Josiah walked past the saloon, and it was quiet. The previous nights events hadn't ended long ago, the patrons of the establishment were no doubt passed out in their beds by now. He knew without a doubt who many of those men would be. His comrades, no doubt. The other six men who had come together in a moment of seeming fate to tame this small town and along the way had become friends.
"Josiah!" He knew that voice. It belonged to the lovely Mrs. Gloria Potter. She stood outside the telegraph office, waving at him. He went over to her. "My Steven is coming to visit!" Her excitement was contagious. "My boy is coming to visit!"
"Mrs. Potter, " he greeted. "Thats wonderful. Wheres he coming from?"
Gloria settled a bit, her body reminding her of her age. Josiah offered his hand and helped her down the steps. "He's at school in Chicago. Oh, I havent seen him in almost a year. He's a bright boy." As Mrs. Potter rattled on and on, Josiah walked her down the street, listening to the woman he considered to be one of the most gentle and beautiful souls on the face of the earth.
A few blocks down, she said farewell to Josiah and went toward the general store. He walked down the street, aiming toward the church. Coming toward him, he saw a familiar figure.
"Sam," Josiah greeted the young woman as they met on the walk. He hadn't spoken to her in quite a long time. It was nice to see her out and mingling with the townsfolk again, though his heart lurched for a moment at the sight of the blue bruise she had acquired two days ago in an unfortunate moment with her father, Buck Wilmington.
"Hello Josiah," she replied, smiling at him. One by one the citizens of Four Corners were coming around and letting her back into their lives. In the past two days, she'd reconnected with Vin Tanner and Nathan Jackson, and now Josiah. Like Buck was always saying, the winds blew the clouds parted and the sun was coming out. Slowly, but still coming out. "Where are you headed?"
He indicated the church. Sam nodded.
"I actually just came from there," she said. "It looks gorgeous. You've done a wonderful job."
Josiah knew she was right. For the past two years, or more probably, he'd been working to restore the church, and now it was very nearly done.
"Thank you," he said. "May I ask what your business in the church was?" His natrual instincts were to help everyone, and if anyone in town needed help lately it was those of the Wilmington bloodline.
Sam blushed a little, and dropped her voice. "With JD leaving, I didn't know what else to do besides pray. The church seemed like the best place for that."
Josiah smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes there's nothing else you can do. I hear a few members of the community are welcoming you back again."
Sam beamed. "Vin and Nathan. It's a huge relief. Granted, I wish Buck would stop being such a jackass about everything, but I'll take the friends I can get. "
He embraced the girl. "Its good seeing you on the streets again. Despite his bullheadedness, Buck wants to forgive."
Sam nodded. "I hope you're right."
They seperated and went their ways, the sun shining a little brighter for both.
Four Corners was indeed a dusty little town, even early in the morning. The citizens in general were not people of great wealth or high society. Though Josiah Sanchez assumed that would all change when the railroad came into the town, bringing even more Easterners to the so called untamed west. As he walked down the one road in the one horse town, he looked at the few souls already awake and going about thier business. The people whose faces he recognized. There was Virgil, who ran the General Store, sweeping the dirt out of his store. Mary Travis, the lovely blonde widow who ran the Clarion news, was talking to Elliot Drake as he clutched his sleeping one year old son to him.
Maude Standish could barely contain her excitement, and this was a woman who had tricks in her pocket and things up her sleeve every moment. Not much excited her anymore. But today, today she was going to make a difference in two people's lives. One of them was her dear son, Ezra. Only, he didn't know it yet.
"Darlin," she said, sweeping into the hotel where Ezra was conversing with Edmund Reys, the pianist. "Good Morning."
Ezra was stunned, it was not his mothers customary habit to wake before early afternoon. Of course, she was a night owl. As she kissed his cheek quickly, he looked at her. "You're awake about four hours before normal. Something special on the horizon, I assume?"
"If only you knew..." she said, teasingly, and went upstairs. "Dont you dare miss that coach today."
