DOUBLE DUTY: CHAPTER 15

Coffee in hand, Matt and Kitty were being treated to a tour of the new barn by Quint Asper, proud as punch to show it off. Festus tried to let Quint tell his story, but as was so often the case, he just couldn't contain himself.

"Now ya' see, Matthew, I got ol' Ruth here on account a I been a-stayin' here an all. He kin go back ta' Moss cuz I'm movin' in the new jail now that yer home. I was jes a-stayin' here . . ."

"Festus, thank you for staying here," Matt jumped in. "And Quint, thanks for sharing the bunkhouse. I sure appreciate you guys watching out for Kitty, especially with all the extra work you've had."

Matt walked up to the corral fence. Buck recognized him instantly and came over for a friendly nuzzle and a rub.

"Matt! He remembers you!" Kitty was smiling.

"That doesn't surprise me. After all, you did too, huh?"

Matt was grinning at his good friends and his good fortune. The barn was exactly what he'd dreamed of: His equipment all in the tack room, both of his horses happy and well fed, Kitty's buggy tucked into a lean-to Quint had added on the South side. He walked into the corral, then into the spacious four stall barn with Quint on his heels. Even with a crisp March wind blowing, it was snug.

"I kept the hay storage right upstairs Matt," Quint pointed out. "Once in a while Kitty has to feed 'em, and I just thought it'd be handier for her."

"Perfect," was Matt's reply. "And the stairs in the house are real nice too, Quint. Maybe you should trade blacksmithing for construction!"

"Thanks, Matt. But I'll tell you one thing. You want to see some real construction we need to head down to the jail. I'm one part-time guy with one part-time helper on a pole barn and some stairs. You won't believe what that five-man crew got done on the jail. Three of those guys were stone masons. I never saw bricks laid like that. Sure was impressive."

"Let's head over." Matt took Kitty's arm. He and Quint hung back, Festus in the lead puffing out one of his unrecognizable tunes, spurs jingling away."

"Hey buddy, thanks!" Matt said to Quint. "And thanks for that hot water yesterday, too," he winked.

Quint gave him a friendly poke on the arm, his only reply a big smile.

The jail was almost unrecognizable to Matt. Sure, he'd drawn the plans. But seeing it completed was a whole different treat. He stood in front and just stared at it. Kitty finally broke the spell, pulling away from the hold he had on her arm.

"I'm gonna sit right out here in this chair while you go in and inspect, Marshal Dillon. I have definitely seen enough of this jail to last me a lifetime. Let me know what you think. I had to make a few changes."

Matt's first stop was to take a seat at his desk. Instead of looking out into a tiny front room with one cot, it opened into a sizeable meeting area with his old stove and table, next to which were a single bed and an extra cot behind a privacy wall. The jailer or the deputy could easily hear goings on in the front, but nobody who walked in was going to see them unless they got up. And they had an interior window, with a shutter, to the jail. Nobody back there was going to surprise them, either.

Finally, he pushed his chair back and walked through the interior door to the jail. It boasted three standard-sized cells and one double that ran the length of the back wall. The space where one of the original cells had stood was now a stove parlor. That space and one cell across from it each had double barred windows, along with a shutter. No more derelicts tossing a pistol in to a prisoner. No more drunken trailhands pulling the bars off with a rope. The problematic back door was gone. Any entrance or egress would be through either the main door or one of the smaller side doors up front. The extra comfort of the building was exceeded only by its beefed-up security.

Matt just stood quietly and stared for a long time. Then he walked slowly through the building, touching surfaces softly as he studied them, remembering where things used to be compared with how they were now. His mind wandered to that day in Topeka. The day he was so nervous, so out of his comfortable place. The day every prominent official he knew sat in that meeting room and listened to his speech. It was surreal. And now Benjamin Lincoln had even approved another full-time deputy. What a treat it would be to show the new guy this jail!

As was so often the case, his spell was broken when Festus barged through the door.

"Whatcha' think, Matthew? Ain't this here jes a pearl button bangle billy?" He was grinning from ear to ear, his thumbs stuffed in his front pockets, his chest stuck out like he'd built the place himself.

Matt couldn't help himself, he just laughed. He laughed hard. And he gave Festus a big slap on the back.

"Whatever the hell that is, Festus, it sure is. It sure is!"

XOXOXO

Supper at Delmonico's had been a big treat, not just for Matt, but for Doc, Festus, Quint and Sam. Kitty had insisted that Sam join them, reminding him that she couldn't possibly have spent the time she did away from the Long Branch if it hadn't been for his extra work. "I've been at that darn jail almost as much as I've been at work, Sam," she'd pointed out. Matt could only guess how much time. He made sure their loyal friend had the biggest steak on the menu. Life was easing back into normal. A much better normal. It was delightful to be able to walk home with his wife. He excused Quint from chores, then fed and watered the horses himself while Kitty watched. All the extra work and stress were paying off. Finally, he took her hand and led her into the house. She poured their nightcap and sat with him next to the stove.

