“See, that’s the whole problem, Lou,” Jimmy said with a tilt of his head as he tried to keep the sun out of his eyes.
“Kid loves you for who he thinks you could be. Me, I love you for who you are.”
Lou remained silent from her perch upon the top rail of the corral as she looked down at him.
They had been discussing the latest fight that Lou and Kid had gotten into over her riding a stretch of the trail that had recently been experiencing trouble with Indians when Jimmy dropped his announcement unexpectedly.
Thoughts raced through Lou’s mind as emotions waged war over her attraction to both her fellow riders. She and Kid had been skirting around anything serious for several months and things just weren’t progressing the way she thought they should have by now.
Ever since the other’s had found out she was a girl, Jimmy had shown he was interested in her in subtle ways with his sidelong glances, a touch that lingered a little too long and just by the way he treated her.
A thrill raced through her as he stood up. The predatory look in his eye made her hands grip the rail tight, unsure of what was going to happen next.
With a devilish grin, Jimmy grabbed her by the waist and swung her off the fence to stand next to him. Her heart pounded as he towered over her, slowly lowering his face to hers, letting his lips linger teasingly upon hers until she thought she’d faint.
When Lou would have deepened the kiss, Jimmy pulled away, his hands still upon her waist.
Seeing the conflicting emotions in her eyes, Jimmy winked at her and turned back to his horse, causing her to stomp her foot in frustration and march off towards the bunkhouse.
Turning so that he could watch her retreating form, he smiled to himself as Lou tossed her arms about arguing with herself. ‘That’ll give her something to think about,’ he told himself and began to whistle happily.
“Hey, Lou. What are you doing?” Kid asked sitting on the step next to her. She’d been leaning against the post, watching Jimmy under hooded eyes. Knowing that Kid wouldn’t like hearing that, she mumbled, “Nothing.”
With a smile, he asked “Want to go into town with me? There’s something at Tompkins’s I’d like to show you.”
Tired of thinking of Jimmy and his kiss, she got up brushing the dirt from her pants. “Sure, why not.”
“Good. I’ll get the horses.”
Lou watched Kid head towards the barn with a spring in his step. ‘Why was he always so darn cheery?’ she asked herself irritated by his good mood.
After Kid brought Lightning and Katy out of the barn she walked over to where he had stopped to talk to Jimmy.
Ignoring both of them, she boosted herself up into the saddle and sat waiting for Kid. When he was finally ready, Jimmy called out to them, “Have a nice time.”
Lou looked at him with narrowed eyes, sure that there was some hidden meaning in his words but not sure what. Jimmy grinned and winked at her again. Flustered, Lou spurred Lightning into a trot, leaving Kid and Katy behind.
After about a mile of silence, Kid asked, “Is there something the matter Lou?”
It wasn’t until he repeated his question that she heard him. “Hmm? What?” Shaking her head, she stammered, “No, nothings wrong Kid. Just a lot on my mind is all.”
Giving her another smile, he mentioned, “Thought you might be interested in some new items Tompkins got in yesterday.”
Trying to be good company, Lou concentrated on what Kid was saying and not what went on back at the station. “What’d he get in that’s got you so fired up?”
Not wanting to spoil his surprise, Kid stated, “You’ll just have to see if for yourself!”
“Kid, Lou,” Mr. Tompkins the storeowner greeted them as they entered. “Anything I can do for you two?” he asked, keeping a close eye on them. Ever since the little one clocked him in the face with a fry pan, he gave all the riders a wide berth.
“We’ll let you know if we do, sir,” Kid told him, steering Lou towards the back of the store where fabric and sewing items were kept.
Confused, Lou asked, “What’d ya want to show me back here?”
Fingering some gingham, Lou longed for a dress of her own.
Pulling her further around the corner out of the shopkeepers view, Kid reached for a dress on the rack.
“Here. I wanted you to see this. When Tompkins put it out yesterday, I thought of you right away. I would have gotten you it then, but didn’t know if you would accept it or not. ‘Sides, I don’t even know if it would fit you.”
