Emma and Angel Eyes awakened when they heard Eliza clattering the breakfast dishes early the next morning through the open window.
Emma felt a bit guilty for not rising in time to help her sister make breakfast, but not much. It had been her last time to be intimate with her lover for three months; there would be plenty of time for her to help her sister with the housework after Angel Eyes had left.
As the couple entered the kitchen from the back door, with Emma still in her nightclothes, they found Eliza and her husband, Henry, already at the table eating.
Henry looked up at them, but didn't show the mild irritation he was feeling. He'd seen men like Angel Eyes before, and knew he was better off not challenging him over petty concerns.
His unblemished hands, save for a missing finger tip on the second finger of his right hand, indicated that he did not work hard with his hands for a living, but had been subject to some danger. But he did not dress like a lawyer, doctor, or banker, nor did his manner suggest such professions.
Yet, the man seemed to have plenty of money, judging from the generous sum he gave Eliza. He also was able to take time away from whatever work he did to bring Emma here. Add to this a first-rate horse and well maintained weapons of the finest quality suggested only one thing to Henry McKechnie: this man was a hired gun.
But, save for his ungentlemanly refusal to marry Emma, he seemed to be treating her well enough and was apparently taking some responsibility for the life he'd helped to create. At this point, Henry figured it would be better to mind his own business for the three months Emma would be here.
Angel Eyes also took stock of the other man, getting a better look at him this morning than he'd been able to see in last night's dim lamp light. He wasn't overly impressed with the stocky, redheaded man who was a few years younger than his thirty-three years. McKechnie was a typical, plodding hard working type who would never have much money. This was a life Angel Eyes had consciously avoided when he'd first become a bounty hunter and then a hired gun in his twenties.
Breakfast was a mostly quiet affair, with both men remaining silent, each ignoring the other, and the women speaking only when necessary. Eliza could sense her husband's irritation, but realized he intended to keep it to himself, for which she was grateful.
After Henry had left for the other side of town to continue the carpentry job of building a house, Emma strolled outside to see Angel Eyes off.
Standing by his saddled horse, he looked down at her and told her, "It won't be that bad. Before you know it, three months will have flown by and I'll be back to get you. Remember I told you that I always follow my jobs through?"
After she nodded, he continued, "You're an important 'job' to me, so you can count on me coming back and bringing you back to Cactus Flats and your new home."
"I can hardly wait," she said softly. "I'll miss you!"
"I'll miss you, too," he said, taking her into his arms for a long searching kiss. After they came up for air, he said, "I'd better go or I won't be going anywhere today."
After he swung up into the saddle, he said, "Thank your sister again for the food she gave me for the trail."
"I will," she said, as he gave her hand one last squeeze. "Ride safely."
After he'd set off, Emma watched him until he was out of sight. Though she knew he was more than capable of looking out for himself, she nonetheless sent up a prayer for his safe return to Cactus Flats.
As she returned to the house, Eliza was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, with another cup waiting across the table for her.
Giving her sister a grateful look, she slowly sank down into the chair and took a sip.
"You love him, don't you," Eliza observed bluntly. "I can tell by the way you look at him." Before her sister could reply, she continued, "And judging from the way he looks at you, I suspect the feeling is mutual. I just don't understand why you two aren't going to get married."
"It's a lot more complicated than that," Emma replied, expelling her breath heavily.
"Tell me what's so complicated," Eliza demanded. "You love him. He loves you. What's so complicated about that?"
"We didn't get together in the normal way and our relationship hasn't been at all the usual thing," Emma began. "Ma and Pa have never met him, even though we've been together for several months."
"I'm guessing you didn't meet him at a church social, then," her sister guessed. "Somehow, he just doesn't seem the type."
Emma burst into laughter, guffawing loudly as she pounded the table several times, with her coffee almost going up her nose.
Finally, she managed to say, "I'll say! I think Angel Eyes would burst into flames if he ever darkened the door of a church." Tears rolled down her eyes as she continued to laugh.
"How did he persuade you to go with him, then?" her sister asked. "I imagine there's quite the story."
