CHAPTER ONE

Jesse Branson stood halfway up the rungs of a ladder, tightening the last of the bolts she was using to hang a swing from a support beam of the porch roof. She tested the chains now attached to the beam, assuring herself that the swing was secure. Satisfied that the porch swing, a surprise for her wife, was secure, Jesse hopped off the ladder. Taking a step back to view the results of her labors, Jesse smiled while she imagined what Jennifer’s response to seeing the swing would be. She knew her wife was upset over missing the children during the day when she performed her duties as Sweetwater’s schoolteacher. Jesse hoped the swing would provide a place for her and Jennifer to sit at the end of the day, watching the sun going down and their children growing up. She bent down to place her wrench back into her toolbox, her daughter’s urgent calls breaking into her thoughts.

“Mommy,” KC stomped over to the porch, stopping at the bottom of the steps. She wasn’t allowed to climb stairs by herself and she knew all too well how unhappy her momma got when she tried. “Mommy,” she insisted.

“Yes, sunshine,” Jesse straightened back up, examining her mud-covered daughter.

“Cha-wie bein’ bad,” KC wrinkled her nose. A piece of drying mud was making it itch and she swiped at it with a mud-caked hand.

“Oh,” Jesse lifted her eyes from her daughter to look at her son sitting in the middle of a mud puddle at the edge of the garden. “What’s he doing?” she asked as Charley happily slapped at the mud surrounding him.

“He makin’ mud pies,” KC scowled.

“Umm,” Jesse gave her daughter’s statement due consideration. “Well, aren’t you making mud pies too?”

“Yep,” KC’s head bopped up and down.

“So why is Charley being bad if he’s making mud pies?”

“He’s oosing my mud,” KC said indignantly, stomping a bare foot into the sloppy ground.

Struggling to keep a smirk off her face as she watched the antics of her strong-willed daughter, Jesse scratched the back of her head. “Well,” she drawled, surveying the ranch yard. The melting winter snows and spring rains had turned most of the area into a sea of mud. “I’m pretty sure there’s enough mud in the yard for both of you. So, you go back and share it with your brother.”

KC frowned. She studied her mother for a moment before twisting her head to look back over her shoulder at Charley playing without her. “Otay,” she grunted, stomping back to her brother and the contested mud puddle.

“Oh, boy,” Jesse chuckled, “I better get those two cleaned up before Jennifer gets home.”

“You want me to heat water for a bath or shall we just dump them into the horse trough?”

Jesse turned to see her mother standing in the doorway of the house.

“Hi, mom,” Jesse greeted the older woman, leaning down to pick up the toolbox, “didn’t know you were inside.

“Needed some flour,” Marie Branson stepped out onto the porch. She and her husband lived on the ranch with their daughter’s family. They had enlarged a small hut and used it for their living quarters but were free to make use of the larger ranch house’s accommodations, including the well-stocked kitchen. “You sure got your hands full with that little one,” she laughed.

“Yep,” Jesse reached for the ladder.

“So about that bath?” Marie asked as she watched KC diligently pat mud into a flattened round shape and hand it to Charley who immediately threw it down causing mud to splatter both children.

“Better start the water heating,” Jesse chuckled as she shook her head at her giggling children. “Dusty and Boy will never speak to me again if I dump them in the trough. But I think I’ll wash them off out here first. No sense in takin’ half the yard into the house.”

“I’ll get a couple of buckets ready for you,” Marie smiled.

“Thanks, mom,” Jesse stepped off the porch carrying the ladder and toolbox, she headed for the barn. “Sure be glad when this starts to dry out.”

“Kids won’t,” Marie turned to go back inside.

“They’ll adjust,” Jesse muttered, her boots squishing across the soft ground.

Jennifer Branson watched as the children filed out of the schoolhouse, another day of lessons finished. She gathered up the papers spread over her desk, creating a neat pile she tucked it safely away in the desk drawer. Pushing herself up from the chair, she took a moment to stretch her tired back before reaching for the cane leaning against the wall behind her. It was more than two years since she’d been attacked by the mountain lion but her leg would heal no more and she required the cane to walk more than a few steps. She limped to the row of coat hooks near the door of the schoolhouse, retrieving her coat she started to pull in on. She was surprised to hear the sound of someone climbing the steps outside. She smiled, wondering if Jesse had come to pick her up.

“Jennifer?” a deep voice reverberated though the almost empty room.

“In her, Ed,” Jennifer called out to the storekeeper, a gentle giant of a man who had become her surrogate father.

“Good,” Ed entered the room, standing in the doorway for a moment while his eyes adjusted to the change in lighting from outside. “I was hoping I’d catch you before you left. A letter came for you on the stage today.” Ed rented a section of his store to the stage company and accepted any mail delivers. He would hold the letters and packages for the folks living in town to come pick them up. Any belonging to folks living out of town or in the mining camps scattered in the surrounding mountains, he would add to any delivers he made in that area. Since Sweetwater lacked a freight company, Ed was forced to also provide delivery service to his customers.

Jennifer accepted the letter.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Ed asked when the schoolteacher shoved it into her coat pocket within even a casual glance.

“No, I’ll wait until I get home. Jesse and KC like to open the mail. They feel cheated if I’ve already opened the envelopes,” she grinned. “It’s probably just another letter from Mother asking me when we’re going to come east.”

“You thinking of going back for a visit, are you?”

“Haven’t given it much thought,” Jennifer’s smile had faded. “But I can’t say that the idea would make me happy.”

Ed nodded silently. The schoolteacher had told him of her childhood sharing a house with a father who thought nothing more of daughters than an arranged marriage to further his business interests and brothers too busy to spare a moment for her. And even though her father was now confined to a mental hospital and she had made peace with her brothers, he could understand her reluctance to return to the town she was born and raised in.

“Besides,” Jennifer continued as she led Ed through the doorway to the small porch at the front of the schoolhouse. “I doubt Jesse would be too happy cooped up on a train for the time it would take to get back there. And can you imagine her once we got there?” she said as she thought of her wife, used to wide open spaces, being in the cramped, noisy city for any length of time.

“That would be a sight,” Ed laughed, pulling the door shut behind them. “She hates to spend a full day in Sweetwater.”

“And let’s not forget about KC,” Jennifer laughed, locking the door. “I’m pretty sure that even with my three brothers keeping a tight hold on their reins, the two of them could get into more trouble than the city was willing to accept.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Ed chuckled. He assisted Jennifer down the steps then fell into step beside her as they made their way down the gravel path to where her horse, Blaze, was tethered in the shade of a cottonwood tree beside the creek that ran alongside Sweetwater’s main, and only, street.

“Yes,” Jennifer smirked, “I think it’s best I keep my two wild horses in the west where they can run free.”

“It is truly interesting how much little KC takes after Jesse,” Ed commented. “For someone who wasn’t sure she would be a good mother, she sure has a knack with your young ‘uns.”

“She does doesn’t she,” Jennifer said, the pride clearly evident in her voice. “She adores KC and Charley. And they adore her,” she untied the reins to Blaze.

“Seems to me,” Ed said as he helped Jennifer into the saddle. “Them young ‘uns adore the both of you.”

Jennifer smiled down at the big man. “I can’t imagine my life without Jesse or the children. I love him to death, Ed.”

“Then you better quit yakkin’ to me and get back out to your ranch and family. I bet they’re all sitting on the porch waiting for you to ride into view,” Ed knew that to be a good bet because as much as Jennifer loved her family, her family loved her back just as much and more. “Tell Jesse and the young ‘uns hello for me.”

“You can tell them yourself tomorrow, Ed,” Jennifer said as she tapped her heels against the flanks of her horse. “Jesse is bringing the wagon to town for supplies.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Ed called after the schoolteacher. “I’ll make sure everything in the store is nailed down.”

“That would be a good idea,” Jennifer laughed as she waved without turning around. It wasn’t unusual for her active daughter to create havoc in Ed’s store given half a chance. It was a good thing Charley was less adventurous than KC but given time, and KC’s guidance, her son would probably match his sister for creating trouble. As she rode, Jennifer wondered about her children and what activities might have kept them occupied while she was in town. Tears clouded her vision as she thought about another day spent away from her family.

Jesse was bent over the washtub that sat on one end of the back porch, something Jennifer had insisted on when they built the house after their log cabin was burned to the ground. Concerned about privacy when she and Jennifer were bathing, Jesse had hung a rod for a thick curtain to be pulled around the tub when necessary. But it wasn’t used when the children bathed.

Charley looked up at Jesse, his head covered in soap suds as his mother washed the mud off of him.

“How you get so dirty,” Jesse grumbled, “I’ll never know.”

“He jus’ like you, momma says,” KC giggled from a chair set beside the washtub but far enough away to keep her dry as she had already had her bath.

“Seems momma says the same thing about you, sunshine,” Jesse carefully poured warm water over Charley’s head.

“Yep,” KC grinned.

Charley sputtered water out of his mouth.

“You’re s’posed to keep that closed, Cha-wie,” KC advised helpfully. “Tha’ what momma says.”

“That’s right, Charley.” Jesse held another pitcher of water up, waiting for her son to close his mouth and eyes. When they were shut tight, she poured the clean, warm water over her son. “That should do it, Charley. Let’s get you dried off and dressed so you’ll be nice and clean for momma.” She lifted the boy out of the tub, setting him down on the porch floor to wipe him dry.

“Momma?” Charley looked in the direction Jennifer would come from town.

“Soon,” Jesse told the boy, wishing Jennifer didn’t have to be away so much. But she would never say anything to her wife because she knew how much her position as Sweetwater’s schoolteacher meant to her. She was just glad that lessons ended in the early afternoon and Jennifer was able to spend the rest of the day at the ranch.

“We wait for momma on porch?” KC asked hopefully.

“Sure,” Jesse agreed instantly. “Let’s get Charley dressed and we’ll sit on the porch and wait for momma. Does that sound like a good idea?” she asked her son.

