"I need to go out to the farm." Grayson said as he and Callie walked out of the hotel the next morning. The air was already warmer than it had been the day before and Callie was happy that springtime was finally really making its way to western Missouri.
"I need to go get some work done at Annie's. Trina Phillips is getting married in three days and I still don't have her dress ready." Callie replied. Grayson looked back in his memory and found an image of Trina Phillips.
"She's getting married?" he asked raising his eyebrow. He remembered her as being a short, squat woman who greatly resembled a troll in both build and looks. Callie nodded.
"Yes she is. To the bankers son, Scott Schmidt." Callie saw Grayson get a far off look in his eye and then he nodded.
"Short guy, skinny, bushy red hair, freckles and really big glasses."
"He had a growth spurt after you left." Callie replied. "Now he's tall and skinny with bushy red hair, freckles and really big glasses." Grayson laughed loudly and it was the best sound Callie had ever heard and it cleared away every painful line and shadow from his face.
"God, I missed you, Callie. You always could make me laugh." He wrapped his arms tight around her and hugged her close.
"It is just ridiculous that sheriff Potter lets that cold blooded murderer walk the same streets as the rest of us." An older woman, that Callie recognized as Miss Rena the organ player at the church, spat as she walked past them. Callie felt her temper flare.
"Good thing Jesus forgives, Miss Rena, because I think that being a judgmental hypocrite is a sin." She said pulling away from Grayson and sticking her hands on her hips. Miss Rena turned and looked at her.
"Yes, dear, it is a good thing that Jesus forgives because I am sure there is some kind of sin in a woman spending the night in the bed with a cold blooded brother killer and playing whore."
"Wait just one damn minute now." Grayson growled stepping forward and pointing one large finger at the older woman. "You can think what you want about me, Miss Rena, but I will not put up with anybody calling Callie a whore." Miss Rena looked at his finger pointed at her nose and sneered.
"What are you going to do, Grayson? Kill me too?"
"I might." Grayson replied in a cold whisper. Miss Rena's face paled and she suddenly looked very ill. She turned quickly and walked away as fast as her old legs could carry her, nearly falling off the boardwalk in her haste. Callie turned to Grayson and shook her head.
"You really should not have told her you might kill her. That's really not going to help your reputation." Grayson snorted and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I couldn't really care less about what these people think of me, Callie." he said matter of factly. "And there is no way I am gonna let somebody call you a whore without putting the fear of God into them for it." Callie sighed and laid her hand on his cheek.
"You do care what people think but you are pretty good at acting like you don't." she replied. Grayson was about to argue but she laid her finger on his lips. "What am I going to do with you, Gray?"
"If you were smart then you would forget about me and find somebody else that you could be with without turning more than half the town against you." he replied after grabbing her wrist gently and moving her finger away from his mouth. Callie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest while cocking her hip to the side.
"Unlike you, I really don't care what these people think about you and I being together. I have been waiting on you to come back for five years and listening to their judgments. As far as I am concerned it's none of their business."
"I always knew you were tougher than you thought you were when you were younger." he said kissing her forehead.
"I have to get to work." Callie said. "Please be careful today and watch your back. Whoever tried to kill you might decide to give it another go." Grayson could tell Callie was trying to hide the depth of her fear from him but he knew her too well.
"I'll be okay, Callie." he promised. He pulled a derringer pistol from his boot and her eyes widened.
"When did you put that in there?" she asked. He just smiled and tucked it in the waistband of her skirt.
"Keep it with you." he said. He knew that she knew how to use a pistol because he had taught her when they were kids.
"Why?"
"Because I want you to be able to protect yourself if Thomas messes with you again." he replied. "And just in case whoever tried to kill me decides that they don't like you either."
"Okay, if it will make you feel better I'll keep it with me." Callie conceded.
"I'll see you this evening. I'll be back to town before supper and we'll go eat together at the diner." Grayson gave her a soft kiss and then walked away toward the town stable to get his horse. He cursed at the pain in his shoulder as he rolled it and tried to work the soreness out of his muscles. He painfully saddled his horse while praying that he wouldn't start bleeding again and earn himself a talking to from both Callie and Doc Mason and then he headed out for the farm staying very aware of his surroundings. There was no way he was going to let someone sneak up on him again and put another bullet in his back.
888
"Grayson!" Lauren called out running from the porch and throwing her arms around her big brothers neck as he jumped from his horse. Grayson grunted in pain and patted her back. She jumped away and smiled guiltily while she wrung her hands.
"I'm sorry I hurt you! I was just so scared that you were going to die and I didn't really get a chance to hug you or anything at the diner yesterday because you were so angry and I guess I just got carried away." Grayson chuckled and nodded.
"It's okay." he promised. "The damn thing is just sore. It didn't really go deep at all but it bruised the hell out of my shoulder blade." Lauren nodded.
