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Fields of Need: Building the Blind
By Starwinder
Part 2 (encompassing emailed parts 5-8)
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Morning found Ezra impatient to be gone from the hospital. Fortunately the Doctor making morning rounds knew the two men in Room 311. He didn't hesitate to sign the release papers, even though it normally took until afternoon to get released. Both of these men had reputations for escaping from the hospital and with only one of them truly in need of being in the hospital, he counted himself lucky they were still there when he made rounds.

He was giving Vin the care instructions for Ezra, verbally, when Chris arrived just after seven. "I want him on liquids and soft foods only for the first twenty-four hours. Afterwards if he can keep that down, he can resume eating normally."

Chris grinned, "Good. You'll be able to eat what you want at the cookout on the Fourth."

Both Vin and Ezra were suddenly regarding their leader with matching 'deer caught in the headlights' looks.

Chris frowned. "What's wrong, guys?"

"Uh, Mister Larabee, I uh, fear that Mister Tanner and I shall be unable to attend that event."

"What! Why?"

"Well, cowboy, ain't nobody said anything about the cookout... an ya'll just got back from your honeymoon and we wasn't sure iffn Mary would wanna throw a shindig that soon after. And the Sisters asked me about helping them that day and well, I...."

"What Mister Tanner is attempting to say is that he volunteered both our services to the Sisters of Mercy. They are giving an all day picnic celebration for the neighborhood children that day and I'm afraid that we shall be tied up all day helping out."

"Exactly what are you doing?"

"Mister Tanner shall be manning the grill all day and I am scheduled to give three magic shows. One in the morning, one shortly after lunch and the last just after dark. Between shows I shall be doing face paintings, making balloon animals and reading to the children. We are also slated to help with the clean up after it is over. I fear we will be quite too exhausted to make the trip out to your ranch after the event."

Chris bit his tongue to keep from snapping at the undercover agent who had subtly stepped back to stand beside Vin showing a united front. They were in the hospital. Ezra was a wounded man. He couldn't rip into him here. But damn it hurt that they would assume that the annual cookout might be off. It was an *annual* event just like the damned holiday it was held on. Finally after he pushed down his anger and hurt, he asked, "You sure you're up to doing all that."

Ezra smiled, "A magic show is hardly strenuous, Mister Larabee... and I shall have an assistant. One of the little girls from the youth center. I shall be seated for the reading, face painting and balloon animal making. I don't think that it will be too great of a strain on me."

"What about cleaning up?"

"Me'n some of the guys will do the heavy stuff." Vin grinned, "We'll give Ez one 'a them sticks with a spike on it to pick up trash with. All he'll have to do is walk around an spear stuff and stick it in a trash bag."

The doctor handed Vin the written instructions and made his escape before the tension in the room got any worse. He wasn't about to get into the argument about what Ezra could and couldn't do. It wasn't as if the man would listen to him anyway.

"Who's going to do the fireworks for the ranch?"

"Misters Wilmington, Dunne and Sanchez have helped us enough in the past to be able to take care of it this year."

Chris took a deep breath reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He already had a headache. Mary had been a tad upset when he got up at four in the morning to get the chores done before heading into town so he could be here before Vin and Ezra escaped from the hospital. Now this.

He looked up and sighed. He might have assumed that everyone knew that the cookout was still on, but maybe he shouldn't have. He'd have to make sure the others did know. Hopefully they wouldn't have made other plans. "It won't be the same with out you there."

Ezra turned to look up at Vin, something Chris couldn't quite read in his eyes before he turned back and said softly, "We are truly sorry, Mister Larabee, we meant you no slight. We were simply trying not to intrude on your first holiday with your new family."

"Dammit, Ezra! Having a new family don't mean you have to give up the old one! You two are a very important part of my family. You don't intrude. Hell, you can't intrude! You're family, too, and I don't want to lose what we have." He paused, "I know you two have found something special together and I don't want to intrude on that, but I hope it won't mean that you don't want to still be part of our family."

Again the two men shared a look that he couldn't read. It was as if they were having an entire conversation without words. Then Ezra said, "This is quite a long weekend, Mister Larabee, we shall make every effort to stop by the ranch during it."

He nodded. Good enough, at least for now. He turned to go then turned back, "Ez?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You going to do the books this month?"

"If you wish... it is however a simple system. I'm sure that should you prefer, Mrs. Larabee could take it over quite easily."

"No. I don't think that Mary will want to do the taxes and it's better if you keep doing the books... if you're going to do the taxes?"

"Of course, I shall if you wish."

"Yes. I want you to keep doing them... but only if it's not a imposition."

"Hardly. In case you are unaware of it, I do the taxes for the entire team. Yours is far from the worst I have to deal with. Mister Sanchez now, does not appear to have the slightest idea of how to obtain a receipt for tax deductible items or gifts to charity nor does he appear to have any idea what qualifies as a work related expense." He heaved a put upon sigh but the twinkle in his eyes revealed that he didn't feel nearly as put upon as he was trying to make it seem.

The conversation ended with that as Buck and JD came boiling into the room, pushing a wheelchair with Nathan and Josiah on their heels. Buck and JD parked the chair in front of Ezra.

Buck announced loudly that he had confiscated the 'vehicle' to aid Ezra in his escape from the confines of the 'hall of horrors masquerading as an institute of healing'.

Everyone laughed at that, as Nathan stuck out his hand to Vin demanding to see the written instructions for Ezra's care.

Ezra sat down in the wheel chair like a king on his throne then grabbed the armrests in a death grip, as with a whoop Buck charged out the door that Josiah was holding open for them and careened down the corridor towards the elevator.

JD and Vin charged after them.

Chris, Nathan and Josiah followed at a more leisurely pace, grinning at the antics of their friends and hoping that they didn't start Ezra to retching again.

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

The rest of the guys left them in the parking lot and headed on in to work while Vin took Ezra home.

When they got to the townhouse Vin parked in the driveway since he didn't have the garage door opener and they walked around to the front door.

As they stepped up on the low stoop, Vin saw something lying in front of the door. He picked it up. It was a small rectangular tin box with a pretty mountain scene on the top and several smaller ones around the sides. There was a note attached. He picked it up and saw that the note was addressed to Ezra. "Hey, Ez, looks like somebody left you a present."

Ezra took it and raised an eyebrow. "It's from Mrs. McGinty."

"Who's she?" Vin asked as he opened the door with his key.

They walked in and Ezra sat down on the couch before answering. "She's the lady that lives across the way." He detached the envelope from the box and opened it. A moment later he groaned, "Awww, hell!"

"What! Ez! What's wrong?"

Ezra shook his head and handed him the note.

Vin stared at it, taking a moment to work his way through the shaky handwriting of the elderly lady.

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

Dear Mr. Standish

Just a small token of our appreciation for you and your friend.

It has been some years since Mr. McGinty has shown the interest in our marriage that he did last Monday afternoon. However dear Fred's heart isn't what it used to be, so perhaps next time you could close the curtains.

Mrs. Ida McGinty

PS. Your young man is very handsome, and soooo ardent. I think you have a keeper. Good luck with him.

I. McGinty

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

"Uh, Ez, exactly where does Mrs. McGinty live?"

"There." Ezra pointed out the picture window to the townhouse exactly opposite his across the small lawn.

Vin looked up and could see a short, slim, old lady with pink hair in the picture window of the other townhouse, busily watering the half dozen hanging baskets full of flowers.

She peered across and waved at them.

Ezra waved back, his face flaming red.

Vin blushed as well and lifted a hand at her. Turning back to Ezra he said, "Ain't you gonna open the box?"

"Whatever it is I'm sure it's not on my diet." He handed Vin the box. "You may open it."

Vin eagerly did so. "Hey! This is fudge! Homemade, rocky-road fudge!" He gave Ezra a wicked grin, "We musta really inspired the old man!"

He quickly stuffed a piece in his mouth and grabbed another.

"Don't I get any?" Ezra asked but there was a smile in his voice.

"Uh..." Vin said around his mouthful of fudge, then held out the piece in his hand to Ezra. "Sorry."

Ezra took it and reached up with his other hand to caress Vin's face, "It's all right, Love, I understand. I'll just put this in the fridge and you may have the rest."

Vin ducked his head, shamefaced, "Sorry," he muttered again. "It's just...."

"I *know*, Vin." Ezra tipped Vin's chin up so that he could look into his lover's eyes. "It's just that there were times when if you did not grab what you could get as quickly as you could, you didn't get any, especially when it was something special like this. That will never happen here. I promise you that. Take your time. Savor the treat. This piece will be all that I want." He smiled at Vin and leaned in to place a soft kiss on his cheek before rising to take his piece of fudge into the kitchen and wrap it to put in the refrigerator.

As he left, Vin forced down the fudge he had crammed in his mouth, the lump so large it was painful to swallow. He looked after Ezra, realizing as he did so that he hadn't really tasted the fudge at all. He'd been too eager to make sure he got his share.

He sat the tin down on the table and picked out one piece. 'Savor it.' Ez had said.

He looked at the piece of candy for a long moment, seeing the dark richness of the chocolate, the pure white of the miniature marshmallows, the golden brown of the walnuts and the darker color of the pecans. Finally he bit off one corner, but didn't swallow, instead he let the chocolate dissolve on his tongue, sweet and sharp at the same time. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the taste. In a sudden spike in sweetness, a marshmallow dissolved. Finally only the hard lumps of the walnuts and pecans remained. He rolled one of the bumpy lumps of walnut into his jaw and bit into it, letting the flavor fill his mouth. A second walnut chunk followed then a pecan, it's flavor just as nutty and rich but very different from the walnuts.