Charley nodded happily.

“We sit dere?” KC pointed to the swing Jesse had spent most of the morning attaching to the porch roof at the opposite end of the back porch.

“We can’t see momma from back here,” Jesse explained to her daughter. “We’ll sit on the front porch. Grandma was backing some cookies earlier; maybe she’ll bring you and Charley some.”

“Cha-wie likes cookies,” KC dropped out of the chair, her bare feet thumping on the wood surface of the porch.

“And you don’t?” Jesse smirked.

“Nope, I like cookies too,” KC stood, her head cocked to one side as she watched Jesse dress her brother. “But Cha-wie really likes cookies,” she emphasized for her mother.

“That’s because he wants to grow big and strong like you,” Jesse poked KC in the belly, causing the girl to burst into giggles. “Don’t ya, Charley?” she asked, lifting her son up as she stood. She settled the boy into one arm before heading for the back door of the house.

“Yep,” KC answered for her brother, her arms stretched skyward.

Jesse reached down; grabbing KC’s hands and effortlessly pulling her up into the crook of her other arm.

Jennifer could hear the squeals coming from her children as soon as she passed under the arched log announcing she had entered the ranch property.

Charley spotted Blaze trotting down the hillock to the ranch yard and had begun to yell. “Momma,” Charley pointed excitingly towards the rider. “Momma.”

Jesse quickly made her way to stand at the foot of the porch steps, the children waited impatiently on the porch. Charley started crawling towards the edge of the porch but his sister stopped him.

“Ya got’s to let them kiss first,” KC whispered loudly into her brother’s ear.

Jesse chuckled at the comment, it hadn’t taken KC long to figure that out but her brother was having a harder go at the concept. As soon as Blaze stepped alongside her, Jesse reached up to lift Jennifer out of the saddle. Hugging her wife tightly, she pressed their lips together. It was several heartbeats before Jesse set the schoolteacher on the ground.

“See,” KC told Charley.

The women smiled knowingly at each other when they heard their daughter’s comment.

“Missed you, darlin’,” Jesse said, placing another tender kiss on her wife’s lips.

“I missed you too,” Jennifer sighed, resting her head against Jesse’s for a moment before she went to her waiting children.

Jesse pulled the cane out of the otherwise empty rifle scabbard and handed it to Jennifer. “Go on,” she smiled. “I’ll take care of Blaze. Mom’s in the kitchen,” she called out as she led the horse to the barn.

Rather than climbing the porch steps immediately, Jennifer pressed her body against the edge of the porch opening her arms wide for the children. KC rushed into her mother’s arms, kissing her several times before her brother could crawl beside her. Jennifer lifted the baby up so he could wrap his arms around her neck.

“Were you good today?” Jennifer asked between kisses and hugs.

“Yep,” KC answered, a little too forcefully her mother thought.

Charlie’s head bopped up and down in agreement with his sister.

“Ah uh,” Jennifer smiled, sure that they was more to learn about the children’s activities.

“Gramma make cookies,” KC reported. “Cha-wie eat two all by hims’lf.”

“Oh, and how many did you eat?” Jennifer asked.

KC smirked, “two.”

“KC?” Jennifer’s tone told the child she wanted the truth.

“Twee,” KC frowned. “They was goods,” she said as if the explanation would get her out of the trouble she had gotten herself into by not telling her mother the truth to begin with. Her lower lip quivered as it poked out, her pout beginning.

“Hmm,” Jennifer fought to keep the smile off her face. “Let me get up there with you and we’ll go see what gramma is up to.”

“Otay,” KC hopped back a few steps, hoping she would avoid any further punishment. “Come on, Cha-wie,” she tugged on the boy’s britches.

Jennifer made her way up the steps then crossed to the screen door, pulling it open for KC to scamper through. She waited for Charley to reach her then bent down, scooping the crawling baby up into her arms. “I miss you today, little man,” she buried her face into the boy’s neck, blowing raspberries against his soft skin. Smiling when Charley burst into loud giggles, she carried him inside and followed KC into the kitchen.

“Hi, mom,” Jennifer greeted her mother-in-law. “I hear you made some ‘goods’ cookies today.”

“Hi, honey,” Marie smiled at her daughter-in-law. “Did she tell you she snuck one off the table?”

“No,” Jennifer looked over at KC who was trying to look as innocent as possible. “That must explain the extra one she said she ate.”

“Would have had one or two more if Jesse hadn’t come in to sneak a couple for herself and caught her,” Marie laughed. The similarities between her daughter and granddaughter grew by the day.

“What am I going to do with those two?” Jennifer laughed. She pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, holding Charley in her lap. “Good thing my little man doesn’t take after them,” she nuzzled the boy’s head.

“Give him time,” Marie smiled, pulling out a chair for herself. “You look tired,” she studied Jennifer’s drawn features. “Want me to stay around and make supper tonight?” she asked as KC climbed into her lap.

“No, I’m fine,” Jennifer smiled but she didn’t seem convinced of the truth of her statement.

“You sure?”

“Yes,” Jennifer sighed. “I’m just a little tired. I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

“Anything wrong?” Marie asked, concerned that the young woman was trying to do too much with raising a family, teaching school, and helping to run the Silver Slipper and the dress shop she and Jesse had set up for their friend Ruthie.

“No, everything’s fine,” Jennifer tried to reassure her mother-in-law. “And thank you for the offer,” she smiled, “but Jesse and I should be able to handle supper for these two.”

“Alright,” Marie reluctantly agreed. “Then I best be getting back to start supper for Stanley.”

“Grump?” KC twisted her head around to look at her grandmother.

“Yes,” Marie laughed at the use of the nickname only KC could get by using. “He’s been out all day and will be hungry when he gets home.”

“Oh,” KC turned back around.

“What’s he been up do?” Jennifer asked.

“A few of the cows wandered off to the south end of the range again,” Marie explained. “With Jesse having to stay here with the children, he went off to find them.”

Jennifer sighed. Jesse would have done anything not to have her aging father have to spend the day in the saddle. Anything but leave her children, especially KC who continued to refuse to be out of sight of at least one of her mothers at all times. If only she had been home instead of in town, Jesse would have been able to ride after the cattle instead of her father.

“Ah, here you are,” Jesse said as she entered the kitchen.

KC scooted off her grandmother’s lap, running as quickly as she could for the rancher.

“Pop’s back,” Jesse told her mother as she swung KC up into the air.

“I’m better get moving then,” Marie stood then walked for the doorway out of the kitchen. “Let her do the cooking tonight,” she said, patting Jennifer on the shoulder. “It’ll do her some good.”

“Something I need to know about, darlin’?” Jesse asked as she leaned against the kitchen table in front of Jennifer.

“Your mother thinks you need to learn how to cook,” Jennifer lied, not wanting Jesse to worry about her.

“Mom hasn’t eaten enough of my cooking,” Jesse smirked. “Hey,” she turned to KC, “did you tell momma about her surprise.”

“Nope,” KC shook her head from side-to-side.

“What say we show it to her now?”

“Yep,” this time, KC’s head bopped up and down. With her mother’s help, she scrambled down to the floor and raced to the back porch.

“A surprise?” Jennifer asked as she watched her daughter waiting just outside the back door, bouncing from one foot to the other.

“Yep,” Jesse smiled as she offered a hand to Jennifer to pull her to her feet. “Got ya somethin’ to help you rest at the end of the day,” Jesse said as she took Charley out of Jennifer’s arms. She led the schoolteacher to the back porch.

“Oh, my goodness,” Jennifer gasped when she saw the muddy water still in the washtub and the dirty clothes and towels strewn about the porch.

“Oops,” Jesse shrugged sheepishly. “Guess I forgot to clean up after their baths. Leave it,” she told Jennifer who was bending over to pick up the mud encrusted shirt that Charley had been wearing earlier. “I’ll take care of those later. Come see your surprise.”

Jennifer looked up to see her wife, daughter and son standing beside the swing, all beaming widely.

“Oh, Jesse,” Jennifer cried as she walked towards the swing. “When did you do this?”

“Today,” Jesse held the swing still for her wife to sit down on it. “While the young ‘uns were seeing how much mud they could wear, I hung this up for you.” She sat beside Jennifer and waited for KC to climb aboard before she started to push with her long legs to gently move the swing.

Jennifer leaned again the rancher. After several quiet minutes, she said, “this is nice, sweetheart.”

“I’m glad you like it, darlin’,” Jesse wrapped an arm around the schoolteacher’s shoulders. “Thought you’d like a nice place to sit and watch the sunsets.”

“Only if you sit with me,” Jennifer could feel fill the tears building in her eyes. .

“Wouldn’t be anyplace else, darlin’.”

CHAPTER TWO

Jennifer and Jesse sat at the kitchen table. Jesse held Charley on her lap, feeding the baby tiny bites of egg and bacon from her own plate. KC was in the chair next to Jesse, kneeling on the seat in order to eat her breakfast. Jennifer carried a pot of coffee to the table before sitting down to the plate of eggs, bacon, and biscuits waiting for her. She pulled an envelope from her pocket, placing it on the table in front of Jesse.

“Ed brought this by the schoolhouse yesterday. I forgot all about it last night.”

“Op’n it, mommy,” KC cried excitedly. She enjoyed getting mail. If it was from her grandmother, it usually contained a small treat for herself and her brother.

“First you finish up your breakfast,” Jesse told her daughter.

“Pease,” KC pouted, her lower lip quivering.

“Nope,” Jesse held back a smirk, the pout was so adorable. “We don’t want momma to be late to school, do we?”

“Nope,” KC agreed softly.

“We’ll read it on the way to town. Okay?”

“Otay,” KC cheered right up and returned to eating the food on her plate.

“Slow down, sweetie,” Jennifer gently scolded KC who was shoving bites of egg and bacon into her mouth as fast as she could.

