Jack could not believe his eyes when they fell on Allie's face. She had been a beautiful girl but the woman standing feet from him could only described as breathtaking. Her skin was still smooth and tan, her lips were full and her dark hair was hanging in shining waves down her back. Her dark blue blouse hugged her body which had definitely changed in the five years he had been away.

Gone was the skinny girl and in her place was a woman with a full chest, tiny waist and hips that flared out slightly beneath her black skirt. He moved his gaze back to her face and he could see the confusion and disbelief in her big brown eyes. He was about to speak when he saw her eyes roll back in her head and he knew she was fainting.

He moved so quickly he was nearly a blur and he caught her in his arms, pulling her body against his. Even as he felt her starting to stir and regain consciousness seconds later he couldn't bring himself to let her go. She was so soft and warm against him. He had been living hard the last five years. His life had been cold and bloody and full of death and pain. Now he was holding an angel in his arms and the past was momentarily forgotten.

Allie knew she should pull away from Jack but his arms felt so strong and warm around her and her body seemed to be on fire being pressed against his. She didn't understand what the reaction was but it was hot and it was intense and it was.... It was passion. It was what she had been trying to feel for two years with Gavin and never could and only seconds after landing in Jack's arms she was overcome with it.

But no she couldn't be. She had no idea why Jack was back or where he had been the last five years but the fact remained that he had broken her heart and then left without a word and he hadn't even tried to contact her since.

"Get your hands off of me." she said trying to pull away. She made a mental note to kill Janna. If Wolf had been with her, Jack would already be missing a leg but Janna was just watching the scene with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and her tail wagging.

"Allie, love, are you okay?" Gavin asked stepping forward. Jack's arms suddenly jerked away from her and he jumped back as if he had been burned.

"I'm fine." Allie replied though she wasn't sure how she was speaking with her heart pounding so hard in her chest and her mind racing. Gavin grabbed her left hand and smiled happily when he saw his ring shining there. He turned to face Jack and wrapped an arm tight around Allie's shoulder.

"Thank you, Jack. You saved my life and helped my fiancee all in one day." Jack felt a possessive kind of anger fill him as Gavin turned his attention back to Allie and kissed her forehead. He didn't pay attention to what the two of them said to each other as they both smiled. Allie's eyes darted to him several times but other than that she gave no indication that she cared that he was there.

Jack's hand kept clutching and releasing the handle of his revolver. Part of him, the dark part that had been guiding him the last five years, wanted to pull his gun and blow a hole right in Gavin's smiling face. The dark part kept yelling out that Allie was his and no other man had a right to touch her, or hold her the way Gavin was.

But the other part of him, the part with common sense and morals knew that Gavin had every right to be with Allie. He forced his hand away from his gun and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well I'll be going now." he said, looking only at Gavin and keeping his eyes away from Allie. He was worried he would snap and lose hold of what little control he had if he looked at her. "I need to let the Marshall know about the bodies."

"Bodies?" Allie asked. Gavin nodded.

"We ran into trouble out on the trail but Jack here was a regular hero and the poor saps never stood a chance." he replied. Allie looked over at Jack but his face was unreadable and his eyes refused to meet hers. She wondered what was going on inside his mind. And she wondered what in the world he was doing back after all this time.

"I'm hungry." she said suddenly. She had to get away from Jack before she did something crazy like claw his eyes out… She was confused and angry and the way her heart sped up every time she looked at him only made that worse.

"Of course, my dear. Jack, if you'll excuse us I am going to take my fiancee out to lunch."

"I have to let my sister know." Allie said looking over toward the mercantile.

"I'll tell her for you." Jack spoke up. "You have fun with your fiance." The last word left Jack's mouth sounding like a curse. Gavin's eyes widened.

"You two know each other?" he asked pointing back and forth between Jack and Allie. Allie couldn't seem to find her voice to speak so Jack replied.

"We were friends once upon a time." he said. "But that was a long time ago." Gavin smiled and nodded, clueless to the turmoil that was going on inside both Allie and Jack.

