Kate turned to Jessie then, her cheeks flushed. "Oh Jessie, don't pay any attention to me. It's just that all this will be over then." Her eyes were suddenly, inexplicably, swimming with tears. "And-- and you'll be gone, too!" she finished softly.

"Kate, I -I..." Jessie hesitantly touched the back of her hand to the single drop that had escaped Kate's long lashes, trailing unheeded down her cheek. "Kate," Jessie whispered, a tightness in her chest so heavy she thought she would stop breathing.

Kate placed her fingers gently on Jessie's. "Shh, never mind. It's not your fault."

Jessie's eyes widened at the touch of Kate's hand. The air grew thick and a fine tremor began in Jessie's fingers. Her head buzzed like it did when she'd been too long in the saddle in the August heat.

Kate gazed at Jessie, frozen. She could see so clearly the quick rise and fall of Jessie's chest. She wanted desperately to run her fingers over the bruise that still lingered on Jessie's cheek, but she didn't dare move. If Jessie took her hand from Kate's skin, Kate feared she would die. Time stopped, every sound stilled, as they leaned toward one another, their gazes locked. Kate knew her face was high with color but all she could think about was Jessie's eyes. How could anyone's eyes be so blue?

Jessie felt as if she were falling with nothing to hold onto. Her legs trembled so much she could not have stood. Something inside her stirred, hungry and scared all at once. Her blood ran hot and fierce with a want she had no name for. Jessie pulled away, struggling with an army of sensations she had never known.

Kate's hand fell back into her lap.

"The sandwiches.." Jessie mumbled, reaching toward the basket.

"Yes," Kate answered, her voice unsteady.

They finished their lunch and walked back into town, each of them quiet.

"You'll come to the dance, won't you?" Kate said finally as they prepared to part. They stood very close, but they did not touch. "Before you go?'

Jessie nodded. "I'll be there."

Kate smiled. "Promise?"

"I promise, Kate," Jessie said with an answering smile.

Kate did touch her then, a light brush of her fingers along Jessie's arm. "Good," she said as she stepped away.

Jessie watched Kate leave, wondering why it seemed like something was tearing loose inside her. She stood there for a long time in the gathering dust, feeling more alone than she could ever remember.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

"MARTHA! WE'LL BE late if we don't leave soon!"

Martin and Kate were impatiently pacing the length of the sitting room, dressed and ready to go. Martin didn't want to miss a moment of the night's festivities. Kate's hadn't been able to think of anything all day except that this was Jessie's last night in town, and that it would seem so dreary with her and the other cowboys gone.

"Well, Kate! Since almost everyone in town will be at the dance tonight, it feels like your coming out ball all over again." He smiled at his daughter. "You look lovely."

She wore a midnight blue dress that her mother had carefully packed and carried all the way from Boston. It was elegant in its simplicity, cut away at the neck only enough to show a hint of bodice, the skirt skimming her slender form in the latest style. Kate had worn it once before, but not with the antic.i.p.ation she did now. Tonight she felt like a woman, and not like a young girl on display.

"I think after this evening we'll be seeing more than a few young men appearing at our door," Martin enthused, beaming with fatherly pride.

Kate smiled at him, dismissing the question of suitors with an easy shrug. "We shall never know if we don't get there, Father. I'll go see what's keeping Mother."

Kate left Martin peering at his watch and made her way upstairs to her mother's room. She found Martha seated before her dressing table, dressed to go.

"Mother! Is something wrong? Are you ill?" Kate was frightened by the strange look on Martha's face.

Martha turned to Kate and smiled slightly. "Frightened I think, Kate. You and your father have settled in so well, it's as if you've always lived here. We've been here for weeks and I still feel like a stranger. Oh, everyone is kind and helpful, but I feel out of place. Tonight, with the whole town there, I'm not sure I can manage!" She shook her head helplessly.

Kate went to her and put her hands on her mother's shoulders sympathetically. "You expect too much of yourself, Mother. There's no hurry. You'll discover in time that these people are really no different than those we knew in Boston. You have to look past their clothes and their different ways, and see them for the honest, good people that they are." She met her mother's eyes in the mirror. "I don't expect you'll like all of them, but I think you'll find most of them can be friends. Some of them are quite extraordinary." She gave Martha a little shake, laughing. "Come on now, before Father explodes!"

