Tombstone.
I walked over to the orphanage seeing Cole and Payton with a gorgeous-looking horse and smiled. “Hey there you two! Nice horse ya got there, Cole.”
“That she is, when she isn’t escaping from her stall and running around,” Cole laughed and I chuckled.
Reaching out my hand to the horse I asked Payton, “How are you, Payton? Good to see you again.”
“Nice to see you too Miss Trin,” she nodded.
“How you been doing?”
“I am… okay.”
“Glad to hear that.”
“My adoption was put.. on hold for a bit.. was suppose to happen today.. but there has been delays,” Payton nodded.
As the horse nudged my hand with her soft muzzle, snorting with displeasure, I chuckled and said, “Guess I should know by now not to approach a horse empty-handed. What adoption?”
“Mrs Joan.. she put in to adopt me,” Payton said.
“Oh did she? Well Cole, I haven’t seen Irish since he burned down my office over in Black Diamond… Bear, sorry. Haven’t seen Irish since the night after the fire either though.”
“That boy can’t get the stove lit without it smoking up the house,” Cole laughed.
“Bear was the one who sett the fire... We found evidence and everything,” I told him. “Dropped the report to Ansar so hopefully he’ll find him and arrest him. But I haven’t talked to Irish since the day after the fire happened.”
“Bear has been spotted around Benson a couple of days ago and Irish promised not to confront him and went hunting.”
“Oh good... at least they’re keeping their distance.”
“I told Irish if he got in trouble I would be very unhappy with him..”
“I said much the same thing after he stole my danged flask from me,” I nodded. “Said it wouldn’t help my aim if I drank too much. Little does he know I’ve got other flasks.”
“Well..” Payton sighed softly, “If he is the one that takes care of things fer ya, he seems nice enough.”
“He is Payton and he is a nice young man.. just a bit of a hot head,” Cole told her as he dismounted the horse. “Payton would like to ride Wind?”
“I should go see if Thomas is over at the office yet,” I said to them.
“Will let you know if I spot Bear,” Cole nodded.
“See you two later!” I waved and headed over to the sheriff’s office. I noticed a man I didn’t know by the Wild Bunch group down the street in front of Kate’s. “They have a new member?” I asked as I leaned over to kiss Thomas in greeting.
“Hey love,” he smiled at me as he wiped his hands on his pants.
“Always nice to see you on duty dear. ’specially with that group of fine, upstanding citizens in front of Kate’s,” I leaned into him and held him close.
Thomas looked across the street and said, “Someone set fire to the sheriffs office dear. Looks of it, about last night some time.”
“Oh yeah? Any law about when it happened?”
“Not that I know of. I haven’t heard anything about it. I wonder whats been going on. Something seems fishy about it I think.”
“Hmm… Maybe a drink of whiskey will help us both. Feel like doin the rounds with me, dear?”
“Yeah I sure do, cause right now the last thing I want to look at is those wonderful folks over at Kate’s. I might just draw my gun and start shooting.”
“Let’s take a walk, hon,” I chuckled and patted his shoulder.
“JESSICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Lot shouted then and I looked around, wondering what was going on.
We walked down the road and went into Annie’s. Waving to Reb and Anthony, I said, “Good to see you again, Anthony. Everything okay with that whole Steven situation?”
“All good, thank you Trin. I was miles away,” Anthony said. “Too many whiskeys, perhaps.”
“Glad to hear it,” I smiled. “We thought we’d avoid the not so pleasant-looking group in front of Kate’s as we did our rounds.”
“Well if ya need help putting a few down, just let me know Anthony, I might join ya,” Thomas laughed.
“I’ve seen some ugly customers go by here earlier,” Anthony said. “Hope they ain’t shootin up the town.”
“Just not a few too many, dear,” I chuckled at Thomas. “Oh did you?”
“Oh lovely. Well it appears the whole Wild Bunch is in town. Do any of you know who set fire to the jail last night?” Thomas asked as Paisley came out to greet us all.
“One feller, called himself ‘Jack’ was a bit of a strange one,” Anthony commented.
“Nothing about that one…” Paisley said. “Any news on who set fire to here?”
“Set fire to the jail? No, I hadn’t heard anything about that, so far,” Anthony said. “First I hear of it.”
“No, but I have a good idea,” Thomas said.
“Any news about when Steven is going to court for the bank robbery?” Paisley asked. “He copped a feel while frisking me.”
“I don’t know, no word yet. He is set to go on trial to be hanged though,” Thomas said.
“I will watch that…”
“Nice pretty decorations by the way. All festive ready for Christmas I see.”
“Thank you…”
“Yes Thomas, Paisley did these aren’t they pretty?” Reb asked as she danced on the stage.
“Well we are going to mozy on, if you need us, just give a holler. Yes they sure are, of course Miss Paisley always does pretty decorations,” Thomas said then.
