Bliss pulled up in front of an old, dilapidating cabin and dismounted her horse.

There were three horses tied to the front hitching post, so she assumed that Clint wasn’t alone. What was the man up to?

The front door opened just as she took her foot out of the stirrup and slid to the ground.

“What are you doing here?” Clint’s voice scolded.

Bliss looked at him. “What are you doing here? Who else is here?”

Clint turned her by her shoulders toward her horse. “You have to get out of here right now.”

“Why? What are you hiding?” Bliss arched an eyebrow at him, refusing to mount her horse.

“Just trust me, Miss Cooper,” Clint pressed.

“Problem, Clint?” A voice said from the doorway.

Bliss spun around.

Seth.

She looked at Clint. “You’re with him?”
Clint drew his eyebrows close together and stared at her. “Do you know him?”

“Clint, this is Seth Ryder!” Bliss exclaimed.

She jerked her gaze to land on Seth. “I told you that I never wanted to see you again.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see you either, Bliss,” Seth told her.

“Why aren’t you off our land?” Bliss asked, approaching him.

“Look, I have some unfinished business here that you have no idea about. We’ll be gone in a few days,” Seth said.

“We?” Bliss spun around to face Clint. “What’s going on here?”
“Bliss, that isn’t Seth Ryder. That’s my brother, Joe,” Clint reasoned.

Bliss blinked a few times. “Um… I know Seth Ryder when I see him, and he’s standing on that porch.”

“I’m both,” Seth grinned.

Bliss looked back at him. “What do you mean?”

“I’m really Joe Slade. I changed my name several years ago and have been going by it ever since,” Seth explained nonchalantly.

Bliss stared at him, wide-eyed. “You lied about your name, too? What about that bank robbery? You were supposed to be dead.”

She looked over at Clint, who didn’t even look her in the eye.

Something was amiss, and she intended to find out what it was.

“I wasn’t dead. Little brother here just assumed that when he was a kid. Abel and I’ve been hiding out all over the country after we broke out of jail,” Seth withdrew a cigar from his shirt pocket and put it in his mouth.

Bliss took a step toward Clint. “I don’t understand this.”
“No, no one really does. Now Clint, just hand over what you know we want and we’ll be well on our way of getting out of here,” Seth lit a match and then put it to the end of his cigar.

Bliss watched as Clint felt inside his vest pocket and withdrew an envelope.

“What’s that?” she asked.

Clint waved her off and handed the envelope over to his brother.

Seth tore open the envelope and withdrew a paper inside. He unfolded it and grinned widely.

“Perfect,” he said.

“Look, Seth. I don’t know what he just gave you or what business you claim to have here, but I want you gone by sundown,” Bliss ordered, growing angry with the insufferable man.

Seth looked at Clint with a pointed stare.

Bliss saw a muscle in Clint’s jaw tense up as he obviously thought over something. She was growing more and more confused.

*****

Clint thought hard about the decision he was having to make.

Bliss needed him.

His brothers needed him.

What did he want?

He looked at Joe, who was grinning from ear to ear while examining the paper in his hand, then glanced at Abel, who was watching from the window. These were his brothers. They had so much catching up to do and so little opportunity to do it. They needed his help to get what they had earned all those years ago.

He looked over at Bliss. Her innocent, revealing eyes showed much more than confusion. He couldn’t quite place the emotion in their depths, but it made his decision a lot easier. She was pleading with him and she didn’t even realize it.

What Joe had done to her was nothing to be dismissed. He had changed her life in a way that couldn’t be set to rights, no matter how much time passed. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be around a man who was capable of doing that and was obviously not even harboring regret.

Clint took a deep breath and looked up at Joe. He wanted to be on the right side of the law from now on. It was a much better way to live.

“You better get to packin’, Joe,” Clint told him.

Joe’s head jerked up. “What did you say?”

Clint looked him in the eye. “You better start packing.”

Joe’s eyes sparked as anger lit in them. “You’re putting in your lot with that woman?” A bony finger shot in Bliss’ direction.

