Rise with the Occasion
Book 10 of A HOUSE UNITED series

By Sarah Hendess

Ponderosa Ranch
Late December 1863

It didn't sink in until Monday the twenty-eighth that Hoss had really moved out. Ben, Adam, Little Joe, and Josie all slept in until nine o'clock the morning after the wedding, and until they resumed their usual routines at home on the twenty-eighth, they'd been able to pretend Hoss was just away for a night. It was at breakfast on Monday that they truly felt the big man's absence. While he would return to work as usual the following week, the house would never be the same without him.

Adam wanted nothing more than to ride out to see his new fiancée, but several chores had gone undone due to Christmas and the wedding, and Ben needed his help at home. Adam felt no small pang of jealousy as he watched Josie bundle up to ride out to the O'Connells' farm to check on Fionn right after breakfast.

"I'll tell Molly you said hello," Josie said, kissing Adam's cheek before she slipped out the door.

The O'Connells' farm was on the western shore of Washoe Lake, about halfway between the Ponderosa and Virginia City. There had been no new snowfall the past couple days, so the road was still packed down from the Cartwrights' last ride to town, and Josie, Scout, and Pip made good time. Adam always chastised her for looking down at her horse rather than where she was heading when she rode, but Josie couldn't help gazing down at her beautiful Appaloosa mare. She'd agreed to let Adam breed Scout to his stallion, Ruckus, when Scout came into season in the spring, and it pained Josie to think of not being able to ride her horse for several months. Josie still distrusted horses, but she and Scout had reached an understanding, and Josie was not looking forward to having to accustom herself to another mount.

It took only an hour for her to reach the O'Connells' farm, and she smiled as a tendril of smoke curled from the chimney of the farmhouse. Pip raced ahead, barking his head off to let Conall know he'd arrived. Fionn stepped out onto the porch and smiled as Josie hitched Scout to the post in front of the house. Impatient, he skipped down the porch steps and swung Josie around before planting a big kiss on her.

"Come on, let's take Scout to the barn. She'll be warmer in there." He grabbed Scout's reins and started to lead the mare toward the little barn, but Josie stopped him.

"Not without your coat, you don't! You march yourself right back into that house, Fionn O'Connell! I'll take care of my horse."

Fionn raised his hands in surrender and backed his way up the porch steps and into the house. Josie giggled as she led Scout into the barn and untacked her. She knew she'd be there for at least an hour or two, so there was no point in not making Scout comfortable. Fionn's dapple mare nickered at her, and Josie reached over to the other stall and scratched her nose. She found an extra blanket hanging on a peg and tied it around Scout's middle to keep her warm. She gave Scout a final pat on the nose, grabbed her medical bag, and zipped out of the barn.

Fionn was waiting for her just inside the front door and helped her out of her coat.

"I put the kettle on," he said. "Thought you might like some tea."

"I would love that, thank you!" Josie said, kissing him again. Fionn wrapped his arms around Josie and held her close. Josie sighed happily as Fionn's warmth seeped through her shirt. "Where's Molly?" she asked, glancing around.

"Molly is at her shop today," Fionn answered, still holding onto Josie. "Every time you Cartwrights throw a party, she gets swamped with orders. You're quite good for her business."

Josie grinned. "She did a beautiful job with those bridesmaids' gowns. She deserves the attention." She paused. "So it's just you and me, eh?"

Fionn chuckled and held Josie at arm's length. "Aye. Just you and me. Well, and Conall and Pip. But I don't think they'll bother us." He glanced over his shoulder at the two wolfhounds, who were wrestling playfully on the rug in front of the fireplace.

Josie giggled. "No, I don't think so. Take off your shirt."

"Man alive, Hey, You, I thought we were takin' things slow!"

"Your lungs, remember?" Josie grinned as she held up her medical bag.

"Right, me lungs." Fionn led Josie into the living room where they could feel the heat from the fire, and he obediently unbuttoned and removed his shirt.

Josie bit back a sigh as she gazed at Fionn's bare chest. He was lean, but not lanky, and his chest and arms bulged with the muscles he'd built working his land. His skin was smooth and pale; Fionn lost his summer tan during the winter. His shoulders were sprinkled with hundreds of freckles, and Josie had to stop herself from kissing every single one of them.

"Be professional, Dr. Cartwright, be professional," she told herself. This was not the first time she'd seen Fionn shirtless. She'd peeled his shirt off him within minutes of his arrival on the Ponderosa before Christmas and examined him at least a dozen times during his stay. But that was before they were courting. And Fionn had been desperately ill. And her family had all been right there. Now she and Fionn were alone in his house, miles from anyone, with no expectation of being disturbed for seven or eight hours. She gave her head a little shake and focused on digging her stethoscope out of her medical bag.

