Because I love you, I have ever since we first talked. Buck heard that in his sleep ever since Caly had told him. The problem was that he didn�t know how he felt. Sure he liked her as a good friend, but was there something more there? He had taken her to the Valentine�s dance and enjoyed her company. She had looked stunning that night. Did he love her back? These questions also haunted him in his sleep over the past week or so.

Caly had been through so much lately. She deserved to know how he felt, so how could he tell her when he didn�t know himself? Would it be right to start courting her without knowing his feelings? Would it be fair to either of them if he found out during the courtship that he didn�t love her as a man loves a woman, but just as a good friend? There was one person who could help him.

Buck walked into the sheriff�s office and saw Luke talking to Teaspoon. "Hello, Buck how are you?" Teaspoon asked.

"I need to talk to you, Teaspoon." Buck replied.

"Well, I need to be getting back to the shop." Luke interjected.

"No, Luke, actually, you might be able to help me out, too."

"What�s the problem, son?" Teaspoon asked the troubled rider.

"Well," the quiet young man started, "What do you do when a girl tells you that she loves you, and you don�t know if you love her back?"

As Teaspoon pondered the question, Luke said, "Well, you have to find out how you feel. And one way to find out is to spend time with her."

Teaspoon thought a few minutes, rubbed his chin and then sat up properly in his chair. "Buck, there's nothin' wrong with not knowing how exactly you feel about someone, or if you don't know if you like someone as much as they like you. Some people just aren't ready to make a commitment yet. Some people just aren't on the same level of friendship as another person might want them to be. Don't pressure yourself. If you�re not in love with the lady right now, it doesn't mean that you won't never love her. You might love her. It just takes time. Don't stress out over it. Just take one day at a time and see where your heart leads you."

Buck knew Teaspoon was very wise and decided to listen to him. He would just take it slow with Caly and maybe he would begin to see her in a different light, other than just a friend. He also was going to take Luke�s advice and spend more time with her, get to know her better, in a different light. He thanked Teaspoon as he and Luke walked out of the office.

"Buck, how is Caly doing?" Luke asked once they were outside.

"She�s not herself. She�s staying at home, on the porch or in her room. I don�t know how to help her to become herself again."

"It just takes time" Luke said. He remembered how Meg was when Simon had almost hurt her in Boston. She stopped going out and stayed at home with her nose in her father�s books. She would go out only with Luke, Serena, or Daniel after that. She did have her girl friends over or go over to their house, but never anywhere else with one of them. Luke also remembered taking her on a picnic with Daniel and Serena. Meg was able to talk about it and had started to heal emotionally that day. "Maybe if we take her on a picnic, she�ll feel better. I�m sure that Meg would love to come along."

"OK. It�s worth a try."

Luke and Buck went to get Meg. They told her of their plan and she agreed that it might help. She fixed them all a picnic lunch and they went to get Caly.

Caly was on the porch swing with her old hat pulled over her face. She almost got up to go inside when she saw three riders coming into the yard, but then she saw that it was Buck, Meg and Luke. She still wasn�t comfortable around Luke because she barely knew him, but Buck was there and she knew she could trust Buck. Besides Meg and Luke were getting married, so she doubted if Meg would come out here without Luke. They�re probably out her to discuss the wedding. She thought.

"Come on, Caly, we�re going on a picnic." Buck said.

"I don�t feel like it." Caly said.

"Come on, Caly," Meg said. "I made a lunch for all of us. It�ll do you good to get out some. And no one will see you. It�ll just be us. We can go where Luke, and I will be married. It�s quiet and very pretty."

Caly looked at the threesome and knew that Buck would protect her. So even though it was against her better judgement, she went with them.

"You know this is where Luke first told me that he loved me. It�s also where he asked me to marry him." Meg said trying to take Caly�s mind off the rape.

"By the looks of the frame, the house looks like it�s going to be big." Buck remarked.

"Yeah, but it�s taking longer than I expected. I have my shop, and Daniel has his practice."

"The others and I will come out and help you when we don�t have rides. Teaspoon has us doing things like this all the time."

"Ya�ll could do that for us?"

"Yeah. Call it your wedding present from all of us."

"Thanks, mate. That would help us out a lot." Luke smiled.

