Floyd and Sheriff Avery left after breakfast promising their help whenever the Garrett's rebuilt their barn. The sheriff even offered to ask around town for anyone selling hay for Forrest to buy for Tessa.

Peter walked them to the door and shook both men's hands. "We appreciate that," he said."We will be into town probably later today or early tomorrow to buy some more grain."

The sheriff nodded. He glanced back at Rose, he seemed concerned, but too polite to ask what had happened. "Well, y'all take care."

As soon as the sheriff and Floyd drove away Arthur stepped up to the counter. "That was him?" he asked Rose.

Rose kept her eyes on her hands as she meticulously wiped at the counter. She nodded subtly, barley enough of a head bob for Arthur to see it was a confirmation.

Peter came and sat down at the counter. Making an effort to make himself appear less threatening.

"What is it he wants?" Arthur demanded, his anger was up and made his voice sharp. Peter placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. And Arthur seemed for the first time to notice Rose's change since her brother had left.

Rose lifted her eyes only enough to meet Forrest's gaze. Forrest didn't give her any indication of what he was thinking or what he thought she should do.

Rose turned back to Peter and Arthur but was still unable to meet their gazes. "I'll show you." She disappeared upstairs and hauled her carpet bag back down. With a grunt she heaved it on to the counter top and motioned to it.

Peter gave her an uncertain look but Arthur was already opening the bag. Rose finally let herself look them in the face again. When they saw what was in the bag she knew she wouldn't see the pity that was there earlier.

Arthur let out a yelp, and Peter immediately looked inside.

"Holy shit," Arthur gasped. "That's all money."

Rose nodded.

"It's all money," he repeated, and he started pacing back and forth in front of the counter pulling at his hair. "That silly old carpet bag you been hauling around everywhere is full of money!" he exclaimed.

Peter turned back to Rose and in a much calmer tone voiced his question. "How much?"

Rose swallowed. "It's a little less than three hundred thousand dollars."

Even Peter looked surprised by that.

Rose let out a breath, wondering how much she had to tell them. Did she have to tell them about her? She didn't want to see the disgust and the pity. She looked to Forrest and let out a loud sigh. "My brother was...abusive," was all she said. "He sold girls and owed a cut to a man from Chicago. I-" she stopped, she couldn't say the words. Not here, not in the light of the day. It would make it too real. Closing her eyes and gathering her strength she pushed her sleeves up to reveal the scars circling her wrists like angry silvery bracelets.

Peters eyes narrowed, but Arthur's face fell into something she had never seen. A deep calm wiped all emotion from his face and he looked so much like Forrest when he was angry that Rose wanted to take a step away from him. But she knew it would hurt him if she did that. He wasn't angry at her.

"I escaped," she said in a stony voice. "And I took the money and ran. I took the first train out of town and..."

"You ended up here," Peter finished for her, he reached out and squeezed her hand reassuringly and very gently pulled her sleeves back down to cover her wrists.

Rose nodded and looked back to Forrest. "So what do we do? Do I give him the money?"

"That's your hard stolen money!" Arthur exclaimed. "And we won't give that bastard anything."

Rose shook her head. "He does have the documents he claims," she told her shoes. "He-" she started to say, and a few tears fled down her cheeks. "He had me declared insane by a doctor, who gave him medicine so he could keep me quiet and control my inheritance." She explained, staring at the floorboards. Unable to stand it she took her rag and bucket of water and began wiping the tables down.

Forrest came up behind her and placing his hand over hers, stilling her.

"I will happily pay $300,000 to stay with you Forrest," she whispered. "I love this life, and I'm willing to pay for it."

Forrest pressed his cheek against hers for the barest moment before turning back to his brothers. "We have two problems," he said in a quiet voice. "Rose's brother is obviously the man The Man From Chicago had been referring to. He was the man he spotted in town. Which means we have two men who are affiliated with two different outfits in Chicago both claiming to have problems with us."

