September 23, 1912

It had been nearly two weeks since Lee and Rosemary had worked things out. After Rosemary initially rejected Lee's offer of affection, Lee turned to Mollie Sullivan. Together, they made Rosemary jealous, so jealous that she ran right back to Lee. But that was long over. These days, Lee and Rosie were very much in love.

Lee Coulter smiled as he greeted everyone on his way to the saloon. He walked inside to find Rosemary, writing for her newspaper column.

"Hey Rosie." He smiled.

She looked up. His smile always melted her heart. "Hello Lee." She grinned. "Please sit down."

"Thank you, I will."

"How is your day?"

"Pretty good. How about yours?"

"Mine's been busy. But it's been great nonetheless."

"Lee, I was actually hoping I'd meet up with you."

With a smile, Mr. Coulter nodded.

Rosemary continued. "I was wondering if you would like to come to supper with me tomorrow night. We can eat at Abigail's. She said she could even reserve the entire restaurant for us."

Lee smiled. "I'd love to Rosie, but I have something going on tomorrow. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry if it's work. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"It's nothing, really."

Rosemary wasn't convinced. "Lee," she said. "Are you keeping something from me?"

"Well, I didn't want to tell you, but I guess I have to now. Tomorrow is my birthday."

"Really!" she smiled, suddenly excited. "Jack's was on Thursday, the 19th."

Lee nodded. "It was Tom's as well. Tom was born on his brother's 5th birthday."

Rosemary smiled. "Good men must be born in September."

Lee chuckled.

"How old will you be?"

"That is none of your business." Lee said. Then a smile spread across his face as he laughed. "I'll be 27."

"And you're so accomplished for 24." Rosemary smiled.

"My parents tried to instill a strong work ethic in all of their children from an early age. They refused to put up with anything else. It sometimes frustrated me when I was younger, but not I'm glad that they did it."

"Well, they raised a very kind, sweet son."

Lee smiled. He cleared his throat. "Now I don't want you to go to any trouble tomorrow."

"Lee, nothing is trouble for you."

"Rosie, please. Don't go to an extra effort."

"Try to stop me." She smiled. And with that, she disappeared.

Jack came up beside Lee. "What does she want you to try and stop?"

"Her from going to a lot of trouble for my birthday."

"Good luck with that." Jack grinned. "When she gets an idea in her head, there's no stopping her."

Lee nodded.

"Is tomorrow the day?" Jack asked.

"We'll see. I've got some thinking to do tonight. But it's definitely something to think about."

"Well, if you need someone to talk to, my door's always open. Even if it's three in the morning. Mounties are here to protect and serve, and I believe that falls under serving."

"Thanks Jack, you're a great friend." Lee smiled.

"No problem. And Lee, happy early birthday."

"Thanks." He grinned and turned around to head to work.