"Why don't you join us for lunch then?" he asked.

"No." Allie said quickly and much too loudly. Gavin eyed her with open curiosity while Jack sneered and took a step away.

"I'll agree with the lady.' he said. "I got things to do." With that he turned and walked down the road toward the jail. Allie saw that he limped slightly and she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him in the last five years.

"I can't tell you how happy I am that you are going to be my wife, Allie. I love you." Gavin said, taking her attention away from Jack's retreating back.

"I love you too." she replied forcing a smile. It was not a lie. She did love him…. But after seeing Jack again she knew for a fact that she was not in love with Gavin. That didn't change her mind about marrying him though. Jack was the past and Gavin was her future. He held out his arm and she looped hers through his and let him lead her down the road toward the café.

"Honey, I believe there is a wolf following us." Gavin said looking nervously over his shoulder. Allie nodded and focused her attention on her fiance where it belonged.

"Her name is Janna." she replied. "Jack found her as a puppy and gave her to me."

"A pet wolf? Is she dangerous?" Gavin asked. Allie shook her head.

"No." she replied and she couldn't help but laugh when Janna became distracted by a bee buzzing around her head, tripped over her own feet and fell face first into a mud puddle.

"There is another one though, Hawke raised him and he's a little more dangerous to people he doesn't know."

"Like me?" Gavin asked.

"You'll be fine though. As long as he don't see ya as a threat he'll leave you alone." Gavin nodded and then he smiled down at her and wrinkled his forehead.

"I have never noticed your accent before? Have you kept it hidden from me?" he asked. Allie's eyes widened.

"Uh.. I um.. I…" Gavin grinned with amusement and laid a finger over her lips to silence her.

"You shouldn't have. I think it's cute." he said and then he poked her nose and kissed her forehead gently.

"What would you say if I told ya that I curse when I'm mad?" Allie asked. Gavin gave her a teasing smile.

"I will do my best, til death do us part, to make sure you never have to curse at me."

888

"So you finally came back to town and decided to bring some trouble with you, huh?" Marshall Yale asked as he looked inside the stage at the dead coach drivers.

"Nope. I left the trouble dead about two hours outside of town." Marshall nodded.

"I'll send some men out to get them. Ever since the city started growing and more people with money started heading this way we've started having a problem with outlaws." Jack nodded and rubbed his chin.

"Outlaws are a pain in the ass." he said and Marshall Yale grunted with agreement.

"Well I'll send some men out to pick up those bodies. Have you been to Hawke's yet?"

"No. I'm heading that way."

"They'll be happy to see you." Marshall Yale said. Jack doubted that but shrugged.

"I hope so. I'll see you around Marshall." Jack walked down to the mercantile and leaned against the porch banister to wait on Lily to come out. He rolled himself a cigarette and lit it with a match before taking a long draw.

Part of him wanted to run. Run away from Great Valley and forget the place and the people in it had ever existed. He did not want to watch Allie love and start a family with another man and he was sure that Hawke and Lily would hate him. Especially after they learned what he had been doing the last five years. But he knew he had to stay. Like Hawke had tried to tell him when he was younger. A real man does not complain. A real man does not whine. A real man just does what needs to be done, deals with his problems and moves on.

Jack blew out a puff of smoke and watched the clouds floating across the blue sky as he wondered just what he had been thinking when he had thrown his life away all those years ago.

888

Wolf let out a tired sigh as he laid on the floor of the smelly building and watched the female Lily talking to the big loud female that lived here. Wolf hated this building. It was full of hundreds of scents that all blended together and overloaded his sensitive nose. He wished Lily would hurry up so they could leave because he would not leave without her. She had another pup inside of her and needed even more protection than usual.

Wolf looked longingly out the open door and then he raised his head and took a deep breath when a familiar scent came to him. It had been a long time since he had smelled that scent and with all the other scents around him right now he could be mistaken but he was sure the loud one Jack was close. He stood quickly and looked back at Lily who was watching him curiously.