Lou’s eyes lit up at the pink dress in his hands. Her fingers flew up to her mouth to stifle the “Oh” that escaped at her surprise. “Kid,” she whispered, “It’s beautiful!”
Keeping his back to where the storekeeper was helping another customer, Kid asked, “Do you think it will fit you?”
Holding the dress up in front of her she assured him. “Sure looks like it. If it’s too big, Emma can help me alter it.”
With a satisfied smile, Kid took the dress from her hands and turned towards the counter.
“Wait!” Lou hissed. “What’s Tompkins gonna think if you go buy that dress?”
“Don’t worry Lou. I got that all figured out already. Just follow me.”
Lou trailed behind him, uneasy about purchasing the dress here in town.
Tompkins eyebrow shot up when Kid laid the dress upon the counter. “I’d like to buy this Mr. Tompkins.”
Before the man could make a snide comment, Kid turned to Lou and asked, “You really think my cousin will like this dress? I mean, what if she don’t like the color or something?”
Lou took his lead and answered back, “What girl doesn’t like a pretty pink frock? Quit worrying. She’ll love it.”
Tompkins took Kid’s money and wrapped the dress up for him. Thanking the man for the package, the two left the store.
“What’s in the package?” Cody asked when they rode into the yard back at the station.
Sliding off her horse, Lou grinned. “You’ll just have to wait and see like the rest of the boys.”
Turning to Kid she looked around the yard to make sure Teaspoon wasn’t about and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Make sure everyone’s at Emma’s in an hour. And make sure they wash!”
“I promised,” Kid called out watching her run to the big house and disappear inside.
“What was that all about?” Jimmy questioned, coming to stand beside Cody.
“Lou’s got a surprise is all. You’ll see in an hour.”
Emma was surprised to see Lou come waltzing through her front door when she called out “Come in” from the kitchen where she was baking a pie.
“Why, Lulabell. What’s got you dancing around like that?”
Putting the package on the table, Lou began opening it at once. “Oh, Emma! Kid bought me this…” she gushed holding up the dress for the woman to see.
“Why, it’s beautiful! You have to show me it on!” Emma mentioned, coming around the table to see it better.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I told Kid to have the others come over in an hour for tea. I thought I could wear it then, like I did at my ‘coming out’ party.”
“Now, why would I mind? Good thing I have one pie baked already. Let’s get you upstairs and see how that dress looks.”
*What’s going on?* Ike asked when Buck called him over to follow the rest of them to Emma’s.
“Yeah, Kid. What’s going on?” Jimmy asked not happy to be kept in the dark about Lou’s surprise.
“Sure hope Emma’s got something to eat,” Cody blurted rubbing his stomach. “I’m starved.”
“Is that all you ever think about?” Jimmy snarled, not liking the smile that hadn’t left Kid’s face since his return from town.
“A man’s gotta keep up his energy so’s he can work,” Cody replied earning him an elbow in the side from Buck who couldn’t help but ask, “What work?”
“Quit arguing!” Kid told them as he knocked on Emma’s door.
“You’re right on time, Kid,” Emma smile ushering the young men into her parlor.
The small table was set with her delicate china cups upon a lace tablecloth. The boys felt a bit uncomfortable in such surroundings, but such thoughts disappeared as Lou came down the steps.
“You look beautiful,” Kid mentioned, thrilled to see that the dress fit like it was made for her.
“Wow!” Cody said, shaking his head to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. “You sure clean up nice, Lou.”
Giggling, Lou smiled. “Thank you, Cody.”
Looking at the others, Lou was satisfied to see them all smiling their approval at her in the dress.
*I can’t get use to seeing you in a dress, Lou. You look so pretty* Ike signed, blushing.
“You sure do look pretty,” Buck stammered, feeling tongue-tied around her dressed as a girl.