Martha followed her daughter downstairs, far from convinced, but determined to make the best of her situation since it was clear to her that her husband and her daughter had already made New Hope their home.

Jessie packed her valise and stood it at the foot of the bed. She planned to leave in the morning and had already settled her accounts at the bank. She only stayed tonight because of the town gathering and dance. It was a town tradition to celebrate the end of roundup, and despite the fact that she didn't know most of the townspeople any more than to say h.e.l.lo, she had been raised to respect tradition. And she had promised Kate that she would be there.

Thinking of Kate made her smile. There was something so fresh and eager about Kate that when they were together everything seemed so much more exciting than it ever had before. No one had ever made her feel at once so comfortable and so alive. She knew there were other feelings Kate stirred in her, but, not knowing how to explain them, she set them aside. Soon she would be back at the ranch and she would probably never see Kate again, except to nod h.e.l.lo in the street when they might happen to meet. Unaccountably saddened by the realization, she turned to the mirror above the dresser and surveyed her reflection, determined not to think about anything except the evening ahead.

She wore a black shirt with silver trim at the pockets and cuffs tucked into close-fitting black pants. Her blond hair was tied loosely at the back of her neck with a black ribbon. The heavy beaten silver trim on her ornate holster matched the shimmering silver threads in her shirt.

'I look like a tenderfoot," she thought ruefully, but she was not displeased. She reached for her black hat and closed her door.

When Jessie arrived she found the crowd already beginning to spill out into the street in front of the meeting hall. Music and the muted roar of many voices wafted out through the open double doors. She sidled her way through the crowd, nodding and exchanging h.e.l.los with wranglers she knew and townspeople she recognized. When she entered the large crowded room, she made her way slowly around the periphery toward tables in the rear where women offered food and drink. In the center of the s.p.a.ce people jostled and talked and surrounded those couples dancing to the lively music of several fiddlers. Suddenly she was very hungry. A robust arm reached out for her, and she turned, meeting twinkling blue eyes and a broad smile.

"Jessie Forbes! You look mighty fine tonight," Hannah Schroeder bellowed to Jessie above the roar. "I heard that you did well at the auction this year. I'm pleased to hear it!"

Jessie broke into a smile and shouted back, "Thank you, and your husband, too. I would say I'm pleased enough with how the Rising Star did!"

Hannah Schroeder nodded again and began to pile food on a plate. As she handed it to Jessie, she seemed to remember something and shouted again, "Jessie, I forgot to introduce you two. This here is Mrs. Martin Beecher. She and her family are new in town! Martha, this is Jessie Forbes, one of the ranchers from north of town."

Jessie looked quickly at Martha, who was staring at her intently, and doffed her hat. Now she could see the resemblance to Kate in that dark hair and penetrating gaze.

"Ma'am," Jessie said politely. "I'm pleased to know you. I hope you're settling in well."

Martha struggled to absorb the idea of a woman striding about in public dressed like a man, and carrying a weapon. Different, Kate had said? Indecent was more like it. Lord, what were people thinking of out here!

She answered stiffly, "How do you do, Miss Forbes." She turned away gratefully when a new arrival extended a plate for her to fill. All she could think was how relieved she would be when all this roundup business was over and these cowboys would leave town.

Jessie stared after her for a second, then nodded to Hannah and moved off to a quiet corner of the room to eat.

Kate had been watching for Jessie to arrive all evening, and when she first saw her, she caught her breath sharply in surprise. She had not known what to expect, but certainly not this! Jessie appeared neither as a dusty trail hand nor as another frontier woman in her best Sunday dress. Jessie was just herself - striking in shimmering black and silver, confident and sure, she stood slightly apart from the crowd and in Kate's eyes was the most interesting person in the room. Kate stepped quietly away from the group of young women she was with and made her way through the crowd toward her.

