by Robin Deeter
Daphne had never seen him cry before and it made her become misty-eyed as she put his ring on his finger. The tears kept coming as Pastor Clem finished the ceremony and gave Brock permission to kiss his bride.
Sweeping her into his arms, Brock distracted them from the tears by kissing her soundly, much to the pastor’s consternation.
“All right, son, that’s enough,” he said.
Slowly, the newlyweds released each other and turned to the congregation, who clapped when they’d been presented to them.
Brock had hired a photographer, but he itched to take the pictures himself. However, that wasn’t possible since he was the groom and had to be in the pictures. As he looked at Ollie sitting on Wheels lap, he thought that it wasn’t everyone who had a monkey in their wedding photographs.
Daphne must have been thinking the same thing because she coaxed Ollie over onto her lap and hugged him. Ollie put his arms around her neck and gave her a noisy smooch, which the photographer caught. Brock thought that outside of the pictures of her and him together, the one with Ollie might just be his favorite wedding photo.
*****
Staring into Brock’s eyes while they danced together, Daphne finally believed that her dreams had come true. He was truly hers forever and she’d never let him go. He’d proven himself to her and she’d never doubt him or his feelings for her again. She was safe in his arms and she knew that she always would be.
Brock waltzed with his wife, never looking away from her luminous, dark eyes. His mind flashed ahead to when she was pregnant with their first child and then to when they had four or maybe five kids. He wasn’t sure how she felt about that many kids, but he’d take as many as came along. Hell, between Cy and Leigh and him and Daphne, they could have enough kids to create Chance City’s next police force.
That thought made him laugh and Daphne gave him a quizzical look. He told her what he’d been thinking and she laughed with him so hard that they had to stop dancing. Clinging to him as she laughed, she hoped that her and Leigh’s suspicions were right. Leigh had refused to go to the doctor, preferring to wait a little while to make sure all of the symptoms remained.
Daphne could understand Leigh’s fear of disappointment, but she hoped that she wouldn’t wait too much longer. Brock started dancing again and her mind was pulled back to the man who held her. The man of her heart, who would forever hold it.
*****
“Go on and ask her.”
Hunter shook his head a little. “It would be too embarrassing to be turned down at a wedding reception.”
Johnny turned Hunter to face him. He and the young deputy had become good friends since Hunter had arrived in town. “Now, listen to me. I don’t know much about private things between men and women, but I know that you can’t waste opportunities. I did and it cost me. I should’ve made Cotton bring Dory to me, but I can’t change that now.
“But you have a chance, so don’t lose something because you were too chicken. If she turns you down, so be it, but at least you tried. Now get yourself together and go ask her to dance.”
Ray lounged back in his chair. “If you don’t ask her, I will.”
Hunter glared at Ray. “No you won’t. Don’t you get enough attention from women working as a whore.”
Despite the fact that they were on opposite sides of the law, the two men liked each other.
Ray crossed his legs at the ankles and gave Hunter a lazy grin. “I’m always looking for more business.”
Hunter snorted with laughter. “It’s a wonder that thing doesn’t fall off.”
Ray and Johnny laughed.
“No danger of that,” Ray said.
The other two grinned.
“Look, Texas, get over there and ask her to dance,” Ray said. “You’re a good-looking guy and you’re respectful. Women like that.”
Johnny asked, “Then how come you have so much business?”
“Because after some men marry a woman, they figure that they don’t have to keep trying to please their wife. If all men treated their women right, I’d be out of business in a heartbeat. I’m just fulfilling something they can’t get at home,” Ray said. He kicked Hunter’s chair. “I swear if you don’t get over there, I’m gonna ask her to dance and once I get a hold of her, she’ll be ruined for anyone else.”
Hunter smirked at Ray. “You’re awful sure of yourself.”
“That I am,” Ray agreed. “There’s not a single woman, and a lot of married women, I couldn’t get to dance with me.”
Johnny grinned. “Is that so?”
Ray nodded. “Yep.”
“Care to make a wager on that?” Hunter asked.
Never one to back down from a bet, Ray sat up. “Yeah. How much?”
“I got ten dollars that says you can’t get the mayor to dance with you. She’s single,” Hunter said.
Immediately, Ray pulled out his money clip and peeled off a ten dollar bill, which he handed to Johnny to hold. He stood up and made sure his tuxedo jacket was neat. “If you gentlemen will excuse me, I have a mayor to seduce.”
Johnny and Hunter exchanged startled glances at his proclamation. Hunter hadn’t expected Ray to take him up on the bet because of who he’d chosen.
