Chapter Five
Kathryn and Jess stood smiling at each other, eyes locked, as the door eased open a bit, enough to allow a little sprite to poke her head out. Only her dimpled chin was visible, just below the rim of the black hat perched on her head and covering most of her face.
"Hey, you little rascal!" Jess growled in mock annoyance. "Gimme back my hat!"
Elizabeth ducked back inside, leaving the door open in invitation for the game. Jess chased after her and scooped the giggling child into his arms. "Do ya know what we do with Stetson thieves in these parts, young lady?" he teased.
Elizabeth tipped the hat back to peer into the eyes she didn't even realize were identical to her own.
"What?"
"Why… we make 'em eat cookies till they're near 'bout to bust!"
"Mama!" the raven-haired little one turned in Jess's arms to smile at her mother, who had stepped inside the house after him. "Did you hear that? Is it okay?"
Kathryn gave an exaggerated sigh, placed her hands on her hips and fixed a pretend glare at Jess. "I suppose."
Elizabeth directed her attention back to Jess. "Okay, here's your hat." She plucked the hat from her head and plopped it onto Jess's, backwards and with it cocked crookedly to the left, covering his eye. "I'm ready."
"So you are." Carrying the child perched on one arm, Jess turned the hat around, straightening it to free his vision, and made his way toward the dining table. "Jonesy," he called, "fetch some cookies for this little outlaw! And see that she eats her fill."
Jess's face absolutely glowed, his smile a mile wide. He deposited the likewise smiling child gently in a chair as Jonesy scurried from the kitchen as quickly as his sacroiliac would allow, a plate of cookies in hand. Setting them on the table, he patted Elizabeth on the head.
"There you go, you purty little young'un."
"Thank you, Mister Jonesy," she said politely, looking up to bestow a dazzling smile on him as she chose one of the treats. "They look delicious."
The older man grinned broadly. Just as charmin' as her pa. "I'll be right back with a big glass of cold milk to go with those."
At the other side of the table, Daisy and Andy exchanged amused glances, grateful for the happy atmosphere that had settled again in the home. Whatever had transpired on the porch between Jess and Kathryn had obviously restored a pleasant mood for them both.
Slim noticed the ease between Kathryn and Jess as well, then remarked to Mike who had just come out of his room, "Mike, how about a cookie?"
Mike's eyes widened. "This soon before supper?"
"Well, just this once," Daisy said. She motioned Mike to the table and gave a shaming shake of her head to Jess. His lip curled up in that disarming, lopsided smile that she couldn't resist—and he knew she couldn't. She had to smile back.
Kathryn sidled up beside Jess and said quietly, "Elizabeth's already got you wrapped around her little finger."
Jess's eyes smoldered as he hooked his index finger around Kathryn's pinky. "There's another one where I'd feel mighty comfortable," he whispered.
Kathryn felt her knees weaken. Oh, my goodness. He still has that effect on me. She could feel her face becoming warm and knew she must be turning beet red. She gently withdrew her hand in nervousness at how effortlessly Jess transported her back in time to the days of their love. She rushed to take a seat beside Elizabeth.
Unaware that anyone had noticed what just happened, Jess looked up to find Slim throwing a smirk and a wink in his direction.
Slim and Andy moved the smaller kitchen table to butt up against the larger dining table in the hearth room, and everyone crowded around the combined tables for supper. Elizabeth insisted on sitting next to Jess, which thrilled him to no end. Kathryn sat on the other side of the child, and Jess loved every minute of gazing at both her and his daughter. Conversation was lively and pleasant.
"Kathryn and Jess, I hope I'm not being too nosy, and if I am, well, I apologize, but I just can't help my curiosity," Daisy said. "I'm wondering how exactly you met."
"Nah, you're not nosy, Daisy. I'd be plumb worried 'bout everybody at this table if y'all didn't have any wonderin's about that," Jess said.
"I agree. I'm happy to share." Kathryn smiled as her memories came to the fore. "I had turned eighteen and had recently returned from a year and a half in Philadelphia where my mother had sent me to finishing school. Mrs. Hartford's Academy for Refined Young Ladies." She laughed in a self-deprecating manner at the ostentatious name.
