They stepped outside and Jimmy offered his arm to her. She took it with a smile.

"Last chance to back out and not be seen in public with me," he cautioned, "I'm good enough to keep law and order here but most wouldn't consider me good enough for their daughters or sisters…or even their maiden aunts for that matter."

"Maybe it's time for the people around here to see you in a different light."

"Good luck with that."

They strolled a while and passed people smiling and nodding at the startled looks they got.

"Why are people looking at us like that?" Kate asked.

"Either they think you're lost or hit your head to be with me," Jimmy offered. "Or they can tell what we did before we left."

"They couldn't!"

"The smiles we're sporting…I'm pretty sure everyone can tell."

"Well I don't care," she said haughtily, "I love you. I'm proud to be with you—now and before."

"Wonder if the parents of all your students will be so proud."

"That's not even how I make most of my money, Jimmy," she informed him. "I do translations for an old friend who works at a publishing house in New York."

"Really?"

She nodded smiling.

"If I told Charles about us he'd just tell me to write a book about it."

Jimmy pondered this for a while. Maybe she didn't travel in the stuffy, uptight circles that he had thought she did.

"You're really telling me your friends would not be shocked by us?"

"Some would for sure…the women would make a show of it anyway. But my friends are mostly men and men hold themselves to different standards than women are held to. They've always sort of considered me one of the guys. If I said I was having sexual relations with an exciting man like you, they would pat me on the back and tell me I'd done well."

"So I don't have to worry about overprotective friends jumping to your defense," he said, "That's good. How about brothers or a father?"

"I have brothers. I think they would be more shocked it took me this long to find interest in a man. They might be relieved. The worst you might get is the good old 'hurt my sister and you'll have to deal with me' threat. Nothing really to worry about—you'd never hurt me."

"You didn't mention your pa."

"My parents passed on a few years back," she said, "They were traveling abroad and there was an accident."

"I'm sorry, Katie darlin'."

"I had many good years with them," she said softly. "They were proud of me. A girl can't ask for more. So I guess that's something we have in common, right? Parents are gone."

Jimmy placed a hand over hers as it rested on the crook of his elbow. There was nothing more to say. This was part of the everything he wanted with her. Her sorrows as well as her joys. He could bring her joy, pleasure…but he could never shield her from heartache entirely. But he could be there so she'd never have to face it alone again. Jimmy became aware that Kate was giggling softly next to him.

"What's funny, darlin'?"

"Do you ever wonder what people you pass on the street look like naked? Or if they have intercourse? Or what they do when they do? Do they do the same things we have or different things? Am I a deviant for thinking things like this?"

Jimmy could not help the flush that overcame his face.

"Yeah," he finally admitted, "I do wonder those things. If you're a deviant then I am too."

"I guess it's good we're together. We're obviously deviant in the same ways."

They sat a while on a bench and talked. She told him stories of her parents. Her mother a good lady of society and her father the doctor. Her mother had once confessed to being terribly bored by her life and nearly hateful of the shallow ladies she had to befriend for appearances.

"She told me, 'Be your own person, Katie. Fall in love but don't lose yourself to it. Make sure he lives for you as much as he'll expect you to live for him.' I try. I think it's why it took me so long to be with anyone at all."

"She was right," he told her. "Don't ever let me lose sight of that. And don't you ever forget either that the woman I fell in love with is a strong, independent woman. Don't stop being that. Not ever. As much as it scares me that you don't really need me…I love that about you too."

"I do need you though," she corrected him. "I might not need you to keep a roof over my head or food on my table. But I need your love. I think you need mine. It's a more tenuous hold than most men have over women but it's stronger than you think."

Jimmy felt strangely off balance by her words. He wanted a strong enough hold that she'd never leave but at the same time he hated her talking at all about any man having a hold over her at all—even if the man was him.

"Needing love is really the same as needing air or water or food," she went on. "I don't think I knew that until I knew what it felt like to be loved, to love someone. I don't even think you know all you've given me. I love making love with you and I love how you make me feel and I love trying to make you feel the same things but…it seems the love is even more important and I'm not sure the rest of it would be as good if I didn't love you and if I wasn't sure you loved me."

