Angel Eyes entered the small town under cover of darkness. He'd left his horse hobbled just inside a grove of trees, quietly telling the animal he wouldn't be too long.
He scoped out the target's house with a set of binoculars, making sure no one was around before he came closer. It was after eleven, so there were no lights shining from the man's house or that of his neighbors. Everyone appeared to be asleep.
The client had said his stepfather was elderly and often made multiple trips to the outhouse at night. He wasn't one to make use of the thunder mug, except for in inclement weather. Tonight was clear and not too cold, perfect for his purposes.
With a sigh, he entered the outhouse, which was a deluxe two holer, then receded into the shadows to wait for the target. He'd been told the man was widowed and lived alone, so there was little chance of someone else using this facility.
After about an hour, Angel Eyes could hear someone approaching. "Finally," he thought, having become tired of the stench in the confined space.
As the door opened, it further concealed the waiting assassin. The man, facing away from him, fumbled with a match, both to cut some of the smell, and to allow him to see a bit.
But as he lit the candle in a wall holder, Angel Eyes came forward out of the shadows. The old man gasped in surprise as he took in the killer's piercing eyes. He didn't have long to react, however, as the other man grabbed his head and gave it a sharp twist, breaking his neck.
After he let the body drop to the earthen floor, Angel Eyes stepped over him and left the outhouse. Another job completed.
As he made his way back to his horse, he looked forward to his return to Cactus Flats and the waiting Emma Baker.
As she waited for Angel Eyes to return to town, Emma visited with Janie several times, with both of them trying to come up with a plan to conceal Emma's pregnancy from both her parents and from the town in general.
After several abortive ideas, they eventually came up with the idea that Emma should go stay with her older sister, Eliza, who lived about fifty miles away in another small town. Her sister had married some time ago, and she'd recently had a baby.
But even this idea had some kinks they needed to work out before it would be feasible.
"How would I get there?" Emma wondered out loud. "I'm afraid to ride a horse that far all by myself. And I don't have enough money for the stage, even if I returned my new hat. And I can't ask my parents for the money."
"Would Eliza let you stay?" Janie asked. "Could you tell her you're expecting?"
"I think so," Emma said. "And, yes, I could tell her, especially considering that her baby was born seven months after her wedding." After a moment, she added, "I sent her a letter asking her, and to not tell our parents it was my idea."
"I hope you get an answer soon," her friend said. "At least by the time your man returns."
"I still have to figure out a way to pay for the stage there and back," Emma said again. "I also need money to pay for my keep, as I don't think Eliza and her husband can afford to feed an extra mouth."
"I don't know what to tell you," Janie said. "I wish you could stay with us, but we're too close to town and I know my parents wouldn't approve." After a moment she added, "Maybe your man could help you. From what you've told me, he never seems to be short of money."
"We're going to have to come up with a foolproof plan sooner, rather than later as my mother is beginning to suspect," Emma reported. "I may have to ask Angel Eyes for help, thought I hate to ask him for anything. But I've not been able to quite successfully conceal my morning sickness the last couple of days, and my mother is no fool after birthing five children."
Angel Eyes was in a good mood as his horse cantered into Cactus Flats. He'd gotten double his usual fee for one of the easiest jobs he'd ever done. It was also quite possible that those who eventually found the victim might think he'd fallen in the outhouse and broken his neck, thus not suspecting foul play, which would suit his client's purposes nicely. If only all his jobs could be this easy! Life was good.
After seeing to his horse at the livery, Angel Eyes stowed his gear in his hotel room. He saw that the note he'd left for Emma was gone, but she'd not touched anything else in the room.
It was time for him to find her and get his itch scratched. He'd not been with her in over a week and he was beginning to feel antsy.
He took some time to clean up to get the trail dust off him before he sought out Emma. As he entered the mercantile a short time later, she had a look of relief on her face, an expression he'd not seen before from her.
Gathering up a few things to buy, so as not to attract her parents' attention, he went over to her and said in a low voice, "Tonight?"
"As soon as I get off work," she replied, saving what she had to say until they were alone.
A few hours later, Emma hurried off to the hotel, as soon as work had ended. She didn't tell anyone where she was going; she just went, needing to be with Angel Eyes as quickly as possible.
