“Well, look who’s here in Utah. Mr. Maguire. Back for the final push, I see. How handy to miss the tunnel and bridge work of the mountains.”
Under the scrutiny of the general’s gaze, Hudson felt his face grow hot. “Nice to see you again, sir.”
The general sat back in his chair, eyeing him. “So then. Is it you I have to thank for my daughter’s idea of starting a store?”
He smiled. “No, sir, I’m happy to say I had nothing to do with that.”
“Too bad. I think it’s a marvelous idea.” The general laughed and lit a cigar. “Relax, Maguire. I’m just chaffing you.” He pointed to the chair on the guest side of his desk. “Give me an update on Josephine.”
Hudson told him about Josie and the store. And the run-in with Lewis. And finally, his death.
The general sighed. “It embarrasses me to have been duped by him.”
“We all were. It was Josie who dug into his past and discovered the truth.”
“Josie?”
“Sorry, sir. It’s a name I’ve given to her.”
He considered it a moment, then shrugged. “It does suit her. And it’s nice to see her stepping up to find the truth. She’s showing a strength I didn’t know she possessed.”
“I think it’s a strength she didn’t know she possessed.”
“Well said. At any rate, many thanks for being there for her during this rough time.”
“Actually, there’s more.” Hudson confessed that his tardiness was also due to a short stay in Allegheny City. “I felt the need to settle some of my own family business.”
The general let a cloud of smoke settle between them. “And was it . . . settled?”
His tone suggested he remembered Hudson’s long-ago mention of a girl back home. “Yes, it was. I’ve cut my ties and . . .” With the chance to state things plain, he was suddenly tongue-tied.
“You want to marry my daughter.”
Relief wafted over him. “I do, sir. With your permission.”
“I guess you need to thank me for sending you back east as her escort. Love born on a train ride?”
“Actually, it was born on the prairie, during a sunset.”
His eyebrows rose.
“During the one-hundredth meridian celebration. I was enjoying a sunset and your daughter joined me.”
The general nodded. “Powerful thing, sunsets.”
All tension left him. “Yes, they are.”
“When were you wanting to propose?”
Here was the clincher. “I know we’re getting to the end of the line—”
“The meeting of the Central and Union railroads is set to happen at Promontory Summit, Utah, second week of May.”
A few weeks. “I should get back to work then.”
“You’ll do no such thing.”
“Sir?”
“I have a thousand men to do the work of the railroad—especially since we’re offering triple-pay during this final stretch. Plus we’ve taken on hundreds of Mormon subcontractors. But I only have one daughter. Your job is to make her happy.”
This was going far better than he could have imagined. “I’ll do my best, sir.”
The general stood and held out his hand. “Then consider this my blessing.” After they shook hands, he pointed to the door of his office. “Now go. Get her. Love her.”
“Gladly, sir.”
“But do me one favor.”
“Of course.”
“Bring her back to the end of the line, to Promontory. There, the West will be connected with the East. The vision of a few and the hard work of many will culminate. I’d like you and Josephine to be here to witness that. Actually, bring the other ladies too. They deserve to be a part of the celebration.”
Hudson felt his throat grow tight. “We’d be honored, sir.”
“As I am honored to gain you as a son-in-law.”
Hudson shook his hand again, then rushed to jump on the next eastbound train.
If only he could fly.
Gunshots!
Lots of them.
Josephine ran toward the window to see what was going on just as Mr. Richter burst in the door and pushed her back toward the others. “Stay back!”
Aunt took Nelly under her arm. “What’s happening?”
“Housecleaning.”
When they gave him quizzical looks, he explained. “The Kid’s gang meet their match. Five hundred citizens say genug! and have it out at Belle saloon.” He paused to look at each female and seemed hesitant to say more.
“What?” Josephine asked. “What don’t you want to tell us?”
“There be big necktie party today.”
“Necktie?” Frieda asked.
With another glance at Nelly, he made a subtle pulling motion by his ear.
“Oh,” Frieda said.
“You’re gonna hang ’em?” Nelly asked.
Aunt Bernice gasped. Josephine hated that Nelly knew of such things, and that she could mention them in such a matter-of-fact way.
More gunshots caused them to retreat even farther into the store. Mr. Richter headed out.
“Be careful,” Frieda told him.
He gave her a wink. “I come get you when coast clear.”
Frieda gazed after him. “I hope he’ll be all right.”
Josephine arranged some crates to use as chairs and was glad for the chance to change the subject. “Are you sweet on Mr. Richter?”
Frieda looked to the floor. “That’s absurd.”
“Why?” Aunt said. “You are of the same age. He seems to be an honorable man, and you’re a virtuous woman.”
“What’s virtuous?” Nelly asked.
“Good. Respectable.”
Nelly nodded. “You are virtuous.”
Frieda’s face turned red. “Thank you for your kind words, but it’s hard to think about a future with a man. I set aside that part of me decades ago.”
“For me,” Josephine said. “To raise me.”
Frieda put a hand on Josephine’s knee. “A life well-spent.”
“But your life’s not over,” Aunt said. “It is just beginning.”