The only one who hadn’t said anything was Jimmy. Lou looked over to where he stood behind Kid and was glad Kid couldn’t see the look that flared in his eyes as she held his gaze for a moment before answering something Emma asked her.
The next hour was spent in conversation, drinking tea and eating the pie that Emma had made. The gathering ended when Teaspoon could be heard, out by the barn yelling the rider’s names.
“Guess his nap’s over,” Cody said rushing out the door.
“Better go before he comes over here and sees you in that dress Lou,” Kid said with a shy look.
Panic showed on her face as Jimmy pushed Kid towards the door. “Can’t have that,” Jimmy said looking back at Lou, his eyes dark with desire.
Lou was glad that Emma was in the kitchen so she hadn’t seen the look that passed between the two of them.
Hurrying up the stairs, Lou changed and hung the dress in the closet of Emma’s guest room, next to the other two dresses she owned. The one she’d bought when she went to visit her brother and sister, the other one was from her first tea party as ‘Louise’.
With a smile, she closed the closet and quickly dressed in her male attire and ran out to the barn where Teaspoon was ranting about the lazy riders he had.
In the cool evening twilight, Lou sat on the second step to the bunkhouse, staring up at the stars.
“A new dress, huh?” Jimmy said dropping on the step next to her.
With a little smile, she nodded. “That was nice of Kid, wasn’t it?”
Agreeing, Jimmy kicked at a rock by his foot. “Sure was.” Not wanting to start an argument, he let it go that she accepted a dress from Kid.
“You sure looked pretty in it,” Jimmy mentioned, moving his hand so that his fingers brushed against hers.
“Mmm, thank you…” Lou murmured, letting her fingers lace through his.
They sat in silence listening to the others inside where they were playing cards.
Soon, Cody called out, “You two coming to bed?”
“In a few minutes…” Jimmy yelled back as the door was closed and the others headed off to sleep.
When the noise subsided, Jimmy leaned closer to Lou, letting their arms rest against each other. Lou looked over at him and smiled.
“I can’t figure you out,” she said quietly to him when he looked at her.
“What’s to figure out?” he asked putting his forehead against hers.
“The way you make me feel…” she admitted, confused about her feelings for him and the feelings she had for Kid.
“As long as I make you feel,” he whispered kissing her.
When he ended the kiss, he stood up without another word and went inside the bunkhouse, leaving Lou confused and a little overwhelmed.
Settling himself in his bunk, Jimmy put his hands behind his head thinking of the woman he’d just left sitting on the steps. A grin formed upon his lips as he closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
Lou crept into the quite bunkhouse sometime later and quietly climbed into her bunk, making sure she didn’t wake Kid who was sleeping on the bottom bunk.
Looking over the room lit by the moon, she could see Jimmy sleeping in his bunk. With a sigh she turned towards the wall, thoughts of him and Kid racing through her mind.
The next morning a grumpy Lou pushed her food around her plate, not eating.
“Something wrong Lou?” Emma asked as she poured coffee for the boys.
“Hmm? Oh, no, Emma. Just not hungry is all,” she said, then asked if she could be excused.
Once Lou had went outside, Cody looked over at Lou’s plate longingly. “Since Lou ain’t hungry, Emma, can I have his food?” he practically begged.
With a laugh, Emma set the coffee pot back on the stove. “You may as well, William. Shame for all that food to go to waste.”
“No worry about that Emma,” Jimmy piped up, “With Cody around food will never be wasted!”
“You got that right,” Cody said, piling Lou’s food upon his plate.
“Wonder what’s up with Lou,” Kid stated looking at the others.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Lou, Kid. He can take care of himself,” Jimmy told him with a sly grin. He had a feeling that Lou hadn’t had such a restful night after he kissed her but wasn’t about to announce that to the whole room.
Thinking that hard work would take her mind off her men troubles, Lou decided to muck out all the stalls in the barn so she tied the horses to the corral fence and went at it.
