A Moment's Peace
AN: I dedicate this fic to my little sister who has carried more than her share of the burdens for a lot of people without pay and usually without a thank you and very few moment's of peace. She deserves all of that along with a lot of love.
I don't own these characters. I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.
KittyKittyKitty
"Miss Kitty?" "Miss Kitty, I have a question." "Miss Kitty, can you help me?" "Kitty, you won't believe what happened to me today." "Kitty, I tell you, today was horrible. First I had to…." "Miss Kitty…" "Miss Kitty, can I…" "Kitty, I need…"
Kitty sat in her office and dropped her head into her hands. She was tired. Not just physically, though she was definitely that, but emotionally as well. If she never heard her name called again, she wasn't sure she'd be upset about it.
She'd been up since three that morning when Matt had awakened her, accidently he said, as he got up, got dressed and left, heading out of town. She'd tried to go back to sleep but that hadn't happened. After a few hours of tossing and turning, she got up, got dressed and went downstairs intending to get started on inventory. That hadn't happened either.
When she'd reached the bottom floor, she decided a pot of coffee would be a wise start to the day considering her mood as well as her exhaustion. Heading to the back of the saloon, she grabbed the knob to the kitchen door but it wouldn't turn. Frowning, she pulled and twisted it on it again but it refused to move. The door didn't have a lock on it so she knew that wasn't the problem. But what the problem was, she wasn't sure.
"Miss Kitty?" Sam had just arrived. "Something wrong?"
"I can't get the door opened." Kitty said as she moved out of the way so Sam could try.
Grasping the knob, Sam twisted on it as he pushed against it with his shoulder. The door finally sprang open but the casing around the door went with it. "Oh no." Sam shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miss Kitty. I don't know what happened. This door was fine last night."
"Oh there's no telling, Sam." Kitty shook her head. "Doesn't matter, I guess. Can you get someone in to fix it though?"
"I sure will." Sam nodded. "Ben Prine is just down the street. He can probably take care of it."
"Thanks." Kitty gave him a brief smile as she went on into the kitchen. "Once she had the coffee on, Kitty headed towards her office for her inventory sheets. But she didn't make it.
"Miss Kitty?"
Kitty turned to see Gloria, one of her employees, approaching her. Blonde, thin and about 22, Gloria had been working for Kitty about 8 months. "Gloria? What are you doing here so early?"
"I need to talk to you, Miss Kitty?" Gloria looked distraught.
"Come on, let's go into my office." Kitty took the girl by the arm and led her into her office, pointing to a chair. "Have a seat and tell me what's going on."
"I can't get married, Miss Kitty?" Gloria burst into tears and a confused Kitty pulled a kerchief from her desk drawer and handed it to her. Taking the kerchief and dabbing her eyes, Gloria looked up at her employer. "Doug and I went out last night." She continued after a few more sniffles. "We were…. We were going to get married but now he doesn't want to. He…. He said he ain't ready for marriage." The girl crumpled into tears again.
Kitty knew all too well how that felt, but she wasn't sure there was anything she could tell the girl to make her feel better. Still, the young woman needed some sort of comforting and lacking any family, Kitty knew it fell to her. Sitting down next to her employee, Kitty gently put her arm around the girl hugging her. "I know it's hard, especially when you love them. But you know, he's not the only man on this planet. You're a beautiful girl and I just bet you, behind the one that doesn't want to get married, there's 5 that do."
"But not like him." Gloria wailed.
"Nonsense." Kitty shook her head. "If he really loved you like he said, he'll make himself ready for marriage. But if he's not willing to do that, well, then maybe you're better off without him. It'll leave you available for the man who will want to marry you."
Gloria sniffled some more and blew her nose loudly into the kerchief as she looked up at her employer. "Do you really think so?"
Kitty nodded with a smile. "I do. Trust me, you deserve more than a man that doesn't want to marry you."
Gloria got up from her chair, chin tilted up and a somewhat happy and determined look on her face. "You're right, Miss Kitty. I do deserve more." She straightened her shoulders as she headed for the door to leave. "And I intend to find him. I'm not going throw away the best years of my life waiting for a man like you have."
Kitty closed her eyes and dropped her head as the young woman left her office. She hadn't considered a correlation between her relationship with Matt and Gloria's with Doug's. After all, Doug was young cowhand who wasn't even really sure what he wanted to do with his life. And Gloria was at the age where falling in love happened easily and often. Besides, Kitty hadn't really spent the best years of her life waiting for Matt. Had she?
Before she carried that thought too far, she heard her name being called from the bar area. Shaking her head, she got up and went out to find Sam, winding a towel around his bloody left hand. "Sam? Are you alright? What happened?"
"Oh, I dropped a beer mug. It fell and broke and I cut my hand picking it up." Sam shook his head. "I don't think it's too bad but it looks kinda deep."
"Then you need to go see Doc." She told him. "Go on. I'll take care of the bar. This early there won't be any trouble."
"Alright." Sam turned and started towards the door. "I'll get back as soon as I can."
"Don't worry about it." She shooed him out. "I'll handle things. You just get that hand taken care of."
