"Dammit, Jack," Jesse muttered. Now the fat was in the fire.

"You got any more surprises hidden around here?" Loomis asked Jesse.

"Look, the kid being here is as much a surprise to me as it is to you," Jesse said.

Jesse closely watched the man Jack had identified as Mr. Loomis and saw his mouth tighten, his eyes narrow. By identifying the Boss and making threats of going to the law, Jack had signed his own death warrant. Jesse forced himself not to glance out into the darkness. Adam's foreman was suspicious enough already. Dallas would realize that the boy's presence complicated things and make new plans accordingly.

"Both of you get into the shed," Loomis said, gesturing with the gun.

Jack spied the gun for the first time, and his eyes slid to Jesse's, wide with fright.

"It's all right," Jesse said in a voice intended to calm the youth. "They're just going to lock us up in the shed."

Jesse's last doubts that Loomis intended killing them both ended when Mort chuckled maliciously and said, "Yeah, you two just mosey on inside."

Jack struggled against Mort's hold, and the outlaw slapped him hard. "Quit your belly-achin' and get movin'."

Jesse had decided to use the distraction Jack was creating to make a lunge for Loomis's gun, when a pair of headlights appeared on the horizon.

"I knew it was a trap!" the outlaw snarled. Loomis swung the gun around to aim it at Jack and fired just as Jesse grabbed at his hand, pulling it down.

Jesse grunted as the bullet plowed into his thigh, but he never let go of his hold on Loomis's wrist. He swung a fist at the foreman's face and heard a satisfying crunch as it connected with the man's hooked nose. Loomis managed to fire once more before Jesse wrenched the gun away, but the bullet drove harmlessly into the ground.

Moments later, the area was swarming with local police and Texas Rangers. It soon became apparent to Jack from the way Dallas Masterson greeted Jesse, that the drifter wasn't going to be arrested by the Texas Rangers because he was one!

"What idiot turned on those headlights?" Jesse demanded. "Damned near got us killed!"

Jesse's head jerked up when he heard the sound of a woman's voice beyond the arc of light provided by the semi's headlights. "Who's that?"

Dallas grinned. "The idiot who turned on the headlights."

Jesse only had a second to brace himself before Honey threw herself into his arms. Her eyes were white around the rims with fright. Her whole body was shaking.

"I saw what happened. You saved Jack's life! I heard shots. Are you hurt?" She pushed herself away to look at him and saw the dark shine of blood on his leg. "My God! You've been shot!" She turned to the crowd of men scattered over the area and shouted, "Where's a doctor? Why haven't you taken this man to the hospital?"

Jesse pulled her back into his arms. "It's all right, Honey. It's just a little flesh wound. I'll be fine."

Jack stepped into the light and stood nearby, afraid to approach his mother and the drifter…who wasn't really a drifter after all.

Honey saw her son and reached out to pull him close. "Are you all right? You're not hurt?"

"I'm fine," Jack mumbled, feeling lower than a worm for having caused so much trouble.

"You're damned lucky not to be dead!" Jesse said.

Jack glared at Jesse. "If you'd just told me the truth in the first place, none of this would have happened. I spent a whole day in that stupid shed for nothing!" He turned to his mother and said, "I'm hungry. Is there anything at home to eat?"

Honey gaped at Jack and then laughed. If her son had started thinking about his stomach, he was going to be just fine.

Dallas had left briefly and now joined them again. "I've got a car to take you to the hospital, Jesse."

"I'll see you at home, Honey," Jesse said.

Now that she knew Jesse was all right, Honey forced herself to step away from him. If anything, this episode only proved what she had known all along. She didn't want to be married to a Texas Ranger. "I'll let you in to get your things," she said. "But I expect you to find somewhere else to spend what's left of the night"

Jesse didn't argue, just limped away toward the car Dallas had waiting.

But Jack wasn't about to let the subject alone. "He saved my life, Mom."

"I suppose he did."

"You can't just throw him out of the house like that."

"I can and I will."

"If you want my opinion, I think you're making a mistake," Jack said.

"I didn't ask for your opinion," Honey said. "Besides, you've got a lot to answer for yourself, young man."

Jack grimaced. "I can explain everything."

"This I've got to hear."

Angel interrupted to say, "I can give you both a ride home now."

"Let's go," Honey said. She put her arm around Jack and dared him to try to slip out from under it. "It's been a hectic night. Let's go home and get some sleep."

"But I'm hungry!" Jack protested.

"All right. First you eat. Then it's bed for both of us."

But hours later-just before dawn-when Jesse Whitelaw returned, Honey was sitting in the kitchen, coffee cup in hand, waiting for him.

Ten

Honey didn't move when the kitchen door opened, just waited for Jesse to come to her. Her eyes drifted closed when his hands clasped her shoulders. She exhaled with a soughing sigh. He didn't give her a chance to object, just hauled her out of the chair, turned her into his arms and held her tight.

Honey's arms slipped around his waist and clutched his shirt. Her nose slipped into the hollow at his throat and she inhaled the sweaty man-scent that was his and his alone. She wanted to remember it when he was gone. And she was going to send him away.

"We have to talk," Jesse whispered in her ear.

Honey gripped him tighter, knowing she had to let him go. "I think I've said everything I have to say."

"I haven't." His lips twisted wryly. "I think this is where I'm supposed to sweep you into my arms and carry you off to the bedroom," he said. "But I don't think my leg could stand the strain."

Honey realized all at once how heavily he was leaning on her. "Come sit down," she said, urging him toward a kitchen chair.

"Let's find something a little more comfortable," he said. "Getting up and down is a pain. I'd like to find someplace I can stay awhile."

She slipped an arm around his waist to support him while he put an arm across her shoulders. Slowly they made their way to the living room, where he levered himself onto the brass-studded leather couch. He winced as she helped him lift both legs and stretch out full-length. She knelt beside him on the polished hardwood floor.

Jesse took one of her hands in both of his and brought it to his lips. He kissed each fingertip and then the palm of her hand. He laid her hand against his cheek, bristly now with a day's growth of beard, and turned to gaze into her eyes.

"Let me stay here tonight," he said.

"Jesse, I don't think-"

"We have to talk, Honey, but I can barely keep my eyes open."

"You can't stay here," she said. If he did, she would be tempted to let him stay another night, and another. Before she knew it, he would be a permanent fixture. "You have to leave," she insisted.

He smiled wearily. "Sorry. I'm afraid that's out of the question. Can't seem to get a muscle to move anywhere." His eyes drifted closed. "I have some things to say…"

He was asleep.

Honey stared at the beloved face before her and felt her heart wrench in her breast. How could she let him stay? How could she make him go?

She sighed and rose to find a blanket. After all, it was only one night. She would be able to argue with him better once she had gotten some sleep herself.