By the time the rest of riders came out of the bunkhouse the wagon was loaded with manure that needed to be dumped. Handing her pitchfork to Cody, who wrinkled his nose in distaste, she ignored the knowing look Jimmy gave her and told them, “I’m taking a break. You decide who’s going to dump the wagon.”
Jimmy laughed at the look on Cody’s face when he tried to hand the pitchfork to him. “I don’t think so Cody. Lou gave it to you. Now it’s your problem!”
“Aw, come on Hickok!” Cody whined, but Jimmy was already running to catch up with Teaspoon who was on his way over to Emma’s house.
“Kid? Buck? What about you two?” Cody cried, his eye pleading with the two remaining riders, since Ike was out on a run.
Buck threw up his hands and backed away as Kid told him with a grin, “Buck and me got to go into town for supplies. You heard Emma say so at breakfast. Looks like it’s all yours Cody.”
Grumbling under his breath, Cody stripped off his shirt, hanging it on the fence post. “At least I ain’t gonna ruin my new shirt!” he declared not noticing Sampson, who was in the corral come over and pull the shirt into the dirt where he proceeded to lay down upon it.
“Emma, are there any biscuits left?” Lou asked having washed her hands and was getting herself a drink of cold water from the pump by the sink.
Emma sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose at the odor wafting from the girl. Nodding towards the towel-covered bowl, she asked, “Want to talk about it?”
Pulling a chair from the table, Lou sat down and took a bite of the biscuit while Emma finished washing the dishes.
With a deep sigh, she poured out what was on her mind.
“I don’t know what to do Emma. I feel like I’m being pulled in two directions.”
Emma waited patiently for her to explain what she was talking about.
“On one hand there’s Kid. On the other, Jimmy…” Emma nodded in understanding at Lou’s confession. She’d noticed the way Jimmy was looking at Lou lately and wondered how long he was going to keep quiet about his feelings.
Pacing in front of the stove, Lou threw up her hands. “I don’t know what to do Emma! I thought I wanted to be with Kid. Now, I’m not so sure…”
Drying her hands on a towel, Emma gestured towards the table, “Why don’t we sit down a spell so we can talk some more about this?”
Lou took Teaspoon’s chair, resting her chin upon her hand, despair written all over her face.
Emma clucked in sympathy for what the girl was going through. It wasn’t easy having one man interested in you, let alone two. What made it even harder is that both men not only worked with her but also lived in the same house as her.
“I take it, something’s happened with Jimmy?”
“He kissed me. Not once, but twice!” Lou stammered, flustered just thinking about the kisses.
“And you liked it?” Emma ventured a guess by the look on Lou’s face.
She had to force herself not to smile when Lou grumbled, “Yeah.”
“Oh, Lulabell. I wish I could make this easy on you, but I can’t tell you whom to choose. Kid and Jimmy are as different as day is to night. I do know one thing though, that they both have in common,” Emma said with a wink when Lou raised her eyes to her.
“They both care for you a great deal and they both want you to be happy.”
“I care about them both too. That’s my whole problem. I care about BOTH of them more than I should.”
With tears in her eyes, Lou asked, “How do I choose, Emma?”
“I can’t answer that Lou. Only you can. I do have a question though. “Does Kid know about Jimmy?”
“I guess not. He hasn’t picked a fight with him and you know he would if he knew Jimmy kissed me.”
“That does make things a bit more difficult.”
Emma pondered the situation a moment before suggesting, “First thing that you need to do, is let Kid know somehow, so that he and Jimmy don’t kill each other by him thinking Jimmy’s trying to steal you from him. I’m not sure how you should go about that.”
Emma patted Lou’s hand in encouragement. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to do it diplomatically. Then I would spend time with both of them, to explore your feelings and see who you think you prefer being with.”
Spreading her hands on the table in front of her, Emma smiled slightly. “I know that isn’t going to be easy, especially with Kid. He’s always been suspicious of your and Jimmy’s friendship.”