"Thank you," he said softly, looking into her eyes.

"It's just a little whiskey, Cowboy," she winked. "I pour 'em for a living, remember?"

"You know what I'm talking about, and it's not the whiskey. Sweetie, you are the most amazing woman in the world." His expression was solidly serious.

"Wow, the whole world?" She was smiling, refusing to be so serious. He took her hand.

"Kit, everything's just perfect. I don't know how you did it." She smiled, seeming to be at a loss for words, so he went on.

"I know one thing. I'm never leaving you like that again. A few days, a week, but never like that Kit. I'll quit before I go. It tore me in half being without you."

She stood and walked to him, snuggling into his hair. It was thick and the curls were way out of control. Just the way she liked it.

"Me too," she said softly. "And that's a deal."

He pulled her into his lap, covering her neck with soft kisses.

"It's time to tell me about the wire I got from this lady Lily Merrill the other day."

Matt did a double take, looking into her eyes.

"Surprised she wrote so soon," he covered the double take. "Well, she's good, Kitty." He was back to his 'yep' and 'nope' answers while he composed his thoughts.

"Good as in . . .?"

"Good as in I think you'd like having her at the Long Branch. She managed two saloons in Laramie. She's not just some floor girl, she's got business sense. If you got somebody like her, you could take some time off for us."

"Not just 'good for the marshal,' then?"

"Oh come on, Kit! Don't go there. You know better." He was smiling, refusing to let his always skeptical wife go the wrong direction.

"Here's the long version: She's maybe somewhere around 25. I met her because she was Dan Troop's woman. Not wife, woman. But she sure loved him. She and I became partners of sorts setting a trap for that drummer who killed Dan. I had to set up a stakeout on all the saloons to catch the guy. I watched her at work, I even took her to dinner after work, just trying to bait the guy in. She was all business and mighty street smart. We spent a lot of dull time together. Played a lot of checkers, sat around and made small talk. But we also had time to talk about the saloon business. She wants out of Laramie because of what happened to Dan. But YOU have to make the decision, not me. So, I told her to wire you for an interview. Promised her nothing more."

"Yeah," she was fiddling with Matt's shirt buttons. "Bill Ewing. wow," she said softly. "That was an amazing story! Do you realize how many times he was in the Long Branch? He was even here the week you left for Laramie!"

"I don't even want to think about it. Makes me sick every time I do. He must've run down here on so-called business right after he killed Dan."

"Is she attractive?"

He took a deep breath, one more time reminded that his redhead would not let go of any line of questioning until she was satisfied. He took her hand from his shirt buttons into his.

"Yes she's attractive. She's very attractive. She'd be a draw at the Long Branch." Blue eyes were drilling into blue eyes.

"Did she think you were?"

"Kit, come on. Am I on trial here?"

"You could answer me. Why would I want to hire a woman who finds you attractive?"

"Because I'm your husband and you can trust me. I made a promise to forsake all others, remember?"

He had her there. But the barely perceptible tremble in her lower lip meant she wasn't completely defeated.

"Did she think you were attractive?"

"Yes." He decided to go for broke. "She told me exactly that."

The instant she broke eye contact, he pulled her tight into his chest, burying his face in her hair.

"I haven't had any woman but you since that first day at Spring Creek. Do you understand how loyal I am to you?"

He sat her up again so he could look straight into her eyes.

"Do you know how much success you've meant to the Long Branch just by being there all these years for all the men to come in and see? So now you've got me and I've got you. The badge and the Long Branch both have to step down into second place."

"Matt, you need to know . . ."

He put his finger gently on her lips.

"Just let me finish. I need to be clear on this. I'm your husband, Kit. You're my world. We agreed we want a family, remember? I thought Lily might give us that time. You can't work as hard as you've been working and have a child too. I want to take you back to that beautiful lodge in Morrison for our anniversary. I want to take you to the cattlemen's dance again. I just want some private time with you. We can't do any of those things without help. Lily's good enough that you wouldn't have to be worrying about the business. If she finds me attractive, that's flattering. Nothing ever came of it all the time I was in Laramie, and nothing ever will. I'd like to see you ease out of the saloon business, Kitten. You already know that. Try cutting back like we talked about. Get off the floor, get out from behind the bar, and just run the books. Oversee everything. Limit your time with the come and go crowd."

He drew a deep breath and just stared at her with wistful eyes, not knowing what more he could say. He was relieved beyond relieved when she kissed him softly.

"I'd like to see you ease out of the law enforcement business too, you know. Get out from behind that gun! Oversee everything . . ."

Before she could go on with her rebuttal, he squeezed her hand.

