"Pa?"

The small and tentative voice pulled Jimmy out of his own thoughts. Not that his thoughts were deep, just mulling over what he needed to do the rest of the day once he was finished fixing the wheel on the buckboard. There were a couple more odds and ends around the place that needed fixing that day and he had time to do it for a change. But something in his daughter's tone told him he'd be lucky to finish the task already begun.

"What is it, baby girl?"

"I had a question to ask if you aren't too busy," she said twisting her fingers around the end of one of her long brown braids and looking up as if begging him to not be busy. He put down his tools and walked over to place an arm around her and led her back to the house where they sat down on the swing that hung from the end of the porch.

"What's on your mind?" he asked settling his arm around the girl's shoulders.

"When you met Ma," she began as if she was suddenly nervous to talk to him, "Did you fall in love with her when you first saw her?"

"Sweetheart, I believe I fell in love with your mama before I even laid eyes on her."

"I don't understand," she said looking at him with her big blue eyes, so like her mother's.

"You mean I never told you the story of how your ma and I met?" he asked and she shook her head beginning to nestle into him knowing a story was to follow. She may have been nervous for some reason to ask him about this but she was still just his little girl after all. "Well then I guess it's about high time you heard this one."

He squeezed her shoulders tighter for a moment before launching into his story.

The boys were being forced to go to the church social. They hadn't been in Rock Creek very long and already had the distinct impression they weren't as welcome as they had finally worked their way into being in Sweetwater. They were closer for one thing, right at the end of town. It was easier to keep distance when they were a ways out like they had been before. They were new and closer to the strife of the coming war and the town just wasn't ready to hand them its trust.

So really none of them wanted to go to this social but Teaspoon, of course, was making them and Rachel was standing by him.

"Stop looking so glum, boys," Teaspoon prodded, "The ladies have been baking the whole week for this and nothing could make them happier than a bunch of handsome young men enjoying the fruits of their labor."

"Except maybe them young men being white," Noah remarked and Buck stifled a laugh.

Cody was a little more on board with the mention of food and ladies. They were his two favorite things after all. Still Jimmy heard the whispers around town and he really didn't relish being on display for everyone to speculate about behind his back. No amount of cake or pie was going to make that enjoyable. Sweetwater saw the legend born and knew he was anything but what the books described. But Rock Creek still believed every word. The ladies averted their eyes. Some flirted but it was the danger they were flirting with, the legend, Bill—not him. He sighed and walked out the bunkhouse door. There was no arguing with Teaspoon when he got like this and Jimmy even understood. They wouldn't ever earn the trust of the town if they isolated themselves but still the process of getting to know the town and the town getting to know them was painful and it wasn't just for himself that he felt it. He hated the way people looked at Ike and Noah and Buck. They were as fine a men as he'd known and as fine as any in town. If only folks would give them a chance but all the dances and socials in the world weren't going to change the color of their skin or the obvious differences in Ike. Jimmy sighed as he headed toward the church. A whole day of whispers about him, about them and he'd have to keep his fists from flying and his guns in their holsters.

They arrived and Cody immediately began making eyes with some of the younger women. Kid stood there looking uncomfortable. Women liked Kid but, even though they weren't actually together anymore, Kid only had eyes for one woman. Unfortunately, as far as the town was concerned, that one woman was a young man. Noah, Buck and Ike drifted toward the periphery as if trying to blend into the scenery. Jimmy could hear the whispers and see women pushing their children behind their skirts. He fought his temper and pasted on a smile, tipping his hat as he passed people.

Reaching the table of food, Jimmy was overwhelmed with what was before him. There were pies and cakes of every sort he could think of and a few he was sure he'd never tried before, or even known about. He decided to start with a slice of pie. He had always loved pie and there was a blackberry pie just sitting there as if it was calling his name. He took a slice and the first bite took him to another place. It was a tiny town called Maysville. He had actually needed to stop there once and since that first time, he made a point to stop anytime he was anywhere near there.

The town was nice enough and the people friendly but that wasn't why he made such a point of stopping. The first time he had been there he'd had to wait. It was early in the day and the saloon wasn't open for him to get anything to eat and he wasn't in the mood for chili or cheese sandwiches at that hour anyway. So he had ducked into the one restaurant in town and ordered a cup of coffee. The waitress asked him if he wanted something to eat as well and he asked what she'd recommend. She said that most folks wanted eggs and bacon but that she'd most recommend the pie. He asked what kind even though it hardly mattered. He liked nearly every kind he'd ever tried and figured he would like the ones he hadn't just as well. She told him that the blackberries were on and that they had some lovely blackberry pies. He ordered a slice. It was truly the most wonderful pie he'd ever had and that was saying something. Emma was a damned fine cook after all and his mama had been too. But there was something extra special about this pie. He told the waitress to convey his compliments to the cook and was on his way.