Standing up from the table, Emma gave one last piece of advice before heading back to her house to see if Teaspoon had fixed the backdoor yet. “I would make it clear to both of them that they aren’t to pressure you and in the end, the decision is yours. Just remember, you have to be happy with your choice. Don’t have doubts or they will ruin a relationship with either of them.”
Lou watched Emma leave, wondering how to tell Kid that Jimmy was interested in her and that she was having doubts about the two of them.
How to let Kid know about Jimmy presented itself later in the day. When Jimmy returned from a ride early afternoon, he pulled Lou off to the side of the barn to give her something he’d picked up for her.
“What do you want Jimmy? I was busy helping Buck shoe his horse.”
Jimmy smiled and let drop from his hand to hang on a finger, a necklace with a beautiful gold cross on the chain. “This is for you.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said touched by his gift.
“Here, let me put it on for you,” he suggested undoing the clasp.
Lou turned around, her heart leaping as his fingers brushed the nape of her neck while putting the necklace on her.
She touched the cross with her fingertips, and then looked up at him.
“Thank you. I’ve never had something so nice…”
Happy that he could bring a smile to her face with his gift, he told her, “I wanted to make sure you were being watched over when we aren’t together.”
Knowing that Jimmy wasn’t very religious, Lou was surprised at his choice of words. “Oh, Jimmy!” she gushed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him heartily.
They broke apart, hesitantly when Buck called out, “Lou? Hey, Lou. Could you come here and help me hold this for a minute?”
Blushing, Lou touched the cross at her neck, then tucked it into her shirt. Smiling she touched Jimmy’s arm. “Thank you,” she murmured and turned with a little skip to go help Buck.
Whistling merrily, Jimmy slapped his gloves against his leg as he headed into the bunkhouse.
Seeing him in such a good mood, Cody who was sitting in the shade of the bunkhouse porch called out, “Hey Jimmy, you in love or somethin’?” then laughed at the idea of the hothead falling for anyone.
Not letting Cody’s needling get to him, Jimmy winked and told him, “Or something,” and disappeared into the bunkhouse.
He heard a loud thump as Cody fell over backwards in his chair, mouth gaping that he may be right for once.
Teaspoon was still in town at dinnertime, so Emma told the boys they would start without him and that they should sit down to eat.
As Lou leaned over the table to pass the bowl of mashed potatoes, the cross slipped out of the neck of her shirt, swinging freely where everyone could see it.
“What a pretty necklace,” Emma told her sitting down in Teaspoon’s seat to eat. “Is it new?”
Blushing, Lou tucked it back in her shirt and looked guiltily towards Kid. Kid was looking at her with mild curiosity as he took a bite of peas.
“I gave it to her,” Jimmy stated matter of fact. He wasn’t afraid for everyone to know that he had given Lou the necklace.
“How nice of you,” Emma told him, looking back and forth between him and Lou, who peeked at him from where she sat. “Best not let Mr. ‘Spoon see it though.”
Lou nodded in agreement as Jimmy winked at her and blushed.
At Jimmy’s admission, Kid sat motionless for a moment, wondering what was going on between him and Lou. His eyes narrowed as he watched the two throughout the rest of the dinner.
“I’ll go get those sheets off the line for you now Emma,” Lou spoke up as the boys started helping clear the dinner table.
“You can leave them in the basket on the porch for me. I’ll get them when I’m done here,” Emma told her with a thankful smile.
Setting an empty platter in the sink, Kid turned toward Emma. “If you don’t need anything else, Emma, I’ll just go help Lou with those sheets.”
Knowing that Kid was itching to ask Lou about the cross, Emma nodded to him. “I think the rest of the boys can handle things in here. You just run along.”
Lou was at the far end of the clothesline unpinning a sheet when Kid came up behind her making her jump. The sheet would have ended up on the ground if Kid hadn’t grabbed it.
“You just about scared me to death, Kid,” Lou admonished, reaching for the sheet and folding it.
