STANDING
BETWEEN LOVE AND BETRAYALSTANDING
BETWEEN LOVE AND BETRAYAL
Early the next morning over breakfast at the Hunter homestead, Cody is actually avoiding the food on his plate, and grumbling to his self about what a damn fool he has been.
Teaspoon watches Cody with bewilderment. There has never ever been anything or anybody in Cody’s life that has upset him badly enough to prevent him from enjoying his food!
“You gonna play with your food all day, Cody?” Teaspoon asked with a hint of concern for the young man.
Cody gazes up at Teaspoon, an inconsolable expression covering his usually over-confident expression. Cody is sure that Teaspoon is getting a big kick out of this. As a matter of fact, Cody is pretty sure that his entire family is enjoying his misery just a bit too much. They are all getting a tremendous amount of pleasure over Buck kidnapping Jane away from him.
Teaspoon feels a slight tinge of pity for Cody, but he feels that the young man has brought this onto his self. Cody had made Buck’s life quite miserable when he falsely arrested Buck for a crime he knew damn well that Buck didn’t commit. Cody had done it to keep Jane from spending the night in Buck’s bed.
Jimmy walks into the Hunter home. He gazes and smiles at a miserable looking Cody.
“How can you all be so calm about their disappearance?” Cody asked frustrated.
“Because we all know that Buck can take care of Jane just fine. There really is no reason to worry about Jane. Cody, you’re a gambling man. What do you think the odds are that Buck and Jane spent the night together in one another’s arms?” Jimmy asked with a wide smirk across his face and laughter in his eyes.
“I’m warning you Jimmy!” Cody spoke harshly.
Jimmy takes a seat at the table trying to hold in his laughter.
Teaspoon can’t help but be happy for Buck if indeed he and Jane worked out their problem and then had spent the night together. His only worry is that they didn’t work out their problems. If they made love and ignored the problem between them, Teaspoon fears that Buck will be feeling hurt all over again.
“I don’t think any of us should be assuming anything, Jimmy. At least not until the two of them get back here,” Teaspoon spoke trying to keep peace between Cody and Jimmy.
Jimmy casually wipes the smirk from his face and tries to take on a more serious approach. “Do we get to ask for details?”
“Details?” Teaspoon questioned somewhat confused by Jimmy’s question.
“Yeah. You know; details on how they spent the night together,” Jimmy spoke maintaining his serious expression.
Teaspoon can’t help but smile a bit due to the horrified look on Cody’s face.
“Jane wouldn’t allow her self to be with Buck. If they slept together it would be because Buck forced him self onto Jane,” Cody spoke harshly.
Jimmy can’t help the laughter that escapes from deep within his torso. “Are you kidding Cody? Every time I caught Jane and Buck in a compromising position, it was always Jane who was doing the compromising. If anyone forced anyone, it would have to be Jane forcing Buck!”
Cody slams a fork down onto his plate. He stands up from the table and tosses his napkin onto his plate. “I’ve had just about as much of you as I can take for one day.”
Cody walks abruptly out the front door in a huff. When he slams the door both Jimmy and Teaspoon let loose on the laughter that they had to hold in while Cody was still in their presence.
Cody walks out onto the front porch only to be greeted by Kid and Louise walking toward the porch.
“I suppose the two of you will also have your assumptions about how Buck and Jane spent last night together,” Cody spoke agitated by his family all believing that Jane spent the night making love to Buck.
Lou and Kid walk up onto the porch to stand in front of Cody. Louise can see the visible stress that Buck and Jane’s disappearance is bestowing onto Cody. She has a hard time feeling badly for Cody. She had tried to warn him that Jane’s heart belongs to Buck, but Cody wouldn’t hear it. Cody only wants to hear what Cody wants to hear.
“Cody, there’s no assuming about Buck and Jane’s evening together in my book,” Louise spoke confidently that the two reveled in love for one another.
“What makes all of you so sure that the two of them engaged in lustful behavior?” Cody asked angrily.
“There were no interruptions Cody,” Kid spoke amusingly.
