"So outlaw, did you find what you were looking for last night?" Callie asked when she felt Grayson pressing gentle kisses to her bare shoulders. The morning sun was shining through the window and dancing off of the dust floating in the air.

"Yes I did and I think you'll be happy." Grayson replied. He sat up and grabbed the will off of the beside table before holding it in front of her face. She grunted and snatched it away holding it further away from her nose so she could look at it without going cross-eyed.

"Why that no good, lying, piece of…." Grayson cut her off by pressing his finger to her lips.

"My thoughts exactly." he said.

"All of this time they were hiding this from me…. That's why Thomas wanted to marry me. Because he knew that I would inherit my fathers money and property on my wedding day!"

"Yeah it looks that way."

"I want my house back." Callie said matter-of-factly. Grayson nodded.

"Let's go have a talk with Raymond and get the deed to the house and then we'll go out and kick Thomas's ass off your property."

"Our property." Callie reminded him. Grayson nodded and kissed her hair. It looked like he and his wife were going to be staying in Missouri after all.

***

"Where did you get that!" Raymond demanded as Callie held up the will for him to see.

"I found it." Grayson replied calmly. Raymond's face was the color of pea soup as he clutched at his stomach.

"Is there a reason you kept this from my wife?" Grayson demanded. Raymond shook his head.

"I uh.. I didn't want her to marry just to get the money." he said as he stood from his chair and began pacing around his office. Callie and Grayson looked at each other questioningly and then back at him.

"Why are you so upset, Raymond? Did you and my stepfather have some sort of deal worked out for me? He marries me and takes my money and let's you have a share of it?" Raymond laughed harshly, though it sounded as if it may have actually been a sound of pain.

"My door was broken this morning. You wouldn't happen to know how that happened would you?" Raymond demanded of Grayson. Grayson shrugged.

"Yeah I might. Do you think the sheriff would appreciate the fact that you've kept this will a secret from Callie for seven years?" he asked. "I'm sure there is something illegal about that isn't there?" Raymond sat down hard in his chair and looked at the two of them.

"Thomas will not be happy about this." he said quietly. Grayson and Callie both shrugged.

"I don't really care how my step father feels. I want the deed to my home so I can go and kick him out of it." Callie replied. Raymond laughed harshly however it once again came out sounding more like he was in pain.

"Fine." he said knowing he was defeated. He walked over to his safe and turned the dial to open it. After several minutes of shuffling through the papers he pulled one out and handed it to Callie. It was the deed to her fathers property. Callie stood and smoothed her skirts.

"Thank you, Mr. Collier. I'm just sorry it took so long for you to finally do the right thing." she said. Raymond just looked at the far wall and waved his hand distractedly. Grayson stood as well and he and Callie walked out of Raymond's office and headed down the road to the bank.

Schmidt Bank was a large brick building with large white letters across the front bragging about the banks age and safety. They walked up to Trina Schmidt, Scott Schmidt's new wife, who was the only clerk working behind the dark cherry wooden counter.

"Grayson Fields, I heard you were back in town." she said with a smile and Grayson realized that she still looked an awful lot like a troll. Even her teeth were small and pointy.

"Yeah I'm back." he replied. "My wife and I need to speak with Mr. Schmidt." Trina's dark eyes widened as she laid a hand on her brown hair that was up in a tight bun.

"You and Callie are married?" she asked. Callie cleared her throat, not at all liking the way Trina's eyes were staying glued to Grayson.

"Callie is right here." she said. "And yes we're married." Trina cleared her throat and looked over at Callie guiltily.

"I'm sorry." she said. "I have always found Grayson to be attractive." Grayson shifted his feet uncomfortably. He liked to hear he was good looking but only when it was Callie talking and he had forgotten just how outspoken and strange Trina was.

"Ed is out on business for the week but Scott is handling everything for him. Let me go check and see if he has a few minutes to speak with you." Trina said and then she waddled away on her short legs.

"Seems you had a secret admirer all those years." Callie teased Grayson. Grayson shivered.

"You're the only one for me." he replied. Trina waved them toward the large cherry wood door with the brass nameplate on it that read 'Scott Schmidt'.

"He says he has time." she said. "Nice to see you again, Grayson." she added as she looked Grayson up and down.

"Yeah sure." Grayson replied awkwardly and then he quickly ushered Callie into the office.

"You ready to go get your house back?" Grayson asked as they walked back out into the sunlight. They had placed all of Callie's newfound money, all forty thousand dollars worth, into an account bearing Grayson's name. That had been Callie's idea. She had said that Thomas would be less likely to try to talk Ed into letting him have the money if it was in Grayson's name.

"Let's go." Callie replied. Grayson pulled his pistol and checked it to make sure it was loaded before putting it back.

"Do you have that derringer with you?" he asked Callie. She nodded and lifted her skirt to show the gun sticking out of her boot.

"Do you think Thomas will get violent?" she asked. "I don't think he has ever hurt anybody." Grayson didn't think that was entirely true. He was starting to have his own suspicions about Frank's death seven years ago.

