Chapter 19

Jessie connected the corners of the sheet she was folding. Carby had washed everyone’s bedding earlier that morning before going out to plot a place for her garden, leaving a command for Jessie not to touch then before she returned.

However, they had dried and Jessie was determined to do something beside sit on her rear end all day, whether Carby liked it or not.

It wasn’t until she saw Carby’s head of white hair pass the window that she began to feel a twinge of regret for what she had done.

The front door opened just as Jessie was finishing folding the sheet.

“What do you think you’re doing, young lady?” Carby asked in a scolding tone.

“I’m folding the sheets. They dried quickly,” Jessie replied, trying to keep her voice as nonchalant as possible as she placed the folded sheet on the table and reached for another.

“Didn’t I tell you not to touch them? You’re not well enough to be doing housework.” Carby snatched the sheet from her.

“I’m as well as I’ll get, and if it wasn’t for this bum leg I’d be putting you to shame with the work I get done. I’m not gonna keep sitting all day every day while watching you work.” Jessie snatched the sheet back from Carby with a determined jerk.

“What do you take me for? Quit being silly and go sit down before you hurt yourself worse,” Carby tried to shoo her away with her hand as she spoke.

“I can be just as stubborn as you can, Carby.” Jessie folded the sheet as if Carby’s words the moment before hadn’t been spoken.

Carby scowled and shook her head. “Colt’ll chew me up one side and down the other if he finds out I let you do this to yourself.”

“He will do no such thing. He also ought to know that I have a mind of my own and do as I please,” Jessie shot back.

Carby waved her off with her hand and walked across the room to the washbasin.

“I found a place for my garden,” she said.

Jessie smiled and set the folded sheet down with satisfaction. “Oh?”

“Right over here so I can see it from the window,” Carby pointed her finger in the direction she wanted to place her garden.

Jessie nodded. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

The two-week mark was coming up in a few days and Colt’s telegraph would be sent to her family. The idea didn’t bring as much joy to her as before. She still missed her family something terrible, but she was feeling as if they hadn’t searched for her at all. What if they hadn’t even tried looking?

Whatever her reason was for coming all the way out West, her family couldn’t have supported her. Momma was too clingy to her children to allow her to leave without as much as an escort.

The more she thought about it, the more confused she became.

*****

Colt hummed as he hammered a nail into the slab of wood that served as a piece of wall on the inside of Bliss’ house. Building had been coming along nicely. The roof was halfway done and the inside walls had been started on that day.

“What’s gotten you into such a good humor these past few days?” Doc asked beside him.

Colt had convinced Sherman that he needed Doc to help with the building a few days before, but in reality he just wanted the man’s support nearby when the men started acting up.

“What do you mean?” Colt asked around the nails he was holding between his teeth.

“You never hum, and you aren’t moping around like shriveled up old man anymore. Something’s made you happy,” Doc said.

Colt shrugged. “A man can’t hum these days?”

Doc was silent for a moment, and Colt felt his eyes on him.

“You sure Miss Jessie ain’t got nothin’ to do with it?” the cowboy asked.

Colt narrowed his eyes. “Dawson,” he drawled the name out like a warning.

“Don’t try to hide it, Kidd. I can see straight through you,” Doc said with a grin.

Colt rolled his eyes. “You’re worse than a woman.”

“But I’m right.”

“You ain’t neither.”

“That red all over your face ain’t helpin’ your case none.”

Colt scowled and drove another nail into the wall. “Why is my nonexistent love life such a big deal for you?”

“Nonexistent my foot.” Doc was beginning to sound like a schoolgirl.

“Jessie just happens to have a lively presence, and it must have rubbed off on me. A person can rub off on you in two weeks, can’t they?” Colt defended.

“Uh huh.”

Colt grumbled under his breath.

It was true that he and Jessie had become friends, but it just wasn’t proper for Doc to talk that way about an engaged woman. That was just ignorant.

*****

Colt shook his head at the dog yet again, choosing to leave the animal alone as he entered the house, hoping Worthless would find something to do with his time besides bark at him. He had returned home earlier than usual today, and the dog didn’t like it one bit.

He entered the house and found his grandmother fixing supper while fussing at Jessie, who sat at the table sewing on some sort of fabric.

They both looked at him as he entered, their expressions completely opposite. Jessie’s pleaded with him while Granny’s looked as if she was ready to shoot someone in the face. If it weren’t for Jessie’s big green eyes staring back at him he would have turned on his heels and faced the likes of Worthless before his grandmother had a chance to get a word out. However, he stayed rooted to the spot, ready to face whatever needed sorting out between the women.

“It’s a good thing that you’re home, Colt,” Granny stated. “You’ve got to talk some sense into this girl.”

Colt looked to Jessie, whose eyes rolled up to the ceiling before focusing back on her sewing.

“What’s the problem?” Colt asked.

“Let me tell you what the problem is,” Granny said as she put both of her fists on her hips, turning from the stove and looking at Jessie. “This little lady thinks she’s up for doing pretty much all the housework around here. She wants to do the laundry, wash the dishes, cook the food, and do the mending. Just pretty much implied that I was too old and not capable of doing these things!”
Jessie’s head jerked up. “I said no such thing. I merely offered my help with a few things and she acts as if I asked for her right arm.”

