Her glance met his for a moment, then shelooked away. "I got no right to ask it. You have a life to live ofyour own You obviously like to travel, and I can't say as I blameyou. Men aren't like women, nesters. Although I do like to watchthe boats coming down the river. Always wanted to ride down theMississippi."
"Let's talk about this later. Right now wegot enough to contend with, I'd say." He smiled gently at hernow.
But Kate knew there was more to it thanthat. She was already starting to depend on his help. It botheredher because in the end, he would leave, and she knew it. When heleft, she'd be right back where she started from, nowhere. Itweighed on her most of the night, and he almost stayed longer aftersupper. But while she did the dishes, he sat on the porch andstared out at the hay that needed tending.
Moby came out with him and laid down by hisside as though they'd been friends all along.
Wes stared at the dog and nodded, "She doesneed the help."
Moby moaned a minute and looked at him withsad eyes.
Wes couldn't stop himself from worryingabout the woman. She was here alone, with little experience atfarming. How would she manage. And a woman without a home was alost woman. She had to keep this place, as it was good fertileland.
He shouldn't be worrying about it. It wasn'this business. Maybe she'd sell and find herself a new life if heleft.
Still, he promised Dickens he'd protect herfrom the Smiths. He'd have to keep that promise and there was notelling how long that would take, because he saw the way they eyedher, and it bothered him. If he didn't know better, he'd swear thiswoman was an innocent, but how could that be, she'd been marriedfor a year, hadn't she?
The poor woman had no idea all the dangersshe might face.
She came out on the porch and saw himsitting there on the steps and came to sit on the steps with him.Moby came to lay beside her, close enough she could pet him awhile. Although sitting there, staring up at the stars, wascalming, there was a tension between them that she didn'tunderstand.
"Nice night, huh?" she smiled.
"Yeah, look at all those stars," he cast hisglance upward with amusement.
"You must be used to looking at the stars atnight in your travels." She said softly.
"Yes ma'am, but you never tire of it." Hemurmured.
"Why do you roam so much. I mean, it's noneof my business, but don't you ever hanker for a home of your own?"She asked.
"My folks died early on in my life. An Unclecame to raise me. We made out well, and I liked living with him,but about the time I grew up, he died too, and I don't know it tooksomething out of me. So I began to wander, and I haven'tstopped."
"So you grew to have feelings for him, andhe died on you. I can understand that. When Jim died, I feltguilty."
"For what?" he asked turning his head tolook at her.
"For not having any feelings about it." Shemurmured.
He stared at her now, the tension seemed togrow. "Perhaps you had a reason."
She didn't want to get into this, so shechanged his direction of thinking.
"You came to love your Uncle, didn't you?"She asked softly.
There was a silence then he glanced at herfor a moment and he nodded, "Yeah… "
"You've never married?" she asked again verysoftly.
"No ma'am."
"Wasn't there ever anyone special, I mean agirl in your life?"
He turned to stare at her and something inhis expression changed, "No ma'am. There have been women, the kindyou find in a saloon. But no special girl."
"That's sad." She murmured, staring at him."And yet, maybe it isn't."
"Well, if you were interested in a woman,and then had to move on, she'd be hurt." Kate said and looked awayfrom him.
"You think so?" he asked twisting his headand waiting for her answer.
"Of course, I mean, if she felt the sameway."
After a long silence he changed thesubject.
"You don't talk much about your husband.Were you happy?"
She turned away from his probing glance, "Inever thought about it much. I mean at first, maybe, but I don'tthink I was ready for marriage."
"Was he good to you?" He asked.
"Good to me? I don't have much to compare ittoo, but after we married, he changed."
"Changed?"
"I was fifteen when my father died, justcoming into womanhood, confused, hurt, lonely, and I didn't knowmuch about men. I liked them, but I didn't know much about being awife… "
"Oh… If he knew you a long time, surely heunderstood that."
"No, he didn't. I guess it's kind of funny.Sometimes I think he was as dumb about marriage as I was."
"How's that, ma'am?"
She shrugged.
"You can know some people a long time andnever really know them. Others you can know a short time and youfeel you've known them all along." When he didn't say anything shewent on, "Like Mr. Dickens, I felt I'd known him for ages when Imet him."
His head jerked about to stare at her oncemore.
"Yeah, Mr. Dickens is a good man."
"I guess I gave Jim, my husband the wrongidea about me, as I flirted with him every chance I got before wemarried. But he didn't know it was because I was so lonely."
He stared at her now, "That's pretty normalI guess."
Wes nodded. "You were attracted to him,that's natural."
"Well, I'm not sure about that either. Imean, he was the only man I knew very well. He was good enoughlooking, but that wasn't the attraction. I was lonely for company.He was the only one around."
Now he really looked at her.
"It seems to go back to the same thing allthe time, you were lonely."
"I was lonely. He was always giving me tipson how to manage things, knowing I took over our place at fifteen.And he let everyone in town know he was looking after me too. Iliked that. I felt protected. I thought he was interested in me,and… I guess he was, at first.