Ray walked brazenly up to the table at which Carly Branson sat with several other women.
“Pardon me for interrupting, Mayor Branson, but I was hoping that you might do me the honor of dancing with me,” he said, bowing to her.
Even though she’d never been formally introduced to Ray, Carly knew who he was through a couple of her friends who saw him. In a cool tone, she asked, “And just why would I do that?”
Undaunted, Ray said, “Because I have a business matter to discuss with you.”
Her eyes widened as they met his silver gaze. “What kind of business could you possibly have to discuss with me?”
Holding out his hand to her, he said, “It’s not the sort of business deal I want anyone to know about in case they’d steal the idea for themselves. Just one quick dance and then I’ll leave you be.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Carly spotted Archie Hamilton approaching. She despised the man who fawned over her whenever she was around. She made up her mind in one second. Dancing with Ray was far more preferable than dealing with Archie.
She grabbed Ray’s hand so fast that it made him blink. Leading her out onto the floor, Ray chuckled as they began dancing.
“Boy, you sure don’t like him if you were that quick to dance with me.”
Carly gave him a cold stare. “What sort of business do you want to discuss?”
He grinned. “None at all, sweetheart. None at all. See, I bet my friends that I could get you to dance. Thank you for helping me win that bet.”
Color rose in her cheeks. “I am not a pawn on a chessboard, Mr. Stratton.”
“Oh, so you know who I am. I’ll bet Lucy Abrams told you, hmm? She’s a lot of fun. Very giggly at certain times.”
“Shut up,” Carly said through clenched teeth. “You’re despicable.”
“Oh, you’re one of those. I’ve been dealing with your kind all my life. Some of my best customers. You hate me during the day, but at night? Well, that’s a whole other story,” Ray said.
“I am nothing like them, Mr. Stratton. And let me remind you who you’re talking to.”
Sliding his hand far enough down her back to be indecent, he said, “I don’t care who you are because there’s nothing you can do to me. I’m untouchable, except if you want to touch me. It’ll cost you, but you’ve got money to burn.”
Rage surged through Carly and she practically ripped her hand from his. “This dance is over. It’s been very enlightening. You’re even more detestable than I thought.”
Ray chuckled as she walked away from him. He left the dance floor in search of a drink, thinking that this was going to be a very fun evening.
*****
“Excuse me, ma’am. May I have this dance?” Hunter asked the gorgeous blue-eyed
brunette.
She’d been bored, but with one look into his gorgeous dark eyes, the evening started looking up. Giving him a coquettish smile, she said, “I’ll dance with you if you know my name.”
“Georgia Silver.”
His immediate answer surprised her. “My goodness, Deputy Stetson. How astute you are. How did you know?”
“I’ll tell you if you dance with me.”
Georgia gave him a sly look. “It’s a good thing for you that I’m curious by nature and that I love men with Texan accents.”
She took the hand he held out to her.
“Is that so?” Hunter tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow.
Georgia said, “Yes, it is. Lead on, Deputy.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As they danced, Johnny caught Hunter’s eye. He smiled and winked and Hunter grinned before turning his attention back to the beautiful young woman in his arms.
*****
The day after Brock and Daphne’s wedding, Cy arrived home late because duty had called, delaying his departure for the day. He was tired and hungry and he was looking forward to eating and relaxing with his wife. Entering the kitchen, he found Leigh at the stove.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said.
“Hello, handsome. Busy day, hmm?”
“Yeah. Something smells good.”
“Ham. I was so hungry for it,” Leigh said. “Wash up and sit down. I’m just getting ready to make our plates.”
Cy kissed her before he went to the sink and washed his hands. “Where’s Johnny?”
“He went over to Wheels’ house. Said they were working on something.”
Cy chuckled. “When aren’t they? I can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves this time.”
This was Cy’s favorite time of day, when he could sit down with his family and hear what they’d been doing all day. There were times when he looked back on his time working with Pinkerton’s and he wondered how he’d stayed in that life for so long. He’d thought it had been so exciting, but it couldn’t hold a candle to how thrilling his life was now.
His beautiful, loving wife was the most exciting thing in his life. He still loved his job, but everything about Leigh thrilled him: her body, the things they talked about, but most of all her heart and how much she loved him.
After dinner, they did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.
Then Leigh took his hand. “Let’s go take a bath.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Together?”
“Yeah. We have the house all to ourselves and I’d love to take a bath with my handsome husband.”
Cy scooped her up. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Leigh laughed as he carried her to the bathhouse.
