The next day at lunch Anna came scuttling in the door of The Garrett's. Rose had to work hard to keep her mouth from gaping open. Anna stood in the doorway, her eyes wide as she looked around the room. There were only a few men sitting at the counter eating lunch. Arthur and Peter were at one table and when Arthur spotted Anna he jumped to his feet.

"Miss Ceary!" Arthur greeted her. "Welcome. You come for lunch?"

Anna nodded and came into the room, suddenly looking more confident. "I did."

Arthur smiled and pulled a chair out for her. "Well, Miss Lilly ain't here, but so far Miss Rose ain't poisoned nobody."

Rose snorted and shook her head, heading back into the kitchen. When she came out with a plate for Anna Arthur had her laughing at the table.

"Rose why don't you sit down and join us," Arthur said. "Pete can watch the kitchen."

Peter laughed and stood and went behind the counter.

"Oh no," Rose said moving back towards the kitchen but Peter waved her off. Rose sat down with Arthur and Anna and for some reason felt like the outsider. Arthur had turned his chair to face Anna and she was leaning towards him hanging on his every word. They chatted about the weather and other innocuous things. The door swung open and Forrest came in carrying a large wooden case. He set it behind the counter and took a seat at the table Peter and Arthur had vacated.

"Let me get us some Colas," Arthur said standing and moving to the cooler.

Anna leaned in towards Rose and lowered her voice so only Rose could hear. "Is that Forrest?"

Anna followed her gaze. "Yep."

"Well, no wonder you been hiding out up here. I would be too." She laughed as she let her eyes range over Forrest a little too long. "What's he like?"

Rose arched a brow, but Arthur returned to the table with beverages so that ended the conversation. Rose couldn't be sure but she thought that was Anna's version of girl talk. Rose glanced at Forrest and back again and found herself blushing.

Anna noticed and grinned at her.

"So," Arthur said, "what's the word from town?"

"Oh!" Anna said, excited to have something to chat about. "Well, the trains running regular again. And just this morning there was a man there from Chicago. Isn't that exciting? He's staying at the boarding house. He said he is in town for business."

Arthur cut his eyes to Forrest. "Did he say what kind of business?"

"No he didn't," Anna said thoughtfully as though she just realized how strange that was. "But he looked real fancy. Must be a man from the banks or something. Though I can't imagine what would bring him here to Harken."

"Yeah," Arthur agreed. "That must be it. If you'd excuse me ladies I'm going to go help Peter in the kitchen. You enjoy the rest of your lunch, you hear." Arthur excused himself.

Rose was frozen, her mind was turning so fast she didn't think she would be able to control her expression. But Anna had just finished her lunch. "Well I suppose I should be heading back to town. Thank y'ou for lunch." Anna left some money on the table and stood.

Rose walked Anna out to the porch. "Well, thank you for coming." She said.

"It was fun!" Anna squeaked. "I can't believe I actually came up here...it really wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. So Arthur..." she started to ask.

Rose was so busy thinking about the man from Chicago that Anna's words caught her by surprise. "What?" she asked.

Anna blushed deeply. "I'm sorry, if you and he are-"

"What? No! No." Rose said quickly.

"Oh, well I wasn't sure after the two of you came to town together."

"Oh no, we're just...friends." Rose struggled with coming up with the socially expected words as her brain tumbled off in other directions. She just wanted Anna to leave.

Anna nodded as though she didn't believe her but shrugged it away. "He's really sweet. Well I best be getting back."

Rose stood on the porch and watched Anna walk away back down the road. Rose couldn't believe they had found her. She had been so careful; this is what she got for letting herself open up. She should have listened to her instincts and been on the first train out of this town. If he was already in town she wasn't sure how she could possibly get to the train without him finding her. Her bag was stashed where she left it under her bed. She wouldn't be able to slip away until late at night, after she helped close down the bar.

The door opened behind her.

"Rose," Forrest's voice was soft and when she glanced at him she saw he was still standing near the door. He was always so careful not to startle her.

"Yes Forrest?" she asked.

