by J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Slash Fan Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13
Link to Part One
~
Little Joe and Adam decided not to fight over the lone settee in the cabin, so when David and Abby retired to their room, the brothers bedded down on the floor by the main fireplace. The settee wasn’t all that comfortable for sleeping anyway, Joe reckoned.
It always felt strange to sleep in the cabin. Joe had fixed this place up for Laura, intending to make her his bride. He hadn’t known at the time that she was terminally ill. But then Laura hadn’t known it either.
It would have been perfect. Small enough to be cozy, but you could always build additions as children came into the picture. And it was on Ponderosa property. Joe would have been close enough to the main house yet far enough to maintain some privacy for himself and his bride.
The same reasons made the cabin ideal for David and Abby, which is why Joe had offered it to them. They still needed some privacy, even if it was just a marriage of convenience. And David still needed to be close to the main house. At any event, Joe was glad that the cabin was getting some use. Especially after all the work he and his brothers had put into it.
Joe had intended the place as a surprise for Laura. That hadn’t worked out. But at least she got a chance to see it before she died. It was just a shame that she had never read—
Joe bolted up. When he and Hoss and Adam had finished fixing the place up, Joe had slipped a letter behind a loose brick of the fireplace. He had meant to play a little game with Laura, watching her hunt for it like an Easter egg. But then—well, then there was the tragedy and Joe had forgotten all about that letter.
Was it still there? Joe almost didn’t want to find out. If memory served, he’d been in an overly gushy and romantic mood back when he’d written it. Which was fine, he supposed, if a fellow’s writing to his new fiancée. But it might seem like so much dribble to anyone else who stumbled upon it.
He stood up and walked over the fireplace, trying to find the right brick. After a couple of minutes, he gave up. The light from the fireplace itself wasn’t enough—he’d have to find a lantern.
“What’s the matter, Joe?”
Adam’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. He turned to find his brother staring at him, his amber eyes flickering in the firelight.
Joe had heard some folks call those eyes hazel—but that was impossible. Not unless hazel was a broad enough term to cover both his own gray-green eyes and that burnt color of Adam’s. In fact, to Joe, Adam’s eyes had always resembled a cat’s.
“I was looking for a letter I hid here for Laura,” Joe confessed. “It was supposed to be like a treasure hunt—but I forgot about it. Now I can’t remember which brick it’s behind.”
“We can find it in the morning, when there’s daylight,” Adam pointed out. “Why don’t you get some sleep? We’ve got to work tomorrow.”
Joe shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose.”
He crawled back under his covers, pulling them tightly around himself. Then he closed his eyes—but he could still feel Adam’s eyes on him.
“What’s the matter with you, older brother?” he asked, opening his own eyes again.
Adam bent his elbow and propped up his head. “Are you in some kind of trouble?” he asked.
Joe felt a little pit in his stomach at that question. The last thing he needed Adam to know was that he had been swindled into losing five thousand dollars at poker. Or that he had enlisted David to help him get the money back.
“Why do you think I’m in trouble?” Joe countered.
Adam sighed. “Experience. Be honest, Joe. Are you and David up to some mischief?”
Joe grinned. “You don’t even trust David?”
“I trust him with my life,” Adam retorted, “but I don’t trust him to stay out of trouble. His schemes are almost as wild as yours.”
“Oh, his are usually better thought out,” Joe said generously.
“Which makes them that much more dangerous,” Adam said wryly. “What are you two up to?”
“Nothing that you need to worry about,” Joe assured him.
Adam frowned. “Does it have to do with poker?”
“Why would it?”
To Joe’s surprise, Adam seemed to hesitate with his response.
“I don’t know,” he said at length. “David’s convinced that you’re addicted to the game. I’ve taken your part—I don’t think David knows you well enough to judge a thing like that yet. Was I wrong?”
That twinge of guilt came back. “No,” Joe managed. “You’re not wrong. Look, I’ve decided to take a break from the game anyway. I won’t be playing for the next two months.”
Joe didn’t add that David refused to give him help until he agreed to that two month break. There was no need to worry Adam with the details. Besides, older brother was starting to look satisfied.
“You see,” Joe said. “There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“All right,” Adam said. “But if you two end up over your heads, promise to come to me before you go under?”
“Yeah, I promise.”
“So do I,” said David.
Joe turned around to find David in the doorway, leaning against it with his arms folded across his chest. Funny—he must have picked up that lean from Adam.
Joe smiled up at him. “How long you been there?”
“Just long enough to hear you make that promise,” David assured him. “Why are you two still awake?”
“Long story,” Joe told him. “Hey, you didn’t find a letter hidden behind a loose brick in the fireplace, did you?”
“Yes, I did,” David answered as he walked over to them and sat down, cross-legged, between the two brothers.
Joe felt his face flush. “Did you read it?”
David shook his head. “Only far enough to see that it was addressed it to Laura. I assumed it was from you. I would have told you about it, but I was afraid of opening up old wounds.”
Joe narrowed his eyes at him. “You really didn’t read it?”
David rolled his eyes in response. “Believe it or not, I have occasional bouts of morality. Somehow I managed to show respect to you and Laura. I really didn’t read it.”
Adam laughed. “I think you’re safe, Joe, however sentimental that letter might have been.”
Joe grinned. “I remember most of what I put in it. It’s probably awful—but I meant it to be romantic.”
Both Adam and David smiled at that. “Then Laura probably would have loved it,” Adam commented.
Joe nodded, satisfied. Then he settled back down, closed his eyes and finally drifted off to sleep.
LINK TO PART TWELVE
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