"He didn't persuade me," Emma admitted. "I persuaded him…though it didn't take much persuading." After noting Eliza's shocked facial expression, she continued, "I'd been bored ever since we'd moved to Cactus Flats and I was aching for something exciting to cheer me up.
"One day, he came into the mercantile and I took one look at that tall, handsome man and knew I had to have him as my own." Not waiting for her sister to respond, she continued, "I could tell he was a dangerous man right off and that made my heart beat faster. So I was bold and asked if I could meet him later that evening and he agreed. And I did. He was every bit as exciting as I expected. I've never known anyone like him and probably never will again.
"You've always been too bold for your own good, Emma," Eliza said reprovingly. "I don't think you have a ladylike bone in your entire body."
"At first, I expected to only be with him two or three times and I think he expected the same," Emma went on. "And he was kind of rude at first, but he still excited me, so I continued to see him."
"I take it you did what married people do at night," Eliza said, somewhat shocked,
"Of course, from the very first time we got together," Emma bragged. "I wanted to know what it was like and the minute I laid eyes on him, I knew he'd be a good teacher. And he was."
Noting the expression on her sister's face, Emma said, "I know you and Henry didn't wait until your wedding night and that you had to get married, so don't give me that look."
"Yes, but we'd been seeing each other for months before we did that and got married as soon as we realized I was in the family way," Eliza pointed out.
"We did the right thing."
"Angel Eyes and I did the right thing for us," Emma insisted. "He is wild and free and I refuse to cage him into marriage. He couldn't live the type of life Ma and Pa would expect."
"Just what does he do for a living, anyway?" Eliza pressed. "He seems to have plenty of money to spread around. Henry thinks…"
"Henry can keep what he thinks to himself," Emma snapped. "What Angel Eyes does for a living is his own business. He's a very private man. "
"I'll bet he is," her sister said, thinking of what Henry had told her.
"Getting back to what we were talking about," the younger woman said, "He became more considerate as we got to know one another better, especially after I told him I was expecting. I think love is something he has little experience with and that it's something quite foreign to him. I think he's had a mostly solitary life as an adult. The notion that someone could care whether he lived or died is very new to him." Taking a deep breath, she concluded, "I think knowing he's to become a father has changed him in some ways."
"I hope you're right." Eliza was skeptical. In her experience, a leopard never changed its spots. Changing the subject, Eliza asked, "What are you going to do when you return to Cactus Flats as a 'respectable widow'. I can't imagine you sharing that tiny bedroom with Mattie and a newborn baby. It was intolerable when the three of us shared that room before I got married."
"That's all been taken care of," Emma told her with a shy smile. "While I'm staying here with you and Henry, Angel Eyes is going to have a house built and I'll move in there once I go back. The house will belong to him, but he wants me to live there to raise our child. He said I can decorate it however I like."
"So you'll be a kept woman," Eliza concluded, rolling her eyes. "Ma'll love that." Heaving a deep sigh, she continued, "That is, if you can believe him. He could likely be riding away, never to be seen again."
"I believe him," Emma said. "Since I've known him, he's always done what he said he would. He always sees things through."
As Angel Eyes had predicted, the three months passed fairly quickly. Emma spent most of her time preparing for the baby and her new home, sewing baby clothes and bed linens for the new home. Eliza lent her some maternity clothes, but Emma sewed some of her own, as Angel Eyes had left her money to buy cloth.
The sisters also had some long talks when Henry was away, and Eliza taught Emma how to care for a baby, allowing her to practice on her own baby, Harry. By the time the three months had come to an end, Emma felt closer to her sister and that she could trust her with any issues she might have.
He even visited one time during her stay, about six weeks after she'd arrived. He'd had a job in the general area and had decided to come spend the night with her before returning to Cactus Flats. The McKechnie barn was also a good place to stay out of sight for several hours, if anyone has happened to be looking for him.
When the time came near for Emma to go home, Angel Eyes had sent a brief note, letting her know what day he'd be coming, so she'd be packed up and ready to go when he got there. She was more than ready, having packed the baby clothes as soon as she made them. Emma was ready to move on with her life.