If only she'd realize he was a grown man now, and perfectly capable of running the hotel without her assistance. "Mother, I have never missed the morning coach."
Maude nodded. "And I'm proud of you for that. But don't let today be the first time." Dramatically, she swept up the stairs and out of sight.
"Whats so special about the coach today?" Edmund asked.
Shrugging, Ezra looked at the virtuoso. "If only I knew..."
"Was that Maude I just saw?" Sam asked as she walked into the hotel.
"Is someting going on that I don't know about?" Ezra asked her. "Yes, that was my mother, she's been up apparently for hours in anticipation of the coach. And you never emerge in the morning until ten minutes before the coach arrives. What's going on?" Women, he thought. Magical, sensual, brilliant, and confusing as any creature on earth could ever be.
Sam shrugged. "If only I knew.."
When the coach in question rounded the corner into Four Corners, Ezra and Sam were both present and anticipating whatever this secret Maude had been referencing all morning could be.
"This better be good," Sam muttered, and although she hadn't meant for him to hear it, Ezra nodded. He compeltely agreed.
"Well, just in time!" Maude exclaimed as she came out to join them just as the coach stopped in front of the hotel. The three proprietors approached it.
Ezra opened the coach door and as he helped out a tiny old man he looked at Sam with a raised eyebrow. Then he got the biggest shock of his life when a familiar voice shreiked excitedly.
"Ezra!" Looking up, he saw the beaming face of the beautiful Catherine Barnes looking at him. He helped her down the from the coach, and before her feet were on the ground she was embracing him. His head was spinning. Catherine was back in Four Corners?
Sam glanced at Maude, who looked highly pleased with herself. So this was the big surprise.
Catherine seperated from Ezra, whose face still expressed his crazy bewilderment at the event. She turned to Maude.
"Welcome darlin," Maude greeted warmly, embracing the red haired woman. "You look wonderful!" And it was true, Catherine was dressed like Mary Travis, and looked very much like a lady.
"And Sam!" Obviously Catherine was ecstatic to see everyone. Sam had helped her so much during the scheme that had introduced Catherine to all of them, she was glad to see the young woman. "How are you?"
"No," Sam replied. "The question is how are you? You do, you look wonderful."
"I feel wonderful," Catherine replied, pulling away from Sam and addressing all three of them. "I'm so exicted to be back, and I can't wait to start working again."
Ezra blanked. "Working?" What on earth could she mean?
Catherine nodded excitedly. "At the dress shoppe."
"We have a dress shoppe?" Sam asked. She'd been living in Four Corners for almost two years, there had never been a dress shoppe. Ezra shrugged when she looked at him. They both realized at the same moment who was behind all this, and looked at Maude.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Maude asked. "I'm turning Victoria's hotel into a dress shoppe. She sold it to me for a remarkable price. I've already got orders out to several wonderful stores for fabrics and supplies. Catherine has a knack for sewing, I figured why not kill two birds with one stone, bring her back and start a new business that this town can use at the same time?"
Sam nodded. "Brilliant."
Ezra agreed, though he hated admitting it. Maude looked at him for approval, which he granted. Then she jumped back into action
"Well now, Ezra, why don't you help Catherine get settled into her room? I've saved the rose room for you, darling." Maude basically pushed Ezra and Catherine inside the hotel, then turned to Sam.
Looking down at the young woman, Maude felt a pang of guilt. She didn't know if the rumors about Sam and Ezra had any basis in truth, and she didn't care to find out. As much as she respected and even in some way loved Sam, the idea of Sam and Ezra together would simply never work.
"Sam," she spoke softly. "For the next few days I am going to be extremely busy, as are Catherine and Ezra, getting the dress shoppe up and running. I've noticed you are a very capable businesswoman, a trait I admire. So basically I'm asking you if, for the next few days while we're all indisposed, you would be able to take over the hotel management."
The idea was exciting. Maude putting her trust in Sam on something this big seemed like a great challenge, and surely it would take her mind off of the Buck fiasco.
Sam nodded confidently. "Shouldn't be a problem."