He opened his eyes to see Ezra standing in the archway into the dining room-kitchen area smiling at him.

He grinned up at Ezra then picked up the box and put the lid back on it. "Reckon we can save the rest of these for later."

Ezra's smile widened into a grin, "Indeed."

Vin tucked the tin in the fridge then turned back to pull Ezra into his arms. "You oughta lie down for a while."

"Are you going to lie down with me?" Ezra asked coyly.

"Oh, yeah." Vin grinned down at him.

"In that case, yes, I shall be most happy to lie down for a while."

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

The Fourth of July dawned bright and hot. People started gathering at the Larabee ranch early on. Buck and JD were the first to arrive with Casey and Nettie on their heels. Nathan and Raine brought Josiah as his old Suburban was broken down again. The Travis' arrived just before lunch.

Lunch as always was cold cut sandwiches with various cold salads and slaw. They saved the grilling for the early evening when the sun had sunk behind the mountains and the air had cooled.

Buck watched his oldest friend as he fixed himself a sandwich and carried it out to the porch to sit in one of the rockers and eat it. He watched Chris pick at the sandwich rather than actually eating it.

"Want to tell me what's the matter, old dog?" He asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

Chris sighed. "It's just not the same without them."

Buck didn't have to ask who he meant. "Well, it was their decision."

"I know... I just...."

"Miss them." Buck looked out across the yard where Casey and JD were sitting quietly on a blanket under one of the trees. They would normally be following Vin and Ezra around, the four of them playing games like kids. Chris wasn't the only one that missed the "Terrible Twosome" as they sometimes called the missing members of the team. Even the Travis' had asked where they were.

After a minute Buck suddenly grinned, "You know, pard, just cause they ain't coming out here, don't mean we can't share this day with them."

Chris looked up. "What are you talking about, Buck. We're here. They're there."

"So, what's to keep us from being there? I mean that shindig they're at, it's sort of a charitable event, now ain't it? Volunteers giving those kids a nice day in the park with food and games and stuff, right? So, you can't ever have too many volunteers for something like that, or too much food or too many adults to keep an eye on things."

"So?"

"So, hook that big grill of yours up behind the Ram, toss the hotdogs and hamburger meat in a cooler and load it in the bed. Gather up all the charcoal, the buns and slaw and other stuff and let's go help our boys out!"

JD and Casey had heard Buck when he started talking and come up to listen in. "Yeah!" JD said enthusiastically. "That's a great idea!"

"What's a great idea?" AD Travis came out of the house to ask.

"We're gonna load everything up and go help Vin and Ezra at the picnic for the Purgatorio kids!" JD happily declared. "Come on, Casey, let's get started packing stuff up!"

"Wait a minute I haven't said we're going to do it yet!" Chris stood up, "I need to ask Mary about it." He turned to go back in the house.

Mary stood in the open doorway, listening. She had known that Chris was unhappy about Vin and Ezra not coming that day. The whole group had seemed depressed or perhaps just repressed as if without the other two they didn't feel right about having a good time. As much as she wanted to blame it on the Terrible Twosome, she knew that it really wasn't anyone's fault. The group was just happier when they were all together. She could fight it, but she knew that that would only cause a rift between the others and Chris and they would all blame her for it.

Taking a deep breath, she smiled. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

The grin Chris flashed her was worth the chaos that was sure to follow. She turned to her former father-in-law. "Do you want to come along?"

"We wouldn't miss it." Orrin Travis answered for himself and Evie.

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

Vin had his hair tied back but strands had escaped around his face and he used the back of one hand to wipe the sweat away from his eyes and push his hair back as he flipped burgers with the other. A white apron, now stained and dinghy, was tied around his waist. He looked up and grinned as he heard the deep purr of the Dodge Ram pulling up nearby.

He watched as Chris maneuvered the truck to park his big grill next to the one that Vin was manning. Looking past the Ram to the parking area across the street he could see an entire cavalcade of vehicles pulling in to park. Buck's truck was followed by Nathan's SUV, and Nettie's little compact. The Travis' Lexus and Mary's Lincoln followed them.

Chris climbed out as Buck came jogging across the street to help with unhooking the grill and unloading the food.

Vin left the grill for a minute to greet his friend. "What ya'll doing here, Cowboy?" he asked, holding out his hand to Chris.

Chris took Vin's hand in the forearm clasp that they always used, but it was Buck that answered the question. "Well, pard, we figured if the mountain wouldn't come to Mohammed, we'd just have to bring Mohammed to the mountain. Thought we'd come help ya'll out."

"Thanks, Bucklin," Vin said, "we can always use more help," he looked at the cooler's full of food and grinned, "and more food."

"Glad to help out," Chris said. His eyes added, 'Good to see you, too.'

Vin nodded accepting both what was said and what was not.

Just then Nathan hurried up. "Where's Ezra? He better not be overdoing in this heat. He just got out of the hospital. Are you making sure he drinks enough? I brought him some bottled water. It's cold, too. So, where---"

"Nate, if you'd shut up long enough for me to answer, I'd tell you. He's over yonder sitting under the shade tree and yes he's got water with him." Vin shook his head. "Buck, if you'll keep an eye on this grill for me I'll take Nate over to check on Ez before he has a fit or something. 'Sides, Ez is reading the kids The Ugly Duckling and it's my favorite story."

He pulled off his apron and tossed it to Buck. "Be back in about fifteen minutes."

He led Nathan off towards a small group of trees way on the other end of the square block of "park". The park in reality was nothing more than a city block where all the old buildings had been torn down and nothing had yet been built. It was doubtful that anything ever would be built there considering the section of town that it was in. The Sisters of Mercy had taken it over, planting grass seed and keeping it watered as best they could, trimming back the shrubbery and generally keeping it as clean as they could. Vin and some of the neighborhood teens had built a wooden jungle gym and put up a couple of swings and two benches using money that Ezra had donated.

When they got closer to the small stand of trees, Nathan could see that Ezra was seated on a folding chair, a half-empty, liter bottle of water on the ground beside it. A dozen or so children of all shapes and descriptions sat in a semicircle in front of him, leaning forwards eagerly listening as Ezra read to them from a large book that he held.

"Wait till he's done," Vin ordered, stopping Nathan when he would have gone straight to Ezra to check on him.

Reluctantly Nathan nodded and moved to sit on the ground to one side of the children.

Vin dropped down to sit crosslegged next to Ezra's chair and Ezra flashed him a smile without stopping reading or missing a word.

When Ezra finished the story he dismissed the children without seeming to do so, urging them to run along and play reminding them that he would be giving another magic show after lunch. He assured them that it would contain all new tricks with no repeats of the ones he'd done at the morning show.

Nathan stood up and walked over to Ezra handing him the cold bottle of water.

Ezra opened it and drank some of the cold water. He sat the bottle down next to his chair and handed Nathan the other bottle. "Thank you. If you would be so kind as to put this somewhere where it can be getting cool again, I would appreciate it."

Nathan nodded, "Sure." He nodded towards the white tuxedo and cape that Ezra was wearing. "Good color choice."

"Thank you. I know that black is traditional for magicians but considering the weather I thought this a better choice. Besides I am not much of a traditionalist in anything." He flashed Nathan his dimpled grin.

Nathan chuckled. "Glad to see that you are taking care of yourself."

"Yes, well, Mister Tanner promised me a reward if I was a 'good boy'."

Nathan's brow furrowed at the sly smile and look that Ezra flashed Vin and the slight blush that Vin responded with.

Vin stood abruptly and said, "Reckon I better get back to work. Told Buck I'd be right back."

"Mister Wilmington is here, too?"

Vin grinned, "Yep. Everybody's here... even Mary and the Travis'."

"Whatever for?"

"Reckon they missed us." Vin grinned at him then clapped Nate on the shoulder, "You coming?"

They headed back to the grill, leaving Ezra staring after them thoughtfully.

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

Ezra sighed wearily. It was shortly after midnight and he and Vin had arrived at the park just after seven that morning. Vin had wanted to get an early start, so that he could set up the small stage for Ezra's magic shows and get the grill fired up and ready to cook the sausages that they had brought to serve the children for breakfast.

The fireworks had been a pleasant surprise for the children. How Chris had gotten permission on such short notice, Ezra wasn't sure. It probably had something to do with AD Travis being there. A fire truck had shown up shortly before they were due to start and soaked down the ground where they would be setting them off. Chris and Buck had roped off the area, using crime scene tape to keep the children back.

Ezra and Vin had checked the fireworks over before letting JD and Buck be the ones to actually set them off.

Now, the grills had been let burn out and cool down. The ice chests were empty. Vin and Ezra had bagged up the left over hamburger and hotdogs in ziploc bags, four hamburger and four hotdogs to a package, with a matching number of buns with each and put them into plastic grocery bags that Inez had furnished. They had handed them out to the departing families, knowing that even one more meal that they didn't have to purchase would help the poor families out.

Ezra had also given a small book to each of the children appropriate for their ages. Nathan, looking at one of them, noticed that it was the fairy tale that Ezra had read the children, but that it was printed in both English and Spanish and contained an audio tape slipped into the back cover.

"Where'd you get these, Ez?" he asked.

Ezra smiled and shrugged, "From my publisher."

"Your publisher?

Ezra gave a small, self-deprecating smile. "Yes, I did the translation and read the story in both English and Spanish. It doesn't pay a great deal, not as much as if one actually wrote the books, but I enjoy doing it."