KC did as she was told, knowing if she didn’t she might not get to open the envelope laying so tantalizingly close to her.

“Who’s it from?” Jesse asked, keeping an eye on KC to make sure she didn’t start gulping food again.

“You know,” Jennifer laughed, “I didn’t even look. I was in such a hurry to get home that I just put it in my pocket.”

“Well,” Jesse flipped the envelope right side up. “It’s from Granite. Who do we know in Granite?”

“No one I can think of,” Jennifer replied thoughtfully as she poured coffee into two cups. “Maybe we should open it now.”

KC looked up excitedly, hoping she would be allowed to do just that.

“Go on, sunshine,” Jesse grinned. “But be careful, we want to be able to read the letter.”

KC grabbed the envelope off the table, pulling it into her lap as she sat on her chair. She carefully tore the end of the envelope open, removing only the barest fraction of paper. After several minutes, she pulled the letter out and triumphantly held it up for her mother’s to see she hadn’t ripped it too. As soon as Jesse took the letter from her, KC turned her attention back to the envelope peering inside of it to see what treats awaited.

“It em’ty,” KC muttered, tossing the useless envelope on the floor.

“KC Branson,” Jennifer scolded.

Knowing she was in trouble, KC slipped off her chair to retrieve the envelope. “Sorry, momma,” she said, climbing back into her chair. “Here,” she held the envelope out to Jennifer. “It em’ty,” she repeated as if that had given her amble reason to throw it away.

“It’s bad enough I have to clean up after your mommy,” Jennifer reached over, pulling her daughter into her lap. “I don’t think I should have to clean up after you too,” she tickled KC to let her know she wasn’t really mad at her.

“Hey,” Jesse protested. “I clean up after myself.”

“Uh, uh,” Jennifer grinned. “Where’d I find your shirt this morning? And your britches?”

“Well, darlin’,” Jesse drawled. “I was a little busy last night when I took them off,” she smiled, recalling carrying her wife up the stairs to their bedroom to make love to her.

“I guess you were at that,” Jennifer tried to rub away the blush coloring her cheeks. “What’s it say?” she pointed to the letter in Jesse’s hand, trying to change the subject.

Jesse smirked but turned her attention to the paper she held. “It’s from Leevie.”

“Leevie?” Jennifer had been wondering about their friend. Leevie Temple was the schoolteacher in Bannack and had befriended the women when they had visited the mining camp. “My goodness, why is she writing from Granite?”

“Only one way to find out,” Jesse said as she prepared to read the letter to her family.

My dear friends,

I’m so sorry it has taken me so long to answer your letters but your last two have just now found their way to me. I meant to write and tell you that I was leaving Bannack but there were so many things I had to get done before I left town that it simply slipped my mind. I am living in Granite now with someone who is very dear to my heart. There is so much to tell you that I’m not sure where to begin.

I should have been more honest with you when we first met. Forgive me, I just couldn’t bring myself to confine in you. For the last several years, I have loved a wonderful person, Dannie, and she has finally persuaded me to live with her. I have to say that it was seeing how happy you were that did most of the persuading.

It is hard to admit but things are not going as well as we had hoped. Dannie runs a freight wagon between Granite and Phillipsburg but even with all the activity in the two towns loads have been lacking. I had expected to continue my teaching here, however I was surprised to discover the town has an abundance of women qualified to teach school.

Yet, we are together and that is what truly matters.

I must close for now as Dannie will be home soon and I promised her a walk around town later. Thank you for your wonderful letters; it’s so much fun to hear how little KC and Charley are growing.

My love to all of you, Leevie.

P.S. Please come and visit sometime. Our home is small but there is always room for such good friends as you. And I would love for Dannie to meet you. She has heard so much about you, I’m sure she would like to see that you really do exist.

Kisses to all.

“Well, looks like you were right,” Jesse leaned over and kissed her wife when she finished reading.

“About what?”

“About Leevie being like us. Remember?”

Jennifer smiled, she did remember. They were saying their goodbyes to Leevie before leaving Bannack with the baby they had decided to keep and raise as their own.

Leevie smiled at the women, "I'd say that KC is one lucky little girl to grow up with two loving mothers." The schoolteacher winked at the women, "you take care of each other. You have something special, don't loose it."

Jennifer was speechless. Could this woman know their true relationship? "Jesse, do you think she knows about us?"

"Seems so."

"How?"

"Don't know. Maybe she just sensed it."

"You think maybe she's like us?"

"Could be," Jesse smiled at her lover. "We can't be the only ones."

“I wonder what she’s not telling us,” Jennifer said as she reread the letter.

“About what?” Jesse wiped egg off Charley’s chin then held a glass of milk for the boy to take a drink.

“Why they’re having such a rough time of it,” Jennifer frowned. “Seems like they’d be more than enough freight business to keep Dannie busy.”

“Probably has to do with her being a woman,” Jesse said as she stood with the baby. “Charley needs fresh britches before we leave.”

“Take KC with you and wash her face,” Jennifer set the girl on the floor.

“Okay. Come on, sunshine,” Jesse reached a hand down for KC to grab hold off. With an easy swing of her strong arm, she lifted KC up to her chest. “Ugh,” she teased the girl, “did you get any of that egg in your tummy?”

“Yep,” KC nodded. “Lots.”

Jennifer watched the rancher carry the children upstairs to get cleaned up. Slowly, she pushed herself up from the table and started to gather up the dirty dishes. As she did, she considered Jesse’s comment. It wasn’t easy for a woman to run a business in the frontier unless it was a rooming house, laundry, or eating house. Jesse had faced lots of opposition when she took over the Silver Slipper from many of the businessmen in town. Jennifer wondered why men had to think so little of women, couldn’t they understand that women were just as capable as men.

Jennifer carried the dirty dishes to the wash sink. She limped to the end of the counter where a bucket sat under the well spout. Pumping the handle, she filled the bucket and carried it to the sink. She would use the clean water to rinse the dishes after they had been scrubbed.

As Jennifer slipped her hands into the warm water Jesse had filled the sink with before breakfast, she looked out the window to the west. The sun was just beginning to peek over the mountains in the east and the morning sky was tinged in pink and red. Jennifer smiled. This was home and this was where she wanted to be. If only she didn’t have to go into town each day to teach the children of Sweetwater. A thought floated into her mind. “Maybe,” Jennifer whispered to herself, her smile spreading wider.

“All nice and clean,” Jesse said as she carried the children back into the kitchen. “Now you play with your toys,” she told them when she placed them on the floor beside their toy box. “And keep clean.”

“Otay,” KC walked over and peered into the box, her bare feet softly slapping the wood floor. “Here, Cha-wie,” she pulled a small wooden bird out of the box. “You play wit’ that,” she dropped the toy in front of her brother.

Charley frowned. He wanted to choose his own toy. Crawling up to the box, the baby pulled himself upright and pushed up onto his tiptoes to look at the jumble of toys inside. Pointing, he let loose a string of baby gibberish that KC seemed to understand.

“Otay,” KC said, annoyed. “Here,” she pulled a stuffed dog out of the box, a gift from Jennifer’s mother, dropping it on the floor for Charley.

Charley let go of the toy box, plopping down on the floor beside the dog. Happily, he pulled the dog to his chest.

KC went back to digging through the toys, her body bent in half over the edge of the box. “Dere you are,” she exclaimed when she spotted what she was looking for. Standing upright, she clutched a wooden horse in her hand. “Look, Cha-wie,” she showed the horse to her brother. “Baze.”

“With all of those toys to choose from, she always seems to pull that horse out of the box,” Jesse commented as her daughter’s favorite toy reappeared.

“I’m surprised that horse is still in one piece,” Jennifer chuckled. The wooden horse had been KC’s first toy and she seemed to never tire of playing with it.

“I hate to think of the day something happens to it,” Jesse said as she wiped the table with a damp cloth. She never would have believed that years later the tiny horse, still in one piece, would sit in a place of honor on her daughter’s bookshelves.

“We’re almost done in here,” Jennifer rinsed the last of the dishes then dried it off with a towel. “Why don’t you got get Boy hitched up.”

“Okay. I may be a few minutes,” Jesse rinsed out the cloth she had been using before stretching it over the windowsill to dry. “I want to talk to Pop if he’s around.”

“Take your time,” Jennifer leaned against the rancher. “We’ll wait on the porch.”

“Bit chilly this morning,” Jesse wrapped her arms around the schoolteacher. “I’ll come in when I’m ready.”

“I love you,” Jennifer placed her forehead against Jesse’s, breathing in the smell of her wife.

“I love you, darlin’,” Jesse adjusted to gently press her lips against Jennifer’s.

Charley chose that moment to point at the toy box and release some more gibberish in hopes his sister would provide another toy for him to play with.

“Hush, Cha-wie,” KC admonished her brother. “Mommy kissin’ momma.”

“Pffttpp,” Charley shook his head.

“Yep,” KC nodded.

Jesse didn’t have to do anything to get her big draft horse Boy to pull to a stop at the beginning of the gravel path to the schoolhouse; the large horse was so used to the trip from the ranch to town that he didn’t need much guidance.

“I’ll walk you up, darlin’,” Jesse said, wrapping the reins around the wagon’s brake handle.

Jennifer smiled, “all right.” She liked it when Jesse took the time to escort her to school. The rancher would always stay until the children started to arrive, giving the couple precious time to spend together.

Jesse climbed down from the wagon then reached back up for her wife. After helping Jennifer to the ground, she pulled the cane from under the wagon seat and handed it to the schoolteacher. “Ready, sunshine?” she asked, walking to the back of the wagon to retrieve the children.

“Yep,” KC was standing at the rear of the wagon bed, her arms outstretched as she waited impatiently for her mother to lift her out.

“There ya go,” Jesse ruffled KC’s fine ginger colored hair once the girl was standing at her feet.

