Chapter Eighteen

 

But that night Kate asked Wes if he'd take her.

"Oh but Frank should pick you up." Wes told her.

"I didn't know that, so I told him I'd meet him there and you or Dickens could take me and bring me home."

"That's not how it's done, honey." Wes let the word slip from his lips.

Flabbergasted at him calling her such a sweet name, she looked up with innocent eyes. "It's not?" She swallowed hard.

She shrugged quickly, "Well, under the circumstances I thought it best, as I hardly know the man. You don't mind, do you? I mean, I am still a widow and no matter how I feel about it, it's a fact and people will expect me to act accordingly, I'm sure."

Wes studied her worried face, "Well, I guess not. I mean you do have a point. You don't know him well."

"That's what I was thinking. I barely know the man." She kept saying.

"Alright I'll take you." He smiled trying to settle her nerves.

"I need you to take me to Annie's first, to get my hair done up."

"Oh, yeah, that will be nice." Wes nodded. "Fine we'll leave a bit early then."

"Good, thank you. Oh, and I'll have your pay next week when I go to the bank."

"Next week huh?" he repeated dully.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I haven't been sooner, but I'll get it for you."

"I'm not worried about it." He told her.

"You're not?"

"No, I know you'll pay me."

He saw she was still on edge about tomorrow night. "Try not to be nervous. He's just a man."

"I just don't want to look like a fool."

"You'll probably be the prettiest girl there." He told her.

Suddenly something occurred to her, "Oh no!"

"What?" he looked baffled now at her discomfiture.

"Do you think it's too soon? I mean I'm a widow. I keep forgetting that." She looked at him with guilt written on her face.

"Don't worry, you'll be the prettiest scandal there." He smiled.

"Everyone will think I'm shameless, it's only been a few months. Oh God, Wes, it worries me that I haven't mourned him."

"Most people knew him, didn't they?"

"Well, knew of him, I'm sure."

"Then they'll understand."

Her face flushed, "Oh Wes, I shouldn’t go!"

"Stop fretting it will all be okay."

But on Saturday she went to the pond to take a bath after breakfast. She put clean clothes on, but her hair was still wet.

Wes saw her coming from the pond and stared, she had no idea how pretty she was. But she'd probably find out tonight, he thought with a bitter taste in his mouth.

She was already slipping through his fingers. If he'd been a local, he'd have asked her to the dance. But he wasn't. He was a drifter. And she needed a place to grow roots, have a home and a man that would be by her side all the time. And sadly, Frank Campbell was probably that man.

Frank would kiss her, and she'd be lost, just like when he kissed her. Only somehow, he sure wished that wouldn't happen. He suddenly wished more for himself. Had he been wrong to run away from life like he had? Had he taken a path of a doomed man, to be alone the rest of his life?

He had to make some plans of where he was going from here. What he was going to do. He suddenly realized that he was bone tired of moving all the time. Of never having a real place to call his own. But he also realized he'd have to do a lot of changing too. He'd have to make some money, buy a place, and settle down. Maybe he'd think about that when he left here. Still, the probability that he'd lose out on the best thing in his life made him rethink himself several times.

He looked around the place. For the first time he felt bad about leaving. In more ways than one. He liked it here. He never minded sleeping in the barn. He never minded not going into town. He realized too that she'd made this place homey and he seemed to fit right into it. He loved her cooking, loved her smiles, and most of all he loved her kisses

That was wrong thinking, and he knew it. He had nothing to offer her.

He had to get those ideas out of his head. It wasn't his home. He didn't belong, and he'd be leaving soon. If this Frank fella took her seriously, he'd be leaving even sooner.

So why did it hurt to think of leaving?

He didn't want to leave Dickens either.

He cared for both of them! Dickens was getting up in age and that bothered Wes a great deal. What if he left and come back to find him dead and buried? Could he handle that?

What if she didn't marry Frank? Would Dickens try to do the work? He couldn't hold up to it much better than her. Well, he could always come by and check on them from time to time. That's what he'd do. Once he knew they would be alright, he'd be out of here forever.

But forever was a long time and just thinking on it made him sad.

It was four and Kate kissed Dickens on the cheek as she got upon the wagon with Wes. "Try to have a good time, girlie."

"I will, thanks for all your help." She threw him a kiss.

Wes drove her over and after Annie did her hair Kate put the dress on, the men got to talking.

"So you and Annie going to the dance?"

"Yeah a bit later. I don't want to get there too early. They always want you to set things up. I don't go to work, I do enough of that at home. You should come along; they have a pretty good band of musicians and the food is always good."

Wes laughed. "I don't think so."

"You aren't going?"

"Well sir, I'm not really a part of this community, so I don't usually attend stuff like this."

"You'd be welcome."

"Thanks, but I'll just pick her up when it's over."

"Oh, why isn't Frank picking her up and taking her home?"

"She told him she'd have a ride there and home. She said it's because she doesn't know him that well, and the fact that she's a widow. I can understand that."

"Yeah, I keep forgetting about that no-account husband of hers. I can understand why she isn't mourning him."

"She feels guilty that she can't mourn him."

"I can understand that. This Frank seems okay, but her being a widow, this might be better for her. It won't look so much like a date to others if she's picked up and taken home."

"That's true. She was worried about it being too soon to go to something like this. I hope she's wrong."

"No one will gossip. They wouldn't dare, Frank would get after them if they did. Besides, no one that I know liked her husband. Any man that visits saloons every weekend, drinks, and barks at his wife all the time won't be missed around here."

"Is this Frank a good sort?" Wes asked with concern.

"He pulls a lot of weight, and he's been known to lose his temper a time or two. But all in all, he's okay. A bit on the snobbish side. Still if he likes someone, no one will dare say a word. At least not while he was around."

"I see. Well, I was just asking on account of her husband had been a bit rough with her."

"Yes, Annie was telling me about him. Don't you fret, I'll keep an eye on her. But seriously, why didn’t you ask her?"

"Well sir, I'm just a hired hand." Wes said.

"Don't let that stop you, most of the young men are just hired hands." Mr. Tate chuckled.

"Well, Frank's pretty taken with her!"

"But is she taken with him?"

"Don't know yet!" Wes smiled.