“I’m putting in my lot on the right side of the law. I don’t want to be running for the rest of my life. We might be brothers, but I can’t live the way you do. I have a job to finish, and I’m gonna do it by the only work ethic I’ve known. Honesty. I’m gonna have to side with Miss Cooper and ask you to get off this property as soon as you get packed,” Clint declared.

Joe stared at him. “I can’t believe the words I’m hearing. You honestly think that this job is going to pay off? It won’t. There’s nothing left on what you call the right side of the law. You’ll live harder that way.”

Clint shook his head. “You’re not changing my mind, Joe. You and Abel had better hurry it up. There’s only a few hours until sundown.”
Joe grumbled and went back inside.

About a half hour later, Clint and Bliss were watching Joe and Abel saddle their horses. With the task completed, Joe walked up to Clint and they stood toe to toe, eye to eye.

“This ain’t over, little brother. We’ll be back for that twenty-five grand, and we’ll leave with it. If you get in our way, then that’s your mistake. It’s easy for me to look over a familiar face when you’re looking down the barrel of my rifle. Remember that,” Joe said with hatred.

Clint took a deep breath. “Don’t come back, Joe. Just don’t.”

Seth shook his head and went to mount his horse.

Within moments, Joe and Abel were riding away from Cooper land. Clint heaved a sigh as he watched his brothers ride away. How was is possible to gain family and lose it in the same day?

Loneliness settled over him like a chill, and he couldn’t shake it.

“Clint? Are you listening to me?” Bliss; voice broke through his thoughts.

Clint looked down at her. “What?”

The words came out more harsh than he had meant them to, but there was no taking them back now. She stared at him strangely for a moment, then went on with what she was telling him.

“I was just saying that you should have got that paper back before they left. What was it, anyway?” she asked.

“A map,” Clint answered in a less hostile tone.

“A map? To what?”

“That twenty-five grand Joe was talking about.”

“Where did it come from?” Bliss asked.

“You know what I told you about the Slade gang and that robbery eleven years ago?” Clint asked.

Bliss nodded.

“Well, that was the last job. Boss left our share of the money out here somewhere.”

Bliss’ eyebrows drew close together. “Why did she choose here?”
“She was familiar with his area around here. She knew where she could hide the money and no one would find it,” Clint answered her.

“That’s odd,” Bliss remarked.

“Guess I gotta tell your daddy about this, huh?” Clint started walking toward their horses.

“You don’t have to tell him about the Slade gang. He doesn’t need to know if you don’t want him to,” Bliss told him.

“I guess that’s true,” Clint sighed.

After a moment, he mounted his horse and looked over at Bliss.

“Why did you follow me?” he asked.

Bliss shrugged. “I felt that something was wrong.”

“Well, don’t do it again. You could get in real trouble,” Clint scolded her.

“I can take care of myself. I brought my gun,” Bliss mounted next to him.

“Yeah, but what if those men meant to hurt you? Are you sure you could pull that trigger when your sights are settled on a human face?” Clint asked.

Bliss pressed her lips into a thin line. “I think I could if it came down to it.”

“Well, so did I. I didn’t actually mean to kill on my first job, you know,” Clint told her.

“You didn’t?” Bliss pulled her eyebrows close together.

Clint shook his head. “I just meant to scare him. I had my gun aimed at him and he was fidgeting around. He happened to fidget too far one way towards his gun so I pulled the trigger. You don’t know what that did to me. I’d seen people shot before, but it seemed bloodier when my bullet did the killing. I had nightmares for a week at sixteen years old,” Clint explained.

“When did it become comfortable?” Bliss asked.

“It never has. But that’s not the point. The point is that you don’t know what that gun in your saddlebag is capable of. Simply stay out of trouble and you won’t have to use it. Take my advice,” Clint turned his horse toward the ranch and started it off walking.

Bliss followed him. “Fine. I’ll be more careful, but I’m not about to sit at home and knit while you get all the excitement. You’ll have to lock me in a cellar before that happens.”