Forrest's mouth was pressed in a hard line and she wondered if there was any way he could have already figured out this was her fault. That someone was coming for her. She had been waiting for them to wise up and throw her out for weeks now.

"Can you come inside please, we..." he dragged off.

She turned to him, confused.

Forrest stepped up to her, so he could speak softly so no one would hear him. "This man from Chicago, maybe he is here from the banks, but there's a chance he is here because of our business and we want to be able to keep an eye on you."

Rose frowned but nodded and followed him inside to make them happy.

The room was empty save Peter and Arthur and they were sitting at a table a jar between them. They both looked stressed, even Arthur was serious. That scared her more than anything. She wasn't sure if there was a chance that this had nothing to do with her. Maybe it was them, but she couldn't take that chance. They had already done so much for her she wasn't willing to risk their safety for her.

"We need to talk about this," Peter said as Forrest came in.

Forrest agreed and Rose started making her way towards the stairs, not wanting to interfere with their other business. They had always been so careful to keep her away from their business dealings and she didn't want to be anywhere she wasn't wanted.

"Rose," Forrest called after her. "This affects you too, you should stay."

Rose nodded and nervously took the chair next to Peter.

Arthur ran a hand through his hair. "Do you really think this guy is from Chicago? How reliable is Anna?" he asked turning to Rose.

Rose nodded. "She's a bit of a gossip, but it isn't like her to make up stories. She's a teacher, stays at the boarding house."

"So, chances are better than good that this man is here because of us – "

"Just say it," Arthur snapped, taking a swig off the jar. "he's here because of me, because of what I did."

"We don't know that." 

"Don't patronize me. You said there would be consequences and there are. Now what do we do?"

Forrest ran a hand through his hair. "There's only the one. One man isn't a threat to us, but we need to stick together and stick close to the store." His eyes went to Rose. "Do you understand Rose?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and set her jaw stubbornly. Forrest wasn't in charge of her and she could take care of herself.

Forrest glanced once at his brothers, conscious of their eyes on them and he stepped close to Rose until he was close enough for her to feel his heat. He looked down into her eyes. He wasn't touching her, but she felt like he was. "You need to stay close enough so we can protect you Rose. The whole town knows you are staying up here and they know you are more than an employee to us. That means that a bad person could- would use you against...us."

Rose stood there, looking up into Forrest's eyes and she couldn't remember why she had been so upset. But when he stepped away she shook her head. She had left the situation she was in. She had taken care of herself and she would continue to take care of herself. She felt safe here, but she wasn't sure she liked who she was when she was here. They treated her like a damsel in distress, and she wasn't. She had no way of explaining this to them without telling them what happened to her, and she wasn't ready to do that so she nodded.

"I understand, Forrest."

Forrest nodded, "good."

"We have a delivery tonight," Peter said, he was watching them closely.

"Are you serious?" Rose asked.

Peter nodded. "Well, we can't just hide out here because there might be someone new in town...Arthur and I will go to the delivery. Forrest, why don't you stay and keep an eye on things here."

Forrest looked like he wanted to argue but after a few moments he nodded. "That makes sense," he agreed.

<><><><><>

That night the store was busier than usual. Rose tried to stay focused on her work, but every time the door would open she flinched. She couldn't shake the feeling that this man must be in town for her. There were a few men talking about the new man in town, but no one had seen him do anything other than eat at the diner.

She was so out of sorts she dropped an entire stack of dishes when she was carrying them to the sink. Forrest popped his head into the kitchen. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Rose looked up at him, and felt her eyes swimming with tears. "I'm fine," she assured him staring at the mess on the floor.

Forrest grunted and came in and helped her wipe up the floor. "Everything is fine you know," he assured her.

"Yeah I know, I'm just a little out of sorts tonight is all."

Rose was still planning on leaving later that night. And for some reason she felt like he knew.

"Everything's going to be alright Rose. We won't let anything happen to you."

"I know that, I know I'm safe here." She snapped a little more briskly than she meant it, knowing it was what Forrest wanted to hear.

"Okay then." Forrest said and he left her alone for the rest of the night.