The housekeeper at Mercy Ranch for over thirty years, Bess is a strong and capable woman. Bess raised Willa after the death of her mother, Mary Wolfchild Mercy, providing Willa with all the knowledge to run the house as well as the ranch, plus the love and care that Jack Mercy neglected to give his daughter. Because of this Bess is basically Willa's mother and the two accept the relationship as such.