William was a horse length ahead of Wallace as they road down Front Street. The afternoon was warm and sunny for the early spring. Many Dodge citizens were busy with brooms and rugs, beating out the dirt from winter. The warm weather seemed to have brought people out of hibernation, with women shopping and men chatting about one thing or another.
Wilbur Jonas was busy arranging broom, rakes and other instruments out front of his store when William motioned to his brother that the man out front of the general store was indeed Jonas, the man their parents knew form years before.
"Hey, Mr. Jonas!" Wallace hollered from his saddle.
Jonas turned and looked at the two young men. His brow furrowed as he tried to recognize them and why they would call him. No other patron would just call out his name, "Yes?" he said as he watched the two men step down from their mounts and loop their reins around the posts in front of the general store.
"You don't recognize us, do you?" William said.
Jonas looked at the two men like perhaps he was some how in their bad books, "No," he said meekly.
"I'm William, and this is Wallace," William thumbed over to his brother.
Jonas blinked as he thought about the names and finally out of the recesses of his memory, "Hale. William and Wallace Hale!" he smiled broadly. "My goodness, I certainly did not recognize you!" he extended his hand and shook both of the young men's hands. "You are both looking well!" Jonas continued.
We're doing alright, I suppose," Wallace smiled.
"I was sorry to hear about your parents," Jonas shook his head, "It must have been hard on you," he looked at the young men and studied their faces.
"It was at first," Wallace nodded, "but we've stuck together and seem to be doing okay for ourselves," he said.
"Ellen will be so pleased to see you," Jonas smiled. "Are you in Dodge for a while?" he asked.
"We thought we'd take a few days to get cleaned up, get a good meal, and a decent sleep," Wallace smiled.
"That's his idea. I have other ones," William smirked. Jonas smiled "You can take the city out of a man, but you can't that the man out of the city," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "Why don't you boys stay at our place and save yourself some money," Jonas suggested.
"Oh, thanks, Mr. Jonas, but we wouldn't want to put you out," Wallace said.
"No, you wouldn't be putting us out. There's a spare room at the house with two beds, and Ellen loves to cook," Jonas urged. William and Wallace exchanged looks, "Sure, if you really don't mind," Wallace smiled.
"There may be an occasion I might stay in town," William hinted. Jonas nodded, "Oh, I understand," the store owner said with a sly smile under his silver moustache.
Kitty and Doc had reached the boardwalk in front of the store when Jonas stopped his two friends and introduced William and Wallace, "These two fine young men are sons of friends," he smiled like a proud father. Doc took delight in watching Jonas interact with the two men as they took a shine with Kitty Russell, "Miss Russell owns the Long Branch Saloon," Jonas pointed.
"And as a matter of fact," Kitty smiled, "Doc and I were just going of a drink. Would like to join us?" she looked at the two men.
"I'm already liking Dodge," William smiled broadly as he couldn't keep his eyes off the redheaded saloon owner. Both men followed Kitty across the alleyway leaving Doc and Jonas standing in front of the store, "You coming?" Doc asked.
The question landed on deaf ears as Jonas was still caught up in the moment of seeing two young men that reminded him of the life he and Ellen had back east, before the war.
"Jonas?" Doc nudged the store owner.
"Huh?" Jonas' intense blue eyes shifted to the doctor. "Are you joining us for a drink?"
Jonas looked around and noticed that he didn't have any customers, "Sure!" he smiled. "You know Doc, if Ellen ever finds out how much time I've been spending in the saloon, she'd have me sleeping in the shed!"
Doc smiled, "Well that at least sounds like a step up from the dog house," the doctor joked. Jonas looked at Doc was a slightly bemused expression on his face. Jonas hustled into the store and pulled his white apron off and placed it on the counter before flipping the sign to close and pulling the door shut. "You won't tell Ellen will you?"
Doc looked at the store owner with a look that was mixed with surprise and hurt, "Mr. Jonas! I'm a doctor. I don't tell tales out of school," Doc huffed with a slight hint of amusement on his face. Jonas realized what he'd said and smiled, "Thanks Doc," he said with a boyish smile on his face. Doc chuckled at the store owner's facial expression.
Soon, Doc and Jonas had caught up with Kitty and the two Hale boys. Both men sat at the table and Kitty asked Sam to bring them each a drink, "These two young men have been telling me all about their parents and you and Ellen," Kitty smiled at Jonas.
"Oh?" he almost looked embarrassed.
"Nothing bad, Mr. Jonas. Honest," Wallace patted the store owner on the shoulder. The comment brought relief . "We were just say how you and Mrs. Jonas were like second parents to us," Wallace smiled. William said nothing.
"Yes, we were, I suppose," Jonas said as he watched Sam place the glass in front of him, he nodded a thank you to the barkeep. "It's too bad that your folks moved away when they did. And then fell to typhoid after the war," Jonas said with sadness in his voice. "And then Ellen and I moved here. But your aunt took good care of you, by the looks of things," he smiled.
"She did her best," William said before he took a sip from his glass. Kitty's eyebrows knitted together at William's comment. She looked at the two brothers and realized that although identical in appearance they were far different in personality, and William had an edge to him. She chose not to comment about the two young men's aunt, instead she's asked Jonas on the side some time.
Kitty smiled and excused herself from the table, all the men stood as she left - all but William. The young man remained seated and out of the corner of his eyes, he watched Kitty walked back to the bar. He slowly sipped on his drink as the other men chatted.
Kitty stood next to Sam a tried not to notice William's look, but she couldn't help it. Kitty shook herself and figured that she was misunderstanding the young man. Quickly Kitty busied herself with other customers while trying to hide from William's brooding eyes.