A Change in Plans
An ATC for "The Foundling"
by Lilyjack
Author's Note: Lostcowgirl brought up an interesting historical fact. The little white dress that Quint purchases for Kitty's baby is gender neutral. It is typical of baby dresses worn by both sexes until they were old enough to need different clothing, often when they were toddlers. I have grainy photos of both my maternal grandparents in white baby dresses, and you can't discern their gender from the dress style. In fact, there were no prescribed colors associated with a particular gender until quite recently in history. Pink was actually considered a "strong" color perfectly suitable for boys. It wasn't until the 1940's that pink became an exclusive "girl color." Sorry for the impromptu history lesson, but this was news to me as well as I researched Victorian life over the past five months. As a history buff, I appreciate fine details added to stories to make them richer, but I warn you that I also will occasionally misrepresent history to suit my own purposes. Maybe someone out there can suss out a particular fact that I am thinking of that will come later. Thank you all so much for the wonderfully kind and thoughtful reviews. I've been without internet for a while due to the Nashville AT&T explosion. Hoping everyone involved in that was unharmed. ~lj
Chapter 9
"Friends & Neighbors"
Lottie Tyree purposefully marched next door to Clyde Buckles' old place. The old man hadn't been laid to rest but a few short months, and already somebody had moved right into his home. Lottie heard tell that the place had gone for a song. The house plus the business, not to mention all his earthly belongings. It was a cryin' shame, that's what it was, when a man died and there wasn't a soul to mourn his passing save a paltry handful of neighbors and employees. Mr. Buckles supposedly had family way off in California, but they were evidently too busy to attend the funeral, or else they just didn't give a whipstitch, which is exactly what Lottie thought was truly the case. A cryin' shame, yes it was.
Lottie just happened to be outside tending the flowers in her front garden this morning when out of the corner of her eye she spotted activity on the front porch next door. Lottie had scrambled back into her own house, shed her gardening gloves, and checked her reflection in the hallway mirror. She smoothed back her dark hair streaked with gray at the crown and temples and scrubbed ineffectually at a smudge of dirt on her cheek, finally resorting to licking her index finger to swipe it away. Standing up straight and puffing out a decisive breath, she turned to go introduce herself to the new neighbor. She had spied him a few weeks earlier walking into the house, and he appeared to be relatively young and quite handsome.
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Marshal Dillon gazed over the swinging doors of the Long Branch out of long habit. Matt had known full well she was out of town, yet he still looked for her before heading into the saloon. The sight of her always calmed him when he was having a difficult day full of conflict and turmoil. But at other times glimpsing her across the Long Branch excited him and made him look forward to the evening hours when they could be alone up in her room. But right now, Kitty Russell, of course, was nowhere to be found.
Matt Dillon frowned as he finally decided to shove open the doors, spying Doc and Festus seated at a table, each nursing a beer.
Doc waved him over. "Have a seat, Matt. You sure look like you could use a drink."
Matt loped over to their table and grunted a reply, folding his long body into the proffered chair and leaning his elbows listlessly on the table.
Festus eyed him closely. "Doc, a drink might do ol' Matthew here a heap a' good. He's been all outta sorts what with Miss Kitty gone. I reckon that's the onliest thing what ails 'im."
Matt shot Festus a long-suffering look but didn't rise to the bait.
Swiping a hand over his jaw, Doc inquired curiously, "Have you heard anything from Kitty yet?"
"Nope."
Festus squinted at the marshal. "No tellygram?"
"Nuh-uh." He wouldn't meet their eyes.
Tugging at his ear, Doc recollected, "I thought Kitty was at least gonna send an address where she was stayin' once she got settled in New Orleans."
"Yep." Matt pivoted in his seat, looking toward the bar. "That's why I came in here, to talk with Floyd."
Abruptly, Matt rose and strode to the polished wooden bar. Kitty's bartender Floyd approached, smiling as he buffed a glass with a clean cotton towel. "What can I do for ya,' Marshal?"
"You heard from Kitty yet? She said she'd be sendin' you a forwarding address."
"Why, no, Marshal, I haven't. But she did have to travel clear to Louisiana. And she has a sick cousin. I reckon she's been awful busy."
"Yep." The marshal leaned his elbows on the bar with an impatient scowl on his face. "I guess you're right."
Floyd hung his towel on a hook on the back of the bar. "I'm sure we'll hear from her real soon. Marshal, can I get ya' a beer?"
