[Mag 7 Fic] The Path Less Traveled- PG-13- 8/12
Title: The Path Less Traveled
Author: Jourdana Standish
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven- for the Mag7BigBang
Summary: A young man is desperate to uncover the mystery of his past, sometimes intruded by dreams that he thinks are memories and flashbacks, but none enough to fully remember. His quest to discover who he really is brings him to Four Corners after persuading a woman he has befriended to come with him. What he doesn’t know is that his presence, along with hers, is going to flip the lives of the Seven upside down and nothing will ever be the same again.
Author’s Note: The events in this story take place about six years after the episode “Lady Killers”. There is also a minor link to a previous story I wrote, “Lies Become Unraveled” but you do not need to read that story to read or understand this one. They are separate entities.
I’d like to think my beta reader, masteralida for her services and encouragement while I wrote this. Also thank you so much to my artist, nomooreroo, not only for the great artwork, but for showing so much enthusiasm over the story that it helped motivate me even further to make sure I got it done. It meant a lot to me.
~~
Chris couldn’t even begin to describe the emotions that were going through him as he rode side by side with his son. His son. Even as they sat at Sarah’s grave, he thought maybe that his mind had finally snapped and he believed only what his mind wanted to tell him. He still wondered, even as they rode into town, if his mind was simply giving him the hallucination he so wanted to believe was reality. His eyes shifted to the men he saw exiting the saloon and it was obvious by the looks on their faces that the young man riding beside him was no hallucination.
“Boys,” Chris said, riding up. “Need to introduce you to someone.” He looked to Ezra, seeing how the gambler stared. “Figured you’d still be with Inez...”
“She and Mary kicked me out. Apparently I was fussing too much over her and Katherine,” he drawled, giving a pinched look as the other men chuckled.
“‘Cause none of us have done that over the other kids born,” Nathan quipped, earning a chuckle from the other men.
“You were saying you had someone to introduce, Chris?” Josiah said, bringing them back to the matter at hand.
“Yes,” Chris said. “But not out here. Ezra?”
“Of course,” Ezra said. He stepped inside the saloon, whistling for everyone to clear out temporarily. Only a few grumbled greatly, but a promise from the gambler that they would be duly compensated upon their return, they filed out. Thankfully the saloon was not overly busy this time of the day so it didn’t take long. Chris and Adam both dismounted and all eight men walked into the saloon.
Ezra closed the doors, something he had installed to ensure the safety of his employees, his wife in particular and his sister when she would sometimes be visiting with Inez. He didn’t lock the doors, but he knew that this conversation required privacy. Turning, he rejoined the men, all with expectant looks on their faces.
“Boys,” Chris said. “This is Adam.” He put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “My son.”
Total silence was the only response that came forth. As it continued, Chris furrowed his brow. He could feel Adam tensing under his hand, taking the silence as rejection.
“No one has anything to say?” he finally asked.
“Pardon for being blunt on this,” Ezra said. “But... how? We have all see the gravesite ourselves where your fair Sarah and dear son lay.”
“Ezra’s got a point, Chris,” JD said. “We went after Fowler ‘cause of it and been lookin’ for Ella Gaines ever--.”
“JD,” Buck said, his voice rough. His eyes never left Adam’s face.
“Wasn’t me,” Adam murmured.
“Son?” Josiah said, his voice gentle.
Swallowing, Adam lifted his head. It made the men almost physically step back. Wearing the broken expression they had only seen on Chris’ face a few times, they saw the pain, fear and knew that this boy was who Chris said he was.
“Whoever was found,” Adam said. “With my Ma. Wasn’t me.”
“I think we should start at the beginning,” Ezra suggested.
“You callin’ my son a liar?” Chris’ first reaction was to immediately come to his son’s defense. Annoyance started filtering into him as Ezra merely arched an eyebrow at the gunslinger.
“Quite the contrary, Mister Larabee,” Ezra said. “But I’m sure I speak for most, if not all, of us in this room besides yourself and the young man at your side, that we are immensely confused and might be able to better wrap our minds around the circumstances if we know the full length of the tale at hand.”