From the serious look upon his face, Lou knew what he was about to say.
“What’s with the cross Lou? Why’s Jimmy giving you jewelry?”
She stood still, clutching the sheet to her chest, not sure what to say to him.
“What’s going on?” he asked a touch of anger in his voice.
“It’s just a necklace, Kid,” Lou offered feebly, knowing it was much more than that.
“Why, are you jealous?” she teased trying to lighten the mood he was in.
Head whipping around to look her in the eye, Kid admitted, “Of Jimmy? You’re damned right I am!”
“As you should be…” a familiar voice said from the step of Emma’s back porch where Jimmy sat, causing them both to jump.
Arms on knees, hat tilted back watching the two of them, Jimmy leaned back on his elbows and continued speaking in an even tone. “You ain’t the only one who’s got feelin’s for Lou and I’m through sitting back and letting you have her all to yourself.”
Kid’s fist curled in anger, ready to strike out at the other man. Lou grabbed his arm before he could go after Jimmy. “Don’t Kid,” she pleaded.
Looking down at her and then over at Jimmy, he demanded, “Tell him you want to be with me Lou. Go on, tell him…”
When she remained silent, his arm dropped limply to his side as he stared at her. “Why can’t you tell him you want to be with me Lou?”
Biting her lip, Lou gulped looking back and forth between both men. Kid’s pleading eyes and Jimmy’s devilish grin confronted her. Closing her eyes she whispered loudly, “I just can’t.”
“Oh, God! Don’t tell me…you and him?!” Kid sneered swinging away from her.
Looking over at Jimmy he snarled, “I aught to kill you right now…”
Sitting up, Jimmy’s eyes narrowed. “Take your best shot,” he said coldly.
Lou showed false bravado as she stepped between the two men. “Nobody’s killing anybody! Now, Kid,” she said with more calm than she felt. “You and I aren’t actually seeing each other. We’ve just been spendin’ some time together. Well, I’d like to spend some time with Jimmy too!”
“What?” he asked incredulously. “What do you mean you want to spend time with him too? I thought you like me.”
“Well, I do like you, Kid. But I like Jimmy too.”
Jimmy’s smug look at her statement didn’t sit well with Kid who turned and demanded to know how she could like them both.
“I just do. Maybe, after spending some time with each of you, I will know if I like one more than the other.”
Kid laughed in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding! What, are you going to take turns going out with us or something?”
“Well,” she hemmed and hawed, “That’s kind of what I had thought of doing.”
Kid looked over at Jimmy to see what his reaction was to Lou’s suggestion. Jimmy just shrugged saying, “Fine with me.”
Kid threw up his hands. “You two have got to be crazy! Why on earth would I want to share you with him?” Looking over at Jimmy he asked, “Why would you want to share her with me?”
“If that’s how Lou wants it for now, I’ll give it a try,” was all Jimmy said.
Kid rolled his eyes. “I won’t be a part of this… this is crazy! You deserve each other!” he scowled, then stomped off.
“I’d say he took that real well,” Jimmy said sarcastically.
Giving him a dirty look, Lou folded another sheet. “You didn’t help any.”
“What was I suppose to do?” he grumbled, picking up the full basket of sheets and following her around the front of the house with it.
“I can’t say I’m not glad that Kid didn’t go for your suggestion. In fact, I’m glad he didn’t like it, because,” he grabbed her around the waist and turned her to face him, “I want you all to my self.”
Butterflies formed in her stomach as she gazed into Jimmy’s eyes. Licking her lips in nervousness only drew his attention to her mouth. His eyes turned smoldering as he head came down, lips capturing hers.
As they broke apart, Lou’s legs were wobbly, causing her to cling to Jimmy’s arm for support. ‘Never had any kiss with Kid made her feel like that,’ she thought.
Smiling up at him, Lou was glad that she no longer had to make a choice between the two friends. ‘After that kiss, there’s no doubt who I would have chosen in the end…’