Vin came over then and held out a short pole with a spike on it to Ezra. "Here you go, Ez. I'm gonna help the Sisters with sorting the recyclables."

Ezra took it and reached for the bag to sling it over his shoulder when Nathan intercepted him.

"I'll carry the bag. You just pick up the trash." They moved off together with Nathan fussing quietly about Ezra having only gotten out of the hospital the day before.

Finally the area had been policed and everyone was getting into their cars to go home.

Chris stopped to ask Vin, "What time are you two going to come out to the ranch?"

"Better be after lunch," Nathan put in as he and Raine moved by towards their car. "Ezra needs to rest up after today."

Ezra rolled his eyes but nodded, "After lunch it is. However, we were planning to take another look at one of the houses tomorrow. Perhaps you'd like to join us? We could meet at my townhouse and go out to the ranch afterwards."

"Hey, pard," Buck put in, as he and JD joined them, "does that invite include us?"

"Certainly, If you wish to come, you may. Mister Sanchez has already seen the property. I suppose it is only fair to invite the rest of you to comment."

He raised his voice to call to Nathan who was getting into his car. "Mister Jackson! Would you care to join us in viewing the house Mister Tanner and I intend to buy?"

"Sorry, Ez, but we promised Raine's dad that we'd come up to Boulder and spend the day with them tomorrow."

"Quite all right. There will be plenty of other times you can see it."

Josiah stuck his head up over the other side of the SUV. "I wouldn't mind going back. I still don't know what you want with that pile of stone but you need someone along to talk sense."

"Pile of stone?" Chris asked.

Ezra shrugged, "Mine and Mister Tanner's very own 'Ugly Duckling', Mister Larabee. Mister Sanchez only sees the ugly duckling but Mister Tanner and I believe that it is in fact a swan and not a duck at all."

Vin grinned at Chris, "Ya been warned. It's ugly. Gonna take some work," he smiled fondly down at Ezra, "but it's what Ez wants." He shook hands with Chris and said his goodbyes to the others before slipping an arm around Ezra's shoulders to walk him to the jeep.

"Let's get you home, Babe. Like Nate said, you had a long day and you ain't fully recovered yet."

Ezra leaned into the embrace and let Vin guide him to the jeep, shaking his head slightly as the other man stood at the passenger's side of the jeep until Ezra was safely seated in it before going around to climb into the driver's seat.

Chris looked after them a long moment then started the Ram and headed home. Mary and the Travises had left right after the fireworks to put Billy to bed. She should be home waiting for him when he got there.

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

The next morning at the townhouse, Ezra arose much later than had been his wont of late, having slept until almost noon. As he dressed he remembered the first time he had seen the house that they were about to take their friends to view.

It was the first day that they had been looking for a house. They had spent much of the day just driving around and looking for realtor's signs, trying to get a general idea of what was available in the area that they wanted. Vin wanted something close enough to Purgatorio that the people in the district that had come to depend on him wouldn't feel that he was totally abandoning them. He wanted a place that was close enough that if one of his former neighbors had an emergency, he could get there quickly as well as close enough so that the youths that he worked with could walk the distance to visit.

They had spent several hours looking and taking pictures. They had three rolls of film that they had taken of various houses and were headed back towards Purgatorio when Ezra noticed a faded realtor's sign set beside the road, just past where they were stopped at a red light. The arrow pointed up what appeared to be a pot-holed gravel road leading through an overgrown lot.

"Where does that road go, Vin?" He asked.

"Don't know." Vin replied. "You want to take a look?"

"If you don't mind."

"It's all right with me. Won't be dark for a couple more hours. We got time."

When the light turned green Vin drove slowly until he came even with the sign then turned into the overgrown road.

"Don't look like anybody's been here for a while." He commented as they bounced along.

"Indeed," Ezra agreed clinging to the dash with one hand and the top of the door frame with the other.

A quarter-mile or so in, there was the shattered remains of what must have been a truly vast, old oak. Vin carefully rolled to a stop on the rutted, pot-holed road. "Looks like the end of the road?" he observed.

"No, I don't think so, Vin. Look, it goes on." Ezra said, as he crawled out of the jeep. "Do you mind walking on? I have a feeling that it will be worth it."

They spent several minutes working their way around the fallen tree and went on to where the path opened up to reveal a large open area with a huge, dark stone house, grown up with shrubs and ivy, sitting almost dead center.

The road made a loop, in front of the house, curving around a huge old oak tree.

Ezra stared at the house, "Oh, my," he breathed quietly.

Vin turned to him with concern, "What's wrong, Ez?"

"Nothing's wrong, Vin. I just can't believe it.... This is almost my dream house, if you look past the overgrown landscaping and the dirty exterior. It has a wrap around porch. Two stories plus a full attic. Round rooms on either side of the front. Gingerbread work. It's incredible."

"There's land with it, too." Vin said. "Looks like maybe five-ten acres. We could keep the horses here."

"Oh, Vin. I know I said it would take a while to find a place, but... Could we ask the realtor to show us this one?"

"Sure. I like it, too. Way those trees up front shelter it, it's almost like it's out in the country instead of right here in town. We can't be more'n ten-fifteen blocks from Purgatorio. Won't be but about a half-hour, forty-five minute drive to work, either. Looks about perfect to me. Course we'll need to make sure that it's sound."

"Of course." Ezra said, his eyes shining.

Grabbing the camera that he had brought from the jeep, Ezra had begun to take pictures of the old house. The stone would have to be cleaned and the porch sagged in places but there was no major rot in the porch floor or around the windows and doors. He would be willing to bet the walls were granite. Hopefully when cleaned it would prove to be one of the prettier colors, maybe light gray or blue, possibly even the beautiful silver gray.

Walking around it, they could see four chimneys, indicating that there were several fireplaces. The open porch wrapped around three sides of the house and there was a small back porch as well. There was a detached four-car stone garage on the back and an old stone barn beyond that.

Ezra swiped at the grimy window and then stopped looking at the glass, "Oh, my, Vin, beveled glass!"

He moved over a bit and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe at the small panes of glass framing the larger center glass. "Colored glass! These will be beautiful when it's cleaned."

He wiped a spot on the main glass and peered in. "Oh, Lord, Vin! There's furniture. It looks like antique stuff." He continued on to another window and looked in again. "A piano! It's an upright and probably in poor condition but... Oh! This is unbelievable!"

He turned to Vin who was now peering over his shoulder. "Do you think that we could check with the realtor on Monday?"

Vin smiled. "Sure. Reckon we could take a long lunch." He hesitated then added, "But we don't want to seem too eager, do we?"

Ezra paused taking a deep breath to calm himself. He couldn't remember when he'd been so excited. "No. No we don't. Where's the notebook? I believe several of the houses we have already looked at were listed with this same realtor."

"Notebook's in the jeep."

"Yes. Yes, of course." Ezra headed back to the jeep almost at a jog, with Vin in tow. He checked the notebook and found that several of the other houses they had looked at were in fact listed with the same realtor. He grinned at Vin.

"We simply tell the realtor that we are looking for a fixer-upper, in this general neighborhood. He will no doubt show us several properties. If he doesn't include this one to begin with we then mention that we would like a bit of land with the house...."

"And this is the only one we've looked at that's had more'n just a single lot with it."

"Yes. He's bound to show us this one then." Ezra looked back at the house. "Let's go get the pictures developed. I can't wait to start sketching."

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

The realtor hadn't shown them that house right away. Ezra had used the intervening time researching the ownership at the courthouse, checking the land deed records. He was delighted with what he found.

The house had been built in 1839 and had remained in the same family until the last of them had passed away just a few months before. Theodore Stillwell had made his fortune in gold mining, becoming one of Denver's first millionaires. He had originally owned more than a thousand acres of what was now downtown Denver. The house and ten acres with it was all that remained of the original estate.

It was the next Tuesday before their hints of wanting land with the house got the real estate agent to show them the house they really wanted to see. Josiah offered to go with them saying that he knew a thing or two about old houses. They graciously accepted the offer although Ezra already knew that he wanted the house and nothing anyone could say would change his mind.

The three of them had taken a long lunch to look at it.

The realtor was a sophisticated woman, with red hair. Dressed to the nines in a power suit and high heels, she won Vin's enmity with a sentence about how near Purgatorio was, while they were parking just off the street. "Unfortunately the back of the property is just three blocks from the area called Purgatorio. The only saving grace is that the thickness of the undergrowth has prevented the young hoodlums over there from coming through to the main property."

Ezra asked about the land that came with the property, carefully steering her away from Vin before his partner lost his temper.

"Yes, Mr. Standish, there are ten acres of land with the house, but, as you can see, there isn't much street frontage. It's only about three hundred feet, across here. The parcel is sort of wedge shaped, it gets wider as it goes back."

She paused then went on, "You do understand that there are restrictions on what can be done with the property. That is why it's still on the market. When Miss Stillwell first put it on the market ten years ago she put such unreasonable restrictions on the sale that we haven't been able to find a buyer. Then when she passed away, the will made the same stipulations. She left the proceeds of the sale to the Humane Society, but insisted that it had to be sold and the buyer had to agree to her terms. The Society tried to get the stipulations set aside. A developer would pay many times more if they could subdivide, but the judge refused."

Ezra had his game face on and Vin looked pissed under a placid face. Josiah smiled to himself.