“Ezra has a point,” Vin said. “We aren’t sayin’ we don’t believe you. Hell, all we have to do is look at him to know he’s your son, Chris. But you got us all a mite confused right now.”
Chris relaxed, taking a breath. He looked at Ezra, smiling slightly. “Sorry, Ezra.”
“Quite all right,” Ezra said. “I suspect I would have reacted in a similar fashion were I in your shoes.”
“I think I should start,” Buck said. He cleared his throat. “Adam here came into town with Kate Stokes. When I saw him after she introduced him, I knew he was related to Chris somehow. Can’t deny that Larabee look, that’s for sure.”
Adam blushed lightly, but took note of how JD had stiffened slightly at the mention of Kate’s name. He filtered through his more recent memories, recalling the information of how he was the one that had been on the receiving end of a bullet from Kate’s sister. *Suppose bad memories will do that to any man...*
“I demanded answers from her,” Buck said. “But she told me that Adam had no memories of who he was prior to endin’ up in an orphanage in Red Fork. Only knew that his first name was Adam and started using Smith since he didn’t know who he was. Told me ‘bout nightmares he had--.”
“She told you that?” Adam asked, his face flushing with embarrassment.
“I think she did it so I wouldn’t go demandin’ answers just yet,” Buck said. “I was pretty rude to her. Claimin’ she brought you to town to play games with us. She said you’d done told her ‘bout the burn scars you have on your legs.”
Adam nodded, swallowing his embarrassment down. He couldn’t be angry with Kate, not when she was faced with Buck’s scrutiny. “Whatever was thrown into the house to make it burn had gotten into my room. Was under the bed when it started coming in. Didn’t even realize some had gotten on my pants ‘til I crawled out of the window and felt the heat and the pain on my legs.”
Buck swallowed hard, thinking of the pain he must’ve been in. He had only been eight years old! “But...”
Josiah placed a large hand on his shoulder. “Brother Buck, you were sayin’ about Kate?”
Vin could see how much this was hurting Buck, so many unanswered questions left unspoken right now. He picked up the story where Buck had left off.
“‘Bout this time, I came over to make sure everything was okay,” he said. “Got the same story. Kate said she figured a good place to start with helpin’ Adam was the neighborin’ towns to Red Fork. Said some feller over in Eagle Bend suggested he was related to Chris ‘cause of the information they were lookin’ for and Adam here was the right age. Made sure to ask Kate if’n he was in town to start somethin’ with Chris, seein’ as how he was thinkin’ Chris might’ve abandoned him.”
Adam blushed, ducking his head down. “Didn’t know...”
“It’s okay, son,” Chris said. Adam nodded.
“So how did Chris end up findin’ out?” JD asked.
“Remember yesterday?” Buck asked JD. “When we explained to you and Nathan about Chris stormin’ off?” He bobbed his head. “That’s when it was brought up. Not sure what happened after that.”
Chris cleared his throat, hoping that the blush he felt forming wasn’t showing too much. A quick glance at his friends suggested that was a fruitless hope. “I uh... confronted Kate. S’how I saw Adam,” he said. “He came chargin’ in, aimin’ to protect her because I had a hold of her arm. Felt like I was lookin’ at a ghost. Then Kate called him Adam and...” Chris swallowed hard.
“Pa?” Adam asked as Buck said: “Chris?”
“I saw nothing in his eyes,” Chris finally said. “No recognition, at all. My heart and my soul was screamin’ at me that this was Adam, but he didn’t know who I was.” Adam flinched, causing Chris to squeeze his shoulder again.
“What happened?” Ezra asked. His heart ached for Chris. He knew all of theirs did, but having just become a father, he couldn’t imagine the devastation he would feel if his daughter didn’t know who he was when she looked at him.
“Something I ain’t done in a real long time,” Chris said. “I ran away. Ran to my cabin. That’s where Kate found me.”
Adam bobbed his head. “She said she was goin’ to go talk to you, then would be back to talk to me,” he said.
“But she stay--,” Chris said, Adam lifting his hand to stop him.
“Let’s just... skip that part,” Adam said, grimacing. “That’s just... don’t... no. Ew.”
