Doc ate heartily all that was left of the beef stew and mopped his plate with the bread she cut for him. He sat at the kitchen table wielding a toothpick with gusto and discussing the baby he'd delivered a few hours after dawn while Kitty washed up the dishes. When she finally poured coffee for them both and joined him at the table Doc looked out at her through hooded eyes and made it a statement instead of a question. "You may as well tell me, Kitty."
Kitty paid close attention to stirring her coffee, but took her time in answering. When she did she addressed the unwinking eye of her cup rather than her friend. "I'm not used to being alone all day, Doc."
"That's a start," he commented when nothing more seemed to be forthcoming. "Let's have the rest."
"It's not… well, it's not like I thought it was going to be, Doc." She looked up then, "And I need to find some way to fix that."
"Fix what, exactly?"
"Make a place for myself here. Find something to do. Be a part of this whole thing. A part of Kincaid. More than just keeping house and being bored while Matt does all the work."
"And has all the fun?" he asked impertinently.
Her eyes flew to his and then suddenly hardened. Her chin lifted as she gave him a sharp nod. "I thought we were going to be partners, Doc. I didn't see him being away from dawn until dusk, and me bein' the only person alive on the whole ranch. I don't know how Rose stood it all those years."
"She didn't."
That startled Kitty, but after a bit of thought she agreed, "Well, I suppose she didn't. She had the boys in those early years, and then Elizabeth, and she always had Till."
Doc harrumphed. "In the early years, when she and Jake first settled here, she worked the land right along side him and the boys. Jake roped cattle and she branded them – and gelded them too. I've seen her do it. One little flick of the knife. I've heard that Till cooked over an open fire and they all slept in tents until they got the house built. But that wasn't what I was talkin' about, honey. I can't see you out on the range working cattle, can you?"
Kitty shook her head, determined but not regretful.
"Last twenty years, Rose ran everything on this ranch that didn't involve breeding cattle and horses. She kept the books, paid the men, decided what to plant and when, how much stock to sell or buy. She was the brains behind the success of this ranch, Kitty. I suppose I always thought you'd do the same."
Kitty had caught her breath when he mentioned paying the men. She barely waited for him to finish before she said, "It's almost the end of the month. Someone needs to go in and get cash for the payroll on Saturday. Doc, could I drive back with you tomorrow morning? Matt can send one of the hands in to pick me up. I'll stay over at Ma Smalley's."
"We could leave right now if you like."
Kitty shook her head just a little regretfully. "That's not how Matt and I do things, Doc. I may be feelin' down a bit, but it's not Matt's fault. And even if I were mad at him, I still need to make supper and you," she carefully emphasized the word, "need to get some rest. Go on up and have yourself a nap while I pull things together."
About dusk, Matt Dillon stepped through the back door into a kitchen fragrant with the smell of roasting chicken and baking biscuits. He grinned at the small, grey-haired man sipping coffee at the kitchen table and stripped off his gloves to offer Doc a hand before laying an arm around Kitty's waist and dropping a kiss in her hair.
Doc noticed the gesture with pleasure. It still took him by surprise. Fifteen years of their judiciously casual public friendship had left him with expectations he didn't much like, but still accepted as normal.
Kitty had them seated at the table with Matt sopping up the last of the chicken gravy with his biscuit before she brought up the subject of her trip into town. "You remember what day it is, Matt?" she asked.
"Seems to me it was Wednesday last time I looked."
"You got plans for tomorrow?"
"Need to finish that south fence line, Kitty. It's almost November and…" Matt slapped a hand on the table. "You're trying to tell me it's almost payday aren't you?"
Kitty nodded and started transferring plates from the table to the sink. Doc pulled a toothpick from his pocket and settled back in his seat to watch the show.
Matt stood and took a turn around the kitchen. He stopped behind Kitty and rested his thumbs in his belt. "I know you want me to take you into town for the payroll. I suppose I can let Bat take care of that last stretch of fence, Kitty, but I was countin' on doin' it myself. I'm trying to learn the boundary lines for the ranch before winter comes in."
She kept on washing the dishes, but her face cleared a little. "Is that what it is? Wish you'd told me that, Matt. Might have made it easier if I understood."
Matt ran a hand through his hair and sneaked a look at Doc's passive face. "I never said?"
Kitty shook her head.
Matt walked over to the corner cupboard and got out a bottle of whiskey and three glasses. He set them on the table and then spun Kitty around and sat her down. She wiped her hands on her apron and waited poker-faced while Matt poured them each a drink.
"You were maybe going to remind me of it someday soon?" Matt asked sipping his rye.
But that broke Kitty down and she laughed. "I didn't think of it myself until Doc came in this afternoon and we got to talkin'. Matt, I used to pay my girls and the barmen on Monday mornings so an end of the month payday wasn't something I was used to think about. You want me to go in and pick up the payroll for you tomorrow? Pretty sure Doc would drive me into town." She looked up at Doc and slowly lowered an eyelid on the side away from her husband.
"Suppose I could do that if you wanted, Kitty," responded the worthy doctor. "I'll be leavin' mighty early though," he warned severely.
Matt stared at the two of them for a second or two and then nodded. "No harm you driving in with Doc, but I'll send one of the boys for you tomorrow afternoon. That's too much cash for you to be carrying back on your own."
Kitty reached over to pat his hand. "You send Cookie in on Friday noontime. He'll be needing supplies. I'll spend the night in town and catch up on what's going on in the world." She winked boldly at him this time. "I might do some shopping too."
An evening of light conversation brought Matt up to date on the doings in the only part of the world he cared much about, and the three of them walked up to bed a little before ten. Matt lay back on a pillow in the big bed watching Kitty brush her hair. Doc's voice raised in song from across the hall – along with a fair amount of splashing – let them know he was taking advantage of the superior plumbing the ranch house offered.
"You mad at me, Kitty?" he finally asked.
She dropped her robe at the foot of the bed and blew out the lamp before sitting down next to him. "No I'm not, Matt. I just think there's some things we both have to get used to here that maybe we never thought about. Like who's going to do the books, and keep the records, and make up the payroll. And like you tellin' me why you're doin' the things you do out on the ranch."
He had her in his arms now, and she felt him nod acknowledgement, but his next words weren't about the ranch. "I know you're lonely out here, Kitty. Days must be mighty long when we're all out. You want to spend some time visiting in Dodge? I can send Bat for the payroll."
She did want to. "Not on your life, Matt Dillon. I'll have a nice quick trip and spend the night at Ma Smalley's - or up at Doc's if he doesn't have a patient - and be back in time to cook dinner on Friday night. I'll just take the opportunity to pick up a few things to help me pass the time when you're out."
"You going to take up tatting, Kitty?" he asked spreading her small hands inside his big ones.
"That's not exactly what I had in mind." She pulled her hands free and put them to use where she thought they'd do the most good. That about ended their conversation for some time.
Later, his arm lying warmly across Kitty's waist and her head tucked into his shoulder, Matt said, "You do know, dontcha, that you and Doc didn't fool me a bit?"
She snuggled closer into his arms. "Yes, Matt. I do know that. But it was nice of you to pretend."
"I'm not exactly happy about you heading out without me, Kitty."
"I know that too, partner."
Matt sighed and before long they were asleep.