"Nope. Gimme a whiskey, Floyd."
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Lottie Tyree clutched her sensible dark skirts while she climbed the steps from the sidewalk to the robin's egg blue house. Even though her own home was a sight bigger, she'd always admired this charming little cottage. Her brown eyes curiously peered up at the cozy wraparound porch, searching for signs of life.
She was surprised to see a woman sitting in a rocking chair, a striking woman with shining red curls, big blue eyes and alabaster skin. Lottie had never seen the like before in all her born days. The woman was wearing a simple but flattering yellow dress that made Lottie think of the lemon buttercream frosting she'd made for her oldest youngun's twelfth birthday cake just last week. As she got a little closer, Lottie was also a mite scandalized to notice that the red-headed lady seemed to be wearing a little paint on her face. Not a lot, but just enough that Lottie suspected. No woman's face was that perfectly beautiful. Of that she was absolutely sure. The red-headed woman was holding a delicate lorgnette close to her eyes in one hand and a newspaper in the other, so she didn't even take notice of Lottie. That is until Lottie chortled a greeting. "Good mornin'!"
The red head lowered her lorgnette and newspaper, glancing up at Lottie in surprise. "Well…mornin'!" she replied in a low, musical voice, and a smile turned that almost perfect face of hers even lovelier.
Lottie stepped forward and proffered her hand. "I'm your neighbor!"
"Well, I'm Kitty," the woman replied, offering her own hand. The smile lines at the corners of Kitty's eyes told Lottie that the lady was a mite older than she'd first appeared.
"My name's Lottie. Lottie Tyree. I was just out deadheading my rosebushes when I noticed you up here on the porch. I took the opportunity to introduce myself. Me and my brood, we live right next door in the big white house there." Lottie pointed. "There's a couple of my young'uns now…" Lottie frowned. "Dooner! You quit chasin' your sister with that snake! Get yourself back in that house and do your chores like I told you! Don't make me get a switch after you!" Lottie turned back to Kitty and smiled. "Sorry. That's kids for ya'."
A good-humored smile twitched at the corners of Kitty's mouth as she stood to get a better view of Lottie's house and her errant children. That's when Lottie's sharp eyes noticed that the lady seemed to be in the family way. Lottie would never be crass enough to mention such a thing though, not the first time she met a person at least. Instead she commented, "I didn't realize the gentleman who bought Mr. Buckles' home was married."
Kitty's mouth dropped open and she tilted her head. "Well…" she began, "You see…I, uh…"
That's when the strapping, handsome man Lottie had spied weeks earlier burst out the front door onto the porch. He seemed to be a mite breathless. Thrusting his hand out for Lottie to take, he gave her a dazzling smile. "Why, hello there, my name is Quint Asper. I don't believe we've met, Mrs…?"
"Mrs. Homer Tyree...Lottie's my name. I was just telling your wife here that I live right next door with my husband and four children. I just came over to say hello and welcome you." Lottie noticed that the man was in his shirtsleeves. And they were rolled up, revealing tanned skin and muscular forearms covered in dark hair. Lottie smiled tremulously.
"Mrs. Asper and I sure do appreciate you stoppin' by, Miz Tyree. That was real neighborly of you."
Lottie noticed how Kitty turned and stared at her husband for a moment while her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. Lottie also idly wondered if Mr. Asper worked out in the sun a great deal. When he smiled, his teeth were so white against that swarthy skin of his. Suddenly she realized it was apparently her turn to speak. "Well then! I don't want to keep you. Just thought I'd say…hello." She cleared her throat and finished, "I reckon I'll be seeing you from time to time."
Quint Asper nodded and gave her his wide, white smile again. "Thank you, Miz Tyree. My wife and I sure do look forward to it."
Lottie nearly stumbled as she backed away and walked down the steps, hurrying back to her house thinking what a handsome man that Quint Asper was and what a lucky woman Mrs. Asper seemed to be.
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Standing stock still, Kitty and Quint silently observed as Lottie Tyree marched energetically down the sidewalk. They cut their eyes over at one another and began to speak, but then Lottie turned back, fluttering her fingers at them in a farewell greeting. Hastily, they froze again, pasting smiles on their faces, then waved back, waiting for the woman to make it all the way back to her house before they uttered a word.
When Lottie's front door finally shut, Kitty groaned, "Quint! You told her that I was your wife! It was bad enough havin' to tell the doctor that, but now we're sayin' that to other folks?"