The men chuckled, Chris grinning again at his son’s reaction. Adam continued from there, shuddering a moment at the thought of his father and Kate.
“When Kate didn’t come back like she said she would, I went in search of Buck,” he said. “Knew he was Pa’s closest friend back then and would most likely have some answers. That’s when he told me about Ma and the house burnin’. Told me where it was too. I needed to see it.”
Adam swallowed. “My head felt odd once I got there,” he said. “Wasn’t until I was staring at Ma’s grave and what’s been mine for the past eight years that the memories came back. All of it. Thinkin’ Pa and Buck had come home, Ma tellin’ me to hide and then run to the shed where I was supposed to run to if somethin’ ever happened so I could be found.”
“What happened?” Buck had to ask. “We looked and--.”
“Buck,” Chris said.
“I tried,” Adam said, his voice clogged with tears again. “Like I told Pa... I ran. Legs hurt from the burns, broke my wrist when I fell out of the window. It was dark, I must’ve gotten turned around. I couldn’t find the shed, but I kept running. I didn’t want them findin’ me.” He took a steadying breath, feeling his father’s fingers digging into his shoulder. He wouldn’t wince, couldn’t. It was tangible, physical evidence that this wasn’t a dream. He was here, with his father, memories of his past around him. Regardless of how painful they were, they were actually there now.
“I tripped on something in the woods, fell and must’ve hit my head. All I remembered was waking up in the orphanage. They asked me my name and I remembered Adam... but nothing else.” He lifted his head and looked at the men.
“That’s it. Spent the last few years in an orphanage. Once I was old enough, I left. Met Kate when I was gettin’ some supplies and they suggested I see if she needed some help on her land. Was her that suggested I start coming to the neighboring towns, see if I could find answers that way. Not real sure why she decided to come with, just said she wanted to help.”
“You must have struck a chord with her,” Nathan said. “If I remember right, nothing good happened here for her to ever want to come back.”
“Maybe it had and she just didn’t know it,” Ezra commented, his gaze on Chris. His eyebrow quirked ever so slightly when he saw the man’s cheeks color slightly.
Adam shuddered, shaking his head. He did not want to think of his father, or Kate, in that manner. Buck simply grinned when he saw Adam’s reaction. Finally feeling calm enough, he stepped away from the men and approached Buck.
“So you remember me, kid?” Buck asked, hope in his words.
Adam looked at the man, quirking a small smile that was such a combination of Sarah’s smile and Chris’ that Buck couldn’t tell if he wanted to cry or give a whoop in elation. Instead, he waited for Adam to respond.
“How could I forget you, Uncle Buck?” he asked. “Givin’ me rides around the horse paddock before you and Pa would leave to take them somewhere.”
Buck couldn’t handle it anymore. He pulled Adam too him, hugging him tight. He thought his heart would burst when Adam’s arms came around him, returning the hug. “God, boy, we missed you.”
“Missed you too, Uncle Buck,” Adam said, tears pricking his eyes again.
Chris was grinning so widely, he could feel his cheeks aching. He still felt a small amount of dread within and a nip of heartache, but he hadn’t felt as light as he did now in years. Having Adam back gave him a renewed vitality and love for life. He had unfinished business that needed handling, but it would keep for now.
“You got others to meet, officially,” Buck said, stepping back. “Right, Chris?”
“Damn straight,” Chris said. “We’ll have a big gathering so he can meet everyone, but this is a good start. Adam, this is Ezra, Vin, Josiah, Nathan and JD.”
Josiah smiled warmly, taking Adam’s hand in his much larger one. He almost made Adam think of a big bear of a grandpa all kids would love. “It’s a pleasure to have the chance to meet you, Adam,” Josiah said. “Your Pa missed you.”
“It’s good to see the Larabee glare fade some,” JD quipped, grinning at Chris. He laughed when Chris tried to give him his usually stoic look, but failed. The elation he felt was too much.
“Somehow, Mr. Dunne, I suspect there will be other reasons for it to return,” Ezra said, smiling. He extended his hand to Adam. “But it’ll be good to know that one reason for his stoicism has faded into oblivion.”
“What Ez means is that it’s good to see you,” Vin said, taking Adam’s hand.
