Chapter Three

Jess glanced to his lower left as he dropped his hat and gloves onto the couch by the front window. When he raised his head and looked across the room, his eyes landed on the woman standing near the dining table.

Leaning against the side of the fireplace nearest the dining area, Slim waited, smiling, watching for Jess's reaction to laying eyes on the woman that Slim was sure was the most beautiful one that had ever set foot in Wyoming Territory. He was not disappointed.

Jess froze in his tracks. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly as he stared at the young woman.

Slim folded his arms smugly across his chest. Yep, he sees I was right about what a beauty she is. He's as flabbergasted as I was. Maybe even more. Knows he's lost out. Wishin' he'd met her first.

Jess stood still, his eyes glued on the young woman for so long that Slim felt it surely must be making Kathryn uncomfortable. She stood motionless too, locking eyes with Jess. Slim was about to make an introduction when Jess began to move toward her, and Slim assumed he was going to introduce himself.

With a very deliberate, yet very slow stride, Jess made his way across the room. Slim frowned a tad at the way Kathryn watched, wide-eyed, as he approached. Jess stopped directly in front of her, his eyes never wavering from hers. Then, still with a dazed look on his face that conveyed he could hardly fathom what he was seeing, Jess reached out and, without a word, gently wrapped both arms around Kathryn. Drawing her into a tender embrace, he buried his face in her hair.

Now it was Slim who couldn't believe his eyes. His arms went from folded in front to bent at each side, his hands curled into loose fists and braced on his hips. His eyes narrowed, and his lips drew into a tight line.

He'd seen Jess Harper flirt with many a woman. At Laramie's dances, potluck socials and just about any other type of gathering, where it seemed there were always plenty of females eager for the Harper touch. But Jess had never had the downright gall to try something like this!

Scowling, Slim was about to step forward and ask him what in the sam hill he thought he was doin' when a smile appeared on Kathryn's lips, her eyes closed, and she melted against Jess. Resting her cheek just beneath his shoulder, she encircled his waist with her arms and gently pressed her hands against his back, even clutching his shirt in one of them.

Slim's eyebrows shot up. He drew back and relaxed his arms, letting out an exasperated, but quiet, sigh. Well, it wasn't the first time he'd lost a woman to Jess Harper's charms and eyes. And it likely wouldn't be the last. What was it about those eyes of his anyway? He'd overheard the ladies ooh and ahh over them often enough. But doggone, it was just plain puzzling this time, the way Kathryn was so immediately and overwhelmingly taken with his friend.

Slim glanced at Jonesy and Andy, who both looked bemused. Daisy, on the other hand, seemed only mildly surprised, and in fact looked quite pleased at the scene playing out before them.

After a couple of moments, but what seemed like hours to Slim, Jess lifted his head and stepped back from Kathryn, his hands sliding to gently grasp the side of her shoulders. They stood at arm's length, looking at each other. Finally, Jess spoke, slowly, his voice still showing his astonishment. "I… I can't believe it's really you, Kate."

Kate? He knows her? And well enough to use a nickname. So that's why she was so relaxed with him. Slim shook his head and smiled ruefully. Well, seems I'm the one who's lost out. When it comes right down to it, I guess he saw her first.

The bewilderment faded from Jonesy's and Andy's faces. Again, Daisy simply continued to smile.

"It's good to see you, Jess," Kathryn said softly.

His hands left her shoulders and he took another couple of steps back, staring at her and shaking his head slightly, as though still trying to convince himself she was really right there in front of him.

A range of emotions passed across his face. "What are you doin' here?" His gentle voice still held a degree of disbelief.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Kathryn didn't address his question, appearing as taken back in time and memories as Jess was.

"Sure has." Jess nodded, smiling, as the tension from the surprise ebbed. "Let's see, how many years now?" He did a quick mental calculation. "Must be about—"

At that moment the door burst open behind Jess, and Mike dashed in. He rushed past Jess, heading for his room and calling out, "We're gonna play marbles!"

A short way behind him, a little girl hurried in and crashed smack dab into Jess's leg. She practically bounced back and then tried to skirt around him, tripping over his boot. She would have fallen hard to the floor had it not been for the lightning-fast reflexes of the former gunfighter. Jess caught the child and immediately swept her up into a hold, his left arm supporting her legs and his right hand cradling her left arm as she faced him.