"Yes, Ma'am." Sam answered as he exited the saloon headed for Doc's."
As she finished the chore of picking up the broken beer mug, Kitty remembered the coffee she'd put on earlier. It should be ready. Since no one was currently in the saloon, Kitty slipped back into the kitchen, grabbed the pot and brought it back into the bar room. Setting it down, she quickly retrieved a cup from under the bar just as Festus came in.
"Miss Kitty." He hailed as he approached. "Havin' ya some coffee, ere ya?"
"Sure am." Kitty smiled at him. "Would you like a cup?"
"Well, if'n it wouldn't be no bother…" Festus nodded.
"No, no bother." Kitty pulled up another cup and filled it full, handing it to the deputy. "No bother for the coffee." She placed the cup on the bar in front of him. "But the real reason you came in here could be. Depending on what it is."
"Now, who said I had any other reason fer comin'?" Festus wasn't fond of her figuring him out so early.
"You did." Kitty arched a brow at him. "By not denying it. What do you want?"
"Wael," Festus accepted the coffee and took a sip. "Ya see, they's this thing I was a needin' and I…"
"And you're broke." Kitty finished. She'd always been a quick study of people and she knew Festus better than a lot of em.
"Just flatter then a flitter." Festus sighed. "I tell ya, Miss Kitty, I'd have to have a lot more'n I got to call myself broke."
"How much do you need?" She sighed. She was too tired to even attempt to deny him. She could already tell it was going to be one of those days.
"Wael, ya ain't even asked me what I want it fer." Festus didn't want to quell a good thing but it was curious that she wasn't curious.
"I don't need to know and I don't want to know, Festus." Kitty shook her head as she turned towards her office. "Let me get my cash box." After gathering her cash box from the safe, Kitty locked that back up and then took the box and returned to the bar room. "Here. Will that be enough?"
Festus perked up and grinned from ear to ear when he saw the ten dollars she was extending to him. "Why it shore would." He nodded as he quickly accepted the money. "You shore ya don't wanna know…"
"I'm sure, Festus." She quickly reassured him. "Just take the money and go. Okay?"
"Sure will, Miss. Kitty." Festus took another quick sip of the coffee and then turned for the door. "See ya later, Miss Kitty."
Kitty shook her head but said nothing. Seemed Festus was picking up bad habits from Matt. Putting the moneybox beneath the bar, Kitty took her coffee and started for her office when again she heard her name being called.
"Miss Kitty." Ben Prine came in from the back. "Sam sent word for me to see if I can fix a door for ya. I can but that doors just barely hanging on there. I'll have to take it off and rebuild the frame."
"Ok." Kitty nodded. "Do what you need to."
"Sure will." Ben nodded. "It might get a bit loud for a bit but I'll get it fixed alright."
"Thanks, Ben." Kitty flashed him a brief smile as he went back to the kitchen to begin his work.
After Ben went to the back, Kitty decided to forgo the inventory. It was very early and very unlikely they would have any customers but you never knew. Chairs were still up on the tables so Kitty decided to start there. Working her away around the bar room, she began to pull the chairs down and push them up against the table.
She was working on the next to last table when the chair she grabbed came apart in her hands. "Da…" Kitty stopped herself. Cursing and getting angry wouldn't fix the broken chair. With a sigh, she picked up the remnants and put them at the end of the bar. Perhaps when Mr. Prine finished with the door he could take a look at the chair.
After finishing with the chairs, Kitty headed back to the bar. She still hadn't had a chance to drink her coffee. But she no sooner picked up the cup; when she once more heard her name being called.
"Miss Kitty?"
Kitty turned to see Orville Whitaker standing in the doorway. Orville ran the local tinsmith and leather goods shop. Tall with a balding head and a full, unruly dark beard and dirty dungarees he looked more like someone from the hills rather than a respected businessman. "Well, hello Mr. Whitaker. Something I can do for you?"
Whitaker remembered his manners and quickly removed his hat before coming in any further. "I was wondering if you'd seen the Marshal." He asked. "I got a small situation at my place and…" He stopped when he saw her shake her head.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Whitaker." Kitty interrupted. "But the Marshal's out of town. He was supposed to ride out to Mr. Grant's ranch this morning."
"Oh." Whitaker dropped his head. "Did he say when he was coming back?" It never occurred to him that she might not know.
"No." Kitty shook her head again at him. "I'm sorry, but he didn't. But Mr. Grant's place isn't all that far though so he could be back by tomorrow."
"Oh." Whitaker sighed. "Well, I don't guess it's nothing that can't wait. But when he does get back, would ya mind telling him I need to see him?"
"Sure." Kitty nodded.
"Thanks, Miss Kitty." He tipped his hat and turned leaving the saloon.
Kitty watched him leave with an eye roll. Despite her and Matt's assertion to everyone that they were 'only friends' everyone in town thought otherwise and quite often expected her to know where Matt was and what his itinerary was at any given time. But while they were correct that her and Matt's relationship was more it wasn't as much as everyone thought. She seldom knew where Matt was even when he was in town. They might be like man in wife in one way but not all of them. Not at all.
TBC