Wolf walked to the door and looked out at the man standing down on the street. He breathed in again and his tail began to wag. He had no doubt that this was Jack. He walked out the door and down the porch steps but Jack did not seem to notice him as he stared up at the sky.

Wolf growled low in his throat to get his attention. He had always had fun scaring Jack this way but Jack had changed. Instead of smelling fear, Wolf smelled nothing but calmness. Jack looked down and raised his brow at him. Wolf tried to growl more threateningly but still Jack did not smell afraid.

"Sorry, Wolf, we ain't equals no more. I'm just a tiny bit higher up than you."

Jack couldn't help but grin when Wolf stopped growling and wagged his tail and Jack would have sworn the beast smiled.

"I figured you'd be dead by now." Jack said reaching down and scratching him behind his ear. Just then Jack heard footsteps on the porch behind him.

"Jack?" Lily gasped. Jack turned around and before he could respond Lily was jumping from the porch and into his arms. She wrapped her arms tight around his neck and clung to him as she laughed and cried at the same time.

Jack felt his heart swell with tenderness toward this woman he had always loved so much. He didn't care that she was only four years older than him, she was the mother he had never had.

"I am so happy you're here!" Lily exclaimed after she pulled away. "I have been worried sick about you!"

"I wasn't sure you would want to see me." Jack replied honestly as he lifted his cigarette to his lips. Lily could not believe she was looking at Jack again after all of this time.

"Of course I wanted to see you, Jack. You are a part of this family and we have all missed you very much." Lily's eyes widened. "Allie! I have to tell Allie you're here."

"She already knows." Jack replied taking a deep draw off the cigarette and then throwing it down in the muddy road. "Her and her fiance are eating lunch." Lily winced.

"You met him, huh?"

"Yeah." Jack replied. "I saved his life on the way here. 'Course I didn't know he was Allie's fiance at the time or I might not have been so nice." Lily tried to fight back her smile as she shook her head.

"Hush. You're a good guy and we have all missed you."

"Where's Hawke?" Jack asked. He was most nervous about seeing the intimidating Indian again and wanted to get it over with.

"He and Sarah are at home planting in the garden. She wanted to help daddy and all she has to do is tell him to jump and he is asking her how high." Jack chuckled and nodded. He had known it would be that way from the way Hawke had always doted on her as a baby.

"It's good to see you again, Lily. I missed you." Jack said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Lily smiled that warm smile he had missed more than anything and patted his arm.

"You stink." she said sweetly. "And you're hairy."

"Yes ma'am." Jack replied. "I was about to get a room at the hotel, well one of the hotels since there is a few to choose from now." Jack looked up and down the main street which was much more crowded than it had been the last time he'd been here. Lily nodded and looked up and down the street as well.

"Hawke hates how crowded it's getting here in town. I'm just glad we live an hour away so he doesn't complain too often." Jack couldn't help but smile.

"I thought he said a real man never complains." Lily rolled her eyes and laughed lightly.

"He forgets." she replied. "And you will not stay in a hotel. You will come home. You have a perfectly good room there and I will give you a hair cut and a shave."

"A room… I thought Sarah…"

"No." Lily said shaking her head. "Hawke has not let anyone touch your room since you left. So Sarah and Allie share a room." Jack was speechless. Which didn't happen very often.

"And this guy." Lily said, laying her hand on her belly. "Is going to get a new room that Hawke is going to build this summer." Jack's eyes widened as he noticed her slightly rounded stomach for the first time.

"You're gonna have a baby?" Lily nodded. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Lily said and then she pointed toward the cart which was loaded down with supplies. "Let's go home, Jack. I'll feel better now that I got a big strong man to protect me. Wolf is getting too old." Wolf grunted when he heard his name and Jack couldn't help but laugh. It had been so long since he'd really laughed and it felt good. Maybe coming back to Great Valley wouldn't be so bad… .Except of course for the fact that the love of his life was marrying that stupid, scaredy cat little sissy boy, Gavin.