“Momma, I com’n’,” KC called out to Jennifer who was waiting for Jesse and the children.

“Come on, little man,” Jesse lifted Charley into her arms. “Let’s go walk your momma to school.”

Charley smiled, his little arm pointed at Jennifer.

“That’s right, Charley,” Jesse kissed the boy’s cheek. “That’s your momma.” She carried the baby back to Jennifer, KC having already joined her momma. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Jennifer smiled. “KC hold my hand, sweetie. I don’t want you stumbling on the gravel,” she told the girl.

“Otay,” KC reached up, wrapping one hand around Jennifer’s fingers and the other around Jesse’s.

Ed Grainger watched the family walk across the footbridge spanning the creek then up the gravel path to the schoolhouse from the porch of the building that housed his store. Built by the eastern investment company that had expected to reap huge profits out of a gold mine near Sweetwater, the building had originally been designed as a hotel. When the mine turned out to be nothing more than an empty hole in the side of a hill, the mining company had sold the building to Ed before pulling out of Sweetwater. Most of the first floor was occupied by his mercantile with a corner being leased to the stage line for a depot. The second floor was split into living quarters for Ed and Billie and Ruthie.

“They make a fine lookin’ family, don’t they?” Billie Monroe had stepped out onto the porch after coming down from the apartment upstairs he shared with his wife, Ruth.

“That they do,” Ed agreed without taking his eyes off Jesse and Jennifer.

“I’m glad they’ve got the young ‘uns,” Billie nudged Ed in the arm.

Ed looked down to see Billie was holding two cups of steaming coffee. “Thanks,” he smiled, accepting one of the cups. “Speaking of young ‘uns,” Ed said after taking a sip of the hot liquid. “How’s Ruthie this morning?”

Billie grinned, his eyes twinkling with the pride her felt for his pregnant wife. “She’s taking it easy this morning. I told her I’d go back up in ‘bout an hour to help her get dressed to go to the shop.”

“Thought Jennifer told her not to worry about the shop until after the baby comes,” Ed took another sip.

“She did but you know Ruth,” Billie leaned against the railing that encircled the porch. “If she doesn’t have somethin’ to keep her hands busy, she goes crazy. Made her promise not to over do it,” he told the storekeeper. “And I’m sure Bette Mae will make sure she keeps that promise.”

“I’m sure she will,” Ed laughed.

Bette Mae managed the Silver Slipper, a brothel Jesse had won in a poker game and turned into a respectable boarding house and restaurant. It sat at the end of Sweetwater’s one and only street, the only two story building in town until the building Ed now owned had been built. Bette Mae was older than most of the women working at the Slipper and had naturally become a surrogate mother to them and Jesse and Jennifer, keeping a close eye on all of them.

“You going to the Slipper for breakfast?” Billie asked, even though the storekeeper ate there every morning.

“Yes, but I think I’ll wait for Jesse to come by,” Ed said as he saw the rancher come out of the schoolhouse, her arms full of her giggling children. “I’ll walk over with her.”

“Afraid KC will do something in the store again?” Billie teased. The girl’s adventures were becoming legendary in Sweetwater and had forced the storekeeper to construct what he referred to as a “holding pen” to keep KC confined anytime she visited the store.

“Now that she has Charley to help her,” Ed smirked, “I don’t think Jesse can afford to keep covering the costs of the trouble that young ‘un manages to git herself into.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Billie chuckled.

“Morning, boys,” Jesse greeted her friends as she approached the mercantile. “How’s Ruthie?” she asked Billie.

“Still in bed.”

“Good,” Jesse climbed the steps to the porch. “Jennifer’s worried about her.”

“Mommy, down,” KC squirmed in Jesse’s arms.

“Nope,” Jesse kept a firm grip on the girl. “We’re not going to be here long enough for you to make any trouble,” she winked at Ed. “Bette Mae’s waiting for us at the Slipper but I wanted to give you Jennifer’s shopping list.” She tried to reach the paper in her shirt pocket but was prevented from doing so because of the babies she carried. “Sunshine, get the list out of my pocket,” she told KC.

“Otay.” KC’s pushed her hand into the pocket, her searching fingers pressing against her momma’s breast.

“Ah, KC,” Jesse was more than a little uncomfortable because of the girl’s actions. “Get the list. Quick.”

Ed and Billie smirked, enjoying the rancher’s distress.

“Here ‘tis,” KC pulled the paper free. “Momma wan’s t’is stuff, pease,” she passed the list to the storekeeper.

“Well then,” Ed made a show of taking the list from the girl, “I will make sure that she gets everything on here. I’ll bet there’s even some goodies on her for you and Charley,” he told KC.

“Yep,” KC grinned. “Momma puts lots a’ goodies on dere.”

Ed laughed out loud at the reply, Billie and Jesse joining in.

“Come on, you little rascal,” Jesse stretched her fingers to tingle KC’s side. “Let’s go see Bette Mae. You coming?” she asked the men.

“Sure am,” Ed nodded.

“You go on ahead,” Billie told them. “I’m going to go check in on Ruth.”

“You be sure to tell her Jennifer will coming by after school,” Jesse passed on the message her wife had given her before she left the schoolhouse.

“I will.” Billie said, plucking the empty coffee cup from Ed’s beefy hand and turning to go back into the building.

“Let’s go,” Ed told Jesse after Billie left. “I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” KC chimed in.

“You’re always hungry, sunshine,” Jesse grumbled. “I swear, Ed,” she told the chuckling storekeeper, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think she was hollow inside.”

“You better hope Charley doesn’t turn out the same way,” Ed laughed, lifting KC out of Jesse’s arms and swinging her up to sit on his shoulders.

“Ugh,” Jesse grunted, swinging Charley up onto her shoulders.

The children giggled all the way to the Silver Slipper.

“I was beginnin’ ta think I’d never be seein’ my babies today,” Bette Mae complained as soon as Jesse walked into the Slipper’s dining room.

“We walked Jennifer to school,” Jesse explained as the older woman rushed to greet the children.

“Oh, my babies,” Bette Mae exclaimed as the children were passed to her. Hugging them to her buxom, she planted kisses on the faces until both KC and Charley were squealing with laughter.

Ed and Jesse took seats at one of the unoccupied tables, knowing it would be several minutes before Bette Mae relented.

When he thought he had been ignored long enough, Ed picked up a coffee cup and started banging it on the table top. “I must say, Jesse,” he spoke loudly to be heard over the children’s shrieks and the laughter of the other diners enjoying the impromptu floor show. “The service in this here restaurant of yours surely seems to be lacking. What’s a poor workin’ man supposed to do to get a meal around here? Not to mention a hot cup of coffee.”

“Lordy, Ed,” Bette Mae plopped into a chair beside Jesse. “Ya can’ be begrudgin’ me a little time to say howdy to my babies,” she groused playfully.

Charley, a little overwhelmed by his sister’s and Bette Mae’s enthusiastic display, reached for Jesse who pulled the baby into her lap.

“Oh, is that what you was doing,” Ed teased back. “The way they was crying and carryin’ on, I done thought ya was afflicting them young ‘uns somethin’ awful.”

“Puh,” Bette Mae pursed her lips together to glare at the snickering man.

“Food, pease,” KC, now sitting in Bette Mae’s lap, looked up hopefully at the woman.

“Don’ ya tell me yo’r mommy didn’ feed ya this mornin’,” Bette Mae sympathized with the girl.

“We ate ‘fore we left the ranch,” Jesse grumbled, “so don’t you be feeding her again. Jennifer will have my head if you do.”

“Well then,” Bette Mae smiled, giving KC a gentle squeeze. “How ‘bout a nice big glass of fresh milk?”

“Yep,” KC nodded. “Cha-wie get one too?”

“You bet,” Bette Mae agreed. “Sally bring two big glasses of milk for my babies.”

Sally normally worked as the Slipper’s bartender but when business was slow in the bar off the dining, she helped out where needed.

“Make that three, Sally,” Jesse added. “Oh, and you better bring Ed his breakfast before he starts to eat the table.”

“You got it, boss,” Sally answered. “Be right back,” she said before disappearing through the door that led into the kitchen.

“Got a load to take to Garnet,” Ed was telling Jesse as he finished off his breakfast.

Jesse was holding a sleeping Charley and KC was playing on the floor at her feet. “I don’t know, Ed,” Jesse was watching KC. “That’s a three day trip and a long time to be away from Jennifer and the young ‘uns. It’d be a lot easier if Jennifer wasn’t teaching,” she added. “Then they could come with me.”

“I understand, Jesse. It’s just with Billie not wanting to leave Ruthie until the baby comes, I don’t have many options.” Billie, once Sweetwater’s sheriff, had given up the badge when he asked Ruthie to marry him and now worked for Ed in the store. And with Sweetwater being too small to have its own freight service, the storekeeper had to find drivers to make any deliveries he had for the mining camps in the surrounding mountains.

“Let me talk to Jennifer,” Jesse wanted to help out her friend and they could always use the extra cash but being away from her family for more than a day wasn’t something she liked to do.

“Fair enough,” Ed popped the last bite of toast into his mouth. “I’ll check with some of the cowboys in town. Maybe one of them would be interested.” With the numerous cattle ranches in the valley, the town had no shortage of ranch hands in town looking for trouble.

KC yawned, rubbing her eyes.

“Looks like I best get these two put down for their naps,” Jesse said as KC climbed into her lap.

“Tired, mommy,” KC mumbled, leaning against Jesse.

“Okay,” Jesse made sure she had a good hold on the babies before standing. “Let’s get you and Charley upstairs.” Since the dress shop Ruthie operated now occupied what had been Jesse’s office, a room was kept free upstairs for her and Jennifer to use whenever they were in town.

“Need a hand?” Ed asked, seeing the woman adjusting her hold on her children as she stood up.

