They ate supper in the kitchen that night, Sue offering to take Martha up for bed again saying "I won't get to do this much longer." The little girl blanched at that statement, and obediently followed the older woman up the stairs. Polly stood and watched them go, frowning slightly while going to get the coffee pot. She offered some to Johnny and after filling both their cups, sat back at the table.
Thinking back to the events at the store, Johnny looked at his bride-to-be and said "Polly, am I steppin' on any toes, comin' in like this?"
She looked closely at Johnny and smiled "What are you sayin'?" she asked mischievously.
"Martha and I were at the store today, and the clerk seemed a little surprised that you and me were gettin' married, and it just made me wonder."
She looked at Johnny and smiled "I cain't very well say that I ain't talked to another man since we got here, but nothin' has ever really happened with anyone."
"You're an attractive woman, Polly" Johnny pressed, "Surely some have expressed their interest in more than talkin'".
Polly chuckled at his statement. "Yes, some may have asked me out a few times, including Roger at the store, and I may have gone out for a walk in the evenin' a few times, but things never felt particularly right. I never really knew what to say about …. " and Johnny understand what she was saying. The town people knew she was a widow, but her life before that was not what they would have been expecting, nor for that point, the manner in which she was widowed.
"What about you, Johnny Lancer?" she asked, with a slightly sassy tone, "Am I goin' to be facin' a passel of angry girls when I get to Green River?"
Johnny laughed lightly, thinking of some of his past encounters. "I cain't say I ain't courted a few girls", he replied, "And maybe got entangled a bit" he continued "But sometimes it seemed like girls were more interested in Johnny Madrid than Johnny Lancer … and wantin' to do somethin' to upset their Pa."
Polly smiled at the revelation "Well," she started "That ain't the case with me … although Sue" she started to say.
He laughed "Reckon she's warmed a bit more to me now?" he said.
Polly laughed "Yeah, I would even say she likes ya, although she did say that if anythin' happened, Martha and I were to come right back here, and she would take care of ya, gunfighter or not."
He laughed at the statement, and they continued to talk into the night, making plans for their life together, and enjoying each other's company.