"I understand there's some old furniture left in the house, but, I have no idea how much there is or what it might be worth. The will specified that the house was to be sold as is with all contents. No one has done an inventory as far as I know."

Ez smiled kindly, "That's quite all right, my dear. I'm sure my associates and I can attend to that."

"Here are the keys to the house and outbuildings," she said smiling brightly. "Are you sure you don't want me to walk you through?"

"We're sure." Ezra had to struggle not to snap at her. "Gentlemen, shall we go?" he said, taking the keys.

"We'll drop the keys off, at the office." Josiah reassured her, as he turned to follow the two younger agents.

They had walked as far as the fallen tree when Josiah remarked, "I remember hearing about this place. The lady that owned it was almost a recluse. She was the last descendent of one of the original gold mining families from the 1830's. Somehow, someone got her to come to the opening of the old mall. She fell when, I think, a railing broke? Anyway, it fractured her spine. That was, um, the early 60's? She spent the rest of her life as the guest of the mall owners, in Hawaii. I thought I saw in the paper where she died, a few months ago. She was almost a hundred years old."

Ezra smiled to himself. He wasn't going to tell Josiah that he not only knew that, but he knew her name. Miss Elizabeth Gaylene Stillwell, great-granddaughter of Theodore Stillwell and the last remaining member of the family had been born in 1899. She was, in fact, a hundred and three years old when she passed away.

Vin had moved ahead, striding up the drive headed for the barn.

"Vin." Ezra called. "Do you want to look in the house?"

"Be there in a minute," he hollered back.

Josiah chuckled. "You can tell where his heart is, checking the barn, first."

Ezra smiled his gold tooth winking. "We both care greatly for our mounts, Mr. Sanchez. I'm sure he'll be in the house, momentarily."

It took a few minutes work, with the key the girl had given them, to get the door open. "I think it might be quicker to use a lockpick!" Ezra muttered.

The entry hall was... *vast*, was his first thought. It had to be at least twenty feet square. The flooring was hidden under an inch thick layer of dust. It was impossible to tell if it were wood, tile or stone through the dirt. There were Victorian moldings on every opening, the thick doors half opened where they had been left, forty years before. The one to the right, was a double door, the glass in it still intact. It was too dirty to tell if there was a design on it, or not.

They turned that way, to make a tour of the house. The parlor was... ghostly. All the furnishings exactly the way they had been left, so many years ago. A coffee cup and saucer sat on one side table, the black spoon resting neatly with it.

Ezra waded slowly through the dust and carefully picked up the cup, then held it up to the light shining through the dirt caked window, where the drape had rotted and fallen years before. His finger shadows were clear through the translucent porcelain. He turned it over to read "Haveline" and just below it, "Theadora" for the pattern name.

He smiled to himself as he realized that "Theadora" was probably as close as Theodore Stillwell had been able to come to purchasing a set of china with "his" name on it.

He swallowed hard, and put it down carefully, picking up the black spoon. The first thing that surprised him, was the sheer weight. He rubbed a thumb over it, bringing the black up to a soft shine. 'Silver'.

"Brother Ezra," Josiah called. "You're going to have a problem, here." he said, pointing at the ceiling twelve feet above their heads. "All of this wiring is surface mounted. It's all going to have to be ripped out. You're probably going to have to rewire the entire house to bring it up to code."

Ezra nodded. [Just the cup and saucer with the spoon, is probably worth enough to do this floor.]

Josiah moved a head of him pointing out all the things that needed fixing. "Wall paper's peeling here." He said pointing to the paper along the long hall.

Ezra cocked an eyebrow, noting that the wall exposed by the peeled paper was actually wood, rather than the plaster and lathe Vin had feared the old house might contain. In fact, it looked like oak and if the *walls* were the solid oak planking used in that era then the floors most likely were as well.

Josiah moved on, not appearing to notice. They passed several more rooms before arriving at the dining hall.

The table stretched a good twenty feet long, with eleven chairs to each side and one at each end. Twenty place settings and it didn't appear that there was a leaf in the table. It looked solid although it was hard to tell with the dust caked on it.

Ezra reached out and swiped some of the dust away with his hand, then reached in his pocket for a handkerchief to wipe his hand. He stared down at the portion of the table revealed by his wiping. There was a carving there. It looked like a train car. He raised an eyebrow and wiped another spot. It was a train car. It appeared that the entire edge of the massive oak table might be carved with a long train, as exquisitely detailed carvings of a steam engine and a loaded wood car looked up at him from the area he had uncovered.

The table had to be one-of-a-kind, hand-carved, most likely by a local artist, as Stillwell had prided himself on patronizing the artists in 'his' community.

Over the table hung something that might have once been a chandelier. Now, it was just a dust and cobweb covered lump. But with the other items he had seen already, he wasn't about to discount it as worthless until he had a proper look at it.

He stepped over to the glass fronted china cabinet and turned the knob to open it. His breath caught. Good Lord! The rest of the china set. From the looks of it the *entire* china set. He counted the coffee cups hanging by their delicate handles from the cup hooks on the bottom of the top shelf. Twenty-three. The one in the parlor made twenty-four. Oh, god! If it was intact... if the set was whole... he was looking at well over fifty thousand dollars worth of china. Sold at auction as a set, it could easily bring three times that. His eyes swept over the dishes, cataloging them. Dinner plates: twenty-four, bread plates: twenty-four, salad plates: twenty-four, soup bowls: twenty-four. Coffee-cup saucers: again twenty-three. The one in the parlor made twenty-four.

He took a deep breath and stood on his toes to see the top shelf. Teacups: twenty-four. Teacup saucers: twenty-four. Butter dish, sugar, creamer, coffee pot! *Tea pot!* Intact... It was *intact*!!!

Josiah calling him from the kitchen broke into his jubilation.

"Ezra! This sink has a hole in it. You need to have the water turned on so you can see what needs to be fixed. I'd bet the whole place needs to be re-plumbed."

He wiped the grin off his face as he walked into the kitchen, "Yes, Josiah, I'm sure it does." [And I really don't care. I love this house. Even if I didn't know that it contains enough valuable antiques to more than pay for having it restored.]

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

He finished dressing and headed into the kitchen to fix his and Vin's lunch before the others arrived. He knew that when they took the others out to see the house they would think as Josiah did that he had lost his mind but he hadn't. He *had* made sure that the contract to buy the house specified that they agreed to take it 'as is' including the full contents of the house and all outbuildings.

Vin was going to appreciate that. The nineteen-twenty-eight Ford Roadster sitting in the garage had caught his eye immediately. In spite of the fact that the tires had succumbed to dry rot and someone had smashed the windshield at some time, it could easily be restored. He was sure that Buck would be more than happy to help Vin restore it. He was the team expert on antique cars.

Ezra grinned. He couldn't wait for the others to arrive. Even more he could barely wait until they saw the house after he and Vin got it cleaned up and restored. Closing his eyes for a moment he envisioned the house, as it must have looked when first built. The silver-gray granite, glittering in the sun, the beveled glass windows reflecting the sunlight, the colored glass around them seeming to glow faintly, the wide looping driveway circling the massive oak that stood in front of the house. There had been a flower-bed surrounding the old oak, indicated by the now crumbling stone retaining wall that held in the soil to a level about eighteen inches higher than the surrounding ground.

Yes, their ugly duckling was definitely a swan just waiting for the right people to come along and see that it was a swan. It served the sellers right to get took to the cleaners. They hadn't even bothered to do an inventory of the house. Gross negligence on someone's part, of that he was sure, but he'd checked the clauses to the buy-sell agreement saying that they took the house 'as is' and that the sale included all contents of the house and outbuildings, himself. It was iron clad. It wasn't *his* fault if the idiots had never bothered to see what they had.

He'd close the deal as soon as possible after this weekend was over. No use in risking that someone might tumble to the fact that he was getting one hell of a bargain.

Vin came in from the driveway where he had been working on his Harley and gave Ezra a grin. "What are you smiling about?"

"I've decided to close the deal on the house. If you're agreeable we'll tell the agent on Monday that we will take it at the agreed upon price of one-hundred-sixty-five thousand dollars. As you will be doing most of the actual work, I will pay the hundred-thousand and you can pay the sixty-five. Do you want me to write the check for the full amount and you just pay me back or do you want to write your own?"

Vin hesitated. "That's an awful lot on money, Ez. Are you sure the house is worth that, considering what it's gonna cost to redo it?"

"Yes. I have no doubts. I know that you and Mister Sanchez are concerned with what it will cost to restore it but I can assure you that it is worth it. This house is not one of the cookie cutter houses of the early part of the twentieth century. It was begun in 1839 and took two years to build. According to the newspaper accounts of the time, the house is described as sparkling like a fairy tale castle, which would seem to indicate that it was built of silver gray granite, a common stone in this area. It appears black now because it is dirty. A good cleaning with a pressure washer and it will once more sparkle. As for the interior, under that dreadful wall paper in most of the rooms is solid oak paneling. I believe the entry hall is floored with stone but the rest of the flooring is oak, solid planking. From the trees still standing on the property I'd say that there was a grove of oak trees on the estate which was cut, milled and used for the interior of the house."

"Also there are the contents of the house to be considered. There is not a great deal left in the house but what there is, is quite valuable. The china set is Haveline, Theadora pattern. A partial set, of eight place settings without serving pieces, sold at Christy's in London for twenty-five thousand dollars just six months ago. This set has twenty-four place settings plus all the serving pieces. There is also a set of silverware that compliments it perfectly, also twenty-four place settings and all the serving pieces. If I were to sell the china and silverware together, I would set the opening bid at a hundred thousand dollars."