"Meg is lucky to have you." Caly said. She had been lost in her memories. Memories she wanted to forget. Memories that haunted her every waking moment. Memories that haunted her dreams. Memories that she couldn�t get away from, no matter what. She hadn�t even realized that she had spoken. So lost in her own world that she continued to think out loud.

"She�s lucky to have you to save her from this ... this ... pain. Pain that I wouldn�t wish on my worst enemy. Pain so great that it hurts to breathe. Pain so great that it hurts to sleep because he�s there in my dreams." Caly continued through her tears, "The pain at first was just physical. The . . . when he . . .When he . . . forced himself on me, it was like he just reached in and stole something from me. That hurt worse than the beating. Meg is real lucky to have had you to stop him before he did it to her." Caly felt an arm around her and looked up. She saw Meg sitting beside her.

Meg just held her friend, crying herself. She knew the nightmares of reliving the incident. When it had happened to her, she had nightmares for a month afterward. But then again Luke was able to save her before Simon raped her. Now, ever since Simon Moore had raped Caly, her own nightmares had come back.

Luke and Buck didn�t know what to say or do. Their mutual hate for Simon just intensified when they heard Caly�s thoughts. Buck had a feeling that Caly wasn�t sleeping well, but he didn�t know how to help her. And Luke had to get Meg to open up with him about this. They never really talked about it since Caly�s rape.

It was Luke who spoke first, "Well, you just have to remember that Simon Moore is dead. He can�t hurt you, Meghan, or anyone else again."

"His men are dead, too, so they won�t be coming back either." Buck added.

"And Buck and I are not going to let that happen to you ever again." Luke hoped that he could keep that promise.

Caly looked up at the two men. One she was in love with, and one she barely knew, both swore to protect her. Buck knelt down beside her and Meg. Meg gave her a hug and backed off when Buck started to hug her. She went to Luke and let him hold her.

"I think we should let them be alone for a while." Meg said.

Luke agreed and took his future wife to another part of their land. When they got out of hearing range of Caly and Buck, Luke turned to Meg and asked, "You want to talk about your nightmares?" Meg gave Luke a surprised look. "Daniel and Serena asked me if you had mentioned your nightmares to me. They said that you�ve been waking up screaming at night. We�re all worried about you."

Meg sighed. She knew that she trusted the man that she was going to marry in a month. She just wasn�t sure if she was ready to talk about it. When she looked into his eyes, she knew that she had to tell him. "They�re about what happened in Boston, only this time it�s here and you�re not around to stop him. When I wake up, I just remember that Simon is dead and that you stopped him before he got that far."

"Meg, I will never let anyone hurt you . . . ever again."

"Luke, Buck and the others didn�t let it happen to Caly. You didn�t let Simon beat me." Meg looked up at the sky, "Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. And there is nothing that we can do to keep it from happening." A tear rolled down her face.

Luke looked at his beloved fianc�e and realized that she was right. "I will do everything in my power to keep from happening."

"I know." Meg smiled.

Buck held Caly for sometime before he spoke. "You know I blame myself."

Caly looked at him, "Buck don�t do that. It�s not your fault."

"If I had only gotten there a few minutes sooner . . ."

"If you had gotten there a few minutes later, I would have had to go through it again. Buck, I don�t blame you, or the others for not getting there sooner. I thank God everyday that you got there when you did. I heard Simon tell the men that they could have their turn with me. You saved me from having to go through it again, and again, and again, and again. And for that Buck Cross, I thank you. It was not your fault. It was Simon�s and his men�s fault, no one else�s." She wanted to say I love you. I could never blame you. But since he had not told her how he felt, she held back that last statement.

"I�m sorry, I couldn�t prevent it, Caly."

"Buck, you saved me from them, don�t let them win by thinking otherwise."

"I�ll stop beating myself up about not reaching you in time if you don�t let Simon win by hiding out and changing you. If he was able to change you, then he has won."

"I just don�t want people to see me all bruised up."

"Caly, everyone knows he beat you. But that is all they know."

"I know. I just don�t want them to see me all bruised up." She repeated.

Buck decided to let the subject drop for now. He would wait until her physical wounds had healed and see if Caly returned to her old self.

As a thought suddenly dawned on Caly, she looked up and asked, "Buck, what�s going to happen if I�m pregnant?"