"Next stop, Dreamville!"

The sound of the carriage driver’s voice woke Corey out of her daydream. She took out her compact and carefully wiped the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. She had spent an hour perfecting her make-up and the last thing she wanted was to be left with raccoon eyes! She fixed a few stray curls that had gotten loose from her chignon and smiled.

"Nobody’s going to recognize me," she said to herself, smiling happily. The last time anyone in Dreamville saw Corey, she was dressed in loose men’s clothing with short, raggedy hair. Since she had been posing as a boy in order to keep her job for the Pony Express, she never cared much about her appearance. Except for when Buck was around.

Buck! Just thinking about him sent shivers of anticipation through her body. She wondered what he’d been up to since she left, and if he thought about her at all during the months that she was gone. She was pretty positive that he knew about her crush on him, but she never had time to pursue him.

"Well, that’s all going to change now." Corey giggled girlishly. Suddenly the stagecoach came to a stop and she felt the driver jump down from his seat. He opened the door into the carriage and smiled at her, offering his hand for assistance.

"We’re here ma’am."

Corey smiled back and accepted his hand as he helped her out of the carriage. She looked around and took in all of the familiar surroundings. It felt so good to be home again. Home. Corey smiled as the stagecoach driver handed her bags to her.

"You have a good day now ma’am."

"Thank you sir, you too." Corey smiled warmly. The initial happiness passed and suddenly panic set in. The realization that she had no place to go hit her like a bucket of cold water. She knew that today was the day of the Easter picnic, and by the looks of the empty streets, she was fairly positive that the whole town was there already. She couldn’t go to the Thompson’s house just in case Meg was still there. Daniel wanted to surprise Meg at the picnic.

"Well, I guess it’s a good thing that this ankle of mine healed up, or I’d be hoppin’ around town being mistakin’ for the Easter Bunny!" Corey said out loud, then laughed at the absurdity of the image in her mind. Thankfully her bag was fairly light so it wasn’t too difficult to carry. She walked over to the general store and found the flyer that advertised the picnic. After glancing at her pocket-watch she smiled. She was just in time!

 ************

 "Luke, I don’t understand. I just don’t." Meg was close to tears after receiving the letter that she had sent to Corey with a stamp marked ‘Undeliverable’ on it.

Luke debated on whether or not to tell Meg that his letter had also been returned to him with the same stamp on it. Against his better judgement, he pulled the letter out of his pocket. "Here."

Meg’s eyes widened as she read the front of the letter. Her hands started to shake and her face went pale. "Oh my God, what if something’s happened to her?"

Luke wrapped his arms around his fiancée and hugged her tightly. The truth was, he was more scared then he would let on in front of Meg. He just couldn’t understand why both of their letters would be returned. "Tomorrow I’ll go and talk to Teaspoon about this. I’ll ask him what he thinks we should do. If it comes down to it, I’ll take a trip out there and see what’s going on."

Meg looked up at Luke through teary eyes. "You’d do that for me?"

"Of course I would. I love you." Luke smiled then kissed Meg softly.

************

Corey watched the tender scene before her and felt her own eyes misting up. She looked around frantically, but Daniel was nowhere in sight. She couldn’t bear seeing her best friend like this, so she decided that she couldn’t wait any longer. She knew that Meg wouldn’t recognize her at first. Heck, even she barely recognized herself when she got dressed that morning. She was wearing a lightweight cotton dress with a pink leaf design on a white background. The bodice had piped armsytes and was trimmed with white cotton fringe. The short overskirt was trimmed with the same fringe and two pink silk bows. She had spent quite a lot of money on it, but wanted to look beautiful for that day. She smoothed down her skirts, patted her hair and took a deep breath.

"Here goes," she said to herself, her stomach full of butterflies. She walked over to where Meg and Luke were still standing and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, I’m looking for two friends of mine, and I was hoping you’d be able to help me."

Corey knew that she would never forget the looks on Meg and Luke’s faces for as long as she lived. Meg’s red-rimmed eyes widened in shock and her jaw began to drop as the realization of who was standing before her slowly began to sink in.

"Oh-my-God! Corey?" Meg screamed and ran towards her friend, embracing her in a long hug. "What happened to you I sent you a letter and it got sent back to me, and Luke sent you one, too. And oh my God you look beautiful, and how did you know to come here if you didn’t get my letter. And, oh wow, you’re dress is gorgeous and you look positively fantastic and so feminine and . . ." Meg just rambled on for a few minutes and Corey tried not to laugh. She sure had missed her best friend and it was great to be back.

Luke walked over and gave Corey a hug. "It’s great to have you back here in Dreamville again. Now if you ladies will excuse me, there are a few people I need to talk to. Besides, I have a feeling you two have a lot to catch up on." Luke smiled and kissed Meg quickly before turning and walking away.

"I am so happy for the two of you!" Corey squealed happily.

"If you didn’t get my letter, then how did you know?" Meg wore a puzzled expression.

