Everything went fast after that. Too fast. Jake washed and dressed and Randy hurried behind. She brushed her shoulder-length hair and pinned it back at the sides, then hurriedly dressed, leaving off most of her petticoats. She chose a yellow-checkered dress because Jake loved the color and loved the neckline. It was a simple dress but fit well. He loved dresses that showed off her shape.
Be strong, Randy, she told herself. Be strong for him so it won’t be so hard for him to leave. She hurried down the stairs and put a kettle of coffee on the coal cooking stove and lit a fire under it. She didn’t want to look, but she had to. She’d deliberately avoided seeing what she didn’t want to see when she first came down the stairs, keeping herself busy with the coffee and setting out some bread.
Finally, she had no choice. Already her husband was strapping on his famous .44s. He wore denim pants, the blue shirt she loved, and a brown leather vest, looking both incredibly handsome and incredibly dangerous at the same time.
He shoved another handgun into the back of his gun belt. Every loop in that belt had a cartridge in it. Another belt of cartridges lay on the kitchen table. He would take that along and likely wear it over his shoulder when he reached Mexico. A repeating rifle and a shotgun lay on the kitchen table. He packed more cartridges and some shotgun slugs into a saddlebag and set everything, including a duffel bag of clothes, near the door. Then he took his black Stetson down from where it hung on the wall and set it with his gear.
“Tricia and Sadie Mae will be afraid of you, looking like you do right now,” Randy told him. “They’ve never seen you quite so decked out with guns, and they’ve certainly never seen your dark side.”
“They won’t be afraid. They know their grandpa.”
Someone knocked. “Mother, are you decent?”
Randy looked at Jake and smiled. “Am I?”
He walked up to her and leaned down to plant a long kiss on her mouth. “No. You’re the most indecent woman I’ve ever known.”
“You did that to me. I used to be decent.”
He kissed her once more and went to the door, opening it to see Evie, Brian, Little Jake, and Sadie Mae standing there, Evie holding the baby. Her eyes widened.
“Daddy, you look mean and angry, just like you used to look before leaving on another mission back in Oklahoma. You’d better smile for Sadie Mae, or she might run away.”
Sadie Mae stood there, staring. “Are you Grampa?”
Jake smiled sadly, reaching down and picking her up in his arms. “Yes, I’m Grampa.” He looked past Evie to see Katie and Lloyd coming with Stephen, Ben, Tricia, and Donavan. Gretta and Sam walked behind them. He turned with Sadie Mae still in his arms. “Here comes the gang,” he told Randy. He turned and handed Sadie Mae to Brian. “Take good care of my girls,” he told his son-in-law. “The little ones and the big one standing beside you.”
Brian moved an arm around Evie. “You bet I will.” He held Jake’s gaze. “You just make sure you make it back here, Jake. I’m not sure how I’ll handle this woman if her father doesn’t come back home. You’re the light of her life. You remember that.”
Jake looked past them at Lloyd, whose eyes betrayed his devastation. They all came inside, Katie looking radiant.
Jake leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Katie, I swear you’re more beautiful when you’re carrying than when you’re not. Trouble is, I can hardly remember when you weren’t carrying.” He cast Lloyd a chiding look as most of the others laughed at the remark. “If you weren’t so damn busy making babies, you’d be able to go with me.”
“Well, that’s what she gets for being so beautiful.”
More laughter…all nervous…all thinking the same thing. Was this the last time they would see their father and grandfather alive?
“For someone who’s trying to get away from his outlaw past, you sure look like one right now,” Lloyd told Jake. “You going to war?”
Jake limped a little as he walked back to the table. “Could be.”
“That hip giving you problems again?” Lloyd asked.
“Off and on.”
“Too much activity last night?”
Jake grinned as he took a cigarette from a tin on the table. “Possibly.”
“Don’t you say another word,” Randy warned. She set a basket of warm biscuits on the table. Evie had brought them from home. “Sit down and eat something, Jake. And you shouldn’t be riding a horse at all today. You’re obviously in pain. You didn’t seem to be sore earlier this morning.”
“I try to hide it, but right now I can’t.” Jake took a long drag on the cigarette and did not sit down. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll go away again. And just give me coffee.”