This is the sixth and last story in the Adam\/Hoss\/Joe “Destiny” series.<\/p>\n
Summary:<\/span>\u00a0 One of Adam’s eldest son’s, the court jester Logan, finds a young woman who captures his fancy.<\/p>\n Rated T (21,335 words)<\/p>\n Destiny Series:<\/strong><\/p>\n Blizzard of Destiny<\/a> <\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Logan’s Bride<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When he first saw her in the dry goods store in Virginia City, he wasn\u2019t especially impressed.\u00a0 She was pretty enough.\u00a0 Most girls were though, and there was no shortage as far as he was concerned.\u00a0 After all, he was Logan.\u00a0 Cartwright, but never mind that.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t even need that part to get attention.\u00a0 He had always gotten by on his first name alone.\u00a0 Everyone knew him.\u00a0 And loved him.\u00a0 Especially the girls.\u00a0 He had his pick of any girl in town, and he knew them all over the age of sixteen.\u00a0 His father said he got that from his Uncle Joe, the unrivaled ladies\u2019 man.\u00a0 Joe Cartwright was a charming man, all right, but next to Logan\u2026well, was there really any comparison?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She was almost finished wrapping up his purchases when he decided to take some candy home to the kids.\u00a0 He would bring a little bit of everything, because they all had their favorites.\u00a0 Chocolate drops for sure, because they were Ross\u2019 favorite, and Nolan\u2019s, too.\u00a0 Nolan was visiting from San Francisco with his wife, Karen.\u00a0 A Harvard banker, that\u2019s what his brother was, whooee.\u00a0 Give Logan a good old cowboy any day.\u00a0 Uncle Hoss understood that well enough.\u00a0 Give him land and trees and living things and he was happy.\u00a0 Add looks that girls swooned over, and then you had it all. \u00a0He smirked as he looked over the candy.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t help himself.\u00a0 He had perfected the smirk.\u00a0 Well, no, that wasn\u2019t exactly right.\u00a0 His father, Adam, had perfected the smirk.\u00a0 Logan was a very close second.\u00a0 Nolan, his twin, didn\u2019t smirk.\u00a0 He was too nice.\u00a0 But that was all right.\u00a0 Logan made an exception for anything where Nolan was concerned.\u00a0 He was so nice you just had<\/em> to like him, and everybody did.\u00a0 Logan was even happy he was a Harvard banker, even though the thought of it was suffocating.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMr. Cartwright, here you go,\u201d she was giving him her polite dismissal smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey, Peggy,\u201d he smiled as he sidled back over to the counter.\u00a0 \u201cHow about a sack of candy for the kids at home?\u201d\u00a0 His chin sat in his hand as he leaned on the counter, beaming engagingly at her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gave only the slightest of sighs as she moved over to the glass canisters of candy and picked up the scoop along with a waxed bag.\u00a0 He followed her, pointing out what he wanted, which was almost everything.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s your real name, Peggy?\u00a0 Is it Pegasus?\u00a0 My brother has a horse named Peg, but his real name is Pegasus,\u201d he gave her a grin that showed his dimples.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gave him a look that said dolt<\/em><\/strong> as she reached for another bag.\u00a0 But she replied sweetly, \u201cWhy yes, my name is Pegasus.\u00a0 I\u2019m immortal.\u00a0 Haven\u2019t you seen my constellation, or perhaps you found my feather?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He frowned at that and gave her a suspicious look.\u00a0 She was speaking in tongues.\u00a0 But that was a fleeting thought he let go of.\u00a0 He pointed to the chocolate drops.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMore of those, please.\u00a0 Well, Peggy Sue, how do you like Virginia City?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI like it fine,\u201d she said in a non-committal tone.\u00a0 Her family had recently purchased the dry goods store from its former owner, who had retired.\u00a0 Her family had moved to Nevada all the way from Minnesota.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDo you like to mine for silver?\u00a0 Or fish?\u201d\u00a0 He was practically leaning over her shoulder pointing at different candies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never mined for silver or fish.\u00a0 How many of these do you want, anyway? How many people are you planning to give all this to?\u201d\u00a0 She could not keep the exasperation out of her voice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked a little hurt as she turned to him with the third bag in her hand.\u00a0 \u201cWell, there\u2019s fourteen, plus me. And the grown ups might want some, too.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not one of the grown ups?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, now that you mention it, I am one of the grown ups.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t use to be.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, well that explains it,\u201d she suppressed a smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cExplains what?\u201d\u00a0 Then he gave her a look and pulled at a long dark curl that hung over her shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cNow you\u2019re just messin\u2019 with me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She put the bags of candy on a scale.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s messing with whom?\u201d She said archly, and quickly wrapped the candy and placed it on top of the other packages, which she delivered into his arms.\u00a0 \u201cGood day, Mr. Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBye, Peggy Sue.\u00a0 You let me know whenever you feel like mining for fish.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Outside the store, Logan began stuffing the packages into his saddle bags.\u00a0 He stopped to unwrap the candy package and poured himself a handful.\u00a0 His mother would probably give him what-for about the candy, and if she didn\u2019t, Hop Sing or his nephew, Han Lee, would.\u00a0 Han Lee had joined Hop Sing as a helper two years ago and he was almost as good a cook as his uncle was.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Selecting a chocolate drop, Logan offered it to Rocket, his prized black horse, who took it eagerly.\u00a0 Hoss would holler at him if he saw that, but Rocket would never tell. Logan untethered the horse and went in search of Eric, who was picking up an order of Ponderosa lumber at the saw mill.\u00a0 When he met up with his cousin, the order had been loaded on the wagon, and they both started back to the ranch.\u00a0 Logan handed over some candy while they were riding.\u00a0 Eric was thoughtful enough to drop a few pieces in his pocket for his wife, Emily.\u00a0 They had married two years earlier and now had a baby daughter, Olivia.\u00a0 This event had put Erin and Hoss, the parents of three sons, over the moon with delight, and they were ready at a moment\u2019s notice to babysit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey, E,\u201d Logan said affectionately to his cousin as they rode along.\u00a0 \u201cHave you met Peggy, the new girl at the dry goods store?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen her there, and I\u2019ve met her parents and brother.\u00a0 Don\u2019t tell me you\u2019re after her too?\u201d\u00a0 Eric was doing his best to look appalled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat?!\u00a0 You make that sound like a bad thing.\u00a0 I can\u2019t help it if women find me irresistible!\u201d Logan protested as Eric broke out in laughter.\u00a0 \u201cWell, did you know her real name is Pegasus, just like Nolan\u2019s horse?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, Logan, that\u2019s baloney.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t pull that stunt on her, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, her real name is Peggy Sue, close enough.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI heard her mother call her Marguerite.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now it was Logan\u2019s turn to look appalled.\u00a0 \u201cWho would do that to a little baby?\u00a0 I\u2019m going to call her Peggy Sue.\u00a0 It\u2019s normal,\u201d he sounded almost righteous.\u00a0 \u201cNo wonder she acts like she sucks lemons.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNow what\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, she\u2019s all prissy and if her nose was any farther up in the air it would catch flies.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eric reached out and smacked his cousin on the leg.\u00a0 For the rest of the ride home, they talked ranch business.\u00a0 When they arrived at the Ponderosa, they found Nolan and Karen having lemonade on the porch with Ben, Adam and Mary Lynn.\u00a0 On hearing their arrival, Hoss came out of the barn looking like a thundercloud; they were late and he\u2019d been waiting on them. \u00a0Logan quickly passed a whole bag of candy to Eric.\u00a0 That should do the trick for Uncle Hoss, he thought.\u00a0 He wanted to sit down and have lemonade too, but decided he\u2019d best not risk it.\u00a0 Anyway, lemonade reminded him of Peggy Sue. He made a face and shivered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNow what\u2019s going on with him?\u201d\u00a0 Adam mused as he watched his son scrunch up his face.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou never know, Dad.\u00a0 Remember, it\u2019s Logan,\u201d Nolan chuckled as he reached for Karen\u2019s hand.\u00a0 This was their first visit to the Ponderosa since their wedding less than a year ago.\u00a0 They had met on a train headed east that derailed in the Rocky Mountains.\u00a0 They had pretty much fallen in love on the train, but the accident separated them; Karen with a broken arm and Nolan with serious injuries.\u00a0 He had been missing for almost a month before he was found in the care of a doctor living alone in the mountains.\u00a0 He had missed his second term at Harvard while recovering, and Karen had spent a year and a half with her older sister in New York helping with a houseful of young children, including a newborn.\u00a0 When they were finally reunited, their relationship picked up where it had started, and they married after Nolan graduated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAdam, that boy is a handful, even though he\u2019s indispensable around here,\u201d Ben said to his son as he also watched Logan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know who he gets it from,\u201d Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve certainly always been a calm and stable influence in the family.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s the same thing Joe had, or it could be a stray line in Mary Lynn\u2019s family background,\u201d he winked at his wife, who shot him a warning look.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey, Nolan!\u201d\u00a0 Logan was unloading lumber with Eric.\u00a0 \u201cI met a girl in the dry goods store who\u2019s named after your horse.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eric rolled his eyes and Nolan looked back at his brother as though he had grown a second head.\u00a0 \u201cPegasus?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Well, Peggy Sue.\u00a0 Close enough.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIgnore him,\u201d Eric advised.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, the poor girl,\u201d Mary Lynn murmured.\u00a0 \u201cIf he takes a shine to her, she\u2019ll never live it down.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my boy,\u201d Adam said, smirking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nolan looked at his wife.\u00a0 \u201cRemember when I told you we only looked<\/em> alike?\u201d\u00a0 She laughed in response, nodding her head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat he needs,\u201d Ben commented, \u201cis some nice girl to lasso him and get him settled down.\u201d\u00a0 The others murmured and nodded their agreement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There was one naysayer.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know, Grandpa,\u201d Nolan said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a scary thought.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben chuckled, and then changed the subject.\u00a0 \u201cDoes everyone have a date for Saturday night\u2019s dance?\u201d\u00a0 He was referring to the town social that was capped off with a dance in a few days.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, everyone right here is spoken for, except you, Pa,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cBut, among our kids, everyone from Hunter up is looking forward to it.\u00a0 They all have dates.\u00a0 All of Joe\u2019s kids are set, and so are Gunner and Ben-too.\u00a0 We don\u2019t pass up a good dance if we can help it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a matter of family honor.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDear,\u201d Mary Lynn told him gently, \u201cyou\u2019re going to have to share your dances with Marianne.\u00a0 She thinks it\u2019s quite unfair that she\u2019s not old enough to have a date yet.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI think I can manage that task.\u201d\u00a0 He turned to assess the progress of the unloading being done by Logan and Eric.\u00a0 \u201cWho did Logan ask to the dance?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His wife shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 He\u2019s so secretive about that, but he\u2019s dated just about every girl from here to California.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHe got that from Joe.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t he propose to every girl in three counties at one time or another?\u201d\u00a0 Adam was looking at his father, who nodded his head at the memory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI think he did, Adam, so help me.\u00a0 Nolan, has Logan told you who he\u2019s taking?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, but I didn\u2019t ask him.\u00a0 He\u2019s always got that situation under control well in advance, so I don\u2019t worry.\u00a0 And he\u2019s so used to being swarmed by girls, he doesn\u2019t give it a second thought.\u00a0 What is it about him anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam laughed.\u00a0 \u201cThey swarmed you, too, but you usually had your nose in a book.\u201d\u00a0 Nolan got a nostalgic look on his face, which he removed quickly when it looked like Karen was going swat his leg.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey Logan,\u201d Nolan called out.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019re you taking to the dance on Saturday?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPetunia,\u201d he answered and he and Eric hefted a load of boards out of the wagon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That started Hoss laughing as he walked over to get a glass of lemonade.\u00a0 \u201cPetunia!\u00a0 That\u2019s Elizabeth and James\u2019 mule.\u00a0 They got her for Skip to ride.\u00a0 I can just see Logan dancing with a donkey!\u201d\u00a0 Skip was Nolan\u2019s sister\u2019s three year old son.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Back in Virginia City, Peggy Barnes was still waiting on customers in her parents\u2019 dry goods store.\u00a0 Her feet hurt and her back ached.\u00a0 She really wanted to sit down, but she kept smiling and wrapping packages.\u00a0 Her father and brother were also working in the store.\u00a0 Business was brisk today, so that was good, but Peggy couldn\u2019t work up too much enthusiasm.\u00a0 Ever since she had arrived in Virginia City, she was waiting to be impressed by something.\u00a0 She missed Minnesota with its beautiful lakes and acres of forested wilderness.\u00a0 Mostly she missed her friends\u2026and Daniel.\u00a0 She would give anything to be back there with Daniel Hendrickson right now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When she had told him her family was moving, to Nevada of all places, they had discussed getting married right away.\u00a0 They were both 20.\u00a0 But Daniel was an apprenticed blacksmith, and he just didn\u2019t make enough money yet to support a wife.\u00a0 Peggy didn\u2019t care.\u00a0 She said she would work, but Daniel was firmly against that.\u00a0 He was very traditional.\u00a0 So now here she was in the middle of nowhere after an endless journey that had been dangerous, but not exciting.\u00a0 Hardly.\u00a0 She had felt like she would lose her mind if they didn\u2019t reach civilization soon.\u00a0 So here she was, in \u201ccivilization.\u201d\u00a0 If you called it that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her father was happy here.\u00a0 The store was busy and he loved the mountains.\u00a0 But to Peggy it seemed like all she did was work.\u00a0 And she had to be nice to everyone.\u00a0 Not that she wouldn\u2019t be, of course, but some people were just too much, like that Cartwright man.\u00a0 He was just too much.\u00a0 Insufferable and pompous, that\u2019s what he was.\u00a0 Someone ought to give him a mirror so he could carry it with him wherever he went to admire himself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIs my real name Pegasus?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 She was muttering to herself as she turned to straighten a shelf behind her.\u00a0 What kind of a stupid question was that, she thought.\u00a0 For that matter, what kind of stupid name was Logan, which is what she heard his<\/em> name was. It seemed he came from a huge family, too.\u00a0 She had seen them all in church.\u00a0 Last Sunday she had been particularly shocked to see him there with another man who looked exactly<\/em> like him!\u00a0 For crying out loud, had the Lord seen fit to put two<\/em> of them on this planet?\u00a0 The people of Virginia City must have been awful sinners to have deserved that, she thought ungraciously.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her younger brother, Rick, on the other hand, thought the Cartwrights were wonderful.\u00a0 Soon after moving here he had made friends in school with several Cartwright boys who were right around his own age, and he was completely besotted with Susannah Cartwright, who was going to Saturday\u2019s dance with him. Oh, why couldn\u2019t Daniel come here and do a blacksmith\u2019s apprenticeship?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy,\u201d her father said her name and nodded to the counter where a customer was waiting with a bolt of cloth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She turned immediately with a smile on her face.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry I kept you waiting.\u00a0 How many yards would you like?\u201d\u00a0 She used her best professional store clerk\u2019s voice, feeling her toes pinch.\u00a0 The day couldn\u2019t end soon enough.