“See you folks,” I waved.
“I know you two are law, but you can come in past the threshold,” Anthony winked at us.
“Maybe another time, Tony,” I chuckled.
“Maybe when we’re off duty sometime,” Thomas laughed and we headed back to the office.
While we looked through reports, I stopped and asked, “ Have you heard anything about that bank robbery and harassment by Steven?”
“Nope, that’s the first I have heard about it dear. Just what the hell has been going on last couple of days.”
“I have no idea.... Haven’t seen Angel around much either so I don’t want to jump in the middle of a case if it’s already been started…”
“You know something baby, I am not much liking the kids spending too much time in Tombstone right now. They should stick a bit closer to home don’t you think?”
I nodded to him and said, “Natalie’s goin’ out interviewing everyone and their sister for her paper. I love that she’s excited about it but I’m nervous of what might happen.”
“I am more worried about all these bank robberies and fires being set. I wouldn’t think Lot or them would intentionally hurt Jimmy or Nat, but you never know.”
“I know what you mean,” I nodded to him. “I just want to crack down on them and get somewhere on these cases before they all pile up.”
“We have to make sure they stick together if they come anywhere near town. Or that they are with one of us if possible. I got a son and daughter now, and I don’t want to lose them or you.”
I nodded and held held him close. “And I love you for it, dear. We’ll keep them safe.”
He hugged me tightly and kissed me deeply. “I love you so much dear.”
“I love you too sweetheart. I don’t want anything to happen to you either,” I said and kissed him back deeply.
“Let’s go check the bank and then head up yonder ways,” Thomas smiled.
We headed to the bank and checked the doors, which were all tightly shut properly. We walked over to Kate’s and saw everyone talking there. We greeted Cole and talked about the horse Jimmy got for himself. I asked if Cole could maybe he could teach Jimmy to be a vet. Thomas asked Cole if he’d heard who set the fire to the jail yesterday, but he had only heard rumors. I asked if the Wild Bunch got a new member and we continued to discuss who might have set the fire. As we continued to talk about suspects and warrants, I started to get a headache and asked Cole and Thomas if they wanted to join me for a drink in another town. Lot agreed with the idea of us leaving. They continued to taunt us as we left and we headed to the cafe in Bisbee.
Bisbee.
“One of these days I am going to forget that I am a doctor…” Cole muttered as we walked into town.
“I love both of you men, you two know that, right?” I chuckled and winked at them both. As we sat down at the table I said, “Well that was fun.”
“Oh yes, never a dull moment with the Ignorant Bunch in town,” Thomas nodded.
“True,” Cole agreed.
“Mmhmm,” I nodded. “I just don’t have any desire to stand around and wait for a gunfight to start. Ain’t about hidin’. It’s about not bein’ played with by em. Never did like bullies.”
“I am tired of getting shot myself, I had that twice last week. I leak like a siv when I drink now,” Thomas chuckled and I laughed.
“Oh, by the way Trin. Found this on the table at the house,” he said and slid the flask across the table. “Yours I assume?”
I giggled and took the flask back. “Bless you... and tell that cousin of mine I WIN!” I smiled, putting my flask back in my jacket.
“That looks familiar,” Thomas commented.
“No you don’t he washed it out… with lye soap.. it smells to high heaven,” Cole grinned.
“Ugh… The bugger..”
“Well that’s one way to wash your mouth out with soap,” Thomas chuckled.
“Yeah our young non drinker..” Cole said and then handed me a note that was under the flask.
“That just ain’t even right,” I frowned and he handed me a note that was left under it. “There was a note?”
“He told her she drinks too much Thomas,” Cole told him.
“I do not,” I laughed.
“You ain’t got to tell me, try being the one who has to pay for all her liquor…” Thomas laughed.
I laughed and looked at him. “I pay for my own bloody liquor with the salary they give me as a Pinkerton. Not that I can close a case to save my soul lately…”
“You know how he is… his grams broke him of drinking when he was younger and now he is bad about people he cares for,” Cole said.
“Maybe we should start a still might be cheaper,” Thomas smiled.
“I ain’t givin up my whiskey. I have thought about us movin out to Bisbee again though. Since you could be on duty here too, Thomas. But it’s so nice by the water in Pearce…”
“I have room in benson Thomas.. we could use the back corner,” Cole said.
“Whose side you on, Cole?” I looked between them.
“Hey, there we go dear...we cut Cole in on the shine, we get a room to cook it in,” Thomas smiled.
“Me, I a fence rider,” Cole laughed. “Love you, Trin.”
“Sure ya do,” I chuckled.
“But Cole, if you get caught it has to all be yours, as a lawman I cant be caught making moonshine… but we will make sure you don’t do time if caught, ain’t that right Trin?” Thomas asked.
“Hey was just trying to save you some money,” Cole said.
