"I'll talk to her. She doesn't know how lonely it can get way out here, and driving back and forth into town alone isn't such a good idea either." Jessie huffed out a breath. "Not until she can shoot a little bit better than she can right now."

"There's a couple of the boys I would trust to keep an eye on things here, if she stays."

"That's good." Jessie settled her hat low on her brow. "But not just yet."

Jed stared past Jessie to the foothills that rose into the mountains on the far-distant border of the Rising Star. The mountains, timeless and indestructible, provided a kind of comfort as they loomed above them, an anchor in the wide, wild country around them. He'd ridden the line for weeks at a time out there, never seeing another soul. He'd never been lonely. He'd forgotten that for all Jessie was capable of doing as good as any man, she wasn't one. "You never said."

"Never said what?" Jessie asked quizzically.

"That you were lonely."

Jessie heard the bit of hurt in his voice and smiled. "It's one of those things you don't know you are until you aren't anymore." She glanced up toward the house and saw Kate come out the kitchen door.

"And now I'm not."

v Kate carried the washbasin to the side of the porch and poured the rinse water over the rail onto the wildflowers that were just beginning to break through the hard-packed crust. May mornings in Montana were cold, and she hadn't intended more than a very brief trip outside.

Then she saw Jessie across the yard with her back to one of the corral gates talking to Jed. There was something in the way Jessie stood that caught Kate's attention. The first time she'd seen Jessie, Jessie had been walking down the street in town, and Kate had taken her for one of the cowboys who seemed to be everywhere. It had only taken her a moment of watching to realize that Jessie was not a man, and from that instant on, she'd loved to look at her. She liked nothing better than to view Jessie through the lens of her camera, capturing her unique combination of beauty and strength forever. She could tell Jessie's moods by the way she walked, by the way she tilted her hat, by the way she hooked her thumbs over the wide belt of her holster. Jessie was the only person she knew whose body and spirit were so intimately one.

Kate flushed hot, thinking about lying with Jessie, knowing that when Jessie touched her, it was from the heart.

"Kate?" Jessie stood at the bottom of the steps looking up, wondering at the faraway expression in her lover's eyes. "You'll freeze out here."

Kate smiled secretly. "Not when I have my thoughts to keep me warm."

Jessie took the stairs in two long strides and slid her arm around Kate's waist. "You can do your thinking just as well inside." She drew Kate along with her and into the kitchen and then checked to see that the stove had enough wood.

"Is there some trouble?" Kate asked.

Jessie carefully replaced the lid on the top of the cast-iron stove and turned. Kate stood by the counter, drying dishes and watching her expectantly. "What makes you think so?"

"I saw you with Jed. You had that look you get when there's something serious going on."

"No trouble," Jessie said, at least none that she was certain of. "One of the men was worried that the herd was scattering in the high country."

That part was true enough. She didn't see the point in discussing what might be the cause. Not when it would be sure to worry Kate.

Kate put down the dish towel. "And?"

"I need to see about it."

"When do you need to go?"

"If Jed and I get started today, we'll be there by first light tomorrow."

"You'll ride all night?" Kate asked as nonchalantly as she could.

"We'll overnight somewhere on the way. Rest the horses. Besides, a night ride's too hard on them if you don't have to do it."

As capable as Kate knew her lover to be, she hated to think about her sleeping on the cold ground in wild country that Kate had never seen. She had to remind herself that Jessie had been doing this since she was a young girl. And she wouldn't be alone. Jed would be with her.

"I'll help you get ready. Tell me what you'll need."

"Kate," Jessie said, clasping both her hands. "I didn't plan to be away so soon after you came."

"You couldn't have predicted this." Kate kissed Jessie softly. "I'll make up some food."

"I would consider it a great favor to me if you would stay in town until I come back."

"Jessie," Kate said, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Didn't we talk about this just this morning?"

"I know," Jessie said, releasing Kate's hands and sliding her arms around her. "And you said that we should talk about things, so that's what I'm doing. It's too soon, Kate. You're not used to being here yet."

"I know how to cook, so I won't starve. I know where the well is and how to drop a bucket into it. I know where the chickens roost, how to feed them, and how to collect the eggs." Kate sighed. "I don't know about milking the cows, though."