"Do not use that pistol unless you have to though. Just let me keep you safe if something happens." he said sternly.

"Yeah right. Like I would just stand by and let something happen to you." Grayson's face suddenly became very serious as he looked at her.

"You listen to me, Callie Fields, and you listen to me good. There is no way I would ever want you to sacrifice yourself to try to protect me, do you understand? You are the only thing in this world that I have to live for and if you were suddenly gone then I would have nothing." Callie smiled and blinked away a tear.

"I love you, Gray, and nothing bad is going to happen to either one of us so let's just get on out to our house." Grayson nodded and wrapped his arm tight around her as they walked to the stable.

***

Callie felt tears fill her eyes as she looked upon the home her father had built with his own hands. The home that she had been born in and lived in her whole life until a year ago.

The yellow paint she had always loved was faded, cracked and peeling and now looked more like gray clouds instead of bright sunshine. The green shutters and front door were also faded and cracked and more than one of the shutters were hanging crookedly and being held up by only one stubborn rusted hinge.

The porch banisters were broken and did not look as if they could support the weight of a newborn kitten leaning against them without collapsing. The flower gardens lining the porch and walkway were overgrown and dying and Callie felt her heart break at the sight. She had always put so much work and pride into those flowers.

The barn was not in much better shape than the house with a giant hole in the roof and one of the giant doors hanging crooked. Callie had seen that the field behind the house which had always been her responsibility to plow, plant and harvest when she had lived here with her mother and Thomas was also overgrown and clearly had not seen any care since she'd left. The chicken coop and pig pen were empty. The woodshed and smoke house were in bad need of repair. Grayson let out a long low whistle.

"Looks like we got our work cut out for us." he said. Callie nodded in silent agreement.

"He has let it just fall down." she said. Grayson sat her down on her feet and he jumped down beside her. He wiped away her tears with his thumbs.

"We'll build it back like new, honey. I promise." she nodded.

"Is he even here?" she asked. Grayson nodded and pointed to the horse that was poking it's head out of a hole in the side of the barn.

"Thomas Whitaker!" Grayson shouted as they stood at the foot of the porch steps. After several long moments the door to the house opened and Thomas was standing there looking very much like he'd worn his suit to bed the night before.

"Grayson Fields, you are not welcome on my property." he said glaring at them with blood shot eyes. His gray hair was standing on edge around his face and he looked old and tired.

"Actually this is mine and my husbands property and you are the one that is not welcome." Callie replied, pulling the deed from her pocket and holding it up to show Thomas. She jerked it away when he reached for it.

"I'd rather just keep hold of it if you don't mind." she said. Thomas's face turned red with rage.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded. Callie folded the deed and put it back in her skirt pocket.

"Why Raymond Collier gave it to me of course. It was in his safe along with the copy of my father's will."

"This is my home." Thomas argued. Grayson stepped forward and laid his hand on the .45 Colt revolver on his hip.

"No, actually this is my wife's house and you have exactly ten minutes to get your stuff together and get out." Thomas's eyes went to Grayson's revolver and his face paled. He knew he was no match head on for Grayson Fields. The man was bigger then a damn buffalo and Thomas had heard rumors that he was faster than a rattlesnake when it came to drawing that gun.

"Fine." he said and he turned and walked back into the house. Callie looked up at Grayson with confusion.

"That's it? He's not going to fight?" Grayson shrugged but kept his body in between Callie's and the house. He wasn't about to let Thomas take aim out of one of those windows and shoot his wife.

"Most people don't want to fight with me, Callie. Not only am I a big guy with a reputation for having a temper, I'm also a 'cold blooded murderer' remember?"

"I guess there are times when that reputation can come in handy." she replied. Grayson chuckled and then turned his full attention back to the house. He didn't want Thomas to try something and catch him off guard.

Thomas was fuming as he walked back outside several minutes later with a bag full of what few clothes and personal belongings he had. The tension in the air was so thick that it could easily be felt as he saddled his horse.

"You're not welcome back here." Grayson said before Thomas rode away. "If we find anything that you forgot we'll drop it off in town." Thomas spit on the ground at Grayson's feet and then rode away. He would make Raymond Collier pay for this betrayal. Seven long years Thomas had been working to get his hands on Frank Logan's money.

He had killed Frank and married his whore of a wife. He had killed that bartender five years ago to get rid of the one witness Grayson had in his defense in hopes that Grayson would hang and not be able to marry Callie but no, Grayson had come back and married Callie anyway. And now that no good worthless lawyer had allowed Callie to get her fathers money and property leaving Thomas nearly penniless and completely homeless and also hopeless. He would never have that money now.

Oh yes, Raymond Collier and his beautiful wife and small son would learn what happens when you betray Thomas Whitaker and get in the way of what he wants. And after he was done making them pay, Thomas would kill Grayson Fields and his fat bitch of a wife for taking what was rightfully his.