Quint's eyes darted around, looking for stray neighbors who might possibly overhear. Then he took Kitty's hand and led her through the heavy wooden door and into the front room. He gently seated her on the green velvet upholstered settee, lowering himself next to her. He took a fortifying breath. "Kitty, what'd you expect me to say to my neighbor?"
"I don't know," she answered glumly. Kitty looked miserable. "I guess I just wasn't thinkin', but I do hate lyin' to people. I realize that she's your neighbor, though, and I most certainly do not want her believing that you're livin' in sin with saloon trash."
"Don't say that, honey." Quint shook his head firmly. "Don't even say it as a joke."
"Well, it's almost the truth." She frowned.
"You're bein' too hard on yourself, Kitty. But you do need to think about somethin' else. You've gotta let Matt Dillon at least know where you are."
Kitty didn't answer.
"You owe him that."
"Do I?"
"I think he loves you very much."
"Sometimes he has a funny way of showin' it."
"That's true. If it'd been me, I woulda married you a long time ago." Quint couldn't meet her eyes.
"Well, he hasn't, and here I am. And I know for a fact he doesn't want a family. He's told me."
Quint watched her eyes fill with unshed tears. He soothed in a quiet voice, "Maybe he'll change his mind."
"He reiterated his opposition to children again quite recently."
"Oh…"
"Yeah."
"But he doesn't know you're gonna have a baby, does he?"
"No."
"Don't you think you need to tell him?"
"I'm afraid, Quint."
"You don't have anything to be afraid of, Kitty. It's Matt Dillon we're talkin' about here. What's the worst thing that could happen?"
"I don't like to think about that." She shook her head, red curls bobbing. "I've been with Matt for a lotta years. I hate to think about those years bein' wasted."
"Oh, I don't think the years you spend lovin' somebody can ever be wasted," Quint murmured, thinking of Bella.
"Of course, you're right, Quint." Her face flushed as she glanced down at his wife's ring on her finger. "I'm sorry. But…" She sighed.
"But you don't want it to be over."
"Yeah." Her voice cracked in the middle of the word.
"But what if, like you say, Matt doesn't want the baby? What'll you do then?"
"Dammit, I don't know, Quint. That's why I ran scared. I just don't know."
"You have other options, you know."
"Other options?"
"I'm sure you could come up with another plan if Matt decides he can't have a baby in his life."
"Another plan? That's a pretty scary thing to contemplate. I've been doin' the same thing for…" She cast her liquid eyes toward the ceiling. "…nearly twenty years now, Quint."
"That doesn't mean you have to keep on doin' it." Quint leaned closer and touched her arm. "You want this baby, don't you, Kitty?"
"More than anything, Quint. I wanna take care of this baby. I want my baby to have a good life, not the life I've had to live."
"I understand."
"And I'm not young anymore." She swiped at an eye, and Quint dug in his pocket passing her his handkerchief. "This could be my last chance."
"You'll be a good mother to this child, Kitty. I got no doubt."
"Thank you, Quint. That means more than you know," she said, remembering with a pang Doc and Matt believing she needed to give up Baby Mary to Maylee Baines. She recalled with a stabbing pain in her chest them thinking she wasn't a fit mother.
"But right now, what's important is you getting rested up and feeling better. So you can have a healthy baby. And if that means us tellin' people you're Mrs. Asper, then that's just the way it is. Alright?"
"Alright."
"Would you like to go send Matt a telegram tomorrow? Just let him know you're okay. You can talk to him later when you're feelin' better."
She sighed. "I reckon I'd better."
"We'll do that then."
"I appreciate everything you've done for me, Quint. You're goin' above and beyond the call of duty, you know."
"I'm doin' this 'cause I want to, Kitty." He appeared to be taken aback by her response. "I'm doin' this 'cause I care about you. About you and your little one."
He looked at her so earnestly, so intently, she had to glance down into her lap. "Thank you, Quint. I really don't know what I would've done without you."
"Kitty Russell, you're the savviest woman I've ever known. I'm sure you woulda managed to figure somethin' out without me. But…" He squeezed her hand. "…I'm glad we ran into each other. I'm glad you're here with me now."
She swallowed hard. "I'm glad I'm here, too, Quint."
He grinned. "How 'bout I fix you somethin' real good for dinner? Remember, you're eatin' for two now."
tbc
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