"It's easy. I'll teach you." Jessie grinned and rubbed her cheek against Kate's hair. "That was on my list of things to do this morning, but somehow, I got waylaid."

"I'm not complaining about that," Kate murmured, kissing Jessie's throat. "I'm sure one of the men will milk the cows for me."

"It will only be for a few days." Jessie tightened her hold. "I don't want to ride out of here worrying."

"Oh, how unfair for you to say that." Kate smoothed her hand back and forth over Jessie's chest. Jessie would never realize how she felt each time Jessie rode out somewhere, even when there was no danger. She would never forget that Jessie had been brought back one morning shot and close to death. It was a horror Kate never wanted to relive. Nor, she thought with a sigh, would she wish that kind of worry upon her lover. "My mother has been wanting me to have dinner there and spend the night. The day after tomorrow is her sewing circle, and I'd enjoy seeing some of my friends." She freed herself from Jessie's arms and stepped back, keeping hold of one of her hands. "I'll stay here tonight and go into town before dark tomorrow. Then I'll stay the next day for the sewing circle and that night, too. I'll be home the same day you will."

Jessie knew from the tone of Kate's voice that no amount of arguing would change her mind. And, when she considered it, it seemed fair. It wasn't entirely what she wanted, which was to have Kate always protected, if not by her, by her parents. But she'd always known that Kate was her own woman. She loved her for her fire and her fierce independence. She wouldn't want her to be any different now. "I want one of the men to drive in with you."

Kate wanted to resist. Eventually she would need to be able to come and go on her own. She did not want to be a prisoner at the ranch, and even more importantly, she wanted to be a real partner to Jessie.

But there would be time for that, and she could not add to the worry that clouded Jessie's eyes. She caressed Jessie's cheek and nodded. "Until I've proven to you just what a good shot I'll be. Now let me help you get ready to go."

"Thank you," Jessie whispered.

Kate smiled. "You never have to thank me for loving you."

v "You can put that on the dresser over there, Billy," Mae said to the wide-eyed boy who carried a cloth-covered tray of food. He colored hotly and tried desperately not to look around her bedroom, which was visible just beyond her sitting area. Mae smothered a smile and wondered how long it would be until he was sneaking in the back door at night to visit one of her girls down the hall. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, ma'am," he said as he stared at the floor and backed toward the door. The sound of feminine laughter coming toward him down the hall made him break into a sweat. He sidled past the two young women who were on their way into the room. They were dressed in things that he'd certainly never seen his sisters or any other young ladies in town wearing. He wasn't even sure they were dresses.

Mae chuckled at the sound of his footsteps clattering hurriedly away. "It's hard to believe there's a man alive as innocent as that one."

"Won't last much longer," Sissy said bitterly. She'd been around long enough to know what young boys turned into. At twenty she was one of the veterans among the girls. She eyed the bottle of good whiskey next to the food. "Looks like you're doing some fancy entertaining."

Annie, a plump redhead, eyed Mae eagerly. She was fifteen and still young enough to believe that she would save her money, move away, and make a new start. "Oh, that smells so good. Who's coming?"

She lowered her voice, although there was no one who could have heard. "Is it Mr. Mason from the bank?"

"Lord, I wouldn't put on a spread for him," Mae said, feigning horror. "I'm just having a little get-to-know-you dinner with the new doctor in town."

"Is he handsome?" Annie enthused.

Sissy snorted. "Like that matters once the lights are out. What matters is how much he's got in his wallet."

"Now don't you two start in," Mae scolded good-naturedly. "And the doctor is a she." Mae tilted her head as if considering. "And quite handsome."

"Oh, that sounds so exciting," Annie said. "A woman. I never heard of such a thing."

"And handsome, you say?" Sissy looked intrigued. "Don't be keeping her all to yourself then. Let us have a look."

"Since she's going to be taking over for Doc Melbourne, you'll get your chance to meet her," Mae said sharply, noting the predatory gleam in Sissy's eye. She wasn't at all certain that she wanted Vance at the mercy of some of her charges. She knew that the other side of loneliness was need, and Vance Phelps looked to have a lot of both.