He took her in his arms and gave her a deep kiss as soon as the door had closed behind them, ready to get down to business.
As soon as he came up for air, she took one of his hands and led him to the bed. After they'd sat down side by side, she looked up at him and quietly blurted out, "Angel Eyes, I'm going to have our baby." She then took one of his hands and put it on her belly.
"Are you sure?" he asked, not knowing what to say.
"I have a friend who's training to be a midwife," Emma told him. "She's sure that I am."
Standing up and turning away from Emma, he thought of how he'd never had to think about the possibility of becoming a father before. All his previous partners had been working girls and because they had so many partners, they could never pinpoint any particular man as the father if they happened to get in the family way. And Angel Eyes had never known any working girls expecting a baby or with any kids; he'd always figured women had a way of controlling whether or not they had any children. He hadn't thought it would be any different for "good" women.
When it came down to it, he'd never thought much about the reproductive processes of women at all. He knew that having babies came from having sex, and that there was a time each month when women weren't available for sex, but beyond that, it was all a mystery to him.
Returning to Emma and sitting back beside her, he said, "I thought women could control these things."
"Control what?" Emma was baffled.
"Whether or not they would have a baby." Angel Eyes was beginning to realize how stupid he was sounding. "You see, I'd never been with any women but saloon girls before, and I've never seen any of them with kids."
Emma was beginning to understand. Janie had even had to explain some of it to her. Taking his hand again, "My friend who's going to be a full-fledged midwife soon told me that she and her aunt had helped some of those fancy women when they didn't want a baby. But she told me it wasn't all that safe and that some of them had died from it."
Before he could say anything, she continued, "I don't want to get married, but I do want this baby. I know you're not the marrying type and probably hadn't planned to be a father, either. I don't expect any of that from you."
"What do you want?" he asked, relieved she didn't want him to marry her.
"I need to get out of town for a few months," Emma said. "My sister agreed to let me stay with her, but I'd have to pay board, because they couldn't afford to feed me otherwise."
"Where does she live and how did you plan to get there?" he asked.
"Grandville, a small town about fifty miles from here," she told him. "I want to take the stage, but I don't have enough money and I don't want to ask my parents for it."
"I'm familiar with that town," he said. "And don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'll pay for the stage and the board at your sister's." After a pause, he added, "I'll ride alongside the stage and make sure you get there safely. I can even get the stage company to pay me as a guard."
"You'd do that for me?" Emma said, throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much!"
He did not say anything, but continued to hold her and awkwardly pat her back as some very unfamiliar feelings began to wash over him.
She realized then that past his gruff exterior, Angel Eyes did care for her in his own way.
"You need to come up with a believable story for when you come back," he told her once the moment had passed, back to his practical self once more.
"Such as?"
"You'll need to say you had a quick courtship and had gotten married while staying with your sister. And that your husband had died in a freak accident within a week of the wedding. Say he got thrown by his horse and broke his neck, something like that."
"That should work," she said, somewhat doubtful. "That is, unless someone in Cactus Flats is familiar with Grandville."
"You can't cover every possibility," Angel Eyes told her, somewhat exasperated. "It's the best plan we have, considering the circumstances." After lighting his pipe, he continued, "You'll have to come up with a new last name, you know."
"How about your last name, Sentenza," she shot back.
"How did you know my last name," he demanded. "I never told you."
"One day, I was out front sweeping the sidewalk in front of the mercantile and I heard that man call out to you by your last name."
"Jesse," he said, remembering. After a few moments of thought, he told her, "All right, you can use my name and give it to the baby. Very few people in this part of the country know my real name, so you wouldn't be connected to me. It's actually not a bad idea. You should say your 'husband' came from back East, if anyone asks, though."
"All right, Sentenza it is." Emma hadn't expected him to agree to that.
As for Angel Eyes, he didn't know if he'd ever marry or sire any more children, so he wanted at least one child to have his name, especially if it was a boy.
"Come on, let's go to bed," he said in a low voice. "I've been dying to have you all day, and it's not as if I could knock you up twice!"
Emma couldn't argue with that logic.