“I swear the two of you together is just about as dangerous as bein’ in the midst of that Wild Bunch over there,” I laughed again.
“Hey not against the law to make shine.. out here. We are still a territory.”
“Yeah but at least we don’t shoot at ya Trin,” Thomas smiled.
“Ok fine, that’s true. But you even have matching shirts,” I chuckled.
“True… We just have good taste,” Cole laughed.
“Maybe he’s a cousin on my mothers fathers sisters uncles best friends side of the family,” Thomas chuckled.
A man walked over then and we greeted him. He asked if he could join us and we asked his name. He introduced himself as Johnny Colt and I joked that he could join us as long as he took my side.
“Hey now, you cant be taking sides love, you are supposed to be on my side,” Thomas laughed.
“Says the man who’s tryin’ to make me stop drinkin’ whiskey,” I chuckled. “Nice to meet ya, Johnny. I’m Trin and this is my man Thomas and my good friend Cole.”
“Nice to meet you Johhny. Im Thomas, this odd lookin feller to my right is Cole, and this crazy drinkin woman is Trin,” Thomas said.
“Ya see? Sides,” I muttered playfully. “Where ya from sir? New in town?” I asked.
“We are the unwild bunch so to speak,” Thomas smiled.
“I’m from a lot of places, and yes I’m new,” Johnny nodded.
Thomas took off his hat and leaned over to kiss my cheek. “Love you dear.”
“Love you too, honey,” I smirked at that and muttered playfully, “Definitely feeling the love tonight.”
“Don’t worry, you will wake up in the morning, feeling a headache and wont remember a thing that happened,” Thomas smiled.
I rolled my eyes and said, “I ain’t even had a drink yet toniight. What’s wrong with this picture??” Looking over at Johnny I asked, “So you lookin for work in these parts, Johnny?”
“I might be,” he shrugged. “Not sure if I’ll be staying yet.”
“Well there’s a real nice hotel here in Bisbee. Cheap to stay in. There’s a hotel in the main street of Tombstone too but I ain’t sure if there’s vacancies.”
“I’ll check them out,” Johnny nodded.
“Just gotta be careful of that bunch in town…” I advised him, but then he disappeared and walked away from the table without a word.
“Nope..we aren’t as interesting as the wild bunch,” Cole laughed.
“No but we’re much nicer looking though and smelling though,” Thomas chuckled.
“Mmhmm very true. So Cole, did you have a good Thanksgiving?”
“Yes… though not like normal.”
“Oh? Hope all is okay,” Thomas said.
“My sister in law usually cooks but they were out of town so they had one of the stores deliver us a ham dinner,” Cole said.
“Well Trin and I cooked a dinner, almost burned the kitchen up, and had Natalie and Jimmy rolling in the floor laughing at us,” Thomas told him.
“HE almost burned up the kitchen. I stayed out of it,” I smirked and winked at him.
“Was nice… no cleanup,” Cole laughed.
“Yeah... our deal was he cooked, I cleaned,” I grinned.
“Oh right, yeah I am the one who let the turkey in the oven all night, then expects someone else to get up and check on it,” he smirked and laughed.
“Done that a time or two myself…” Cole nodded.
“Didn’t know I’d be cleaning up ashes…” I winked.
“Yeah and you still ain’t got it all cleaned up yet,” Thomas laughed.
“Ain’t my mess,” I shrugged.
“Hey I cooked it, you clean it… that was the deal.”
“The dinner... not the aftermath of the dinner.”
“I don’t think that included the smoke covered wall Thomas,” Cole told him.
“Maybe now is a good time to move to Bisbee and forget cleaning it up,” Thomas laughed.
“Thank you for finally being on my side,” I smirked at Cole and he laughed.
“Hey I only smoked up a little bit of it, Trin made it worse running around the house with a flaming turkey hollering, ‘what do I do, what do I with this stinking bird’,” Thomas said.
I chuckled and nudged him under the table. “Just you wait till you find where I put that stinking bird. Just a good thing we had a backup.”
“I fed it to your horse, he seemed to like it,” Thomas laughed.
“Not in the well I hope,” Cole laughed.
“Heeey! How’d you find it? I put it in the bathtub so the next time you took a bath it…” I frowned.
“Well I went to take my weekly depletions, and there was a burnt stinking bird in the way,” Thomas laughed.
“I was cooling it down,” I chuckled.
“Well you can clean the tub up after you’re done with the kitchen also,” Thomas smiled.
“Nope. Kitchen was where the deal ended.”
“But you ain’t cleaned the kitchen, so you get to do the tub if I got to do the kitchen.”
“So dear I was wondering…” I said as Cole went to get something from inside the cafe. “I think we should live together. Officially.”
“You mean it?” Thomas looked at me with his jaw dropping.