“Translate for him often?” Adam asked, laughing as he shook a variety of hands, Nathan being next.
“Every day it seems like,” Nathan said with a grin. It was obvious, as Adam watched the men, that it was a typical response. He could tell that these men had become their own form of family and they were welcoming him into the fold, or back into it, as was the case with Buck.
“This is certainly cause for further celebration,” Ezra said. “I think drinks all around will do.”
“You just say that so you don’t rush off to see Inez and Katherine,” Vin teased.
“True, but I’d also rather not be on the receiving end of my dear sister’s ire either as she spends time with her new niece and sister-in-law,” Ezra quipped. Chris chuckled, glancing at his son. He tilted his head as Adam turned towards him.
“Pa, do you mind if I go find Kate first?” Adam asked. “I want to let her know about things.”
“Of course, son,” Chris said. “You can uh... you can tell her she’s welcome to join us if she wants.”
Adam wrinkled his nose but laughed. “Sure thing, Pa.”
Vin waited until Adam had left the saloon before he approached Chris. The other man glanced at him, noting the serious expression.
“Something on your mind?” Chris asked.
“Got a bad feeling,” he admitted. He shook his head when he saw Chris’ face hardening. “Not about your boy. Just a general one. Similar feeling I had ‘round when we headed over to Red Fork with Ella ‘fore we knew what she’d done.”
Chris felt a chill go up his spine. He studied Vin’s face before speaking. “You think she’s back?”
"I think she's a snake that'll crop up again," Vin said. "Ain't no sense in her gettin' the drop on us this time. If'n she ain't here yet, she will be soon. 'Specially as I can't see she's the type to not keep tabs on you. Which means she'll find out about Adam sooner or later."
"We need to make sure all of our families are safe," Chris said.
"We'll keep them safe," Vin said. "In the mean time, while Adam's lookin' for Kate, I'm gonna take a look around myself. Just to be safe."
"Thanks, Vin," Chris said, holding his arm out. The two men clasped forearms before Vin tipped his hat and made his way out of the saloon. Chris tried to tap down on the sudden unease he felt and had to squelch the part of him that wanted to find Adam and make sure he was okay.
Author: Jourdana Standish
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven- for the Mag7BigBang
Summary: A young man is desperate to uncover the mystery of his past, sometimes intruded by dreams that he thinks are memories and flashbacks, but none enough to fully remember. His quest to discover who he really is brings him to Four Corners after persuading a woman he has befriended to come with him. What he doesn’t know is that his presence, along with hers, is going to flip the lives of the Seven upside down and nothing will ever be the same again.
Author’s Note: The events in this story take place about six years after the episode “Lady Killers”. There is also a minor link to a previous story I wrote, “Lies Become Unraveled” but you do not need to read that story to read or understand this one. They are separate entities.
I’d like to think my beta reader, masteralida for her services and encouragement while I wrote this. Also thank you so much to my artist, nomooreroo, not only for the great artwork, but for showing so much enthusiasm over the story that it helped motivate me even further to make sure I got it done. It meant a lot to me.
~~
Chris couldn’t even begin to describe the emotions that were going through him as he rode side by side with his son. His son. Even as they sat at Sarah’s grave, he thought maybe that his mind had finally snapped and he believed only what his mind wanted to tell him. He still wondered, even as they rode into town, if his mind was simply giving him the hallucination he so wanted to believe was reality. His eyes shifted to the men he saw exiting the saloon and it was obvious by the looks on their faces that the young man riding beside him was no hallucination.
“Boys,” Chris said, riding up. “Need to introduce you to someone.” He looked to Ezra, seeing how the gambler stared. “Figured you’d still be with Inez...”
“She and Mary kicked me out. Apparently I was fussing too much over her and Katherine,” he drawled, giving a pinched look as the other men chuckled.
“‘Cause none of us have done that over the other kids born,” Nathan quipped, earning a chuckle from the other men.
“You were saying you had someone to introduce, Chris?” Josiah said, bringing them back to the matter at hand.
“Yes,” Chris said. “But not out here. Ezra?”
