Chapter Six Ready For Dancing

Late that afternoon, Kitty, after deciding she'd spent quite enough time in bed lately, reclined comfortably on the settee in her room. Pumpkin was curled up next to her purring quietly. In between turning the pages of the book she was reading, she scratched him behind the ears. Every time she touched him he blinked his greenish-brown eyes at her lazily and burrowed his head deeper into the curve of his body. Kitty put her book down and looked around the room, breathing a sigh of contentment. It had been a full and tiring day for her. After sending Matt off to his rarely-used room to get the sleep she could tell he desperately needed, she worked on her ledgers until he returned, freshly bathed and shaved, to eat lunch with her and Doc. Afterward he brought her home to the Long Branch, ignoring her half-hearted protests and carrying her all the way to her door. Someone, one of the girls probably, had come in to air out the room for her. The bed had been made with fresh linens and, much to her delight there was a hot bath in her own tub waiting for her.

"Matt, you don't mind if I go take a good long soak right now, do you?" she asked, turning toward the washroom.

Matt put his hand on her arm to stop her. "Well, no, but I'd better stay around and help you in and out of the tub."

She froze, coming to a sudden realization. Tears flooded her blue eyes. She was not ready for Matt to see her yet. "Oh, Matt, I…." She looked at him sadly, shaking her head.

He nodded, looking down at his boots for a moment. "It's all right, honey. I understand," he said quietly, looking her in the eye again and caressing her upper arms. "I wasn't thinking. I'll send one of the girls to help you on my way out, all right?"

By the time Alice helped Kitty out of the lilac scented water, she had begun to feel better about what had happened earlier with Matt. The warm water and a little cry had eased her tensions and she was able to look at things in a new perspective. It wasn't that she didn't know certain things would take some time getting back to normal between her and Matt. She had expected that he would spend the night her first night home, maybe even share her bed, but nothing more. She wasn't afraid to have him do that. She hadn't thought about the smaller things, like bathing and dressing in front of him. It had taken her by surprise, when she was already overwhelmed with emotions from Matt coming home and moving back to her own room. At least Matt wasn't hurt by her reaction; just a little embarrassed to have caused it. He understood her so well at times, and at others, well...after eighteen years he sometimes seemed to still have a lot to learn about women.

She heard the familiar footsteps approaching and smiled when she realized he was coming in not from the back but from the direction of the front staircase. She heard the door open behind her and the sound of him hanging up his hat and gun belt. His steps sounded a little hesitant as he walked toward her, and she kept her eyes on her book until he sat down at the other end of the settee.

"Hello, sweetheart," he said somewhat contritely. She looked up, surprised at the endearment he rarely used.

"Evening, Cowboy," she answered, finally giving him a reassuring smile.

"Kitty, for a minute there I thought you were still mad at me."

"I wasn't mad, Matt. I just wasn't expecting you to say that and I was a little startled, I guess. I'm better now. Maybe...maybe you would help me get dressed in the morning? If you're still here, I mean."

"If that's what you want, Kitty," he said slowly, nodding.

"Come here," she whispered, holding out her hand. Matt moved until he was close to, but still not touching her. He wrapped his arms around her in a loose embrace; a little worried he might hurt her. She put her arms around him as tightly as she could manage and her book fell to the floor, forgotten. When he brushed his lips against her temple, Kitty looked up at him. "How about a real kiss?" Their lips came together gently, tentatively, neither one of them sure how much would be too far for Kitty. The decision was made for them when Pumpkin, with an indignant meow, squirmed in between them from where he had been trapped between Kitty and the back of the settee. They broke apart, laughing nervously. Pumpkin gave Matt a disdainful look and curled up on Kitty's lap in an attempt to reclaim his lady from the big man who always seemed to want her to himself.

Matt cleared his throat. "I understand we have him to thank for bringing you back," he said, nodding toward Pumpkin.

"Doc told you?"

Matt nodded.

"You were a big help again, weren't you, mister?" Kitty addressed this comment to Pumpkin, stroking the top of his head. "And you didn't have to give up one of your nine lives this time to do it."

"Listen, Kitty," Matt began, not quite sure how to introduce the subject. "I know you said you weren't ready for dancing, but do you think Doc will let you go fishing?" Their eyes met and she understood he wasn't talking about either dancing or fishing. He needed to know what was and wasn't all right.

"Well, now, didn't Doc say I could do whatever I wanted as long as the marshal kept me in line?"

"Something like that." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He was sure she'd understood, but she hadn't answered his question.

"I know what you're asking me, Matt," she said, taking his hand in both of hers. "This is something I'm going to have to figure out along the way."

Kitty sat across the table from Matt, watching him eat. He was still ravenous from the two-day ride from Hays and after he downed his plate, she slid the rest of hers over to him to finish. At first he'd protested, saying she needed to regain her strength, but she shook her head. "Matt, this is the first time I've actually felt like eating since-since this whole thing started. Don't worry; I'll get my strength back." She stared, wondering what he was up to, when he stopped after just a few bites, cut the remainder of her steak into small pieces, and pushed the plate away from him. He looked up at her sheepishly.

"Guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach."

Kitty raised one brow. I don't believe that for one minute.

"There's a first time for everything, Kitty." Seeing that she remained unconvinced, he tried a new tactic. "I'm saving room for that pie."

"Well, all right," Kitty conceded. She rolled her eyes and cut a small piece and an oversized one from the rest of Miss Pry's lemon meringue pie. "But if this sudden loss of appetite keeps up, I think you'd better go see Doc."

After supper, Matt led Kitty back to the settee, telling her he would take care of the dishes later. He poured them each a glass of brandy and then, instead of sitting next to her, he handed her both drinks and went back to the table. She watched him curiously as he picked up the plate of steak and walked across the room with it. He set it on the floor under the window without a word and turned to come back to her.

"I saw that," Kitty said with a trace of amusement in her voice. Pumpkin, stretched out on the window ledge, had seen it, too, and eyed the plate suspiciously. His lady usually looked the other way when he sneaked the leftovers from her plate, but the big man had never fed him anything before.

Kitty snuggled next to Matt and they talked about nothing in particular as they sipped their brandy and watched Pumpkin. He studiously ignored the plate on the floor below him, but he couldn't ignore the tantalizing smell of the cooked meat when it reached him. His nose twitched as he sniffed at the air around him, and, finally giving in, he jumped down to the floor and began to devour the steak one morsel at a time. Matt finished his drink and looked down at Kitty. Her eyes were barely open and he could tell she was more asleep than awake. He took the empty glass from her hand and set it on the small table next to them. She barely stirred when he pulled her into his lap and gently turned her so her head could rest on his shoulder. Matt rested his cheek against Kitty's hair, breathing in the scent of it, and watched Pumpkin some more.

Pumpkin paid no attention to the people in the room as he voraciously attacked his meal. Now, with just a couple of bites left on the plate, he was finally full. He sat back on his haunches and delicately washed his face, surreptitiously eyeing the two people present. Once that ritual was completed, he sat, motionless, his eyes meeting those of the big man. The man, holding his sleeping lady in his arms, was silently thanking him for something. Pumpkin, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge him, leapt gracefully back onto the window ledge. Then, with one last backward glance to see that she was in good hands, he disappeared through the open window into the night.

END

A/N Again, thanks to everyone who wrote reviews, especially those I can't reply to in person. To those of you I can, I will try harder to keep up in the future. A special thanks to singerme for her encouragement in going forward with this story when I wasn't sure whether mixing the two subjects-Pumpkin and Hostage-would work. As always, your suggestions and advice are invaluable, even if I don't end up following them.