"So we get a hold of them separate and bury them up in the hollow," Arthur said strongly.

Peter was nodding along with this. "It makes sense, but I don't know how we are going to get them away. If it was me, once I laid out my threats I'd be staying close to town. They both know they are outnumbered."

"Too bad they don't just kill each other," Arthur grumbled. "They can fight it out and leave us alone."

Peter snorted. "Yeah, but then we would still have one to deal with. No one in Chicago does a damn thing unless it profits themselves."

Rose gasped suddenly, dropping her rag and spinning around. "What if we make it profitable for them?" she asked.

Peter and Arthur both looked at her like she was nuts.

"No, seriously!" she exclaimed. She grabbed Forrest's forearm in her excitement. "We don't need to kill anyone!"

Now all three of them looked at her like she was nuts.

Rose rolled her eyes. They were so used to violence and so willing to use it they would never have thought another way was possible. "What if we pay The Man From Chicago to get rid of Jon?"

Peter shook his head. "Most won't do any work for someone not from their organization or without direct orders to do so."

"But what if it is a gift," she said in an excited voice. "You aren't affiliated with Chicago, but it's obvious The Man From Chicago doesn't know that. He thought Jon was your business associate. What if you told him you were breaking your affiliation with Chicago and offer him money to cover what happened with Arthur and we tell him he can have...$100,000 if he also gets rid of Jon."

Peter listened, nodding along with it. "It makes sense, but Rose...he will kill your brother."

Rose's face was a mask, all emotion tucked safely away for her to examine later. "I'm aware."

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but Forrest gave him a sharp look and shook his head. Arthur snapped his mouth shut, but still looked upset.

Forrest stepped up to Rose. She was still too pale, and looked as if a strong breeze would knock her down. He placed a gentle hand on her lower back. She flinched again, but he refused to not touch her. He had worked too hard to help her get over her past to let one meeting with her brother take away what they had. She wasn't actually afraid of him, nor was she disgusted by his touch.

"Why don't you run your bag back upstairs for now, we don't need it sitting down here through lunch."

Rose nodded woodedly. "I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice that set fire to Forrest's rage in a way he hadn't felt in longer than he could remember. She had been so confident and gained so much security in the last weeks But now, one appearance of this man and she was back to where she had been when she had first appeared at their door. Whispering and skittering around like a frightened kitten.

Forrest took her arm and pulled her against his chest and kissed her soundly. He let his hands range over her until she was panting and thinking of nothing from her past. When he pulled back her eyes were dark with desire and he gave her a small satisfied smile.

"Don't ever apologize to me." He said, and smoothed her hair from her face. He gave her one last soft kiss and pushed her gently towards the stairs.

She nodded, gathered her bag and disappeared up the stairs. Looking more like herself than she had since her brother had appeared.

As soon as she moved to the stairs he turned to his brothers.

"Well?" he asked.

Arthur gave him an appraising look. "So you guys have finally-" he started to say but Forrest shot him a withering look which silenced him immediately.

"We have other concerns right now."

Peter nodded. "We can't let her be responsible for her brother's death, that would kill her."

Forrest shook his head. "I assure you it would not."

Arthur opened his mouth to argue but Forrest leaned forward so his head was closer to his brothers. He spoke quickly so he could get it out before Rose returned. "There's more to that story, of what he did to her."

Arthur's face shuttered. Forrest saw he understood immediately. Peter still looked confused. Forrest glanced to the stairs and back. "Whether or not we go with Rose's plan, Jon is not leaving Harken alive. Not after what he did to her, what he allowed to be done by her."

Peter understood then and he glanced back at the stairs. He mashed his lips into a hard line and nodded. "Agreed."

"What do you think of Rose's plan?" Arthur asked, leaning in.

Forrest shrugged. "It seems like it would be a pretty decent idea."

Peter shook his head. "I never thought I would see the day that we would be negotiating."

Forrest chuckled. "Same day the good sheriff stopped by to enjoy some breakfast."