Cody’s attention is drawn away from Kid and Lou. He squints his eyes to search the faces of the two people on one horse riding onto the ranch.
Kid and Louise both turn around to see what has grabbed Cody’s attention away from their conversation.
“It’s Buck and Jane!” Lou shouted gleefully.
Cody makes a mad dash for the gate. Louise and Kid follow close behind in case Cody starts trouble with either Jane or Buck.
Teaspoon and Jimmy who had heard Louise scream come barreling out of the house and down to the gate also.
They all gather outside the fence to wait for Buck and Jane to get to them.
Teaspoon latches onto Cody’s arm, a bit nervous that Cody will charge after Buck.
Buck appears content and relaxed to have Jane sitting on the horse in front of him. He has his arms around Jane guiding his horse to the ranch. Jane looks captivating. She looks like a woman that is totally in love with the man that she is leaning into.
Louise takes notice that even with Cody staring at the two of them, that Jane makes no attempt to make this situation seem like a bad thing.
Cody doesn’t want to admit it to his self, but Buck and Jane both look exhausted from their lovemaking, but yet somehow they seem well rested. It’s obvious to him that the love in Jane’s eyes isn’t meant for him.
Buck sees the crowd gathered at the fence. He had hoped that he would get Jane back to the ranch before his family woke for the day. It would have made the situation of their night together easier for Jane. Even though he had awoken early enough to do so, when Jane awoke she encouraged him to come back to bed. He wanted to feel the warmth of her body against his one last time before coming back home. He had crawled back into the bedroll and all his thoughts were on making lover to Jane.
Buck halts his horse a little ways away from the tiny group that has gathered for his and Jane’s homecoming of sorts. He dismounts his horse.
As soon as Buck’s feet hit the ground Cody makes a mad dash for the Kiowa. Unfortunately for Cody, Jimmy and Kid are just too damned fast anymore when it comes to holding him back.
“Buck, I swear when I get hold of you!” Cody seethed through clinched teeth.
Buck doesn’t even acknowledge Cody. Instead he places his hands around Jane’s waist and helps her down off the horse. Once down from the horse, Jane stays in Buck’s arms and they gaze into each other’s eyes. Jane loves him and Buck loves her, and everyone in the tiny group gathering can see it too. They are all holding their collective breath wondering what went on between the two of them.
Cody struggles his arms free from Kid and Jimmy, as he watches Buck and Jane approach him. Cody’s face becomes red as his hot temper flares up!
Buck senses Cody’s hostility toward him and Jane. He stops and forces Jane to also stop a few feet away from Cody.
“Thought I’d just pay you back for the night you ruined for Jane and I. Only difference is that when you ruined our evening you didn’t get to spend the night with Jane,” Buck spoke trying to get Cody to blow up.
Cody makes a maddening charge at Buck! “Why you!”
Before anyone can latch onto Cody, he shoves Buck in the chest and then knocks him to the ground with Cody falling right behind Buck!
Buck is trying to defend him self, but the excruciating pain in his chest has Buck clutching at his chest instead.
“Cody stop! You’re going to hurt him!” Jane screamed as she watches in horror at the way Buck is having trouble breathing.
Jimmy, Kid, and Teaspoon are gathered around Cody trying to get him away from Buck!
Teaspoon pulls at Cody’s legs and Kid and Jimmy finally manage to each grab a swinging arm. Louise and Jane rush to Buck’s aid to help him up from the ground.
“Are you all right?” Jane asked frantically. She is truly frightened that Cody has hurt Buck.
Buck holds onto Jane for support but he can’t really talk because he’s having a difficult time even catching his breath.
Kid rushes to Buck’s side. “Let’s get him in the house.”
Jane steps aside, but not before her saddened eyes meet with Buck’s once more. Cody’s temper is too much for her to handle. He would have seriously hurt Buck, if Jimmy and Kid weren’t nearby to stop the battering.
