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Gifts From the Heart
by Pirate Turner
"I'm tellin' ya, Kid," Buck Wilmington insisted for the hundredth time, "if you give her that, you're just gonna make her mad. Why won't you listen to a man who knows what he's talking about?"
"Precisely," Ezra Standish chimed in from JD's other side.
Buck looked up at his friend in surprise. "Thanks, Ez. 'Bout time ya agreed with me."
Ezra arched a single eyebrow at the scoundrel. "Ah nevah said Ah agreed with you, Mister Wilmington. Ah merely agreed that he should listen to a gentleman who knows how to truly treat a lady, and you, sir, are not that gentleman." A mischievous twinkle sparkled in the gambler's green eyes as Buck's face grew red.
"Guys, I know you mean well, but I don't want it to be just any gift. I want it to be something from the heart."
"Give her a bouquet of roses," Ezra suggested. "Ladies always adore roses. In addition, every color symbolizes a different meaning, so you will certainly find the perfect messenger for whatever meaning you are attempting to tell her."
"I don't want some stupid flower giving the message," JD argued. "I want to give it to her myself."
"And you think giving her that's gonna do it?" Buck asked.
"Sure it will. It shows I know her, and she's had her eye on it ever since it showed up at the General Store."
"JD, JD, JD," Buck said, shaking his head in disappointment. "Just because a woman has her eye on something at the General Store doesn't make it a Christmas present. Some women look at fabric, but you wouldn't give them fabric as a present."
"Although you might order a dress to be made especially for them with said fabric," Ezra added.
"Look, guys," JD said, holding up his hands, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I know Casey. I know what she wants, and I lo -- care too much about her than to not give her what she wants."
Buck and Ezra exchanged a glance, and Buck let out a sharp whistle. "Dang, Kid! You're starting the ol' ball an' chain pretty early there, aren't ya?"
JD's eyes flashed, and he opened his mouth to berate Buck even as Inez approached their end of the bar with her hands on her hips. "You two better not be giving JD a hard time again!" she warned them.
"Who us?" Buck asked innocently with an angelic smile that he prayed would hide his horns.
"Oh, shove it, Wilmington," Inez told him, causing Buck's mouth to fall open in shock and Ezra to hide a smile. The beautiful Mexican senorita then turned her attention to JD. "JD," she told him, her eyes meeting his, "ignore these two. Senor Standish may mean well, but we both know how Senor Wilmington is. Besides, neither understands, and neither has any right to tell you what to get for your lady. I know it's an unusual present, but I also know that it's exactly the kind of thing that Casey would love."
JD grinned at his friend's encouraging words. "Thanks, Inez," he told her. "Now, if y'all will excuse me, I have a package to pick up." The Kid tipped his hat to Inez, ignored Buck's still-open mouth, and left the saloon.
The full moon was already beginning to rise high into the night sky when they met in front of the barn. The very instant they set eyes on one another, both began to smile, their eyes twinkling with excitement and shining with adoration. "I'm glad you finally managed to get away from Nettie," JD commented as they reached each other.
"I had to wait until she fell asleep," Casey admitted.
"You mean she doesn't . . . ?" JD started to ask.
"She'll figure it out," Casey assured him. Her brown eyes shifted to the large white box with the red ribbon JD held carefully in his arms. "What's that you've got?"
"You know you're not finding out until we get up there." His chuckle thrilled her ears.
"Then let's hurry up and get up there," she responded eagerly, her brown eyes dancing.
She was so beautiful that he almost hated to tear his eyes away from hers, but he was just as eager to see her face light up when she opened the box as she was to see what was in it. "Last one up is a rotten egg," he teased her playfully as he darted into the barn with her swiftly following him.
They raced together into the barn and to the ladder. JD reached the ladder first, but just as he reached out to grasp it, Casey darted swiftly around him and began climbing before he could stop her. "Hey!" he protested with a grin.
As she reached the top, she called back down, "Yup. That's precisely what's up here. Now hurry up, slow poke." They both laughed softly.
JD hurried after his girlfriend and swiftly caught back up with her. They walked together to their favorite spot in the hay loft and sat down in front of the window that looked out over the back of the street. "It's beautiful out tonight," he commented, glancing outside. He then looked back at her and added silently, {But not as beautiful as it is in here.}
"Yeah," she agreed softly.
Their eyes met and locked. His lips ached to taste hers, but instead he again tore himself away and handed her the present. She quickly unwrapped the present, and he held his breath in anticipation of her reaction as she lifted the lid. Her eyes met the silver gleam, and she let out a startled gasp. "Oh, JD," she breathed, "it's beautiful!" Her fingers ran gingerly along its sleek design as she admired its craftsmanship before carefully and reverently raising the brand new shotgun from its long box.