Clint looked back at her and pretended to be pondering the statement.

Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”

Clint felt a small smile come across him face as he shook his head. She let out a deep breath.

*****

Bliss and Clint arrived back at the ranch and saw a partially loaded wagon out in front of the main house.

“Hawk must be back,” Bliss said.

Clint nodded. He probably had a telegram for him.

They entered the house to find that Grace had already started to unload a crate that Hawk had brought in.

“Oh, I’m glad you’re here, Clint. Help Hawk unload the rest of these groceries, will you?” Grace asked.

Clint nodded and followed Hawk out the front door.

“Did you get a reply telegram?” Clint asked as soon as they had stepped outside.

Hawk nodded and reached inside his coat pocket to retrieve the envelope. Clint took it and nodded his thanks, shoving it into his vest pocket.

“Did you read it?” he asked the cowboy.

Hawk picked up a crate from the back of the wagon. “Had to. That man at the telegram office wouldn’t let me go until he saw my face when I read it.”

“Well, make sure you keep this between us. I don’t want anyone knowing about it. Did you take care of Ike?” Clint asked, picking up the last two crates.

Hawk nodded. “I think so. Even if your secret does get out, he took an oath so that law can get ‘im,” Hawk said, walking toward the house.

Clint sighed. He sure hoped the law did their job this one time. If Bliss ever got wind that he was investigating Damian, she would have a conniption fit and something told Clint that that no one could come out on top when that happened.

Yet rather than the thought intimidating him, it made his smile.

He seemed to be a tad bit happier lately, even with his brothers turning out to be the scum of the earth, and he had to admit, it felt good to smile a little more often.

Maybe it wasn’t just happening, maybe something - or someone - was contributing to his happiness.

“What’s got you grinning?” Bliss walked up to his and took a crate from his arms.

Clint shrugged. “Just thinking.”

Bliss nodded and started emptying the crate. All he could do was watch her. Her every movement, every expression that her face made, it stuck with him at that moment. He’d never really allowed himself to study a person just to… watch. He’d always had an ulterior motive when he tried to memorize a person’s expressions. Something about Bliss made him need to memorize every curve of her face.

She had very subtle cheekbones, but the way her face naturally blushed every once in a while made her coffee brown eyes sparkle unlike any other eyes he had ever seen. She had thick eyelashes and a short, slightly pointed nose. Her light pink lips naturally curved upward, though he noticed that she had them slightly pursed due to her thoughtful expression while focusing on the contents of a piece of paper.

Of course he would notice that.

“Did you get the baking soda, Hawk?” she asked.

Clint didn’t even hear the man’s excuse. All he saw was how she cut her eyes upward at him and shook her head.

A straight strand of blonde hair that had escaped the braid she had bound it to and brushed against the side of her face. Clint was powerless to stand against the urge to simply stare. It was amazing how in a matter of minutes Bliss had gone from pretty to… beautiful.

Genuinely beautiful.

Suddenly, someone snapped their fingers in his face.

Clint jerked his gaze over to Colt’s face. The man’s eyes shone with something akin to anger as his gaze bored into Clint’s.

“Help me with the horses,” he growled out.

Clint cleared his throat and set the last crate down on the table. He believed that this was the most upset he had ever seen Colt, confirming something that he had never expected.

Something that he didn’t want to admit even to himself.

Colt had feelings for Bliss.

It was as plan on the nose on his face!

Clint’s heart sank down to the soles of his boots and he shook his head. He should have seen this coming.

Oddly enough, he didn’t care one iota. Bliss could choose for herself who she wanted when the time came.

If the time ever came.

Yes, I am well aware that I am a horrid person for not updating in so long! This chapter had a lot in it and I had Thanksgiving break, and now I'm getting sick again, and Christmas is coming up... I just can't even.

Anyways, I'll try to update sooner next time! Thanks so much for reading! Click that star button to instantly become awesome! ;P