Teaspoon and Kid than help Buck walk into the house. Jane stands alone as a few tears escape from her eyes. She doesn’t take her eyes away from Buck. She had spent the night loving him, and even this morning she had coaxed him back to bed one last time before leaving for home. Jane will never be able to rid her heart of the memory of her and Buck making love in the cave! How can she ever go back to Cody with the feelings that she has for Buck that she knows she will never have with Cody. How can she ever live without the warmth of Buck’s body against her body every night and morning for the rest of their lives?
Louise who has been watching Jane’s reaction to everything that has happened walks up behind the young woman.
Jane turns around when she hears Charlene’s voice in the background, but what she meets up with are Lou’s eyes of understanding. Jane’s eyes are drawn to Charlene and Cody who are scheming together in the distance.
Jane glances back at Louise. “Should I be thanking you for last night with Buck?”
“You may if you’d like,” Lou spoke seriously.
“I thought so.”
“Someone has to make you see the mistake you are making. You love Buck. If you thinking you’re fooling anyone, you are sadly mistaken.
Oh….except for perhaps poor old reliable Cody.”
“I am staying with Cody!” Jane spoke harshly.
“Why? You don’t love Cody. I bet you don’t even like him much. They are total opposites Jane. How could you have been in love with Buck, but now all you want is Cody?”
For the first time Jane is silent. She doesn’t know how to answer Lou’s question because truthfully she doesn’t want Cody, and all she can think about is the intense, passionate, many ways that Buck had loved her last night and this morning.
“You do understand that I don’t mean to upset you, but the fact is that it is obvious to everyone, including Cody, that you and Buck spent last night loving one another.”
“I won’t admit to that,” Jane spoke softly.
“How can you do this to Buck? How can you allow yourself to make love to him and then turn back to Cody the very next morning?” Lou asked baffled.
If only Louise knew that she had made love to Buck just a short time before arriving at the ranch this morning. “Louise, this is really none of your business.”
“Do you love Cody?”
Jane once again finds that there are no words forthcoming from her vocal cords. She tries to escape Lou’s questioning by walking away from her, but when she heads toward Cody, Jane sees that he is still busy scheming with Charlene. Without thinking about what she is doing, Jane turns back toward Louise’s direction.
Lou is smiling at the uncomfortable feeling that she gives to Jane. “I thought not. I guess your not so true love is busy with his deceitful partner in crime.”
“Louise, I don’t want to fight with you over my feelings for Cody or Buck. Both men are a part of your family so it really surprises me that it even matters to you which one of them I am with.”
“You are hurting Buck! That is what matters to me. Buck loves you. You spent last night showing Buck just how much you love him, and now today you’re pushing him away. He doesn’t deserve what you are doing to him.”
“I can’t help the way I feel.”
“Yeah. I know all about having feelings for two different men. The problem here is that you don’t have feelings for Cody. You don’t really even want to be with Cody. My guess is that it would be a whole lot easier on your emotions to lose Cody then it ever would be for you to love Buck and possibly lose him,” Lou spoke eagerly awaiting for Jane to try and lie her way out of the truth.
Jane doesn’t know what to say to get Louise to stop meddling into her feelings concerning Buck. Louise is so right about her feelings of losing Buck. Why had she weakened and allowed her self to ever love him even for one night? Louise is right. She will have to hurt Buck all over again. Why can’t she just stop worrying about the past and just live in the present?
“I’m right, aren’t I?” Louise asked jolting Jane out of her silence.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jane spoke as her eyes become moist, and she walks away from Lou to walk toward the Hunter’s home.
Louise grabs onto Jane’s forearm and turns her around. “You don’t even have to answer me Jane, I know that I am right. You’re afraid of losing Buck.”
“Leave it be Louise,” Jane spoke as she pulls away from Lou and walks the path to the front porch trying to wipe the tears from her face before going inside.
Louise stands back and allows Jane to escape her pursuit of the truth. But, Lou knows that the only man Jane will ever truly love is Buck. The question is how is she ever going to open Jane’s eyes to see that the future with the one you love is always unpredictable. Her life with Buck could last one day, one week, one month, one year, but their future together could also last fifty years. The predictable part about love is to simply love that person for as long as God allows.