The candlelight flickered across Kitty's strong features as she stared into her plate, mindlessly pushing the food around with her fork. Dillon continued to study her, still unsure if her silence was somehow his fault, or if there was something else upsetting her. It was logical that if she were angry with him, she would have canceled their supper date; after all, it was her room, and she prepared the meal. Wordlessly he checked that possibilty off his list. He observed the slight frown wrinkling her brow, and wondered what she'd do if he just leaned over and kissed it away. But propriety maintained decorum, and Matt took another bite of lamb. The pall stretched on for another ten minutes, and finally, he could no longer stand it.
"Kitty?"
"Hmmm?"
"What's bothering you?"
She smiled weakly at him. "Nothing, Matt, really."
An eyebrow shot up, and he countered. "You seem awfully distracted tonight..."
"I'm sorry. It was a long day, I'm behind in my ledgers, and well, you know how it is..."
"Yeah. Yeah, sure." The awkward silence returned, and once again, he interrupted it. "Have I done something?"
She looked at him, sincerity in her eyes. "No Matt, no, of course not." She narrowed her eyes playfully then. "Unless you've done somethin' I don't know about..."
He laughed. "Nah. I've been too busy to get into any kind of trouble."
"What did you do today?"
"Aside from office paperwork, I took Mary Stevenson over to Doc's to visit Cassie, and I had a chance to ask Cassie some questions."
Her timbre remained quite even, "How'd that go?"
"Well, the girl's a bit odd."
"How do you mean?"
"She seems pretty uninterested in almost everything."
"Yeah, I noticed that too. Doc says it's because of what happened to her."
"Uh-huh. I got quite a rise out of her when I mentioned that Doc told me more was done to her than just a beating."
Kitty nodded. "I'll bet you did."
"She reacted like it was some kind of betrayal."
He saw something in Kitty's eyes then, but all she said was, "That's not surprising."
"She seems a little...stuck on Doc, doesn't she?"
Kitty took in a deep breath. "Yeah, you might say that all right."
Dillon didn't pick up on her pointed tone, and he added, "I've never seen him become this protective of any female aside from you. He told me he'd kill Dell Stevenson if the man tried to hurt her again." He licked his lips slightly. "Kitty, I think he means it."
Her voice turned flat, "Yeah, I'm sure he does."
Matt once again noticed the distance between them, and he reached across the table, taking her hand in his. "You sure eveything's okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"
He shruggged. "I don't know. You just seem...a little out of sorts."
She yanked her hand away. "Well I'm not!"
"Oh, yes, I can see that..."
She stood, turning her back to him. Dillon walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. And he realized she was crying.
"Kitty?"
He turned her around, and ashamed, she hid her face in his chest. Dillon drew her to him, and held her close.
"What is it, Kitty?"
She shook her head against his chest, but the only sound she made was a muffled sob.
"You're crying like you've lost your best friend..."
Kitty looked up at him then, tears running down her cheeks. "I think I have, Matt. I really think I have..."
She wrapped her arms around his waist, and once again buried her face into him. Dillon rubbed her back softly.
"What's happened? What are you talking about?"
She sobbed into him, "It doesn't matter anymore. Please, just hold me, and don't let go, Matt."
Not understanding why she was so distraught, but determined to calm her, Dillon simply held her tightly, until finally, sensing she was exhausted, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He settled onto it with her, and pulled her close to him. Kitty pressed into his warmth and comfort, needing to feel him close. As Matt nodded off, his breath heavy against her hair, the sensation of impending loss shrouded her. And for the first time since her father had deserted her in favor of somone else, Kitty Russell cried herself to sleep.