A big smile from Maude was her payback. "Good. I know you'll do a fabulous job. I think this dress shoppe is going to be a big success, for those of us involved in building it and for the town. Women as lovely as you shouldn't have to miss out on the latest fashions just because you're stuck out here in some dusty little town."
Sam laughed as Maude made a face and went back into the hotel.
Maude kept her word, and for the next two days she, Ezra, and Catherine were running to and from the one-time ex-hotel to the new Maude's Dress Shoppe, which was coming together quickly. The hotel rooms above the hotel would be lived in by Catherine, and the other two were to be rented out to respectable women who would be hired as seamstresses. Maude wired to some nearby towns and soon found two perfect candidates, who were to arrive the next week.
Sam ran the hotel as though she'd been doing it for years. The guests were smiling, entertained, and comfortable. Several times over the course of those two days Sam found herself feeling like an adult. Her eighteenth birthday was coming up soon, and it was starting to feel like she was becoming a woman.
Maude conducted one of her business "meetings" with Ezra in the saloon. The two sat at a corner table, far from the ruckus of gamblers, drinkers, and other male activities. Josiah saw Ezra excuse himself and took that as his opportunity to get close to Maude.
"This seat taken?" he asked. She looked up at him and smiled half-heartedly, not really paying attention.
"Its yours if you want it," she said. "I'm afraid I won't be much company. Starting a business takes my attention somewhere else."
Josiah saw the map of the town spread across the table. Circled were the hotel, the dress shoppe, and the saloon. He looked at her with amazement. "You aimin' to run this town, Maude?"
She slammed her whiskey. Though she found Josiah to be a handsome and humorous man, her mind was whirling with this brand new brilliant scheme.
"This town has unlimited potential," she explained simply. "With the right person behind it, pushing things where they need to be, it could be a new center of progress in the west."
Josiah looked around. "What makes you think the people of Four Corners want that?"
Maude gave a cold laugh. "This country, these territories, everything is expanding. Progress is inevitable, it doesnt matter what the people think."
He leaned in and spoke quietly to her. "Has anyone ever told you that money isn't everything?" He dropped his hat over the map, forcing her to look at him.
Not one to back down, Maude spoke in a quiet but hard voice. "I have been told that many times, Josiah. I disagree. When you've been as low as I've been, when you've sold your body and soul for money to feed your children, when you've watched one of your babies die in your arms because you couldn't afford a doctor, then you can tell me money isnt everything and I may reconsider my position."
"I'm sorry," he said, and he was. "I didn't know. I'm very sorry."
She shook her head. "I don't want any man feeling sorry for me."
"I don't feel sorry for you," he said. "I'm sorry that bad things have happened to you. However, you are a magnificent and resilient woman, I would be a fool to feel sorry for you."
He took her hand, which was clutching the bottle of whiskey, and kissed it. Then he stood up and left, leaving Maude silenced behind.
As Catherine and Ezra renovated the hotel into a dress shoppe, they talked. And laughed. And Ezra found those old feelings stirring again deep inside him. Catherine was so many things, and one of them was simply...perfect. He wasn't enough of a fool to think Maude hadn't intended to reunite the two of them in the hopes that they would find that attraction to each other still strong. It seemed to be working.
She told him about the past year, how she'd been working in a general store in Oklahoma. How she'd been able to leave behind her past indiscretions, mainly being a "working" woman. Catherine felt better than ever, she was finally the person she wanted to be, leading the sort of life she'd always wanted.
Except for one thing. She wanted Ezra as part of her life.
He'd once shown her such incredible kindness, seen past her occupation and gotten to know the woman inside. It was his influence that had gotten her away from that life and into the new one she loved so much.
"Well," Ezra said after they had moved some cabinets around for more room. "I can see this shoppe coming together already." He wiped the dust from the cabinets off on a towel, then turned to Catherine. "It really is wonderful to have you back."
Her smile was music to him. "Its wonderful to be back with you again," she said.
They locked eyes and there was a moment of total silence. Then Ezra offered his arm and they exited the ex-hotel.