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter 2<\/p>\n On Saturday, the Cartwrights set out for the social at different times during the day.\u00a0 Many left after lunch, and they were all gone by late afternoon.\u00a0 Nolan and Karen were riding in the carriage with his parents.\u00a0 On their way downstairs, they passed by Logan\u2019s room, which he shared with their youngest brother, Ross.\u00a0 Nolan peeked in to find his brother in a handsome dark suit with a tie, and very carefully combed hair.\u00a0 He was patting something very fragrant on his face and neck.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy, but you smell nice,\u201d Nolan told him.\u00a0 \u201cPetunia is going to be awfully appreciative you went to this much trouble for her,\u201d he smiled, coming up behind his brother in the mirror.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMind your own business,\u201d Logan responded.\u00a0 \u201cYou already found your woman.\u00a0 I\u2019m still working on getting mine.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nolan guffawed.\u00a0 \u201cLike you\u2019re taking a serious risk!\u00a0 Just ask the girls to take a number, brother.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLaugh all you want, Banker Boy, but we\u2019re twenty-five now.\u00a0 The clock\u2019s ticking.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nolan laughed again, patted his brother on the back, and left the room, calling back that he\u2019d see him at the dance.\u00a0 He took Karen\u2019s arm in the hall, and they went downstairs together.\u00a0 Well, they\u2019d see who Logan was taking to the dance once they got there, he thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was a beautiful day for the social, with a warm breeze and sunny skies.\u00a0 There were horse races, baseball games, a fashion show, pie and cake contests, and a shooting range, among other things.\u00a0 And before the dance, a huge potluck supper was served.\u00a0 It was a day of relaxing fun and visiting with neighbors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Fenways sat with the Cartwrights and played endlessly with Skip while Elizabeth and James Fenway looked on fondly.\u00a0 Hoss proudly carried his granddaughter, Olivia, everywhere he went, which gave Eric and Emily a little time to themselves.\u00a0 Nolan kept an eye out for Logan, and finally spotted him in the kissing booth!\u00a0 Oh, for Pete\u2019s sake, he thought.\u00a0 His brother had pulled a switcheroo on the standard kissing booth concept, but there was quite a line of girls waiting their turn.\u00a0 He nudged his mother and pointed to the booth.\u00a0 Her eyes went wide, and then she collapsed against Adam, laughing.\u00a0 When Adam had gotten an eyeful, he just closed his eyes, moaning, \u201cOh, no.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Soon Joe and Amy were doubled over, laughing at the sight.\u00a0 It was too much.\u00a0 But it was working.\u00a0 The church was definitely going to add to its coffers that day.\u00a0 When Hoss caught sight of it, his laugh could be heard for blocks throughout the town.\u00a0 Erin had to take Olivia away from him; she was afraid he\u2019d drop her in his laughing fit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo who will he dance with?\u201d\u00a0 Karen asked Nolan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEverybody,\u201d her husband replied.\u00a0 \u201cJust watch.\u00a0 He\u2019ll dance with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy Barnes was helping with fashion show, and when she heard the raucous laughter coming from near the church, she walked over to see what was going on.\u00a0 When she saw, she had to stop herself from throwing her arms up in disgust.\u00a0 Did nothing stop that man?\u00a0 He certainly looked pleased with himself, and the girls were getting their money\u2019s worth, too.\u00a0 She turned away, hoping to avoid him for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the line at the booth finally dissipated a couple of hours later, Logan went to the saloon.\u00a0 When he walked in, he received a standing ovation, to which he bowed, pleased with himself, and then bought a cold beer for everyone in the house.\u00a0 He sat for a while with some buddies, and then went in search of his family.\u00a0 It was almost time for the potluck, and he had worked up an appetite kissing all those pretty girls.\u00a0 On his way, he passed the area where the fashion show had just finished.\u00a0 Several people were cleaning up, including someone he recognized.\u00a0 He walked over as she was pulling down some posters, spun her around, and kissed her soundly on the mouth.\u00a0 He did it so suddenly she didn\u2019t have time to react.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When he let her go, he grinned.\u00a0 \u201cNo charge for you, Peggy Sue,\u201d he said, and then he was gone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She felt her face go red.\u00a0 Her hand was itching to slap his face, but he was gone, darn it all.\u00a0 The ladies around her were laughing and making jokes about him.\u00a0 Oh, that Logan<\/em>.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t he a character?<\/em>\u00a0 He was a clown, she decided.\u00a0 But one with curiously warm, soft, lips, she remembered hotly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Soon it was time to eat, and the lines at the loaded food tables were extra long.\u00a0 The ladies of the church society were serving, and Peggy\u2019s mother had volunteered her daughter\u2019s services, along with her own.\u00a0 Peggy was serving helpings of hot baked beans, thinking begrudgingly that no matter what she did in Virginia City, it involved some kind of work.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t someone else spoon out these blasted beans?\u00a0 Then along came a string of Cartwrights, endless, she thought, but she served them all with a sweet smile on her face.\u00a0 Until, that is, the two look-alikes came along.\u00a0 Then her eyes narrowed. Which one was the pompous, arrogant, womanizer?\u00a0 One seemed to have a woman with him and he was holding two plates.\u00a0 He also had a nice smile; he wasn\u2019t the one, most likely.\u00a0 The other one had eyes that twinkled and he almost swaggered.\u00a0 He was the one.\u00a0 Her mind was working furiously on a way to get at him for that kiss.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The \u201cnice\u201d brother was the first to reach her, and as she scooped out beans for the two plates he held, she accidentally dribbled some on one of his hands.\u00a0 The beans were hot, and she heard a quick hiss of breath as he felt the heat.\u00a0 Instantly she dropped the spoon into the bowl and grabbed a napkin to wipe his hand.\u00a0 In her haste, the spoon splattered some of the sauce onto his face, poor soul.\u00a0 She was making a mess of everything.\u00a0 The woman with him grabbed the napkin and wiped the spatters off his face.\u00a0 The whole episode took about five seconds, but she was apologizing effusively.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so sorry\u2026\u201d was all she got out before Logan was hollering at her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey, Pegasus!\u00a0 My brother almost died<\/em> in a train crash.\u00a0 Are you trying to kill him again or what?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy stood very still then.\u00a0 Logan\u2019s brother and the woman with him had moved on down the food line, none the worse for wear.\u00a0 Her jaw jutted out and her eyes were narrow slits.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, I wasn\u2019t trying to kill him.\u00a0 It\u2019s you I would like to kill,\u201d she said in a syrupy voice as she grabbed his hand and slapped a spoonful of beans into it.\u00a0 With that, she turned and walked away from the serving table, untying her apron and throwing it on the ground as she went, heading for home.\u00a0 Behind her she heard him howl and simultaneously heard her mother\u2019s shocked voice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMarguerite!\u00a0 Come back here!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But Marguerite kept walking, and was just crossing the street when a jerk on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.\u00a0 She turned to see Logan\u2019s angry eyes looking into hers as he used her discarded apron to wipe off his hand.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAre you certifiably insane, Marguerite<\/em>?\u201d\u00a0 He shoved her apron at her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She closed her eyes and counted quickly to ten.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2026irritate me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMe??\u201d\u00a0 He put his hands against his chest.\u00a0 The innocent<\/em>, she thought sarcastically.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, you do.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou want to know how I feel about you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 Spare your breath for someone who actually wants to listen to you,\u201d and she turned to resume her way home, but once again he stopped her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLook what you did to me,\u201d he demanded, holding out his hand, which had an angry red palm.\u00a0 \u201cI won\u2019t be able to work for weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPoor baby,\u201d she responded.\u00a0 \u201cSuck on some candy, you\u2019ll feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a lemon-sucking, bitter, angry, spinster girl.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gasped and spun around.\u00a0 \u201cWhat<\/em> did you say to me?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked as though was he doing a quick re-play in his brain.\u00a0 \u201cYou must suck on lemons so make you so sour.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, I do envy you there, Cartwright.\u00a0 When you\u2019re in love with yourself, I\u2019m sure you\u2019re always happy.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His brows had risen as he looked at her, speechless for once, and that was the moment her mother caught up with them.\u00a0 Mrs. Barnes fixed Peggy with a scowl and took Logan\u2019s arm, drawing him toward the store to see to his hand.\u00a0 She unlocked the door and sent Peggy for a bowl of cold water and bandages.\u00a0 The Cartwrights were good customers; what had her daughter been thinking?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy returned with a bowl of water, which landed on the counter so hard the water sloshed, and a roll of bandages.\u00a0 Mrs. Barnes gently placed Logan\u2019s hand in the water, asking him if it hurt very much.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, ma\u2019am,\u201d he answered politely.\u00a0 \u201cI believe I provoked your daughter, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mrs. Barnes dismissed that remark with a wave of her hand.\u00a0 \u201cPosh. She\u2019s been mooning around here ever since we arrived.\u00a0 Wishes she was back in Minnesota.\u00a0 Tell me more about your brother, Mr. Cartwright.\u00a0 I heard you say he was injured in a train accident.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So Logan launched into the train story, which he was good at telling, and good at stretching out.\u00a0 Mrs. Barnes was clucking sympathetically and shaking her head while Peggy was in the back of the store, where the family lived, fuming.\u00a0 That crafty varmint was making her mother feel sorry<\/em> for him.\u00a0 Oohh!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHere, Mr. Cartwright, dry your hand while I get some burn ointment.\u201d\u00a0 Mrs. Barnes came into the back of the store and gave Peggy another look.\u00a0 \u201cHow could you, Marguerite!\u00a0 I saw what you did.\u00a0 The Cartwrights are very good customers of ours!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMama, you don\u2019t know how irritating he can be.\u00a0 He just walks around as though everyone should throw gold coins at his feet!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, posh.\u00a0 He\u2019s the handsome son of an important family.\u00a0 And he was very polite to me. Would it hurt you to be friendly for once?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNice?\u00a0 I\u2019m nice all the time.\u00a0 Nice is my middle name.\u00a0 That\u2019s all I do,\u201d she grumped, feeling her eyes begin to sting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, why don\u2019t you try it on Mr. Cartwright?\u00a0 Go out there, and put some of this ointment on his hand and bandage it up.\u00a0 And apologize to him before he leaves, Miss,\u201d Mrs. Barnes instructed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy stalked out into the store and stopped in front of Logan.\u00a0 \u201cGive me your hand,\u201d she said flatly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He quickly put both hands behind his back.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think I should.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what kind of weapon you might have to attack me with.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, please.\u00a0 It\u2019s burn ointment.\u00a0 Look,\u201d she held out the tube.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt could be acid,\u201d he countered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIf it was acid, I\u2019d make you stick out your tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNow you\u2019re scaring me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why you\u2019re so mean to me.\u00a0 All I\u2019ve ever done is converse with you politely.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAnd manhandle me for a kiss.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He smiled at her.\u00a0 \u201cThat was a nice kiss, too.\u00a0 One of the best all day.\u201d\u00a0 His eyes were twinkling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She reached behind him and grabbed his arm.\u00a0 \u201cJust give me your hand so I can take care of it.\u201d\u00a0 She put the ointment on the burn and then wrapped it with the white bandage strips and taped it securely.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere,\u201d she let go of his hand.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry I did that to you.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure I\u2019m the new villain in town now,\u201d she scowled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOnly if you don\u2019t dance with me tonight,\u201d he smirked, watching her mouth fall open.\u00a0 \u201cBut if you do, I\u2019m sure no one will hold anything against you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s blackmail!\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to go to the dance.\u00a0 I just want this whole day to be over.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll make it easy for you.\u00a0 I\u2019ll come and get you when it\u2019s your turn to dance with me.\u00a0 You can stay home the rest of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Closing her eyes again and praying for strength, she guided him to the door.\u00a0 \u201cAll right.\u00a0 You come back when you want to dance.\u00a0 Now go eat.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBye, Miss Peggy Sue.\u00a0 See you later.\u201d\u00a0 She watched out the window as he sauntered back to the potluck, black hat pushed back on his head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan was so hungry by the time he got back to the church he got himself a plate piled as high with food as he could safely carry.\u00a0 When he found his family, he plopped himself down on the ground, and began to inhale the food.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLogan, we heard about your hand.\u00a0 Are you all right?\u201d\u00a0 His mother was frowning as she looked at the white bandage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, yeah.\u00a0 It\u2019s nothing,\u201d he said with a mouthful of food.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe you shouldn\u2019t have tussled with that young lady,\u201d Adam observed wryly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWho, Peggy Sue?\u00a0 She\u2019s all right.\u00a0 She just sucks lemons, that\u2019s her problem.\u00a0 Needs a little sugar.\u00a0 I can handle her.\u00a0 Mmm, this is good food.\u00a0 Don\u2019t tell Han Lee I said so.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe you shouldn\u2019t have yelled at her about me,\u201d Nolan suggested.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll fix it,\u201d Logan said.\u00a0 \u201cGonna dance with her tonight.\u00a0 I\u2019m getting more food,\u201d and he was up and back to the serving tables.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mary Lynn nudged Adam, \u201cKeep your eye on that girl.\u00a0 This one will be interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the same time, Karen was whispering to Nolan, \u201cShe\u2019s the one, sweetheart.\u00a0 Just keep watching.\u00a0 She hates him right now, but there\u2019s a surefire wedding in their future.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat??\u00a0 That makes no sense.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t hate me when you met me, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOf course not.\u00a0 But Logan\u2019s different.\u00a0 He\u2019s cocky.\u00a0 He\u2019ll get under a girl\u2019s skin.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo why do they all line up and faint when he comes around?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, silly, those are the garden variety pretty girls who like how he looks.\u00a0 They would bore him to death in a week.\u00a0 He needs someone to challenge him, and she\u2019s just the one.\u00a0 You watch.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be making another trip back here for a wedding before long.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the dance started, Logan was glad he had fortified himself with food.\u00a0 Once the music started, he got on the dance floor and didn\u2019t leave it.\u00a0 He danced with old flames, new flames, the grandmothers and mothers of the girls he knew, his sisters, his mother, his aunts, and one (only one) with his sister-in-law, Karen.\u00a0 Nolan got all the other dances with Karen. Girls who had kissed him earlier at the booth fawned over him while dancing. He just smiled and paid them outrageous compliments.\u00a0 Many of them were expecting moonlight walks and more kisses with him, and were disappointed to find that they were not forthcoming. When the musicians took a break, Logan slipped out the door and walked over to the dry goods store.\u00a0 He knocked on the glass door.\u00a0 He saw light in the back and heard footsteps.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy opened the door and slipped outside.\u00a0 Logan couldn\u2019t see her very well in the dark, but he knew she had changed clothes because her dress rustled when she walked.\u00a0 He could also tell that she had pinned her dark hair on top of her head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI should tell your father when I\u2019ll being you home,\u201d he told her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy parents are still at the social.