After the Storm 3
I don't own these characters; I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had than that.
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(A month and a half later)
Kitty paced slowly through the empty two bedroom brick house she had just purchased, making a list of various things and sundry that she would need. When she had left Dodge a month and a half prior, she had taken little more than clothing with her. She would need more than that now. The house, though well maintained, needed furniture, paint, curtains and many other things to turn it into a home. Not that it would ever really be home. She left that behind in Dodge.
Normally the prospect of shopping was a happy one for her, but now it was just one more task on a long list that would need to be accomplished in the next three months.
Bracing her ever expanding middle, she left the little abode and climbed back into the waiting handsome cab she had hired for the day. Wearily she sat back on the cracked leather seat as the impassive driver wended his way thru the sluggish mid day traffic, and safely delivered her back to the hotel entrance.
She tired easily these days, and heeding the advice of her new doctor, Franklin Lewis, she decided to rest a while in her dreary little room, before she tried to accomplish anything else for the day.
Upon entering the lobby she heard the clerk calling for Mrs. Dillon. It took a second, before she remembered that was her name. She had unofficially adopted Matt's name, since a widowed pregnant woman was much more acceptable than an unmarried one.
Though the name was bitter sweet, it seemed the only appropriate one at the time. The baby was his, after all, and she did want it to have his name, no matter how he felt towards it or her.
Unenthusiastically, as she was not overly fond of the nosey and sallow little man, she approached the desk in answer to his summons. "You were calling me?" she asked politely.
"Oh Mrs. Dillon" he answered "yes I was. I have a package for you. A courier delivered it about an hour ago."
Taking the plainly wrapped package from him, Kitty nodded her thanks and made her way to the stairs leading to her room. Glancing down at the small white label on the front of the heavy parcel, she saw that it was from her new partner of less than a week, Nathan Hancock.
Though the Long Branch still hadn't sold, it did continue to be profitable. So, with a small profit check from Sam, as well as the proceeds from some of her investments, she had managed to buy a half share, in a small pub, near the center of town on Franklin Street, as well as the house she was inspecting this morning.
Her partner in the pub, Nathan, had been more than agreeable in letting her handle all of the paperwork from her home, while he handled the day to day running of the business. The situation couldn't be better for either of them.
Physically, she knew she couldn't stand on her feet all day, as she had at the Long Branch, and Nathan had confided to her that he hated the tedious bookwork required to keep the place running. It seemed like an ideal solution for the both of them.
When she had signed the papers, making her half owner of The Tin Star, he promised to have all of the books delivered to her within the week.
"The Tin Star" The irony of the name amused her somewhat. The one thing she had grown to hate and now she had a business by that name.
Once inside her room, she laid the package down on the dresser and carefully sat down on the end of the bed. Though only five and half months along, she was already uncomfortable most days, and she knew it would only get worse until the baby was born. Dr. Lewis had warned her, that all indications were, that she was carrying a rather large baby. Knowing the size of its father she had no doubt of that.
'Father,' she thought angrily. In her life's experience, fathers were horrible men who abandoned their children. She had believed that Matt was better than that. But she guessed her beliefs were ill founded.
Forcefully, she pushed all thoughts of Matt and Dodge and even the baby from her mind for a while, as she lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, praying for sleep.
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Matt walked into the jail to find Doc lounging at the small center table, a half cup of coffee in his hand and a newspaper open in front of him.
"Don't you have an office of your own?" Matt snapped at him. Vaguely he realized it wasn't Doc he was irritated at.
Doc looked up at him for a moment, but kept his silence as Matt slammed his hat on its accustomed peg, and marched over to the stove for a cup of the same black brew that Doc seemed to be enjoying. Only the pot was empty. Banging it back down on the stove, he moved over to his desk, and slumped down in the squeaky chair behind it.
Doc continued to quietly watch him, but said nothing as Matt aimlessly shuffled through the few envelopes lying on his battered desk. The last month and a half had been sheer hell for Matt Dillon, and Doc knew there would no words that could act as a balm for his tattered soul.
Though he had expended every effort, Matt had found nothing that would lead him to the apprehension of the men behind the threats. Until he found those men, Kitty would not be safe in Dodge, and as long as Kitty was gone the Matt Dillon that Doc had always thought of as a son, would be gone, replaced by a shell of man, with no reason for existence other than the badge he wore.
Matt noticed Doc's intense scrutiny, and sullenly raised his eyes to study the low ceiling above him.
Doc lowered his eyes back to the three week old paper in front of him, pretending once again to be reading it.
Both men sat silently in the small brick building, taking a solace in the presence of the other, though neither one would ever acknowledge it.
And both men, though they studied the cracked and stained ceiling above them, or the torn and tattered out of date newspaper, had their minds on one woman. A woman, who while physically in Boston, was constantly in their hearts and their thoughts.
"Wonder what she's doing right now." Matt said, not realizing he had spoken out loud.
Doc raised his eyes back to the lawman. He wasn't sure if Matt wanted an answer or not, but supplied one anyway. "Well it's still early yet, even in Boston, so I betcha she's probably still in bed asleep."
Matt nodded. "Yeah I guess so. Anyway I sure hope so. She needs to get all the rest she can. Reckon she has someone there with her? I mean, you know, to kinda watch out for her, see to it that she eats regular and all?"
Doc could see the pleading in Matt's eyes. He wanted so very badly to feel reassured still, that he had done the right thing, and that Kitty was safe and secure.
"I don't think you have to worry about that, Matt." He answered. "Kitty knows what she needs to do. You can rest assured she'll take care of herself, for that baby's sake, if for no other reason."
"I should be doing that though" Matt said, grief etched into his tone. "She should be here and I should be taking care of her."
"You are, Matt" Doc said, knowingly. "She may not be here, but believe me. You are taking care of her."
TBC