The New Hand, Part Fifteen

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

LINK TO PART ONE

~

David saw his mother briefly in the morning. She insisted that he escort her outside for a breath of air.

“I was going to ask why you took it in your head to become a ranch hand,” she began, “but having met Adam—well, I think I figured it out for myself.”

David sighed. “You may be jumping to the wrong conclusion.”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “There might not be anything between you two now, but that’s certainly your goal.”

She stopped walking and turned to face her son. “Be careful, David. I like Adam, but I can tell that he’s as competitive as you are. It would be a constant power struggle between the two of you—and I rather think you’d lose more often than not.”

He smiled at that. “Probably,” he owned.

She returned his smile. “Of course, that might be good for you,” she teased.

David took her hand and raised it to his lips. “It’s not my goal, mother. It is the reason I took the job, but I only wanted to, ah, become close to him in order to ruin him.”

She raised her eyebrows at that. “I won’t ask why you wanted to ruin him. But that can’t have been the only reason—I can’t believe you’re immune to him.”

“I’m not,” he agreed. “Lord, how could I be? But I no longer want to ruin him—and, besides, Adam and I have other things to worry about right now.”

She put her hand on his cheek. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what any of this is about?”

He shook his head.

She sighed. “Very well. Just take care of yourself, David. And make sure you’re back in Virginia City in time to catch one of my performances.”

LINK TO PART SIXTEEN