"How do you know so much about antiques?"

Ezra grinned at him. "Stepfather number three, Leonard Van Halsen, was an antique dealer in England. He was delighted to discover that the stepson that came with his new wife had an appreciation of, and an eye for, antiques. I spent four of the happiest summers of my life wandering all over England, Wales and Scotland attending estate sales with him. I've already spoken to him concerning the possibility of his coming over to inventory the house and make the arrangements concerning the contents. We won't know for certain until after he has done an inventory but I would estimate that the contents will be worth well more than the price we are paying for the house."

Vin nodded. "Okay, I'll write you a check. Look better that way, won't it?" He gave Ezra a questioning look.

"Yes, it will look better, and more like a business partnership than a personal one." Ezra set their plates on the table. "Do you want some of Mrs. McGinty's fudge for dessert?" He was secretly pleased to note that Vin had not eaten it all yet, an indication that he trusted Ezra not to let anyone 'take it away from him'.

"That'd be nice."

"I'll get it after you eat your meal," he grinned, "all of your meal, even the rabbit food."

Vin groaned but went to wash his hands and joined Ezra at the table. They ate and chatted. When they had finished, Ezra set the dishes in the sink and took out two bowls and placed two pieces of fudge in each. He popped them in the microwave just long enough to warm the fudge then opened the freezer and added two scoops of vanilla ice cream to the bowls on top of the fudge. He added a drizzle of caramel syrup to both bowls, then grabbed a can of whipped cream off the refrigerator shelf and shook it before adding a generous amount to Vin's bowl.

Vin grinned happily at him as he set them on the table. He ate the concoction slowly, savoring it as Ezra had shown him.

Ezra watched him fondly as he ate. With a pang he realized that he truly did love Vin. Chris Larabee seldom entered his thoughts anymore other than as his boss. He wondered, but did not dare to ask, if Vin still thought of Chris as more than a friend.

He was drawn out of his musing by the ringing of the doorbell.

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

Buck and JD were the first to arrive, impatient as always. After enduring their teasing about the new decorating style, when they saw the drawing board, drafting machine and sketches that had taken over the living room, Ezra sat them down at the dining room table and offered them coffee. With a cocked eyebrow at Vin he silently asked if he could offer them some of the fudge and at Vin's nod he presented them each with a bowl of the concoction he had prepared for Vin.

Josiah arrived next, his old Suburban, clanking and backfiring before rolling to a stop at the curb in front of the townhouse.

Ezra chuckled as he opened the door calling to Josiah to just let it sit, that he could ride with them or Chris.

Chris arrived just in time to hear the remark and cheerfully called to Josiah that he was welcome to ride with him that he didn't think that the big man would appreciate the back seat of Ezra's Jag.

Half an hour later they were on their way in three vehicles. Ezra and Vin led the way in the Jag, followed by Buck and JD in Buck's truck and Chris and Josiah in Chris' Ram.

Vin and Ezra parked on the street behind the real estate agent's car and got the keys from her. They explained to the others that you couldn't drive all the way in as of yet due to the fallen tree and the others decided that they might as well walk up.

Chris whistled when he saw the tree. "Nice big hunk of oak, guys. What do you plan to do with it?"

Ezra grinned, pleased that Chris would assume that they had plans for the fallen tree. "There is a good bit of rot in the main trunk or it wouldn't have fallen, however some of the branches appear to be solid and most are at least a foot in diameter. Mister Tanner thought that we might cut them into inch thick pieces and make clocks of them."

Vin spoke up, "Be a good project for the teenagers at the Youth Center. They can learn about 'free enterprise' as Ez calls it. They do the work, the Sisters sell the product and they share the profits. I figured maybe Josiah could help me cutting up the limbs and showing the kids how to sand and lacquer the pieces. We can buy the clock parts in bulk from a crafts store. We could use either stick on numbers or the kids could stencil the numbers on. It won't cost but maybe two dollars per clock to make them, plus the kid's time. Figure they'll sell for ten bucks or so."

"Sounds like a good idea and with that big of a tree it'll be a long term project. This house has fireplaces doesn't it?"

"Yep."

"Then you can use most of the dead falls for firewood. Looks like there will be plenty."

Vin and Ezra exchanged glances. It seemed that Chris at least was going to be on their side in this. He was looking at the potential rather than the current state of the property.

"You're going to need a clean up crew, you know. Once you purchase the place, the city will give you ninety days to get it cleaned up. Pick up all the trash and garbage that's lying around." Josiah put in.

"We know that, Mister Sanchez." Ezra told him with a sigh. Josiah seemed determined to play Devil's Advocate and point out every little fault.

"I want to be sure that you two don't take on more than you can handle, son." Josiah told him quietly. "I know that you really love this place and I'm not trying to tell you not to buy it. I just want you to do it with your eyes open."

"Kids at the Youth Center will be helping with the clean up." Vin told them. "They're nearly as excited about us getting this place as we are."

Chris, walking beside Vin as Josiah accompanied Ezra said, "You've already decided to buy it haven't you?"

"Yep. We're gonna tell the agent on Monday that we're ready to close soon as the paperwork can get done."

"How much are you paying?"

"Hundred-sixty-five."

"Thousand?"

"Yep."

"Do you have that kind of money?" Chris asked. He knew that Vin certainly didn't live like he had that kind of money.

"Yep." Vin flashed him a grin. "Got a mite more'n that, in fact. Give Ez half of my life savings a few years back to invest for me. He done good. I'm right well off, now."

"Ezra's that good at playing the stock market?"

Vin had opened his mouth to reply when JD bounded up to them and blurted out, "Hell, yes! He's good. When I sold that software program I wrote two years ago, I gave him the money to invest. He doubled it! He set up Buck with an investment portfolio, too. Course, you know Buck, he didn't have much to put in it to start with, but Ez convinced him to put all his dividends back into the portfolio and it's doing real well. He'll have a nice retirement nest egg."

Chris frowned, "He invests for all three of you?"

"Four." Ezra called back. "Mister Sanchez also trusts my investment advice."

"Which is why, although I'm trying to point out what needs to be done to this place, I'm still sure that if Ezra thinks this house is a good investment, then it's a good investment. He does have an eye for making money."

"So, why aren't you handing my investments?" Chris demanded.

"You never asked me to." Ezra grinned at him. "Of course, if you wish me to take a look at your portfolio, I would be delighted."

"Consider yourself asked. Maybe when you drop by to do the ranch books?"

"Certainly. I can look at them this afternoon, or tomorrow whichever is more convenient for you."

"You're going out there today anyhow." Chris said, then after a pause he asked, "Am I the only one you haven't been investing for?"

Ezra chuckled, "No. Do you really think that Mister Jackson would trust me with his money?"

"Don't see why not."

"Let's just say that our investment strategies differ considerably."

"Yeah. Nate thinks he's gotta support companies that he thinks are good for the environment and stuff like that even if they're losing money." Vin said with a snort. "Don't guess he ever considered that salving his conscience, ain't gonna do him much good if he goes so broke he can't take care of his family. Him and Raine have been married for two years and they are still putting off starting a family till they can afford it. If he'd let Ez manage his money he'd be able to afford a family."

"You can't fault Nathan for wanting to help others, Brother Vin," Josiah said.

"Maybe but I don't have to agree with the way he does it. Me, I like to see where my money goes and what it's being used for."

The discussion was shelved as they walked out into the open area at the end of the roadway.

Chris stopped and stared at the house. "Shit! This isn't a house! This is the old Stillwell mansion!"

"You know this house, Mister Larabee?"

"I've heard my dad speak of it. He worked here as a groundskeeper, gardener's assistant when he was going to college, back in the late forties, early fifties. He loved this place. Said it was like working at a castle. He didn't get to see much of the inside. Except for eating in the kitchen with the rest of the help, the only time he got to go inside was for his interview, but he said it was beautiful."

Ezra positively beamed. At last, someone who knew what the house had been like in its heyday. He turned and hurried up on the porch to open the front door.

Chris followed him up on the porch. As Ezra opened one side of the double entry doors, Chris reached up to trace a finger along the glass in the door.

"Beveled glass. You don't see much of that these days... and if I remember right, dad said that there are initials in the center of the glass. They're too dirty to tell now, but they should be etched and filled with gold. T-S for Theodore Stillwell, the original owner." He flashed Ezra a smile. "They could also stand for Tanner-Standish."

Ezra flushed slightly and moved back to stand closer to Vin. He felt flattered that Chris seemed to be pleased with his choice of houses but also felt a bit uneasy. He was with Vin now and he wasn't prepared for the rush that having Chris favor him with that smile gave him.

Chris moved on into the entry hall, stopping to stamp one booted heel against the floor. "That doesn't sound like wood does it?" He asked no one in particular.

"I believe it is stone. Whether it is granite or possibly marble, we won't be able to tell until it's been cleaned." Ezra told him.

Chris moved farther in, looking around. "Who in the world wall papered this? Dad said that this was all oak paneling when he was working here."

"I have no idea who would have done that, but I can assure you it is coming down." Ezra said. "It will take some work to get all the old glue off the walls where the paper is, but it will be worth it, I'm sure."

"It'll have to be stripped, then probably sanded down, the paneling should be solid wood, so that won't be a problem." Josiah said. "Then it will all have to be lacquered to protect the wood. Whoever papered it probably did so because they didn't want to have to deal with keeping the wood up. It needs to be wiped down weekly and oiled at least once a year."

