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| She was in the bed in the main bedroom and the man she had kicked in the face was standing above her. She cried out in fear and scrambled to put as much distance between him and herself as possible. He reached out and grabbed both her legs this time, learning from his mistake. He pulled her toward him and grabbed her arms roughly. �Who were you running from?� �You!� A look came to his eyes as he loosened his grip on her. He looked at her and then let her go completely and she plopped down on the bed and stayed. She watched him pace the floor and then stop at the window and looked out on the vast plain that they where on earlier that day. �We saw that your horse took off with you holding on. We thought that you were in trouble. Vin was the one with the fastest horse so he rode ahead to try to stop your ride. When we caught up to you, you were holding on to that horse for dear life, we thought that you had gone into shock from that ride. When I grabbed you I felt you tense up. That�s when I realized that you were afraid. I was going to ask you when you decided to talk to us.� He looked to her with soft eyes, understanding in them and compassion. Nadia did not expect this coming from such a man. She sat in silence and listened to what he had to say, and suddenly felt sorry for the split lip that she had given him from the kick. �Then Buck had to do a stupid thing and go and kiss you while you slept. JD told me that he saw you wake up, and I believed him. I just wanted to wait until you had the courage to face us. But you didn�t. Buck scared you off, and I ended up with a kick in the face. I must say though, that was a really fancy move you did with that horse.� �Thank you.� Nadia murmured. �JD was the first one on his horse, we had to chase him to keep him from getting into trouble. I�m sorry.� He came over and sat at the end of the bed and waited for Nadia to say something. He looked out the window. Nadia came over to him, and touched the injured lip. �I�m sorry for kicking you like that, I was scared. I wanted to get away. I thought you were rapists. I�m sorry. I�ll go get something for that cut of yours.� She left to go to the bathroom and retrieved some first aid supplies. She gently administered to his lip as he studied her. �Sorry for barging into your home, JD was sure you were up to something and because we thought you were up to something as well.� Nadia looked at him curiously. What could have happened that would have them suspect her of being up to something? She was still weary of having these men come into her temporary home and nearly scare the life out of her. She was repaying their not trying anything with her with kindness. She could only hope that the rest were as kind as this man was. She, in a strange way, felt as if this was a very fatherly figure. Someone to protect her from harm. She treated him with respect, not knowing a father herself. She finished treating his lip and sat back in the bed, and they just looked at each other and said nothing. A crash from down stairs finally broke the silence. The man quickly got up and went out the door, and Nadia soon followed close behind. She nearly tripped on the stairs on the way down, for had he not grabbed her just in time she would have ended up on the bottom of the stairs, badly injured. He still supported her when they reached the immense kitchen and saw various pots and pans on the ground, and very sheepish looking young man in the center of it all. �I was trying to get us something to eat.� The man set her gently on one of the kitchen chairs as he said to the young man: �Keep trying, JD.� JD so that�s his name. She thought. He gave her a suspicious look and then looked at the man still at her side. The racket attracted the entire posse to the kitchen and then the introductions were made. It was the kind man who made them. �I�m Chris Larabee, the young�un is JD Dunne,� he looked at her with narrowed eyes. �The one in the fancy red coat is Ezra Standish.� He gave a courteous bow to Nadia, and she nodded in return. �The black man is Nathan Jackson,� he gave a nod and �ma�am� and she smiled at him. �The one with white hair is Josiah Sanchez.� Another nod, �The one with the mustache is Buck Wilmington.� He smiled and Nadia gave him a sideways look. �And last but not least is Vin Tanner.� The one she thought was handsome. He gave a curt nod and a disarming smile. Nadia had regained enough composure to say a soft hello. �This here�s a mighty big house for one person to live in.� Commented Nathan. �This is just the summer house. The rest of the family will be here later in the week.� �Then your family must be very well off.� Ezra said. �You could say that, if they were my family.� �What do you mean?� asked Josiah. �My father died in a train wreck and my mother died about two weeks after having me. After that my father�s best friend took me under his wing, I�ve been living with him ever since. Then about three years ago he married and a year after that he had a child. I felt like I was being a burden, so I moved in with one of my friends.� |
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