\u00a0 They haven\u2019t come back yet,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He offered her his arm, and with a slight hesitation, she took it.\u00a0 When they reached the dance hall, Logan saw that she was wearing a satin dress of unrelieved navy blue. It had a fitted waist and a full skirt.\u00a0 It had short semi-puffed sleeves and a sweetheart neckline.\u00a0 She wore no jewelry at all.\u00a0 But all the same, she was stunning.\u00a0 She had left one or two curls hanging from the artful pile on her head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan stood stupefied and looked at her silently for a minute, which made her nervous.\u00a0 Maybe she had done something wrong.\u00a0 She started looking at the other girls to see how they were dressed, but saw too much variation to reach a conclusion.<\/p>\n Chapter 3<\/p>\n \u201cDid I do something wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, Peggy Sue,\u201d he said with a straight face.\u00a0 \u201cYou didn\u2019t do anything wrong.\u201d She had never seen him look so serious.\u00a0 He led her to the floor and they began to dance.\u00a0 She was highly aware of his arm around her waist, and felt uncomfortable being so close to him.\u00a0 But he was being a gentleman, and they were simply dancing.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t know where to look.\u00a0 If she stared straight ahead, she looked at his tie.\u00a0 If she met his hazel eyes, she wasn\u2019t sure when to look away.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t saying anything at all.\u00a0 She almost wished he would crack a stupid joke.\u00a0 She realized that he had a cleft chin and that even though he had shaved before leaving home his face was already showing a dark shadow.\u00a0 Like his father.\u00a0 Like his brother.\u00a0 She decided to look at the other dancers.\u00a0 She saw her brother, Rick, whirling around the floor with Logan\u2019s sister, Susannah, in his arms.\u00a0 They were smiling and talking.\u00a0 Peggy could tell that Susannah was related to Logan.\u00a0 Another young man passed them by with a girl in a pink swirl and he, too, looked like Logan.\u00a0 She asked about him, and Logan told her that it was Eli, his younger brother and also Susannah\u2019s twin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTwo sets of twins?\u00a0 And you all look alike?\u201d\u00a0 She laughed with surprise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cCarrie doesn\u2019t look like us.\u00a0 She\u2019s prettier; she looks like Mom.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0He pointed out his other siblings and cousins.\u00a0 His sister, Elizabeth, danced by with her husband James, and she waved.\u00a0 Logan reached out and tugged at her hair.\u00a0 When the music stopped, Logan brought Peggy over to meet his parents.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMom, Dad, this is Peggy Sue Barnes.\u00a0 Peggy these are my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Marguerite, really, but everyone calls me Peggy,\u201d she explained, ignoring the pained expression Logan took on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t look like a Marguerite.\u00a0 You look like a Peggy Sue,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLogan,\u201d Mary Lynn said, with a hand on her son\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cMarguerite is a very pretty name.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t use it very often, but it was my grandmother\u2019s name.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elizabeth, Susannah, Eli and Nolan began gathering around to meet Peggy.\u00a0 She found herself trying to sort out all the faces and the names.\u00a0 Then she met his grandfather, Ben.\u00a0 Everyone in town knew Ben Cartwright.\u00a0 He shook Peggy\u2019s hand and asked how she liked Nevada compared to Minnesota.\u00a0 She admitted to being homesick, and he commiserated with her.\u00a0 It would take some time, he said. \u00a0\u00a0Eventually Logan led Peggy away to get some punch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat girl is absolutely beautiful,\u201d Mary Lynn said to Adam.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what Logan meant about lemons.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, she was uprooted from the only home she knew and brought halfway across the country, and maybe she\u2019s a more serious type than Logan is.\u00a0 You know how he can be,\u201d Adam was, as usual, being eminently logical.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Karen was talking to Elizabeth about Peggy, too.\u00a0 \u201cLook around the room.\u00a0 The other girls have their claws out.\u00a0 But Peggy has no competition.\u00a0 Logan doesn\u2019t know it yet, but he\u2019s been bagged.\u00a0 Peggy might not know it, either.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elizabeth looked at Karen in surprise, and then over to Peggy and Logan.\u00a0 Looking around the room, she laughed.\u00a0 \u201cYou might be right, Karen.\u00a0 You just might be right.\u00a0 Oh, my!\u201d She clapped her hands.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan brought Peggy over to meet Nolan and Karen a few minutes later.\u00a0 Peggy apologized again for spattering Nolan earlier in the day, although she mentioned nothing about Logan\u2019s hand.\u00a0 Nolan was sweet and assured her he was just fine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNolan, this is the girl with the same name as your horse,\u201d Logan said with some anticipation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLogan!\u201d\u00a0 Karen said in surprise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nolan looked at Peggy and smiled, \u201cSo, your name is Pegasus too?\u00a0 It\u2019s a great name, don\u2019t you think?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful, mythological name,\u201d Peggy agreed with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cI especially like being a constellation in the sky, and I have always loved feathers.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nolan and Karen laughed, and once again, Logan looked at Peggy like she had spoken a foreign language.\u00a0 The music started up again just then.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCome on, Marguerite,\u201d Logan said, grabbing her hand and pulling her away for another dance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, at least Marguerite is better than calling her Pegasus,\u201d Karen remarked dryly to her husband\u2019s chuckle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan didn\u2019t let go of Peggy all evening, except once, when her father cut in.\u00a0 Peggy introduced them, and as soon as the dance was over, Mr. Barnes brought Peggy back to Logan.\u00a0 When the dance was finally over, Logan took Peggy\u2019s hand and they went outside together.\u00a0 He gave her his arm again as they walked to the store.\u00a0 This time they walked behind the store, where there was a small yard with a gliding swing under a grape arbor.\u00a0 They sat in the swing for a while, Logan holding onto Peggy\u2019s hand.\u00a0 It was his bandaged hand, and she felt guilty.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry I hurt your hand.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid I have a temper.\u00a0 It gets me in trouble.\u00a0 I hope you\u2019ll be able to work.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be fine.\u00a0 I was giving you a hard time.\u201d\u00a0 He was silent for a short time.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, Peggy Sue, I couldn\u2019t believe how you looked tonight in that blue dress with your hair all done up.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen anyone prettier.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhy, thank you, Logan.\u00a0 It\u2019s really my only good dress.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, keep it, always.\u00a0 It\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI should go in now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His hand tightened around hers, holding her back.\u00a0 She looked at him in the dark.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy, do you want to go mining for fish with me?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She laughed.\u00a0 \u201cSure.\u00a0 I\u2019ll mine for fish with you.\u00a0 I can only go on a Sunday or possibly late some afternoon if I can slip away from the store.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow\u2019s Sunday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo it is.\u00a0 All right.\u00a0 Pick me up at one o\u2019clock.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They stood then and oddly, Peggy felt rooted in place.\u00a0 She needed to turn and walk to the back door.\u00a0 But she waited too long, and felt Logan wrap his arms around her.\u00a0 His head bent down and he kissed her with the same warm, soft lips that had kissed her earlier, only longer now, and with more feeling.\u00a0 She felt herself clutching the sleeves of his jacket and kissing him back.\u00a0 When they separated, she took a step back, surprised at herself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll see you tomorrow,\u201d she said breathlessly, and then she turned and ran up the path to the door and into the house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan stood looking after her, catching his breath.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know exactly what was happening.\u00a0 He just knew that no girl had ever kissed him like that before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The next day at one o\u2019clock, Logan was knocking on the back door of the store.\u00a0 He was in a good mood and looking forward to an afternoon of fishing with Peggy.\u00a0 For her part, Peggy had been thinking for hours about the kiss the night before, and she wondered if seeing Logan so soon again would be awkward.\u00a0 She quickly found out that he was the same old Logan again. She didn\u2019t know whether to feel relieved or annoyed.<\/p>\n The first thing he did when she came to the door was take her hand and bow.<\/p>\n \u201cMiss Peggy Sue, I do declare that you are more beautiful today than you were yesterday,\u201d and he topped that off with a kiss to the back of her hand.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gave him a look that told him he was overdoing it, but he simply smiled at her, and poked his head through the door to greet her parents, who seemed pleased to see him.\u00a0 Oh<\/em> no, they like him<\/em>, Peggy thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Keeping hold of her hand, they walked out front where he had left the buggy.\u00a0 He handed her up into it and then hopped up himself, sitting close to her.\u00a0 With a light shake on the reins and a click of his tongue, the horse was on its way.\u00a0 They rode for quite a while; Peggy wasn\u2019t sure where he was taking her, so she asked him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTo a very special place with special fish.\u00a0 My favorite place to mine for fish.\u00a0 You\u2019ll like it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHow do you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked at her, \u201cEveryone likes it.\u00a0 If you tell me you hate it, you\u2019ll be making history.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHow many girls have you taken fishing there?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, let\u2019s see, there\u2019s Marianne, Isabel, Elizabeth, Sarah, Susannah\u2026\u201d his eyes were twinkling, but she didn\u2019t see it, nor did she make the connection.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo this is your first-date place?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He wore a frown.\u00a0 \u201cWell, no, not really.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, that\u2019s an awful lot of girls,\u201d she said, feeling like just the next one in a long line of his conquests.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI s\u2019pose so, but my family\u2019s big.\u00a0 Between my sisters and cousins, that\u2019s about it.\u00a0 You\u2019re the first date I\u2019m taking there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, for heaven\u2019s sake!\u201d\u00a0 She tossed her hair back, realizing she been had.\u00a0 She turned to look at him, and found him grinning as he watched the road ahead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She concentrated on watching the scenery around her.\u00a0 They were driving through an area with towering pine trees and low hills.\u00a0 The sun dappled the ground between the trees.\u00a0 She caught sight of a deer with a fawn in the distance.\u00a0 It was really very lovely.\u00a0 As he rounded a bend in the road, a beautiful blue lake came into view before her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh my, that\u2019s beautiful!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s Lake Tahoe.\u00a0 Haven\u2019t you ever seen it before?\u00a0 It\u2019s the same color blue as your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She just stared at it.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I\u2019ve never seen it before.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard of it, of course.\u00a0 Is that where we\u2019re fishing?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt is, but not until we reach my favorite place, right up ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He stopped the buggy on a slight rise under the shade of a stand of pines.\u00a0 He helped Peggy down and reached for the fishing poles and supplies he had brought with him.\u00a0 Taking her hand again, they walked toward the water.\u00a0 On a rock outcropping, he spread a blanket, and invited her to sit.\u00a0 He sat next to her and handed her a pole.\u00a0 They were in the sun, a few feet above the water, with the lake stretching out before them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhere are we?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOn the Ponderosa, the ranch,\u201d he answered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThis is part of your family\u2019s ranch?\u201d\u00a0 She sounded incredulous.\u00a0 \u201cThe lake?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMmmhmm,\u201d he answered, rummaging through a bag next to him.\u00a0 He extracted a worm and held it out to her.\u00a0 \u201cAre you afraid of worms?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gave him a condescending look and held out her hand.\u00a0 \u201cOf course not,\u201d she accepted the worm and handily baited the hook on her pole.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAre you afraid of snakes?\u201d\u00a0 This came as he baited his own hook.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDepends,\u201d she said, casting her line into the water skillfully, a fact that did not escape his notice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOn what?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOn whether they rattle or hiss,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, good for you.\u00a0 Most girls are afraid of worms, let alone snakes.\u00a0 I got me a brave one here,\u201d his arm went around her shoulder lightly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She stiffened slightly but tried not to show it as he cast his line.\u00a0 He removed it as he leaned back on his elbow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI saw you in church this morning,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI was almost right behind you, but my brother wouldn\u2019t let me pull your hair.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She made a sound of exasperation.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes you are so juvenile!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He feigned hurt.\u00a0 \u201cNot me, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 When I was thirteen, I killed a man.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gasped.\u00a0 \u201cYou killed a man?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, yeah, but I didn\u2019t mean to kill him, and he had kidnapped my bother, Eli, and my cousin, Joey, so he was a criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy gave him such a strange look that he launched into the kidnapping story, which led him into the story of how he had raised his brother, Ross.\u00a0 Peggy listened, fascinated by his antics and laughing when he described his horror as his mother handed over his one year old brother into his safekeeping.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe you did all that,\u201d she gasped, and then came to attention as she felt her line being pulled.\u00a0 \u201cI got one, Logan!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was a big one and he helped her pull it in.\u00a0 It was a large trout.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThis must be a five-pounder.\u00a0 Good catch, Peggy,\u201d there was admiration in his voice.\u00a0 Not all girls would be such good sports.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIn Minnesota there are lakes everywhere, so it\u2019s almost unpatriotic if you don\u2019t fish.\u00a0 In a way it\u2019s a lot like it is here.\u00a0 Hills and trees and lakes.\u00a0 It\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLike the Ponderosa,\u201d he said, almost to himself.\u00a0 He jumped up then and walked back to the buggy, bringing back a basket in which Han Lee had packed snacks for them.\u00a0 \u201cHere, eat,\u201d he said taking out a sandwich and wolfing it down.\u00a0 While she watched him in amazement, he nudged the basket toward her and turned back to his pole.\u00a0 \u201cYou tell me about Peggy Sue now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now she felt awkward.\u00a0 She was self-conscious, but she told him about the small town she grew up in and about her family.\u00a0 She told him about Daniel, but left out many of the details.\u00a0 He asked her how she liked working in the store.\u00a0 She was quiet too long to fool him, so she said nothing.\u00a0 When she sneaked a sideways look at him, he was watching her with a frown.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you like to do?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, I like to sew, and I like to ride horses.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDid you make the dress you wore last night?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou made<\/em> that?\u00a0 Do you know what my sisters would give for a dress like that?\u00a0 Heck, you should open up a shop.\u00a0 You\u2019d be rich in no time.\u201d\u00a0 He was leaning back, but he still watched her carefully.\u00a0 \u201cDo you get to ride much?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI did in Minnesota, but now that we live in town and I\u2019m helping in the store, I\u2019ve hardly had a chance.\u00a0 I would love to be able to get out and just let a good horse run.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere are hundreds of places to ride on the Ponderosa.