The old friends sat in the falling twilight, enjoying the sounds of the day as nature readied itself for sleep.
With a sigh, Lou leaned her head against the chain of the porch swing, keeping the swing swaying with one foot. Kid looked over at her and smiled. She looked so happy, so content.
“I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to come and visit. I sure have missed you Lou. Jimmy too,” he admitted with far less resentment then he thought he would have felt at his best friend and his former love having gotten married.
Lou reached out a hand, lacing her fingers through his. “We’ve both missed you too, Kid. I was so surprised when we got your letter telling us you were coming. You would have thought it was Christmas all over again with Jimmy carrying on like he did.
I know you two parted on bad terms over the war ‘n all, but he never stopped caring about you. None of us did. Though he never told me, I knew he poured over the reports in the paper each week, searching for news of you.”
Kid’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I don’t know what to say…I thought with the two of us on opposite sides, he wouldn’t care.”
Squeezing his hand, she offered up one of Teaspoon’s favorite sayings. “We’re family. Family does for one another. Always. That included worrying about those that have left our safe and secure home.”
Kid let his mind wander back to the family she was talking about. Good old Teaspoon, wizened man that he was, father to the ragtag bunch of riders whom he became a father figure.
William F. Cody. Brash, flashy, outrageous Cody. Famous scout of the Plains.
Running Buck Cross, or Buck, to his friends. The half-Kiowa who taught all of them so much. On more than one occasion, Buck’s lessons on survival had kept Kid alive during the fighting, for that he was ever grateful.
Rachel Dunne, the replacement cook and big sister to them all. She was vivacious and lively and kept all of them in their place.
Then there was Jimmy. James Butler Hickok, better known in some circles as “Wild Bill”. To those that knew him, he was Jimmy, friend loyal at all costs, willing to ride into hell and back with you if need be. And husband to his former love.
He didn’t forget about Ike McSwain, the bald mute rider who had died trying to save his love, Emily, nor about Noah Dixon, the free black man who had become like a brother to him during their brief friendship.
“Family,” Kid murmured, listening to the voices that were filtering out the window above. He could hear Jimmy’s deep voice as he told their two sons a bedtime story. Every so often, the sound of laughter could be heard, making him grin.
“You have two wonderful sons. I’m amazed at how much they look like both of you. Usually, they take after one or the other parent, but not those two. There’ll be a look or tilt of the head that is all you, at the same time, the jut of the jaw, steely eyes that’s pure Jimmy.”
Lou laughed. “Don’t I know it. I don’t know which is worse, being like me or like Jimmy!”
Sure I think about you now and then But it's been a long long time I've got a good life now I've moved on So when you cross my mind
I try not to think about What might have been 'Cause that was then And we have taken different roads We can't go back again There's no use giving in And there's no way to know What might have been
We could sit and talk about this all night long And wonder why we didn't last Yes they might be the best days We will ever know But we'll have to leave them in the past
Kid chuckled along with her. “Do you ever wonder…” he started to ask and fell silent.
Lou knew what he was going to ask her. “I did, at one time but that was long ago. When you and I broke things off and then you went back to Virginia, I couldn’t help but wonder. After Jimmy returned from doing some scouting for the Army, well, things changed for us.”
At the noise Kid made, Lou’s hackles were raised. “Contrary to what you may think Kid, there was never anything between us while you and I were a couple. We could talk about it all night long but there’s no sense in beating that horse to death now, is there? What’s done is done. We’ve both taken different roads. I have a good life here with Jimmy. We have a family, a good living. Be happy for us, as we are for you with your new life and your family.”
As they lapsed into silence, the light from above went out. “Boys must be asleep,” Lou said quietly.
A few minutes later, Jimmy could be heard coming down the stairs. He opened the screen door and closed it quietly behind him. Settling into a chair not far from the swing he let out a deep sigh.
“Finally!” he stated with a grin. He rested his boot upon the swing, keeping rhythm with Lou’s foot.
“I can’t believe how worn out two boys can make a grown man,” he told his wife and friend.
“Try three girls and a boy,” Kid rolled his eyes, thinking of his brood back in Virginia.
“When are you going to bring them out here to visit?” Lou asked interested in meeting his wife and children that he had told them about over dinner.
Kid untwined his hand from hers and reached into his pocket pulling out a pipe and lighting it. He couldn’t help grinning at the shocked look upon his friend’s faces as he took the first puff.
Blowing out a ring of smoke, he sheepishly offered, “Nasty habit, I know. Picked it up while in the war. As the brining out the family, I’ll have to talk it over with Corin when I get back. I think she’d like visiting. I know she’d get a hoot over Teaspoon. I can’t believe he’s still kicking around and married again!”
They all laughed. Teaspoon sure was something else. At the ripe old age of sixty-nine, he had eloped with a widow woman from the next town over and couldn’t be happier.
The three sat up late into the night, reminiscing about their days as Pony Express riders. Each admitted that those days were some of the best they ever had.
When Jimmy tried to stifle a yawn for the third time, he finally gave up and announced he was heading in to bed.
He held out his hand to Kid, who grasped it happily. “It’s been really good having you here Kid. You shouldn’t have stayed away so long.”
“I know, I know. What can I say? At least I’m here now.”
“That you are, my friend,” Jimmy replied leaning over and kissing his wife on the cheek. “’Night darlin’,” he murmured giving her a wink.
He stopped in the doorway and told them, “Now don’t stay up too late you two, them boys will be up with the sun!”
“You’ve got that right,” Lou told him. Turning to Kid, she mentioned, “They are just like me. Love to watch the sun rise.”
That same old look in your eyes It's a beautiful night I'm so tempted to stay But too much time has gone by We should just say goodbye And turn and walk away
In the moonlight, Lou almost looked the same as she did back when she was his.
He was tempted to reach out and brush her cheek with his hand, but didn’t. Too much time had passed. She was no longer his to hold and he had a wife waiting back home for him whom he loved with all his heart.
It was time to lay to rest any vestiges of their love that may be lingering from the past. He didn’t know how Lou felt about him, but he knew that deep in his heart, she would always have a special place that was all her own.
With a wide yawn, Lou murmured “Goodnight,” and headed off to bed.
And try not to think about What might have been 'Cause that was then And we have taken different roads We can't go back again There's no use giving in And there's no way to know What might have been
Kid watched her go in, at first feeling melancholy over what might have been but then his thought’s turned to what both of them had now and knew that they have chosen the right path for both of them.
Heading in to his own bed, Kid laid down thinking of the bright-eyed girl he used to love so many years ago. As he drifted off to sleep he muttered, “No we'll never know what might have been…”