Decisions and Desires
Chapter 3
There was one more sleepless night before they arrived in Colorado Springs where, before finalizing the purchase agreement, Arlo wanted to take Kitty to see the land he was going to buy. She had to admit that he did everything he could to please her. He hired a wagon and had it stocked with an ample picnic basket which even held several bottles of wine. She could not have planned it better herself.
They drove for almost two hours before he stopped at the top of a small rise. They could see down into a shallow valley through which flowed a small creek.
"This is beautiful," she commented, truly amazed at the green rolling vista in front of her.
She also had to admit that the air here was much sweeter than the stagnant Kansas air hanging over Dodge this time of year. She was still enjoying the scene when strong hands reached up to help her down from the wagon. He let her gently down to the ground and as she landed she could not help but notice the green eyes that shone from his permanently tanned face. The eyes were gentle and smiling in some way, always moving, focusing somewhere off in the distance. He had removed his hat and she noted that his straight brown hair was thinning a little at the temples, but there was still one lock that permanently hung forward over his forehead.
He had already taken a blanket from the wagon and was spreading it out on the ground, so she lifted the picnic basket from the back of the wagon and carried it over to join him.
"This is a perfect piece of land, Arlo. How on earth did you find it?"
"It was quite a few years ago, before I had even been on my first cattle drive. I was working for a man who owns many times this number of acres. He promised me if I came back this way someday he would sell it to me."
Kitty thought for a minute. She could tell that the man was excited about his future life, but knew he had brought her along to do more than help sign some papers. He was very likable and in a lot of ways reminded her of Matt. Maybe if it had been him she had met all those years ago, it would have worked out differently for her. Of course there was still time to change things.
Lunch was over and he helped her back onto the wagon seat.
"I want to show you where I plan to build my home." She thought he had almost said, 'our home' but couldn't be sure.
He drove a little way towards the upper end of the valley and stopped. He walked around to help her down, only this time, after setting her on the ground, he kept hold of her hand and led her to an almost level area that looked out across the whole property. He was excited, almost like a kid who had just landed his first catfish. He started describing how the house would be placed and how he planned a big kitchen with a pump over the sink and a great big fireplace in the far corner, so the whole family could sit around it in winter. He would add bedrooms as they needed, depending on how many children he was blessed with.
Kitty listened. His enthusiasm was infectious. She could almost see the ranch house herself. He was now describing the barn he would build with at least six stalls and a bunkhouse for the hired help. Long ago this was the life she had hoped for. She had had her fill of cities and the dust and dirt that went along with them. There had been many times when she had wanted to get away from all the Texas cowboys, drifters and crooked gamblers. Smoke filled saloons and the constant drone of out of tune pianos had lost their appeal. There was also the constant fear that the next gunshot fired would take away the one person she really loved. Someone who loved her or maybe that had all been in her imagination.
Here she could see a beautiful home, a man who never got called away to escort some prisoner somewhere, someone who would be home every evening. Maybe even a child or two could be in her future, she was still young enough for that. She could almost hear them, their voices echoing up along the valley from the creek below.
For a moment the man holding her hand had blue eyes and an infectious grin. The unruly dark hair was being ruffled into curls by the light breeze. She looked down from his face to the faded red shirt he almost always wore, and there, half covered by a well worn leather vest, was a metal star. It shone so brightly, eventually blinding out the vision in front of her. She realized she had been day dreaming and it all vanished as a voice called her back to the present.
"Kitty, Kitty…" there was a squeeze of her hand. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Arlo. I was just caught up in your dream for a moment."
He smiled. "I'd rather hoped you might be. I hate to leave but we have to head back to town now. There's not much of a road out here yet, so I want to get back before dark."
That night, after supper, he had escorted her back to her room. He stopped for a moment outside her door. There was no one on the landing and he gently slipped his arm around her waist.
"I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed being with you today Kitty. It made my future seem so perfect."
He leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Not a deep kiss, just a gentle sign of his affection. She didn't pull back or try to stop him. It felt warm and comfortable, she was tempted to pull him in closer, but something, or someone, stood in the way.
He stepped back and looked at her, "I hope I was not being too presumptuous. It's something I wanted to do all day."
He stood there looking at her for a moment, but she had no comment. He took a breath before continuing.
"I'll say good night now. The land office opens at nine o'clock tomorrow so I will come by and get you. We can have breakfast afterwards before getting the train back to Dodge."
She smiled and thanked him saying that she had enjoyed the day as well, then watched as he strode off down the hallway to his own room. He had a long stride, but his steps were even, unlike the man she loved who had suffered too many injuries that had resulted in his gait being a little off. How many more gunshots would there be? What would happen when Doc could no longer patch him back together in time for him to pin that badge back on and go out to risk it all again? Is that what she wanted to wait around for?
Kitty knew that sometime in the next day or so Arlo was going to ask her a question that, right now, she did not know how to answer. Once more she found herself lying awake trying to go over things in her mind. She needed someone to talk to - someone like Doc who could help her sort out her emotions.
Before they arrived at the land office the next morning Arlo told her he wanted to put her name on the deed as well as his own. She told him she couldn't allow that right now. It was too early to make such a permanent decision.
The deed was already made out and waiting when they arrived. Kitty read over the agreement with him, and it looked just fine. Of course she had only bought one piece of property in her whole life, thus was not much more experienced than Arlo in that sense. Fortunately at that time she had had Matt there to help her, and he had pointed out the things to watch for. She put that knowledge to use now.
The documents were signed and registered and the money exchanged hands. Arlo seemed happy and took her arm as they headed for the Santa Fe to carry them back to Dodge.
TBC