"Whoa there, li'l honey pie!" He laughed lightly. "You're sure in a all-fired hurry."

The child's sunbonnet fell off and, caught by the ribbon tied beneath her chin, dangled down her back, spilling long dark curls. They cascaded around her face, obscuring most of her visage from everyone except Jess, since he and the child faced each other but stood sideways in profile to the rest of those in the room.

"Well, ain't you the purtiest thing this side o' heaven!" Jess gave the child a big smile, and she giggled, looking straight at him without the slightest bit of trepidation at the fact that she was in the arms of a man she'd never seen before. "What's your name?"

"Elizabeth."

"Boy howdy, now that's a mighty big handle for such a small fry."

"What's your name, mister?"

"Elizabeth," Kathryn immediately interjected, "this is Mr. Harper."

Elizabeth appeared not to hear her mother's introduction. She was concentrating on Jess's unshaven face, rubbing her palm curiously along the whiskers.

Jess looked to his right at Kathryn and softly asked, "Reckon she must be your daughter?"

Kathryn nodded.

"Well, she's every bit a beauty like her ma," he said, smiling at Kathryn. "Sure don't look like ya though." He turned back toward the child, but directed his comment to the mother. "Didn't git your blond hair nor your hazel eyes."

"No," Kathryn murmured. "She doesn't look like my side of the family."

Elizabeth continued her exploration of the scruffiness of Jess's face, and he chuckled, amused by the child's curiosity toward the results of how haphazard his shaving habits had been of late. Thoroughly enjoying the sweet moment, he was obviously in no hurry to put her down. Daisy knew Jess had had a young sister, and she wondered if perhaps this little girl reminded him of her, much as Andy had reminded Jess of one of his younger brothers.

"Guess what, mister!" The fearless and outgoing little girl immediately engaged Jess in conversation. "Mike said he got marbles for his birthday present a while back, and he's going to teach me a game with them." The child was glowing with excitement, and Jess grinned at her enthusiasm.

"And you know what else, mister? It's almost my birthday too! Guess how old I'm going to be." Elizabeth delighted in issuing the perky challenge.

Jess lifted a lock of her long, thick hair and playfully twirled it around his finger.

"Well now, Miss Elizabeth, I ain't never been so good at judgin' ladies' ages." He smiled. "You'd best just tell me."

"On June first, I'll be six!"

Jess appeared puzzled and shook his head slightly. "Nah… that can't be right," he said slowly.

Daisy wondered why he'd said that. Was it because Elizabeth was so well spoken, so precocious and social he thought she couldn't be that young? Or was it because, with the child seeming small for an almost-six-year-old, he thought she couldn't be that old? Daisy had originally estimated her at having just turned five due to how petite she was. Yet, Jess had said he wasn't a good judge of ages; therefore, size wouldn't hold much sway for him.

"Yes, I am!" Elizabeth insisted, pleasantly. She turned toward her mother. "Right, Mama?"

It was the first time Daisy, Slim, Jonesy and Andy, had actually gotten a full view of the little one's face. Indeed, she was a beauty. An absolutely stunning child. As Jess had also turned his head to look at Kathryn, the child's face was right next to his.

Daisy's breath caught in her throat.

The child's features… The thick, wavy, black hair. The high cheekbones. The sculpted jawline. The dimpled chin. The shape of the lips. The slight gap between the top front teeth. The left brow skewed inquiringly upward at the bridge of the nose. The long, thick, black eyelashes and─most of all─the eyes they framed. Those eyes! The shape of them. The intense, bright, striking shade of them. Dark cerulean blue. Like the color of the autumn sky over the mountains just before the sun begins to set.

In all her life, Daisy had seen eyes that shade of blue on only one person. The man who was holding the child.

Daisy glanced at Slim and Jonesy. Each of the men had a look of consternation. They had noticed what she'd noticed. There was definitely no mistaking the resemblance.

"Yes, that's right, Elizabeth." Kathryn's voice was low. Her breathing took on a nervous swiftness.

Smiling triumphantly, Elizabeth turned back to Jess, her eyes meeting his. "See, mister! I'm right." Jess's nonplussed expression didn't match the lightheartedness of the child's tone. Elizabeth added, "I don't want to keep calling you 'mister.' What's your name?"