"We will need to hire a housekeeper." Ezra said in an aside to Vin.

Vin nodded, thinking of several people that he knew in Purgatorio that could use the income.

Buck and JD had split off and headed upstairs.

Ezra called after them, "Be careful up there! Don't break anything! Some of the antiques here are truly valuable!"

Josiah nodded his head. That explained Ezra's questions to the real estate agent about if the contents were included in the sale. Depending on the value of the contents the house could end up paying for itself.

Chris was impressed with the dining room table, wiping more of the dust off to see the train that circled it. The chairs were also coated in dust but they were clearly also intricately carved, the two at the ends of the table had arms, the rest did not. "Damn, this thing must be at least twenty feet long!"

"I estimate twenty-two feet. There is a full twenty-four place setting of china in there," Ezra nodded towards the china cabinet, "the table should, therefore, accommodate twenty-four places, two at the ends and eleven along each side. You normally have two-feet allowed per place so that makes it twenty-two feet."

"This carving is intricate."

"Indeed. I can't wait to get it cleaned off so that we may see it in its entirety."

Josiah rubbed his hand along the carving, "This has to be one-of-a-kind."

"Yes, and most likely commissioned at the time the house was constructed. That would make it more than a hundred and fifty years old. I don't doubt that it is quite valuable but it is one thing that I do not wish to sell."

"What are you planning to sell, Ez." Vin asked.

"The china set. While exquisite, it is far too delicate for our use. It wouldn't survive a single gathering of our motley crew and I can't see just letting it sit in the cabinet when we can sell it to help pay for the restoration. I will most likely sell the silverware with it. Sold as a set they will bring double the amount they would sold separately."

"What else?"

"Well, I don't know yet that they are worth anything, we won't be able to tell until they have been cleaned, but there are several huge paintings that could be valuable, depending on the artist. Also several pieces of what I believe are Lalique glass, again quite fragile."

"If you want to keep that glass, Ez, I can build you lighted display cases that would keep them from getting broken." Vin offered.

Ezra laughed. "Do you really think that anything could keep them safe from our colleagues, Vin? No. I don't actually like them that much. I recognize their beauty and their value but I would prefer to keep objects that aren't so delicate," he grinned, "such as the table. I doubt that even the rambunctious twosome upstairs could manage to break that."

Both Josiah and Chris laughed at that remark. Buck and JD were notorious for breaking things out at Chris' place. Josiah was pleased that while Ezra obviously wasn't going to be talked out of buying the house he was looking at it with a certain amount of practicality.

Vin reached over and pulled one of the chairs out. With a snort of laughter he said, "Well, now I know why the menfolks always held the chairs for the ladies. Woman'd pull a muscle trying to pull this out and back in!"

Chris had moved on towards the next doorway, "Is this the kitchen back here? What's it like?"

"Yes, that's the kitchen." Josiah said.

Ezra chuckled, "It's big, and poorly organized. I intend to completely redo it, all new cabinets and appliances, in a style that is in keeping with the house, of course. That there are two pantries is a plus, however. One is used to store table linens and a second set of everyday china." He flashed Vin a grin, "Now you know why I'm not concerned about selling the Haveline set. The everyday china is heavy stoneware and the tableware that goes with it is stainless steel. Perfect for our use. The glassware is what was called press glass, with intricate designs pressed into the glass, beautiful, but also heavy and durable. That reminds me," he added almost to himself, "I need to find what was done with the stemware that goes with the Haveline china. There should be a twenty-four place setting. It must be here somewhere."

He led the way into the kitchen. "The second pantry was for food storage. There are still some items in there, large canisters of flour, sugar and meal, surprisingly intact, undoubtedly a testimony to the quality of the canisters. They appear to be stainless steel and have a rubber gasket around the top. There are also many jars of home canned fruit and vegetables. Those will have to be thrown away."

He pointed to a doorway near the back of the kitchen, "That is the back stairway, leading to the second floor and the servant's quarters in the attic. We can use it to join our friends upstairs."

They all trooped up the stairs behind Ezra, noting that this stairway, unlike the one in the front of the house, was quite narrow. Josiah's wide shoulders brushed the wall on either side.

They found Buck and JD chasing each other down the main hallway upstairs.

"Hey, Ez! Did you see the size of these beds?" Buck crowed as soon as he saw them. "Man, I coulda had some fun with the Dawson triplets in one'a them!"

"They are quite large, Mister Wilmington, but that was not unusual for the era in which they were built."

"There ain't but two bedrooms that have furniture, Ez." JD informed them, "But did you see the quilts in the closet in the front bedroom? They're beautiful!"

"They are indeed, and well preserved, as well. Considering their age, I would say they have to all be hand-quilted. We shall keep some and sell some. I believe that there are several unusual ones, including a couple that the Denver Museum of Western History might like to have. We may donate them to it. There is an applique one that shows a scene of the Rockies that I may decide to frame and hang in one of the rooms."

"Sounds to me like you have good plans for the house and the contents," Chris said.

Vin and Ezra exchanged grins. "We'll be able to make better plans once we get it cleaned up a bit." Vin said. "Glad you like it though, cowboy."

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

Vin and Ezra spent the afternoon out at the ranch.

That night as they lay cuddled up in Ezra's big bed at the townhouse, Vin running his fingers through Ezra's hair he said, "Chris seemed to like the house."

"Yes. I was surprised to learn that his father had worked there in his youth."

"Strange coincidence, I reckon."

"Uhmmm. He said that there should be a garden and fruit trees somewhere around the back."

"Trees are probably dead after this long without anybody taking care of them. Should be some nice wood though."

Ezra chuckled, "More clocks?"

"Naw, boxes. Cherry wood, in particular, makes nice boxes. Pretty red color."

"Humm." Ezra sighed, settling closer, his head heavy on Vin's shoulder.

After a long moment of silence Vin said, "Sorry about the room."

"It doesn't matter... and Chris was right, as we are together now I would prefer sharing the guestroom with you to staying in the small room off the kitchen. Mary has every right to rearrange the house to suit herself. It is her home now."

"Still, he coulda warned ya that she had took your room before we got out there." Vin fell silent for a minute then sighed. "Looked strange to see that picture of her'n Stephen sitting on the mantle next to the one of Chris and Sarah... and then Chris and hers wedding picture sitting between them."

"I agree with that, quite strange. I suppose though that it was some kind of statement... that they both have their pasts but are together now...."

"Reckon." Vin turned his head to nuzzle against Ezra's hair, one hand caressing down his lover's bare side then gently gliding over smooth skin of a bare hip and buttock. "Like that you sleep naked now, Babe," he murmured before claiming Ezra's mouth in a long exploratory kiss.

Ezra's lips curved into a smile under the kiss as he reached to pull Vin over on top of him. "I like that you do, too," he grinned when Vin pulled back slightly to catch his breath. One hand slipped between them to caress Vin's rising shaft. "Is that for me?" He asked coyly.

Vin chuckled, "You bet it is, Babe. All for you."

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

Dawn was just coloring the sky when Vin slipped from their bed.

Ezra stirred and mumbled, wiggling to regain the contact that Vin's slipping away had ended, but a gentle stroke of Vin's fingers through his hair and a soft whisper that everything was all right settled him back down.

Vin made his coffee and padding barefoot across the thick carpeting of the townhouse, went to sit in the old rocker that Ezra kept in the guest room near the window that looked out to the east. Rocking gently Vin watched the sun come up, smiling to himself.

Lying with Ezra cuddled against him after they had made love, he had been overwhelmed by a feeling of tenderness and possessiveness, tempered with a desire to protect and take care of the other man. It had made him realize that he truly did love Ezra, loved him tenderly, loved him passionately, loved him deeply.

He lifted his feet to prop them on the windowsill and leaned back in the old rocker sipping thoughtfully at his coffee.

So, where did that leave his feelings for Chris Larabee? He knew he had loved Chris... and he still cared deeply for him but did he still love him? Yes. He did still love him, he was sure of that, but maybe that wasn't the question. Maybe the question was, did he still *desire* him?

He thought back to the morning that Chris had returned from his honeymoon. They'd been alone together at the office for more than an hour before any of the others arrived and while he'd ached with knowing that Chris was married, somehow it hadn't been like he'd thought it would be. Maybe because he'd made his peace with it? Or maybe because he really had moved on.

He let a grin cross his face at the memory of how seeing Ezra bent over his desk had affected him that same morning. Then he frowned. Chris had bent over in front of him several times that morning but he'd hadn't gotten the instant hard-on that he got when Ezra did it. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten hard for Chris.

Maybe it was just that he *knew* Ezra would let him fuck him. Ezra always let him fuck him. If he'd locked the conference room door that morning and demanded it, Ezra would have bent over the conference table and let him have it. They'd done it on the conference table before, back when they were just fucking around.

Hell! They had slipped into the office one night and done it on Larabee's desk. He grinned at that memory. Ezra writhing under him, whimpering and moaning, clutching at the edges of Chris' desk while Vin pounded into him, then shuddering and crying out Vin's name when he came.

He let his head drop back against the back of the rocking chair with a thud. He hadn't realized it at the time but it *had* been his name that Ezra had cried out when he came that night. That had been nearly a year ago that they had done it on Chris' desk. He'd been pretending he was fucking Chris. He had thought that Ezra was pretending that it was Chris fucking him... but Ezra had cried out his name, not Chris'.