After that every time he passed through Maysville he stopped for a slice of pie and cup of coffee. It never once occurred to him to ask to meet the person making the pies. He knew an older gentleman ran the place a sort of figured his wife did the baking. Over time he sampled nearly every pie they had to offer. He had rhubarb, cherry, apple, pumpkin and a few others as well. It all depended on what they had available to use to make a pie. Everyone was delicious and had that same distinct flavor. Jimmy guessed it maybe had to do with the spices used or the amount of spices.

The pie on his plate at this social was the very same recipe he'd tasted that first time in Maysville. He'd stake his own life on it and he was sure it was made by the same person. Now was his chance to at least tell her how wonderful her cooking was. He saw Rachel out of the corner of his eye and went to her.

"Rachel, do you know who made this blackberry pie?"

"I'm sure I could find out," she smiled at him, "Why?"

"I want to pay her a compliment."

Rachel bustled off and Jimmy tried to make conversation with Kid who was trying to avoid talking to any of the ladies and Lou who was trying to do much the same thing. It wasn't long before Jimmy felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Jimmy," Rachel said when he turned around, "I wanted to introduce you to Miss Ada Warren. Miss Warren made that pie you asked me about." Then Rachel turned to Ada. "Miss Warren, I'd like you to meet Jimmy Hickok."

Rachel disappeared then as if into thin air and Jimmy was basically alone with the young lady. She was not what he expected. He fully anticipated being pointed to a round, middle-aged woman with her hair in a bun. He really didn't care, he hadn't been looking for romance here; he just wanted to tell this woman how much he enjoyed her baking. The woman that was in front of him though was no middle-aged mother. She was young, maybe his age or a year younger even. She had light brown curls piled atop her head and spilling out from beneath her hat and eyes as blue as the sky on a cloudless summer day. He shook his head of such thoughts and realized she was speaking.

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Hickok, was it?"

"Call me Jimmy, please," he said but it came out nearly pleading. "I wanted to tell you how good that pie of yours is. I thought maybe you was the same person who made some others I'd had before but I don't expect that's the case. I don't want to keep you from the fun but you make a darn good pie."

He turned to walk away.

"Coffee and a single slice of pie, whatever Jane recommends that day," Ada said causing him to stop and turn back to her. "I waited for you. I always had one pie special every morning that I made just for you, just in case. Most days I would finally slice it and let it be served as the dinner crowd thinned out. But there was always one special for you. I wanted to come out and talk to you. I thought once or twice I might serve you instead of Jane but I was too afraid. I wouldn't know what to say."

"Miss Warren," he began but was cut off by her request that he call her Ada. "Ada, I only ever had to be in Maysville that one time. But anytime I was anywhere even close, I would make a point to stop in and have some of your pie. It was a comfort I can't rightly explain. Yours aren't like any I've had before or since."

"Turned out her family had decided to move and that's how they ended up in Rock Creek," Jimmy explained to the little girl tucked up next to him on the swing, though he sometimes had to take notice that she wasn't so little anymore. She'd just passed up her thirteenth birthday and was at odds with her mother about continuing to wear braids. "We started courting not to long after. I was surprised her pa agreed to it but I guess he saw I wasn't what some folks thought I was. We married just a short while after the Pony Express shut down. I don't know when it was I realized it but I was in love with her from the moment I tasted her pie the first time. It was home even though I didn't know it at the time. She was in love with me too, I think. Don't see no other reason a woman makes a special pie every day just in case a particular man comes along. So, to answer your question, I was in love with your ma before I ever laid eyes on her. Seeing her only made me know it."

"So if I want Tommy Simpkins to fall in love with me, I just need to learn mama's recipe for pie?"

The girl bounded off of the porch swing.

"Thanks Pa," she said as she kissed him and gave him a smile that melted his heart in spite of himself. Then she ran off toward the kitchen where she obviously hoped to find her mother.

"Who's Tommy Simpkins?" he asked weakly as he watched her nearly skip away.

I owed Jimmy this. He gets the gal and his pie too...and a cute little daughter. He's smiling right now. I think I have done right by him...I hope so after the last one. Of course now I am insanely hungry for pie.-J