“You’re not well enough to we on your feet all day…er… foot… and I’ve been doing this since I was a little girl. I don’t need a youngster messing with my system.” Granny wagged a wooden spoon in Jessie’s direction.

Colt snorted. What system? Granny’s organization skills were about as nonexistent as a snowflake in a desert.

Jessie shook her head and moved her lips, but no sound came out. She was obviously putting in her two cents without sounds, giving her facial expressions and the way her hands jerked and she weaved the needle in and out of the material she was holding.

“If Jessie’s feeling up to it, I see no reason why she can’t help out. In case you haven’t noticed, Granny, you’re not a spring chicken anymore.” Colt hung up his hat and took a few steps closer to the table.

“So now you’re siding with her?”

“I’m not taking sides. Goodness gracious, you beat all I’ve ever seen,” Colt pulled out a chair and sat in it, stretching his legs out in front of him.

Granny shook her head and turned back to the stove.

Colt looked over at Jessie, and she gave him a slightly worried look.

She’ll get over it. He mouthed.

She nodded and went back to her sewing.

“What’cha doing?” Colt asked her, leaning his forearms onto the table.

“I’m trying to make these dresses fit. I’m too short for them,” Jessie explained, not taking her eyes off her work.

Colt nodded.

“You’re home early,” Granny pointed out.

“Yeah, we cut it off early today.”

“How’s the house coming along?” Jessie asked.

“It’s coming along. We’ll be done in about two other weeks or so if all goes as planned,” Colt replied.

“Good,” Granny nodded. “It’s about time that old place is done with. You have other things to do besides do that man’s bidding all day.”

“He’s paying me a good deal of money to do this,” Colt defended himself.

“The way I see it, you’re doing just fine with what you have,” Granny told him.

Colt put his head down and bit his tongue.

Just fine won’t buy me my own spread one day.

Jessie glanced over at him, a strange look in her eye. If he didn’t know any better, he would say that he saw guilt there.

Why would she feel guilty?

Whatever it was, it quickly vanished and she set her sewing aside. “I suppose Grace and I need to get started on those curtains for Mrs. Slade soon, don’t we?”

Colt shrugged. “Whatever ya’ll two think.”

“When will you have the windows done?” Jessie asked.

“In the next few days, I reckon,” Colt replied.

Jessie nodded. “I’ll go down there and look at them when you get the done and then we can get started.”

Colt smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

*****

“Nothing here. Just like there was before.” Adam said as he paced the ground.

Myra groaned inwardly at the man’s statement. Though it was true, it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She squeezed her husband’s hand as he sat down beside her around their campfire. She drew strength from his steady touch, and hope from the warmth of his body next to hers. Her heart grew heavy with worry about her daughter.

“She couldn’t have just disappeared off the face of the earth,” she said.

“Well, from the looks of things, she has,” Adam mumbled.

“Don‘t you dare give up on us, Adam. We‘ve got a lot more searching to do.” Myra tried to weave authority into her voice.

“I’m not giving up, Mrs. Steele. We’ve got to be realistic about this.” Adam stopped his pacing just long enough to make his point.

“Maybe that’s what she wanted,” Jake said behind them.

Myra turned. “What?”

“Maybe she wanted to disappear,” Jake explained as if the truth had just been revealed to him.

“What do you mean?” Jacob asked.

“Wherever Jess had gone, she obviously doesn’t want us to know about it. She could have introduced herself in a different name and disguised herself somehow,” Jake told them.

Adam looked at him. “You don’t think I’ve thought of that? No one even remembers a woman by her description. No one that I’ve asked has ever heard of her.”

“This just doesn’t sound right. What led you here if her tracks just stopped here?” Myra asked.

Adam rubbed his face as if he was getting annoyed. “A train ticket. She bought a train ticket to this town.”

“Maybe she got off at another destination,” Myra offered.

“Why would she? There’s no reason for her to do that. The only way I see her doing that is so get to the Arizona area. There’s nothing out that way but desert and cattle ranches.” Adam continued his pacing.
“There’s no reason for her to even leave home. We’ve got to explore all of our options,” Jacob reasoned.

“Fine. You all go out there on your little goose chase. I’ll be right here waiting for something to turn up.”

Myra felt a scowl trying to break through to get on her face, but she refused. If Adam was this careless, then let him be. There was no way she was going to allow Jessie to marry the man after seeing his attitude toward the search for her.

“Have it your way,” Jacob said, standing. “The three of us are leaving in the morning.”

Adam nodded, and stared at Jacob. For the next few seconds, the two men stared at each other, both refusing to look away. Myra sensed the growing hostility building up between their family and Adam and prayed that they would find Jessie soon.

Thanks for reading! Sorry I'm so slow with updates these days. I'm finding that I'm lacking inspiration some days. However, I'm currently reading a really good book and good ideas with inspiration always come from that :D Thank you so much for reading! Tickle that star button up there and give a cowboy his wings! ...

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Yes, I'm aware that sounded weird. Oh well, I'll go with it! Leave a comment down below letting me know what you think and I'd appreciate it SO much! :D