A/N: I started posting this on AO3 a couple years ago but I hated posting there and there wasn't much activity so I decided to turn it into a House fanfic and switch it up a little. So I hope you like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thanks to PurplemintPatty for being my beta for this fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own House or its characters. I have also never been to Jackson, Wyoming so any mistakes are my own. This is JUST FICTION.

PROLOGUE

Tina drove along the quiet streets of the small town she grew up in. It had been eighteen years since she'd been home and had it not been for her mother's illness, she wouldn't be there at all. But when her mother asked her to come stay with her, she felt if she didn't, she'd regret it. So she'd packed a bag and drove through several states to her hometown of Jackson, Wyoming.

"You came," the old lady's eyes brightened when Tina came into the room and sat down on her mother's bed.

"Mom," Tina said softly, "the doctor said it's bad."

"He likes to over-dramatize things," the older lady chuckled. "All that matters is that you're back. You are going to stay awhile, aren't you?"

"I'll stay for as long as you need me. The shop is in good hands until I get back. They'll be fine without me for awhile."

"I'm glad. It's good to see you. You're looking well. You could put some weight on, though."

Tina rolled her eyes. "Oh, Mom. I eat plenty. You of all people know that."

"I know it. I'm just giving you a hard time because I don't get to enough. You're my only child after all. My baby. Just indulge me."

Tina chuckled as her Mom reached for her hand. "While you're here, I've taken the liberty of calling my lawyer. He'll be over tomorrow with some papers for you to sign."

"What are you on about now, Mom?"

"Just crossing my T's and dotting my I's. I don't want you to sell this house after I'm gone. I don't want you to rent it out, either. I want you to stay and live here. You know how much this house means to me and what it meant to your father, God rest his soul."

"Mom..."

"Just listen. I understand why you left all those years ago. But that's in the past. You belong here. It's where your roots are. You can do just as well with a shop here as you can back in Vegas."

"I doubt it. This isn't the Bible Belt, but pretty damn close. It's a modern day Peyton Place. People are going to treat me like a pariah. I don't have the patience or peace of mind to deal with the people in this town. I just don't want to live here, Mom, and you know why."

"People ask me about you all the time," her Mom said. "They're just curious."

"They're nosy" Tina corrected her.

"Give them a chance."

"Why should I? They never gave me one."

"Oh, Tina," her mother sighed. "Just give it some thought. You can discuss it with Bob when he comes over tomorrow."

"Oh you bet I will."

Bob Arlington came the next day, just after lunch with his assistant in tow. He reviewed all the documents with Tina and her mother. Tina reluctantly signed, with her mother's next door neighbors serving as witnesses and Bob's assistant notarized the papers.

Tina shooed everyone out because her mother was drained from the excitement of her daughter finally coming home. After tucking her mother in for her nap, Tina read to her while she held her hand. Soon, they were both asleep.

Several hours later, Tina awoke with a start. Her mother had passed quietly in her sleep, having accomplished what she set out to do. Her cold hand was still wrapped around Tina's warm one.

Chapter One

Three months later...

"Breathe!" Tina chuckled as she poised the needle at the entry point of the pretty blonde girl's navel. "I'm not going to do it until you breathe. I don't want you holding your breath and passing out."

"I am breathing! I'm not going to...Oh God!" the teen squeaked as Tina shoved the needle through her skin with trained expertise and threaded it through to the other side.

"There. The worst is over now."

The girl glanced down at the long needle sticking through her belly button while Tina screwed on the bottom half of the barbell. "Really?"

"Yep. It's through. Cool, eh?"

"Yeah, eh?" said the girl's boyfriend, who had been watching the procedure from the doorway.

Tina glanced up at the kid. "Shut up, or I'll give you a Prince Albert."

"What's a Prince Albert?" the blonde's boyfriend demanded.

Her girlfriend leaned over and whispered something in his ear, causing the boy's eyes to widen and Tina to wink at her customer. "All done." Then she grabbed a hand mirror and held it up so she could see her new piercing.

"Cool!"

After giving her the proper after-care instructions and a bottle of cleaning spray, the girl paid, tipped her very well, and left with her entourage.

"Another happy customer," Tina sighed and kicked back in her chair.

"I'm sure her mother won't be so happy," Chris, her tattoo artist, said with a smirk. Chris had come to work for Tina after she sold her shop in Vegas. They made a good team.

"Not my problem. She's over sixteen so she doesn't need mommy's consent."

