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Disclaimer: Ain't mine.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is for Kim, who admonished
me for letting Kelly get
all the Vin in Maggie's 'Mad Drunk' continuation
.
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"Ooh, that shore didn't sound good." Nathan
walked back to Kim who was
leaning over, one hand steadying herself on the
side of the jailhouse,
trying not to let there be anymore reminders
of the previous night.
"You okay, Kim?" inquired Cassie.
The rest of the group had stopped on the
boardwalk and was staring with various expressions
of concern at the sickly
figure.
"Perhaps a bit of the hair of the dog?"
Ezra suggested, but the offering
was just answered with a deadly glare from Kim,
causing the gambler to
flinch slightly. "Or perhaps not," he whispered.
Diana, feeling bad for her friend but also feeling
the gnawing in her
stomach, offered her own tip, "You really just
need some water, maybe a
little toast?"
"A little licorice root is usually helpful," added
Buck, "maybe she could
use some a' that."
"What she needs," drawled Maggie, "is fewer of
your guys's brilliant
schemes." The brunette shot Ezra a dirty
look, still blaming him for the
cause of the fight that interrupted the Bunch's
celebration.
Standish averted his eyes and did his best to
slip casually behind JD and
Judy, starting to feel that he wasn't going to
be able to say anything that
morning that would be right.
Vin stepped forward and put an arm around the
ailing girl's shoulders,
"C'mon, Ms. Kim. Diana's right, you need
ta get a little somethin' in ya."
Kim wasn't sure that was the answer but one look
into those blue eyes and
any protest her stomach may have come up with
was quickly overruled. She
allowed the tracker to guide her toward the hotel
dining room.
As the group passed through the doors they saw
Josiah and Chris discussing
something quietly over breakfast, but the two
men fell silent as the
eclectic band pulled up a second table and some
chairs and made themselves
comfortable.
Chris let his stern gaze pass over each of them.
"I hope we're all feeling a
bit more settled this morning."
"Yes, Dad," Mog muttered under her breath but
as Larabee's head snapped in
her direction Maria pointed to Penny who was
sitting next to her, trying to
make it look as if the brown-haired girl next
to her had made the comment.
The gunslinger knew better and held his stare
on Mog a bit longer, smiling
slightly as he watched the young woman become
suddenly very interested in
the small pitcher of cream that rested on the
table.
Josiah couldn't help but notice Kim's dejected
countenance. "That is a look
I myself have worn on many occasion, Ms. Kim,
but never was I able to carry
it and still radiate such beauty."
The queasy member of Maggie's crew blushed at
the compliment, and for a
moment her companions saw real color infuse their
friend's face. Until the
wafting scent of a plate of steak and eggs from
the next table drifted over
and made the young woman's smile fade as she
swallowed hard.
An older woman came to take the various orders
for breakfast, but as she
turned to leave Vin caught her arm and whispered
an addition to the list.
As the food came the waitress placed a steaming
mug of tea before Kim with a
bowl of water and a fresh napkin.
The hung over woman looked at the items quizzically
but before she could
inquire about their purpose Vin placed his chair
behind hers and reached
forward to soak the napkin in the water.
Tanner wrung it out thoroughly and
spoke quietly as he placed it on the back of
Kim's neck.
"That there is some mint tea, works wonders on
an ailin' stomach. And
this," placing his fingertips at strategic points
across the young woman's
scalp and forehead, "is somethin' I learned from
a rancher's sister in
Oklahoma."
As the pressure point massage took effect Kim
knew exactly how dogs feel
when someone manages to scratch that one exact
perfect point on their backs.
"Dang," Judy murmured, observing her friend's
relaxed expression as the
tracker worked certain points down the woman's
neck and shoulders, "remind
me not to sober up next time we go out."
fin