"Turn around," she told Fionn when she found it. He sat sideways on the sofa, and Josie sat behind him and placed the end of her stethoscope against his back. "Take a deep breath for me and then let it out slowly," she commanded. Fionn did, and Josie was treated to the beautiful sound of air rushing in and out of clear lungs. Fionn let out a small, dry cough as he expelled the last of his breath, but there was no doubt he had fought off the pneumonia. "Your lungs sound perfect!" she announced with a smile. Fionn grinned as Josie moved around him and pressed the stethoscope to his chest. She frowned. "Your heart's pounding, though." She started running through a mental list of possible causes, but Fionn took her by the waist and pulled her onto the sofa in front of him.

"Wonder why that might be," he said. He took the stethoscope from her hand, set it on the coffee table, and leaned in and kissed her. Josie sighed as she kissed him back, and Fionn pulled her onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and slipped her tongue into his mouth. Fionn slid his hands slowly up from Josie's hips to her waist and began untucking her shirt. Josie didn't know whether or not to stop him. She looked up at the ceiling and sucked in a big lungful of air. The room was hazy. Fionn must have gone to her head. Then, a vigorous burbling came from the kitchen.

"Fionn, the kettle!"

Fionn's eyes popped open, and he cursed as tipped Josie onto the sofa and darted into the kitchen. Josie tucked her shirt back in while Fionn tended to the tea, and he returned a few moments later bearing a tray with a teapot, two cups, milk, sugar, and a small plate of scones. He set the tray on the coffee table and pulled his shirt back on.

"Break for elevenses?" he asked with a grin.

"At nine-thirty? Why not?"

Fionn laughed and poured Josie a cup of tea, allowing her to add milk and sugar herself as she desired. They sat together on the sofa as they drank their tea and munched their scones. When the teapot was empty and the scones nothing but a few crumbs left on the plate, they sat in awkward silence, neither of them sure what to do next. Pip and Conall had completed their wrestling match and now lay curled up together in front of the fire, giving their owners no diversion whatsoever.

"So, do you have a lot of other patients to see today?" Fionn asked at last.

"No. No one else, actually. Unless someone comes out to my clinic, which is unlikely. This time of year, they usually go into town to see Paul. Roads are more likely to be clear heading that way."

"Oh, aye." Fionn draped his arm around Josie's shoulders and toyed with her braid. "So, uh, would you like that cuddle we talked about?"

Josie smiled. "Just a cuddle? Taking it slow?"

"Aye, just a cuddle. And maybe some snogging."

Josie giggled. "Snogging?! What in the world is snogging?!"

"Pretty much what we were doin' before the kettle interrupted us."

"Well in that case, ok."

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course," Josie said.

Fionn smiled and stood up. Taking Josie by the hand, he led her to his bedroom. It was a small room, with space for little more than the bed and a washstand, but like the rest of the house, it was swept clean, and the bed was made up with a beautiful patchwork quilt that Josie presumed Molly had sewn. Fionn sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled off his boots, beckoning to Josie to do the same. Her heart racing, she sat down and yanked at her boots, nearly punching herself in the face as her left boot came loose and her hand flew backward. Fionn chuckled and crawled under the covers. He held the edge of the quilt up, and Josie climbed in next to him.

"Relax, Hey, You," Fionn whispered as he pulled her into his arms. "I promise, it's just a cuddle." Josie let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and released the tension in her body as she nuzzled her head onto Fionn's shoulder.

Josie thought she could lie there forever, wrapped up in Fionn's arms. His body was warm against hers, and every so often, he would kiss her cheek or her temple. She reached an arm behind her and ran her fingers through his hair. Encouraged, Fionn propped himself up on one elbow and leaned over her. He said nothing as their eyes met, and he traced her jawline with one finger before kissing her lips again. Josie's hands reached up, unbuttoned his shirt, and shoved it off his shoulders. Fionn moaned softly as Josie ran her hands down his chest. For a brief moment, her hands hovered at his belt buckle before sliding around his waist and clinging to his bare back. She closed her eyes as Fionn kissed her again, but her eyes flew open again when she felt his hand on the top button of her shirt. She must have let out a little whimper, because Fionn's eyes opened, too, and he gazed down at her. Josie searched for the words to communicate what she was feeling – burning desire, fear – but her vocabulary abandoned her, and she just stared at him, wide-eyed.

Fionn smiled. "Sorry," he whispered as he brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Got a little ahead of meself there."

"That's ok," Josie whispered back, returning his smile. "I wasn't entirely sure I wanted you to stop."

Fionn gave her a final kiss and rolled onto his back. He opened his arms wide, and Josie snuggled up against him, her head once more on his shoulder. Warm and blissful, they both drifted off to sleep.

Josie awoke two hours later, and it took her a minute to remember where she was. She smiled as she became aware of Fionn's arms still wrapped around her, and she rolled over and kissed him awake. He smiled sleepily at her and kissed her back.

"Hungry?" he asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, actually, I am." The scones and tea seemed like years ago.

Fionn nudged her out of bed, took her hand, and led her, stocking-footed, back to the living room. He pointed her toward the sofa while he coaxed the fire back to life and then ducked into the kitchen to heat up some stew. Carrying the same tray he'd used for their tea that morning, Fionn reappeared in the living room twenty minutes later with two steaming bowls of stew, several slices of brown bread, and a little pat of butter.