"I'm familiar with it!" Daisy said. "It's quite a prestigious school. Very well known in the East."
"I enjoyed my time there. But I was so happy to get back home. It was late March, so that meant Mother and I lived in Denver and went to the ranch on weekends. When I'd been home about a month, we began to stay at the ranch all the time, as we did during late spring and through the summer. One day I heard Father and our foreman discussing all the new horses that had been caught out on the prairie and the way the young Texan they'd hired as a wrangler was better at handling and taming horses, despite his age, than anyone they'd ever seen. I love to ride. So I was curious about the wrangler, and I made my way out to the corral to see this Jess Harper fellow in action. That was the first time I met him." She glanced at Jess.
Her voice took on a tone of awe. "The way he handled the horses… He didn't try to break their spirit like some wranglers do. It was more like he was… teaching them to work with a rider. He talked to them like they were…"
"People." As she had said the word, it was simultaneously echoed by everyone at the table, other than Elizabeth. And they all laughed.
"We've all said the same thing at one time or 'nother, Kathryn," Jonesy said.
Jess rolled his eyes. Kathryn looked at him and completed her thought. "Well, needless to say, I was quite impressed. Not only was he a wonderful wrangler, he was a very handsome man."
Slim chuckled quietly. He would never have believed it was possible, but there it was. Jess Harper was blushing.
Jess's face reddened further as he looked down shyly. "Dadgum, Kate. What are ya tryin' to do to me?" he said good-naturedly, shaking his head.
Kathryn laughed. "Oh, I've missed that wonderful deep voice of yours. And that lovely Texas drawl."
"The Panhandle ain't that far from Colorado. Can't see as how I talk all that different than folks in Denver."
"You really do." She smiled broadly. "And it's so nice to hear again."
Jess looked at her and smiled. Jonesy and Slim exchanged grins over the way the two young people appeared to so casually drop right back into their easy manner with each other.
"Anyway…" Jess wanted to steer the subject off himself and back to how he and Kathryn got to know each other. "I worked there from early April to mid September. In addition to my job workin' with the horses and helpin' with protectin' his ranch and water rights, the boss wanted me to take on another job. He wanted someone to protect his wife and daughter and drive 'em into Denver when they wanted to go shoppin' or meet up with some of their lady friends for tea once in a while. So I ended up spendin' a lot of time with Miss Kathryn." He looked at her and added, "I loved both my jobs there."
"If you loved what you were doing, why did ya only stay till September?" Andy asked.
"Well, ya might could say I stayed till the end of October, only Mr. Shannon didn't know it. In September he gave me m' final pay and told me m' services were no longer needed. But I kinda… happened back to the ranch now and then." Jess winked at Kathryn, whose turn it then was to blush profusely.
Slim popped a piece of a muffin into his mouth to smother laughing out loud. He could well imagine why Mr. Shannon had hired, and fired, Jess. If he wanted someone for the ranch who was a great wrangler and gunhand, and also needed someone to protect his wife and daughter on their trips to the city—meaning the man was smart, alert, and great with his fists as well as his gun—he couldn't have done any better than getting two-for-one by hiring Jess Harper. And if his daughter had taken too strong a liking to the young gunslick to suit her father, it was easy to see why Shannon would have sent the man packing.
Suddenly a thought occurred to Slim.
"Wait a minute. Shannon. And the ranch is outside Denver? Are you talking about the Tri-Bar S?"
"Yup." Jess followed his casual response with a swallow of coffee.
Andy's eyes grew wide, and Jonesy let out a soft whistle.
"What does this mean?" Daisy asked, confused by their reactions.
"Daisy, the Tri-Bar S is the biggest ranch in Colorado," Slim explained. "One of the biggest in the entire West."
He glanced at Kathryn, afraid he may have embarrassed her. But her reaction was one of calm acceptance. She appeared to be used to people reacting in that manner when they found out who her family was. Slim had to give her credit. For coming from one of the wealthiest families this side of the Mississippi, she was very down to earth. Sure, from her cultured way of speaking and expensive clothes, it was obvious she either had had a rich husband or came from a well-to-do family. But if Jess hadn't casually mentioned the Shannon name, no one would have known how excessively wealthy her family was. She certainly had never made mention of her maiden name. There was no air of arrogance to her at all.