“Of course,” Ezra said. He stepped inside the saloon, whistling for everyone to clear out temporarily. Only a few grumbled greatly, but a promise from the gambler that they would be duly compensated upon their return, they filed out. Thankfully the saloon was not overly busy this time of the day so it didn’t take long. Chris and Adam both dismounted and all eight men walked into the saloon.
Ezra closed the doors, something he had installed to ensure the safety of his employees, his wife in particular and his sister when she would sometimes be visiting with Inez. He didn’t lock the doors, but he knew that this conversation required privacy. Turning, he rejoined the men, all with expectant looks on their faces.
“Boys,” Chris said. “This is Adam.” He put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “My son.”
Total silence was the only response that came forth. As it continued, Chris furrowed his brow. He could feel Adam tensing under his hand, taking the silence as rejection.
“No one has anything to say?” he finally asked.
“Pardon for being blunt on this,” Ezra said. “But... how? We have all see the gravesite ourselves where your fair Sarah and dear son lay.”
“Ezra’s got a point, Chris,” JD said. “We went after Fowler ‘cause of it and been lookin’ for Ella Gaines ever--.”
“JD,” Buck said, his voice rough. His eyes never left Adam’s face.
“Wasn’t me,” Adam murmured.
“Son?” Josiah said, his voice gentle.
Swallowing, Adam lifted his head. It made the men almost physically step back. Wearing the broken expression they had only seen on Chris’ face a few times, they saw the pain, fear and knew that this boy was who Chris said he was.
“Whoever was found,” Adam said. “With my Ma. Wasn’t me.”
“I think we should start at the beginning,” Ezra suggested.
“You callin’ my son a liar?” Chris’ first reaction was to immediately come to his son’s defense. Annoyance started filtering into him as Ezra merely arched an eyebrow at the gunslinger.
“Quite the contrary, Mister Larabee,” Ezra said. “But I’m sure I speak for most, if not all, of us in this room besides yourself and the young man at your side, that we are immensely confused and might be able to better wrap our minds around the circumstances if we know the full length of the tale at hand.”
“Ezra has a point,” Vin said. “We aren’t sayin’ we don’t believe you. Hell, all we have to do is look at him to know he’s your son, Chris. But you got us all a mite confused right now.”
Chris relaxed, taking a breath. He looked at Ezra, smiling slightly. “Sorry, Ezra.”
“Quite all right,” Ezra said. “I suspect I would have reacted in a similar fashion were I in your shoes.”
“I think I should start,” Buck said. He cleared his throat. “Adam here came into town with Kate Stokes. When I saw him after she introduced him, I knew he was related to Chris somehow. Can’t deny that Larabee look, that’s for sure.”
Adam blushed lightly, but took note of how JD had stiffened slightly at the mention of Kate’s name. He filtered through his more recent memories, recalling the information of how he was the one that had been on the receiving end of a bullet from Kate’s sister. *Suppose bad memories will do that to any man...*
“I demanded answers from her,” Buck said. “But she told me that Adam had no memories of who he was prior to endin’ up in an orphanage in Red Fork. Only knew that his first name was Adam and started using Smith since he didn’t know who he was. Told me ‘bout nightmares he had--.”
“She told you that?” Adam asked, his face flushing with embarrassment.
“I think she did it so I wouldn’t go demandin’ answers just yet,” Buck said. “I was pretty rude to her. Claimin’ she brought you to town to play games with us. She said you’d done told her ‘bout the burn scars you have on your legs.”
Adam nodded, swallowing his embarrassment down. He couldn’t be angry with Kate, not when she was faced with Buck’s scrutiny. “Whatever was thrown into the house to make it burn had gotten into my room. Was under the bed when it started coming in. Didn’t even realize some had gotten on my pants ‘til I crawled out of the window and felt the heat and the pain on my legs.”
Buck swallowed hard, thinking of the pain he must’ve been in. He had only been eight years old! “But...”
Josiah placed a large hand on his shoulder. “Brother Buck, you were sayin’ about Kate?”
Vin could see how much this was hurting Buck, so many unanswered questions left unspoken right now. He picked up the story where Buck had left off.