Catherine had a dinner engagement with Mary Travis to talk about advertising for the shoppe and more personal matters (the two women were good friends) so Ezra led her back to the hotel to freshen up. When he arrived, he saw Sam in the office, looking as much like a businesswoman as Mary did.
"My dear," he said, coming into the office and coming around the desk to remove his lucky cards from the desk. "Looks like you are quite the hotel proprietor. This place is booming."
Sam didn't look up from the record books she was pouring over. "I am not about to let your mother down, Ezra."
He rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of the desk. "A piece of advice, darling. Trying to please my mother is a hopeless pursuit. No matter what you do, she'll find fault. Trust me, I've been dealing with her my entire life."
Just then, Maude walked into the hotel and looked around. The guests were jovial, the music was playing and there were about six more patrons than normal. Leaving the place in Sam's hands was obviously a good decision on her part.
"Samantha," she gushed as she made her way into the office. "Darling, I must commend you. You've done a positively brilliant job!" Maude looked at Ezra. "Have you seen all the people out there? Its astounding."
Sam looked up at Ezra and raised an eyebrow. "Hopeless?"
Maude heard the comment, and figured she knew where it had come from, but chose to ignore it. Instead, she walked toward the window. "I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you both my newest plan."
"You mean besides the dress shoppe?" Sam asked, preparing for the worst. She knew the Standishes, there were always schemes in the air.
"I've figured everything out," Maude presented grandly. "The Hotel is booming, the Dress Shoppe opens next week and is just bound to be a success. Why, just this morning Mary recieved eight telegrams from women around the neighboring towns asking about it. There's already a waiting list. But, the biggest business in town is the saloon."
"Mother, you're not telling us anything we don't already know," Ezra looked at her with a quizzical look.
Maude grinned. "I bought the saloon."
Sam and Ezra both stood up.
"Pardon me?" Ezra hoped he'd heard wrong. He'd wanted to own the saloon for so long. Once upon a time, briefly, he had owned it, but due to Maude's interference it had gone under and he'd sold it to Doyle, then focused all his attentions on the hotel.
Maude stepped toward them and laid out her plan. "Catherine will run the dress shoppe. Sam, you've shown you're perfectly capable of running this hotel. Ezra, darling, I know you want the saloon back. This is your chance."
"Mother," Ezra wondered aloud. "Its not like you to do things for others without some benefit to yourself guaranteed. What are you going to get out of this scheme?"
"I will serve as a sort of President of all three properties. You will be the managers, with near-total freedom to run them as you please," Maude explained carefully. "This town could be so much, if it was only forced in the right direction. I'm determined to do that."
Ezra couldn't talk, he just sat back down on the desk. Behind him, Sam nodded.
"Alright," she agreed. When Maude's face lit up, she knew she'd done the right thing.
Looking over his shoulder at her, Ezra thought she was losing her mind. Then he saw the happiness on his mothers face, and found himself nodding also.
Maude practically squealed and embraced them both. "I'd love to stay, darlings, but I have a very important dinner engagement with Mr. Watson, who owns the general store."
"You're not thinking of buying that too, are you?" Sam asked, doubtfully.
Laughing, Maude headed for the door. "Not yet."
"Well," Ezra said. "Catherine is having dinner with Mrs. Travis. If you want, I can watch this place for the rest of the night. Give you some time away from here. You've been cooped up in here all day, I bet you can't wait to get outside."
Sam thought about it. Yes, she wanted to ride Echo somewhere. She wanted to gallop across the fields for a little while. Feeling like an adult was hindering, she was finding.
"I think I'll take you up on that," she replied.
Buck was guarding the jail for the evening, seated in the rocking chair outside. There was a violent drunk inside who had tried to fight some newcomers in the saloon. He'd been dealt with quickly by an expert blow to the head from Josiah Sanchez and was now finally quiet after hollering for darn near two hours. Guarding the jail was an easy job, one he didn't mind. It gave him ample opportunity to watch the town work, the women walk by, and just think about things.
