Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. All original characters and plots are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

After the Greeting

Ben noticed that his oldest son was restless; he was also aware that Adam wanted to talk but was waiting until his thoughts were orderly and he had formed the words in which to couch them. The book Adam had been reading sat on his lap, two bent fingers marking his place while he stared into the fire and held the book. It was late and both Hoss and Joe had turned in for the night and Ben felt the day's weariness overtaking him.

Ben placed his pipe in the ashtray on the pipe rack beside his chair and stretched. "I think I'll turn in now-get the lights, will you, Adam?"

"Pa, can you wait just a minute? I need to ask you about something-your opinion." Adam looked up at his father expectantly.

"My opinion?" Ben raised his eyebrows.

Adam gave his lopsided smile. "Yes. And your advice."

Ben settled back down in his chair, sinking into its comforting embrace and crossed his legs at the knees and said, "I'm listening."

"Well, this afternoon when I was in town, I was passing by Sutton's dress shop and saw Cecile Turpin through the window; she was on a dais getting fitted for some dress it seemed, and I smiled at her when I caught her eye. Well, Cecile, being who she is, came flying out of the shop and said how glad she was to see me. Pa, you know how Cecile is, how she's just so…she's not like anyone I've ever met. She's just so…pure and just shines. I couldn't help but smile at the thought that she…that Cecile, was glad to see me. I just…ah, Pa, I wanted to kiss her. Here she stood pins sticking out of this dress she was wearing and looking like an angel who had landed on earth by mistake and then her mother came tearing out of the shop and ordered Cecile inside-to get away from me."

"To get away from you?" Ben thought that was unusual language, the type a parent uses when they see their child edging toward danger and can't warn them away quickly enough.

"Yes. Her words were, 'Cecile, get away from Adam Cartwright. What will people think if they see you half-dressed out here?' Pa, she wasn't half-dressed-I don't even know why her mother said that. Anyway, I tried to say something to Mrs. Turpin, to explain that Cecile was just saying hello but she grabbed Cecile by the arm and practically threw her back inside the shop. You know what a big woman she is and how slender Cecile is. Well, I looked again in the window only to see Mrs. Turpin slap her. Cecile put her hand over the spot on her face and then she saw me outside the window and she was…humiliated."

"Well," Ben said, "that is a little unusual-I mean for her mother to react that way, but maybe it's the age difference. Maybe Mrs. Turpin thinks that Cecile is interested in you in a romantic way and she doesn't approve. There is quite a few years' difference between you two, you know, and if I were the father of a daughter, I might be just as protective. And Adam, all families are different-we don't know what goes on in their house and we don't really know Cecile. She's an odd girl and then having been sent away to school…don't put too much into it, Adam."

"Sure," Adam said in that understated, clipped manner he had that meant he disagreed vehemently with what a person said. "So that's all you think it is-the years' difference."

"Adam," Ben said, "If the Turpins don't want Cecile to see you, it's possible there's someone else they want her to perhaps marry or, well, it could be anything."

"Pa, all Cecile did was say hello to me; we weren't getting involved. What's this about marrying someone?" Adam needed to defend Cecile. Why was his father defending her mother's actions? "She didn't deserve to be slapped." Adam remembered Mrs. Turpin's face, how it was twisted with anger and something else, something akin to fear.

"No, Adam, that's not all she did. Cecile put everything else aside, abandoned everything to go to you. That's not just saying, 'hello'. Whether Cecile deserved to be slapped isn't for you to judge. If you want my advice, be cordial to Cecile but don't encourage her attentions by giving her yours. She's not right for you anyway being as young as she is. What is she? Nineteen?"

"I believe so," Adam said quietly. He looked away from his father and stared back into the fire.

"Only nineteen," Ben repeated thoughtfully. Ben remembered how lush and delectable a girl can be at nineteen and he felt himself flush. He cleared his throat and continued. "I have to admit she's a pretty one." Ben stood up again. "But more than likely, it's basically a schoolgirl crush Cecile has on you. Just let things ride-she'll get over it soon enough. And then she won't embarrass you by running after you with her clothes falling off of her."

"I wasn't embarrassed," Adam said bluntly. "Actually, I was flattered."

Ben felt uneasy as he looked at Adam's face. He had seen that look on his son's face before, that look of steely determination. "Adam, please, just leave Cecile Turpin alone. They're an odd family, never really being part of the community. It's in Cecile's best interest as well if you leave her alone."

"Yeah," Adam said. "I suppose so."

But Ben knew that he hadn't convinced Adam because he hadn't convinced himself. Cecile was far too desirable for Adam to forget. And Ben knew what Adam was seeing as he looked into the fire-Cecile's face and the joy she had shown upon seeing him. And Ben also knew that Adam would draw up every subtle expression, every nuance on Cecile's face again and again and every word of the conversation trying to analyze what had happened and to find the key to the mystery of what had occurred that afternoon.