"Lee? Where are you going?" Mary's voice rose a bit higher when she realized exactly where Lee was headed and what he might do when he got there. "Hugh Morton's prejudice doesn't matter."
"The hell it doesn't!"
Mary jumped up to follow. "Lee!" She placed her hands on her hips and stomped her foot for emphasis as she shouted his name.
"I'll be back before you know it," he promised as he headed toward the path leading into town and the Ajax Saloon.
"Poppy!" Maddy squealed. "Go wid Poppy!" She ran toward Lee.
"No, sweetheart." Lee squatted down to Maddy's level. "You can't go with me."
"Why not?"
"Because Poppy has to take care of some business in town. Grown-up business," Lee explained.
"What bidness?" Maddy demanded.
Lee glanced up and met Mary's somber gaze. "I'm going to defend Mary's rights against the town bigot," he answered carefully.
"Poppy do what?" his daughter asked.
Lee thought for a moment, then studied the earnest expression on his little daughter's face. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. "But I think I'll start with a punch in the nose and go on from there."
"Lee," Mary said. "Please, don't cause any trouble."
"I'm not going to cause it," he answered'. "He caused it. I'm going to put an end to it." He stood up, then walked over and kissed Mary on the forehead while Maddy scampered off, satisfied with Lee's answer and bored with the lack of attention.
Lee reached up and traced the frown lines on Mary's face with the tip of his finger. "Don't worry, Two-shot. I know what I'm doing."
Mary started to reply but Judah's cry of triumph stopped her. She turned in time to see the older man, with Maddy standing close by, pull another fish from the water.
Judah swung the fishing pole toward the bank and Maddy clapped her hands in delight as she reached for the fish. "Maddy help Zhudah!" she exclaimed.
"Madeline! No!" Mary yelled a warning just moments before Maddy grabbed hold of the slippery trout.
She came away screaming and holding her hand.
"It's all right." Lee hurried to his daughter's side, dropped down to his knees, and began wiping Maddy's hand with his handkerchief, inspecting the damage.
"She was pricked by the trout's fins," Lee called to Mary. "But she's all right. See, Maddy?" Lee held her hand to his lips, "Poppy will make it all better." He kissed his daughter's tiny h
and.
Maddy stopped crying and hugged him, then glanced at her hand and ran calling to Mary. "Mama! Mama! Mama make better."
Mary grabbed the doll as Maddy ran onto the blanket and into her arms. Maddy held out her hand. "Mama kiss make better," she ordered.
Mary took Mama and carefully touched the doll's painted lips to Maddy's almost invisible wound. "There," she said when she finished. "Mama made it all better."
Madeline stared at Mary, then pushed the doll away. "Not want doll," she said very clearly as she threw herself into Mary's arms. "Want Mama."
Mary hugged Maddy, kissed her tiny fish prick, and all her other fingers as well. Lee stood for a moment and watched. His dreams had come true—he had a family at last.
Then he waved to Mary, Madeline, and Judah, and hurried down the path toward Utopia and a long overdue confrontation with the owner of the Ajax Saloon, Bank, and Assayer's Office of Utopia, Colorado Territory.
And at supper, later that evening, if anyone noticed the bruised knuckles on Lee's right hand, nobody commented on them.
In the days that followed, Mary found that the daylight hours she spent in Lee's company were limited. Her days were filled with the ordinary demands of Maddy and Judah and Louisa and Syl and the families of the miners, friends who shared a part of their lives, and the town of Utopia itself. His were spent interviewing the men left in town about the mine conditions and inspecting the site. But their nights belongs to each other. And she and Lee made the most of those nights—making love until the wee hours of the mornings, sleeping, then waking to start the day. The time they had together was special, and both of them understood that the days were ticking away. Nearly two and a half months had passed since their wedding, and Mary knew that the life she shared in Utopia with Lee and Madeline could come to an end if Lily Catherine wasn't found very soon.