Corey grinned. "Your father wrote to me and told me about it. That’s when I decided to come in early and surprise you."

Meg smiled. "Well you certainly succeeded!"

"So…now that you’re marrying Luke, I supposed that means I have Buck all to myself now, eh?" Corey’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

Oh dear, Meg thought to herself. How do I tell her about Buck and Caly? "Well . . . it’s not going to be quite that easy Cor . . ."

Corey raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" She didn’t like it when things didn’t go her way, and she wanted Buck. "Now that I’m not working for the express anymore I don’t have to hide under men’s clothing anymore. I can be as feminine as I want and there’s no way Buck’ll be able to resist me!"

"It’s not that . . . come on, let’s go sit down and talk . . ." Meg took Corey by the hand and led her over to a bench underneath a shady tree. She proceeded to tell her about Caly’s attack and her recent budding relationship with Buck.

"Well, you just said that Buck doesn’t know how he feels about Caly, right?" Corey asked.

"Right . . ." Meg answered cautiously.

Corey giggled. "Then we have nothing to worry about. Believe me when I say that I don’t give up easily. And I am not about to give up on Buck. Now, I have to go and check into the hotel or I’m going to find myself sleeping on the street tonight."

"No! You can’t stay at the hotel. You have to stay with me!" Meg grinned. "We have so much to catch up on. We’ll have so much fun!"

Corey smiled. "You talked me into it!"

"Great! Let’s bring your bags over and then start re-introducing you to everyone. Everyone’s going to be so happy to see you again!" Meg said happily.

Corey winked at her. "Especially Buck."

Meg laughed and took her friend’s arm. This was turning out to be a wonderful day after all.

************ LATER THAT DAY ************

"Go on," Meg nudged a reluctant Corey in Buck’s direction. "Ask him!"

Corey looked up at Meg with hesitant eyes. "But what if I make a fool out of myself and he says no?"

Meg smiled encouragingly at her friend. "When has that ever stopped you before? Now go ask him before someone else does!"

Corey took a deep breath and walked over to where Buck was standing. "Hey, Buck?" She asked, fidgeting and playing with her fingers nervously.

Buck turned around and smiled. It took him a moment to realize that it was Corey standing before him. Ever since she came back looking like a girl, he barely recognized her. She looked so different. "Hi Cor-inne." Buck smiled as he corrected himself.

Corey grinned. Here goes everything, she thought to herself as she crossed her fingers behind her back. "I was wondering . . . Well, I was wondering if you’d want to be my partner in the three legged race today?"

Buck smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do have that race open . . ." Corey’s eyes widened with childlike hope and Buck continued. "And I would be happy to be your partner."

"Really?" Corey asked, still amazed that he had said yes.

Buck nodded. "Definitely."

Corey smiled the relief evident on her face. "Great…then I guess I’ll see you for the start of the race."

Buck tipped his hat to her and grinned. "See ya later."

Corey practically skipped back to Meg with a goofy grin on her face.

"I take it he said yes?" Meg asked, raising her eyebrow.

Corey nodded enthusiastically. "Uh huh!"

Meg smiled and hugged her, happy for her friend. "See? I told you there was nothing to worry about!"

The two friends got some lemonade and sat around chatting about Meg’s upcoming wedding. They were so lost in their thoughts that they almost missed the announcement for the start of the three-legged race.

"Ohmigod, that’s me and Buck!" Corey exclaimed, jumping up and looking around for Buck.

"You lookin’ for me?"

Corey jumped and turned around to find Buck standing behind her, holding a piece of rope in his hands, smiling boyishly. She smiled and playfully hit his arm. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Buck cocked his head in the direction of the starting line and smiled. "Come on, let’s go win this race."

Meg watched as the two of them walked away, both smiling shyly at one another. She knew that Corey had a crush on Buck, and by the looks of things, it seemed like he was interested in her as well. It’s going to be interesting to see how this triangle between Corey, Buck and Caly works itself out, she thought silently to herself, not wanting to see anyone get hurt.

Corey tied her right ankle to Buck’s left, and they put their arms around each other’s waists for support. They wished the other contestants good luck, then smiled at each other, both intent on winning this race.

"On your mark…get set…GO!"

The sound of the gun firing in the air was all Buck and Corey needed. They were off, hopping along and trying to get ahead of the other contestants. At first it looked like they were going to come in second, but at the last minute they surged ahead and made it across the finish line first, collapsing on the ground, tangled up in each other’s arms and legs.

"And the winner is…Buck and Corey!"

Corey looked at Buck, his face barely inches away from hers and smiled. "We did it," she whispered, still out of breath from the race.

Buck smiled back shyly, his brown eyes crinkling with happiness. "I knew we would. We make a good team." He told her.

Corey’s heart fluttered. We make a good team, she repeated in her head. Does he mean that literally, or as something more? She wondered hopefully to herself, as she leaned over to help Buck untie the rope binding their ankles. Could this really be the start of what she dreamed of for so long? Could it be that Buck was actually interested in her as more than just a friend?