"Do you still live on the ranch, Miz Kathryn?" Mike asked.
"No, Mike. I've lived in Denver all the time since Elizabeth was a year old. And in fact..." she said, as she looked at Jess, "my family doesn't own the Tri-Bar S anymore."
Jess's shock had shown on his face when Kathryn said she hadn't lived on the ranch for nearly five years. She'd always split her time between the city and country homes, but he knew she loved the ranch. He was surprised to hear she'd completely left it behind. But his bafflement grew at the news that the Shannons no longer even owned the Tri-Bar S.
"Your pa sold the ranch? I can't believe he'd do that."
"Actually, he didn't. Father died about seven months ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry, Kate. I hadn't heard that."
"Thank you, Jess. It was quite sudden. His heart. About the same time, my mother's father died, and her mother hasn't been doing well since losing him. Mother never did like ranch life, and Elizabeth and I hadn't been living there. So, since Mother felt her mother needed her, she sold the ranch a few months ago and moved back to London."
"I miss Grandmother," Elizabeth said sadly. "But we'll see her soon, right Mama?"
"Yes, sweet," Kathryn hugged the child.
Jess's left eyebrow cocked upward. "She comin' for a visit?"
"I'll explain later." Kathryn inclined her head toward Elizabeth to indicate she didn't wish to discuss it further in front of the little one right then.
Daisy diverted attention away from the topic. "Mike and Elizabeth, how did your marble game go?"
Both children immediately became excited. "It was fun. And Elizabeth caught on real fast," Mike said, "especially for a girl."
Elizabeth nodded her head proudly. "I beat him two games! Girls can play the same as boys."
Everyone laughed. The rest of the supper conversation was thoroughly enjoyable, and Jess relished every moment. At one point he found himself absentmindedly twirling a lock of Elizabeth's hair again. And later, when he laid his arm across the back of her chair, his hand ended up near Kathryn and he brushed his fingers back and forth along her shoulder, drawing a smile from her at the clearly welcomed touch. Both actions were noticed by Daisy, and she delighted in how at ease and happy Jess was with his daughter and her mother. And she was thankful for the tenderness she saw in Kathryn's eyes when she looked at Jess.
Though they hadn't seen each other for over six years and had only known each other for a few months to begin with, Jess and Kathryn truly had something very special between them, both figuratively and literally. Daisy couldn't help but think that some people are simply meant to be together. She wondered if that could be the case here.
By supper's conclusion, Elizabeth was almost nodding off at the table. Kathryn took her to their room and readied her for bed. When she came back into the hearth room, the table had been cleared. Daisy and Jonesy were washing dishes. Andy and Mike were doing some of the evening chores, like milking the two cows and bringing in firewood. Slim and Jess were putting the things from the wagon away in the barn and bringing the household items into the home. Kathryn offered to help with dishes, but Daisy immediately assured her that guests did no such thing.
There was a tap at the kitchen door, and when Kathryn opened it, Jess came in carrying a big bag of flour under one arm and one of oats under the other. He smiled at her as he sat both bags on the floor near the cabinets so Daisy could dispense from them and store them as she wanted. "That's the last of the supplies for in here, Daisy."
"Thank you, Jess. I'll take care of them in a few minutes."
He turned to Kathryn. "Is she all settled in for the night?"
"Well, not quite," Kathryn replied.
"What does she need? You let me know, and I'll git it for her."
"You," Kathryn replied.
Jess's left eyebrow went up. "What?"
"She always has a bedtime story, and she refused to let me read it to her tonight. She's insisting on you reading to her and tucking her in." She looked at him questioningly, unsure whether he'd be willing or even able, if he still had chores to do.
"Me? She wants me to do that?" Jess's surprise was accompanied by a gleaming smile. Daisy and Jonesy saw the pure happiness on his face, and they exchanged a quick glance and smiles to match his.
"Most definitely. And when she gets her mind set on something, it can be quite a battle to change it."
"That sounds right familiar," Jonesy drawled. He looked at Jess with a quirky grin, and Daisy giggled.