"Somehow I doubt her mommy will see it that way. Being head of the church committee and all."

"If the kid is smart, she'll keep it hidden while it heals."

Chris snorted. "Yeah right! Summer is just around the corner. She'll be wearing bikinis and crop tops before you know it."

"Again, not my problem."

The rumble of motorcycles in the distance caused Tina to wince.

"Oh, shit"

The rumbles got louder, causing pictures on the wall to rattle and shake as a parade of bikes pulled into Tina's parking lot. There were several of them, half men, half women, and they sauntered into the shop like they owned the place.

"Who's doin' the tattoos in this joint?" one of the men called out.

Tina stepped forward and began to speak but Chris held her back.

"That would be me. May I help you, gentlemen? And ladies?" he smiled at the women with his crooked grin.

"Word is that you do good work."

"Yep, if I do say so myself."

"Who's dat?" the hefty biker pointed to Tina.

"I'm the owner of this establishment," Tina said as she shoved Chris aside and stepped forward. "What can we do for you?"

"We came for some ink."

"Great. How much do you want to spend? Chris can do anything you want."

"What 'bout you, darlin'?"

"I'm not a tattoo artist. I'm a piercer."

A big guy stepped forward. He smelled of bad hygiene and stale cigarette smoke. "I want you to do my nipple." When he leered at her, his tobacco-stained teeth made it obvious that it had been years since he'd been to a dentist.

Tina shrugged. She figured he was trying to intimidate her but it wasn't working and she let him know that..

"Sure. Fifty bucks and it's done. Room's back here." She led him into the back room where she did her piercings.

Two hours later, the mob left the shop but took their time leaving the parking lot.

As they chatted and revved their loud engines, Tina heard laughter from several of the men and then a woman screaming all sorts of obscenities.

"What the hell..." Tina groaned as she went to the door to look outside. Carol, the snobby church socialite was standing on the curb sobbing, covered in dirty water.

"Oh good God," Chris shook his head as the men revved their engines and prepared to leave. They didn't get far when the Carol's husband, the Chief of Police, pulled up in his squad car and got out.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Then he noticed his wife.

"Carol? What happened to you?"

Carol wiped at her eyes, her running mascara making her look like Rocky the Racoon.

"These...these...cretins came into this beautiful town of ours, in their dirty leather jackets, riding those loud...bikes! They startled me so bad I fell down, broke my heel and my nail! I paid a fortune for this manicure! Arrest them! All of them! They're nothing but a menace to society!"

"Now calm down, sugar lips. I'm sure it was just an accident."

"The hell it was, sugar lips!" one of the bikers called out, causing the rest of them to laugh and cheer.

"Taylor," Carol whined.

Tina came outside with Chris.

"Now what?" she groaned, and looked at the lead biker whom she assumed was the one in charge. "I thought you were leaving my fine establishment."

"Fine? Establishment?" Carol gasped. "This place is nothing but a den of sin!"

"A licensed den of sin," Tina said with a sweet smile.

Carol turned to her husband. "You should arrest her too!"

Tina laughed. "What for? Running a business?" Then she glared at the biker. "Are you still here? Go already!"

Taylor raised his hand. "Not so fast. We have a noise statute that prohibits your beasts from being ridden in these parts after eight p.m. If I see you miscreantshere again, I will have to cite you."

"Yeah whatever, Barney Fife," the biker chuckled and revved his bike a few extra times before he rode off with his pack close behind him.

"Yes, well," Taylor sighed as he brushed imaginary dust from his shirt and turned to Tina. "I know I don't have to tell you that this better be the last time I see those guys here."

Tina folded her arms across her chest. "I'm running a business, Taylor. They came, they got what they wanted, they paid and they left. Nobody got hurt."

"I did!" Carol piped up. "And the way you described it makes it sound like you're running a place of ill repute."

"Oh shut up!" Tina snapped at her. "Nobody gives a rats ass about your damn manicure. You're the one who yelled at them and provoked them by calling them ruffians."

Taylor turned to his wife. "Is that true?"

"They are ruffians! And ever since this...place opened, it's done nothing but attract unsavory elements. You should just close the place down."

"She hasn't broken any laws, sweetie. Now if that's all, I have to get back to the station, and you should get home and get cleaned up.

Tina glared at Carol before turning and going back inside."Damn Christian bitch," she hissed as she slammed the door closed and turned off the "OPEN" sign.