Josephine remembered something Frieda often told her. It was time to return the favor. She took Frieda’s hands in hers and said, “Who loves you best?”
Frieda blushed. “You do.”
“Which is why I want you to be open to happiness, wherever—and whomever—it comes from.”
They heard more gunshots and shouts, and men ran past the window toward the saloon. Josephine walked forward to see.
“Come back here!” Aunt demanded. “There is a time to be brave and a time to be wise.”
Josephine stopped short of the window and returned to the group. A memory came back, making her laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Frieda asked.
“I remember on the first trip out here when I was on the steamboat heading up to Omaha, I was afraid of the branches in the water. How silly that was.”
Aunt nodded. “We have all grown stronger and braver—because of you.”
Josephine shook her head. “You are all strong and brave in your own right.”
“If we were, it was deeply hidden. Don’t you understand it is because of you and your strength and courage that any of us are here, having this glorious adventure?”
Josephine laughed nervously as the sounds of the battle continued outside. “I’m not sure if a shootout is glorious.”
“Maybe not,” Aunt said. “But if it weren’t for you, I would be sitting in that horrible chair by the fire, getting my ribs poked by the springs, having yet another cup of weak tea.”
“And I’d be washing laundry till my skin was raw,” Nelly said.
“And I’d never have the chance to sell my face creams to the public,” Frieda said.
Their words made her teary, and her heart swelled with love for them. “So you think you’ll be happy here?”
Aunt looked to the other two. With their nods she answered for all three. “We are happy now.”
Josephine looked at the disarray of the store—which might not be a success, and realized that she was happy too. Right now. Amid the chaos in and out of the store. She reached for the hands of her aunt and Frieda, and Nelly joined the circle. “Let’s thank God for each other.”
“And new opportunities,” Aunt said.
“And new friends,” Frieda said.
“And another good lunch over at the café,” Nelly said.
Together they laughed. And prayed.
As the gunshots flew.
The first thing that greeted Hudson when he returned to Laramie was the sight of four men hanging by the neck.
“What happened?” he asked the station manager.
“We took our town back.”
“So these were outlaws?”
“Of course. The rest skedaddled out of town.”
“We’ll be ready if they do. Just got ourselves a new man in charge, Sheriff Boswell.”
He was so matter-of-fact about it. To realize that all this had happened in the time Hudson was gone was testament to the determination of Laramie to survive.
But then his thoughts turned to Josie and the women, and he hurried toward the store.
It was dusk, and the streets were growing dark. But through the window of the store, a lamp glowed. He went inside and immediately saw Aunt Bernice, Frieda, and Nelly.
“Where’s Josie?”
“Hello to you too,” Aunt said.
He was being rude. “Yes. Sorry. Hello. But is she all right? I heard about the fighting and—”
“She is fine. We all are.”
Nelly pointed to the west. “She’s out looking at the sun.”
“At the sunset,” Frieda corrected. “She needed some time alone. I told her no, with all that’s happened she shouldn’t go out, but she wouldn’t listen. She’s getting so headstrong out here. Must be the air.”
“She’s getting headstrong?” Hudson asked.
Frieda chuckled.
“Actually, I know for a fact Josephine wouldn’t mind the company,” Aunt said. “That is, if your visit with the general was successful . . .”
He ran out the door.
Josephine drew her shawl tightly around her shoulders. The evening was cool but tolerable. But whether the air blasted with heat or driving snow, she’d had to come.
The past few days had been eventful. The shootout had to be included in the events, yet it measured a far second when compared to the joy and satisfaction she had gained during the talk with the women in her life.
To discover they were happy here, were eager about the future, and were relieved to be away from their previous lives filled her to bursting. Because of that joy, she had sought the solitude and grandeur of the sunset, for only its beauty could rival the beauty of the love and gratitude she felt in her heart.
The sun dipped below the ridge of the Medicine Bow Mountains, its rays radiating to heaven amid blue and pink clouds.
Josephine pressed a hand to her chest, overcome by the sight. She spoke her prayer out loud. “Thank You for bringing me here. Thank You for the wonderful women who have come with me. And thank You for—”
“Josephine Cain.”
Josephine whipped around and saw Hudson standing nearby. Overcome by happy tears, she ran toward him, and he toward her, until they met in a joyous collision.
He lifted her completely off the ground until her face was even with his. Then he pressed his lips against hers. “Thank You, God, thank You,” he kept repeating amid his kisses.
She nodded, adding her own silent prayers of gratitude. How could life be so good? What had she ever done to deserve such happiness?
He gently let her slide down until her toes touched the ground. But then he continued his own downward movement until he was perched on one knee. He took her hand in his. “Josie, I adore you. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
It was the question for which she had only one answer. “Yes. Oh please, yes!” She took his face in her hands and gave him one tender kiss. But when she bent forward to embrace him, they toppled over amid much laughter. Fully fallen, she lay on her back, and he raised himself to an elbow to peer down at her.
He ran a finger along her cheek. “You’ve made me the happiest man in the world.”
Then he kissed her again and again, as the sun gave way to the stars.