Jimmy found himself taken aback once again by her openness and near bluntness. It was something he loved more than nearly anything else about her but he found himself constantly surprised by her candor.

"I do love you, you know," Jimmy said. He really didn't know what else to say to her. He wasn't sure if that was the right thing or not as he saw moisture begin to well up in her lovely green eyes.

"Oh Jimmy!" she cried. "I know you do. I'll never doubt it."

"Uh…then why're you crying?"

"Because you make me happy. Because I think I honestly had begun to believe that I would never feel this. It doesn't make sense, does it?"

"It makes a lot more sense than you think," he replied fighting the lump in his throat. He had also given up hope of finding love. It just wasn't going to be there for him, he was sure.

Kate looked with wonder at Jimmy. It made sense that a woman who tried to fit in more with men, who studied Latin and Greek and bugs and birds, who separated herself from people because she just didn't always understand how to act and how to fit in…well, it stood to reason that love would be hard to find. But Jimmy was a legend. He was a hero to many. He was handsome and strong and noble. To think that he had thought he would live without love…it was incomprehensible. She squeezed his arm tightly.

"We're a pair, aren't we?" she asked. "Here we are in love like few can claim…this is special, you know. And what are we doing? Crying because we had been afraid love would pass us over. What we ought to be doing is thanking our lucky stars that we found one another. I am thankful. All those days of feeling like I wasn't good enough to be loved…they are over. They're over for you too."

"I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that, Katie darlin'."

She tilted her head to one side and then patted his arm.

"Didn't you say something about dinner?"

"Yeah I did," Jimmy answered sheepishly. Then he planted his palms on his thighs and pushed himself to standing. "Are you ready then, Miss Lyons?"

Kate stood and beamed back at him. She was sure anyone nearby could see the love radiating from her and toward this man who had so quickly brought so much to her life.

"I'm quite ready, Mr. Hickok."

They walked toward the restaurant and as they walked, Kate heard growling and snarling coming from an alley and turned to look. She was so stunned by what she saw that she stopped walking and just stared. There were two dogs and from what the dogs were doing, one was most certainly male and the other female.

"Katie darlin'," Jimmy whispered low in her ear, "Come on along before there's the kind of talk we was trying to avoid."

She moved forward but her mind never left the sight of the dogs in the alley. Jimmy led her to the restaurant and pulled a chair for her. She sat without thinking and from somewhere else she heard Jimmy order a bottle of wine and even order her meal for her. Finally she looked up at him with her brow furrowed.

Jimmy wasn't sure what to expect when she looked up at him. Her furrowed brow enticed him as it always did but he worried for the questions that usually followed that look. She seemed to be having trouble forming the words she wanted to and he began to grow concerned that she was upset with him.

"I'm sorry I ordered for you," he said quickly, "Just…the waiter was standing there for a while and…well, I didn't know what else to do. You ain't mad, are you?"

Her brow furrowed deeper and her lips pursed as she shook her head.

"No," she said finally but it was almost absently as if she wasn't even aware she was speaking. "Why did you pull me from the alley?"

"Because we was on a city street and you was watching dogs mate like it was a baseball game. I thought we already settled that we don't want people questioning how much a lady you are."

"I've seen animals mate before," she said and it sounded more like she was talking to herself. "But it never occurred to me before…can people do it like that? Can a man mount a woman like that? Could you…to me?"

And there it was. The conversation he feared having in public. Her voice was soft and Jimmy was certain that no one had heard her but some part of his mind was just as certain that everyone in the room somehow knew. He wasn't sure which would be worse…the thoughts they might have about him or the things they might say about his Katie.

"I…uh…yeah," he said weakly, "Yeah…people can do it that way too."

"Do you like that?"

"Katie," he said in a hushed voice, "I…I don't even know what to say to that. I like…being with you…I don't know what you're asking, maybe."

"Do you enjoy that sexual position?"

