Chapter 10 The Plans: Stay or Go

Arizona Territory/Mike's Place

Mike started wondering what would have happened if Les had shown several weeks earlier. Showing up several weeks earlier, Les would have arrived at the ranch while Dan was still there. How would Les have reacted to seeing Dan staying with Mike at the ranch? Starcourt told Les that Mike was a widow who lived alone at the ranch. Seeing a man as big as Dan would have definitely changed Les's original plans of getting Mike off her land. Of course Mike didn't know what Les originally had planned when it came to get her off her land. The only thing Mike knew was that Dan was not part of Les's original plans.

Thinking things over further, it occurred to Mike that Les might have tried to kill Dan to get him out of the way. If Les was desperate enough for the money Starcourt was offering, Les might not have even given killing Dan a second thought. The thought of Dan possibly dying made Mike shutter. Death to the man she loved was unbearable.

If Les showed up several weeks ago, he would have slept in the barn. Dan still was using the extra bed at that time. However, it was quite possible that Mike could have used Les's arrival to get Dan to stay in her bedroom with her. Mike could have convinced Dan to let Les stay in the extra bed, while he stayed with her. Having Dan in bed with her was one step closer to getting him to be intimate with her. Once a man was in bed with a woman, sleeping with her was the next obvious step. Mike would have made sure to show Dan how much she wanted him. She would also have made sure that Dan realized how much he wanted her. Mike would have made it so Dan would not even fathom ever leaving her, no matter what.

If Dan was still with her, Mike had no doubt she would have been pregnant with his baby. This would have been an extremely happy time for them. Mike was absolutely certain that Dan would have married her. There was no way he would have gotten her pregnant and not offered to marry her. Mike knew that Dan was the type of man that took his responsibilities seriously. Unfortunately Dan was no longer with was in Dodge City being Marshal Matt Dillon.

Mike was alone in Arizona pregnant with a child she did not plan on having. Mike looked down at her still flat stomach. Maybe she could use her pregnancy in her favor. Maybe she could get a hold of Dan and tell him that he had gotten her pregnant. That would prove to be quite challenging considering she never slept with Dan. Mike would have to convince Dan that they did sleep together. One thing that did work in Mike's favor was Dan's memory loss. She could easily tell Dan his memory loss was preventing him from remembering.

Mike looked down at her stomach and smiled. An hour or two ago she looked at her pregnancy as nothing but a burden. Now she looked at her pregnancy as a way of getting Dan back in her life. Once again, Mike looked down at her flat stomach.

Baby, I want to apologize to you. At first I saw you as nothing but a problem to deal with. I even considered getting rid of you. What was I going to do with a baby? But you don't have to worry about that. I'm going to take very good care of myself so that you are born healthy. I don't want you to worry about not having a daddy. I'm going to make sure you have the best daddy in the world. Now to do that, I need to make some plans. These plans will determine whether or not I can get your daddy to be a part of our lives.

A whole bunch of thoughts were fighting for space in Mike's mind. She needed to take a deep breath and organize these thoughts. Like Mike told her baby, the plan she decided upon had to be perfect. The plan had to be perfect enough to get Dan back in her life. There were so many aspects to consider. When should she contact Dan? How should she contact Dan? Should she go to Dodge City? Should she bring Dan back to Arizona? If she went to Dodge, would she want to stay or bring Dan back with her? If Dan came back to Arizona, would he stay or bring her back to Dodge?

Mike went to her bedroom to retrieve a piece of paper and a pencil. She came back out into the living area and sat down at the kitchen table. Mike decided to come up with two plans and then make her decision based on them. She got to work and started jotting down both of her plans.

Plan number one had her going to Dodge City. Mike decided she would not head to Dodge right away. When she arrived in Dodge, she wanted it to be clear that she was pregnant. She didn't want Dan to see her all slim and question whether or not she was pregnant. She supposed she could have Dan's doctor friend confirm the pregnancy.

Plan number two had her staying in Arizona and bringing Dan here. As with the plan number one, Mike would wait until her pregnancy was showing before she brought Dan to Arizona. Seeing is believing. Mike hoped that seeing her pregnant would make Dan believe the baby was his.

Mike once again looked at plan number one. She had to decide if she would just show up in Dodge pregnant or if she would let Dan know she was coming. After contemplating her decision, Mike decided she would let Dan know she was coming. Dan might be upset if she just showed up, and Mike did not want to upset Dan. Should she send a telegram or a letter? A letter was the best option. Mike wanted Dan to be the first one to know she was coming. The timing of her letter had to be just right. She had to make sure the letter arrived before she did.

Mike had no choice but to send Dan a letter with plan number two. There was no other way to contact him. She did not want to send a telegram for the same reason she didn't want to send a telegram in plan number one.

The only thing left to do was to choose either plan number one or plan number two. Mike carefully studied both plans. She weighed out the pros and cons for both of them. When she was through examining the pros and cons, Mike had come to a decision. She knew what plan she would carry out.

TBC