“Thanks, but I think I’ve got them. I’ll let you know when we pick up the supplies later.”

“Three days?” Jennifer asked, not at all happy with the prospect of her wife being away that long. Jesse and the children had to pick her up after school and the rancher had just finished telling her of Ed’s offer. “What are you going to do?”

“Well I don’t want to do it,” Jesse frowned, “but with Billie staying close for Ruthie, Ed’s kinda in a bind. The supplies have to be delivered.” She was standing by one of the windows that lined one side of the schoolhouse; from there she could see Ed working among the stacks of boxes and crates on the loading dock at the rear of the mercantile.

Jennifer walked over to stand beside Jesse. Leaning against her, she sighed, “I don’t want you to go, sweetheart. I feel so alone when you’re gone.” Over the past year the rancher had made several trips for Ed, many of them as long or longer as the one they were discussing.

Jesse wrapped her arm around Jennifer’s shoulders. Through the window, she noticed a cowboy come out of the back of store and say something to Ed. After the men exchanged words for a few minutes, they shook hands and the cowboy disappeared back into the store. “Maybe Ed will find someone else to make the trip,” Jesse said, hoping she hadn’t misread the transaction she had just witnessed. “Either way, darlin’,” she turned to look into Jennifer’s eyes. “I promise this will be the last time.”

“Thank you,” Jennifer whispered. When Jesse pressed their lips together, she leaned into the kiss.

CHAPTER THREE

Several weeks had passed since Jesse promised Jennifer she would agree to make no more deliveries for Ed that required her to be away from home for more than a day. The days were growing longer and warmer and the ground had dried out making it easier to attend to the chores around the ranch.

Jesse was mucking out the horse stalls in the barn. KC working beside her, using a miniature shovel her mother had made to drop horse biscuits into a bucket that Jesse would periodically empty into the wheelbarrow. Charley sat on a blanket spread out over a bed of fresh hay, playing with some toys. Outside, Jesse’s father, Stanley, was repairing a section of corral fence that had been damaged over the winter when a tree branch blew into it.

“Rider coming,” Stanley looked up from his work. Pulling a kerchief from his back pocket he wiped his brow as he watched the rider.

Jesse walked to the barn door. Looking across the ranch yard, she saw a horse galloping down the hillock. The flaming red hair flying behind the rider gave away her identity. “Come on, Sunshine,” she called to KC. Hurrying back into the barn she plucked KC off the floor then did the same to Charley. “Pop, can you saddle Dusty,” Jesse yelled, taking off for the back of the house.

“What’s wrong?” Marie asked, startled from her work in the garden when her daughter charged past.

“Sally’s coming.” Without breaking stride, Jessed leaped up onto the porch on her way to the kitchen and water pump inside. Setting Charley on the floor first, she put KC down on the counter next to the basin. Pumping the handle to get water flowing, she grabbed the soap bar and began lathering her hands. “Here,” she handed the soap bar to KC, “scrub as much of that stuff off your hands and face. We need to go to town.”

“See momma?” KC asked as she followed her mother’s directions.

Jesse smiled at her daughter, “yep, to see your momma. And your Aunt Ruthie, she’s having her baby.”

“Like Cha-wie?” KC mumbled through soap bubbles as she scrubbed her face.

“Yep,” Jesse pumped the handle a few more times, rinsing her hands and face in the cold water that flowed into the basin. Picking up a towel, she dried her daughter’s face and hands. “You’re about to have a cousin.” Her nose wrinkled as it detected a smell not coming from her or KC, “but we need to change Charley’s britches ‘fore we go.”

“I’ll take care of him,” Marie entered the kitchen.

“Thanks, Mom,” Jesse was using the hand towel to brush dirt off KC’s clothes. “We’re back here,” Jesse called out when she heard the screen door at the front of the house bang shut.

“Miss Jennifer said to tell you to hurry,” Sally told Jesse, the words gasped out as she tried to catch her breath.

“How soon?” Marie asked.

“Bette Mae said she could deliver at any moment.”

Jesse carried KC to the table. “Sit and don’t move,” she ruffled KC’s hair before walking over to the row of wood pegs near the back door where their coats were hung. She pulled the carry sack she had made when KC was a baby off one of the pegs. Slipping her arms through the straps, she turned around to walk back to KC and her mother. Sally was still standing in the doorway, breathing hard. “Get yourself a drink of water and sit for a spell,” she told the redhead.

“We’ll be there just as soon as Stanley gets Boy hitched to the buckboard,” Marie told Jesse as she lifted Charley up to place him into the carry sack.

“You take your time, Mom,” Jesse adjusted the sack more comfortably on her back. “There’s no reason for you to take any more of a beating on that rutted road than necessary.”

“Don’t you worry about us,” Marie leaned over to kiss KC. “You just be careful with the babies.”

“I will,” Jesse held out her arms for KC now standing on the table. The girl jumped without fear, confident her mother would catch her. “Don’t let your momma see you do that,” she whispered into KC’s ear. “She’ll spank both of us,” Jesse thought that wouldn’t necessary be a bad thing as she listened to her daughter giggle. “There’s Pop,” she said, seeing Stanley walk her palomino, Dusty, up to the back porch. “You can ride back with the folks, Sally,” she said as she walked for the door with her children.

“If it’s all the same to you,” Sally said, rubbing her sore backside. “I think I’ll just stretch out in the back of the wagon.” Riding a horse was something she rarely did and never at a full gallop like today.

Jesse smirked and nodded. Walking to the edge of the porch, she swung her leg over Dusty’s broad back. With KC sitting in front of her and Charley on her back, Jesse took the reins from her father, “thanks. We’ll see you in town.”

“We’ll be there,” Stanley nodded. “Now git.”

A slight tap of Jesse’s boots to Dusty’s sides and moments later the golden horse was charging up the hillock, KC’s happy squeals drifting behind.

Jesse sat on the porch of the mercantile watching Billie nervously pace back and forth. Ed and Stanley were sitting opposite each other, a crackle barrel between them and a checker board balanced on top of it.

“You know,” Jesse smirked at the nervous men. “Wearing a rut in these planks ain’t gonna make that baby come any sooner. Besides,” her eyes drifted down to KC and Charley asleep on a blanket in the shade at the back of the porch. “All your stomping is making it hard for the young ‘uns to sleep.”

“Damn it, Jesse,” Billie dropped in the chair next to her. “This ain’t easy. First Bette Mae says the baby could come any time,” he ran his fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp. “Then she says it could be a while.”

Jesse took pity on the expectant father who was more of a brother to her than a friend. “Babies come when they’re good and ready,” she reached over, squeezing Billie’s arm. “You can’t hurry them up or slow them down.”

“You had it easy,” Billie sighed. “Yours came already hatched.”

Ed snorted at the comment.

“Well, I wouldn’t have put it exactly like that,” Jesse chuckled. “And I don’t think I’d let Jennifer hear you say it but you’re right, I didn’t have to go through this. That’s not to say I agree with the having ‘it easy’ part. ‘Fore they come out is the easy part, after that they keep you mighty busy.”

“You ever regret having ‘em?” Billie asked, looking at the sleeping babies. He adored Jesse’s children but he doubted he could be the parent the rancher was proving to be.

“Not once,” Jesse said truthfully. “Can’t imagine not having the little rascals around.”

“You’re happy, ain’t ya, Jesse?” Billie gazed at the woman he remembered riding into Sweetwater lonely and without a future. Now she was married with a growing family and a successful business woman. And her eyes had been free of sadness ever since a certain ginger haired schoolteacher had arrived in Sweetwater. That is, until recently.

“I’m very happy, Billie,” Jesse smiled, but her eyes reflected the melancholy Billie had been noticing.

“But?”

Jesse leaned back in the chair before answering. “I miss Jennifer,” she sighed.

“What do you mean?” Billie was puzzled, Jennifer hadn’t gone anywhere.

“With her teaching duties keeping her in town and the ranch keeping me out there,” Jesse frowned. “Seems like we’re just riders passing on the road sometimes. I wish she could be home more.”

“You could ask her to quit,” Billie suggested.

“No,” Jesse shook her head. “It’s what she wants to do. It’s why she came to Sweetwater. I can’t ask her to give it up anymore than she’d ask me to give up the ranch.”

“But you would, wouldn’t you?”

“Would what?”

“Give up the ranch.”

“Yes. If she asked, I would.”

“Don’t ya think she feels the same about her teaching?”

Jesse stared at the schoolhouse sitting on a knoll not far from the mercantile. Was Billie right? Would Jennifer be willing to give up teaching and stay home? A baby’s cry interrupted her thoughts.

“You best be gettin’ up there,” Jesse jumped up and pulled Billie to his feet. She wrapped her arms around her friend, hugging him tight. “Sounds like you’re a poppa.”

Ed slapped Billie on his back as the new father stood frozen in place. “She’s right, boy,” he laughed at the mixed look of fear and excitement on the young man’s face. “Go on, now,” he shoved Billie towards the doorway. “Ruthie will be waiting for you.”

Billie stumbled across the porch and through the doorway. By the time he reached the stairs leading up to the rooms he shared with his wife, his brain had finally caught up to the situation. Taking the steps three at a time, he raced up to meet his first child.

Jennifer was coming down the stairs and had to flatten herself against the wall to avoid being bowled over by Billie.

“I’m a father,” Billie stopped when he reached the schoolteacher. Grinning, he pulled Jennifer into a hug, kissing her on the cheek. “I’m a father,” he repeated as he released her and continued upstairs.

Jennifer giggled, watching the animated man disappear down the hallway.

“You okay, darlin’?” Jesse was walking up the stairs to Jennifer, afraid the exuberant Billie might have hurt the schoolteacher’s bad leg in his rush to get upstairs.

“I’m fine,” Jennifer looked lovingly down at her wife. “It’s a boy, a fine healthy boy,” she told Jesse when the rancher wrapped her arms around her.

