A/N Debbie W, she certainly was, and is. And you are about to find out. Suzy Q, sorry, I can be a little ornery that way. Gunsmokefan, like the saying goes, don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. And thank you, Beverly.

Chapter 2

Momentarily speechless, Kitty stood staring at a man she'd never expected to see again. After abandoning her once, he had come into her life a stranger, tried to take everything she had, and disappeared almost as quickly as he'd arrived. "What—what are you doing here, Father?" she finally managed.

The man was equally at a loss for words. He had gone out of his way on a whim, during what he expected to be his last trip out west, to pass through Dodge City. He realized upon seeing her that, unlike the last time, he had no carefully prepared script to use when he met his grown daughter for the second time in her life. "I wanted to see you, Kitty," he said, deciding the simple truth was the best for now. "Are you going to put the gun down?" he added, glancing at the shotgun she still had leveled in his direction.

"That depends," Kitty said shortly. A mix of emotions warred inside her. Fear, disappointment, and longing for the father she'd once needed so badly fought to control her. She eyed him distrustfully. At the present time she was alone at the house with her baby, and she wasn't ready to let her guard down, not that she believed he meant to harm her physically. She wondered, as she had nearly twenty years before—was he really there to see her, or was there something else he wanted? "Most people who come for a visit drive all the way up to the yard and come and knock on the door, they don't sneak around until they're caught." She glanced toward the driveway. "Where's your rig?"

The sound of riders approaching the house offered Wayne Russell a temporary reprieve from answering his daughter's question.

"Sounds like my husband is home," Kitty said, a smile on her face for the first time. "I'll let you explain it to him." Relieved, she lowered the shotgun and looked toward the barn, where her boys were dismounting. As always, her heart stopped for an instant at the sight of her husband, and she was glad he was there, as he had been the last time her father had come onto her life. And, just maybe, she was glad he'd gotten there in time to prevent her from shooting him.

Russell also looked toward the trio who were now approaching them. They were close enough now that he was able to recognize the towering marshal who'd been so protective of his daughter, and his ingratiating assistant. He briefly wondered which one of them was her husband, until the marshal came to stand next to Kitty. He put his arm around her, hand at her waist, and drew her to his side as he gave the visitor a piercing look and a nod. "What's going on, Kitty?"

"Matt, my father was about to explain to me how he managed to get all the way out here on foot."

Matt reluctantly extended a hand to the older man. "Russell."

"Marshal," Russell greeted, returning the handshake. "Apparently congratulations are in order."

"Father, this is my husband, Matt Dillon," Kitty confirmed, belatedly remembering to make proper introductions. "And you remember Chester Goode?"

"How do you do, Mr. Russell," Chester stammered, reaching to shake hands. "This is my boy Joe."

Once reintroductions had concluded, Russell returned to the topic of his arrival at the farm.

"Forgive my bad manners, child," he said eloquently as he clasped Kitty's hand. Matt resisted the impulse to roll his eyes at this. The man was as pompous as he'd been the last time he visited. "I'm afraid I've no excuse other than a slight case of nerves for wandering around your property without announcing myself. As for the buggy I rented in town, I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran off the road and broke a wheel about halfway up your lane."

"Oh, well, Matt and Chester can look at that after lunch," Kitty began by way of accepting his apology, looking at Matt for confirmation. "You're welcome to eat with us, though I'm afraid it won't be anything fancy. I hadn't gotten anything started yet." She decided not to point out that since his buggy had broken down there wasn't much choice but to ask him to stay, or that part of the reason there wasn't any was because of his unexpected visit.

"Joe, would you go bring Mr. Russell's horse up with the others and see to all of them before lunch," Chester instructed his son, not wanting to miss whatever drama might revolve around this uninvited guest.

"Yes, Daddy," Joe said reluctantly, watching the adults head toward the house. That just figured. He was always getting sent away when things started to look interesting, and this situation sure looked like it could get that way. Miss Kitty's father had come for a visit but no one looked any too happy about it. Even the old man looked like he'd rather be somewhere else right now. But then, he was wearing city clothes and maybe he wasn't used to being on a farm. Grownups sure could be funny.