Jess drew his lower lip in, where his upper teeth briefly clamped into it. There was a slight hesitation before his response. "M' name's Jess," he said quietly.

Kathryn's back suddenly stiffened, as though someone had poked her between the shoulder blades.

"Hey! That's like my middle name!" Elizabeth squealed in delight. "Elizabeth Jessanna Barrett."

Jess's forehead furrowed even further, both brows peaked at the inner corners of his eyes. "Jess… Anna?" he repeated. At the child's nod, he haltingly asked, "And you're… gonna be… six?"

He stood stock still, staring at the child, analyzing the features more intensely than before, along with everything he'd just heard. He raised his right index finger, still with her dark curl entwined around it, and ran it tenderly across her left eyebrow and down alongside her eye.

Slowly, he turned his attention to Kathryn. His lips parted, but no sound emitted. His eyes bored into hers, with the most important question of his life shining intensely, unspoken, in them.

Kathryn knew what he was silently asking. Pursing her lips together, fighting to hold back tears, she was unsuccessful as one escaped and rolled down her cheek.

Her eyes remained locked with his. She nodded.

From across the room, Slim could see the breath rush out of Jess's lungs and then see him swallow the lump in his throat as he continued to gape at Kathryn.

Just then Mike appeared at the door to his room. "Elizabeth, are ya comin' to play marbles?"

"Oh, yes!" The little girl squirmed in Jess's arms and quickly slid down his side. When her feet touched the floor she started toward Mike, but her progress was halted by the strands of hair still wrapped around Jess's finger. She looked up at him, laughed and wrestled with the tangle, as Jess stood oblivious to her predicament. "Jess." She yanked on his sleeve, giggling. "Jess, look." She pulled at his arm again.

Drawn by the little girl's insistence, Jess blinked and shifted his gaze from Kathryn to Elizabeth. Seeing her tugging at the curl, he gently unwound it, his usually nimble fingers suddenly clumsy and slow. When freed, Elizabeth favored him with a huge smile. Jess reached out and caressed her cheek with extreme tenderness, his always steady hand shaking slightly. Then he watched her as she scampered into the bunkroom.

Jess's eyes fixed on the doorway Elizabeth had just entered. He stood unmoving. Only his eyebrows changed, drawing even more tightly together as his thoughts raced.

Kathryn opened her mouth in an attempt to speak, but closed it again, not knowing what she should say, if she could have formed any words at all.

Slim shifted his feet. Jonesy looked up at the ceiling. Andy, totally confounded at the sudden silence, looked for answers toward Daisy, who sympathetically watched Jess's obvious disconcertment.

After another moment, without looking at anyone, Jess lowered his head, turned and lumbered toward the front of the house. He released the doorknob and stepped through the doorway without a backward glance. He quietly pulled the door closed behind him, leaving Kathryn as still as a statue, staring at the portal.

Breaking the awkward silence, Jonesy said, "Andy, I could use your help finishin' up the supper preparations."

Andy picked up on the hint. "Oh… yeah… sure, Jonesy." He stood up, and he and the older man immediately headed to the kitchen.

"And, uh, I'd better… bring in some kindlin' for the cookstove," Slim mumbled. He took his leave, hastening past the large dining table and toward the smaller one in the alcove by the kitchen and then exited straight through the side door near the back corner of the house.

Kathryn turned without seeming to have noticed anyone other than Jess had left, or even had ever been in the room to begin with. She glanced across the span and realized someone was there with her. Daisy. She joined the elder lady, standing on the opposite side of the table from where Daisy was seated.

A stricken look on her face, Kathryn twisted one hand in the other. "I never would have wanted him to find out like this. In such a… jarring way." She seemed to assume, correctly, that Daisy realized exactly what Jess had just discovered.

Kathryn's confused eyes met those of the woman who was like a mother to Jess. "Oh, Daisy, he looked so hurt. Or… angry? Or… Oh, I don't know how he's feeling. I don't know what to do! Shall I go to him?"

"Give him time, dear." Daisy said quietly and gestured to the chair Kathryn stood beside. "Sit with me a while."

The younger woman hesitated, glancing at the front door, and then followed the sage advice and took the offered seat.