He nodded knowing that her honesty deserved his own.

"We could try that then?"

"I don't know…"

"Why? If you like it…if it's pleasurable then why shouldn't we do it that way?"

"Katie…please…I don't want to have this conversation right now. Can we talk about something else? The weather…trees…birds…I don't even care. Please, darlin'?"

"Talking about this makes you uncomfortable?" she asked. "I'm sorry…I didn't realize. It must be hard being with me asking all these questions all the time."

He reached across the table and took her hand in his.

"Katie darlin', I love your questions. I love your curiosity. I love being able to teach you things…I love learning from you. I do, you know. I learn as much from you as you do from me. But what I love talking about on your porch or couch or in your bed are not the same things I feel comfortable talking about in a crowded room. I don't want to ever make you feel bad about asking me things or being curious. Do you understand what I'm saying, Katie?"

"I'm sorry, Jimmy. I just don't think sometimes. I guess I get excited about learning new things."

They sat quietly for a while and ate their food. Finally Kate looked up and Jimmy felt some amount of fear for what might come next.

"Did I tell you that I saw a melanerpes erythrocephalus on the big tree in the backyard yesterday while I was hanging out the wash?"

"That's a bird, right?"

"A red-headed woodpecker," she declared proudly. "They aren't especially rare but they always cheer me when I see them. I don't know why."

It was Jimmy's turn to let his forehead wrinkle in pondering thought.

"What?" Kate asked. "You said to talk about birds or something. You're awfully hard to please when we're in public Jimmy. It's terribly frustrating."

"I'm sorry, Katie. I think I am still a little off-kilter around you. In so many ways you are not like any woman I have ever known but in that way you are exactly like every one of them in the world. I swear sometimes women live to keep men off balance."

"I don't," she said. "I don't try to. I'm sorry."

"Oh Katie," he said knowing that he had pushed her nearly to tears with a thought she had done something wrong. "Please don't look at me like that. I ain't trying to hurt you or make you feel bad. Maybe it's just how new this is. We're still getting to know each other. I ain't used to being around people at all really and surely not sophisticated and intelligent people—men or women. I love you though. We'll sort this. We have to because I sure can't even think of being without you and I don't want to change a single thing about you."

Kate seemed to relax, even offered a smile.

"That's right," she agreed, "We don't really know each other, do we? You know a lot more about me than I know about you. Being famous doesn't mean I know you. Tell me about you."

"I'm really not all that interesting, Katie darlin'. The most exciting things about me are the stories someone else makes up."

"Nonsense! I don't believe that for a minute. I find you fascinating. You are so gentle, so afraid to hurt me, so tender and soft to me and yet somehow you earned a reputation as a dangerous gunman. I'm afraid I don't understand how such a thing could be."

"Sometimes we—and by we, I mean men—do real stupid things when we're young. Especially when we're trying to hide how scared we are and how bad we already feel about ourselves. You let people see that you don't think you're up to snuff and you're done for. You got to act tough, strong…like you're the greatest and you know it. I know it looks stupid to women and older men. Looks right silly to me now but I remember it was that or be the one on the ground under a beating all the time."

This time it was Katie who placed a hand on his.

"I didn't mean to make you think such unpleasant thoughts. You don't have to continue."

"You might's well know. There's others who know the true tale too. I'd rather you know the truth than just the lies that get put in them books. I's trying not to let on that I couldn't read…not everyone gets good schooling. I was afraid that my brothers would find out. I was afraid of anything that smacked of weakness. I was a first class jerk and I drew the attentions of a writer and I got even more stupid and got to showing off and thinking I was pretty hot stuff. Guess I kind of was—until the book came out. Wasn't so funny once men I was supposed to have killed read about their untimely deaths in the book or others read that I killed a relative of theirs or some others just wanted a name and thought calling me out was the way to get it."

"That must have been so frightening for you. I'm sorry now for every one of those books I ever bought or read—not just the ones about you."

"Well if you read any about my old friend Bill Cody, no need to apologize. He loves the attention. I think he commissions those books. We're different though, him and me. He knows it too."

