CHAPTER NINE

Looking back on that night, the redhead could have never explained how she got to Ma's house so fast. Matt was just bringing his saddlebags out the door as she arrived.

Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would burst, but somehow, she managed to choke out, "Going somewhere, Cowboy?"

Looking down at her, seeing her eyes glittering with tears, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her. Instead he said, "You shouldn't be here, Kitty."

She wanted to appear cool and collected, but everything she ever wanted seemed to be slipping through her hands. "Don't go, please don't go, Matt," she pleaded.

"I need to get away," he explained. "I need some time to think."

"You….you're…uh….you're coming back?" Her voice was shaking.

He looked at her and seemed confused. "Of course. Why would you think I wasn't?"

"Well, Chester said ..."

Awareness dawned on his face. "Ah, Chester. Well, you know how he tends to exaggerate."

Feeling relieved, Kitty went on, "He said you wouldn't talk to him. You wouldn't reassure him."

Looking rather chagrined, the big man admitted, "Chester gets to talking and, unfortunately, sometimes I quit listening. I'll be gone a few days but tell everyone I'll be back. Oh, and tell my assistant this isn't his opportunity to take a vacation."

As he prepared to mount up, she stilled him with a hand on his arm. "Marshal, I hope when things settle down we can still be friends."

He put his hands on her shoulders. Looking into her beautiful eyes, he took a deep breath and confessed, "Kitty, if things were different, I would take you into my room and make love to you right now."

As tears rolled down her cheeks, he pulled her into his arms. "If I could promise you someday, some far away someday, that we could have a life together, I would give you that promise. But I don't know if I'll have those somedays."

Sliding her arms around his waist, the redhead sobbed, "Oh, Matt..."

"You are an amazing woman, Kitty Russell, but I have nothing to offer you. I know my days may be numbered, just like Andy's were."

She opened her mouth to speak, but he gently put his hands on her cheeks, leaned down, and kissed her. It was a long, soul-shattering kiss. Then, without a word he turned, climbed on his horse, and rode away.

As Kitty Russell watched him ride away, she knew he took with him her heart.

To Be Continued in Part Two