When all was said and done, life turned out well for the boys. Here's a little snippet of that good life.

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Hanna Curry pulled the patchwork quilt up to the chins of the three little girls all snuggled close together in the soft comfort of the over sized feather bed.

"Now, what story would you girls like to hear before you go to sleep for the night?" she asked, her soft voice sweet and soothing.

Six year old Elizabeth took the lead and she raised her head and looked down at the quilt, searching for one specific piece of patchwork. She pulled her arm out from under the covers and and her little fingers came to rest on a patch of dark blue silk, with a vertical swath of maroon silk across the middle and a small piece of white lace tatting in a corner.

"Tell us about this one, Grandma," she said. "This one's my favorite."

"Yes, the bake sale auction," eight year old Sarah added eagerly.

Hannah smiled and the wrinkles around her eyes deepened. "That one's my favorite, too," she said, letting her hand glide softly over the material. "Is this story alright with you, Abigail?"

The drowsy eyed four year old who was squeezed in between her sisters in the bed nodded and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

"That's the dress I was wearing the first time I set eyes on your Grandpa," she said as her thoughts returned to that hot summer day so many years before.

"At the cake auction," Elizabeth said with a giggle.

Hannah nodded. "My family had only been living in Sweetwater a couple of months when the Church Women's Association decided a cake auction would be a nice social event, as well as a good way to make some money for the church... I was just sixteen years old and my Pa was not happy that my Ma gave me permission to bake a cake and enter the auction. But she told Pa it was a good way to meet people and socialize. So I made a strawberry up-side-down cake because that was my favorite."

"Tell us about the dress you was wearing," Elizabeth said.

Hannah closed her eyes. She could still envision the dress, still feel the fine material, still pride herself in just how fine she looked wearing it.

"It was as deep blue as the midnight sky on a star studded August night. It had a broad white tatted bib, and a maroon satin sash that cinched the waist. I do believe it was the most beautiful dress I ever owned."

"And Grandpa saw that dress and bought your cake!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Some years later your Grandpa told me he had asked around to see if I had entered a cake. But I didn't know that at the time, darlin," Hannah replied. "And he paid handsomely for it, too."

"Five dollars!" Elizabeth said proudly.

"Well, when I saw them hand that cake to your Grandpa, my heart skipped a beat. He wasn't someone I recognized, and as it turned out, he and your Great Uncle Heyes were just passing through... But he was the most handsome man I have ever laid eyes on. He still is."

Sarah and Elizabeth giggled and Hannah noticed Abigail had fallen asleep.

"So you walked over to him," Sarah prodded.

"After the auction, there was to be a barn social and picnic supper and whoever made the cake was supposed to spend the evening with the man who bought the cake. So I looked across the crowd and spied your Grandpa... And he was looking right at me with them sparkling blue eyes and that sweet and gentle smile..."

"And you walked right up to him," Sarah said.

"Well, first I took a deep breath and gathered up all my courage. You have to remember I had never seen him before in all my life, so I was a tad nervous. I remember my knees was shaken so bad I was afraid they'd give out on me and down I'd go. I was afraid if that happened, he'd laugh, and I just couldn't bare the thought of embarrassing myself like that. So I just walked real slow, and when I got in front of him, I just stopped."

"And Grandpa smiled at you..."

Hannah smiled, recalling the moment. "He did indeed. And then he bent his arm and held it out to me to take hold of...And I knew right then and there...well, I knew."

"Then what happened, Grandma?" Elizabeth asked.

"Your Grandpa and I walked over to the barn social and waited for the auction to end. It gave us a chance to talk a bit. I was quite taken with that deep, rich tone in his voice, and I learned right quick he was about as shy as I was."

"But you knew you was going to marry him," Sarah said emphatically.

"Every girl wanted to marry me," Kid said, leaning against the door frame, his arms folded loosely across his chest, and a mischievous smile on his face.

"Is that true, Grandma?" Elizabeth asked.

"I wouldn't know, darling, although I never met one girl that would admit to it."

"Tell us another story, Grandma," Sarah begged.

"Now girls, your Grandma might not be wise to you, but I am. You're just stalling so you don't have to go to sleep," Kid told them knowingly.

"Just one more, please?"

Hannah stood up and straightened the quilt. Then she walked over to the doorway to join her husband. Kid automatically wrapped an arm about her shoulders.

"That quilt's got over a hundred patches and every one of em's got a story to it. Maybe Grandma will tell you another one tomorrow night."

"The one with the piece of a horse blanket," Elizabeth declared.

"Oh, that's a good one. Maybe she'll tell you that one tomorrow night," Kid insisted.

"You Grandpa is right. You girl's need to get your sleep," Hannah said and snuffed the candle on the dresser near the door.

"Goodnight, girls. Sweet dreams."

With his arm still about her shoulders, Kid led Hannah out into the hallway after shutting the bedroom door behind him.

"You know, I discovered something the minute I first saw you, too," Kid said as they walked slowly down the hallway.

"And what was that?' Hannah asked.

"Why the sun comes up every morning... I did know that night that you were the girl I was going to marry...one day...after the amnesty came through."

"We did have a rough time of it, didn't we?"

"You were so patient...waiting for me all those years."

"It was well worth the wait Jedadiah Curry."

Kid smiled and leaned in and kissed her with the warmth and tenderness that comes from years of bliss. "The girls are in bed, and I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve, you know," he said with that mischievous grin back o his face.

Hannah gave him a very gentle shove. "What about Heyes?"

"He ain't invited."

"Jed, he might hear us."

"He's downstairs in the study reading one of his books. Besides, even if he does, I'm guessing he knows all about what we've been doing all these years. I think all them saloon girls have even given him a bit of practice once in a while... And don't forget that school teacher he rides over to Bently to see so often."

"What I mean is...shouldn't you at least go down and say goodnight?"

Kid sighed heavily. "Oh, alright, if it'll make you happy, darlin."

Hannah smiled and gave Kid a peck on the cheek. "I'll be waiting for you."

"Good, I don't like it when you start without me," Kid replied with a devilish grin.

Hannah sighed. "You're just incorrigible."

Kid made his way down the stairs and into the study.

"Hannah wanted me to come down and tell you good night," Kid said from the doorway.

"So, your plan worked, Kid?"

Kid grinned. "Hook, line, and sinker, Heyes... When the girl's wake up in the morning, fix them some breakfast, will you?"

Heyes grinned. "Don't I always?"

"And don't let me forget to give Sarah and Elizabeth each that silver dollar in the morning. I owe them."