*Author's Note*

I'm so so so sorry that I've been MIA for the past couple of months. Things were hectic crazy in real life, but now since it's slowed down, I'll able to let my muses take over and write once again. YAY! Anyways, I got a request for an AU of sorts for Tolbert & Jessa, and this is the result of that request. I hope you guys like it. And a shoutout to EmpireSunIncinerator for their story request (It was supposed to be one-shot, but it's going to be a multi-chapter story since a one-shot would be too long of a read/write in one go because of all the ideas I got hit with for this plot). Also, there's no time travel elements in this. So, it's basically Jessa's life if Sully never butted in and took her family to the future in Transcending Time.

Okay, enough of my ramblings. Read and enjoy!

Paw Paw, Kentucky

Jessa POV:

After committing my mother to a sanitorium for invalids and the mentally ill in Boston (which was a very long train ride from our home in Charleston, South Carolina) my father decided that we needed a fresh start and signed us up for a wagon train heading west. West to some town called Tulsa in Oklahoma (Indian Territory) to be exact. My father decided to take a position as a teacher at some Presbyterian Day School for the Osage. Well, from what I understand it was a school not just to teach the Osage children, but to recultivate them from their native culture. It's horrible if you ask me, but since I'm a 16-year-old young lady nobody's asking me. I say just leave the Indians alone. Let them be and live how they want to. Keep the cultivation to the big cities like New York, Boston, Charleston, San Fransico, etc.

So, anyways, that's why I'm currently stuck on some wagon train right now. I hate this trip, but at least befriended some blonde-haired girl named Allie, so I'd have somebody my own age to talk to on this hellish trip. She was traveling west with her widower father, so we were in similar situations. Apparently, her older brother was in the calvary and was stationed somewhere near Montana, or the Dakotas, or Nebraska (something like that) and they were traveling west to be closer to him. I hadn't known Allie very long, but she was nice enough. Ironically, she was from Wilmington, which was only a few hours away from my hometown of Charleston. So, she was also a Coastal Carolina girl. Only difference between us is that she's excited to be heading west while, in fact, I'm dreading it.

Currently, it was dusk, and we were camped out somewhere in West Virgina (or was it Virginia?) eating dinner. Every family on this trip had to do their own cooking, so I was stuck making mediocre food for us to eat. I honestly had no idea what I was doing when it came to cooking, since I was raised to be a proper lady and was never allowed into the kitchen since we had a housekeeper, so I just tried to mimic what the other women and this trip were doing when it came to their cook pots. I managed to make some (edible) beans and salt pork for dinner.

I was sitting next to my dad on some small stools around the small fire I cooked our dinner on. As we ate, he cleared his throat and announced, "Jessamine, my newly acquired teaching position is not the only reason why we're going to Tulsa, Oklahoma."

"What's the other reason?" I asked, hoping, and praying that it wasn't to marry me off to some jackass cowboy that was desperate for a wife.

"To see you wed."

My indigo eyes popped out of my head as I exclaimed, "Wed?! Dad, you can't just marry me off to some stranger out west!"

Ignoring my outburst, my dad had the nerve to tell me, "He's not a stranger, Jessamine Elmyra. His name's Shaw H.E. Sullivan and he's the son of Sully Sullivan, the history teacher at the Presbyterian Day School for the Osage."

"You're marrying me off to your new co-worker's son and we've never met these people?! Dad, have you gone mad?! Do I need to ship you off to Boston to join mom?"

"I'm not mad, Jessamine, and I've been in contact with Sully. He says his son just opened a livery in town; he sent me a portrait of him as well and I think he'd make you a fine husband."

Great…just what I was afraid of…my soon-to-be husband's a cowboy. Well, he trades the livestock for the ranchers, but still, he works with cows. I scowled at my dad as he shoved a spoonful of beans down his throat. He made a grimace before giving me the offhanded insult of, "You're a terrible cook. Hopefully you get better, or Shaw'll be sorry his father and I agreed to you becoming his bride."

"Maybe if you'd let Mrs. Fitz teach me how to cook instead of making her shoo me out of the kitchen, I'd know how to use the cookpot instead of making beans that look like slop."

"Don't get that kind of tone with me, Jessamine Elmyra." My father warned, his eyes narrowing into half slits. "Now finish your dinner and go to bed. We have an early day tomorrow."

"How early's early, dad?" I asked before eating some of my food.