“‘Bout this time, I came over to make sure everything was okay,” he said. “Got the same story. Kate said she figured a good place to start with helpin’ Adam was the neighborin’ towns to Red Fork. Said some feller over in Eagle Bend suggested he was related to Chris ‘cause of the information they were lookin’ for and Adam here was the right age. Made sure to ask Kate if’n he was in town to start somethin’ with Chris, seein’ as how he was thinkin’ Chris might’ve abandoned him.”
Adam blushed, ducking his head down. “Didn’t know...”
“It’s okay, son,” Chris said. Adam nodded.
“So how did Chris end up findin’ out?” JD asked.
“Remember yesterday?” Buck asked JD. “When we explained to you and Nathan about Chris stormin’ off?” He bobbed his head. “That’s when it was brought up. Not sure what happened after that.”
Chris cleared his throat, hoping that the blush he felt forming wasn’t showing too much. A quick glance at his friends suggested that was a fruitless hope. “I uh... confronted Kate. S’how I saw Adam,” he said. “He came chargin’ in, aimin’ to protect her because I had a hold of her arm. Felt like I was lookin’ at a ghost. Then Kate called him Adam and...” Chris swallowed hard.
“Pa?” Adam asked as Buck said: “Chris?”
“I saw nothing in his eyes,” Chris finally said. “No recognition, at all. My heart and my soul was screamin’ at me that this was Adam, but he didn’t know who I was.” Adam flinched, causing Chris to squeeze his shoulder again.
“What happened?” Ezra asked. His heart ached for Chris. He knew all of theirs did, but having just become a father, he couldn’t imagine the devastation he would feel if his daughter didn’t know who he was when she looked at him.
“Something I ain’t done in a real long time,” Chris said. “I ran away. Ran to my cabin. That’s where Kate found me.”
Adam bobbed his head. “She said she was goin’ to go talk to you, then would be back to talk to me,” he said.
“But she stay--,” Chris said, Adam lifting his hand to stop him.
“Let’s just... skip that part,” Adam said, grimacing. “That’s just... don’t... no. Ew.”
The men chuckled, Chris grinning again at his son’s reaction. Adam continued from there, shuddering a moment at the thought of his father and Kate.
“When Kate didn’t come back like she said she would, I went in search of Buck,” he said. “Knew he was Pa’s closest friend back then and would most likely have some answers. That’s when he told me about Ma and the house burnin’. Told me where it was too. I needed to see it.”
Adam swallowed. “My head felt odd once I got there,” he said. “Wasn’t until I was staring at Ma’s grave and what’s been mine for the past eight years that the memories came back. All of it. Thinkin’ Pa and Buck had come home, Ma tellin’ me to hide and then run to the shed where I was supposed to run to if somethin’ ever happened so I could be found.”
“What happened?” Buck had to ask. “We looked and--.”
“Buck,” Chris said.
“I tried,” Adam said, his voice clogged with tears again. “Like I told Pa... I ran. Legs hurt from the burns, broke my wrist when I fell out of the window. It was dark, I must’ve gotten turned around. I couldn’t find the shed, but I kept running. I didn’t want them findin’ me.” He took a steadying breath, feeling his father’s fingers digging into his shoulder. He wouldn’t wince, couldn’t. It was tangible, physical evidence that this wasn’t a dream. He was here, with his father, memories of his past around him. Regardless of how painful they were, they were actually there now.
“I tripped on something in the woods, fell and must’ve hit my head. All I remembered was waking up in the orphanage. They asked me my name and I remembered Adam... but nothing else.” He lifted his head and looked at the men.
“That’s it. Spent the last few years in an orphanage. Once I was old enough, I left. Met Kate when I was gettin’ some supplies and they suggested I see if she needed some help on her land. Was her that suggested I start coming to the neighboring towns, see if I could find answers that way. Not real sure why she decided to come with, just said she wanted to help.”
“You must have struck a chord with her,” Nathan said. “If I remember right, nothing good happened here for her to ever want to come back.”
“Maybe it had and she just didn’t know it,” Ezra commented, his gaze on Chris. His eyebrow quirked ever so slightly when he saw the man’s cheeks color slightly.