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t have a horse now, we have dozens.\u00a0 Maybe Nolan would even let you ride Pegasus<\/em>,\u201d he looked pleased with himself, putting special emphasis on the word. \u00a0\u201cWould you like that?\u201d He noticed that she looked as though new life had been breathed into her.\u00a0 \u201cAnytime you want, you just let me know,\u201d he promised.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She sighed, looking out over the water.\u00a0 \u201cNow that<\/em> would be wonderful.\u00a0 It would get my blood moving again.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never cared for slow-blooded girls,\u201d he said mildly, and then dodged when she would have jabbed him in the side with her finger.\u00a0 His line began to pull then and he reeled in another trout, though smaller than Peggy\u2019s.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHa!\u00a0 Mine\u2019s bigger than yours!\u201d\u00a0 She gloated as he unhooked his fish.\u00a0 She rummaged through the food basket and came up with a piece of cheese and started nibbling on it.\u00a0 She leaned back and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her.\u00a0 She was surprised when all of a sudden she felt his hand in her hair.\u00a0 He was letting it sift through his fingers.\u00a0 What should she do?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYour hair is so pretty and soft.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAnd fishy.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNow it\u2019s fishy from your fish hands,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, yeah?\u201d\u00a0 The next thing she knew he\u2019d grabbed his trout and twisted it into her hair.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She shrieked and tried to pull it out, but his grip was firm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTake it out!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSay Uncle,\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNever!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOkay, then, enjoy the fish.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She was starting to be mad at him when she felt another tug on her line.\u00a0 She forgot the fish he still held in her hair as she pulled in her second trout, smaller than the first, but still very respectable.\u00a0 As she drew it up, holding it for him to see, it accidentally flopped right into his face, which left him wet and wide-eyed.\u00a0 Peggy started giggling as she unhooked the fish, and instead of setting it with her other fish, she wiped his cheek with it.<\/p>\n Chapter 4<\/p>\n –<\/a> Text Size<\/strong> +<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cNow let go of my hair,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSay Uncle,\u201d he repeated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou want to kiss the fish again?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, sure, bring it on.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She slapped the wet fish against his cheek lightly and felt his grip in her hair tighten.\u00a0 She was getting ready to slather him with her fish again when it slipped out of her hand, arced into the air and back into the lake,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Surprised, she leaned over to watch it, and his arm came across her shoulders sharply to stop her from going over the edge of the rock herself.\u00a0 He pulled her back with enough force that she landed on her back, and would have hit her head, except that the fish he had twisted in her hair cushioned her head against any blow.\u00a0 She lay there for an instant, surprised at the turn of events, and he looked at her with dismay, thinking she might be hurt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, for Pete\u2019s sake, get that fish out of my hair,\u201d she exclaimed<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Spurred into action, he quickly unwound it and held it up over her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhy would you want to wear a fish in your hair?\u00a0 I\u2019ve never known a girl like you,\u201d he said with a gleam in his eyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her own eyes narrowed, and as she tried to think of a stinging reply, he leaned forward and she watched his face coming closer to hers, doing nothing to stop him.\u00a0 For the third time in two days he kissed her.\u00a0 He pulled back, looking at her, and then kissed her again.\u00a0 She could smell the fish on his face and started to laugh.\u00a0 He pulled back again, and this time the look on his face was not happy.\u00a0 Oh, he bleeds<\/em>, she thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou smell like a fish,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh I do, do I?\u201d\u00a0 He pulled her up by her arms.\u00a0 Then he reached for her face and kissed her again; then gave her his cheek to kiss.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s that for fishy?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cToo much,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cYou should use cologne like other men.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI do.\u00a0 It\u2019s a sport cologne.\u00a0 Eau de Trout<\/em>.\u00a0 Women love it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIck,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t complain when I kiss your fishy hands,\u201d he pointed out as he took a hand and kissed it as he had earlier when he picked her up. He got an idea then.\u00a0 \u201cFollow me,\u201d he said, still holding her hand.\u00a0 They walked around the fishing rock and down to the shore of the lake, where they rinsed the fish smell from their hands and faces.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWould you like me to de-fish your hair since I misbehaved to begin with?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy bit her lip.\u00a0 \u201cHow would I explain my wet hair to my parents?\u201d\u00a0 She looked doubtful.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEasy.\u00a0 You won\u2019t have wet hair.\u00a0 Here, sit on the sand.\u201d\u00a0 He actually filled his hat with water and poured it over her hair, holding it out so her dress stayed dry.\u00a0 When he had rinsed it enough, he squeezed it with his hands to remove the excess water, and then they walked back to the fishing rock, while he held her hair out behind her.\u00a0 He used the blanket to dry her hair more, and then they sat under the warm sun while he combed her hair with his fingers.\u00a0 It was soft and he liked the feel of it. \u00a0For Peggy, the feeling was incredibly sensual.\u00a0 She had never really felt anything like it before.\u00a0 And for Logan to be the person doing it was almost an oxymoron.\u00a0 Part of her wanted to giggle, and another part just wanted to sit indefinitely letting him weave her hair between his fingers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He started singing.\u00a0 \u201cI want you, Peggy Sue, you\u2019re a love so rare and true, oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue.\u00a0 Well I love you girl, and I need you, Peggy Sue,\u201d(1) his voice was distinctly off key, whatever the melody was supposed to be.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She was laughing again.\u00a0 \u201cWhat on earth are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEntertaining you.\u00a0 It would sound better if I had my guitar with me.\u00a0 You wanna sing with me?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cUh, no thanks, but you go right ahead if you want to,\u201d she said politely.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After about fifteen minutes of finger combing and hokey, made-up songs, he declared her hair dry.\u00a0 She was almost disappointed. She turned to thank him, and her heart almost skipped a beat.\u00a0 She chastised herself for being so silly.\u00a0 She was acting like all the other girls.\u00a0 Yes, he was handsome.\u00a0 Very.\u00a0 But he didn\u2019t need any encouragement.\u00a0 He already knew that.\u00a0 Mentally, she shook herself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Logan.\u00a0 Thanks for taking me fishing, too.\u00a0 I enjoyed getting out, and the lake is beautiful.\u00a0 What are we going to do with the fish?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEat \u2018em, of course!\u00a0 You take them home with you.\u00a0 Those two will feed your family dinner, but I\u2019d need a dozen five-pounders to feed mine.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, thanks.\u00a0 That\u2019s nice of you.\u00a0 My parents will enjoy them.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan was picking up the blanket and the basket.\u00a0 It was time to go back.\u00a0 Peggy carried the two fishing poles.\u00a0 Once everything was packed in the buggy, Logan helped her in and climbed in himself.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t start moving right away.\u00a0 He turned to face her, and the impish little boy was nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI like you, Peggy Sue.\u00a0 You\u2019re different from the other girls.\u00a0 You\u2019re real.\u00a0 You make me want to\u2026\u201d he didn\u2019t finish as he leaned into her again, touching her lips with his.\u00a0 She was starting to like the feel of his kisses. She put her hands on his face.\u00a0 When they stopped, they both just looked at each other.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou smell like sunshine,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Then, with his elbows on his knees, he dropped his head into his hands.\u00a0 \u201cWill you listen to me?\u00a0 I\u2019ve never said that to anyone.\u00a0 Don\u2019t tell my family I said that\u2026please?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDid you mean it?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAll right, then.\u00a0 I won\u2019t tell anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She was rewarded with his full grin.\u00a0 \u201cSee?\u00a0 That\u2019s what I like about you.\u00a0 You\u2019re for real.\u00a0 Hiya!\u201d\u00a0 He prodded the horse into action.\u00a0 As the buggy rolled along, he gestured to a pasture.\u00a0 \u201cYou want to ride Pegasus some day soon?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWill your brother mind?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNolan?\u00a0 Nah.\u00a0 He\u2019s the nicest person on earth.\u00a0 He might even give him to you since you both have the same name.\u00a0 You just tell me when and it\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t I send you a message during the week if I can leave the store early?\u00a0 Otherwise, maybe I could get away Saturday afternoon, Sunday for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSounds good.\u00a0 I\u2019ll wait to hear from you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They were pretty quiet on the way back to town, but Logan did reach out and pull Peggy\u2019s hand close to him.\u00a0 When he walked her to her parents\u2019 door, holding the two trout, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThanks for fish mining with me,\u201d he winked at her.\u00a0 \u201cSee you soon.\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait too long.\u201d\u00a0 She watched him walk away, hands in his pockets, whistling off key.\u00a0 Cocky<\/em>, she thought.\u00a0 But nice<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On Monday business in the store was hectic.\u00a0 Back to business as usual, Peggy thought as she moved from one customer to the next.\u00a0 Both her parents and her brother were also working busily.\u00a0 Her father was happy.\u00a0 A busy store brought in good income.\u00a0 Peggy was thinking about Logan\u2019s offer to go riding.\u00a0 She did have her own horse in a small barn behind the store, but she certainly hadn\u2019t been riding much since she\u2019d arrived in Virginia City.\u00a0 There was a lot of open space, but if she went riding, she wouldn\u2019t be sure if she was on someone\u2019s private property.\u00a0 .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the afternoon, two girls came into the store.\u00a0 Peggy recognized them from the dance.\u00a0 One was Logan\u2019s sister and the other was his cousin.\u00a0 She remembered Susannah especially, since she\u2019d been Rick\u2019s date at the dance.\u00a0 Peggy suspected that she\u2019d come into the store to see him.\u00a0 She smiled and stepped out from behind the counter to greet them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHi, Susannah, how are you?\u201d\u00a0 Peggy smiled at both girls.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHi, Peggy.\u00a0 Do you remember my cousin, Isabel?\u00a0 Did you have a good time at the dance?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI did indeed.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t danced that much in a long time.\u00a0 Did you both enjoy it?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Their dark heads nodded vigorously.\u00a0 Isabel inquired enviously about Peggy\u2019s dress, and when she learned Peggy had made it, she was very impressed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDo you think you could make one like that for me sometime?\u00a0 Exactly the same pattern.\u00a0 It was so beautiful on you.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to have one in pink, though.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d love to have one in green,\u201d Susannah said dreamily.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, sure, if you really want me to.\u00a0 I love to sew, and it would be easy to fit my pattern for each of you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They promised to ask their mothers when they got home.\u00a0 Susannah began discreetly looking around for Rick, and Peggy knew what she was really in the store for.\u00a0 Leaning toward Logan\u2019s sister, she whispered, \u201cI\u2019ll get Rick for you if you\u2019ll tell Logan that I can go riding on Thursday afternoon at three.\u00a0 Tell him I\u2019ll ride to the Ponderosa.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Susannah smiled and nodded eagerly.\u00a0 Shortly she and Rick were talking quietly together while Isabel browsed in the store.\u00a0 Peggy went back to waiting on customers to cover for Rick.\u00a0 Things might just be getting interesting here in Virginia City, she thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After three long, routine days in the store, Thursday finally arrived.\u00a0 Her parents had agreed to let Peggy leave early in order to get to the Ponderosa by three.\u00a0 She ran quickly upstairs to change into her riding outfit, stopping to pull her hair behind her head with a clip.\u00a0 In the barn she quickly saddled the mare, Maybelle, and got out on the road as quickly as possible.\u00a0 She met the wagonload of Cartwright children returning home from school along the way, and rode with them the rest of the way.\u00a0 Chatting with this lively group, she learned that school was about to be out for the summer, and that was all they could talk about.\u00a0 She remembered Logan\u2019s youngest sister, Marianne, who was 10 and her cousin Sarah,11.\u00a0 Ross was getting big at 12, and Peggy smiled thinking about the stories she\u2019d heard about the two brothers, \u201cattached at the hip\u201d as Nolan put it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They were a noisy group as they rode into the yard of the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Peggy had never seen the house before, but it was huge and beautiful.\u00a0 She could only imagine what it looked like inside.\u00a0 And she wondered how this large family all lived in it together.\u00a0 As the boys took care of the wagon and the horse pulling it, Ross told Peggy he would let Logan know she was there.\u00a0 Dismounting, she tethered Maybelle to the hitching post outside the house near the porch.\u00a0 In a few minutes she saw Logan come out of the barn leading a large black horse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey there, Peggy Sue.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good day for a ride.\u00a0 You sure look nice today,\u201d he gave her his big smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not Pegasus, is it?\u201d\u00a0 There was distinct hesitation in her voice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, this is Rocket.\u00a0 He\u2019s all mine.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been together a long time, haven\u2019t we, boy?\u201d\u00a0 And with that, Logan planted a kiss on Rocket\u2019s nose.\u00a0 Peggy smiled.\u00a0 He took her hand and pulled her along.\u00a0 \u201cCome with me and I\u2019ll show you Pegasus.\u00a0 You can decide if you want to ride him, but he\u2019s very well mannered.\u00a0 Fast, though, he\u2019s fast.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBut Rocket is faster, right?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, of course.\u00a0\u00a0 Rocket is the fastest.\u00a0 No horse can beat him.\u00a0 Nolan has tried with Peg, and he only wins if Rocket\u2019s under the weather.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOf course,\u201d Peggy murmured with a small smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Entering the barn, the first thing she noticed was the number of fine looking horses kept in large stalls.\u00a0 As they walked through, Logan pointed out different mounts, told her their names, and who they belonged to.\u00a0 He stopped in front of a sleek chestnut.\u00a0 He reached out to stroke his face and neck.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThis is Pegasus.\u00a0 He\u2019s a Morgan.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t he beautiful?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHe certainly is,\u201d Peggy said in genuine admiration.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s pretty big, too.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHe and Rocket are the same size, but Peg is pretty gentle.\u00a0 Rocket\u2019s a Morgan, too.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI suppose you and Nolan got them at the same time?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, for our twelfth birthday.\u00a0 We were pretty excited.\u00a0 We had placid mares until then.\u00a0 Best birthday we ever had,\u201d he said, recalling how they had run around in delight.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, he\u2019s so beautiful, I\u2019d be crazy not to try him,\u201d Peggy said.\u00a0 She\u2019d been riding her whole life, only not on horses as pretty as this one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGood choice,\u201d Logan said as he tossed a blanket on and hefted the saddle up and onto the horse.\u00a0 He slipped the bridle in place, and led the horse out of the barn.\u00a0 \u201cNolan already said you could ride him so we\u2019re good,\u201d he told her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With Pegasus standing by Maybelle at the hitching post, Peggy could see how much bigger he was.\u00a0 Still, she wanted to ride him. She spent a few moments getting to know him, talking to him softly and telling him what they were going to do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re good with horses, I can already tell.