Jessie leaned back against a broad wooden pole a little away from the edge of the dance floor, listening to the music and trying to relax. A cool evening breeze drifted in from an open window nearby. She looked over the crowd, searching for Kate. She hadn't thought about much else all day except that she would see Kate that night, and she couldn't stop worrying over their strange lunch the day before. Something was troubling Kate, and that troubled her more than anything ever had.

Then Jessie saw her and forgot completely what she had been fretting about. Kate was a vision in blue, easily the loveliest woman in the room, and the smile she sent Jessie's way set her heart to pounding strangely.

"I thought you might not come!" Kate said breathlessly as she stopped in front of her, her eyes searching Jessie's face.

"And what else would I do during the biggest gathering of the year?" Jessie asked teasingly. She grinned a little shyly. "Besides, I told you that I would be here."

"Yes, you did," Kate said softly. She knew somehow that Jessie would always keep her word.

Jessie looked down at her, surprised by the wistful note in her voice.

"You look beautiful tonight. I like you in black." Kate said it quietly, realizing she really meant it. Odd, because ordinarily she didn't notice such things. Jessie had a way of capturing her attention without doing anything more than smiling at her.

Jessie blushed under her tan and looked away. When she spoke, her voice was thick and low. "I'd say beautiful was more what you are tonight, Kate." She looked into Kate's face, her heart racing as her gaze traveled from Kate's eyes, dark and deep with feeling, to her full lips, curled into a faint smile. She was dimly aware of blood pounding in her ears as she watched the hypnotic rise and fall of Kate's b.r.e.a.s.t.s against the brilliant blue of the dress. "You shine with it."

Kate couldn't look away from her. The sound of Jessie's voice was all that she could hear, the blue of Jessie's eyes all that she could see. She took a step closer. Her head was even with Jessie's shoulder; she watched the pulse beat quickly in Jessie's neck.

Jessie's right hand was curled tightly around her silver studded belt, so tightly her fingers ached. She drew her breath in sharply as she felt Kate's fingers, feather light on her own, but she didn't move. Kate's eyes were sparkling black diamonds and her face was misted with a fine perspiration.

"Jessie--" Kate said softly.

Jessie jerked her head around as a male voice said beside them, "Why, Miss Beecher, you look too pretty tonight to be standing off here all alone. I think you should be dancing. May I have that pleasure?" Ken Turner, the town's only lawyer and a relative newcomer himself, was smiling confidently down at Kate, waiting expectantly.

"I'm not alone!" Kate retorted hotly, not bothering to hide her anger at his rude interruption. "I'm talking with..."

Jessie quickly pulled her hand from under Kate's, took a step back, and added quietly, "He's quite right, Kate. This is a party, and you should be dancing. Please go ahead."

Kate glanced up at Jessie, unable to decipher the distant expression in her eyes. She didn't know how to politely refuse Ken Turner's request, although leaving Jessie to dance with him was the last thing she wanted to do. She nodded silently to the man beside her and took his arm, letting him lead her to the floor. As she followed, she struggled with her anger and confusion. She had not wanted to dance with him, and she did not understand why Jessie suggested that she should. As he placed his arm lightly around her waist Kate looked back to where Jessie had been standing. Jessie was gone.

Jessie pushed through the swinging doors of the saloon and surveyed the empty room. Even Frank the bartender was at the dance. She walked behind the bar and poured a brandy, leaving a coin on the countertop. She pulled out a chair and sat at one of the tables, staring into the dark amber liquid swirling in her gla.s.s. She wasn't sure how long she'd been there when she heard footsteps on the stairs behind her.

"Well, Montana," Mae's softly called as she made her way behind the bar. "You're home early from the dance!"

"I don't much feel like it tonight, Mae."

"Oh? And everyone's there, too." Mae tried to read the thoughts behind Jessie's smooth features and failed. She poured herself a whiskey and came around to sit down on Jessie's right.

"Something happen tonight, Jess?" she asked casually, noting the hollow tone in Jessie's voice. She sipped the whiskey and watched Jessie's face. Jessie was too honest to hide much.

"What?" Jessie asked, as if from far away. She couldn't find the words to describe how she felt, even to herself. Empty, in a funny sort of way. "Oh, no. Just tired, I guess."

"Maybe you've had too much of this easy town living, Jessie. Maybe you're just homesick for a rocky bed and cold food," Mae teased lightly.