"So… You and Callie?" she asked with a twinkle in her brown eyes. Grayson nodded and was unable to stop the goofy grin that came to his face.
"Yes." he replied simply.
"So what did you come out here for?" Lauren asked. "There is no way I'm letting you work and risk ripping your shoulder open again."
"People don't let me do things little sister. If I want to do something then I do it." he replied and Lauren couldn't help but smile. She was happy to hear that her big brother hadn't changed much since he'd been gone. He was still just as independent, confident and hard headed as he'd always been.
"Where is dad?" he asked. Lauren looked back at the house and then back at Grayson.
"In his bed. He hasn't been feeling well." she replied. Grayson nodded.
"I'm gonna go talk to him and then I'll find something I can help out with around here."
"You are not working here today." Lauren argued. Grayson scowled down at her.
"Don't you have some damn biscuits or something you need to be baking?" he asked. She slapped his arm and turned on her heel, storming back into the house and he chuckled. Grayson walked up onto the porch breathing deep to fight back his nerves. He unhooked his gun belt from his waist and laid it on the rocking chair. He didn't want to upset his father with the sight of it like he had a few days ago.
His feet echoed loudly off the silent walls of the hallway as he walked up the stairs to his father's room. He raised his hand, ran it through his messy hair, which immediately fell back across his forehead, counted to three and knocked on the scarred oak door.
"Come in." he heard his father's weakened and raspy voice say. Grayson opened the door, ducking slightly as he walked into the room to avoid hitting his head on the door frame and then stood straight, looking at his father laying in the bed.
"What the hell are you doing here again?" Jack demanded rising up slowly from his bed so he could stand toe to toe with his son instead of looking like an invalid laying in the bed.
"I wanted to thank you for paying the doc for my care." Grayson replied. He saw anger flash in his fathers green eyes.
"He wasn't supposed to tell you about that." he spat. "Anyway I didn't do it for you. I did it for Lauren because she was so upset. I couldn't care less whether you live or die, Grayson. As far as I'm concerned both of my sons died five years ago." Grayson felt the familiar pain deep inside of him. He tried to tell people he didn't care what anyone thought about him but this man was still his father and he wanted to have a relationship with him again. Unfortunately it didn't appear his father wanted the same.
"Here." Grayson said reaching into his pocket and pulling out some money. "I figured I'd pay you back." Jack slapped Grayson's hand away and the money fell to the floor. Grayson looked down at his father's tired face and swallowed hard. He didn't want his father to know how badly he was hurting.
"I don't want your damn money, Grayson!" Jack yelled angrily. Grayson felt his patience snap.
"Then what the hell do you want?" he yelled back his strong voice sounding like booming thunder when compared to his father's weak, raspy shouts.
"I want my oldest son back!" Jack exclaimed grabbing onto the bed post because his legs were growing weak and he was having trouble breathing.
"Well I can't give him back to you, dad. Phillip is dead." Grayson replied coldly. Jack nodded and stuck his finger in Grayson's chest.
"Yes because you killed him." he spat. Grayson felt the urge to tell his father what had really happened that night. Tell him that Phillip is the one that had lost his mind and fired the first shot at his brother but Grayson knew there was no point. Jack Fields was a stubborn old man that was set in his ways and in his beliefs. No matter what Grayson told him now, his father would never believe that Phillips murder had been anything other than cold blooded.
"Yes I did." Grayson said and then he turned and walked out of the room with his father yelling at him to never come back. Lauren had heard the argument between her brother and father and she was crying when she tried to stop Grayson on the porch.
"Please, Grayson, he just needs time." she said. Grayson just grunted and pushed her out of the way. He walked out to the barn and found James raking out the stalls.
"You okay?" James asked setting the rake down and running his hand over his red beard. Grayson nodded.
"I'm perfect." he replied.
"Do you want to talk about it?" James asked though he already knew the answer.
"Do I look like I want to talk about it?" Grayson demanded shoving his hand through his hair. James shook his head.
"How's your shoulder?"
"My shoulder is fine." Grayson lied. "Now give me some work to. I'm sure there is something more useful I could be doing other than standing around here talking to you." James nodded and sent Grayson to the cow barn to milk since he knew that wouldn't be too rough on his friends shoulder.
James didn't let Grayson's bad temper make him angry. He knew that Grayson had always had a hard time expressing any emotions other than happiness or anger so when he was feeling hurt or upset over something he tended to act like he was pissed at the world.
888
"You can eat supper here." Lauren said to Grayson that afternoon as he saddled his buckskin.
"No. Dad doesn't want me in the house and I am going to respect that." he replied. Lauren nodded sadly and James wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"Besides, Lauren, I'm sure he has dinner plans with a certain tall, hot headed blond in town," he said. Grayson chuckled and nodded.
"That I do." he replied.