“He’ll like that,” Jesse murmured, kissing Jennifer’s forehead. “How’s Ruthie?”

“Fine. Tired but fine. Bette Mae said the baby didn’t tear her much.”

“Good.”

“Speaking of babies,” Jennifer leaned into Jesse. “Where are ours?”

“Sleeping,” Jesse said as she helped Jennifer down the stairs. “Ed and Pop are keeping an eye on them.”

“Hi, Pop, Ed,” Jennifer greeted her father-in-law and storekeeper as soon as she stepped out on the porch. “Thanks for watching them.”

“They don’t make much trouble when they’re sleeping. Too bad you can’t keep them that way,” Ed grumbled but his eyes were twinkling as he teased the mothers. KC’s curiosity had caused him more than a few messes to clean up in his store.

“Well, what was it?” Stanley asked, his elbow resting on the checker board dislodging most of the play pieces.

“A baby boy,” Jesse said proudly, even though she’d had nothing to do with the end result.

“Well, I’ll be,” Ed beamed. “Bet Billie is bustin’ off his buttons at that news. And Ruthie?”

“She’s fine,” Jennifer answered, sitting in the chair Jesse had guided her to. “Bette Mae and Mom are cleaning her up. I couldn’t stand any longer,” she turned to Jesse, an apologetic look on her face.

“Hush.” Jesse gently cupped her hands around Jennifer’s cheeks, smoothing out the worry lines in her forehead. “You did what you could, darlin’. Ruthie wouldn’t ask for any more.”

Jennifer leaned into the caress, closing her eyes as she let her wife’s love soak into her.

“You look tired, daughter,” Stanley told Jennifer from where he sat. “You should take her over to the Slipper so she can get some rest, Jesse.”

“No, I’m alright,” Jennifer protested, fighting to hold back a yawn.

“Pops right, darlin’,” Jesse grinned when Jennifer lost the battle. “Let me gather up the young ‘uns and we’ll walk over. Or do you want me to get the buckboard?” The wagon was in front of the mercantile where Stanley had left it when he and Marie arrived in town.

“No, I can walk,” Jennifer said. “It might help to stretch out the leg after standing for so long.”

Jesse knelt down, carefully lifting the sleeping babies into her arms. With the children secured, she stood and walked back over to Jennifer who was leaning heavily on her cane. “Ready, darlin’?”

“Yes. Will you tell Billie and Ruthie will come back later?” she asked Ed and Stanley. “KC will want to meet her cousin.”

“You go on now,” Stanley smiled at his daughter-in-law. “It’ll be a while ‘fore she’s ready for company. Marie slept for a week after givin’ birth to that there wife of yours.”

“Come on, darlin’,” Jesse waited until Jennifer wrapped her free hand around her arm. “Let’s go before he thinks of any other lies to tell about me,” she smiled at her father.

“Humpft,” Stanley grunted.

When Jennifer woke she was alone in bed but the whispered voices of her wife and daughter told her they were somewhere in the room. She rolled onto her side in the direction of the voices.

“Mommy,” KC whispered, “we see baby?”

“Yep, Sunshine,” Jesse whispered back, “just as soon as your momma wakes up.” She was bent over Charley changing his britches.

“Mommy,” KC whispered again. “Does baby ‘tink like Cha-wie?”

Jesse chuckled, poking KC in the ribs causing the girl to burst into giggles. “Yep. Just like Charley and just like you do when you need a bath.”

“I don’ need bath,” KC scooted away from Jesse’s propping finger.

“Oh, yes you do. And so do I,” Jesse sniffed loudly. “Remember what we were doing before we came to town this morning.”

“And what were you two filthy things doing?” Jennifer asked.

“Momma,” KC and Charley cried at the same time.

KC hopped up and ran for the bed, scrambling up onto the chest at the end of the bed to reach her mother. “Momma, I hav’ cossin,” she said, wrapping her arms around Jennifer’s neck. “We go see it now.”

Jennifer rolled onto her back, her arms wrapped around KC. “’IT’ is a boy,” she tweaked the girl’s nose. “And I refuse to go anyplace with you until you have a bath. Just what were you doing this morning, Jesse?”

“Mucking out the barn,” Jesse said, sitting on the bed with Charley. The baby pushed out of her lap to crawl to Jennifer. “Sorry,” she bent down to kiss Jennifer. “We didn’t have much time to wash up after Sally rode in with the news. I’ll see if the wash room is available since it looks like we’ll be spending the night in town.”

Jennifer turned her head to look out the room’s window. “How long did I sleep?” she asked, seeing that night had fallen outside.

“Few hours,” Jesse smiled. “Guess Pop was right when he said you looked tired. Having babies must be hard work.”

“It sure looked to be,” Jennifer remembered how much pain Ruthie had looked to be in when she was giving birth. She wondered if anything could be worth that much suffering.

“Momma,” Charley snuggled against his mother, providing the answer to her question.

“You want to eat first?” Jesse asked. She walked across the room to a dresser that held extra clothing for the family.

“No, you need a bath and so does KC,” Jennifer laughed when Jesse made a face at her. “We might as well throw Charley in with you.”

“What about you?” Jesse wiggled her eyebrows. “You want to join us, too?”

“As much as that offer intrigues me,” Jennifer smirked, “bathing with you as you wash horse biscuits and who knows what else off really isn’t that appealing.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Jesse returned to the bed with her arms full of clean clothes. “Does she, Sunshine?”

“Nope,” KC grinned, wiggling about to give her momma a good whiff of her.

“Arrr,” Jennifer cried. “Jesse, get her off of the bed before we have to wash it too.”

“Come on, you rascal,” Jesse lifted KC up by her britches. “Leave your momma alone before she makes me sleep on the floor tonight.”

“I seep with you, mommy,” KC said, hanging in mid-air.

“Ain’t the same, Sunshine,” Jesse carried the baby out the door. “It just ain’t the same.”

“Hmmm,” Jennifer told Charley, rubbing circles on his back. “Seems she forgot something.”

“Sorry,” Jesse reappeared. She picked the baby up by his britches then holding both children out at arm’s length, she bent down to kiss Jennifer. “I’ll send Sally up for the clothes,” she said as she spun around and carried the squealing babies out the door.

“I love you, Jesse Branson,” Jennifer smiled.

“What you plan on calling him?” Jesse asked of the baby sleeping in her arms. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor in Billie and Ruthie’s sitting room, KC draped over her shoulder watching the infant.

The small room was overflowing with people as Bette Mae, Ed, Stanley, Marie, Jesse, Jennifer, KC, Charley, and the new baby were squeezed into the tiny room.

“Michael.” Billie answered.

“Michael Monroe,” Jesse said out loud. “Has a nice sound to it.”

“We thought so,” Billie said, mockingly.

“Lordy,” Bette couldn’t help but bend over and pinch the infant’s toes, “he is jus’ adorable. Ya’d never know Billie was capable of havin’ such a thing.”

“No, I’d say young Michael must get his looks from his momma,” Jesse teased.

“Momma,” Charley repeated. He was sitting in Jennifer’s lap and turned his head up to see his mother.

Jennifer bent down to kiss the baby’s out stretched hand. “I’m your momma,” she explained. “But Ruthie is Michael’s momma.”

“Momma,” Charley twisted around in Jennifer’s lap, snuggled against her breast.

“Don’ think he quite knows wha’ ya is tryin’ to tell him,” Bette Mae chuckled.

“No, I don’t think he does,” Jennifer cradled her baby boy.

“It’s been a long day,” Marie said, she being the only other woman in the room who had given birth to a child, she knew how tired Ruthie must be feeling. “I think it’s time we left these folks alone for awhile.”

“She’s right, Jesse. And it’s time the babies go to bed.”

“Alright,” Jesse handed Michael up to Billie who came to gather up his son. She stood, stretching out the kinks in her long legs. “Don’t you be worrying about the dress shop,” she said to Ruthie. “We’ll do what we can and what we can’t can wait until you feel up to coming back.”

“Tha’s a mouthful, even for me,” Bette Mae laughed.

“What’s she’s trying to say,” Jennifer smirked, “is you take all the time you need.”

“Thank you,” Ruthie smiled when Billie laid the baby in her arms. “It won’t be long, I promise.”

“He’s a beautiful baby,” Jennifer smiled at the young seamstress. “You spend some time with him; you don’t want to miss anything.”

Jesse could hear the regret in her wife’s voice. Maybe it was time to talk to Jennifer about giving up teaching and staying at the ranch with the children. “Come on, KC,” Jesse pulled the girl into her arms, “let’s take your momma and grandparents back to the Slipper.”

“Otay.” KC swiped her arm in a wide arc, “come on, grump. Let’s go.”

“Oh, boy,” Jesse groaned as Stanley began to growl as the others snickered. She helped Jennifer stand, “we really need to get her to stop calling him that,” she whispered.

“I’ve tried,” Jennifer whispered back.

Marie said her goodbyes to Billie and Ruthie then stopped by Jesse and Jennifer. “Don’t worry,” she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. “He likes it even if he does growl at her.”

“Woman,” Stanley huffed. “Are you ready to leave or not?”

“Yes, dear,” Marie winked at her daughter’s. “I’m ready. Now go get your granddaughter so Jesse can help Jennifer down the stairs.”

Stanley grumbled but he didn’t complain when KC was passed to him from Jesse.

“Grump,” KC settled in her grandfather’s arms. “We go Slipper and get treats. Otay?”

Jesse just stood and shook her head as her father carried KC out of the room to the laughter her comment caused.

“Yep,” Ed chuckled, slapping Jesse on the back. “You have got your work cut out with that young ‘un. You surely do.”

“We better go, sweetheart,” Jennifer slipped her arm around Jesse’s, “before she talks him in to something else.”

“Oh, boy,” Jesse groaned, taking the sleepy baby from Jennifer. “Oh, boy.”