"There's a storybook on the table beside the bed, if you'd──"
Before Kathryn could finish her sentence, Jess had rushed past her and headed to the bedroom.
"Hey there, li'l honey pie," he said softly as he entered the room.
Elizabeth had been having a hard time keeping her eyes open, but was determined not to doze off before Jess tucked her in. She smiled as he entered the room. He pulled a chair up to the bedside, lifted the book from the table and leafed through it.
"You got a favorite story you want'a hear?"
"The one about Goldilocks and the Papa Bear," she said drowsily.
Jess was touched. Not the Three Bears. The Papa Bear. Poor little honey probably wondered why other kids had a papa and she didn't, he thought with some melancholy. When would he and Kate be able to tell her the truth?
He read the story, with a lump in his throat all the way through it.
When he had finished, Elizabeth was barely able to keep her eyes open. "Goodnight kiss," she said holding her arms out to him.
He gathered her in his arms and held her tight, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek as she did the same for him.
He held on until she withdrew her arms.
"Jess," she yawned, "prayers."
He didn't know the routine Kate had established for her. Was she asking him to pray? Was she saying she wanted to? Did they have a usual prayer they said together, like his ma had done with him and his brothers and sisters when they were little? He smiled at the memory.
He smoothed Elizabeth's hair. "What do ya mean?"
"Now we say our thank yous and blesses."
"All right," he whispered. "You want'a start?"
She folded her hands together across her chest. "Dear God, thank you for everything you give us." She let out another big yawn. "Thank you for… bless…" Her voice was fading. "… Mama… and Grandmother… and Jess…" Her eyes closed as she drifted into slumber.
Jess sat beside the bed for a long while, trying to compose himself enough to reenter the company of the adults. He moved Elizabeth's hands under the blanket, pulled it up across her shoulders and tucked it in around her. He stood up, gazing at her for a long moment. Then he bent and kissed the top of her head.
"G'night, Elizabeth," he whispered. Then he added, not to her, "Thanks, God."
When Jess left the bedroom, he found no one around, except Kathryn. She was seated on the couch by the window, leaning back against some pillows propped against the wall. She looked like she was asleep, and after the traveling and all the emotions involved in seeing him and meeting everyone at Sherman Ranch, he wasn't surprised that she should be worn out. He stood for a moment, watching her. Memories of their days together from earlier years flitted through his mind, along with a wide range of emotions to go with them.
Sensing that he was in the room, she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Were ya sleepin'?" he asked as he made his way toward her.
"No. Just resting my eyes. Is Elizabeth asleep?"
"Yeah. And I sure enjoyed readin' to her and hearin' her prayers."
Kathryn smiled at him. He sat down beside her. "Where is everybody?"
"Well, the men and boys have all gone to the bunkhouse, retiring early, I've been told. And Daisy said she was also turning in to catch up on some extra rest."
Jess glanced at the large clock on the shelf. "At eight o'clock?" His skepticism readily showed.
Kathryn nodded, smiling. "I thought it was rather unusual. I suspect they all conspired to allow us some time to talk privately."
"We could use that, I reckon."
Silence. They both wanted to catch up. But where to start? Finally, Jess decided to plunge in and ask about a subject that he'd really been wondering about.
"How long were ya married?"
Kathryn replied with her own question, of sorts. "I've actually been wondering if you'd ever married."
Jess shook his head. "Nah, never even come close."
"I imagine that hasn't been due to a lack of interested young ladies." It could have been a teasing comment, but her soft voice and slight frown as she looked down gave her away. The thought of Jess having his choice of willing partners didn't sit well with her, though she knew she had no right whatsoever to feel that way.
He decided to avoid responding to her implied meaning. After all, she hadn't answered his question. He guessed it must be a painful topic for her, but he'd wondered how recently she'd lost her husband. Slim said she'd told him she was a widow, but he didn't tell Jess how long ago it happened, if he even knew. "Sorry, if my askin' about your marriage made you feel sad or somethin'."
Kathryn took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Jess… I've never been married."
Frowning, he didn't reply. Why had she lied about it? He waited, hoping she'd go on.
