Sunday Morning

Wearing jeans and a red-checkered shirt, Vivian Carter stood with one foot on the lower rail of a corral watching 2 bay colts scamper about. She heard a horse approach and turned. "Matt Dillon, what brings you out here? It's Sunday morning, the good folks are in church and the bad are sleeping off their drinking."

He chuckled and dismounted, "I don't know where that leaves us."

She laughed, "I guess I don't either."

"Vivi, I remembered you said those gypsies were leaving this morning and I wanted to make sure they got off all right. Skully's been talking trash about them in every saloon in town and I wanted to be sure they didn't run into trouble. I rode with them until they hit the stage route. They'll be fine from there."

"That's good. They sure are interesting. They have their own ways, but also have a real strong code of honor. If you treat them decent and fair they don't forget you. I've read about gypsies. As a group, they've suffered a lot."

"Seems like you do a lot of reading."

A bit embarrassed, she shrugged, "I didn't have friends growing up, so I spent a lot of time with books. Anyway, come take a look these colts." She pointed to the corral, glowing with excitement. Matt couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

"They sure are beauties, Vivi."

"If God had made anything more beautiful he would have kept it for himself."

Matt looked at her and raised a questioning eyebrow.

She laughed, "Yes, I read that in a book. Don't remember who wrote it though. Matt, it's coming up on noon. How about joining me for lunch? I'll give you a tour of the ranch first."

"I – I – why not? I'd be happy to."

Boston

Kitty balanced a plate on an upturned palm and grabbed a cup of steaming coffee with the other hand. She carefully made her way over to a pale, thin man seated alone in the corner of her diner. His threadbare jacket was patched, and his pants and shoes had seen better days, but he was clear-eyed and clean-shaven.

"There you go Johnny." She set down a plate piled with baked beans, thick slices of ham and collard greens.

His eyes widened and he licked his lips, "But Kitty, I just ordered a small plate of beans. I can't pay for all this."

"Johnny, please do me the favor of eating it. I bought too much ham; we don't have room for it in the kitchen and it will go bad if no one eats it." He hesitated. They both knew she was lying. She smiled encouragingly and leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Besides, I'm proud of you. I can see you've gone another day without a drink." She smiled again and walked away. He picked up a fork and dug in, he'd been graced by an angel.

She went around the diner saying hello and making sure everyone was happy. Michael Gordon, a long time regular, was at table by the window.

"Is your meal all right, Mr. Gordon?

"Very fine as usual, and I must say that was a very nice thing you just did Miss Russell."

She glanced over at Johnny, happily shoving food into his mouth. "Well, Johnny's been coming here from the day I opened, just like you. I think he just needs someone to care about him. He reminds me of a man named Louie back …." Her voice petered out.

"Were you about to finish a thought?" Mike Gordon looked at her with genuine interest.

She shook her had and smiled. He smiled back, "I hope I'm not being too forward, but as you've pointed out, I have been coming here for a quite a while. I was wondering if you'd join me for a late night dessert at the ice cream parlor that just opened down the street. It's open until 9:00."

"I'm flattered, but – well – I…"

"I apologize. I am being too forward."

"No, no, I - I'd be delighted. Can you pick me up at 7:30?"

Matt and Vivi

Matt finished his chicken potpie and took a sip of coffee. "Vivi, thank you for a fine afternoon, starting with showing me around your ranch. You really know horses. I'm mighty impressed."

"Thanks Matt. It's funny though, even with growing up on a ranch I'm still always learning. I guess the saying is true - 'The more you know, the more you know you don't know.'"

"And who, may I ask, said that?" Matt smiled crookedly.

"A man named Aristotle." She blushed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I read so much that I'm always coming out with these silly quotes."

"Don't apologize Vivi, I've enjoyed every minute of our conversations." He smiled, "Lunch was good too."

"Thank you, but Gladys gets credit for lunch. I'm not much of a cook. My father always made sure we had a cook and housekeeper. Gladys has worked here for 5 years and does all the cooking.

"Guess your father didn't think cooking was something you should learn." His tone was teasing.

She laughed, "True, he thought cooking was for girls, and he had me doing the things he thought a son should do. When I did them well, I didn't know if he was proud or disappointed. He always pushed me though, even after the accident." Her face darkened and Matt suddenly remembered Vivian's father carrying his unconscious daughter up to Doc's, blood pouring out of her."

"I remember Vivi. You were busted up pretty bad, but I never knew what happened."

"It was my 16th birthday." She shuttered slightly. "My gift was a chance at breaking the toughest horse on the ranch. A couple of ranch hands tried to stop me, but my father taunted me with his eyes and I couldn't say no. It didn't take long for that horse to throw me, and I slammed into fence. I recovered, but Doc Adams told my father I could never have children because of the damage. That really upset him. I ruined his chances at having a grandson to leave the ranch to."

Matt saw the hurt in Vivian's eyes. He put his large hand on slender one, "Vivi, you're father wasn't much of a parent, but you turned out to be a fine person."

"Thank you." She banished the tears that were forming in her eyes and smiled."

"Well, I'd better head back to town. There's work I should be getting to."

"I should get to work myself. I need to go through my ledgers and make sure every horse in my herd is accounted for. I'll see you out."

When got outside she looked up at him. "Matt, I enjoyed today too. I don't suppose you'd like to come for dinner Tuesday evening? If you can't I understand."

He looked into her earnest brown eyes, "Vivi, I'd like that. I'll see you on Tuesday."

He got on his horse and rode off, but before long an uneasy feeling settled over him. He'd made a date with Vivian, but his heart hadn't let go of Kitty. He blew out a long breath. It was just dinner with a woman who was fast becoming a good friend, and Kitty was gone from his life. That was the reality he had to accept.

Kitty

Mike Gordon held out a chair in the Boston Ice Cream House. "I plan on ordering big Kitty, you should too. Everything here is sweet and wonderful, like the woman I'm with. She laughed and the sound filled him with delight. He ordered a banana split and she went for the hot fudge sundae. Both desserts arrived looking huge and beautiful. Their eyes widened. They giggled and dug in.

"Tell me more about yourself Mike. All I know is that you have a print shop around the corner from my diner."

"Well, my family has been in Boston for 3 generations. My grandpa was a printer, my daddy was a printer and I became one too. The print shop has been in my family all that time and now it's mine. We print cards, advertisements and shop signs. Oh and this is exciting. We print a lot of the wanted posters that get sent around the country."

Kitty nodded, but couldn't help but picture Matt poring over wanted posters in his office. The posters held no excitement for him, just reasons to put his life on the line.

"Kitty, Kitty."

She looked up, "Mike the printing business sounds fascinating, tell me more."

He smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry Kitty, for a second I thought you weren't listening."

They continued chatting and finished their desserts, or as much as they could manage, and he walked her back to the diner. She took out her key. "Thanks for a lovely time Mike."

"How about tomorrow? There are many more desserts to try, or we could go to the zoo one afternoon."

"Thank you, but I don't think so."

He was about to press his case, but decided against it. Something in her eyes told him there was no point.

Kitty let herself into the diner and went up the staircase to her small apartment. She quickly put on a cotton nightgown and crawled under the covers. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Matt. Maybe she should write to him. What would it hurt to start a conversation? She closed her eyes. Their bitter arguments echoed in her ears. She remembered the feeling of dread that had been dragging her down, turning her into another person. This way was best.

TBC