"The guide wants us on the road at dawn. We'll be crossing a river and covering some ground in Kentucky tomorrow." Was my dad's answer. I nodded instead of giving a verbal reply. Holding his plate in one hand, he snaked his other into his breast pocket and pulled out an envelope. Handing it to me, he simply said, "Shaw Sullivan's portrait's in that letter."

I knew what my dad really meant. He wanted to me look at the photograph; to gauge my reaction as I laid eyes on the jackass he'd be marrying me off to as soon as our wagon rolled into Tulsa. My shoulders sagged in defeat as I took the letter from my dad's large hand. I balanced my plate on my lap and pulled the letter out of the envelope. I unfolded the letter, only to find a small photo tucked inside of it. I picked it up with my thumb and pointer finger, only to hold it closer to my eyes for inspection.

"He'll make you a handsome husband, Jessamine." My dad told me while snatching the letter and envelope from the hand it was gingerly in.

I'm glad he thought Shaw'd make me a handsome husband, cause I didn't. Don't get me wrong, the young man wasn't ugly, but there was just something about his portrait that unnerved me. Maybe it was his eyes; how they looked dead and void of all emotions, or maybe it was a thing, cruel line his lips were in that sent a chill down my spine. He might've been handsome, if not for the small faults in his photograph that made me instantly leery of him. No, I don't think I'll ever find that man handsome. Tolerate him, yes, but call him handsome and willingly want to marry him? Never.

Passing the picture back to my dad, I dryly told him, "He's not handsome to me; too bad you can't marry him."

Cutting me an unamused look, he barked, "Don't talk such foolishness, Jessamine Elmyra!" Refusing to take back the portrait of my dead-eyed betrothed, he firmly bit out, "You'll be marrying Shaw Sullivan once we get to Tulsa; these vile opinions of him not being handsome enough for you and you not wanting to marry him will never made uttered again."

I nodded my understanding before shoving that picture of my future jackass cowboy from hell back into its envelope. I tucked it under my plate, like it was a napkin, and finished my dinner. After eating, my dad went to the back of our wagon to sleep while I was stuck doing up the dishes and scrubbing out the cook pot.

As I scrubbed the caked on, burnt bits of beans off the bottom of the pot, I couldn't help, but feel pissed about my so-called betrothal. I don't even know this dumbass idiot, Shaw H.E. Sullivan, but because my dad decided I need a husband the day I arrive in Indian Territory, I'm stuck with him. It's not right. It ain't fair!

Damnit, I don't want to marry him! God, I swear, I don't care what divine intervention has to be done to free me from the chain my dad yoked on me with Shaw. I just want my freedom to live my life on my own terms; without being stuck or forced into a loveless marriage. Hell, as scandalous as it sounds, I don't even know if I ever want to get married.

The rain was pouring down in hard, sideways slants and the sky flashed a bright white as a lightning strike cracked thru the still dark dawn sky, as the wagons approached the rising rapids of the river our group's guide was insisting, we had to cross. Honestly, I was scared to death about crossing the river in this bad storm. I could barely swim and was afraid that the storm was stirring up the river rapids to the point that the rough waters might toss me out of the wagon or something. I was afraid of drowning this morning while crossing the damn river.

I was sitting upfront on the buckboard next to my dad, who didn't seem afraid of crossing the river in this storm. The weather wasn't bothering him one bit. He even scoffed at my frightened expression and told me, "Stop worrying, Jessamine. It's just a rainstorm and we're in a wagon. Everything's fine."

But everything's not fine. Not one bit. One minute, the wagons were slowly inching across the river, and the next minute the rough rolling rapids crashed into them; knocking them around. Wagons were breaking and crashing left and right. I saw my newfound friend, the blonde, Allie, get thrown out of the wagon in front of ours. I couldn't make out her father, Mr. Freeland, so I assumed that he either sunk or the river took him downstream. I did see Allie moving her arms around, trying to swim against the rough currents to stay afloat and alive.

"I thought you said there was nothing to worry about, dad?! We're all going to die!" I screamed at my dad while he clutched the reigns to our team of horses with a white-knuckle grip.

"Shut up, Jessamine! We're you're not going to die!" My dad barked at me as our wagon was tossed around like a toy boat in a bathtub. Looking at me, he firmly said, "You're not dying here! You're going to get out of this river, get married, have lots of babies, and grow old with your husband in a nice house!"

Before I could utter a word, our wagon shattered into a million pieces. I was sucked into the water by the current. I struggled to keep my head above water as the rain poured down. The sky crackled with lightning, glowing bright white, as people drowned all around me. I never saw my dad's head break the water's surface, meaning that he'd sunk and drown.