CHAPTER FOUR

The next morning after sleeping in, Jesse walked Jennifer to the schoolhouse. It was later than Jennifer normally liked to arrive at school and the children were already arriving.

“Darlin’,” Jesse started to say what had been on her mind since her conversation with Billie the day before.

“Morning, Mrs. Branson,” a trio of girls ran past the couple on their way to the schoolhouse.

“Yes, sweetheart,” Jennifer said after the children ran by.

“Morning, Mrs. Branson,” a boy ran by.

“I was thinking,” Jesse continued.

“Morning, Mrs. Branson. Did you get to see the baby?” another girl asked. It didn’t take long for news to spread in the small town and everyone knew Ruthie had given birth the day before.

“Yes, I did, Kathleen,” Jennifer told the girl. “What were you thinking?” she asked Jesse.

“Morning, Mrs. Branson,” a group of boys shouted as they splashed through the creek instead of using the footbridge.

Jesse gave up. “We’ll talk later,” she shrugged.

“Sweetheart?” Jennifer knew Jesse had slept little the night before and she was worried about what could be causing her wife such distress. “Let me get them settled and busy with their lessons then we can talk.”

“No,” Jesse smiled, shaking her head. “You go on. It’ll keep.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Jesse leaned forward, pressing her lips to Jennifer’s she ignored the snickers coming from the children waiting in front of the schoolhouse. “I love you, darlin’.”

“We’ll talk tonight?”

“I promise. Go on, the children are waiting.”

“I love you, Jesse.”

“Love you, too.”

Jesse waited until Jennifer led the children into the schoolhouse before she turned to go back to the Slipper where her children still slept under Bette Mae’s watchful eyes. She and Jennifer had seen no reason to wake them since Jesse was staying in town to take care of some repairs at the boarding house that Bette Mae had been hounding her to get fixed.

“What next?” Jesse asked, pounding the final nail into a plank of wood she used to patch a hole in the wall of the Slipper. The winter’s winds had taken a toll on the buildings side that faced east.

“Thos’ back steps from the kitch’n upstairs seemed ta be a might wobbly,” Bette Mae told the building’s owner. “I’m afraid someone’s gonna trip one of these days.”

“Okay, let’s take a look,” Jesse tossed her hammer into the toolbox. “Let me get Charley.” Jesse had been moving the children as she went from one job to the next. It wasn’t too convenient when she was trying to work to have the children to look after but the few times they had tried having KC stay at the school with Jennifer had turned into disasters. The inquisitive girl’s endless questions made it impossible for Jennifer to concentrate on her students. And leaving the children at the ranch with their grandparents was not an option considering KC’s fear of having her mothers out of her sight. “Come on, KC,” Jesse told the toddler. “We need to go inside now.”

“Otay,” KC gathered up the toys she and Charley had been playing with then padded around the wrap-around porch to the front door. “Mommy, door too heavy,” she groaned, pushing against the wooden door with all her might.

“Hold on, littl’ angel,” Bette Mae chuckled at the struggling child. “Let me help ya,” she reached over KC’s head, turning the knob. “There ya go,” Bette Mae pushed the door open.

“T’anks,” KC said, marching into the Slipper’s dining area.

“Into the kitchen, KC,” Jesse told her daughter when she carried Charley inside. “You and Charley can play in there while I look at the steps.

“Otay. Come on, Cha-wie,” KC called to her brother even though he was being held by Jesse.

“Um,” Jesse said, looking around the crowded kitchen for a safe place to put the children. “Where do you want them?”

“Can’t put ‘em on the floor,” Bette Mae said, scanning the room. “Too much trouble for my littl’ angel ta git into. Here, I’ll stretch out the blanket here,” she spread the blanket for the children out on the floor of the doorway between the kitchen and the saloon. “It’s a might early for anyone to be in here and we’ll jus’ prop the door open so’s she can see ya. I can keep an eye on them whilst I start the stew fer tonight.”

“Is that okay, KC?” Jesse asked. “I’m going to be right there,” she pointed at the steps that led upstairs from the kitchen.

“Otay,” KC said, plopping down on the blanket. She leaned forward on her hands, stretching her neck to make sure she could see up the narrow stairway.

“Good,” Jesse smiled. “You keep an eye on your brother. Don’t let him wander away.”

“Otay. Cha-wie, KC turned her attention to her brother. “You stay right here.”

“Alright, show me which steps you’re complaining about,” Jesse pulled her hammer and a fistful of nails out of the toolbox.

“Lordy,” Bette Mae fussed. “Seems ya cou’d tell that yo’rself if’n ya jus’ took the time ta walk up them.”

“True,” Jesse laughed. “But I’d rather you show me the ones bothering you so I don’t get blamed for missing any.”

“Don’ know how’s ya ‘xpect a woman ta git any work done around here if’ns I have ta be showin’ ya every thing.”

KC watched Jesse start up the steps, satisfied she could still see her mother’s boots even after the rest of her disappeared up the staircase she decided to play with Charley. But when she looked around the baby was no longer on the blanket. “Cha-wie,” she called.

No answer.

“Cha-wie Br’nson, where are you?” she called again, trying to sound as much like her momma as possible. She heard a string of Charley’s gibberish coming from inside the saloon. Pushing herself onto her feet she started after her brother. “Cha-wie, come here. Mommy be mad.”

The lodger had had way too much to drink the night before. It was long after midday and his mind was still too groggy to make much sense of where he was or what he was doing. Having awakened with a desperate need to relieve his bladder, his arm hung over the bed, his hand fumbling for the chamber pot underneath.

“Damn,” he muttered as he searched. “I know there has to be one here. Guess I’m just gonna have to go out back to the outhouse,” he grumbled at the necessary but un-welcomed prospect.

Heavy curtains covered the window leaving in the room in complete darkness. He didn’t remember pulling the drapes shut the night before and deciding it must still be nighttime, he reached for the candle and matches on the table beside the bed. His numb fingers fumbling with the match, it took him several tries to finally get it to light so he could hold it to the candle wick until a small flame flickered to life.

“Don’t need this anymore.” Struggling to his feet, he flicked the spent match aside. With candle in hand, he made his way to the room’s door.

Bright daylight flooded the room as soon as he pulled the door open. Startled, he threw his hands up in front of his eye to block out the blinding light. The candle flew out of his hands, bouncing on the floor and rolling under the bed where a wisp of black smoke curled off the wick, its flame now extinguished.

Stumbling out into the hallway, his eyes closed tight against the harsh light, the lodger felt his way down the corridor to the back steps. Half falling, half walking, he journeyed downward, brushing past Jesse and Bette Mae then charged out the back door of the kitchen to the outhouse.

“Rough night?” Jesse asked Bette Mae.

“Drank more than he should have,” Bette Mae said as the back door swung wildly on its hinges. “Had to get Ed to help get him up to his room.”

“Oh,” Jesse went back to work on the steps.

Upstairs in the room the man had vacated, a match smoldered on the bed quilt as a gust of wind rushed into the room from the hallway. Moments later, the bed was engulfed in flame.

Jennifer stepped out onto the schoolhouse porch to call the children back inside after the midday break.

“Mrs. Branson,” one of the children was pointing down to the end of town. “Look, the Slipper is on fire.”

Jennifer’s heart stopped. Without wasting a moment, she stepped off the porch and, using her cane to support her bad leg, ran down the gravel path. The children ran behind her, over the foot bridge and down the dirt street towards the Silver Slipper. Thick black smoke was pouring out of a window at the end of the second floor. Bright red flames could be seen licking their way up the side of the wooden building to the roof.

“Jesse,” Jennifer screamed as she ran. “Jesse, the babies. Where are the babies?”

Ed, helping a customer inside his store, heard the screams and ran outside. Seeing the smoke and flames, he charged off the down the street. “Ring the bell,” he yelled to Billie who was a few feet behind him.

Billie ran for the schoolhouse. The school bell also served as the emergency bell for the small town. By the time he reached the pole and started yanking on the rope to sound the alarm, the street was full of people rushing for the Slipper.

Fire in a town where almost all buildings were constructed of wood was a serious affair. If the flames weren’t stopped, the entire town could be consumed destroying people’s homes and livelihoods. No effort was spared to stop any fire that might get started.

Ed quickly overtook Jennifer. He scooped her up with one of his strong arms and kept running.

“Jesse,” Jennifer cried as Ed carried her to the Slipper. “Where’s Jesse? Where are the babies?”

“We’ll find them,” Ed assured the distraught schoolteacher. “Don’t you worry, we’ll find.” And he was determined to do just that.

“Buckets,” someone yelled. “We need more buckets.”

Men, women and even the school children were using anything they could to fill with water from the horse troughs and creek. Since the fire was burning on the second floor it was hard to throw the water high enough to have any effect on the flames.

“Get the rest of the building wet,” Ed yelled when he saw men heaving water up as high as they could only to have it fall short of the fire. “You stay put,” he ordered Jennifer, setting her on her feet near the front of the building. “Billie, get that buckboard over by the side there. We can stand in it to get the water higher. Set up a bucket line,” he told an older boy running past with an empty bucket. “It’ll save time.”

Jennifer wanted to run inside the Slipper to find her family but she knew that would be foolish, she had no idea where in the large building they might be. All she could do was stand and wait for Jesse to come out with the children. And hope. And pray. “Jesse, please sweetheart, bring our babies to me,” she cried.

“Is that smoke?” Jesse sniffed the air. “You burnin’ something?” she teased Bette Mae.

“Ya know better ‘en that,” Bette Mae huffed, swatting Jesse on the leg.

“Do you smell that?” Jesse asked when she detected a stronger whiff of smoke.

“Now, tha’ ya mention it,” Bette Mae sniffed the air. “I do smells something.”