"You saw the telegram from Benjamin Lincoln. I'll have another full-time deputy this year. And YOU built the jail, Kitty! The quarters are big enough for a deputy and a jailer! I'll be spending a lot less nights there and taking a lot fewer trips to Hays City. Just think about it!"

"Fair's fair, Cowboy. I'll set up an interview with Miss Merrill next week." Smiling, she pinched him on the cheek. "What say we go see if we can start under that big down quilt again, huh?"

XOXOXO

Matt was propped up on his elbow in bed watching Kitty finish brushing her hair at the vanity. Two days home, Laramie seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Hey, tell me about your trip to Kansas City!" He said cheerfully.

Her heart sank to her knees. It had been a long, thoroughly delightful day, filled with the happiest of events and the most private talk. She'd included that brief mention of a "short business trip to Kansas City" in her letter to Matt just on the remote chance something might go wrong, and he'd need to know where she was or at least that Doc would know. She knew she'd eventually have to tell him the story, but the worst thing she could have expected was that it would be tonight.

But maybe it was this day. Maybe it was how filled with hope their plans for the future were. Maybe it was because the love of her life was home. Whatever the reason, she drew a deep breath, summoning surprising strength, deciding it best to just blurt the story out. She crawled in the bed next to him and waited while he pulled the quilt up.

"I was pregnant when you left for Laramie, Matt." She studied his eyes in the lantern light. The silence in the room was deafening.

"At somewhere around six weeks I miscarried. It was worse than awful! Doc set me up with a special doctor in Kansas City just a few days later because he was worried I'd get an infection from what might be left inside." She didn't break her gaze, even though her eyes were filling up with tears. She could tell from the look on his face that he didn't know what to say or do, so she went on.

"The doctor there specialized in such matters. He took very good care of me. He told me after he treated me that I'd be fine and I could even get pregnant again without complications. Doc didn't want me to go there alone. We got there in the afternoon and I had the treatment the next morning. We came home on the train the next day. Doc stayed with me the whole time. I was darned scared, Matt. It felt so good to have Doc with me."

Matt didn't say a thing, he just pulled Kitty into his embrace and stroked her back. He held her like that for what seemed like an eternity, Kitty crying softly into his shoulder. He kept her there while he reached down and wiped her tears away.

"You should have told me you were pregnant before I left, Kit. I never would have gone."

"I couldn't, Matt. I didn't know. I was two weeks late. I was late the time before, you remember that. Nothing came of it, I was just late. Doc said no doctor can tell until the woman is six weeks or more along. I wasn't trying to keep anything from you. I just waited and hoped."

"Doc should have told me you needed to go see this other doctor, then! I'd have come home right away!"

Kitty got her second wind. Her composure restored, she pushed back so she could look into his eyes.

"That part is my fault. Don't you dare beat up Doc! He told me he was going to wire you and I forbid him to do it. You were chasing down a guy who killed a marshal. You didn't need that distraction. Besides, what good would rushing home have done? It wouldn't have changed a single thing that happened to me."

"You said in your letter it was a business trip. We don't keep secrets from each other."

"Well it sure as hell wasn't a pleasure trip!" She said confidently.

Silence hung in the room again. Matt was out of reasons why something different should have gone down or why somebody did something wrong. Kitty was quiet, just stroking his arm.

"He said you're gonna' be all right, then?" Matt was reaching for some reassurance.

"He said I already am, Matt. And he said I'm not too old to start a family, either. He was very clear about that."

"Doc said the same thing when we got married." Now it was Matt's turn to reassure himself.

"He did again, too. He said a lot of things to me. He explained very clearly what happened to me while you were gone. It was a lot of medical stuff, but he made it so simple for me to understand. He's ready to do that for you, too. But you know the most important thing he said? He said we could spend a bunch of time talking about what went wrong, or we could just get on to facing the future. And that's why I went to Kansas City. It's all behind us now."

Kitty reached up and brushed away the tears that had softly rolled down Matt's cheeks.

"No more tears now," she said softly. "Let's get going with our future."

Matt leaned over and blew out the lantern. The kiss he gave her said more than words ever could. Silently, he tucked the two of them into the big down quilt and wrapped his body around hers. It was all the answer she needed.

END

XOXOXO

Author's Note:

I'll leave you where this started:

"I think a man ought to be where his home is." Matt Dillon in "Blue Horse."

Amen, Matt. Amen!

Fond thanks to the members and guests who've taken time to write reviews and Private Messages to me about this story and the series. Please keep them coming! Two of you unintentionally (?) provided me with some delicious ideas for the next story. Readers are SO much fun to hear from!

Thanks, too, to all the members who sent Private Messages about Matt's deputy! You'll get the reveal in "There's Always Tomorrow Part 6, The Deputy" coming this spring. Guess I'd better get to work. Thanks again and see you down the trail!