\u00a0 Can you mount him?\u00a0 If you can\u2019t, I\u2019ll give you a boost,\u201d Logan offered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Determinedly, Peggy put a foot in the stirrup, and after a couple of bounces, she got herself up and into the saddle.\u00a0 She gave Logan a triumphant smile, and he gave her a thumbs up.\u00a0 Logan mounted up and headed off in a direction that was different from the one Peggy had arrived from.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He moved out into a pasture that ran beside a rode behind the barn.\u00a0 \u201cThere are a lot of good, flat riding pastures back this way,\u201d he told her.\u00a0 For a while they rode slowly and companionably.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you think?\u00a0 Logan asked as he looked over at her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI love him,\u201d Peggy said.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s easy to ride and he\u2019s comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWanna race?\u201d\u00a0 He gave her a distinctly devilish look. \u201cI might even let you win.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNow?? \u00a0No, not just yet.\u00a0 Let me work up to it, please,\u201d there was just a trace of alarm in her voice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOkay,\u201d he said, and broke into a trot.\u00a0 Not to be outdone, Peggy followed suit, finding that she could maintain the pace quite well.\u00a0 She just knew what he was going to do, though.\u00a0 Sooner or later he was going to let Rocket have his lead and take off, and Peggy didn\u2019t know what Pegasus would do in response.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For quite a while Logan seemed content to trot along.\u00a0 It seemed there was endless land to the Ponderosa, some of it wild, some of it beautiful, some flat, some hilly, some rocky.\u00a0 When she asked, he told her it was at least 1,000 square acres.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t begin to fathom the size, but given the amount of land they had crossed so far, she believed him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As he pulled ahead of her, she saw that he had urged Rocket into a canter.\u00a0 She waited to see what Pegasus would do.\u00a0 Nothing; he kept on at the same pace.\u00a0 Good boy<\/em>, she thought, and she breathed a sigh of relief.\u00a0 Logan stopped when he realized he had gotten well ahead of Peggy.\u00a0 She kicked Pegasus into a canter to catch up, and she was comfortable with that pace, too.\u00a0 It had been several months since she had ridden, so she wanted to take things easy until got her \u201csea legs\u201d back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGood for you,\u201d Logan praised her.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a regular pro on horseback.\u00a0 Peg there thinks you\u2019re Nolan.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIs that a compliment?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, it is, sorta.\u00a0 In a way.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, well then, thanks, sort of.\u201d<\/p>\n Chapter 5<\/p>\n He laughed and started moving again.\u00a0 They were side by side, riding easily.\u00a0 He pointed out a large boulder ahead.\u00a0 \u201cWhen we reach that rock we\u2019re going to race.\u00a0 Half a mile from the first boulder, there\u2019s another one.\u00a0 We\u2019ll go around it and the first one back to the start wins,\u201d his eyes challenged her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNot until I have a chance to feel this horse out at that speed.\u00a0 You wait here,\u201d Peggy told him and kicked Pegasus into a full gallop.\u00a0 \u201cGo, boy!\u00a0 Ya!\u201d\u00a0 He took off like a shot and at first she was holding on for her life, bouncing uncontrollably in the saddle.\u00a0 Then she leaned forward and picked up the horse\u2019s rhythm.\u00a0 She held her arms correctly and the reins loosely.\u00a0 She went past the boulder and beyond, making a wide turn and coming back to where Logan waited, making a graceful stop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked at her admiringly.\u00a0 \u201cWell, that didn\u2019t take long, did it?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They lined up at the boulder and Logan counted down from five.\u00a0 When he called go<\/em> they both galloped off.\u00a0 He was race ready and he moved fast.\u00a0 Rocket shot ahead of Pegasus right away, but Peggy found that by urging him, she could move up to Logan\u2019s side.\u00a0 He was really riding low, and he and his horse made a good team.\u00a0 When she saw the second boulder ahead, she realized they would both want the inner track going around it because that would probably determine who won the race. They began to maneuver for position, with only a few seconds to determine it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the last moment, Logan abandoned that battle and turned Rocket in a tight pivot on the outside track.\u00a0 Peggy, expecting him to challenge her for the inside track, also made a hard turn.\u00a0 Later she would have a hard time knowing whether to chalk it up to inexperience with the animal or an extended period of time out of the saddle, but as Pegasus rounded the boulder, he was close enough that Peggy\u2019s leg scraped the tall rock.\u00a0 Although the horse kept his footing, Peggy\u2019s balance was thrown off.\u00a0 She let out an involuntary yelp and grabbed the pommel of the saddle as she felt herself sliding to the side.\u00a0 She tried to prevent a fall by placing her weight in the outside stirrup, but that really only made matters worse.\u00a0 Before she knew it, she had landed on the dusty ground on her back, the air knocked out of her.\u00a0 Pegasus continued on for a short distance before stopping.\u00a0 He, too, knew that something was wrong.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan pulled up sharply when he heard Peggy\u2019s cry and the thud of her landing flat on the ground.\u00a0 He turned instantly and rode back, jumping off Rocket before he even stopped moving.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He wanted to pull Peggy up right away, but he knew that could be the worst thing to do.\u00a0 He needed to find out the extent of her injuries.\u00a0 He knelt by her head and spoke to her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy, can you hear me?\u00a0 Are you hurt?\u201d\u00a0 His voice sounded urgent and laced with panic.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trying to catch her breath, she was wheezing and gulping at air.\u00a0 Her chest was heaving and she started coughing from the dust that had been churned into the air.\u00a0 She propped herself up on one elbow, and turned to cough more.\u00a0 That showed Logan that her back and neck weren\u2019t broken, and her arms seemed functional.\u00a0 He began to pat her back to help her cough and catch her breath.\u00a0 At least he thought he was patting her back.\u00a0 He was actually pounding it with his fist.\u00a0 She reached up with her free hand and waved it at him, until he realized what he was doing.\u00a0 Then he gathered her into his arms and sat on the ground with her on his lap, rocking lightly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When she had caught her breath, he felt her head for bumps, and made her move her legs and ankles.\u00a0 He made her tell him her name and what day it was, and the names of the horses.\u00a0 Mentally he was berating himself.\u00a0 When would he learn not to be so impulsive?<\/em>\u00a0 He should have known better than to race with her.\u00a0 She had told him she hadn\u2019t ridden for a while.\u00a0 He looked at the leg that had scraped against the boulder.\u00a0 Her boot had definitely taken a beating, and she had a nice pair of brown leather riding boots.\u00a0 A part of her leg had been scraped and was bleeding.\u00a0 Fortunately, her boot had protected most of her skin, but she would probably have a good bruise.\u00a0 He took off his neckerchief and cleaned away most of the blood, and then tied it around her leg as a temporary bandage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She seemed content to rest quietly in his arms.\u00a0 Wanting to make sure she didn\u2019t have a head injury that was making her sleepy, he asked her more questions about how she felt.\u00a0 She reassured him that she had taken the brunt of the fall on her back and rear.\u00a0 After fifteen minutes he asked her if she would try standing.\u00a0 That would tell him what condition her leg and ankle were in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With his help, Peggy stood up slowly, balancing herself with one hand on the boulder and the other on Logan.\u00a0 Fully upright, she gingerly placed weight on her foot, which accepted it without complaint.\u00a0 She took a few tentative steps by herself and bent her knees.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gave him a smile that was slightly shaky.\u00a0 \u201cI think I\u2019m all right.\u00a0 I think Pegasus is all right, too.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy, I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 Racing was a stupid idea.\u00a0 I should have given you more time to get used to riding again.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why I do things like that,\u201d he gave the dirt a vicious kick to punctuate the last remark<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She put her hand out to touch his arm.\u00a0 This was a very serious Logan, one who expressed misgivings about a character flaw.\u00a0 Immediately she realized she liked the jocular Logan better.\u00a0 He was standing, legs apart, hands on his hips, staring at the ground.\u00a0 When he felt her hand, he reached our and pulled her against him.\u00a0 Her head was against his chest and his chin was on her head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy Sue, I don\u2019t know what I would have done if you\u2019d been seriously hurt.\u201d\u00a0 After that, there was a shocked silence as though he had just realized what he said.\u00a0 Peggy said nothing, waiting, her arms around his waist.\u00a0 He pulled back to look at her face.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what I would do without you,\u201d he said very quietly, and they both realized he had just figured that out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Suddenly embarrassed, he whistled for Rocket, and both horses returned.\u00a0 He mounted Rocket and then reached down to pull Peggy up with him.\u00a0 Then he pulled Pegasus over close and helped her slide over into his saddle.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want her putting excessive weight on her leg.\u00a0 He held onto Peg\u2019s reins and they returned to the Ponderosa at a very sedate walking pace.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The family had already started dinner by the time Logan and Peggy returned.\u00a0 Logan lifted Peggy down from Pegasus and carried her over to a seat on the porch while he hitched both horses.\u00a0 Then he hurried into the bunkhouse to get the first aid kit that was kept there.\u00a0 He rinsed his neckerchief at the pump and then cleaned her scrape carefully and wrapped bandage strips around it.\u00a0 It was a repeat of her wrapping his hand at the social the prior weekend.\u00a0 Hoss, having heard them ride up and wondering why Logan hadn\u2019t come in, came outside to see what was going on.\u00a0 When he learned that Peggy had fallen, he insisted on checking her leg.\u00a0 Carefully he removed her boot and gently checked her ankle and calf.\u00a0 Soon there were more Cartwrights on the porch, and Peggy was embarrassed to have them all watch Hoss check her bare foot and leg.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s all right.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have a bruise, but nothing\u2019s broken.\u00a0 You\u2019re a lucky young lady,\u201d Hoss sat back and fixed Logan with a look.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mary Lynn was bent over Peggy, assuring herself that she was indeed all right.\u00a0 Adam was scolding Logan for racing, while Nolan planted himself next to Logan for moral support.\u00a0 Karen watched this all unfold with interest.\u00a0 She knew her prediction was right, especially when she saw Logan help Peggy pull her sock and boot on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mary Lynn insisted that the very least they could do for Peggy was feed her dinner after her accident.\u00a0 Peggy found herself ushered into the house in the center of a swarm of Cartwrights.\u00a0 She was seated in Logan\u2019s place while he was sent to the kitchen for another plate.\u00a0 He came back and sat next to Peggy and his buddy brother, Ross.\u00a0 Karen was on Peggy\u2019s other side.\u00a0 Peggy found a Cartwright meal a bit overwhelming.\u00a0 It was noisy, as several conversations took place at the same time, and platters of food were in continual motion around the table.\u00a0 Karen explained a little background about each of the conversations so Peggy wouldn\u2019t be completely in the dark.\u00a0 Peggy was impressed that Nolan didn\u2019t even ask about Pegasus.\u00a0 He trusted his brother to let him know if there was a problem.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She joined the family for after-dinner coffee, and that\u2019s when Nolan asked her how she had liked riding Pegasus.\u00a0 She told him she loved it.\u00a0 It felt good to be back in a saddle, and she liked how the horse handled.\u00a0 Nolan invited her to ride him whenever she wanted to, since he was now living in San Francisco.\u00a0 He was so sweet, and so different from Logan!\u00a0 Not that Logan couldn\u2019t be sweet, she told herself.\u00a0 He had shown her that he could.\u00a0 Nolan just lacked the braggadocio that Logan specialized in.\u00a0 Logan\u2019s aunts were also very nice and asked her how she was enjoying Nevada.\u00a0 She could truthfully respond with more enthusiasm now than a week ago when Ben had asked her the same question.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Susannah and Isabel wanted to talk more about the dresses, which their mothers seemed to know about now.\u00a0 Peggy told them how long it took her to make a dress, and how they could arrange fittings.\u00a0 Shyly, Susannah offered to fix Peggy\u2019s hair for her if she ever had a special place to go.\u00a0 She evidently had a special talent with hair and happily served as the family hairdresser.\u00a0 While that girl talk was taking place, Ross was begging Logan to take him swimming.\u00a0 Logan said he would take him as soon as he got a haircut.\u00a0 While Ross made a face about this, Peggy gave Logan a surprised look.\u00a0 Then she remembered that he had all but raised his brother, so he was taking advantage of some leverage to get one chore done before he paid out a favor.\u00a0 And Ross did need a haircut, too, she thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy then made her excuses and told the Cartwrights that she should be leaving because her parents would be wondering what had kept her so long.\u00a0 They all thanked her for staying for dinner and expressed their relief that she had not been injured earlier.\u00a0 Logan got up and said he\u2019d ride with her home.\u00a0 They left to a chorus of good-byes.\u00a0 What a nice<\/em> family<\/em>, she thought.\u00a0 So different from her earlier, exasperated assessment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan helped her up on Maybelle and they rode quietly into town, not talking much.\u00a0 When they reached the barn behind the store in town, Logan unsaddled Maybelle and brushed her down while Peggy sat and watched.\u00a0 When he was done, they walked toward the back door.\u00a0 Logan stopped halfway up the path and turned to Peggy.\u00a0 He held out his arms and she moved naturally into them.\u00a0 He held her close and then kissed her.\u00a0 She leaned against him, kissing back.\u00a0 When they broke apart, they both sighed, and then laughed.\u00a0 He kissed her cheek.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGood-bye for now, Peggy Sue.\u00a0 I\u2019ll see you soon.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bonnie Harrison, who lived in town, had been on several dates with Logan Cartwright.\u00a0 She knew other girls had too, but she considered herself to be his girl, and therefore she hadn\u2019t been pleased to see him in the company of Peggy Barnes three times in one week.\u00a0 First they had danced together too much at the town social.\u00a0 Then the next day she saw them riding out of town in Logan\u2019s buggy (the one he\u2019d taken her out in<\/em>!)\u00a0 And several days after that she\u2019d spied them both riding into town after dark on horseback.\u00a0 She had just happened to be brushing her hair by her bedroom window when she spotted them.\u00a0 Who knows how many other outings she had missed?\u00a0 And Peggy was a girl who clerked in her parents\u2019 store, too!\u00a0 Bonnie was a girl who didn\u2019t have to work.\u00a0 She considered herself a more appropriate companion for a Cartwright.\u00a0 When she had complained about this to her sister, Ellen, she had replied that Logan was well known for going out with lots of girls, and advised Bonnie not to fret over it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But Bonnie wasn\u2019t going to forget or stop fretting over it.\u00a0 She had plans for Logan Cartwright, and she didn\u2019t intend to be brushed aside.\u00a0 She tapped her foot in her yellow, lace trimmed dress, thinking about what she should do.\u00a0 One idea came to her rather quickly.\u00a0 A smile spread across her face as she grabbed her parasol and gloves and headed out the door.\u00a0 She walked two blocks to the dry goods store, causing the bell to jingle as she pulled the door open.\u00a0 Good, Peggy was on duty.\u00a0 Smiling prettily, Bonnie patted the hat on her head and approached Peggy, who was unpacking a box of candles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Asking for a spool of thread she didn\u2019t need, Bonnie struck up a conversation with Peggy.\u00a0 She complimented her on the fashion show at the town social.\u00a0 Of course, Bonnie had volunteered to model in it, and she was sure that was one of the reasons it had gone so well.\u00a0 Peggy was friendly, as she was with all customers, but she didn\u2019t particularly find Bonnie Harrison to her liking.\u00a0 She found Bonnie to be a bit shallow and superior, a combination of characteristics that didn\u2019t go well together, she thought.\u00a0 Bonnie paid for the thread, said goodbye and started to leave.\u00a0 After taking two steps toward the door, she stopped suddenly and turned back to Peggy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, Peggy, if you happen to see Logan Cartwright in here today, will you give him a message for me?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, he doesn\u2019t come in all that often, but if I see him I\u2019ll be happy to give him a message.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d Bonnie dimpled.