He saw a tall, lean figure coming toward him, dressed in buckskins. Vin Tanner never walked, he sauntered. Sure enough, Vin sauntered up and spoke to Buck.
"You good here for a while?" he asked. Buck nodded. Vin continued. "Ezra's watching the hotel for a while, and Sam wants to take a ride. I'm going with her. I ain't letting her go out alone."
Once upon a time, Sam would have asked Buck to accompany her. He got over that thought fast, and nodded his approval to Vin.
"Don't worry," Vin said, a slight grin playing on his mouth. "If she says anything about you, I'll be sure NOT to tell you."
"Much appreciated," was Buck's retort. He watched Vin walk away and wondered if he and Sam would ever have their father - daughter bond back again.
As for Vin, he met Sam at the livery where she was saddling Echo. She'd changed into an older dress, one he hadn't seen in a while. It was the one she'd been wearing when she'd spent the entire night awake tending to him when Ezra had shot him. It was a deep green color and flattered her immensely. She'd also let her hair down from the tight twist that was her normal style lately. The overall effect was a much softer looking Sam, and he liked it.
"Ready?" he asked, once they were both saddled.
She looked up at him. He was taller than she was, most everyone in the town was. "You have no idea," she replied.
Side by side, they rode out of town. Sam was thoroughly enjoying the freedom of being outside and the early summer night air on her skin. Riding Echo was always one of her pleasures, and it had been a long time since she'd been able to find time.
Glancing over, she looked at Vin. She couldn't help but notice the sawed off Winchester on his saddle.
"So, did you come with me tonight as a friend or as an armed guard?" she asked, a slight tease to her voice. "I'm well aware that no one thinks its safe for me to be alone, ever, but I'm also aware that everyone knows how damn stubborn I am and that I'm probably going to do it anyway."
"True," boy had she nailed that point. "A little of both. Plus, I figured maybe its been a while since you've had anybody but Ezra to talk to."
Sam looked around, at the trees, at the stars. "Whatever do you mean? I'm surrounded day and night by Maude, Melanie, and the hotel guests."
"That don't mean you can talk to them," made sense to him.
Sam was dying to know something. "You don't believe the rumors, do you? About Ezra and I. You know they're all lies, courtesy of Mary."
Vin nodded. "I reckoned so. Unlike most people, I was givin' you a little more credit than that. You know what kind of man Ezra is."
Everyone had Ezra wrong, Sam knew him well enough to know that. "He's a loyal friend, highly intelligent, and has never been anything but good to me. I don't know much about his past, but I don't think I need to. All of you, actually. I don't know anything about your lives before you came to Four Corners, and I don't think I need to in order to make character judgements."
He was happy to hear that. If only she knew his story before the relative peace of Four Corners. He hoped she never would. "Good point."
"You, for example," she began. "I think I know everything I need to know about you."
That made him laugh out loud. It was a nice sound, Sam had never heard him laugh before. "You do?" he asked her.
"I know that you're the strong silent type," she started. "You're the best tracker in the entire world, a deadly shot, basically someone I wouldn't want mad at me." He laughed again, so she continued. "You used to be a buffalo hunter, among other things. I know that you're the type of man who fights for his friends. I know Chris Larabee trusts you unconditionally, which is saying a lot. You've had your heart broken, havent we all? I've seen you almost die, and survive, then find it in your heart to forgive the man who near-killed you." She paused for a moment. "How am I doing?"
Nodding appreciatively, Vin smiled at her. "Right on."
"Finally, and most importantly in my mind, I know that I'm completely safe right now with you. I haven't felt truly safe in a long time. That's really all I need to know about you."
He turned serious for a moment. "I ain't gonna let noting happen to you," he said, meaning it deeply. Her smile was enough of a response. He decided to pay back the favor. "Alright, now lets see. What do I know about you?"
She burst out laughing. "Oh lord, this could be bad!"
"No," he insisted. "You're turning eighteen in just under two weeks. You're from Tulsa, you came here to find Buck. You've been through enough hard times for three women your age. When you get nervous, you always touch the burn on your neck."