Jessie looked fondly over at Mae. "Maybe that's it, Mae. Too much comfort can be bad for you." She stretched her legs out under the table and shrugged her tense shoulders. "Maybe I just need to get back to the ranch where I belong."

Mae got up and stood behind her, her hands resting lightly on Jessie's shoulders. She gently kneaded the tight muscles, leaning close to murmur, "Tell you what I think you need, Montana. A good old-fashioned bath. Finish your drink now. One of the girls was just drawing me a hot tub upstairs. The way these muscles are strung, you feel like you could use it more than me."

Jessie sighed softly and leaned back, eyes closed. Mae's hands felt good, and she was weary. "You'll have me asleep here in a minute, Mae."

Mae stared down at Jessie's finely chiseled features and stroked her fingers lightly over the silky smooth skin of her neck. Minutes pa.s.sed and Jessie remained motionless, her slender hands resting quietly on her thighs, her head resting gently against Mae's body.

Mae finally moved her hand and whispered with effort, "Come on, Montana. I'll give you a hand with that bath."

Jessie shuddered and roused herself. She followed Mae slowly up the stairs, but her mind was still on the dance, and the way that Kate had looked in Ken Turner's arms. She had no idea why it bothered her so much that she wouldn't get to say goodbye.

"Shed those duds," Mae instructed as she tested the temperature of the water, and added a little more from a still steaming kettle sitting on the fireplace hearth in the far corner of the room. "And climb in here."

Jessie stripped, laying her clothes over the chair next to the bed. She lowered herself into the tin tub, sighing. "That does feel good."

Mae stood behind her, working up a lather with a bar of soap. "Dunk your head, Montana."

Jessie did, then shook the water from her eyes and rested her neck on the rim, stretching her arms out along the sides. The water came to just above her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She closed her eyes as Mae began to wash her hair, groaning softly in appreciation. She drifted with the heat and the soothing rhythm of Mae's fingers on her scalp.

Mae watched as Jessie's limbs loosened and her breathing became slow and deep. Gently she rinsed the soap from Jessie's thick sun-streaked hair, smoothing the stray strands off her face. Mae rested her palms very lightly on Jessie's shoulders, her fingers trailing over the edge of her collar bone, just brushing the pale skin of her upper chest. Jessie shifted, sighing faintly. Mae held her breath for a long moment, her hands trembling.

"Jessie," Mae murmured.

Jessie heard the soft voice call to her from a long ways away. She smiled up into the face so close to hers, responding to the welcoming gaze with a swift rush of pleasure. She lifted her hand and caught the fingers that stroked her skin, turning the palm and pressing it to her lips. She was warm, warm and liquid deep within, and her limbs trembled with a sweet urgency that grew more insistent as she drew the hand she held onto her breast. She tilted her head, eager for a kiss from the lips so near her own. With the first gentle pressure on her mouth, she sighed again, the breath stealing from her body on the wings of desire.

"Wake up, Montana," Mae repeated, louder this time.

Jessie came awake with a start, sitting up so suddenly that water splashed over the rim onto the floor. "Lord," she muttered, looking wildly about. Mae stood beside her, a towel in her hand. "What happened?"

"You fell asleep," Mae said matter of factly.

"That's all?" Jessie asked, trying to piece together the fragments of the dream. All she could clearly recall were wisps of color -blue skies, and white bits of clouds, and dark eyes that held her. Eyes that were very different from Mae's deep green ones. Her body was quivering strangely and she thought her skin might catch fire from the inside. She drew a ragged breath, reaching for the towel, stepping from the tub on trembling legs. "You sure?"

"What else?" Mae said, heading for the door. She wasn't about to tell Jessie whose name she had murmured in her sleep. There wasn't any point to giving her ideas if she didn't already have them. The one way Jessie differed from the cowboys she rode with was that she was sweetly unschooled in matters of the flesh. Mae loved Jessie's innocence as much as it sometimes tried her. "You were just dreaming, Jess."

Jessie stared at the door as it closed behind her friend, the memory of the kiss still tingling on her lips.

CHAPTER TWELVE.