Once Bitten: Twice Mad

Chapter Thirty-Two

The dining car was empty but Katherine could hear voices coming from the kitchen. It sounded like charlotte, Silas and Evangeline if Katherine had to guess.

Ox pulled a deck of cards from his pocket and Katherine found herself laughing lightly. "Did you have this planned all along?" she teased.

She saw his cheeks flame red and realized he had also shaved his face this evening and his stubble free skin was smooth, showing even more clearly how strong his jaw was.

"I wanted to think of some way to spend a bit of time with you, Miss Kate." He admitted as he dealt out a hand of five card stud.

"It's amazing that we found this train." Katherine replied. "We can all relax and know that we are safe. And I can lose horribly at poker without worried about being eaten." She added, tossing her cards down.

"I wouldn't let you get eaten, Miss Kate."

Katherine smiled brightly. "My big, strong hero."

Ox's blush and his embarrassed grin was the single most endearing sight that Katherine had ever seen.

"I just wish we could have found a train with bigger beds. I've got a bedroll stretched out on the floor in my room. Tomorrow I'm gonna take Comanche's advice and find some boards somewhere and make my bed a few feet longer."

Katherine squealed with excitement when she won the next hand. "You are really tall." She acknowledged once she was done bouncing in celebration. "Do you take after your pa?"

Ox amused smile faded and he looked sad as he shook his head. "Naw. Pa wasn't even six feet tall. I reckon I take after my papaw. Got his big body and little brain; least that's what my pa told me."

"Small brain?" Katherine asked with a frown, pausing in her dealing of the cards. Ox stuttered several times and then sighed.

"I reckon I might as well tell you the truth." He mumbled, looking at a chip in the polished wooden table. "I like you, Miss Kate, and you deserve to know the truth about me."

"What truth is that?" Katherine asked, her stomach tied up in knots so tight that it was difficult to breath. She had never felt this way in the presence of any man before and she hated it yet loved it all at the same time.

"I ain't a real smart man, Miss Kate. Folks like to say that my body kept growing long after my brain stopped. That's how I really got my nickname. I'm 'the big dumb ox of a son them Gilcrest folks have'. I guess I should've told ya that sooner."

"They didn't call you Ox because you were big?" Katherine asked and Ox shook his head as his face colored even more.

"No, Miss Kate. It's because I'm dumb."

Katherine studied him and thought back over the last week. Ox was quiet and didn't speak up very often but he surely didn't seem dumb. He was warm, kind and sweet. He was also strong and brave if the way he had faced down those rabid that day was any indication.

"Joshua, I don't think you're dumb."

"Shit, Miss Kate, don't call me Joshua..."

"I won't call you a name that makes you feel dumb." Katherine countered and Ox shook his head.

"But I... Well truth is... I like it when you call me Ox. I like the way you say it."

"The way I say it...?" Katherine was confused. She felt herself drawn to Ox. She wanted to touch. Kiss him. Feel him hold her. But surely that was wrong wasn't it? That would make her the same woman that she'd been all along......