“But that only means we have to buy a bigger house... So that Natalie and Jimmy can share a room. I think it’s a good idea... We practically live together now and we’re like a family... I ain’t talkin’ we get married but... The next best thing.”
“Yeah, you are right,” Thomas nodded with a smile. “We can’t have Jimmy sleeping on the floor. Plus the kids need a room for themselves so we have our room back.”
“Mmhmm, they sure do,” I grinned and leaned over to hug him as Cole came back out. “I’m excited about this dear! And Cole, I’m glad you’re here for it too!”
“I can build you a nice big house,” Cole smiled.
“Last time I lived with a man was Alex and we had a nice place out in the canyon. Loved living out there... Little far from everything though. And see... another important life decision that gets made right at this table. I’m telling you, it’s a special spot.”
Thomas hugged me tight and kissed my cheek softly. “We should wait telling the kids until we have the spot picked out and ready to movie in. It will be like a big Christmas present to them. Yep, you’re right baby.”
“Mmhmm great idea! Where would you build us a place, Cole?”
“Ask Spank if he has a plot here and Irish and I will get you a nice three bedroom up for you in no time,” Cole smiled.
“Wow, I will definitely talk to Spank about that for sure. I love this area a lot... Nice and central to everything.”
“Maybe we can get him to put a pond in for you…” Cole laughed. “With a three-bedroom, the kids can each have their own room.. they are old enough not to share.”
“Yes you’re right. They’d kill each other,” I nodded.
“Yeah, it would be a fight to the death for sure,” Thomas laughed.
“You would build us a house, Cole?”
“Not only that they are getting old enough to start exploring other things. Said I would.”
“I s’pose Natalie WILL be a teenager next year…” I blinked at him. “A year ago I wasn’t even a mother. Now I’m gonna be the mother of a teenager.”
“Yes, the joy of moods.”
Thomas looked between us and laughed. “Well ummmm, Natalie is the one who mentioned them two getting married, so yeah better split them up now.”
“Yeah indeed. Forgot about that…” I chuckled. “She’s gonna get some crazy ideas from people in town… Zan already told her she was almost of marryin’ age.”
“Yeah and wait till she discovers ‘boys’, I will be sitting on the front porch with a shotgun making sure they bring her home,” Thomas smiled.
“As a doctor I have to be aware of that..and with people like Ivy around your going to have to watch her close,” Cole said.
“I can picture that... You sittin’ on the porch with a shotgun…” I chuckled and nodded to Cole. “You’re right.”
“And sorry to say Zan has some odd ideas as well,” Cole said.
I nodded and started to feel my eyes fade. “I guess we should start heading home and clean up that mess.”
“I mean I like her and she and Chris are my neighbors…” Cole said. “You let me know when and where and I will get your house started..”
“Dear, I need to head back to the office for a bit before headin' home. I want to make sure that certain things are still in tact. Cole, thanks for the chat, and we will definitely get with you on that house idea,” Thomas stood and stretched a bit.
I smiled and kissed Thomas before he left. “I will see you back home when you’re done dear,” I winked at him.
He kissed me and hugged me tight. “Ok love. Be careful and watch out for those idiots in town.”
“Will do dear,” I nodded and smiled, watching him walk away. Looking back at Cole I asked, “Did that just happen?”
Cole grinned and nodded. “Very brave of you.”
“Well... the last time I was this in love, I was with Alex… And we lived in a huge house over in the Canyon and it was perfect. I even wore his promise ring. I ain’t one for gettin’ married, Cole. Been hurt too much by men disappearin’. This makes the most sense for the children too. And Thomas will keep us all safe.”
“Give him a chance to prove himself hun.. never met Alex but do think I know Thomas pretty good.”
“Alex became my best friend but even he left when he got married and they moved off somewhere,” I nodded and smiled. “I love Thomas... I’ve never been happier or felt more sure of anyone in a long while.”
“Then just let it grow like it should hun and don’t overthink it.”
“You’re right,” I nodded. “You’re so sweet to build us a house. We’ll look around this week for a good place. I don’t want to be too far from Tombstone though. Since that’s where our work happens. If there’s a telegram of a shooting we need to be able to rush to town quickly.”
“And don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not being valid in living together, for this day and age.”
“Yes sir,” I nodded. “He’ll keep us safe. The children need to be together.”
“And sorry, Pet pet would be the one who would be the holier than thou one to complain.”
I shrugged and said, “They didn’t complain about me and Alex, they won’t complain about this. We pretty much live together as it is. We just need a bigger house. Jimmy can’t be sleeping on the floor anymore.”
“True,” he grinned. “I have a couple of ideas that will work well for you.”
“Just gotta find a spot and try them out when he can stay to look at them. You think Bisbee is a possibility?”
“If you talk to Spank, yeah I do.”
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow at the gig hopefully,” I said and hugged him tightly before we headed home.
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