I saw a broken side of a wagon floating in the water and knew that I had to get to it, to use as a makeshift raft, or else I'd up end drowning like everyone else on this trip from hell. Determined to survive, I swam over to the piece of floating wood. It's edges were cracked and splintered, causing slivers on wood to nick and imbed my fingers and palms as I tightly grabbed onto the wood. It wasn't large enough for me to climb onto, but it was large enough for me to tightly hold onto and use to float in the raging river.

Cries and screams of my dying wagon train party filled the air as I was carried down river. As the piece of wood I was using as a buoy got closer to the river bank, I felt a sense of relief. I was going to live! My dad was right for once, I was going to get out of this river and live to be an old lady.

Within a few minutes, I was close enough to the riverbank to climb out of the water. After scrambling up onto dry land, I decided to walk until I found a town or somebody to help me. Unfortunately for me, that meant walking thru the woods since trees were in front of me while the carnage in the river was behind me.

Tolbert POV:

A bad summer thunderstorm came thru the Tug Valley early this mornin'. Was so bad the loud thunder woke me up. Woke my new huntin' pup up too. Poor feller was whinnin' an' scratchin' at my door, so I had'a let him in. Ussually, I made him sleep outside on the porch, but the storm scared Copper so I doubt he'll be goin' back outside for a while yet. Eh, he was still a pup so I guess him bein' inside won't hurt none.

Poppy never let his huntin' dogs inside his cabin while I was growin' up. I tried t'sneak the lil runt I named Charlie in once durin' a cold winter snowstorm, but my poppy found out an' tossed the pup outside in the barn. He then gave me a helluva beltin' for darin' try t'sneak a huntin' dog inside.

But I ain't at my poppy's cabin, so I guess the rule of no huntin' dogs or pups in the house don't apply no more. Hell, reckon it's been a couple years since I manage to scrape up 'nough savin's from my shinin' and get myself some land t'homestead on. Eh, it's not much, but it's mine. It ain't no 300 acres like poppy an' mama's, but it's large 'nough for me. Shit, I'm lucky I even managed t'scrounge up 'nough money t'buy a 150-acre spread considerin' how pricey land is these days.

Good thing I gave up courtin' an' tryin' to find somebody to settle down with a while back, otherwise I doubt I'd be comfortable with my small farm that got my still nestled in the back corner of it. Hell, seems like nothin' I do's ever good 'nough for the young ladies of the Tug Valley; ain't good 'nough for their poppies either. Shit, seems like the only ladies that'll deal wit' me are the whores in the Pikeville saloon, but that's cause they're gettin' paid t'be in my company.

The harsh rain kept at it as I made myself some coffee an' a simple breakfast of bacon an' an egg. As I sat at my kitchen table, ettin' my breakfast, I could see rain drops badly peltin' my kitchen window. They bounced off the glass, causin' loud pops to sound in the air, as they seems to come down in a sideways slant. Hell, seems like this is one of the worse summer storms I'd seen in a while.

After ettin', I gave some leftovers t'Copper, an' sat in my sittin' chair t'wait out the storm. Usually I'd head off to either work my farm or tend my still after breakfast, but I couldn't do that this mornin' til the rain eased up. I pray the rain didn't flood out my fields, cause if it did then I'd be fucked come harvest. I wouldn't have 'nough to both keep for my pantry an' sell for money. I'd have to make a hard choice on what one t'do. I do have my shinin' business, but that only makes so much. Selling half my crops supliments that; makes up for the money I'm lackin'.

Damn storm, it's gonna fuck everythin' up for me. I just know it.

Jessa POV:

I felt like a drowned rat as I trekked thru the woods, desperate to find a way to town or somebody to help me. The rain kept coming down as I made my way deeper into the woods. It was unnerving how bad the weather was. As I walked, my shoes started to get stuck in the mud as it sloshed around my ankles. The peltin' rain didn't make walkin' thru strange woods in a strange state (was I in Kentucky or West Virginia? Hell, I dunno) easy. I tripped and fell on my hands and knees a few times from the mud sticking to my shoes, due to all the rain.

I was cold and exhausted by time the rain finally stopped. My teeth chattered and my body shook involuntarily as I continued to make my way thru the dense, deep woods. I blinked as I came to the end of the woods and upon some farmland. The storm had ruined it since the large plot was flooded, full of mud, and had corn stalks snapped and strewn everywhere. Even tho the storm had destroyed the corn fields, I was happy to find them since it meant a farmhouse had to be nearby. Maybe whoever lived there could help me?

