Three Weeks

by jfclover

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We didn’t need words between us.  I appreciated the fact that we didn’t have to pretend, or that we didn’t always have to talk, talk, talk.  A gentle touch.  A smile.  A warmth that came from within.   We understood each other.  We didn’t need all the frills and nonsense that were often encouraged during a courtship.

We hadn’t known each other long, three weeks at the most, but I was smitten the minute she bounced out of the stage.  Her exuberance caught my eye, and the way she scanned her surroundings as if in awe of our dirty little mining town.  The smile on her face.  Even the way she brushed the trail dust from her shoulders.  Such a light touch.  Such a happy-go-lucky girl that I wanted to know her.  When I left Hoss behind at the mercantile and trotted across C Street to meet the stage, a rush of excitement ran through every inch of my body.  Some might call it the jitters, but that sounded a bit girly to me.  Let’s just say my nerves were on fire.

She let me carry her bags to the hotel, but I couldn’t let that be the end of our relationship, and I asked her to join me for a cup of coffee in the hotel restaurant.  When I talked her into a piece of apple pie, she said, “I love you already.  I’m famished,” and then she opened up about her travels before her stopover in Virginia City and what would come next.

Her name was Hannah, and she’d left the worn-torn South to begin a new life in San Francisco, where her eldest brother settled after leaving their home in Mississippi.  “His name is Charles, but we’ve always called him ‘Chick.’  He left over a year ago to establish residence, and then he sent for me.  We plan to open a mercantile and sell everything under the sun.”

“Everything?”

“That’s right, Joe.  Not just harrows and shovels and such, I plan to add a feminine touch.  All the necessary items and a few little baubles that ladies will find they can’t live without.”

“I see.”

“You think it’s silly?”

“No.  Of course not.  Everyone needs a few baubles to make life worthwhile.”

“You’re making fun.”

“No.  I think it’s a fine idea.”

Hanna wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, to put me in my place, and I liked that.  I wondered how much fighting she had to do back in Mississippi, but it was too soon to ask.  After encouraging her to have supper and accompany me to view The Marble Heart starring Edwin Booth at Piper’s the following night, I couldn’t wait to dress in my finest and take the lady out on the town.

Although we didn’t stop after just one outing.  Every night that week, I primped—as Hoss would call it—and escorted Hannah on a new Storey County adventure.  We held hands and laughed, and by the end of the first week, Hannah invited me up to her room.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure.  I knew that the minute our eyes locked in front of the stage depot that you were someone special, and that I shouldn’t waste precious time.”

That was Hannah, and the flattery didn’t end there.  I echoed her comments.  I was proud to be seen with such a beautiful, cultivated woman, and apparently, she was pleased to be seen with me.

We made love that night, and every night from then on.  I’d fallen hard for the Southern Belle, but when I told my father I’d be staying in town indefinitely, he wasn’t pleased.  There was the woman’s reputation, and there was mine, but I was too old for a lecture and too old to be locked inside my bedroom.  Those days were long gone, but if Pa had his way ….

We both knew it was too soon, but we’d begun discussing wedding plans.  Hannah even went as far as writing Chick and letting him know that her plans had changed.  She’d agreed to become my wife, and I couldn’t be happier, but we needed to slow down and let the rest of the world get used to seeing us together. 

I’d taken her home twice to have supper with Pa, Hoss, and Candy.  They adored her, but I wasn’t surprised.  She was a likable gal.  After Hoss and Candy realized how serious I was about her, the ribbing never stopped.  Therefore, I spent most of my time in town and away from those two.  Life was too short to be teased.

“I thought we might go to Luigi’s tonight for supper.  A little pasta?”

“It sounds delicious, Joe.  I’ll have a chance to show off my new blue dress.”

“You could wear rags, and you’d still be the prettiest girl in the room.”

“You never stop, do you?”

“Why should I?  I’m the luckiest man alive.”

“I need to run down to the Millenary and get a ribbon to match.”

“Want me to go with you?”

“Don’t be silly.  You worked hard all day.  Take a nap.  I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You’re the boss.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A knock at the hotel door woke me from a sound sleep.  “It’s not locked.”  I found it odd that Hannah would knock, but it wasn’t her at all.  Roy Coffee stood in shadow just inside the room.  “Roy?”

“I got bad news, Little Joe.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s Miss Overton.”

“Hannah?”  Though I’d raised up on one elbow, I questioned whether Roy was real or if he was a dream.  “What about her?”

“A dog ran out from the alleyway, and when John Cary’s horse reared, Miss Overton was ….”  The dream exploded into a nightmare, and I rubbed my face with both hands.  “I’m sorry, Son.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I said nothing.  I told no one.  I rode Cochise home, went straight to my room, and collapsed on my bed.  And when I reached out, no one was there.

The End

4 – 2026