Desk clerk Howie was asleep in his chair, head back against the wall, when Matt and Ginger walked into the lobby. Ginger told Matt her room number, and he reached over the desk with a long arm and took her key off the hook. She reluctantly removed her arm from Matt's as she preceded him up the stairs and down the hall to her room overlooking the street.
"Well, good night, Ginger," Matt said with relief as he unlocked the door and handed her the key. "It's awfully late to talk more now, and I have to get to my rounds." He politely touched the brim of his Stetson and turned to leave, involuntarily letting out a small sigh.
"Matt!" She reached out a hand and as soon as he turned his head towards her, she closed her eyes and started to collapse.
"WHOA!" The big man was light on his feet and caught the young woman, swept her up into his arms, and pushed the door open with his foot. He carried her inside and laid her on the bed by the window, then poured water from the pitcher on the bedside table into the ceramic basin. Bright blue eyes watched him through half-closed lids, then quickly closed again before he applied his wet, wrung-out bandana to her forehead.
Matt was gently dabbing his bandana on Ginger's forehead when she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him down and kissed him deeply. She tried to hang on as he stood up, pulling her arms from his neck.
"Oh Matt! We were meant for each other! Ever since I saw you-all of you-down on the creek bank with Johnny, I knew you were the one." She talked on rapidly, her eyes aglow, not seeing the amazed distaste and pity on Matt's handsome face. "Yes, I HAVE had several boyfriends over the years, but they were all country boys and nothing like you! You look like one of those artworks in Mama's picture books I found hidden in her hope chest while she was ailing. I've spent so many years dreaming of finding you again, and now I have! You'll see! I can treat you better than any woman, and especially a 'saloon woman'!"
When she had finally stopped talking, and had jumped up to stand in front of him, Matt looked down at her with a dangerous glint of suppressed anger in his now icy blue eyes, and frost was in his voice.
"Ginger, I am sorry for the life you have had so far, but you have many years ahead of you. I suggest you continue on to St. Louis as soon as possible. A stage leaves here at noon tomorrow. Good night." He touched his hand to the brim of his Stetson, turned and strode from the room.
Listening to his boot heels going down the stairs, Ginger stood quietly thinking. "He just doesn't know any better. I'll have to show him." She hurried to her window and watched his tall, broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped walk as he started down the street on his rounds. Then she glanced over at the Long Branch and thoughtfully began to unbutton her dress. Twenty minutes later, she was sitting by the window dressed in a simple, dark blue frock and flat, slip-on shoes, her blonde hair covered by a black shawl when she saw the Marshal walking towards the saloon again. He didn't recheck the locked front doors, but turned into the alley leading to the side delivery door, cellar entrance, and back steps.
"Hmmm…I was right! Going up to that saloon woman's room, no doubt!" She quickly ran downstairs past the sleeping desk clerk, across the dirt street, and into the dim alley. Hesitating for only a moment at the bottom of the back stairs, watching the Marshal go inside, she followed him up on tiptoes, and slipped inside behind him. Pressing herself against the wall, she held her breath as she heard the big bartender coming up the outside stairs and then locking the back door on his way home. She crept down the hall, paused at the corner and peeked around.
Matt stopped in front of a door, pulled a small key from his vest pocket, unlocked the knob, and knocked softly. Before he could open it himself, the door swung inwards, and Kitty stepped out, wearing a clinging, light blue, sleeveless nightgown, her long, glossy red hair hanging loose over her shoulders. They both smiled into each other's eyes before he wrapped his big arms around her, pulled her close, and their lips met in a long and hungry kiss. Kitty put her graceful arms around his broad neck, and he effortlessly swung her up into his arms. Still kissing, he stepped into the room, kicking the door shut with the heel of a boot.
"It's true. I still didn't believe it until this moment," Ginger thought, the blood leaving her face so that she really did feel light-headed. Seeing Matt and Kitty together had hit her like a palpable wave, mixed of envy, jealousy, and admiration. Ginger had lived her entire twenty-six years in the wilds of Wyoming, helping her father and brother on the ranch, and then caring for her ailing mother. She had never heard of fairy tales, and thought of herself as a pragmatic, all-business type of woman. She was not prone to whimsy nor flights of fancy, but when she stared at Matt and Kitty during their long kiss, no matter how she blinked, she saw a nimbus of light surrounding them, making it impossible to separate one from the other. Sinking to a sitting position against the wall, she put her head in her hands and silently wept with bitter defeat. Five minutes later, she looked up, her now red-rimmed eyes dry, and made a decision. "Ten years wasted. I thought I could fight a simple 'saloon woman,' but she makes that big granite block of a man glow." Getting to her feet, she realized she was now locked in, and as quietly as possible, made her way downstairs, found the cellar door, and went down into the darkness. She would slip outside in the early morning when the daily deliveries were made. She fashioned a rough bed of flour sacks, and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep thinking of tomorrow and what she needed to do.
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That night, they lay in each other's arms on the big brass bed, no sheet covering them in the hot night. They had made gentle, soothing love, and now Matt turned his head to look into her eyes reflecting the moonlight.
"Kitty, what are you thinking about?" He stroked her cheek with his right forefinger, marveling anew at her soft beauty.
"She knows about your birthmark, Matt. She knows and I can't forget that," Kitty said in a soft, thoughtful voice. "Long ago we decided to forget about both of our pasts, but this woman wants to make a future with you."
"What?! Kitty, you know that you're the only one in Dodge or anywhere who will ever see it again! Well, maybe Doc…" Then he took in a sharp breath, exhaled, sighed, and said with a moan, "Ginger Peller. I know we need to talk about her." He felt Kitty tense in his arms, but he held her tightly. He knew they had to clear the air.
"Now, just hold on there and listen to me! It's always embarrassed me, Honey, but well, a good ten years ago, when she was about sixteen, Ginger sneaked up on me and her brother Johnny skinny dipping. We were pretty wild and it was a hot day, and well, we swam a while, and then took a nap on the bank afterwards. Golly, I had forgotten all about his kid sister! She was only about ten the last time I saw her, and Johnny and I were so hot from the long ride to his folks' that we jumped in the water before going to the house. I didn't even know she saw me until a letter from Johnny caught up to me six months later. He didn't think anything of it since that whole crazy family went skinny dipping all the time! But he told me she had a 'crush' on me, and teased me something fierce. I never got back that way, and forgot all about it." He felt Kitty relax again, but then start to shake. "Honey, don't cry! She doesn't mean anything to me other than being Johnny's kid sister," he pleaded. "I told her tonight that she needs to move on to St. Louis."
She turned towards him and laughed aloud, tears in her eyes, her body still shaking with mirth. "Oh, Matt! That is priceless! I can imagine the effect your naked body in its prime must have had on a young girl! Not the same as now, of course," she teased.
"OH…in 'my prime,' you say!" He laughed, wrapped his strong arms around her and rolled her underneath him. "We'll see about that," he murmured against her lips. He felt her left hand softly touch where she knew his "cute" strawberry birthmark was. Pulling his mouth from hers for a moment, he looked deeply into her eyes. "Every part of me is yours, and yours alone, Darlin'."
She smiled against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck.
To be continued…