After a quick wash and change of shirt, Matt looked over at Chester who was standing by the desk, patiently flipping a small length of rope up into a knot, over and over. The Marshal felt the fine stubble on his chin, and decided a shave could wait. Combing his curly hair with his fingers, he then put on his Stetson and glanced at his friend. "Come on, Chester. Let's go get a cool beer or two to wash down the trail dust I ate all day."
Chester dropped the rope on the desk top, plucked his small hat from the second peg on the wall, and happily followed Matt out the door.
"Mr. Dillon? What about that Ginger Peller? Ain't ya gonna see what she wants?" he asked as he walked across the dirt street with the Marshal towards the yellow light spilling out from the saloon.
"That can wait until tomorrow, Chester. That can wait." Reaching the bat-wing doors, he put a big hand on top of them and looked inside, searching for sky-blue eyes. When he saw Kitty, his face softly warmed with the smile he kept for only her.
She was sitting at their usual table with Doc, both sipping on a foamy mug of beer. Her beautiful face visibly brightened when Matt looked in, and she signaled to Sam for two beers.
"Hello, Kitty," Matt said softly as he pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, the hairs on his hand tingling with the closeness of her hand on the table near his. He gratefully took a long drink of the cold beer when Sam put down a mug in front of him and one in front of Chester.
"Miss Kitty," Chester said, touching the brim of his hat as he sat down. "Doc," he said, smiling at the older man. He too took a long drink, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sighed. "Wasn't that Miss Ginger Peller somethin', Doc?" The smiling young man looked over at Kitty. "She's an old friend of Mr. Dillon, Miss Kitty, and she sure is purty! It's her eyes…so big and blue and kind!" He happily looked around at his friends and started to open his mouth again.
"CHESTER! Drink your beer!" Doc snapped, seeing the mix of emotions crossing Matt's and Kitty's faces.
"What's got ya so grumpy, Doc?!" Chester asked, hurt and indignation in his large, brown eyes.
"It's all right, Chester. I've already met her." Kitty glanced at Matt's surprised face. "Yes, she certainly IS pretty." Her own lovely blue eyes were unreadable.
Doc was about to say something when the usual din in the place suddenly died down to a low muttering between the cowboys, gamblers, and saloon women. All eyes focused on the tall, beautiful blonde standing in the doorway, arms out to her sides, holding the bat-wing doors open. She was dressed in the same snug, low-cut, pale green dress she had arrived in, her platinum hair piled high with curls and glittery clips. When she sashayed over to the table where Matt, Kitty, Doc, and Chester sat, all eyes followed her.
The three men stood up and removed their hats, and Kitty gave her a brittle smile. "Hello Miss Peller. This is our town doctor, Doctor Adams, and I believe you know Chester…and U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon."
The lovely young blonde smiled and nodded at Doc and Chester for a moment, then focused on Matt with her intense blue eyes. "Hello, Matt. Long time, no see," she said in a low voice, her eyes undressing him as they slowly scanned his tall body, head to toe.
"Er, please call me 'Doc,' Miss Peller," Doc said loudly, as the three men stood awkwardly, hats in hand, with Kitty glaring up at the young woman. When he did not receive any response, he cleared his voice even more loudly. "Won't you have a seat, Miss Peller?" Doc pulled a chair over from a nearby table with a loud, scraping noise.
"Oh! Yes! Thank you doctor, or Doc, as I should say!" But instead of walking to her right to sit down next to the older man, she pointedly turned to her left, pulled a chair from a table there, and slid in next to Matt's. Ginger looked down and smiled when Kitty had to move her chair over, away from Matt's so that he could squeeze in and sit down.
"Howya likin' Dodge, Miss Ginger?!" Chester asked, raising his voice above the resumed din of talking, laughter, and piano music. He grinned and looked over the top of his beer mug as he took a sip. "She sure is purty and so nice," he thought. "Meybe she'll take supper with me sometime?"
"Yes, Miss Ginger! Have you had a chance to look around any?" Doc asked in a falsely perky voice.
All eyes at the table shifted to the brightly smiling woman as she looked from face to face to face, and finally stopped on Matt's, looking deep into his eyes. "Oh, I think I've seen the best of Dodge already."
Matt felt Ginger's left upper leg press against his right upper leg under the table, no matter how hard he tried to compress his big frame. Kitty looked over at him through her lashes as she studied her mug of beer, her lips pressed tightly together at his obvious discomfort. She knew better than anyone how much Matt disliked forward women, and that he was too much of a gentleman to publicly embarrass Ginger.
"Well, I really need to tend to some business matters in my office," Kitty said, starting to push back her chair. Doc and Matt immediately each took a side of her chair, and stood as they helped pull it back.
Matt cleared his throat. "Er, I have some things to attend to back at my desk before my rounds," he said in relief. "No, you stay here Chester," he added as his assistant reached for his hat on the table. "See you later, Kitty," he said in a low voice, his eyes holding hers for an extra moment.
Smiling back, Kitty nodded at Doc, and Chester, who had also stood up, and made her way through the crowds towards her office behind the bar. Glancing back, she saw the calculating expression on Ginger's face as the young woman studied Matt. "Oh Matt, it is so wrong if you think she's ready to give up! You still have so much to learn about women!" Kitty thought, shaking her head with a rueful grimace. She would hear about it later when Matt returned from his final rounds of the night.
"Sorry I have to leave, Ginger," Matt said as he slowly turned his big Stetson around in his hands by the brim. He shot a pleading glance over to Doc, who just chuckled and studied his half-empty mug of beer in front of him. Both he and Chester had sat down again after Kitty left.
All Chester noticed was the shining young blonde across the table from him. "Ah, Miss Ginger? I'd sure enjoy showing ya around town tamorrow, and then mebbe we could have a little picnic down by the river where it's so nice and cool?" His eyes shone with eagerness as he hopefully leaned forward, both forearms on the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the Marshal was starting to edge away from the table..
"Oh Matt! Since you're going outside, would you be a dear and escort me to my room at the Dodge House? I'm nervous being alone outside at this hour. And we have so much to talk about!" Ginger looked up with big, innocent blue eyes, and extended a hand. She remembered that even ten years ago, Matt Dillon had always been a gentleman around her mother and herself.
Doc watched this scene with interest, and a mix of admiration and distaste for the wily young woman. Glancing to his left, he saw Chester staring open-mouthed in dismay at being ignored by Ginger. Looking up to his right, he saw an unusual look of frustration fleetingly cross Matt's face before a polite deadpan expression appeared.
"I'd be glad to, Ginger. It's right across the street," he said pointedly as his large hand closed around her hand and he helped her to her feet. "So, Ginger, how are Johnny and your folks?" Matt asked as they walked outside, feeling her left arm tightly wound inside of his right elbow.
"Matt, Johnny and Pa have been running the ranch together for some time now. Mama was ailing for the past eight years or so and I took care of her until she passed away last winter. It was a blessing after all of her suffering. I was on my way to St. Louis when the stage stopped here. I had to get away from that wilderness!"
"Oh, Ginger, I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. She was always so kind to me. When do you plan on continuing on to St. Louis?" He patted her left arm with his left hand as they paused on the wooden walkway before stepping off to cross Front Street.
"I'm not, Matt! Seeing you almost as soon as I got off the stage was fate! I know it was! I'm staying HERE…with YOU!" She clutched his arm even more tightly and beamed up into Matt's alarmed face.