"He can afford to have a different attitude," she said with a near huff. "The books about him don't make him out to be some…mankiller!"

"Cody never acted like that was the reputation he wanted…I did. Wasn't too bright of me but I think I was just so desperate to be seen as tough enough to not be messed with. I honestly believed it would give me more freedom to be my own man…gave me less as it turns out."

"I'm so sorry," Kate said sadly. "If they only knew you…you'd have the respect you wanted but for very different reasons."

Jimmy was overwhelmed with the emotion that her words brought to him.

"You'll never know how much it means to me that at least you know what I am…that you love me."

They finished their meals and Jimmy hurried around to pull her chair out and offer his arm. If nothing else, he would show any busybodies that might be watching that he knew how to treat a lady. Katie could hold her head high in this room.

The pair walked toward Kate's home. There was a settled quiet between them.

Kate wanted to talk. She wanted to ask things. She wanted to tell him things but she wasn't sure if the time was right. As they walked toward her house, they passed fewer and people. She dared to speak finally.

"Do-do men still come looking for you?" she asked timidly. "I mean do they still come to try to…kill you?"

She hated voicing the question and a part of her didn't want the answer. She had seen all the bullet wounds on his body. They scared her half to death and the thought that something so small could take him from her. That she might have to go the rest of her life without his touch, his warm eyes, his bemused patience…nothing scared her more and nothing ever could.

"No," he said at last. "Been a long time since anyone's come looking for the legend. I don't want to lie to you though Katie. I still see my share of scrapes…maybe even more than my share. And somewhere out there someone I was supposed to've killed might have a son just waiting to get old enough to take me out. I'm good, Katie. I might still be the best but I won't always be. I got more reasons to avoid the fights now. I don't want to leave you."

"You can't leave me," she barely whispered. Jimmy had to strain to even hear her. "I-I swore I would never say anything this pathetic but I fear I might die if I had to try to live without you."

"We can't have that, now can we? I guess I'll just have to stick around and keep you safe."

They were nearly to her house and she took a breath and decided to broach another subject that she had nearly feared to bring up.

"Can…can we talk about the other thing…what you didn't want to talk about at the restaurant? We're nearly home. I want to ask you some things."

"Ask away, Katie darlin'."

"Well, what I saw in the alley…you said that is a sexual position that people can do. You've never tried to make love to me like that. You've had chances. I thought maybe you didn't enjoy that position. Maybe it's not as pleasurable. But I don't think that's the case. I think I might like to try it and yet…you didn't seem to want to."

"That wasn't really a question," he half teased her. "But I think I understand what you're asking all the same. This is going to sound strange maybe but I'm afraid…yeah that position feels damned good. I think maybe it feels too good. Oh hell everything with you feels too good. But the way we usually are, I can see your face…your eyes. I can see if you're scared or hurt. If I couldn't…I'm not sure I could keep control. I could get a little…aggressive."

"I sort of like it when you're aggressive," she told him. "It's exciting. Even if you couldn't see my face…you'd hear me if I said something to you, right?"

He nodded to her.

"And if I said I was scared or wanted you to stop or didn't like something…you'd hear me and stop, right?"

"You know I would, Katie."

"Then what's stopping us from giving it a try?"

"I sure hope you're thinking about inviting me in, Miss Lyons. Because I don't hardly think I would make it very far with what this conversation is doing to me."

"Have I caused you to become aroused, Mr. Hickok? Because that was exactly my intent."

She released his arm and lifted her chin higher and walked purposefully ahead of Jimmy and up the front walk of her house. Halfway up the walk she stopped and looked back at him.

"You are coming, aren't you?"

"Yes ma'am."

Katie just makes me giggle...she's so innocent in her curiosity...I really like her.

Hoping to get some actual writing done at some point. This story is still running off of what I had previously written. A couple of days ago I got word about a health crisis with a family member. A full recovery is expected but I had to make a sudden trip out of town and just got back. Stressful and disorienting couple days.

So let me know what you thought if these two trying to take a simple walk.-J