\u00a0 \u201cWill you remind him that we moved our date tomorrow from 7:00 to 5:00?\u00a0 Sometimes he just has his head in the clouds!\u00a0 Thanks, Peggy.\u00a0 Bye-bye.\u201d\u00a0 Bonnie twirled her parasol as she walked out into the sun, smiling broadly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy narrowed her eyes, watching Bonnie\u2019s retreating yellow figure. That girl didn\u2019t ring true to her, but if she saw Logan, she would deliver the message.\u00a0 Why not?\u00a0 She didn\u2019t own Logan, not after a week, even if he had kissed her on four separate occasions.\u00a0 They had no understanding between them.\u00a0 She returned to unpacking the box of candles, using extra energy.\u00a0 When she was finished there, she decided, she would unpack the newly arrived crate of canned goods, too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By two that afternoon, Peggy was exhausted from working off her \u201cBonnie energy.\u201d\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t stopped for lunch, and she asked her father if she could take a break.\u00a0 He agreed, and she went into the family kitchen, collapsing on one of the chairs by the table.\u00a0\u00a0 There was an apple in a bowl on the table, and she took it, absently taking a bite out of it.\u00a0 She examined her feelings about Logan.\u00a0 In spite of her initial annoyance with him, she had enjoyed herself on each of her outings with him. He had surprised her when he had said he didn\u2019t know what he would do without her. He\u2019d said that after the riding accident last week.\u00a0 Maybe he was just shaken by it.\u00a0 It had been hard to tell.\u00a0 Finished with the apple, she walked out to the barn and fed the core to Maybelle, rubbing her neck.\u00a0 She stood by the mare, daydreaming, until she heard her mother calling her.\u00a0 Heading back into the house, she found her mother waiting in the kitchen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMarguerite, you have a special visitor in the store.\u00a0 Hurry and see.\u201d\u00a0 Mrs. Barnes was smiling.<\/p>\n Chapter 6<\/p>\n special visitor?\u00a0 Had Logan come to see her?\u00a0 Peggy walked out into the store and stopped short.\u00a0 Standing in the middle of the store with a joyous smile was Daniel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When Peggy remembered to breathe again, she moved forward, her hands extended to him.\u00a0 He reached out and grabbed her hands, too, and bent forward to kiss her cheek.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAre you surprised to see me?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSurprised?\u00a0 Daniel, yes, absolutely.\u00a0 I had no idea you were coming!\u00a0 In fact, I didn\u2019t know if we would ever see each other again,\u201d Peggy responded.\u00a0 She looked back and forth between her parents, trying to ascertain if they had known about Daniel\u2019s arrival in advance, but their expressions did not indicate this.\u00a0 Peggy took his arm and drew him behind the counter into the family living quarters behind the store.\u00a0 They sat at the kitchen table, looking at each other.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Daniel\u2019s warm brown eyes glowed with happiness.\u00a0 He had missed Peggy more than he thought he ever would, and had decided spontaneously to leave Minnesota to be with her in Nevada.\u00a0 He reached across the table and took her hands again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy, I couldn\u2019t stand being away from you.\u00a0 We never should have parted the way we did, but on the other hand, it made me feel how empty I was without you.\u00a0 I don\u2019t ever want to be apart from you again.\u00a0 You look so good to me, so pretty,\u201d he said softly squeezing her hands.\u00a0 His curly brown hair had grown longer and now hung just past his collar.\u00a0 His freckled skin had grown darker from the sun, and his shoulders seemed wider than she remembered, but he was Daniel, the same man she had been pining for all these weeks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHow did you travel here, Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBy train and then stage.\u00a0 My bags are still at the stage office; I need to go collect them.\u00a0 I just couldn\u2019t wait to see you first.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, let\u2019s go together.\u00a0 Have you had anything to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTo tell the truth, I\u2019m starving,\u201d he replied, putting his hand on his stomach.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, there\u2019s a big pot of stew on the stove for dinner, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s quite ready yet.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get your bags and then go down the street to a very nice caf\u00e9 where I\u2019m sure we can get something good inside you,\u201d Peggy stood and once again their hands were clasped.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Under the circumstances, her parents weren\u2019t surprised to see her leaving the store in the middle of the afternoon, and she and Daniel walked down the street, arm in arm.\u00a0 Peggy was happy to see him, but a part of her felt numb, unsure exactly how to react. She had known Daniel most of her life, and they had planned on marrying; until, that is, the Barnes family left Minnesota for Nevada.\u00a0 And Peggy had hated Nevada, at least at the beginning.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t seemed to hate it so much the past month or so.\u00a0 Logan Cartwright had been in her life quite a bit during that time.\u00a0 Was that it?\u00a0 Was it Logan?\u00a0 He had kissed her a number of times.\u00a0 He had told her he didn\u2019t know what he would do without her.\u00a0 Had he meant it, or was it just something one said in the aftermath of a close call?\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t said he loved her, nor had she expected him to.\u00a0 They had no commitment to each other.\u00a0 She had only known him a month.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now with Daniel, she had discussed marriage.\u00a0 Daniel had declared his love for her and she had done likewise.\u00a0 They had been on a clear path to a lifetime together before it had been abruptly interrupted.\u00a0 What was supposed to happen now?\u00a0 She didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t know, so she would wait and see what unfolded.\u00a0 In the back of her mind, she wondered why she hadn\u2019t immediately dropped all thoughts of Logan the moment she saw Daniel in the store.\u00a0 She did love Daniel, didn\u2019t she?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They reached the stage office, and Daniel picked up the two bags he had left there, and they quickly walked back to the store to leave them there where they would be safe.\u00a0 Suddenly Peggy realized she didn\u2019t even know where Daniel was staying or for how long.\u00a0 There were many things they needed to discuss.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When they arrived at the caf\u00e9, Daniel ordered a full meal and Peggy just had lemonade.\u00a0 At first she just let him eat until he had filled himself enough to stave off the hunger pangs.\u00a0 When he slowed down a little, he sat back and smiled at her.\u00a0 He was ready to talk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHow is business at the store?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very busy.\u00a0 In fact, I\u2019m surprised how many people come in and out each day.\u00a0 But of course, it makes Papa very happy.\u00a0 It takes all four of us to work it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty here with the mountains.\u00a0 It\u2019s different from Minnesota, though, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt is,\u201d Peggy agreed, \u201calthough there are places that actually remind me of Minnesota.\u00a0 It\u2019s funny.\u00a0 I sure was homesick the first few weeks I was here, though,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI missed you an awful lot,\u201d she said softly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, here I am, Peggy.\u00a0 I missed you something awful, too.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDaniel, are you planning to stay here or are you just here for a visit?\u201d\u00a0 This was the question Peggy needed to know the answer to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy, I came here for you.\u00a0 I love you.\u00a0 I\u2019m either staying here to marry you and live or I\u2019m going to marry you and take you back to Minnesota.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel\u2019s brown eyes looked clearly and directly into her own.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re not going to be separated again.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A dozen questions were racing through her mind.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know what kind of work you\u2019re going to do?\u00a0 Can you apprentice to a blacksmith here?\u00a0 Remember, I told you I could work.\u00a0 For that matter, I am working right now!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He frowned slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not sure about work yet.\u00a0 And you know I\u2019d rather not have my wife work.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Suddenly Peggy became animated.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve made some new friends who admired my party dress and they want me to make the same dress for them.\u00a0 It\u2019s made me start to think that maybe I could open my own dress shop.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t that be exciting?\u201d\u00a0 Her eyes were shining as she spoke about this prospect.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, that is certainly flattering to your talent with a needle and thread, but that would definitely be putting you to work,\u201d he remarked carefully<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy decided to leave that topic alone for the time being.\u00a0 Instead, she asked him where he was staying.\u00a0 As she suspected, he didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 He guessed he would try the hotel.\u00a0 She knew he didn\u2019t have a lot of money.\u00a0 The hotel or boardinghouse would use up whatever money he had quickly.\u00a0 She knew he could probably stay with her family, but she also knew that it wasn\u2019t her place to offer that option to him.\u00a0 Her parents would have to do it.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t be proper otherwise, and they might not want to offer up that degree of closeness to their daughter at all, especially if marriage was in the offing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When he had finished all his food, Peggy suggested that they go back to the store.\u00a0 Her parents would certainly have advice to offer Daniel at dinner that evening.\u00a0 Even though Daniel was reaching in his pocket for money to pay for the food, Peggy quickly left enough money on the table.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want him to spend anything he didn\u2019t have to at this point, with so many issues undecided.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As they left the caf\u00e9, Daniel stood and looked up and down Virginia City\u2019s main street, which had a healthy number of people moving on the walkways and in the street.\u00a0 Then he turned to Peggy, put his hands on her shoulders and smiled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t know how happy I am to be with you again, Peggy,\u201d and then he drew her into his arms, wrapping them around her in an embrace.\u00a0 Surprised, she hugged him back.\u00a0 He certainly was her good, lifelong friend.\u00a0 As she stood there outside the caf\u00e9 holding Daniel, Peggy found herself looking directly at Bonnie Harrison, who was amorously kissing Logan Cartwright right on the mouth across the street just beyond the saloon.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t seem to mind that people had to maneuver around them.\u00a0 Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck.\u00a0 He seemed to have been caught by surprise inasmuch as his arms were thrown out on each side, and his hat had fallen off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy stared, unbelieving.\u00a0 When they broke apart, Bonnie stood talking to Logan, stroking his cheek and smiling at him adoringly.\u00a0 He took a step back to pick up his hat, and as he turned to do so, he looked directly across the street at Peggy standing in Daniel\u2019s arms.\u00a0 For what seemed like an eternity, Peggy and Logan stared at each other.\u00a0 For Peggy it felt like being frozen in a nightmare.\u00a0 She saw pain in Logan\u2019s eyes, and she knew that she let her gaze drop to the ground.\u00a0 When Daniel took his arms away, he kissed her cheek and offered her his arm.\u00a0 Peggy took it and they began to walk back toward the dry goods store, but not before she saw Bonnie\u2019s triumphant smile as she grabbed Logan\u2019s arm and clung to it as she dragged him in the opposite direction.\u00a0 Peggy almost felt like dying, and she didn\u2019t dare look back, but she could have sworn she felt Logan\u2019s gaze penetrating her back as she retreated with Daniel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That evening around the dinner table, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes invited Daniel to stay with them while he scouted out job possibilities around town.\u00a0 He could share Rick\u2019s room until he knew what he would be doing.\u00a0 Peggy kept a smile pasted on her face, and she engaged in her fair share of conversation, but behind that mask she continually saw Logan\u2019s face and the look in his eyes as he watched her being held in Daniel\u2019s arms.\u00a0 She had a sick feeling in her stomach, and her face felt as though it was burning with shame.\u00a0 No one seemed to notice this, however, and for that she was grateful.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By the end of that week, Daniel had discovered that the local blacksmith already had all the help he needed, in addition to an apprentice who had been with him two years already.\u00a0 He had been to businesses up and down Virginia City\u2019s streets inquiring about employment.\u00a0 The livery stable had an opening for someone to clean stalls.\u00a0 One of the saloons needed someone to do cleaning.\u00a0 The hotel needed a general handy man.\u00a0 None of those jobs paid enough for Daniel to support a wife.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once again Peggy brought up the idea of opening a dress shop.\u00a0 Her father pointed out that the store sold ready-made dresses from a catalog, as well as fabric by the yard.\u00a0 If his daughter opened a dress shop, she would in effect be competing with her own family.\u00a0 Peggy pondered this and wondered whether her dress shop might not augment the dry goods store instead of competing with it.\u00a0 Privately, she asked her father if Daniel might not work in the store in her place.\u00a0 That would allow her to work in her own shop, and would also give her mother some much deserved time off.\u00a0 Her father agreed to consider that option.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That Sunday when the Barnes family went to church, Daniel accompanied them.\u00a0 When the Cartwrights filed in, Peggy noticed that Logan carefully looked straight ahead.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t see Nolan or Karen anywhere; they must have returned to San Francisco.\u00a0 Isabel made a point of waving to Peggy, and Susannah smiled at Rick, who smiled back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the picnic that always followed church services whenever weather allowed, Peggy made an effort to introduce Daniel to as many of the town folk as she could.\u00a0 Arm in arm, they strolled about the picnic area, and she always introduced him as \u201cmy good friend from Minnesota.\u201d\u00a0 At one point they encountered Hoss and Erin Cartwright, with Hoss proudly carrying granddaughter Olivia, as was becoming the usual sight every Sunday.\u00a0 Peggy was relieved when they warmly greeted her, and also when they seemed to be perfectly happy to meet Daniel.\u00a0 They stood chatting for a few minutes, with Hoss good naturedly offering Daniel a few employment suggestions to explore.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After the picnic lunches had been consumed, a lively baseball game got underway.\u00a0 Several families and couples strolled over to watch.\u00a0 From a distance, Peggy saw Logan heading toward the baseball diamond, squiring an attractive girl on each arm.\u00a0 She felt a tight squeeze around her heart, and it didn\u2019t help any to see that one of the girls was Bonnie Harrison.\u00a0 When Rick hurried over and urged Daniel to join the game, Peggy agreed that he should go.\u00a0 Rather than risk running into Logan, however, she returned to her parents\u2019 company under the shade of a tall tree.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As shouts and cheers rose from the direction of the game, Peggy saw Isabel and Susannah approaching her.\u00a0 They were smiling, and excitedly told her that they both had permission to have Peggy make them each an exact copy of her navy satin party dress.\u00a0 Happily, Peggy agreed, and realized she was going to have to figure out how much to charge for her services.\u00a0 Her business, it seemed, had begun.\u00a0 She asked the girls to come to the store on Tuesday of the next week so she could take their measurements.\u00a0 She realized she would also have to order some swatches of material so that they could see exactly what color their dresses would be.\u00a0 Peggy began to feel fresh enthusiasm bubble up within her.\u00a0 She had been feeling strangely flat ever since Daniel\u2019s arrival, even though she acknowledged he was one of her best friends in the world.\u00a0 With a start she also realized that once he had been her whole world, too.\u00a0 Was he still?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For his part, ever since the day Logan had driven Nolan and Karen into Virginia City to catch the stage that would take them to the train that would bring them home to San Francisco, he had displayed a very touchy temperament.\u00a0 One moment he would be the easygoing, lighthearted young man that everyone knew so well, but he had also started surprising them by becoming suddenly sullen and surly.\u00a0 The latter was a Logan that no one on the Ponderosa knew, and they were unable to connect it with any event other than taking his brother and sister-in-law into town to catch the stage.\u00a0 Adam had even taken him aside to ask him what was wrong, but Logan had denied any troubles and had extracted himself from his father\u2019s company as quickly as he could.\u00a0 He had, on the other hand, also engaged in a sudden spate of courting activity with the girls in town.\u00a0 He was \u201con the town\u201d many a night, often with a different girl each time, but most frequently with Bonnie Harrison.\u00a0 He came home late and was often hung over the following morning.