"When I realized I was expecting… well, you know... an unmarried woman in that situation… some people can be rather unkind. A woman's reputation could be compromised."
Jess looked down, embarrassed. "Especially when the baby's father's a known gunhawk," he said quietly.
She patted his hand, and he lifted his head to look at her face again.
"Father and Mother wanted to spare me and my child from gossip. So, they immediately arranged for me to visit my aunt, my father's sister, in St. Louis while I awaited the baby's arrival. In fact, I ended up living with her until Elizabeth was two months old. Shortly after I arrived in St. Louis, Father concocted this story about me meeting the son of a mining executive while I was visiting Aunt Margaret, marrying him after a whirlwind romance and settling down in Missouri."
She paused, taking a quick look at Jess for his reaction. There wasn't one. He just sat quietly, listening.
"Then, before I returned to Denver, he added to the story, about my supposed husband dying in an accident when he was visiting a mine. By the time I got home, the whole story had already been spread around. Elizabeth was born a month and a half early, and she was a tiny thing. She still looked like a newborn when I returned to Denver, and everyone was quite sympathetic to a woman losing a husband right before the baby was born." She sighed heavily. "I just went along with the lie. It protected Elizabeth. And me. And actually, I imagine my parents were happy that it protected them too, from what society might say."
She looked to Jess to see if he was judging her for, to a certain degree, living a lie. She knew honesty was very important to him. "I've gotten so used to the whole story that it just kind of rolls off my tongue. I know it's wrong. But it has made life easier."
"I can understand that." Jess paused. "Where'd the name Barrett come from then?"
"Just a name I chose to complete the façade. My favorite poet's name."
Jess nodded. Then he frowned slightly again and softly stated, "Then… Elizabeth thinks her pa's dead."
"Yes. She didn't even wonder about a father until she was nearly four. She rarely mentions it even now. She's overheard the story told to people more than once by both my parents and me, so she's just accepted it. She's too young to have thought much about it beyond that."
"I think maybe not havin' a pa bothers her more than ya think it does." His voice was low, and he didn't look her in the eyes.
"Well, I realize the day will come soon when she'll need answers to some more difficult questions."
"When did ya finally find out where I was, so ya could come up here to Laramie to tell me 'bout her?"
Kathryn' surprise stymied her reply for a moment. Then she said, "Jess, do you think I purposefully came here to tell you about Elizabeth?"
His eyebrows quirked upward. "Didn't ya?"
"I didn't even know you were here. I had no idea where you were. We were on our way back from a visiting a friend. It was just a coincidence that we ended up here."
"Oh. I see." He paused, thinking of how to word another question. "Kate, after ya got back to Denver when Elizabeth was born, didn't ya ever try to find me, so ya could tell me 'bout her then? Your family's well off. You could'a hired some Pinkertons to track me down."
With a soft voice she said, "I'd heard of a few places you had been. You'd always moved on by the time I learned of it. But, Jess, would you have wanted agents to be looking for you?" She placed her hand on his arm. "Wouldn't you have tried to get away from them if you thought they were?"
Jess looked down, embarrassed. "Yeah, reckon I would'a. And I can guess where you heard about me. News about gunfights…" He sucked in a breath and let it out in a huff. "…maybe some wanted posters."
"Well, yes. Then I found out the wanted posters were recalled, which I was so relieved to hear. It worried me horribly to think bounty hunters were after you. I knew you never could have committed those crimes anyway. But the gunfights… I knew most of those accounts were probably accurate. I'd seen you draw, and I realized that was one reason my father had hired you. And… you've got quite a reputation, you know."
Jess ducked his head in discomfort.
"Once in a while, there would be a short article in the newspaper. And I'd overhear the ranch hands talking about you now and then. A lot of them on the ranch had worked with you when you were there. Some of the newer hands knew you from someplace else, or at least knew of you. And when someone would put you in a position where you had no choice but to defend yourself, news of it would get around, and they'd all talk about it. About how you never drew first, how fast you are, what a good shot you are. Some had seen that when you were at the ranch and there was that trouble with the Circle W. A couple of the hands who came later had seen you in a gunfight, one saw you in Abilene, one way up in Carson City."