Rose paused at the top of the stairs. She knew they were talking about her. She wondered if Forrest would tell them the rest of what happened to her. She found it didn't make her mad to think that he might have. If he felt it was necessary for them to understand she trusted Forrest's judgment. She was angry with herself for pulling away from Forrest. She had thought she had gotten over the last of that last night. She felt so free, but one look at Jon and she was right back there.

She was pretty sure Forrest liked her idea, but it might take a little to convince Peter and Arthur it was the right way to handle things. They were just so contrary sometimes she wanted to shake them. Smoothing her hair once more she marched downstairs to see what their decision was.

"So how do we get word to our friend from Chicago without him trying to kill us on sight?" Arthur asked flippantly.

"Well," Rose said cautiously. "He is staying at the boarding house, my guess is he is eating there as well. One of us could invite him up here for negotiations during one of the meals. He wouldn't start trouble in the middle of a meal surrounded by people."

Forrest nodded. He lifted his eyes to Peter. "Not alone," he said simply.

Peter jerked his chin up and down a few times in agreement. "Think you can hold it together?" he asked Arthur.

Arthur looked taken aback, as though his temper had never been a problem for them a day in their lives.

Peter just snorted and shook his head.

"I'll go," Rose said.

When the brothers' eyes fell on her she fought the urge to drop her gaze. Instead she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "I'm not going to start something, like some people we know." She said pointedly, though she gave Arthur a private grin so he would know she was only teasing him.

Forrest moved to stand in front of her. "No," he said simply.

She opened her mouth to argue but he continued.

"He is not here for you and I refuse to make you any more of a target in his mind than he has already made you. There's a chance he won't accept our offer and we will still have him to contend with."

"It's my money," she snapped, she was surprised by how angry she was at Forrest for telling her she couldn't go. She couldn't explain the overwhelming need she had to face him again and show him she was not afraid of him. Half of this was her fault and she could not sit around while the boys fixed it for her.

Forrest arched a brow and gave her an amused, disbelieving look. As though he couldn't believe she had said what she said.

She sighed heavily. "I didn't mean it like that."

Forrest nodded and motioned Peter and Arthur out the door. "Stop and get a bag of grain for Tessa while you're in town," he called after them.

Once they disappeared Forrest turned back to her. "I understand you want to help but..."

"But' what?" she demanded, daring him to tell her she wasn't strong enough, brave enough, something.

"Rose, this is your brother we are talking about, and I have no problem with him dying, but I don't know that you want a direct hand in it," he said in a gentler voice.

Being angry at Forrest was so much easier than letting herself feel the multitude of emotions that were coursing through her. "Forrest, I know my brother. And even if he gets that money, he is going to use that paperwork to force me back with him...if the sheriff wouldn't have been sitting at that counter when he walked in here I would have used that shotgun on him without a second thought."

Forrest exhaled and walked towards her, folding her up in his arms. He kissed her on top of the head. "We really have been a terrible influence on you," he chuckled. "I love you Lorelei."

She pulled back so she could see his face. Not that she didn't believe him, Forrest never said anything he didn't mean, but it just seemed so unlikely that he would. She frowned at him and a ghost of a smile passed his lips. She realized then she had not responded to his declaration before moving on to her next thought.

"Well I obviously love you too," she said in a rush.

He smiled in earnest. "Obviously."

She made a sound of impatience in her throat. "You aren't a bad influence Forrest. None of you are...well maybe Arthur a little..." she allowed, in the interest of being as honest as she possibly could with him. "You have taught me to be strong and that I can take care of myself."

Forrest shook his head as he laughed, though for some reason she didn't think he found it particularly funny. "Lor, you being around us has taught you that. You've been forced into that because of the lifestyle we have chosen. It was nothing we did, that was all you."

Rose smiled up at him and wound her arms around his neck. She lifted up on her toes and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "You gave me a place to belong, a home. Thank you."