Ezra. His sweet, gentle, tender lover. Ezra, who never told him no, who never made demands, never asked for anything, but always gave Vin whatever he wanted. Ezra, who had let Vin take him on Chris' desk, in Chris' hayloft and in the woods behind Chris' house. Ezra, who had let Vin use him and call out Chris' name as he came.

"Oh, Ez," he muttered. "I'm so sorry, Babe. I never even noticed that you had stopped calling Chris' name. God! How long have you been in love with me and I never even noticed? I'm a bad as Chris. Worse. At least he never took me. How it must have hurt you to love me and hear me calling his name when I took you!"

Shaking his head in self-disgust, he rose from the rocker and padded back to the kitchen, pouring the rest of the coffee down the sink and rinsing out the cup.

He walked back to the master bedroom and stood leaning in the doorway, watching Ezra sleep.

[So beautiful. How could I have never noticed, how beautiful you are? How warm and gentle and giving you are? I don't deserve you... but I swear I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy.]

He padded across the room a slow smile curving his lips, as he discarded his jeans and slipped back into the bed.

Ezra murmured and snuggled against him.

Sleepy green eyes blinked open, as Vin gathered him close.

"Vin?"

"Yeah, Babe." Vin pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I got a great idea, how about we spend the day in bed, Lover?"

Ezra's soft sigh of pleasure as Vin gently ran fingers through his hair was all the answer Vin needed.

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

Chris spent most of Monday morning questioning Thompson and his men. Shortly before lunch he stalked back into the office obviously upset. "JD! In my office. Now!"

The young computer expert frowned, wondering what he had done to earn Larabee's displeasure, but he jumped up and went.

A few minutes later he returned and sat down at his computer. When the others headed out to lunch, he shook his head and said that he had work to do.

Buck threw an unhappy look towards Chris' office and the impatiently pacing man within but he decided not to make an issue of it, just promised to bring JD something back when they returned.

JD nodded distractedly and went on with his search.

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

Chris paced in his office waiting for JD to finish up the search he had set him to do.

He ran a hand through his hair.

Damn he didn't need this! After the relaxing and friendly weekend with the others visiting out at the ranch he was finally starting to feel like things were getting back to normal. It had taken him a bit to wrap his mind around the fact that Vin and Ezra were a couple now and accept it, but things had seemed to be going so well.

Now... now, if what Thompson said was true, Ezra had lied to him. Had told a major lie, about work.

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

They went to Inez's for lunch. Vin and Ezra chatted happily with Buck and Josiah about the house. Nathan mostly listened until he began to realize what they were saying.

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me that the stuff in the house is worth more than what you're paying for the house?" Nathan demanded.

Ezra, too excited to catch the tone of Nathan's voice, grinned, "Indeed. The china, silverware and stemware, as soon as we can locate the stemware, should fetch enough to pay for the house."

"Aren't you concerned at all that you're cheating the sellers?" Nathan asked hotly.

"We're paying the asking price, Mister Jackson. There's no cheating involved. It's hardly my fault that the sellers failed to do an inventory."

"But it's dishonest!"

"No, it is not, Mr. Jackson." Ezra explained patiently.

Nathan glared. "You are stealing, plain and simple. If those people knew what was in that house they wouldn't be selling it so cheap to you."

Ezra sighed. "They have had ample time to inventory the contents. Years in fact. It is not my fault they failed to uphold the responsibility entrusted to them. If anything, it is they who should be ashamed of abusing the trust and faith placed in them."

Nathan sputtered, "Abusing? Why you little... bastard! I still think you should let them know. It's not right."

Ezra stiffened and said formally, "I am abiding by the agreement signed by both parties. They had time to review the document before affixing their signatures to it."

Nathan glanced around to the rest of them. "I'd expect this from the likes of Ezra, but the rest of you... I can't believe that you'd go along with this. Aren't the sellers the Humane Society? How can you let him cheat a charity?"

"Not precisely. The proceeds of the sale go to the Humane Society, but Miss Stillwell's attorney is the Executor of the Estate. He is selling the property."

"Then he should have done an inventory!"

"Again, that is *not* *my* problem." Ezra snapped exasperated.

"Dammit! Josiah, don't you have anything to say about this?" Nathan turned to his partner for back up.

"It's not a crime to get a bargain, Brother Nathan." Josiah said trying to be reasonable. "Like Ezra said, it is the seller's responsibility to do an inventory. If they can't be bothered why should Ezra point out their mistake?"

"But it's dishonest!" He broke off as Ezra rose and moved away from the table and the argument. "Where are you going?" he demanded, jumping up to grab Ezra's arm.

Ezra jerked away. "Away from here." He snapped back at Nathan, continuing towards the door, turning back at the door to see if Vin had followed.

Vin was on his feet confronting Nathan. He grabbed Nathan's arm when the larger man would have gone after Ezra. "Leave him alone!" He snarled. "He ain't the only one that's buying that house, in case you've forgot. I'm half owner. You got anything else to say, you say it to me! Like 'Siah said, ain't no crime to get a deal on something! Ezra loves that house! And I'm telling you right now, you do anything to queer the deal before we close on Friday and you'll answer to me!"

He released Nathan's arm with a shove and stalked after Ezra. Ezra, seeing him coming, stepped out on the sidewalk and headed back towards the Federal Building.

"Hey! Ez! Wait up." Vin called as he hurried to catch up.

Ezra slowed, letting Vin catch up with him. When the other man came even with him he said with a sigh, "I'm sorry, Vin. I shouldn't have let him get on my nerves. I didn't mean to cause trouble between you and him. I know you're friends."

Vin slung an arm around Ezra's shoulders, "Might be, but you are my partner, Ez. Ain't nobody coming between us. Now, you want ta head over to Mamacita's for a bite to eat, seeing as how you didn't get anything at Inez's?"

Ezra sighed again. "I'm sorry, Vin but I just don't think I could eat anything at the moment."

"Quit saying you're sorry! Ain't your fault. Nate shoulda kept his mouth shut."

"The man has a right to his opinion."

"May be but he ain't gotta express it at the top of his lungs in a public place!" Vin snapped. Then added in an angry mutter, "Getting you so upset you can't eat. Man don't think."

As they neared the Federal Building, Vin noticed a small cafe that served herbal tea and croissants. "How about some tea? That might settle your stomach a bit. Maybe a croissant?"

Ezra looked doubtful then nodded, realizing that Vin hadn't eaten either. "Very well. I will give it a try."

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

Chris stared down at the report JD handed him.

[Shit.]

Ezra had lied plain and simple. Thompson hadn't called him at the wedding reception for a meet. He couldn't have. He was in California and there was no record of a call to Standish from there.

He bowed his head, then straightened. "JD!" He called.

When the young man stuck his head back in the door, Chris said, "Get over to Ezra's and pull the tape out of that phone recorder you installed last year... the one that records outgoing and incoming calls."

JD hesitated a frown on his face, "Shouldn't I let Ez know first?"

"Just do it, JD. You don't need a warrant. It's not going in evidence or anything. I just need to know if I'm right."

JD still frowned but nodded and hurried out. If he were lucky he'd be back before the guys got back from lunch. He felt guilty about what seemed to him to be an invasion of Ezra's privacy.

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

Forty-five minutes later, Ezra was somewhat calmer and when he and Vin saw the others making their way back to the Federal Building they rose to join them. Vin and Buck bracketed Ezra and Josiah steered Nathan clear of him as they walked down the sidewalk. Nathan seemed subdued and Vin figured that maybe Josiah had given him a piece of his mind after they had left.

They had barely cleared the door to the bullpen when Larabee stepped out of his office and snarled, "Standish! Get in here!"

Vin caught Ezra's arm as the undercover agent raised a brow and turned to head for the office. "Ez?"

"It's all right, Love." Ezra said, too softly for the others to hear. "Whatever it is I can deal with it." He gave Vin a smile that said everything was going to be all right and headed for the office where Chris stood holding the door for him.

Vin stared after him a moment, hoping that Ezra was up to dealing with Chris. He seemed to be calmed down from the confrontation with Nathan, but Ezra was good at hiding things and Vin was sure that Nathan's angry accusations had hurt him.

As soon as Ezra was through the door, Larabee slammed it with enough force to rattle the glass in it.

He didn't even bother going to sit behind his desk before turning on the undercover agent and yelling, "What the hell are you playing at?"

Ezra raised his eyebrows, straightened his jacket and calmly seated himself in the chair in front of Chris' desk, clasping his hands to hide the faint tremor in them. He did not need this on top of Nathan's verbal assault. "I beg your pardon, Mister Larabee, but I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Thompson never called you at the wedding reception! That call came from your home phone!"

Ezra kept his poker face firmly in place, asking calmly, "And you know this how?"

Instead of answering Chris turned to his desk and pushed a button on a tape recorder sitting there.

Ezra heard his own voice come out of it.

"Mister Thompson."

A long pause then: "This is hardly a convenient time."

Another pause then: "Very well. I shall be there."

[Shit!] Ezra somehow managed to keep his poker face intact. [How did....? Aw hell, I forgot about the recorder that JD installed when I was getting the death threats last year.]

"Sound familiar?" Chris demanded triumphantly.

Ezra shrugged, "I suppose it might."

"Suppose nothing! That is the call you supposedly got from Thompson at the wedding reception. The tape is from the recorder that JD installed on your phone line last year, the one that records outgoing calls as well as incoming ones. Now," He moved to lean menacingly over the man seated so calmly in the chair, "I want to know what the hell you were playing at and I want to know now!"

Ezra stared blandly back at him, not answering, until Larabee moved away in frustration.