So, without giving it a second thought, I walked out of the woods and into the flooded and muddied cornfields.

Tolbert POV:

When I noticed the rain lettin' up, I decided to go check on my corn fields. I needed to check on my still too, but I doubt it'll have any damage. Now, my cornfields are more important than the still. If too much of the crop's damaged, then I'm gonna have problems. Problems that're gonna make money tight for me come fall an' winter.

I left Copper in the cabin, curled up by the leg of my sittin' chair, as I went out in a drizzle. Drizzlin' rain's not as bad as a downpour, so I didn't put on my jacket. I did put on my ha't tho, since I didn't feel like my hair gettin' wet.

By time I reached my cornfields, the rain stopped. What I expected to see was some snapped corn stalks and mud; maybe floodin' too, but I wasn't expectin' to see some stranger trudgin' thru my damaged field. A stranger was a young lady too. She seemed to noticed me, cause she stopped in her tracks an' looked at me as if I was her fuckin' savior. Now, I ain't no knight in shinin' armor, far from it, so I know she must be in a bad way if she thinks I'm some Sir Lancelot. Eh, Heathcliff maybe, but not Sir Lancelot.

Marchin' over to the strange, but purty dark-haired girl, I loudly asked, "What the hell happened to you?"

"I nearly drowned in a wagon train accident tryin' to cross a river this morning." She answered me, her skirt draggin' thru the mud, while makin' her way closer to me.

"Ya walked all this way here?" I asked wit' a raised brow. Girl must be tough if she walked all that way after nearly drownin'. "My farm's a good 11 miles from the Tug, so ya walked a helluva couple hours to reach me.

"I wasn't going to sit on the riverbank, watching and listening to people drown to death." She snapped as we reached eachother. Givin' me a narrowed look, she added in, "And I would've walked for a couple hours if there were other farms nearby, but as my luck has it your place's the only one out here."

Standin' face to face in my flooded, muddy cornfields, I noticed how deep and rich of a blue her eyes were. Like indigo. I had to blink a few times to snap myself out of the trance I was fallin' under. I didn't need'a be starin' at her, she needed help an' I reckon I should do the Christianly thing an' give her that help. "I'm the only one out here for miles; other farms don't start poppin' up til a ways north an' west of here." I told her, so she'd know that my place was it unless she wanted to go on another 10-mile hike. "Come on, let's get'cha back to my cabin so ya don't catch the influenza an' die." I told her while noddin' my head in the general direction of my cabin.

"Thank you, Mister…" She trailed off, not knowin' my name, as we startin' walkin' side by side back t'my house.

"Tolbert." I told her. "Tolbert McCoy." Lookin' down at her, since she was a good head shorter then me, I asked, "And who're you?"

"Jessa George." She simply replied as we walked further out of destroyed an' flooded corn fields.

Findin' her name odd, I asked, "That short for somethin'?"

Noddin', she told me, "Jessamine, but I hate it an' go by Jessa."

"Don't blame ya there, I wouldn't wanna be saddled wit' that name either."

"You're one to talk, Tolbert."

"I got no problems wit' my name. My mama gave me a good, strong Irish name."

"Is she back at your farmhouse?" Jessa curiously asked as we passed by more damaged crops. Yep…there goes all my money for fall an' winter. Gonna be a hard, lean time til next year's harvest.

"No, I live alone in my cabin. My folks an' siblin's live in their own cabin up in Black Berry Creek 'bout 30 or so miles 'way from here." I explained while keepin' my eyes trained 'head of me.

I knew that I should offer to take her to my folks' place, since it ain't proper for an unwed man an' woman of age t'be alone under the same roof t'gether, but I weren't doin' it. Why should I? I found her an' despite what people on both sides of the Tug think 'bout me (callin' me crazy) I ain't gonna hurt Jessa. It'd just be, I dunno, nice to not be alone anymore; to have somebody other then my damn huntin' pup Copper to talk too.

"Oh…" The dark-haired beauty next to me sighed. It only took half a second for her to look up at me an' ask, "Am I going to meet them soon?"