"Have you lived out here long?" Russell asked his daughter casually, already knowing the answer. As of little over a year ago, the last time he'd made inquiries, she was still the owner of that saloon she'd been so proud of on his previous visit. He'd neglected to find out about that marshal, assuming that, like most lawmen, he'd moved on or been killed long ago. Even on his arrival in town, all he'd been able to learn from that talkative freight agent before they'd been interrupted was that Kitty and her husband had moved out to this farm. Further discreet questioning around town had failed to garner either the name of her husband or when the marriage had taken place. Dodge City was certainly a closed-mouth town, with the exception of that Burke fellow, at least regarding the lives of his daughter and the marshal. He wondered if the couple was equally reticent about their relationship. If they'd been involved long ago, the first time he'd come to Dodge, they had certainly kept it to themselves. He hadn't realized they were any more than friends.

"Well, we bought the place last year when we got married," Kitty explained. "We lived in town while Matt and Chester built the house, and just moved in at the beginning of the summer."

Matt, following behind Kitty and her father, couldn't help noticing what she was leaving out of the story. Old habits die hard, and after years of both of them keeping their relationship private, Kitty was obviously protecting her newest relationship until she decided whether her father could be trusted.

They stepped inside, and Kitty saw her father glance around her modestly decorated home. Though Kitty had lived in stylish, even lavish surroundings in her rooms at the Long Branch, her tastes, and certainly her priorities, had changed since she and Matt married. Only the master bedroom upstairs was decorated on anywhere near the same scale as her former residence, with the same furniture and color scheme. Her sitting room was simple, comfortable, yet still feminine. Her kitchen, for the time being, was plain and practical, although she had plans to eventually do some decorating there also. She and Matt were proud of the cozy appearance of their home, but looking at it through her father's eyes, she wondered if maybe it wasn't a little too modest. Russell caught her looking at him and gave a quick smile. "You have a lovely home, my dear. Although I'm afraid I never quite pictured you as a farm wife."

Kitty felt as awkward and inadequate as she had on that long ago first meeting. She had wanted so much to have her father's love and approval. His disappointment at learning she was a saloonkeeper had been crushing, even if it had later been shown to be just part of his plan to cheat her out of her money. It seemed as though her choice of husbands and homes was equally disappointing to him.

"I'll get the coffee goin' if you want to talk your father a spell," Chester offered when Kitty excused herself to make a new pot and start lunch.

"Chester, you'll do no such thing!" Realizing that she'd spoken a little more sharply than she intended, she added, "I mean, you and Matt are the ones who've been working all morning. You all sit down and I'll have everything going in no time." After handing Matt the shotgun, she retreated to the kitchen, cheeks flaming, wondering what had come over her. Was she that concerned with sparing her father Chester's coffee, or did she hope to impress him with her homemaking skills? You'd better get ahold of yourself, she thought, and quickly busied herself starting the coffee along with heating up a pan to fry the potatoes she had boiled and sliced earlier that morning. She could hear the conversation drifting in from the sitting room as she worked.

"I'm surprised a marshal has time to ride all the way home in the middle of the day for the noon meal," Wayne observed.

"I'm not the marshal any longer. I turned in my retirement papers when Kitty and I got married. Kitty sold the Long Branch, but we still have to earn a living, so we bought this place."

"Mr. Dillon, don't forget about Miss Ma-" Chester began. Matt quickly interrupted him.

"Yes, Kitty keeps pretty busy running the business side of things and taking care of the house. It's just Chester, Joe, and myself working the farm right now, but we'll probably need to take on a few more hands once we get more stock."

Kitty let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She wasn't quite ready for her father to know everything about her life yet, and evidently Matt agreed with her. If Wayne had noticed the change in subject he was apparently content to let it go for now. Even Chester seemed to have caught on, and he volunteered no further information about their personal lives. "I need a drink," she said under her breath, but made no move to actually get one. With all the changes in her life in the past year, she seldom drank any more than an occasional nightcap with Matt, and it was usually his idea. Instead, she poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher and sipped it while she busied herself slicing bread and cold ham for sandwiches. The men continued to discuss farm business. Wayne seemed to know a little about farming, politely asking questions and appearing to be interested in the answers.

By the time Kitty had finished setting the table, the potatoes were done frying and the coffee was ready. She set a bowl of apples next to the rest of the food and returned to the sitting room to summon the men for lunch. Before she had a chance to say a word, the youngest member of the household made her presence known at the top of her lungs. There was no mistaking the insistent wail coming from upstairs for anything else.

Russell, startled, stood and looked at his daughter and then at his son-in-law. "Kitty?" He raised his eyebrows, a smile slowly coming to his lips. "Do I have a grandchild?"

TBC