"Take care of yourself riding into town, Grayson." Lauren warned and Grayson nodded.
"The bastard won't sneak up on me again, little sister. I can promise you that."
"Haha.. Grayson was a bit distracted the first time." James teased. Grayson nodded and remembered the passionate kiss he and Callie had shared down at that pond and the way the sunlight had danced off the light golden strands of her hair.
"That I was." he replied. He jumped up in the saddle, clenching his jaw to keep from yelling out in pain.
"I'm glad you're back, Grayson." Lauren said feeling new tears filling her eyes. Grayson sighed. His sister had always been the type to cry a lot.
"Me too." he replied and then he rode away. James led his wife back up to the porch and they sat down together on the swing.
"Do you think Grayson and dad will work things about before dad dies?" Lauren asked as she curled up against James' chest and he rubbed gentle circles on her back.
"Do you want me to lie to you or tell you what I really think?" he asked. Lauren sighed.
"Tell me what you really think." she replied.
"Jack is going to die long before he ever forgives Grayson." Lauren wiped a tear from her face and nodded.
"That's what I really think too." she replied. "It would help if Grayson would at least tell us what happened." she added with frustration. James shook his head.
"No that wouldn't make a difference to your father. He has it in his mind that Grayson murdered Phillip in cold blood and there is nothing in this world that would convince him otherwise."
"Well why won't he at least tell me." Lauren asked and James could hear how badly her feelings were hurt.
"Because he's just as stubborn and hard headed as your dad." he replied kissing her hair. He opened his mouth to say something else but then decided against it and shut it again.
"Might as well tell me what you were wanting to say." Lauren said and James wondered how she had known when her head was on his chest and she couldn't see his face. "I love you, James, and I know you better than anybody else. I can tell there is something you're wanting to say." Lauren said in answer to his unspoken question.
"It's just that…" James sighed unsure of how to continue. Lauren waited patiently for him. "All these years everyone has blamed Grayson. Everyone has said that Grayson was the drunk one and Grayson was the one that picked the fight and Phillip was innocent in it all and Grayson shot him for no good reason. What if everyone was wrong?"
"What do you mean?" Lauren asked raising up so she could look at her husbands face.
"Maybe Phillip was the one that was drunk." Lauren was about to jump to her oldest brothers defense but she stopped herself and forced her mind to think about this new possibility.
"Grayson wasn't a big drinker back then." James reminded her. "He never drank enough to get so drunk he'd shoot his brother for no reason… Remember? Every time he'd get real drunk he'd end up spending the rest of the day puking his guts up."
"Yeah and you used to make fun of him and tell him that for such a big man he couldn't handle whiskey any better than a woman." Lauren replied with a smile but then she frowned. "But Phillip wasn't a drinker either."
"If you remember though, he had a pretty good excuse to be drinking that day." James reminded her. Lauren thought back and nodded as she remembered the woman Phillip had been in love with that had left town that day on the stage coach.
"If that bartender hadn't disappeared the day Phillip died we could have asked him." Lauren said.
"I always thought it was weird that he left and nobody has even heard from him since." James replied rubbing his beard as he thought. "And it never made sense that Thomas Whitaker was the one that told everyone the story about what had happened.. I mean I don't think he was even there."
"Poor Grayson. Everyone just believed the first story they heard.. Even me."
"Don't blame yourself honey. I believed it too at first. But maybe Phillip was drunk and Phillip picked a fight and Grayson had to shoot him."
"Okay but if that's what happened then why was Phillips gun fully loaded? Grayson could have just wounded him and taken his gun but he killed him." Lauren countered. James thought for a moment before responding.
"I can't say for sure, Lauren, because I wasn't there but it's pretty easy to reload a gun and Grayson is the kind of man that would sacrifice everything for somebody he loved."
"You think Phillip shot at him first and Grayson reloaded his gun so nobody would know? Why would he do that?" James shrugged as he looked out over the woods surrounding them.
"I don't know and I value my teeth too much to ever question him about it." he replied. "This is something he wants kept to himself."
"If he won't tell me and he won't tell you… Maybe he'll tell Callie." Lauren said hopefully.
"Even if he does Callie would never tell us. She loves Grayson and she knows that he doesn't want anyone to know." Lauren sighed because she knew James was right. Lauren heard the sound of the bell ringing in her fathers room. She had given him the bell so he could let her know when he needed something without having to yell or try to make his way down the stairs.
"He must be hungry." she said standing up. "Come on in and I'll get you both some dinner." James stood up and pulled her to him. He laid a hand on either side of her face and angled her face up to his.
"I love you, Lauren. Please try to not worry too much about Grayson and Jack. This is just something they have to deal with on their own."
"I love you too but I am the only woman in the family and so it is my job to worry about everyone." she replied. She kissed him gently and then pulled away and walked into the house. James shook his head and followed her.