The afternoon sunlight rested high above the town and kept the air warmer than days before. Wiping a hand along his brow, he walked up to his stallion Griffon and checked the saddle bags. He had come into town to gather mail since the pass had been shut and had a load for reading later that night. Checking the sirrups, Cliff caught the saddle horn and heard someone call his name. Looking over his shoulder, he saw some men he had known since he was boy approaching and they were looking at the local newspaper.

One guy rolled it up and shook his head with a grin. Clfif waited for them to stop walking and watched the man hand him the paper. It was a week old but they were still chuckling over whatever the story was that had made headlines.

"Is there something worth seeing?"

The man nodded and said "Read the headlines."

Sighing, he unrolled the paper and his eyes were pulled to the headline.

"Romeo and Juliet Reunitied?"

His eyes slid over the words and he skimmed the page until he found a photo. He saw his sister standing next to a stallion with Reese and the man had hold of her hand. Cliff flipped the page and saw more photos. Images of them talking by the same horse or her smiling as they walked down the sidewalk talking. He felt his throat growing dry as he looked up from the paper.

"When were these taken?"

"Tom took them a month or so ago. He's been building up enough evidence to have credibility."

Cliff's hand tightened on the newspaper and he asked "Can I have this copy?"

"That was the point of showing it to you."

Another guy looked at him and asked "Is it true?"

"How would I know? She's been missing since the beginning of winter."

The men stared at each other and shook their heads. They were slowly loosing the enjoyment they got out of this story and Cliff could imagine it was because of what was going to happen. He wanted to strangle his sister but at the same time he didn't know why she was with Reese and what was really going on. His thoughts continued to worsen when he heard approaching hooves coming from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he watched Reese dismount and tie Champ.

The man caught his gaze but remained silent as he crossed the road and headed into the mail office. Cliff waited for him to come back out and saw him head further down the sidewalk to the doc's place.

"Wonder what he's up to now."

"Came and got the doctor nearly a month ago to go out to his place."

"Bet Joe is pregnant."

His growl killed the conversation and the men remembered who they were standing next to. They saw the doctor exit his place with Reese and heard him chuckle.

"I'll swing by in the morning."

"The sooner the better."

"I'm glad to hear the progress she made."

"It wasn't easy."

The doctor laughed and said "I knew it wouldn't be."

Reese glanced back at Cliff and the doctor grew quiet. They shook hands and he headed back to Champ. Untying the reins, he swung up into the saddle and watched Cliff step up next to him.

"Where is she?"

The man glanced at the newspaper in his hand and said "Check that crap."

"I want to hear it from you."

"I don't care what you want."

"Where is Joe?"

"Safe."

He flicked the reins and Champ sidestepped away from Cliff. Turning the horse around, they took off trotting down the road and broke into a gallop once they cleared the outskirts of town. Cliff let out a sigh and walked over to Griffin. He climbed into the saddle and swung the stallion in the opposite direction.

"Going to get the calvary?"

"It'll take more than you three to take him down."

Cliff silenced the men with his dark brown gaze and took off. Griffin galloped out of town and they traveled south with the setting sun as their guide. The moon was lighting the sky and stars were popping out when he reached home. Swinging to the ground, he stuck the paper into the saddle bag and slung it over his shoulder. He settled Griffin into his stall and hung the tack up before heading to the house.

He climbed the front steps and opened the cherry door. The light in the den was on and he heard the hushed conversation from his brothers die as he approached. Jeff and Billy looked up from their chairs and their father glanced at him as he lowered the saddle bag from his shoulder.

"You took long enough getting home."

"Did you find out anything?"

He unfastened the saddle bag and pulled everything out. He handed the mail to Jeff and the newspaper to their father. Mack read the front page and slowly flipped through the rest of the paper.

He closed it and asked "Where did you get this?"

"Some of the guys gave it to me."

"Are these images true?"

He took a deep breath and said "From what I heard, yes."

"What images?"

Cliff looked back at his older brothers and Mack handed Jeff the paper. He and Billy flipped through each page, studying the articles and images that left them all reeling. Jeff tossed the paper onto the floor and looked back at him.

"You know these are true? How?"

"Ran into Reese."

He watched the two look at each other with murder in their eyes and said "He was talking with Doc."

"Does that concern us?"

"I think it concerns Joe."

Jeff leaned back in his chair and said "This is ridiculous. Why would she keep this from us?"

"Because she knew how we would act."

Billy shook his head and said "It isn't like last time."

Cliff took a seat and said "I am going to ride over there tomorrow."

"Bring her home."

He nodded and said "I will, if it is the right decision."

"I don't care if she and Reese have gotten into another affair, bring her home."

"Jeff, don't you think that this is her decision? She isn't the same person she was seven years ago."

"Exactly! She has more responsibilites now. Responsibilites she cannot neglect for some fling with her past lover."

Mack closed his eyes and shook his head. He heard the two elder brothers arguing their point to Cliff and it became gibberish. Tuning them out was the only way he could keep his thoughts clear these days. Carefully he opened his eyes and glanced at the discarded paper. His daughter had looked somewhat happy in some of those photos and he knew they were taken without permission. Joe would not risk stirring up old rumors if she knew about it, neither would Reese.

Hearing Cliff stand and the conversation stop, Mack watched his youngest son leave the room and shook his head. He couldn't begin to understand what that young man was going through. All his life Cliff and Joe had always defended each other. Part of it was their link as twins but the rest of it was because they were extremely close siblings.

Whenever he'd look at the man, he'd see Joe in those brown eyes or the half smirk the man gave that his daughter had resolved to use in these last years. Jeff let out a sigh and rubbed his hand over his face.

"What are we going to do?"

Billy shook his head and said "I don't know."

"You two will let Cliff go find out what is going on and bring Joe home."

They looked at their father and Jeff asked "You think she'll come home?"

He leaned forward in his chair and said "I know she will. She has a reason for why she hasn't since the pass has opened up."

The two brothers looked at each other again and Mack stood up. He watched Jeff rise but waved for him to not get up. His body didn't agree with his decision but he was too worn out to put up with his sons' aid. Quietly he walked through the house and climbed the stairs to the second floor. His bedroom was at the top and he opened his door.

Walking to his bed, he sat down and picked up the photo on his bedside table. He looked into his late wife's brown eyes and saw her holding Joe close to her. The two were laughing about something and their resemblance never stopped surprising him. He set the photo down and looked at the smaller one. Seeing his daughter with William always made him smile and he studied the amber eyes and blonde hair of the boy.

Letting out a sigh, he set the photo down and stretched out on the bed. His eyes rested on the ceiling and he took a deep breath. His eyes began to close and he thought back on the past seven years. His daughter entered his mind and a smile crossed his face as he drifted to sleep.