Jess was sitting with his eyes cast downward, his fingers twitching, feeling a measure of shame rise in him.
Kathryn hesitated at broaching her other thought, but decided to proceed. "And I knew you wanted to get the Bannisters. If you were tracking them, I didn't want to give away your location by agents asking about you. So I thought maybe… it was best not to try to reach you for a while."
Jess's surprise and appreciation showed in his eyes. She sure had thought things through and did what she thought would keep him safe.
"Then, about three years ago I went to the stable to see my favorite horse. Champion. Remember?"
Jess nodded.
"Another new wrangler had been hired, and I overhead him talking with the foreman about different ways of handling horses. He mentioned you and your reputation with breaking broncs so successfully and kindly." Kathryn looked away sadly. "He said you'd gone to California. At that point, I just gave up on the idea of ever seeing you again."
"Yeah, I talked about goin' to California, but I never made it. Sure glad o' that now." He smiled at her.
Her face brightened. "When did you come to Wyoming? What brought you here?"
"Got here more 'n two years ago. Come lookin' for a man that stole some money from me. Didn't git the money back, but ended up at Sherman Ranch, and that's sure got me a lot more 'n I'd ever dreamed o' findin'." He paused. Then, wanting to reassure her, he explained, "Kate, I been tryin' real hard to put those gunslingin' days behind me. I love the life I have here. Ranchin'. Bein' a peaceful law-abidin' citizen. I even deputy sometimes."
"That doesn't surprise me." She smiled. "You've always had a strong sense of justice and helping people who need it."
She knew that came from a place deep inside him that was dedicated to doing what was right. It came from the gentle influence of his mother and the forceful insistence of his father. And it came from the horrible injustice perpetrated on his family, which he'd had to learn to live with. He could have turned bitter from it and turned into an outlaw. Instead, he had channeled his sense of good and justice into stopping people who took advantage of others.
She knew that was why he'd started hiring out his ability with a gun while he searched for the Bannisters, trying to fight for the right side in disputes. And he'd gained a reputation as being fast on the draw and deadly accurate, which wasn't a reputation he'd tried to build, but came naturally as a consequence of men seeing him in action.
That meant he ended up being constantly challenged to gunfights by men trying to prove they were better. He'd told her he learned to sleep with one eye and ear open in case someone sneaked up to get the drop on him. She'd had many sleepless nights herself, wondering if he was okay and feeling so badly that he'd had to live life that way. She was thrilled to see him happy and peaceful in his life now.
There was a lull in the conversation, but neither felt uncomfortable with the silence. They were just happy to be in each other's presence. Then Jess said, "I know ya always loved bein' at the ranch. Why did ya stop goin' there?"
"I didn't stop going. I just stopped living there. I visited Father often, on my own. I just stopped taking Elizabeth. He'd come to Denver to see her. She and I lived with Mother in the city because… well, like I said, a lot of the hands, and even the house help, knew you."
Jess's confusion as to why that would make a difference showed on his face.
Kathryn looked at him with kindness in her eyes and quietly said, "By the time Elizabeth was a year old, someone who knew you could take one good look at her and see who her father really is."
Jess was surprised, but inwardly quite touched, to know that Elizabeth had already been so recognizable as his daughter while still a baby. A bit of a smile tugged at the edges of his mouth.
The silence returned, as Jess considered how to ask about something else that was on his mind. "So, there ain't been… any other man…" He looked down, his voice hushed. "…raisin' her like she was his?"
"There's been no other man in my life at all since you, Jess."
He looked at her then. Her eyes locked with his, and he saw the softness there, the welcoming. He reached a hand beneath her chin and leaned toward her. He halted, checking to see if the welcome was still there. She tilted her head to invite him closer. Jess pulled her forward and placed his lips tenderly on hers. When the kiss ended, he looked into her eyes. She lifted her hand to stroke his cheek. Then he took her in his arms and kissed her again, passionately. She returned the ardor.
They continued to talk for two hours, enjoying pie, coffee, an occasional affectionate touch of a hand, and the fact that they were as at ease with each other as they had been over six and half years earlier. When it was obvious they both needed to get some rest, Jess bid her goodnight, kissed her again and headed to the bunkhouse.