Oh hell…She would ask that. Damnit…How was I gonna bring her to my folks' an' explain why she's wit' me t'mama an' poppy. T'my siblin's too. Hell, I didn't want to explain to them that I found her in my fields after she nearly drowned to death. It's just too- I dunno- embarrasin' an' I'd never hear the end of it from fatass Pharmer. Poppy'd be lecturin' me 'bout shackin' up too. Only one that won't give me hell's mama since I'm her fav'rite. But, I'm not ready for that shit. Least not yet.

"In time, yea, but not while I'll be tryin' to salvage what I can out of my cornfields. I'll be too busy to take ya over for tea an' crumpets right 'way."

"I don't eat tea and crumpets, Tolbert." Jessa dryly told me. Bitin' her lip, she meekly asked, "You said in time I'd meet your family, so does that mean you're going to let me stay with you for a while?"

"Jessa, yer lost an' all alone in the backwoods of the Kentucky hills. I ain't gonna just toss ya out wit' nowhere to go since you've been orphaned this mornin' tryin' to cross a river in a summer thunderstorm." I assured her, since I wasn't a heartless monster despite my hot headed temper an' my reputation for bein' crazy 'round a few counties.

"I don't have any money; I can't pay you rent. And from the looks of your fields, you can't afford to have a freeloader."

"I know ya don't got any money, Jessa. I'm not stupid, hell…" I roughly spat out. "Look, I'm a shiner on top of bein' a farmer, so don't worry 'bout me not affordin' to feed ya cause we'll manage."

Jessa POV:

The redhead next to me seemed to be trustworthy enough even though I just met him. Tolbert seemed to genuinely want to help me, even if his words were biting, sarcastic, and snide at times. I know in proper society it's taboo for an unwed man and an unwed young woman to stay together in the same house, but what choice did I have? I was all alone and, from what little I gathered about Tolbert, he was too. He looked to be a few years older than me (maybe 22 or 23 the oldest) and was single. I knew he was single because when I asked about his family, he only mentioned his parents and siblings, who lived a few miles away. He never mentioned a wife, but he could have a girlfriend. I dunno, but what I did know was that he's offering me a place to stay since I don't have anywhere else to go.

Tilting his head slightly at me, he laid down the house rules with a stern, but velvet-smooth toned, "But ya ain't gonna be no lay about ettin' bonbons, getting' fat an' sassy under my roof. Yer gonna be my housekeeper if ya stay with me."

"I can clean and sew, but I hate to say that I'm not much of a cook."

"Only thing I know how to make's stew, so I ain't a picky eater. Whatever y'manage to make I'll et."

"You sure? Cause right now I've only managed to master half mushy-half burnt beans."

"As long as I don't gotta do the cookin' I'll eat whatever ya set infront of me." Tolbert assured me in a serious tone. "We got ourselves a deal? You'll work as my housekeeper for room an' board?" He asked, most likely to make sure that I was okay with the arrangement.

Nodding, I squeaked out, "Yea."

Tolbert suggested officially sealing the deal with the simply remark of, "Shake on it.", before spitting in the palm of his hand and holding it out to me.

Without a word, I spit in my palm and placed my tiny hand against his. His larger one clasped around mine, causing me to feel the roughness of his callouses against my soft skin as we shook on our deal. A deal that I'd make a million times over if it meant I didn't have to send word to Tulsa, Oklahoma to some jackass about being stranded somewhere in Kentucky (or was it West Virgina?)

As we ended out handshake, I asked the one question I was dying to know. "Tolbert, where exactly am I?

"Darlin', we're in Paw Paw, Kentucky." Was his cheeky answer. "Town's named after all those trees ya had'a walk thru to get t'my land." Placing his hand on my shoulder, he ushered me along with a simple, "Come on, home's 'bout 10 minutes straight 'head."

Home…With him, a handsome stranger I just met. Well, I suppose a home with him's better than a home with that soulless Sullivan idiot my dad wanted to marry me off to. I bet my dad's having a fit, wherever he is, watching my new life path unfold before me.

Tulsa, Oklahoma was supposed to be my home come August, but looks like fate decided to give me a new home today in Paw Paw, Kentucky.

AN:

And there we have it, everyone. The very first chapter of a new Tolbert/Jessa story. Is anyone interested in knowing/finding out Allie's fate? If so, who do you guys want her paired with? Cap (like in Transcending Time) or one of the McCoy boys such as Calvin, Squirrel, Jefferson, etc? How long do you think it's going to be before Jessa experiences one of Tolbert's famous temper tantrums? Hmm…Well, next time Jessa's going to get the grand tour of her new home AKA Tolbert's cabin.