Instinctively, her hand flew to her neck. They both noticed, and she dropped her hand back to her side. "Good observation," she noted.
"Thank you," he continued. "Once, you were engaged to JD, but that didnt work out. Now you're going to run the hotel. And the most important thing I know about you is the fact that you've been the best thing ever to happen to Buck. And lately, you've both been hurtin' 'cause of a family trait: stubborness."
He was silent after that. Sam thought about everything he'd said for a few minutes.Then she spoke up. "Yep, you nailed it."
Vin looked up at the moon. It was a brilliant white against the black night sky. Subtly, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Deep in thought, she stared off into the night. He wished he could hear what she was thinking.
It was getting late, and Sam still wasn't back from wherever she'd gone. Ezra left the hotel office and found his mother in the parlor. "Mother," Ezra interrupted Maude's conversation with a wealthy man from Denver, and she didn't look happy about it. He didnt care. "Have you seen Samantha?"
Maude smiled, hiding her irritation from the rich man. "Not for hours, darlin.' But Catherine just returned from her dinner with Mary. She's out on the porch." Maude's attention went immediately back to her newest conquest.
Ezra went onto the porch, and like his mother had said, there was Catherine seated on the railing.
"Did you and Mrs. Travis have a good time?" he asked, intoxicated by the way her skin looked in the night.
She turned to look at him, and nodded. "We had an excellent time. I missed talking to her. But not nearly as much as I missed talking to you." The fact that he ever-so-slightly blushed was adorable. Catherine took his hands in hers and made him look at her. "Mary's filled me in on everything thats happened. It's remarkable you were all able to move past it all. You're a remarkable man. I thought about you every single day, Ezra."
Oh, he wanted to kiss her at that moment. No one was around. Did he even care if someone was? Putting it all in the hands of something else, he leaned in and kissed her lightly. Catherine responded by throwing her arms around him and kissing him back fully.
Maude watched from the office window, smiling broadly at her own genius.
"Hot damn," Chris muttered from the saloon, where he and the rest of the boys were congregated. There wasn't much to do in Four Corners after dark except head for the saloon and hope you didnt end up in the jail. And from the saloon, if you worked a little at it, you could learn everything that was going on in town.
His friends peered out the windows, and saw Ezra in Catherine's embrace. The two looked like they were in heaven.
"Guess that answers any remaining questions about those lovenest rumors," Josiah noted.
"Where's Vin at?" Chris wondered.
Nathan took a puff of his cigar. Immediately, he remembered why he didn't smoke them often. They were wretched. "I think he went for a ride."
That wasn't a surprise to anyone. Vin was a notorious loner.
It was about hours later when Vin and Sam returned. Reaching the livery, they unsaddled their horses, then groomed them out a little and gave them water. Sam wrapped her arms around Echo's luxurious neck and felt the warmth of the eternally loyal creature against her cheek for a moment. Then she dropped a kiss on the horses star and followed Vin out into the town.
They didn't talk much, somehow they both felt as if they didn't need to.
He walked her to the hotel. At the bottom of the stairs, they stopped and faced each other.
"Thank you," she said. "I needed that."
"Anytime, Sam." Obviously from his voice, he meant it.
"Don't tempt me," she teased. "I may take you up on that."
He nodded. "I hope you do."
She flashed him a brilliant smile. "Seems to me that once upon a time you were planning to teach me to shoot." They'd never gotten around to that.
Vin gave her that beautiful smile of his again. "You know where to find me."
"Saloon?" she asked, knowing that was a popular joke among the boys. Ask any of them where you'd find them, saloon was always the wisecrack answer you'd get.
Nodding, Vin looked at the ground. "Hell, I'm always around."
Sam smiled. She wasn't sure, but she felt like they were making a date. It had been a while since she'd felt that, and it was a nice change. Of course, he was just a good friend, but still..."Good night, Vin."
He looked directly at her and tipped his hat a little. "'Night, Sam."
Watching as she walked into the hotel, Vin felt a little lighter than the day before. Though he couldn't explain why.