"Warmer in here than the kitchen, believe it or not," he said, setting the tray down on the coffee table.

Josie smiled and thanked him for the food. As before, they ate in silence, just enjoying the warm stew and each other's company. Josie gazed up at the mantel and shook her head at Fionn's father's shillelagh that hung there. She couldn't believe it had been six months since that fateful day when Fionn had told her about the shillelagh right before he kissed her. Which was right before Josie broke his nose. Biting her lip so she wouldn't giggle at the absurdity of the series of events that led to her having just spent two hours in bed with Fionn, her eyes came to rest on a little jar just below the shillelagh. It was a nondescript glass jar with a clasping lid, like the ones Hop Sing used when he made preserves. But this one wasn't full of jam. It took Josie a second to realize just what the jar held.

"Fionn, why do you have a jar of dirt on your mantel?"

Fionn had been buttering another slice of bread, and his head snapped up. He smiled as he followed Josie's gaze.

"That's not just dirt, Hey, You." He set his bread on his plate, got up, and snatched the jar off the mantel. He handed it to Josie. "That's Ireland. Scooped it off the banks of the River Liffey just before me, Molly, and Da left Dublin. Been carryin' it around nine years now."

"You carried this all the way from Ireland?"

"Aye. From Dublin to Galway, across the ocean to Boston, and across the continent all the way to San Francisco. And now to Virginia City."

Josie giggled.

"What's so funny?" Fionn's face fell, and Josie could tell she had hurt his feelings.

"I'm sorry, Fionn, it just struck me that your little jar of dirt has traveled more places than most people I know."

Fionn brightened again. "Aye, suppose it has, hasn't it?" He grinned and took the jar back from Josie. He stared at it longingly. "Not quite as full as she once was. Da and me, we sprinkled a little of it on the porch of our home in San Francisco. I did the same thing when Molly and I moved here." He blushed. "You probably think that's silly. Celtic superstition, or some such nonsense."

Josie rose and took his free hand. "Not at all, Fionn. I think it's beautiful." He smiled at her. "Come on, finish your lunch, and then I'll help you with the dishes."

Once they'd polished off the rest of the bread, Fionn and Josie carried their dishes into the kitchen and washed them up.

"I tried to argue once that washin' dishes was a woman's job," Fionn said as he put the now-clean bowls back into the cupboard. "Molly cracked me so hard across the backside I couldn't sit down for a day and a half."

Josie laughed. "I guess it's different for me, living with four men. Well, three now, I suppose. Either way, we don't have the luxury of differentiating men's and women's work. It's all just work, and someone has to do it. Though none of us really enjoys it when Little Joe tries to cook. Thank goodness for Hop Sing."

Fionn chuckled and gave Josie a swift kiss. "I have to go check me livestock. You stay here where it's warm. I'll be back before you can say 'Jack Robinson.'" He glanced at the dwindling pile of logs next to the kitchen stove and frowned. "Guess I'll bring in some more wood, too."

Josie nearly offered to help, but stopped herself. It had been so hard for Fionn to accept the Cartwrights' assistance while he was sick, and Josie could tell it was important for him to stand on his own two feet again. She did, however, oversee his bundling up to ensure he wore enough layers to stay warm while he was outside.

While Fionn tended to the livestock, Josie got down on the living-room floor and played with Pip and Conall. By the time Fionn burst back through the front door, his arms laden with firewood, Josie was sitting on the floor leaning against Pip with Conall sprawled across her lap.

"See you've managed to stay warm!" Fionn said as he dropped the logs into the rack next to the fireplace. He let out a couple dry coughs, and Josie shoved Conall off her lap and rushed over to him as he pulled off his layers.

"You all right?" She laid a hand on his cold cheek.

"Oh, aye." Fionn cleared his throat. "Just flares up a little in that cold air. I'll be fine."

He was a bit pale and his chest was heaving. Josie could tell that the slog through the snow to and from the barn had taken a toll on his recovering body. She took his hand.

"Let's go have another cuddle," she said, suddenly shy. "Get you warmed up."

Fionn broke into a wide grin. "Never let it be said that Fionn O'Connell didn't listen to his doctor."

Minutes later, they had discarded their boots again and were snuggled up under the covers of Fionn's bed. Fionn really was worn out from his tromp through the snow, and he drifted off within moments. Josie lay awake listening to him breathe and marveling again at how she had ended up here with Fionn. It occurred to her that had Simon not attacked Fionn, she'd probably be a married woman by now, living near a furniture shop in San Francisco. Time was a great healer, but this thought of Simon still made her a little sad. She sighed, and in his sleep, Fionn cuddled up closer against her and nuzzled his face in her hair. Josie's sadness vanished, and she said a little prayer of thanks for the way things had worked out.

"I love you so much, a chuisle," she whispered to Fionn's sleeping form.