepy.

"I know it's none of my business but I'm just curious ...why did you pick the men you did?" Buck asked, he could feel his face heating with a blush.

"Well I guess if I'm being honest, it's because they reminded me of you, Ike, and Noah. Ya know the shy ones who had trouble talking to women like Ike. Or the negros with big hearts that just wanted someone to treat them the same as other men like Noah. And the half breeds well because they reminded me of you. And you know most of them only ever wanted to talk to a women who didn't treat them no different." Lou answered.

Buck couldn't help the smile that found his lips at her explanation. He turned on his side to face her, his hand brushed her cheek, "You always did treat me the same as everybody else."

Lou leaned into his hand cherishing the soft touch. "I never saw you as any different than the other guys. You were just Buck to me, my brother and my friend."

"If we're being honest with each other I gotta tell ya I never really thought of you as my sister." Buck stated with a small laugh.

"I would hope not if what you said about being in love with me was true ...that would be a little weird." Lou laughed.

"It is true Lou. I never stopped loving you." Buck whispered.

Lou smiled to herself before she snuggled closer to Buck, "Ya wanna know something Buck ... I always thought you were real handsome, pretty sure I looked at ya a few times in not such a sisterly fashion."

Buck laughed as he pulled her closer into his embrace, "I guess that's a start then because I'm gonna do everything in my power to win your heart Lou."

Lou just knew that Buck would do just that because that little piece of her heart that had come back to life spread just a little bit. It was just a matter of time before Buck would have her whole heart alive and beating again, and she was sure it would be beating for him. She knew he wouldn't give up on her, he hadn't in all these years. Buck would wait until she was completely ready for him. Buck wanted her love and Lou wanted to be able to love him. She wanted to be able to love again period. Her heart had stopped working a long time ago, she hadn't loved nothing or no one in a very long time. But Buck was already changing that, he was waking her heart back up.

A/N: So who do you think is the creepy stalker? Is it Jeb? And if it isn't just what was he up to when he slipped away from Buck? And why does he look familiar to Lou? Looks like we will have to wait and see.