"Damn Christian bitch," she hissed as she slammed the door closed and turned off the "OPEN" sign.

"Now now," Chris chuckled as he started to clean up his area. "Don't let her get to you. She's just one of those uppity bitches who thinks she runs the town."

"Her husband practically does."

"No, the old biddies in the church do. Haven't you learned that by now?"

"Can't fight City Hall," Tina muttered under her breath. "I'm going home."

"Good idea. Do some Tarot, have a bath. It'll relax you. See ya tomorrow."

"Good job tonight. Thanks."

"My pleasure, as always."

Tina let herself into her studio apartment and slumped against the door when it closed. "Why me?" she groaned and moved into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. Opening the fridge she discovered a block of her favorite aged cheddar and grabbed it too.

Sitting in her living room with the volume on the TV down low, she shuffled her Tarot cards and did her ritual one card reading for the day. Sometimes she drew two, or even three cards when she needed clarification but the first card pretty much told her all she needed to know.

The first card, the Lovers, had Tina smirking. "Very funny." She sat back with her wine and looked at the portrait on the mantle of the handsome blue eyed man who was the love of her life and taken from her much too soon.

Joel C. Hamilton, a volunteer firefighter who ran into a burning building to rescue a toddler and never came out.

"Here's to you, baby," she said as she raised her glass and took a long sip.

X X X

The door opened and Star poked her head in. "Tina? Are you home?" she called out and waited for a response. When there was none, she came in and closed the door. As she walked further into the room she heard sniffling and then found Tina stretched out on the couch holding a picture frame in her arms next to the empty bottle of wine.

"Oh sweetie," she sighed as she sat down on the edge of the couch and gently stroked her friend's arm. "Tina? What's wrong?"

"I just...miss him so much," she mumbled between sobs as she clutched the picture frame closer to her chest.

"I'm sure you do. But it's been a long time. How many years now?"

"F-five."

"Right. Five years. Isn't it about time you moved on?"

"No," Tina sniffed with disdain.

"Do you think he'd want or expect you to mourn for him forever? You don't think he'd want you to be happy?"

"It doesn't matter. He's gone and he's never coming back and there will never be anyone like him ever."

"Is that why you came back here after being away? Because there aren't any memories of him here to remind you?"

"Yeah, fine. The secret's out. So what? It doesn't change anything."

"Sure it does. You can make a fresh start here."

"Not if Carol has anything to say about it. She's out to ruin me and my business."

"Tina, forget about her. You've got a good business here. You've got a great tattoo artist working for you, you've got the best prices within fifty miles of here and you do good work. People recognize that. And they'll tell their friends. Why do you think those Hells Angels came into town? Word gets out."

"I don't care," Tina sniffled again and sat up, still clutching the picture frame in her hands. "I shouldn't have come back here."

"Yes you should have. It would have been a lot worse if you had shown up after your mother passed. Can you imagine what they would be saying? "Oh, she's only here now for the family money. She never loved her mother," and so on.You're going to show every uppity bitch in this town that you've made something of yourself and you're going to make them jealous."

Tina snorted with amusement. "Yeah right. They're the ones living in the big mansions, the corporate wives who never had to work a day in their lives because they married rich. And look at me. I'm just an old maid who never married."

"You've got a successful business, girl. Just keep doing your thing and ignore everyone else. Prove to them you are capable of supporting yourself without a man. They couldn't support themselves with crutches! Where's that tough girl I went to high school with?"

Star reached for the picture frame and Tina resisted at first, but then, with a sigh of defeat, handed it over.

Star examined the man in the picture with his bright blue eyes, straight brown hair and cute smile. He was very attractive in a rugged, masculine way. The expression he wore was playful and reached his eyes.

"He liked having his picture taken," Tina chuckled, but she sounded tired. "Always smiled like that. Such a goof."

Star laughed. "He sounds...interesting."

"He was. He was brilliant, and a hero. My hero. The moment we met, and I looked into those blue eyes, I knew I was a goner." Then she shook her head and laughed. "Look, you don't have to stay. I'm going to do some meditating, finish my reading and go to bed."

Star looked skeptical. "You sure?"

"Oh yeah. I have these moments every so often. I thought about Joel a lot today and sometimes it manifests itself and I can't think of anything else. I'll be fine."

"Okay, if you're sure."

Tina hugged her friend. "Thanks for coming over. I'll see you tomorrow, kay?"

"Okay. Wanna do brunch or something?"

"Sure. Call me tomorrow morning."

