Lily watched the look of confusion pour over Josiah's face as Cheyenne moved away from him. Their relationship sparked her curiousity. She made a mental note to ask someone about it later. Ezra maybe, he was always willing to volunteer information.

A gasp of shock from her left drew Lily out of her thoughts. Two women stood a few feet away. Their voices were whispers but it was obvious they were talking about her. She thought she caught the word 'tramp' come from one of them.

Lily looked down and realized she was still wearing the same dress from yesterday. The ripped bodice was showing more than she cared to show in public, especially to strangers. She tried to discretly hold the torn fabric back in place and made her way to her room.

A cold wind greeted Lily as she stopped at the top of the stairs. She quickly wondered how many windows were broken. She'd have to check all the rooms. But first she needed to change her clothes. Glass lay scattered across half of her room. Lily tried not to think about the cost of repairs as she changed. A quick survey of the other rooms showed that the broken windows were the worst of the damage. Though she suspected that Ezra wouldn't be happy with the state of one of his jackets. It lay in a puddle of water left by the rain.

'Chris', her heart suddenly screamed. She hadn't seen him outside before. The buildings in town were fairly sturdy but that shack he lived in would be torn apart by this kind of storm. If she could find Vin or Buck, she'd send one of them to look for him. Lily made her way past broken glass and wood back outside. The clouds had begun to recede and the sun threatened to poke through.

"Molly!" The name escaped her mouth before she even realized she'd spoken it. Lily walked quickly to the house that Molly and her father had recently taken. The door stood wide open. A pool of water lay just inside.

Lily poked her head inside to look around. "Molly? Bryan?" Only silence answered her. She debated for a moment about whether to go in when a hand touched her shoulder. She spun around to meet Bryan Gallagher looking back at her in surprise.

"Sorry, Mrs. Patterson, I didn't mean to scare you."

Lily laughed in relief and patted his hand. "Quite alright. I came to make sure you and Molly survived the storm without serious damage. Where is she?"

"She's with Colum, out at the ranch. We were all out at my new place before the worst of the storm. I made it back to town and Colum musta took Molly to the ranch with him to wait it out."

"That certainly is a relief. Well, I'd better get back to the saloon." Bryan tipped his hat to her as she walked away.

Lily stopped at the telegraph office on her way. She sent a message to be delivered to Terrence when he arrived in San Francisco. She wanted him to know she was alright, in case he'd heard about the tornado. She also wanted to make sure that he'd arrived safely. For all the trouble he caused her, part of her truly did care for him.

A smiling Mary Travis met her as she emerged from the office. She'd had very few occasions to talk with the newspaper woman other than a greeting on the street.

"Mrs. Patterson, I'm so glad to see you made it through the night unharmed."

"Yes, I was lucky that Mr. Wilmington was around to help me. And please, call me Lily."

"Alright, Lily. I was just speaking with Mrs. Potter, who runs the general store, and she's had a wonderful idea. A box social."

"A box social? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that."

"Unmarried women prepare box lunches and then men bid on the opportunity to share the lunch with the woman who made it. Mrs. Potter thought that the money could go to making repairs from the storm. What do you think?"

"It sounds like a lovely idea. But I don't understand . . . oh no, you certainly don't want me to participate?"

"Of course I do. I have no doubt that there are several men in town who pay to spend a meal with you. Will you at least--" Mary's words were drowned out by the rumbled of hoofbeats as the stage entered town. Several large pieces of luggage rested atop the coach. An attractive older woman descended shortly after the stage stopped quickly directing the driver to take her bags to the hotel.

"Oh dear." Mary's voice was light with amusement.

"Do you know her?" There was something vaguely familiar about the woman but Lily couldn't place what it was.

"That's Maude Standish, Ezra's mother."

"Really?" Lily could see Ezra already making his way across the street to meet her.

"I need to get back to Billy. But, please Lily, do consider being part of the box social."

"I will give it some thought." The answer seemed to satisfy Mary who turned and headed back to the Clarion office.

Lily saw the lanky figure of Vin Tanner descending the stairs from Nathan's clinic. She caught his eye and waved him to join her. "What can I do for ya, Lily?"

"I'm worried about Chris. That shack he calls a home certainly couldn't have stood up to that storm, could it?"

Vin didn't want to worry her by saying that he'd been thinking the same thing. "It'd take more than a little wind and rain to take down Chris." His attempt at humor didn't change the worried expression on Lily's face. "I'm gonna check on a couple of things here and then I'll grab Buck and ride out to his place." Lily nodded knowing that for the moment nothing more could be done.

"Everything still standing at the ranch?" Vin spoke to someone behind Lily.

"Just barely. Never seen one quite like that." Colum Gallagher's voice came from close behind her. Lily turned expecting to find Molly with him, but he was alone.

"Where's Molly?"

"Don't know. Just came in from the ranch. But I 'spect she's with her father."

"Wasn't she at the ranch with you during the night?"

"No. I left her out at the homestead with her father when the storm was coming."

"I just spoke with Bryan and he said you took her to the ranch."

"Good Lord! Where is he?"

"Over at the house." Colum was running before Lily finished speaking.

Vin's eyes met Lily's anxious gaze. "Looks like I might need more help than just Buck."