JULY 17, 1861

As she sat at her desk, Samantha reread the letter that a private investigator had sent Jedidiah. She had made up her mind that she was going to bring her brother home. Samantha gathered up her things. She was leaving today since she had found someone to tend to the horses while she was gone.

As she packed her saddlebags, she thought of Jedidiah. She knew she needed to let him know she was leaving for a while. After checking her saddle one more time she climbed onto Visions and headed towards Joker’s Wild Ranch. When she didn’t find him there, she thought he might be over helping Jacy with Cody, so she headed to Starshine Heaven.

Meanwhile at Starshine Haven, Kathleen and Melissa were in the kitchen doing schoolwork. Kathleen had arranged with Jacy to get Melissa caught up with her school work this summer so that she wouldn’t fail for the year. The triplets were in the study talking while Kathleen was tutoring Melissa.

"What's this meeting about?" Jacy inquired right after she served Jedidiah and Jewel some lemonade.

"Well, we need to talk about where we are going to go from here?" Jedidiah said after sipping a little bit of his lemonade.

"Well, I need some money to go back east." Jewel stated as she tossed her hair and picked up her glass.

"You're leaving?" Jedidiah was surprised.

"I can't stay here. I don't have a place now, and everybody hates me for what I've done." She angrily shook her head with a frown on her face. "Besides I don't think she wants me here in her home." She meant Jacy but wouldn’t look at her.

“That’s not true. You’re my sister. I won’t forget what you’ve done, pretending to be me, but give me some time and I might forgive you.” Jacy wasn’t sure if she could forgive her or not, but Jewel was her twin, and she didn’t want her to leave. She was family. Family meant a lot, especially since she hadn’t had much of one lately.

Jewel was surprised to hear that Jacy wanted her to stay. So surprised that she couldn’t think of anything to say. “Ok, so is it settled, Jewel will live here with you Jacy for a while anyway, and Melissa will stay with me. I think she wants to at least for now.” Jedidiah looked at both of them for an answer.

“That’s fine by me.” Jewel finally said and glanced at Jacy. Jacy nodded and gave Jewel a quick grin.

“If for any reason I have to go away, I’ll send Melissa here to stay with you though, ok?” Jedidiah stated.

Jacy quickly turned to look at her brother and just as she was about to say something, Kathleen walked in to let them know that she and Melissa were finished for the day. “I just wanted to say that Melissa is catching up fast, just another week or so and she’ll be with the others her age.” 

“That’s good.  I’ll walk you out, Miss Boudreaux.” Jedidiah said. He rose and went over to the door waiting for Kathleen to follow.

As she walked across the room, Jacy smiled at her and said, “Thanks for taking your time to help Melissa get caught up. I really appreciate it.”

Kathleen wasn’t sure if it was Jacy or Jewel who had spoke. She made a mental note to learn which one was which. “You’re welcome.” Kathleen went out the door onto the porch, and Jedidiah followed her.

As they were walking to the front of the house, Kathleen stepped into a hole and fell. Jedidiah caught her in his arms. To someone who hadn’t seen her fall it would have looked as though they were hugging. Kathleen started laughing to cover up the pain and the embarrassment that she felt. She had known about that hole and had avoided it every time that she had come over. For some reason, she had missed it that time. Jedidiah started laughing when Kathleen started laughing.

As the ranch came into view she saw a carriage out front. Sam slowed Visions and stopped a few yards from the house. She could make out voices. She knew one of them was female, but she didn't know whom it belonged to. She knew it wasn't Jacy or her sisters.

She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Jedidiah and Kathleen laughing and being over friendly as they came around the side of the house. How could I have been so stupid to think he'd chose me over her? She said to no one. She turned Visions around and headed back to town. Because of the carriage blocking their view, Jedidiah and Kathleen never noticed Sam.

Sam stopped at the livery and quickly wrote a note to Jedidiah. As she looked around, she smiled when she saw the saloon. She knew Kathleen was seeing the bartender. "Well, two can play this game."

The young woman stopped in front of the saloon. Squaring her shoulders, Samantha headed inside. Stopping just inside the door, she looked around till she spotted Richard over by a table picking up glasses. She headed towards him. "Richard?"

"Yes." Richard answered back as he stood and turned to whoever was calling his name.

Samantha walked up to him. The young woman grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him. Breaking the kiss she stepped back. "Here make sure Jedidiah gets this." She laid the letter on the table behind him. Then she turned and headed back out of the saloon.

Richard just stood there with his mouth open. Samantha untied Visions and mounted up. She turned him and headed north out of town.

Richard stood dumbfounded as he watched Samantha walk from the saloon. He quickly gathered his thoughts and picked up the letter she had left with him and headed back to the bar. Not sure what the kiss was about, he decided to wait until he saw Jedidiah. Maybe he would know what was going on. He put the letter in his pocket. Richard tired to keep his mind on his job but wasn't having much success.

"Richard." He smiled when he saw who had called him. He pushed all thoughts about what had happened away as he headed over to where Kathleen stood.

"Hi." The blonde walked over to her, keeping an eye on the bar at the same time. He knew she wouldn't come all the way in.

"I was hoping you would join me for supper over at the Silver Spoon tonight?" She smiled missing the hesitation in his voice.

Richard returned her smiled. "I would love to. I can meet you there after my bouncer arrives."

"Great. I'll meet you there."

"Alright. I'll meet you there." He gently kissed her cheek. Then he remembered what had happened earlier. "Kathleen. I'm not sure how to say this. So here it goes. Samantha was in here earlier. She kissed me then walked out. He waited for her reaction.

Kathleen looked puzzled. “That’s strange.  She didn’t say why she kissed you?”

Richard shook his head no. “Hmmm, maybe I can find out tomorrow. I’ll go over and talk with her about it tomorrow.” Kathleen then smiled, “See you in a little while.” She turned and walked over to the dress shop. She was going to buy a new dress for her dinner date with Richard tonight.

As Richard watched her leave, he noticed her limping, “Kathleen, why are you limping?”

“Oh, after Melissa’s tutoring session, I almost fell flat on my face. I stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle. It still hurts a little. If Jedidiah hadn’t been there to catch me, I’m sure I would have been hurt a lot worse.”

“Well, I guess I ought to thank him for keeping you safe.” Richard smiled, and he and Kathleen chuckled. He watched her cross the road and disappear into the dress shop. He then turned and went back to work.