\u00a0 Hoss had taken note of this, but hadn\u2019t said anything yet.\u00a0 If the pattern continued, he would first talk to his nephew directly, but if necessary, he would talk to his own brother about his son\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the appointed time on Tuesday, Isabel and Susannah arrived at the dry goods store in Virginia City to get their measurements taken for the dresses.\u00a0 Peggy took them upstairs to her bedroom, where they got the proceedings underway, along with a fair amount of giggling and gossip.\u00a0 Peggy compared their sizes to her own pattern, calculating how she would have to alter it for each girl.\u00a0 She explained that she had already ordered swatches of fabric, and that as soon as it arrived, she would ride out to the Ponderosa so they could pick the exact color they wanted.\u00a0 At the same time, she would also be able to make final adjustments to the individual patterns she was planning to cut for each girl.\u00a0 When they were finished, Isabel innocently asked her about Daniel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy, who\u2019s that handsome man you were with at the picnic on Sunday?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s Daniel Hendrickson.\u00a0 He\u2019s from Minnesota, too.\u00a0 We grew up together, and he\u2019s trying to see if he can find a job here.\u00a0 He was a blacksmith\u2019s apprentice in Minnesota, but there\u2019s no need for one here, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAre you two serious?\u201d\u00a0 Isabel seemed a bit anxious.\u00a0 \u201cI mean, I think my brother, Logan, likes you a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy tried to be nonchalant.\u00a0 \u201cWell, we had talked about getting married at one time, but that all changed when my family moved here.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHas he ever been a ranch hand?\u00a0 We almost always need a good ranch hand,\u201d Isabel continued.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, he\u2019s never done anything like that but he\u2019s handy and he\u2019s always been around horses, if that helps,\u201d Peggy answered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt might.\u00a0 I\u2019ll ask Uncle Hoss. I certainly wish Logan would take you out again, Peggy.\u00a0 He\u2019s spending all his time these days with that uppity Bonnie Harrison.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIsabel!\u201d\u00a0 Susannah sounded shocked and she poked her cousin in the side.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s true,\u201d Isabel asserted.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been acting awfully strange, and if you ask me, he\u2019s spending entirely too much time with girls he ought to keep away from.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy kept herself busy with pins and pattern while this dialogue took place between the girls.\u00a0 She felt her cheeks grow hot, however.\u00a0 She put an end to the discomfort by telling the Cartwright girls she thought the fabric swatches would be in the following week.\u00a0 As they left through the store, Daniel was coming in from the saw mill, where he had found temporary work helping cut a large load of Ponderosa timber.\u00a0 Peggy introduced the girls to him.\u00a0 Isabel struck up an immediate conversation, while Susannah drifted away to talk to Rick.\u00a0 Peggy moved back behind the counter and began straightening up the merchandise.\u00a0 Isabel, with her curly dark hair and long eyelashes, was definitely flirting with Daniel, who was smiling and enjoying the attention.\u00a0 Peggy sighed.\u00a0 She felt frustrated and she didn\u2019t even know exactly why.<\/p>\n Chapter 7<\/p>\n The following Saturday afternoon, Peggy was helping her father take inventory while her brother had the afternoon off to take Susannah out for a buggy ride.\u00a0 Mr. Barnes was standing on a ladder counting tins of tea on high shelf while Peggy recorded numbers on a pad of paper.\u00a0 She was concentrating on her task when she heard a man clear his throat behind her.\u00a0 She jumped slightly, having thought the shop was empty.\u00a0 She turned to look directly at Logan Cartwright with Bonnie on his arm.\u00a0 He was looking at her steadily with his hazel eyes while Bonnie gave her an outright smirk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMiss Peggy Sue,\u201d Logan acknowledged, touching the brim of his black hat.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think I could get some candy for my girl here?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOf course,\u201d Peggy said in her practiced store clerk voice, putting down her paper and moving over to where the glass jars of candy sat in one of the store\u2019s front windows.\u00a0 \u201cWhat would you like?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bonnie took her sweet time deciding what she wanted to stuff herself with, giving Peggy more than enough time to feel a knife twist inside her.\u00a0 Between giggles and coyness, the victorious girl eventually managed to make her selections.\u00a0 Peggy weighed the candy and told Logan the charge, which he paid.\u00a0 She almost pulled away from the touch of his fingers when he dropped the coins into her hand.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThank you, ma\u2019am,\u201d he said solemnly as they turned to leave.\u00a0 Then he stopped and turned back to her.\u00a0 \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen you lately at the Ponderosa, Peggy Sue.\u00a0 Remember, Nolan said you could ride Pegasus any time you want.\u201d\u00a0 Then he turned again, and this time they left the store, while Bonnie\u2019s laughter pealed about Peggy Sue<\/em> riding Pegasus<\/em>.\u00a0 How amusing. \u00a0Peggy stood clutching the counter until her knuckles were white, feeling as though she had been slapped.\u00a0 Not once had Logan smiled.\u00a0 Why on earth would he think she would come to the Ponderosa to go riding on his brother\u2019s horse?\u00a0 Feeling sick inside, she turned back to taking inventory with her father, who by then had moved on to cigars.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By Thursday of the next week the fabric swatches had arrived.\u00a0 Peggy arranged with her parents to have time off in the afternoon to ride out to the Ponderosa to show them to Isabel and Susannah.\u00a0 She saddled Maybelle and put the carefully wrapped swatches, along with the patterns the other sewing supplies she might need, into the saddlebags she took along with her.\u00a0 Maybelle was a good, reliable mare, but she was a far cry from the majesty of Pegasus and Rocket.\u00a0 Oh well, she thought.\u00a0 There was little she could do about that.\u00a0 She certainly didn\u2019t plan to ride out to the Ponderosa just for the purpose of riding Pegasus. When she arrived at the ranch house and knocked on the door, Amy Cartwright, Isabel\u2019s mother, opened the door.\u00a0 Fortunately, Peggy had not encountered anyone male<\/em> outside in the yard or near the barn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell hello, Peggy.\u00a0 Please come in.\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell you how excited the girls are to pick out the colors for their dresses.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Carrie, Susannah\u2019s younger sister, led her upstairs to Isabel\u2019s room, where both girls were waiting.\u00a0 Carrie even helped Peggy carry some of her supplies.\u00a0 After knocking at the door, Susannah opened it with a mouthful of hairpins.\u00a0 She beckoned them in with her hand and gestured to the bed for Peggy to sit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSusannah\u2019s doing Isabel\u2019s hair.\u00a0 She does everyone\u2019s hair and makes it beautiful, especially my mom.\u00a0 She\u2019s teaching me to do it too, so I can do her<\/em> hair,\u201d Carrie explained to Peggy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, that does make sense, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 It looks like she\u2019s fast, too,\u201d Peggy replied, watching Susannah\u2019s hands fly.\u00a0 \u201cDo you enjoy it?\u201d\u00a0 The last question was directed at Carrie, who nodded vigorously.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI can do my own hair, but it\u2019s much easier if someone can do it for me and walk all around to see the back,\u201d Susannah said, patting her cousin\u2019s hair and tucking stray hairs into place.\u00a0 \u201cThere, how\u2019s that?\u201d\u00a0 The question was for everyone in the room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBeautiful,\u201d came from Isabel.\u00a0 Carrie breathed an \u201coohhh\u201d and glided over for a closer look.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIs this for a special occasion?\u201d\u00a0 Peggy asked Susannah.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, we\u2019re just practicing.\u00a0 I can do your hair sometime if you\u2019d like.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy hair is so straight.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid nothing much can be done with it.\u00a0 All of the Cartwrights seem to have wonderful curls and waves in their hair.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, you\u2019d be surprised.\u00a0 My mother\u2019s hair is straight and I can do all sorts of things with it.\u00a0 I can even make it curly for you,\u201d Susannah assured her.\u00a0 \u201cWell, come on, Izzy, let\u2019s see what Peggy brought.\u00a0 This is so exciting!\u00a0 We can\u2019t wait to see the colors.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy took out the satin color swatches and both girls were immediately enamored with them.\u00a0 There were multiple shades of every color in the rainbow.\u00a0 Carrie stood nearby and craned her neck to get a good look at what the older girls were poring over.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh my, this is the color I want,\u201d Isabel said, indicating a shade of bright pink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNot me.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I want,\u201d Susannah said, showing Peggy a swatch of apple green.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThose are both lovely,\u201d Peggy agreed.\u00a0 \u201cBut may I make a suggestion?\u201d\u00a0 When she had both girls\u2019 attention, she proceeded.\u00a0 \u201cIsabel, with your fair skin, a paler shade of pink would be more flattering.\u00a0 You\u2019d be the belle of the ball.\u00a0 And Susannah, if I could suggest it, with your dark hair you would be stunning in a deep emerald green.\u00a0 Everyone at a dance would know the moment you stepped into the room.\u201d\u00a0 Both girls looked up, intrigued.\u00a0 Peggy urged them over to the bureau with its large oval mirror.\u00a0 She had Isabel sit down and held up two shades of pink near her face.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIzzy, do you see that?\u00a0 Peggy\u2019s right.\u00a0 The pale pink is much more flattering for you, especially with your hair up like it is,\u201d Susannah gushed.\u00a0 She turned and looked at Peggy.\u00a0 \u201cI never thought about color shades like that before,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019re right, I like it better,\u201d Isabel agreed.\u00a0 Then the girls changed seats and Peggy made the same demonstration for Susannah with two shades of green.\u00a0 Susannah gasped at the difference the deep green color made.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou are so right, Peggy.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you spoke up!\u00a0 We would both have dresses that wouldn\u2019t be as perfect as they could be, and all because of color.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat about me?\u00a0 What color would be good for me?\u201d\u00a0 This came from blonde headed Carrie.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, Miss, because of your blonde hair, you\u2019re lucky that can wear just about any color you want and look fabulous,\u201d Peggy told her, tweaking her nose.\u00a0 \u201cA sunny yellow, navy blue, purple, pink, you pick.\u201d\u00a0 Carrie was thrilled with this news, and tucked it carefully into her memory to be used in the future.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy carefully noted the numbers that corresponded to the selected colors for the older girls, and then got out the patterns.\u00a0 She needed to see how well the pattern fit each girl. \u00a0She had cut them based on measurements only and now had to refine them.\u00a0 That process took longer, and after a while Carrie grew bored and left the room.\u00a0 She wandered outside and found her brother and cousin in the barn, wiping down their horses after a long day checking the upper pastures.\u00a0 Carrie idly walked toward them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eric smiled at her, and Logan pulled one of her braids.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWatcha doin\u2019, Carrie-Belle?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNothing,\u201d she said, scooping up a handful of sweet feed for each horse.\u00a0 \u201cPeggy is measuring Isabel and Susannah for dresses, and it\u2019s kind of boring.\u00a0 But the colors are pretty.\u00a0 Did you know that one color you wear can make you prettier than another color does?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eric chuckled and told her that no color could make her any prettier than she already was, which made her dimple.\u00a0 Logan, however, had gone still.\u00a0 Peggy was in the house.\u00a0 What if he ran into her?\u00a0 What would he say?\u00a0 \u201cHi Peggy, why were you hugging that man in Virginia City?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Or should he just pretend not to see her and say nothing?\u00a0 He thought about dancing with her, about mining for fish with her, about riding with her, kissing her.\u00a0 All of those times had been fun.\u00a0 A lot more fun that spending time with any other girl he knew.\u00a0 And he wanted more.\u00a0 But all of a sudden, there she had been, in the arms of someone else.\u00a0 He must not have meant anything to her.\u00a0 Logan cursed under his breath.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSomethin\u2019 wrong?\u201d\u00a0 Eric asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNah,\u201d Logan gave up and kicked at the straw under his feet with the toe of his boot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eric headed home to Emily and Olivia, and Carrie wandered back into the house.\u00a0 Logan stayed in the barn doing odd chores.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t going to come out until the horse at the hitching post was gone.\u00a0 Hoss came in with a lame horse and began working with her leg in one of the stalls.\u00a0 Half an hour later Logan heard the front door shut and the sound of girls laughing together.\u00a0 He moved near the door and watched while Peggy walked out with his sister and cousin.\u00a0 Peggy put some thin parcels in her saddle bags.\u00a0 There was some more conversation and laughter between the three, and then Peggy mounted up and with a wave, headed in the direction of the road to town.\u00a0 Logan stood in place, staring at his feet until his uncle\u2019s deep voice startled him.\u00a0 He had forgotten Hoss was there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSomethin\u2019 happen between you two?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHuh?\u00a0 No, nothin\u2019,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t look like nothin\u2019 to me.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you just talk to her?\u201d\u00a0 His uncle\u2019s voice was not unkind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan looked at him with a frown.\u00a0 \u201cNo point,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cToo late,\u201d and he slowly moved out of the barn and headed toward the house, walking right across the same spot Peggy had just been standing on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That evening after dinner, Daniel asked Peggy to take a walk with him.\u00a0 They held hands as they strolled, and as the sun went down they could see the stars twinkling in the darkening sky. Daniel told her about working at the sawmill, which he liked.\u00a0 She told him that her father had decided that he could work in the dry goods store if she opened a dress shop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI really don\u2019t want you to work, Peggy,\u201d Daniel said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBut Daniel, a dress shop is something I want to do,\u201d Peggy insisted.\u00a0 \u201cIt would make me happy and I would be contributing to our income.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Daniel stopped and turned to face Peggy.\u00a0 He put his hands on her face and kissed her.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the first time they had kissed, but Peggy was noticing it for the first time.\u00a0 She was acutely aware that it wasn\u2019t Logan\u2019s dark head bending down to kiss her.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t Logan\u2019s lips that touched hers softly.\u00a0 This was Daniel, and he was pressing too hard.\u00a0 She liked Daniel, but she was kissing the wrong lips.\u00a0 She turned her head away, but rested her head on his shoulder to disguise the feelings that were cascading over her.\u00a0 Daniel turned his face into her hair.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy, I want to marry you.\u00a0 Tell me you\u2019ll marry me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She stood up straight, looking at him.\u00a0 \u201cBut Daniel, we still don\u2019t know what we\u2019re going to do to make a living,\u201d her voice sounded breathless, but she attributed it to the panic she felt rising inside her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care, Peggy. \u00a0I\u2019ll work in the store.\u00a0 You can have your shop.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care anymore.\u00a0 I just want to be with you,\u201d he pressed his lips against hers again, enfolding her in an embrace that felt constraining.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She endured the kiss as long as she could and then she turned her face just slightly so that his lips were against her cheek.\u00a0 She moaned his name, \u201cOh, Logan.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When he stiffened, she did as well.\u00a0 They stood silently, both realizing what she had said.\u00a0 Peggy felt as though she was standing across the street looking at herself with Daniel, a strange curiosity.\u00a0 Daniel\u2019s hands moved to her arms and he took a step back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLogan?\u00a0 Peggy, did you say Logan?\u00a0 Cartwright?\u00a0 Did you mean that?\u201d\u00a0 The sound of his voice begged her to tell him it was an awful mistake.\u00a0 The problem was, she didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She reached for his hands.\u00a0 \u201cDid I say that, Daniel?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t mean to say that.\u201d It was the truth, at least.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWere you and Logan seeing each other?