The next day at breakfast, Lizzy and Elizabeth greeted her as they always did. The men were suspiciously absent. They did not refer to her husband or her past, as they spent the morning talking about nothing particular while Dana worked on the program for Quinn.  She had a driving urge to get it finished quickly.

She was steadily working when both Lizzy and Elizabeth appeared before her.

"It's time," Lizzy said seriously.

Dana looked up confused. "Time for what?"

The ladies looked at each other and grinned. Lizzy's beautiful blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wearing old jeans, cowboy boots, and a flannel shirt.  Elizabeth was dressed similarly except, instead of flannel she was wearing a chambray shirt.

"We are going to teach you how to shoot," Elizabeth said moving towards her, grabbing her arm and pulling her up from her seat.

"Shoot?"

"Yep, what's your preference, a pistol or a shotgun? We even have a rifle." Lizzy took her other arm, and the marched her out the back door.

"I've never even held a gun," Dana objected.

"Well, you've got to start somewhere, and as soon as you're proficient, we'll get you your license and buy you your own gun."

"Our treat," Lizzy agreed with her mother.

Dana shook her head. This was their answer.  These women had just learned about her past, and instead of saying poor girl, they were going to teach her how to shoot a gun and then buy her one.

"What did Bryce tell you?" She had to know how much they knew.

"Not much, just that you had an abusive husband, who you were in the process of divorcing, and that you were afraid that he would find you." Lizzy led the way to a clearing that had been set-up with bales of hay and targets.

"There's so much more than that." Dana looked from one to the other. Should she tell them?

"Sweetie, it doesn't matter, the past is past, and now we have to prepare for the future." Elizabeth put her arm around her and held her close for a minute just as a real mother would.

"With firepower," Lizzy said picking up a gun with a grin.

Elizabeth handed her some ear plugs. "Quinn will have to teach you the rifle if you want to learn how to shoot one. All of the men can handle one, but Quinn was always the better shot."

Dana's heart contracted when she heard Quinn's name.

Lizzy gave her the shotgun first, teaching her how to hold it. "Now, the good thing about a shotgun is you don't have to have good aim.  You have to shoot in the general direction of what you are aiming at."

Dana held it to the crook of her shoulder aiming at the hay bale. When she squeezed the trigger, she practically fell backward from the recoil.

She started laughing it was the first time she felt like there was hope.

"Here this one is my baby," Lizzy said handing her a 9mm. "I prefer a semi-automatic, but Mom prefers a revolver."

Dana took the gun carefully, and Lizzy showed her how it operated then let her try it. Next was the revolver. She had better aim with the semi-automatic.

They heard a sharp whistle behind them, and they turned putting the guns down. Quinn was approaching them along with Caleb, and both were on horseback.

"What on earth are you three doing?" Caleb asked in an amused voice.

"We're teaching Dana about guns and showing her how to shoot one." Lizzy grinned.

Caleb returned her grin shaking his head. "This is your solution."

"Yes," Elizabeth and Lizzy said in unison.

"Aren't our women great?" Caleb asked Quinn.

Dana felt a thrill at being called 'our women' and couldn't help looking up at Quinn whose lips were twitching, and Dana realized how silly she must look, standing there in a sundress with sandals shooting a gun.

"Quinn, do you have a minute help Dana shoot the rifle?  We're trying to give her a feel for all of the guns," Lizzy asked.

Dana watched as Quinn dismounted the horse gracefully, handing the reins to Caleb who moved back a little with the horses.

"Won't the guns scare the horses?" Dana hadn't seen Quinn since the night before when she had begged him to make love to her.  She felt herself color at the memory of his refusal.

"They're working horses, so they're used to the sound," Quinn reassured her. He wouldn't even look at her as he walked over to the rifle picking it up.  She watched as he checked the gun. The muscles in his forearms worked as he chambered the round.

"You ready?" He looked at Dana. He was asking if she was ready for more than just the gun.  Lizzy had had to put her arms around her when she had shot the shotgun.

Dana nodded, her heart about to beat out of her chest at the thought of Quinn's arms around her. He must think that she was about to jump him.

"She already fired the shotgun," Elizabeth supplied, unaware of the sudden tension in the air.

Quinn was suddenly serious as he grabbed her hand and moved her in front of the target. "Now, this gun pulls a little to the left when you fire so you will need to compensate on your aim.

His arms came around her as he helped her place the gun in the right position on her shoulder. "You need to watch your lip. I have seen more than a few busted from the recoil." Quinn's arms were warm, and his hands showed her again how to chamber the round. She remembered his naked chest under her hand the night before.

When he stepped back to let her fire, she felt very cold and alone.

"Now just squeeze the trigger."

She did, and she hit a bull's eye. Lizzy and Elizabeth screamed at her triumph, but all she could think of was that Quinn's arms were no longer around her.  She wondered if he would show her how to shoot again, but when she looked over her shoulder, it was to see him remounting his horse. He did it so fluidly that it was a beautiful sight to watch. He pulled his hat low over his eyes, nodded to the ladies before nudging the side of the horse as he turned.

Caleb followed him wordlessly, and as Dana watched them leave she realized that Quinn was a real cowboy.  When she was young, growing up in New York, she never dreamed she would fall in love with a cowboy.

Dana sat the down the gun that she was still holding in her shaking hand.  She was in love.  She loved Quinn. The knowledge filled heart as a million questions filled her head. How did she know she loved him? How long had she loved him? Why Quinn? Why now?

Then her mind was suddenly still as it came to her.  It was simple. She just loved Quinn. She could feel it in her heart.

Elizabeth looked at her watch then groaned, breaking Dana out of her trance.  "I'm late; I have to go pick up your father from the airport."

Lizzy grinned as her mother hurried away. "She'll be a sight in that big old truck and her blue jeans."

Dana was quiet as she watched Elizabeth leave.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Dana jumped at the sound of Lizzy's voice.

"What?" Was she that transparent? She knew that she felt different, but did she look different?

"Quinn." Lizzy was not looking at her but putting the guns back in their cases.

"What do you mean?" Dana nervously bit her lip.

Lizzy shrugged. "You and Quinn obviously disagreed about something."

Dana shrugged. "He hasn't been the same since he learned about my husband." Dana couldn't bear to tell Lizzy that it was when he saw the medical files.  She knew that he would look at her different and that it would change things.  She thought she would see pity in his eyes, not a cold remoteness.

"Quinn feels things very deeply. He always has, and there is always a sound reason for everything he does. If he has started treating you differently, then there is a reason, and it's most likely for the best."

Dana walked back towards the house thinking about what Lizzy had said.  Quinn did everything for a reason. What was his reason for denying her what she so desperately wanted even needed?

"You look thoughtful," Bertie said as she entered the kitchen.

Dana just nodded and moved through the kitchen towards the porch. What would it be like to be alone with Quinn, really alone with no one around, only the two of them?

She let her mind wander, falling asleep with that thought in her mind and the Texas sun on her skin.