Adam shuddered, shaking his head. He did not want to think of his father, or Kate, in that manner. Buck simply grinned when he saw Adam’s reaction. Finally feeling calm enough, he stepped away from the men and approached Buck.
“So you remember me, kid?” Buck asked, hope in his words.
Adam looked at the man, quirking a small smile that was such a combination of Sarah’s smile and Chris’ that Buck couldn’t tell if he wanted to cry or give a whoop in elation. Instead, he waited for Adam to respond.
“How could I forget you, Uncle Buck?” he asked. “Givin’ me rides around the horse paddock before you and Pa would leave to take them somewhere.”
Buck couldn’t handle it anymore. He pulled Adam too him, hugging him tight. He thought his heart would burst when Adam’s arms came around him, returning the hug. “God, boy, we missed you.”
“Missed you too, Uncle Buck,” Adam said, tears pricking his eyes again.
Chris was grinning so widely, he could feel his cheeks aching. He still felt a small amount of dread within and a nip of heartache, but he hadn’t felt as light as he did now in years. Having Adam back gave him a renewed vitality and love for life. He had unfinished business that needed handling, but it would keep for now.
“You got others to meet, officially,” Buck said, stepping back. “Right, Chris?”
“Damn straight,” Chris said. “We’ll have a big gathering so he can meet everyone, but this is a good start. Adam, this is Ezra, Vin, Josiah, Nathan and JD.”
Josiah smiled warmly, taking Adam’s hand in his much larger one. He almost made Adam think of a big bear of a grandpa all kids would love. “It’s a pleasure to have the chance to meet you, Adam,” Josiah said. “Your Pa missed you.”
“It’s good to see the Larabee glare fade some,” JD quipped, grinning at Chris. He laughed when Chris tried to give him his usually stoic look, but failed. The elation he felt was too much.
“Somehow, Mr. Dunne, I suspect there will be other reasons for it to return,” Ezra said, smiling. He extended his hand to Adam. “But it’ll be good to know that one reason for his stoicism has faded into oblivion.”
“What Ez means is that it’s good to see you,” Vin said, taking Adam’s hand.
“Translate for him often?” Adam asked, laughing as he shook a variety of hands, Nathan being next.
“Every day it seems like,” Nathan said with a grin. It was obvious, as Adam watched the men, that it was a typical response. He could tell that these men had become their own form of family and they were welcoming him into the fold, or back into it, as was the case with Buck.
“This is certainly cause for further celebration,” Ezra said. “I think drinks all around will do.”
“You just say that so you don’t rush off to see Inez and Katherine,” Vin teased.
“True, but I’d also rather not be on the receiving end of my dear sister’s ire either as she spends time with her new niece and sister-in-law,” Ezra quipped. Chris chuckled, glancing at his son. He tilted his head as Adam turned towards him.
“Pa, do you mind if I go find Kate first?” Adam asked. “I want to let her know about things.”
“Of course, son,” Chris said. “You can uh... you can tell her she’s welcome to join us if she wants.”
Adam wrinkled his nose but laughed. “Sure thing, Pa.”
Vin waited until Adam had left the saloon before he approached Chris. The other man glanced at him, noting the serious expression.
“Something on your mind?” Chris asked.
“Got a bad feeling,” he admitted. He shook his head when he saw Chris’ face hardening. “Not about your boy. Just a general one. Similar feeling I had ‘round when we headed over to Red Fork with Ella ‘fore we knew what she’d done.”
Chris felt a chill go up his spine. He studied Vin’s face before speaking. “You think she’s back?”
"I think she's a snake that'll crop up again," Vin said. "Ain't no sense in her gettin' the drop on us this time. If'n she ain't here yet, she will be soon. 'Specially as I can't see she's the type to not keep tabs on you. Which means she'll find out about Adam sooner or later."
"We need to make sure all of our families are safe," Chris said.
"We'll keep them safe," Vin said. "In the mean time, while Adam's lookin' for Kate, I'm gonna take a look around myself. Just to be safe."
"Thanks, Vin," Chris said, holding his arm out. The two men clasped forearms before Vin tipped his hat and made his way out of the saloon. Chris tried to tap down on the sudden unease he felt and had to squelch the part of him that wanted to find Adam and make sure he was okay.