JD grinned as pride and gratitude that he was able to make her so happy filled his heart. "I'm glad you like it, Casey."
"Of course I like it! You knew I would! I've been looking at it for months! How on Earth did you ever manage to afford it?!" Even as she talked, she continued to look over every detail of the shotgun, enjoying the way its hard steel felt in her hands.
"Let's just say that being Sheriff has its perks. Besides, it's what you wanted, and now you really have a way to protect yourself when I'm not around."
Casey's flashed, and JD held up a hand to stop her exclamation. "I know. I know. You don't need me to protect you."
He smiled charmingly at her, and her anger evaporated. "Just as long as you realize that," Casey said, "and thank you, JD. It's exactly what I wanted."
"I know," he replied with a smile, "and you're welcome."
"I only regret I couldn't afford to get you something really expensive like that," she said softly as she carefully returned the gun to its box, sealed it again, and placed it to her side.
JD struggled to keep his face from falling. He hadn't expected much, but he had been looking forward to unwrapping a little something. "It's okay, Casey. I understand. I --"
Grinning, she broke him off. "I made you something instead." As she spoke, she removed a small present wrapped in green paper with red twine as its ribbon. She handed it to him. Her heart beat wildly as he began to open it, and she prayed he'd like it.
JD's mouth fell open in shock as he rolled the paper back and a small, wooden figure appeared. He would have recognized the man anywhere. "Wow," he breathed softly, his eyes growing as round as saucers as he gazed admiringly down at the figure. His fingers reached down and, as carefully and reverently as they might hold a nugget of gold, picked up the figure. "I didn't even know you knew how to whittle," he breathed softly as his eyes examined every tiny detail.
Casey's smile grew even more brilliant as she watched her love. She had not known how to whittle until she had learned how in order to make this gift for him, but she would not tell him that. She watched him with eyes as full of admiration as the eyes that gazed down upon the figure of Bat Masterson.
"Hey, what's this for?" JD asked, noticing a tiny hole in one of Bat's hands.
Casey's smile turned mischievous, and her brown eyes danced. "Finish unwrapping your present, and you'll find out," she told him with an air of mystery to her voice.
JD did as instructed, and he could scarcely believe the next figure he unwrapped. He blinked several times, staring down at it in between each blink, before whispering, "That's me."
Casey grinned and nodded. "Yup."
"But . . ." JD shook his head in confusion. "I don't . . ."
Casey gently reached over and covered his hands with her own. "Here. Let me show you." She guided his hands to fit the extended hand of the wooden image of himself into the tiny hole in Bat's hand. Their hands were a perfect fit, and JD's eyes widened even more as he realized that she had made the figures in such a way that they were shaking hands. Words could not express the gratitude and honored feelings that swelled in the young man's heart, and he looked up at his beloved with dark eyes full of the emotions he could not put a voice to.
Her eyes shone, as well, as she told him, "I know he's your hero, JD, and I know how much you want to be like him. What you don't realize is how much of a hero you already are. The way I see it. Bat would really be the one honored to know you." She blushed slightly and lowered her head so that her eyes no longer looked into his as she mumbled, "I know it's sappy, but . . ."
The Sheriff fought to keep the tears that threatened to well in his eyes from showing. He had never once received a gift that had touched him more than the one he now held in his hands. Gently cradling the gift in one hand, he raised his other to tenderly bring her chin back up. His eyes met hers and refused to release her gaze as he leaned closer to her.
Their lips met in a soft kiss that lasted for a couple of minutes before he slowly pulled away. His nose still touched hers, and his forehead pressed gently against hers. Still gazing intently into her beautiful eyes, he whispered softly to her, "I love you, Casey." He had never seen anything more beautiful than the way her eyes lit up when he said those four little words.
"I love you too, JD." Casey then recaptured his lips. Their kiss was once more gentle as it began, but the young lovers' passion soon grew.
Two days later, Casey whistled merrily as she walked down the boardwalk, her brown eyes scanning the town for any sign of her love. Seeing no sign of JD, she shrugged and began to head for his office. Just as she was passing by an alley, two strong arms snaked out and grasped her, one wrapping around her waist and the other's hand covering her mouth. Her eyes went wild as she was snatched back into the alley.
"It's me," a low, calm voice whispered only a second before she would have bit his hand. He released her, and she turned to look up at him. "Did it work?" he asked, struggling to hide his hope for the young girl and her beloved.
Deep gratitude instantly covered Casey's features as, grinning widely, she replied, "Perfectly. I've never seen him so happy as he was that night. I never could have managed that by my own, especially if you hadn't taught me how to whittle. Thank you, Mister Larabee."
Chris grinned.
The End