"Great, G'night."

After she locked up, she crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling fan overhead until her eyes got heavy and she fell asleep.

"Step right up, ladies and get a kiss from one of these handsome firefighters. The bigger the donation, the bigger the kiss. All proceeds go to the Clark County Children's Hospital burn unit."

Tina glanced over at the kissing booth and chuckled to herself. It was reminiscent of something from an eighties movie, except instead of dumb jocks, they were beefcake firefighters, and very nice to look at. While she didn't usually go for that type, one of them caught her eye and she found herself continuously glancing in his direction. He was tall, lanky and very cute.

After about the third glance, he looked right at her and she was frozen. His eyes were the bluest and brightest she'd ever seen and the stare was intense. So intense that it consumed her and she couldn't look away.

"Earth to Tina."

She gave her head a shake and looked away from the man at the kissing booth and back to her customer. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The cards? What do they mean?"

Tina got her thoughts back in order, finished the tarot reading and took the twenty dollar bill at the end.

Since it was lunchtime, she decided to take a break and grab something to eat. It just happened to be convenient that the burger stand was next to the kissing booth. And the man in line in front of her was the blue eyed firefighter.

"This line is ridiculous. There's a Starbucks booth right next door. Maybe they should drink some so they'll move it!" he muttered loud enough for those close by to hear him.

Tina couldn't help but giggle. "Why don't you go back there and work the French fries? Get it moving?"

He glanced back at her, that same intense stare as before, clearly meant to intimidate. "Why don't you? It's women's work, anyway. Do you see any men back there working the chow line?"

"There's always a first time for everything, and men aren't capable of doing anything as complicated as feeding a hungry mob!" she said with a sweet smile and didn't break eye contact with him until it was his turn to order.

By the time it was her turn, she discovered he'd paid for hers as well, but when she looked for him to thank him, he was nowhere in sight.

On her next break, she went over to the kissing booth and he was there, flirting with a young brunette in the corner. But when he saw her he sent the woman on her way and watched her talk to the captain running the booth.

Tina stared at the blue-eyed man who was watching her. "I'll take the blue eyed cute one."

"Joel? Wow. You must be brave."

"He doesn't scare me."

"You haven't seen the way I kiss yet," The man she now knew as "Joel" called out to her from where he stood, but he made no effort to move from that spot.

"Pfft. Is that why you're not getting any business? Are you that lousy a kisser?"

"Put your money where your mouth is and find out," he grinned.

Tina slapped the twenty dollar bill on the table, her eyes never leaving his. "How many kisses do I get for this?"

"Depends. You might only want one," he said as he took the bill and handed it to the captain.

"I guess we'll find out."

"Oh for God's sake, enough with the foreplay, just kiss her already or get a room!" the captain groaned and gave Joel a shove towards Tina.

When he stumbled, their lips met in a way that could only be described as electric. Tina closed her eyes as someone let out a loud wolf whistle in passing.

Joel chuckled against her lips and slowly broke the kiss by stepping back from her and she opened her eyes, slightly disappointed it was over.

"Thanks for your donation. You've just helped pay for some poor kid's skin graft."

She felt her cheeks get warm and without a word, left the booth and returned to hers.

At the end of the day as she walked to her car, she sensed a presence and glanced over her shoulder to find Joel leaning against the Harley that was parked three stalls over.

"How about that second kiss I owe you?" he said.

Tina tossed her things into her trunk and closed the lid. "I wasn't aware that I had one coming."

"Usually most people only give a maximum of ten dollars, but you gave twenty."

"Well I wouldn't have if a handsome stranger hadn't bought my lunch today. Thanks, by the way."

Joel smirked and moved closer. "I'd really like to kiss you again...Tina. Then maybe...I could give you a ride. Ever ridden bitch on a bike before?"

She arched an eyebrow, but she didn't step back, even though he was in her personal space. She could smell his nice, clean scent and it was a heady combination.

"I have absolutely no problem with that. And no, I've never ridden bitch. I was the one in front of the bitch," she said with a wicked grin.

He took another step forward, his eyes were intense as they stared each other down, neither of them saying a word.

Then in two seconds she was in his arms, his arms were around her waist and their lips were fused together.

Tina opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. Gently touching her lips she smiled, as tears prickled her lashes and stung her eyes. It wasn't often she relived that day in her dreams, and when she did, it usually never got as far as the kissing booth. She fell back to sleep with a smile on her face.