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOnce or twice we did, before you came, but all we did was go fishing and riding together.\u201d Now that<\/em> wasn\u2019t quite the truth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He let out a deep breath.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what to say.\u00a0 I just asked you to marry me.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t expect to find out that you were seeing another man.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDaniel!\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t seeing another man.\u00a0 I just met Logan and we did two things together and I\u2019m making dresses for his sister and his cousin.\u00a0 Please, don\u2019t make more of this that it is.\u00a0 Logan sees lots of girls, believe me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a moment, Daniel looked at her squarely.\u00a0 \u201cI love you, Peggy.\u00a0 I want to marry you.\u00a0 Will you marry me?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy felt her heart sink, knowing she could not answer the question.\u00a0 She was saved from having to, however, by a chorus of voices that rose from the direction of the main street, specifically, the saloon.\u00a0 Loud cheering at this time of night meant only one thing: a fight.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe we should walk over that way, Daniel,\u201d Peggy said tentatively.\u00a0 \u201cThe saloon is only three doors down from the store.\u00a0 Maybe we should just make sure everything is all right.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Daniel frowned.\u00a0 His instinct was to keep Peggy away from a fight, which could easily get out of control.\u00a0 And her parents could certainly watch their own store.\u00a0 They did begin to walk slowly in the direction of the saloon, however.\u00a0 On the wooden walkway approaching it, its door suddenly swung open, discharging a tall, lean cowboy, who landed on the ground and stayed there.\u00a0 As both Peggy and Daniel stopped to watch, the bartender came to the entrance and loudly announced to the still figure that he should not return until his behavior improved.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy bit her lip.\u00a0 Something about the unconscious cowboy looked familiar.\u00a0 She took a few steps closer until she could identify him positively.\u00a0 Logan.\u00a0 She let her eyes close momentarily.\u00a0 How much worse was this evening going to get?\u00a0 Slowly she moved toward him, and saw that he was beginning to stir.\u00a0 When she was close enough, she knelt in the street next to him.<\/p>\n Chapter 8<\/p>\n \u201cLogan?\u00a0 Are you all right?\u00a0 Can you hear me?\u201d\u00a0 His lip was bleeding and he was roughed up, but he seemed otherwise intact.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His eyes opened, squinted, and then focused on her.\u00a0 His hand came up to wipe his lip and cover his eyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy Sue?\u00a0 Jou come back to me?\u00a0 I din think you would.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLogan, how much have you been drinking?\u00a0 Is anyone with you?\u201d\u00a0 Her voice had become stern.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cJuz you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy looked up and behind her, to where Daniel was standing.\u00a0 His very bearing was angry and intolerant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDaniel, will you help me?\u00a0 We have to get him back to the Ponderosa, and he can\u2019t ride by himself. \u00a0Please go home and get the buggy.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t we just let him sleep it off here?\u00a0 He\u2019s obviously drunk.\u00a0 Let him reap what he sows.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDaniel, no.\u00a0 His family would want him at home.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, you\u2019re<\/em> not going to ride alone with him and I don\u2019t feel like doing him any favors.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy pressed her lips together and got her arms under Logan\u2019s arms.\u00a0 She tried to pull him into a standing position, but she couldn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 Disgusted, Daniel came over, got on the other side and helped prop him up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLogan, you have to walk now.\u00a0 Just a little way,\u201d Peggy told him firmly.\u00a0 He heard her and made a half-hearted effort to comply.\u00a0 Peggy pointed out Logan\u2019s black horse to Daniel, telling him he would have to come back to retrieve the animal after Logan was settled.\u00a0 Daniel took due notice, and once again almost snorted in disgust.\u00a0 What kind of hopeless rich boy was this?\u00a0 Fancy horse, drunk rider.\u00a0 Shaking his head, he pulled at Cartwright\u2019s shoulder more harshly than he needed to, and was rewarded with a sharp look from Peggy in return.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reaching the store, Peggy decided to take Logan behind the house rather than inside, so she and Daniel walked him into the barn and deposited him on a row of hay bales, where he promptly collapsed as though all his bones were rubber.\u00a0 Fed up, Daniel went back to retrieve Rocket, and once the horse was safely in the barn, he went into the house.\u00a0 He certainly wasn\u2019t going to sit up with this sorry excuse of a recipient for Peggy\u2019s affection.\u00a0 Peggy promised that she would only sit with him until he could ride home safely by himself, and was embarrassed when Daniel barely acknowledged her comment as he walked away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sighing, she sat down next to Logan, and he promptly snuggled close to her, his sleeping head on her shoulder.\u00a0 Wearily contemplating the confusion of the evening with Daniel and Logan, Peggy stared at a fixed point on the far wall of the barn.\u00a0 She rested her cheek on Logan\u2019s head, and after coming up with no reasonable answer to give Daniel, she closed her eyes, and dozed off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She woke up when Logan moved, having no idea how long they had slept, except that it was still dark outside.\u00a0 They looked at each other and Logan put his hand on her lap, palm up.\u00a0 She placed her hand on his and their fingers laced together.\u00a0 He sat straighter and turned toward her, bringing his face to hers.\u00a0 She allowed this, and when he touched his lips to hers, they were the right lips, and when he pressed harder, she did not turn her face away.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t know how long they kissed, but she knew she was a willing participant, not just an unwilling recipient.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy Sue Marguerite Barnes, I love you,\u201d he said into her hair.\u00a0 He pulled back in surprise when she giggled.\u00a0 \u201cYou would laugh at my declaration of love?\u201d He feigned hurt, one hand against his heart.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, no.\u00a0 You just completely mangled my name.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d he thought about that for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cWell, what is<\/em> your name then?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMarguerite Jeanine Barnes, quite a mouthful,\u201d she said wryly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy Jean<\/em>?\u00a0 You\u2019re not a Peggy Jean.\u00a0 Can\u2019t I just call you Peggy Sue?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, you may call me Peggy Sue.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGood, because I love Peggy Sue.\u201d\u00a0 He kissed her again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This time she placed her hand against his chest and pushed lightly.\u00a0 \u201cLogan, what about tonight?\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 And what happened when I saw you kissing Bonnie Harrison right on Main Street, and the next thing I knew you were squiring her and God knows who else all over town?\u00a0 How does all that make you love me right now?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He faced her squarely and put a hand on each arm, right by her shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cPeggy, I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you in the store, and then after the dance and fishing and riding, I knew I loved you.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you remember when you fell off Pegasus and I told you I didn\u2019t know what I would do without you?\u201d\u00a0 He waited for her to nod before continuing.\u00a0 \u201cWell, that was me saying that I love you, and I would have told you better than that, except the next time I saw you, you<\/em> were on Main Street in another man\u2019s arms!\u00a0 You might as well have come over and kicked me in the gut.\u00a0 And as far as Bonnie goes, she\u2019s a pest.\u00a0 What you saw on Main Street happened right after I took Nolan and Karen into town to catch the stage on their way home to San Francisco.\u00a0 I was going to have a beer in the saloon, and out of nowhere, she walked up to me and planted that smacker on me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even like her,\u201d he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand recalling it.\u00a0 \u201cBut, when she let me go and I reached for my hat, there you<\/em> were, across the street, holding onto another man for dear life.\u00a0 That guy\u2026Daniel\u2026like a kick in the gut right after a kick in the face from Bonnie.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo why have you been keeping company with Bonnie and what about the fight tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAfter I saw you with Daniel, I stopped caring about everything else.\u00a0 And Bonnie just told me to come and pick her up for this and that and something else.\u00a0 So I did, but it didn\u2019t matter to me, because Bonnie isn\u2019t you, she\u2019s just a pest walking all over me. When we both came into your store for candy, I just wanted you to feel bad because I felt so bad.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry about that.\u00a0 And tonight?\u00a0 Well, I saw you today at the ranch, with my sister and my cousin.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to see you because it made me think of what I lost, which is why I came to the saloon to get drunk tonight.\u00a0 And I picked a fight.\u00a0 With the wrong person, for no good reason.\u00a0 Shoulda had Eric with me, he keeps me outta trouble.\u201d\u00a0 He stopped and leaned back against the barn wall, with his eyes closed.\u00a0 \u201cHow did it get so messed up just from me loving you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDaniel came here, that\u2019s how,\u201d Peggy told him softly, taking his hand back.\u00a0 She explained the entire story of herself and Daniel in Minnesota, how much she had missed him, and how surprised she was to see him just when she was getting to know Logan Cartwright and finding out how he really wasn\u2019t<\/em> the pest she had thought him to be. She told him about the dress shop and also that he couldn\u2019t have been thrown out of the saloon at a better time tonight because Daniel had just asked her to marry him and she didn\u2019t know how to answer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Logan heard this out silently, watching Peggy, holding her hand.\u00a0 He asked her what she wanted to do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She smiled sadly.\u00a0 \u201cI would have married him in a heartbeat before I met you and danced with you.\u00a0 I can\u2019t marry him now.\u00a0 I love him, but not in the marrying way.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t know how to tell him, because I don\u2019t want to hurt my friend,\u201d she closed her eyes, but not before a tear slipped out of one eye and tracked down her cheek.\u00a0 Logan\u2019s hand reached out and caught it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t you tell him that you got two proposals tonight, and you are going to work on your dress shop while you think them over?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She looked up at him quickly.\u00a0 \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to marry him,\u201d she said simply.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, Peggy Sue, even I<\/em> know that you can\u2019t just tell him no and then turn around and marry me.\u00a0 That is, if you want to marry me.\u00a0 If you do, we could run away right now and get married.\u00a0 Do you want to do that?\u00a0 That way, I could just tell him I made you do it, and there wouldn\u2019t be anything he could do about it because by then you would love me so much you wouldn\u2019t want to leave me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She was laughing after this ridiculous dissertation, and her hands were on his face and they were kissing again.\u00a0 His arms went around her and hers went around his neck.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He broke off briefly.\u00a0 \u201cDo you want to get married right now, Peggy Sue?\u00a0 Because if you do, the sheriff can marry us, and I know the way there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She kissed him and put her head on his shoulder, her face against his neck.\u00a0 \u201cOur families might not be too happy about that, Logan.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, we could get married again, for them.\u00a0 There\u2019s some murky story about my parents having two weddings and my mother rescuing my father from a blizzard, but no one will talk much about it.\u00a0 But it\u2019s been done before; one quick wedding and one wedding for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOne \u2018Wedding for the People,\u2019 Prince Logan?\u201d\u00a0 Peggy was picturing him wearing a crown and a robe.\u00a0 \u201cWhat was Nolan\u2019s and Karen\u2019s wedding like?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, like most Cartwright weddings, it was at the Ponderosa, with a lot of people and flowers and music and food and dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I want,\u201d Peggy said softly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou can only have that if you marry a Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u00a0 I\u2019ll marry a Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He pulled her onto his lap and was kissing her again, just as the first rays of the new day were piercing the sky, and this was exactly how Daniel found them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The barn door opened abruptly and Daniel stood there with a lantern.\u00a0 His face looked like a stone mask when he saw Peggy kissing Logan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeggy, your mother is worried about you; you should go inside.\u00a0 I\u2019ll let you tell her that you spent the night in the barn with Cartwright.\u00a0 And based on that event, by the way, I withdraw my proposal.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be leaving for Minnesota as soon as I can pack.\u201d\u00a0 With that announcement, Daniel turned on his heel, shut the barn door and left them alone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy, still on Logan\u2019s lap, promptly burst into tears and instead of kissing her, he rubbed her back in consolation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the end, however, Daniel stayed. \u00a0When Logan and Peggy were married three months later on the Ponderosa, Daniel was officially courting Isabel Cartwright and was working with her father, Joe, and his sons in the Ponderosa timber operations.\u00a0 At Peggy\u2019s wedding, most of the Cartwright girls who served as attendants wore \u201cPeggy\u2019s dress\u201d in the color that best suited them, resulting in a rainbow of lovely Cartwrights.\u00a0 Peggy, of course, had the white satin version.\u00a0 Susannah had carefully taken hours doing her hair in an elaborate curled style atop her head around which a gossamer veil was attached.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Walking down the staircase on her father\u2019s arm, Peggy saw Logan, with Nolan and Ross standing proudly at his side, waiting for her.\u00a0 She would not have been able to tell the difference between the twins if Logan had not been grinning so broadly, and wearing cowboy boots.\u00a0 Their mother, Mary Lynn, dabbed at her eyes, and Adam had his arm proudly around her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n During the service, Karen Cartwright quietly nudged her husband and whispered, \u201cWhat did I tell you?\u00a0 Here we are, back for Logan\u2019s wedding to Peggy.\u00a0 I just knew it!\u201d\u00a0 Nolan could only smile and keep his attention on the service, because he held the all-important ring.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peggy had even been able to set up a store-front in town for her dress shop.\u00a0 When questioning Logan regarding his feelings about having his wife operating a business in town, his reply had been, \u201cSweetheart, you do whatever makes you happy.\u201d\u00a0 So Peggy\u2019s Gowns now occupied a placed on Main Street not far from her parents\u2019 dry goods store.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben Cartwright stood to the side of the crowded room, surveying his family and friends.\u00a0 He would never have guessed that he and his three sons alone would ever amount to the size of this large, loving family.\u00a0 His grandchildren were even giving him great-grandchildren now, and if he didn\u2019t mistake the signs, Nolan and Karen would be making an announcement any time now.\u00a0 Tears glistened in his eyes as he realized that, with the exception of his dear wives, everyone he loved in the world was gathered right in that room at that moment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the final kiss of the ceremony marked the beginning of the couple\u2019s married life, a cheer rose from the crowd.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure Logan would find her,\u201d Mary Lynn confessed to Adam.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s such a character, Lord knows. He certainly has given us a run for our money.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam arm tightened around her.\u00a0 \u201cAll it takes is the right woman.\u00a0 And a little blizzard never hurts, either,\u201d he added with a wink as he bent his head to kiss the mother of the groom.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE END<\/strong><\/p>\n Notes: (1)\u00a0 It is a matter of record that the song \u201cPeggy Sue\u201d was first written in Virginia City, Nevada in the 1880\u2019s, not by Buddy Holly in the 1950’s.\u00a0 Source: WACKIPEDIA, The Free Encyclopedia.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nDesert Destiny<\/a>
\nDestiny Next Door<\/a>
\nBrothers<\/a>
\nNo More Birthday Parties, Thank you<\/a>
\nIt’s Just for Now<\/a>
\nThe Homecoming Part 1<\/a>
\nThe Homecoming Part 2<\/a>
\nLogan’s Bride<\/a><\/p>\n
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