A/N: I don't own Valkyrie, Skulduggery, or Billy-Ray. Val is about 24 here, story is in her POV. 'There's A Tear In My Beer' is a duet sung by Hank Williams Jr. and Sr.

I was driving over the dirt roads, following Billy-Ray's directions. This had to be wrong. I'd been driving for almost ten minutes since I'd turned off where he indicated and still hadn't reached his 'little spread'. I got out my mobile and dialed him. "Billy-Ray, I turned off ten minutes ago and still can't find your place."

He chuckled into the phone, then spoke, his Texas accent sending shivers down my spine. "You all are on my spread now, little darlin'. Come on ahead a whiles and you'll see the place. We've all been waitin' for you." He rang off leaving me to wonder what I'd gotten myself into.

Who was we? Five minutes later I had my answer. I drove past pens of horses, huge cattle pens, and drew up to a huge sprawling mansion of some of the greenest pastureland Texas had to offer. Plenty of cowhands were tending to things, boots, sunglasses and cowboy hats seeming to be both useful and a required dress code for all of them.

Billy-Ray stood on the front porch, dressed in a new brown suit and boots, his ever-present sunglasses on. He grinned broadly at me as I got out of the rental car. I walked up the steps and he greeted me warmly.

"Hello, little darlin'. Enjoy your flight?" He asked, wrapping his arms around me and drawing me forward for a deep kiss. I could tell by that kiss he'd missed me every bit as much as I'd missed him, and I was content to return his affections in answer.

Billy-Ray broke off the kiss at last, laughing, holding the door open for me so I could enter the cool mansion. "Well now! You all got here just in time. I was fixing to put some steaks on the grill. You're going to love these little darlin'. Finest Texas beef right from my own herds. All grass fed unlessin' we get a drought, of course. None of those strange chemicals in my cattle either."

"That sounds wonderful, Billy-Ray. But you said this was a little spread I drove fifteen minutes to get here."

He laughed taking me in his arms again. "Well now, you all know how modest I am. There's roughly 250,000 acres right now, but that is small considerin' what I'm plannin', little darlin'. I only got 2,000 head of cattle now, but I want to bring in more stock and start breedin' horses as well. A man's got to have somethin' to do when he ain't bein' a hitman, after all."

He kissed me again, deeper than before, and I was more than happy to answer him, opening my mouth to him, enjoying the delighted sounds he made as he accepted my invitation. I gripped his head, seriously wishing he'd just take off the sunglasses. I needed to see him, not my own reflection.

I reached up and removed them when he didn't seem about to, and he broke off the kiss, startled. "Now, little darlin' I'll be needing those back." He held out his hand. His voice softened and he continued, touching my cheek. "I know you don't want me in them, and you'll get that, later. But for right now I can't be scaring my ranch hands off. Still, I thank you kindly for the gesture, much appreciated."

He leaned forward to kiss me briefly, then took his sunglasses and put them back on. He grinned at me broadly. "I ever tell Bones how happy I am he turned you down? Because I sure am. Well, right this way to the back porch and I'll rustle us up those steaks I promised."

I followed Billy-Ray, wondering silently if I was here to stay or just for an extended visit. He hadn't said either way, just that he wanted me here. Having a hitman deluxe as a lover was proving more difficult than a mere skeleton ever would have been, but I liked it just fine.

The steak was wonderful, and Billy-Ray got bonus points for being able to eat with me. I'd been attracted to him for years, there was something exciting about the man who used to grab me and tunnel through walls or the ground. I'd killed the last man to refer to him as a mole, but for the life of me I couldn't remember who it was.

Billy-Ray had the radio on, country music drifting over the porch as we ate, and his handsome face softened as a particular song came on. "You hear that, little darlin'? 'There's A Tear In My Beer'. Hank Williams Jr. singing with his daddy, of course it had to be mixed seeing as how it was recorded after his daddy's passin'. But I listened to that song and all my Hank Williams Sr. and Jr. albums while waitin' on you to agree you come over. What took you so long, little darlin'? Didn't you trust me to treat you proper?"

"I didn't know how serious you were Billy-Ray, and then there was Tanith-"

"Oh, that." Billy-Ray screwed up his handsome face in disgust. "Don't be remindin' me of my temporary lapse in good judgment, little darlin'. She never loved me, ever. No one has really, exceptin' you. That is of course if you don't still got your heart set on that bag of bones you were hankerin' after."

I laughed. "Him? Lord no. As soon as he turned me down I realized the mistake I made. I should have went after the man I really wanted in the first place, but he was otherwise occupied with a Remnant." I teased.

Billy-Ray snorted. "I ever see one of those heebie jeebies again I'm going to cut it, just to see if it can bleed. He smiled fondly at the idea and we finished our meal in happy silence, Billy-Ray getting me up to slow dance when the DJ obligingly played 'There's A Tear In My Beer' over again due to a listener request.

Billy-Ray held me close as we danced and I melted into him, enjoying the heady mix of aftershave and cologne he wore, as well as the muscular warmth of his body. He let go of one of my hands to slip am arm around my waist, and I reached up to gently grasp his shoulder. He smiled down at me, and we danced for what seemed like an eternity, and the song was repeated over and over.

A few weeks later I woke and stretched, not wanting to leave Billy-Ray's delicious warmth. He'd had the padre out, and now I admired the diamond ring that seemed to glow in the dimly lit room. I smiled, remembering how Billy-Ray had got on one knee the morning after my arrival, pleased to no end that I'd been up and in the saddle, riding his range since before dawn to check the herd with him.

We were married now and although he'd apologized for a ranch not being the best place for a honeymoon, I loved it. I admired his sleeping outline and was just able to make out his hollow sockets in the dim light. To me they made him more sexy, more attractive, not less, and I had his sunglasses off at every possible opportunity. I saw him grin and wondered how long he'd been awake. "Mornin' little darlin'. Or can I start callin' you Mrs. Sanguine now?"

I cuddled in closer. "That would suit me just fine, Billy-Ray. You know I'm proud to be your wife."

"No skeletons in your closet?" He teased, but there was a worried tone in his voice.

"Billy-Ray, I'm a Texan now. I find a skeleton in my closet and I'm going to shoot it." He laughed, clearly delighted and relieved at the same time.

"Well then, Mrs. Sanguine, what do you want to do today? We can take the day off if you want, the ranch hands know what to do without me ridin' herd on them."

"Well, I was thinking, Billy-Ray, and mind you, I was just thinking this, but I was thinking we stay around the ranch and see just what kind of Texas LongHorns I got for my money."

He sat up, pulling me into his embrace. "You told me you had a wedding present in mind, but that beats all, little darlin'." He kissed me deeply, tears of joy spilling from his hollow sockets. When we at last separated he looked at me fondly. "It takes a special kind of woman to adapt to living on a ranch, but I think you'll be the boss lady in no time if you keep this up."

"Well cattle are nowhere near as fine a wedding present as you are, Mr. Sanguine, but I'm happy you like them."

We got out of bed and dressed. It was wonderful to be married and spend time alone, but we had a ranch full of hands depending on us, and there would be a huge celebration later that day Billy-Ray assured me, after his vet had checked the new cattle and they'd been put in a separate pasture until their quarantine was over.

We'd be starting the new herd together, and that suited Billy-Ray and me just fine.

Well, hope you liked it! The song was a favorite of my daddy's, and his daddy's before him, and I still remember him playing it on the jukebox. The perfect song for when you're missing someone, or you're delighted to see them again.