"Dammit, Ezra! Answer the question."

"Very well, I wished to leave the reception and did not wish to insult you by simply blowing off your wedding reception so I set up the little drama."

"Why the hell did you want to leave?"

"That is my business, Mister Larabee."

"Not when you dragged Vin off with you! You didn't have to ruin--"

"Mister Tanner was aware of the deception... " Ezra snapped.

"And he went along with it?"

"He was as ready to leave as I was!"

"For what? So the two of you could run hop in bed?"

"Certainly not!"

"Why not? That is what you two do isn't it? Why not blow off my wedding reception to go get you a little bit?"

"I resent the implication that mine and Mister Tanner's relationship is based on nothing more than sex! Mister Tanner was the one who desperately needed to retreat. He had had all that he could take."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Vin was my best man--"

"Hardly his choice."

"He agreed."

"You badgered him. If you'll recall he wanted you to get Buck to be your best man. You are the one that insisted it be Vin. You wouldn't take no for an answer and he couldn't find sufficient reason to continue refusing without revealing his feelings for you."

"What?" Larabee stepped back looking shocked. No, it couldn't be. Vin was his best friend. Maybe he was bisexual but that didn't mean, couldn't mean, what Ezra was implying.

"Good Lord!" Ezra snapped jumping up out of the chair and beginning to stalk Larabee, "You're really that fucking blind, aren't you? You have no idea that the man has been in love with you for years!"

He backed Larabee up against the wall and poked a finger in his chest. "Your wedding was hell for him! And being your best man! Do you have any idea how much that hurt him? What pure unmitigated torture it was for him to have to stand up there with you, hand you the fucking ring, watch you put it on her hand, up close and personal! You're a bastard, Larabee! You don't deserve Vin's love or his loyalty! Or mine either! Go to hell!" He suddenly spun away and stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

The glass cracked.

The other five members of the team stared at him in disbelief.

Ezra Standish did not slam doors. He certainly didn't slam them hard enough to crack the glass in them.

Ezra stomped past them and retreated into the conference room, closing the door behind him as he tried to gather his thoughts and calm down.

A moment later the door opened and he looked up to see Vin standing there.

Oh, God! What had he done?

"Vin." Ezra slumped back to sit on the edge of the conference table. "Oh, god, Vin, I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. Please you have to understand, I didn't mean to."

"Sorry for what?" Vin's voice was soft, soothing as he moved closer.

"I didn't mean to. It just... I lost my temper. I shouldn't have--"

"Shouldn't have what? C'mon Ezra, tell me what's wrong. Whatever it is, we can fix it."

"I told him."

"Told him what?" Vin kept his voice quiet, still trying to get Ezra to calm down as he gently pulled the distraught man into his arms.

"I told him that you love him." It was barely more than a whisper, then Ezra pulled back to look up at him. "He found out that the phone call from Thompson was a fake and--"

The door opened. Larabee stood framed in it. "I need to talk to you, Vin." He said quietly, his face unreadable.

Vin turned, moving unconsciously to put Ezra behind him. "Maybe you should talk to both of us, Cowboy."

Ezra remained where he was, frozen to the spot. He couldn't believe that he'd told Larabee about Vin's feelings for him. Oh, god! Everything was going to go to hell. He'd lose Vin for sure now that Larabee knew that Vin loved him.

"Vin, I think we should talk in private."

"I got no secrets from Ez. Don't plan to have any either."

"God! I don't know what to say to you...."

"Ain't nothing to say."

"But... he said that you're in love with me."

"Was. Don't matter none, now. You're married. I'm with Ezra. I made a commitment to him. I ain't going back on that."

"You don't love him."

"Not like I loved you, no... but I do love him. Reckon we can make a go of it. Sure intend to anyhow."

"Vin...."

"No. I waited near to five years for you to notice I was in love with you. You never did. Reckon that was cause you didn't want me to love you that way. I always knew you weren't into men, that what I felt for you wouldn't ever be returned. Just took me a while to accept it. I got Ezra now and you got Mary. I wish you every happiness with her, 'cause I plan to be real happy with Ezra."

"Vin, I can't help wondering..."

"What coulda been? Don't matter. Let it lie, Cowboy. Things worked out for the best." He stared his boss down, his face resolute. He could feel Ezra lay a hand on his back just above the waist. Slowly the fingers tightened, clutching at his shirt. He didn't break his gaze to turn and look at Ezra. He knew that the hand in his shirt would be the only sign of his lover's tension.

After a moment Chris ran a hand through his hair and looked away from the implacable gaze, his eyes wandering around the room. Finally he muttered, "Okay... okay," and turned, walking out of the room.

Vin stepped forwards enough to swing the door closed.

Ezra moved with him, unable to release his grip on Vin's shirt.

Vin turned back, swinging one arm up and over Ezra's head to gather him close without Ezra having to release his grip. He didn't think that Ezra *could* release the hold he had on Vin's shirt.

Ezra was shaking, almost sobbing, "You chose me. You chose me." Then he *was* sobbing, helplessly, clinging to Vin.

Vin pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Course I did, Babe. Told you. Thick and thin, sick and sin. You'n me against the world." He moved back catching Ezra's face between his hands and bending to kiss away the tears. "Nobody else, Ez, not ever. Just you'n me. Together. Forever. My word as a Tanner. I'll never leave you, not for anybody."

"Oh, God! Vin," He buried his face back in Vin's chest, but Vin could still hear him repeating, "Your word as a Tanner." Ezra sobbed again. The relief, of hearing Vin declare his intention to stay with him, was overwhelming. "You're really mine. Nobody can take you away from me now."

He pulled back and smiled, reaching up to wipe away the tears. "I love you, Vin... and I swear, I will never give you cause to regret that promise."

Drawing back from Vin a bit more, he reached in his pocket for a handkerchief, "Lord, I must look a sight." He muttered, wiping at his face with the handkerchief. "I need to go wash my face."

Vin smiled as he watched his lover pull himself back together. A quick trip to the men's room and no one would ever guess that he had been distraught just moments before. As Ezra started past him to head to the men's room, Vin caught his arm. "I love you, too." He said quietly.

The blinding smile that Ezra flashed him made his heart soar.

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

Chris heard the door close behind him and stopped dead still. He raised his head to see the rest of the team staring at him.

JD's mouth hung open. Nathan looked stunned. Buck and Josiah were regarding him with almost hostile expressions.

His eyes met Buck's and he knew instantly that his oldest friend had been aware of Vin's feelings for him.

"Why?" He demanded. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Wasn't my business... 'sides you and Vin..." Buck shook his head, "It woulda ended badly. Better not to ever start than to ruin your friendship with something that would never work out. Vin and Ezra fit together."

"They're as different as night and day!" Chris snapped. "Vin and I have a lot more in common than him and Ezra!"

"Nope. Just looks that way on the outside. Inside where it matters, Vin and Ezra are a lot more alike than you and Vin. Starting with the fact that they're both bisexual and you're pure out macho, heterosexual."

"Vin's my best friend."

"And all you'll ever be, is friends, Chris. Don't throw that away on 'might have been'. Hell! Man, you just got married! You want to throw that away for something that you never even considered till a few minutes ago? Vin's accepted that you're married, that there can't ever be anything like that between you. He's working real hard to put the feelings he had for you in the past, make a future with somebody that can give him what he needs. Don't go throwing a monkey wrench in that just because you're confused right now."

Chris looked around, confusion clear on his face, "I just don't understand, Buck. I feel like I've stepped through the looking-glass and nothing's the way it was a minute ago."

"Ain't nothing really changed, Pard. You're married to Mary and you love her, right?"

"Yeah. I love her."

"Vin's still your best friend, right?"

"I... yeah, I guess."

"Then just file this under useless information and get on with your life. Be happy with what you got and let Vin be happy with what he's got."

"That simple?"

"Life is as simple or as complicated as you make it, Chris. Think about how many lives you'd be messing up if you decide to make an issue of this." Buck fell silent as the conference room door opened.

Chris turned back to see Ezra emerge.

The undercover agent had his poker face firmly in place but it couldn't hide the red-rimmed eyes and splotchy complexion that clearly showed he'd been crying. He moved quickly towards the men's room, his head down, plainly not wanting the others to see how distraught he'd been.

Chris stared after him until he disappeared into the men's room. Their black sheep. His black sheep. His because he'd gone to Atlanta and practically dragged the man back to Denver with him. He'd felt like a hero, rescuing the former FBI agent from the hell he'd been trapped in and Ezra had been grateful, showing his gratitude with undying loyalty and willingness to do whatever Chris asked of him. He went into situations that no other undercover would even attempt, facing horrendous odds without flinching, because Chris had asked him to.

Now, he'd been crying and Chris knew that he'd brought the proud man to that. Knew that he could destroy Ezra so very easily... and he couldn't do that, because, if he faced his heart, he did love Vin... and Ezra as well... but not the way they loved each other.

He didn't want to hurt either one of them, couldn't *bear* to hurt either one of them. He took a deep breath and straightened. "Let's get back to work, people." He moved past Buck to his office door then turned back to meet each of their eyes in turn. "I don't want to hear another word about this. Understood?"

One by one they nodded.

He nodded back and went into the office and closed the door.

Nathan Jackson ducked his head and stared down at his desktop. Well, that explained Vin's reaction at lunch. Man was so besotted with the little cheat that he couldn't see that what Ezra was doing was wrong.

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

Continued in Part 3 (encompassing emailed parts 9-12)