Jesse took a few steps upward until she could see down the hall. Smoke was billowing out of the room at the far end. “Fire,” she called down to Bette Mae. “Get everybody outside. Hurry.” She was already halfway down the staircase when she finished yelling her instructions, Betty Mae rushing down in front of her.

“I’ll get the girls,” Bette Mae called out, hurrying out into the dining room where Sally and a couple of the other women that worked at the Slipper were clearing off the tables after the midday diners finished their meal.

“KC,” Jesse called out, running across the kitchen to where she had left the babies. Her heart stopped when she found the blanket empty. “KC, where are you?” she screamed.

The room on fire was located above the saloon. It didn’t take long for the flames to start burning through the ceiling of the saloon sending its acrid smoke downward into the room.

KC sniffed, rubbing her nose when the foul smelling smoke invaded it. “Cha-wie,” she called for her brother. Not seeing the baby in the main room, she walked around the end of the bar and peeked down the space between it and the wall lined with shelves of bottles and glasses. It was an area that had always intrigued her, the shiny glasses drawing her attention whenever she was in the room. But her mothers had forbid her from playing around the bar, afraid she could get hurt if any of the bottles fell from their shelves. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be there but she had to find Charley.

“Cha-wie,” KC called out again, coughing a bit as the smoke around her thickened. She heard a soft whimper from the other end of the bar and headed for it. “Cha-wie, is that you?”

Charley had crawled behind the bar. Hearing his sister’s calls, he crawled under a low hanging shelve thinking it was a game to hide from KC. He giggled, listening as she looked around the room searching for him. His nose started twitching, something smelled really bad. He rubbed it, trying to rid his nose of the burning sensation. His wiped his eyes, blinking to ease the irritation caused by the smoke. This time, when he heard his sister call out for him, he whimpered hoping she’d come and take him back into the kitchen. His game wasn’t fun anymore.

“Cha-wie?” KC stood next to her brother’s hiding place. She bent over looking under the shelf, “why you hidin’? Come on, mommy be mad,” she reached for her brother. A fit of coughing caused her to sit abruptly, her arms waving around her head in hopes of chasing the smoke away.

Charley crawled out of hiding and into his sister’s lap, sniffling and wiping at his burning eyes.

“Its okay, Cha-wie,” KC hugged her brother. “Don’t cry. Mommy come git us.”

“Mommy,” the baby whimpered.

“Yep,” KC nodded in the thickening smoke. “Mommy come. You see.”

“KC,” Jesse yelled into the saloon, the room filled with blinding smoke. “Sunshine, where are you?”

KC sucked in a lungful of air to answer her mother but the smoke burned her throat and all she could do was cough weakly, “here, mommy. We here.”

Jesse heard the faint cry but couldn’t tell where it had come from. “KC, where are you?”

As soon as he heard Jesse’s voice, Charley began to cry, his sobs intermixed with coughing.

“See,” KC rocked her brother, “Mommy comin’.”

“KC?” Jesse yelled. She pushed her way into the smoke in search of her children, banging her knee hard as she walked into a table used by the saloon’s patron for their card games.

“Here, mommy,” KC cried out, her voice weak but unwavering.

Jesse’s outstretched hands found the edge of the bar and she followed. “KC,” she continued to call as she inched around to the end of the bar, the thick smoke preventing her from seeing more that a few inches.

“Here, mommy,” KC reached out and tugged on Jesse’s pant leg as soon as she saw it appear out of the smoke.

“KC,” Jesse knelt down. “Is Charley with you?”

“Yep.” KC’s vigorous nodding unseen by her mother. “He right here. He cryin’ ‘cause he scared.”

More by feel than sight, Jesse gathered her children into her arms. “You hurt?”

“No,” KC snuggled against her mother, glad to be safe in her arms.

“Okay, let’s get you out of here,” Jesse stood. She squinted, her eyes straining to see through the smoke. Going back to the kitchen was out of the question, the wall at that end of the room was on fire. She thought about trying to make it across the room to the door that would take them into the dining room but without knowing how far the fire had spread that might put them in a worst situation. “Guess the only way out is through the window,” she told the children clinging to her. “I need to sit you down for a minute,” she said as she leaned forward to place the babies on top of the bar.

“Mommy,” Charley cried out as soon as Jesse set him down.

“I’m right here, little man,” Jesse kissed the top of the boy’s head. “Just let me get my coat fixed,” she said, unbuttoning the jacket she’d worn that day because a chilly wind had been blowing in from the east. She tucked the bottom of the coat in her pants forming a pocket to carry the babies in. “Okay, come on,” she gathered the children back into her arms, wrapping the coat around them and fastening a couple buttons to keep it in place.

The smoke was getting thicker and a second wall in the room was starting to show flames.

Jesse made her way to the front of the room and the row of windows along that wall. She hadn’t gone more than a few feet when part of the ceiling gave way, crashing down on the other end of the bar. “Hang on, we’re getting out of here,” Jesse yelled to the babies bundled in her coat.

Jesse calculated that if she timed her jump just right she could break through a window and land on the porch on the other side. From there it would be a simple jump over the railing to the safety of the ground. As Jesse started to run, she tried to visualize where the tables at that end had been set the last time she had been in the room.

Charging forward, Jesse managed to miss all the tables and chairs she sped past. A soft glow of sunlight outlined the windows and she headed for the closest one. Leaping into the air, she crashed through the glass using her shoulder as a battering ram. Her boots hit the surface of the porch, wet from the efforts of the townsfolk trying to save the stop the flames. Unable to control herself on the slick wood, she skidded for the railing her hip slamming into it. Her momentum was too much and her body flipped head over tea kettle.

Jesse landed on her back with a THUD, the force of the landing knocking all the air out of her lungs.

Jennifer saw glass explode from the window, followed by her wife. She watched in relief as Jesse landed on the porch then in horror as the rancher’s body continued across the porch and cart-wheeled over the railing. “Jesse,” she screamed, running for the prone woman.

Dropping to her knees, Jennifer stared at her unmoving wife. Afraid to touch her in case she was injured but needing to know if she was alive, Jennifer reached out and tentatively caressed the rancher’s cheek. “Jesse, sweetheart,” she whispered. “Are you okay? Sweetheart, say something. Please,” she pleaded.

“Ugh,” was all Jesse could force out.

“The babies, Jesse,” Jennifer cried, at least Jesse was alive. “Where are the babies?” she asked, not noticing the unusual bulge under her wife’s clothing.

KC wiggled up her mother’s body just enough for her head to pop out of the coat that protected her. “Here, momma,” KC grinned. “Cha-wie, here too.”

“KC,” Jennifer was shocked to see the girl’s head suddenly appear. “Are you okay?”

“Yep,” KC continued wiggling free of the coat.

Jennifer scrabbled to get the buttons opened. Once she did, she fell on top of Jesse and the exposed babies, hugging and kissing them as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You’re okay,” she murmured between sobs. “Thank goodness, you’re okay.”

“Get off me,” Jesse managed to gasp, her wife’s loving hugs making it impossible for her lungs to fill with much needed air.

Charley wrapped his arms around Jennifer’s neck, refusing to let go as she sat up. “Sweetheart, are you alright?”

“Can’t breath,” Jesse wheezed.

“Mommy,” KC was bouncing on Jesse’s stomach, straddling the prone body. “That fun. We go ag’in?”

Jesse struggled for air, something not helped by her daughter’s activity. She slowly raised an arm, placing a shaky hand on top of KC’s head. “Don’t…bounce…,” she gasped.

“Otay,” KC stopped bouncing. “We go ag’in?” she grinned happily.

“Ugh.”

The sun was setting in the west, the brilliant colors of the sunset muted by the smoke that still hung in the air over Sweetwater. One end of the Silver Slipper continued to smolder but the flames had finally been distinguished. Most folks had gone back to their own homes and business, thankful the fire had been contained to a single building. Bette Mae and Sally were inside the Slipper, taking inventory of what remained. Ed and Billie, with the help of some of the older schoolboys, were passing burned furniture out of broken window and tossing it over the porch railing into the street to prevent it from starting any new fires.

Jesse sat on the steps of the Slipper, her arms wrapped around Jennifer and the children.

“What is it with us and fires?” Jennifer asked referring to the log home she had first shared with Jesse that had also been destroyed by flames.

“Don’t think we have anything to do with it, darlin’,” Jesse tightened her arms around her wife. “We build everything out of wood. Somethin’ gets started, it’s hard ta stop. Only thing in town safe from fire is the bank,” she said, looking down the street at the brick and stone building. “Just a fact of life out here. We’re lucky folks saved as much of the Slipper as they did.”

“Do you know what started it?”

“Nope,” Jesse shrugged. “Probably never will.”

“Well, I’m just glad you and the babies are safe.”

“Me too.”

“Jesse?”

“Hmm.”

“We’re going to go see Leevie,” Jennifer announced, the fire cementing a decision she had come to several days earlier. It had been terrifying to see the Slipper on fire and realize her family was inside. But it was the knowledge they wouldn’t have been there if she hadn’t needed to be at the schoolhouse that really frightened her. It was definitely time to make some changes in her life. But before she could, she had to talk to her friend.

“Right now?” Jesse asked, not surprised by her wife’s comment but confused as to its timing.

“Not right now, silly,” Jennifer giggled. “But as soon as the school term ends at the end of the month, we’re going to Granite.”

“Okay.”

“You’re not going to argue?”

“Nope.”

“You don’t want to know why?”

“Nope.” Jesse didn’t really care why Jennifer was so adamant about traveling to the mining camp. Right here, right now, all she cared about was their children were safe and she had everything important to her wrapped in her arms.

“What now?” Jennifer asked, glancing over her shoulder at the ruined building.

“Let’s go home.”

“What about the Slipper?”

“It’s not going anywhere. I’ll worry about it later. Right now, I want to take go home, put the babies to bed and make love to my wife.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Jennifer sighed, melting into Jesse’s embrace.

continued in Part 2