Mister Quaid: 1800s: I Will Always Find You... (WLW)

Part Two, 1879: Chapter Twelve

Even if Pete saw her now, she would run away and...

"Don't lie to yourself, Pete..." She whispered under her breath as she played with the edges of the photographs. "You would jump at the chance to be with her, you know that."

However, she also knew the danger she would pose to Alice and while she loved her more than life itself, she knew it wasn't enough. Would love ever be enough to destroy the woman she loved by hindering her existence at every turn? One slip up and everyone would know her guise was just that; a lie. That's what Pete did after all, right? Lied to everyone about everything...? People would lynch Alice right along with her and if she ever let anything like that happen...she would never forgive herself.

She wanted Alice. She had since the day she said goodbye and not a moment went by where she wasn't thinking of her honey scent, the way her long black locks tousled in the wind, or how beautiful she looked atop that dusty coated horse she used to ride on their adventures. It was all encompassing and the only thing that got her out of bed in the morning. A bed in which her last thought each night was Alice and her first of the morning the same. It was torment, but in it was the serenity that Hany always kept her apprised of what Alice was doing, where she would be heading and how she could avoid seeing her.

She had taken it as a blessing many-a-time as she had avoided ever having--

Pete lost her balance along the balcony's banister as she began to absentmindedly read words that chilled her to her bone before sending warming butterflies to the pits of her belly. She checked the postmark date on the envelope and sighed as she peeked back at the letter, willing it to have miraculously changed. It hadn't.

"P.S. Alice will be traveling from Fort Worth to Houston in the very near future. She has business with many investors and traders there along with your brother. Please, be careful. And if it isn't too much to ask, check on her. Something is so deeply sad in her letters and impersonal, Pete." She whispered as she read the tail end of the letter. "Dammit..."

Her first instinct was to run, but not away, which was why she'd stayed so far away from Alice in the past. Every chance she had, every opportunity to connect with her once more had been foiled by her need to protect her, but what were those reasons why Pete staying away from her was for her own protection? For the life of her, she suddenly couldn't answer the question anymore in spite of the fact they were in her mind not five minutes ago. Instead, a perfectly opaque and engulfing image of Alice flooded her mind in the most serendipitously splendid way possible.

This couldn't be happening again. Pete couldn't be imagining Alice's soft, long hair twirling along her fingers. She couldn't be imagining the elegant curve of her neck and the dulcet tones of her voice. The way her eyes lit up when most intrigued. A tight lump formed in Pete's throat, making her feel like her breath would never come once more. If she saw Alice, she knew it would never come to her again, leaving her breathless until she was able to touch her softly tanned skin and stare into her deep, abyss-like eyes. Abyss-like eyes that felt less like an abyss and more like the purest and warmest home that could possibly hold her.

Pete couldn't bear it. If she went near Alice, there would be no stopping the pull toward her. She would never stop thinking of what she could have... Then again, had she ever really stopped thinking about what they could have been together?

Not for a second, and Alice was so close. All she had to do was reach out.

This was why she had stayed so far away from her, knowing the moment she realized she was in her orbit again, she would never falter from her side.

Dammit, Hany... Why did you do this to me...?

When would she be in Houston, though, and where? It was a big place, so perhaps Pete could slip away. Blend with the passersby and run away for those prairie lands and hill countries she'd made her home within so many times over the years. There was no time for sleep. Only time to run. Time to keep herself free from Alice...and Alice safe from the turmoil her life would become if she ever came face-to-face with Pete again.

* * *

Pete sat atop Temperance, the palomino she'd purchased not long after Nickolas passed on after so many long rides with her. She cautiously scanned the crowds of men, women and children passing by on horseback or in their wagons. None were recognizable or interested in her aside from the occasional "Good day, sir" or "Mornin', sir." She feigned politeness and rode by, trying to break free from the city before it was too late.

Somewhere in her mind, she'd wanted nothing more than to leave at the cusp of dawn and make her way outside of Houston, but without even knowing it, she had traveled daringly close to her brother's place of business. Pete was now all too aware of just how close she had gotten to upending the entire life she held in her hands, but a voice in her mind told her to keep going. She was teetering the edge and feeling as though some imbecile had taken charge of her body. That dolt was not listening to her. It would not obey the orders she gave it to turn her mare around, fueled by the ever growing warmth in her stomach, slowly lurching toward her chest with each foot she cleared toward her preconceived destination.

She halted Temperance and dismounted, keeping her hands occupied with checking her saddle as her mind began to wander to places it shouldn't. Why the hell had she come here? Did she enjoy torturing herself?

Hany!

That was it! In her next letter, Pete could say she saw Alice. She didn't need to say she'd only seen her from afar or that she was too much of a coward to actually speak to her. Hany didn't need to know that bit, the minor details. All she needed to know was that Alice was just fine and healthy. That could be seen from very far away, right? It didn't mean that...

A man exited a stagecoach and held out his hand saying a name that turned Pete's skin to fire. "Miss Alice? May I?"

Pete scanned the man's body up and down. He was well built, about her height and had dark hair, parted perfectly to one side. He wore nice business-like attire and the leather on his boots was of fine quality. Who was he to Alice? Was it really her in there? If it was, now would be Pete's last chance to run, but her rebellious feet wouldn't budge from their sated place in the muddy road.

"I can get down just fine on my own, Mister Marsters."

Pete would know that voice anywhere. She was transfixed, hiding behind her palomino as a woman's booted foot shot down to the first step outside of the coach. Her breath stilled as Alice poked her head out, squinting at the sun that broke through the rain drizzling clouds above head. She climbed the rest of the way down from the stagecoach and opened a parasol.

Alice was there, and just as stunningly breathtaking as ever.

She wore a deep blue bustle dress with black lace on the edges and held a silk, lace shawl over her shoulders that draped daintily around the crooks of her elbows. The man, this Mister Marsters, reached out to take her arm, but Alice brushed it away with a scolding look. Despite her apprehension in seeing her and having no control over her own movements in getting herself there or far away for that matter, Pete couldn't fight the smile playing at her lips as she watched Alice interact with this man.

Mister Marsters' face contorted for a moment, then he led the way up the steps to her brother's business building. Alice, however, stopped at the first step. She placed a hand onto the back of her neck and turned around, scanning the crowds of people passing by. A deep blush washed over her face and she touched her chest with quick, sharp breaths.

"Are you alright, Miss Alice?" Mister Marsters asked as he joined her at her side.

Alice didn't stop searching the crowds, her eyebrows arching for a moment conveying evident strain, before she steeled herself. She closed her eyes and shook her head, then opened them again. "I am fine, Mister Marsters. And it is still Miss Covington, to you. Please, do well to honor and respect that request, thank you." Her words were cold, nothing like the soft lightness they once carried. It set a weight in Pete's chest, but she tried to listen for anything else Alice may add. She turned around with a sigh as she lifted the skirt of her dress and moved up the stairs. "Never you mind, Mister Marsters. We have business to attend."

Then, she was gone.