The Outlaws: Jess by Connie Mason

City, the
citizens shunned him. It felt damn good to earn money after all
those dry years, even if it was only a dollar.
     
    Business picked up daily. Jess was so busy
administering to the sick he could only spare brief moments to
think about Meg and wonder how she was doing. Jess's reputation
grew until everyone in Cheyenne had either heard about or
personally met young doctor Jess Gentry. His waiting room was
usually filled with patients needing his services, and he was
summoned often to make emergency house calls.
    Within two weeks Jess had delivered a baby,
sewn up dozens of wounds, both minor and serious, and treated
various illnesses. He'd also captured the attention of several
unmarried ladies who considered the handsome bachelor fair game.
Invitations began to pour in. He accepted some, turned down others,
but found no woman who could compare favorably to feisty,
unconventional Meg.
    The first morning Jess found no patients in
his waiting room, he decided to visit the apothecary to replenish
his supply of medicines. He had just finished his business and was
returning to the office when he saw Zach coming out of the Railroad
Cafe across the street with a woman on his arm. Thinking it was Meg
and eager to see how she was faring, he hailed Zach and hurried
across the street.
    "Doc!" Zach greeted. "I was planning to visit
you today. There's someone I want you to meet. Jess, this is Widow
Dowling."
    Widow Dowling offered her hand. "My friends
call me Mary. I've heard a lot about you, Doctor Gentry. All of it
good."
    Jess must have made the appropriate reply but
he was too dumbfounded to remember. What in the hell was going on
here? Where was Meg? What was Zach doing squiring around another
woman? Zach even looked different with his hair all slicked down
and his beard trimmed.
    "May I have a word with you in private,
Zach," Jess said, his voice ripe with disapproval.
    "Sure thing, Doc. You'll excuse me a minute,
won't you, Mary?"
    "Of course, Zach," Mary graciously allowed.
"I wanted to step into the dry goods store a moment anyway."
    "What in the hell is going on, Zach?" Jess
demanded to know. "Where's Meg? Does she know what you're
about?"
    "Hell, Jess, a man's gotta socialize once in
a while. Those pills you gave me worked wonders. I feel like a new
man. Maybe my heart isn't as bad as I thought it was."
    "I'm glad, but what about Meg?"
    "Meg's doing just fine, Doc. Back to her old
self again. I'm doing my best to convince her to give up bounty
hunting."
    "You have to do better than that."
    "I'm trying, Doc. Got some good news to tell
you. I got me a job. One that doesn't tax my leg or my heart. Mr.
Henley down at the hardware store needs a clerk. It's a far cry
from what I'm use to, but Meg and me need money powerful bad."
    Jess sent a dark look at the woman who had
just disappeared into the dry goods store. "What's that woman to
you?"
    Zach sent him a puzzled look. "Mary? We've
been friends a long time. Hell, Doc, a widow has needs just like
anyone else."
    Gorge rose up inside Jess. How could Zach do
this to Meg?
    "Come out to the house sometime, Doc," Zach
invited. "I know you've built up a busy practice in town, but
that's no reason to make yourself scarce. Meg misses you. She
hasn't said anything but I can tell. She needs to be around young
people. Have you thought any more about what we talked about?"
    "I'm in no position to marry anyone," Jess
asserted. "I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing, Zach.
Don't you have feelings for Meg?"
    Zach frowned. "You ain't making sense, Doc.
You know how I feel about Meg."
    From the corner of his eye, Jess saw Mary
returning and bit back his caustic remark.
    "Looks like Mary is done shopping," Zach
said. "We'll talk later, Doc. Why don't you go out and visit Meg?
Tell her not to wait supper for me tonight."
    Jess stood with his mouth hanging open as
Zach and Mary strolled off arm in arm.
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    Jess whirled on his heel and strode away.
Rage blinded him