Setting her down, he said, “Every time I go to get a bath I thank Johnny in my head. It saves so much time not having to heat the water. I still don’t know how they figured out just the right temperature to heat the water so you don’t have to add cold to it. He’s so much smarter than I gave him credit for.
“And they rigged up a drain and all. He said that in the spring, they’ll install a proper bathtub. I’m glad that we included one in the plans for our house. I asked him why they didn’t just use the water from the well and heat it somehow. He said that this way it wouldn’t pull too much on the well during a drought. So—”
He glanced up when he heard Leigh giggle. She stood already naked, apparently undressing while he’d been rambling on and watching the tub fill with water.
He grinned. “Looks like I’m falling behind.”
“You’re so cute when you go on like that.”
“So you tell me.”
He quickly shed his clothes and turned off the water. Slipping into the tub, he laid back. “Come on in, Mrs. Decker. The water’s fine.”
She laughed and got in, Cy helping her to get situated in front of him. Leaning back against him, she sighed as he embraced her. Taking his hands, she slid them down low on her stomach.
“Does that feel a little bigger to you?”
“Uh oh. Is this a trick question?”
“No, I promise. Does it?”
Cy wanted to spare her feelings, but he had to be truthful. “Maybe a little. Not much. I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re beautiful no matter what. I think I gained a few pounds over the holidays. I can’t stay away from pies and Daphne kept making them. Of course Johnny eats a whole one—”
“Cy, shut up. I’m trying to tell you something.”
He frowned. “Ok. Go ahead.”
Pressing his hands a little harder against her abdomen, she said, “This is our little miracle, Cy. We’re gonna have a baby.”
Words left Cy as he tried to process what she’d just said. “But, I mean, you said, and I thought.” He snapped his mouth shut until he could think coherently again. “A baby. Are you sure?”
Leigh blinked back tears of joy. “Yeah. Doc Ellis confirmed it. Our baby will come along around late June or early July. We made a baby, Cy. I guess I’m not barren after all.”
Cy’s heart soared with elation. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her as she half-turned toward him. “We’re having a baby! I love you so much and I can’t wait for our baby to get here. July is a long way off.”
“I know, but the time will go fast with getting our house built and a nursery ready,” Leigh said.
“A nursery!” Cy practically shouted. “That’s right. We’ll need that.”
Cy couldn’t remember being so excited about something and he felt drunk with happiness. Under most circumstances, he remained calm and collected, but he couldn’t manage it right then.
Leigh couldn’t help laughing at his ecstatic attitude. “Yes, we will. We’re also gonna need another ranch hand since I won’t be able to do a lot of the work later on.”
“Ok. We’ll find someone. No heavy lifting for you. No overdoing it and working long days. You have to make sure to rest and eat and, shut me up, for Pete’s sake!”
Giggling, Leigh slid his hands up her body, closing them around her breasts.
Cy grinned. “I like your method of subduing me. Let me get the soap.”
He wasn’t quiet for long. As he soaped her up, he talked about the baby, making her laugh, even as they made funny, awkward love in the tub. And later, when they went to bed, they still talked about their plans for the baby, how they’d set up a college fund, and how excited everyone else would be.
Finally, Cy’s words ran out and he held Leigh, completely content to hold her while she slept. Her and his baby. As his eyes closed in slumber, a smile settled on his face before he completely relaxed into a deep sleep.
*****
Cy and Brock living and working together proved to be a trial until their women devised a plan to give them some space from each other. The couples took turns going to visit someone in the evenings or just for a walk after supper. Some nights, Daphne and Brock stayed at their love tipi, too.
On one such night, Daphne couldn’t sleep as she lay curled up against Brock. Looking at his handsome face that was slack as he slept, such a feeling of joy welled up inside her that she almost laughed out loud from it. She fought it back, but grinned as she gazed at him.
From his golden locks to his toes, he was a beautiful man. His strong hands and nimble fingers that played guitar so effortlessly also brought her so much pleasure. His kisses stole her breath away sometimes and making love with him was the most amazing thing she’d ever experienced except for one thing: his unconditional love.
It was always there in his voice, his eyes, and his touch. He was thoughtful, bringing her little treats and taking her out for romantic dinners. They learned more about each other all the time and we’re getting to know their families better, too.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Brock stirred and opened his eyes a little. “What are you doing?”
“Watching you sleep.”
Brock rubbed his eyes. “Are you all right? How come you’re not sleeping.
Didn’t I wear you out enough?”
Daphne grinned and bit his chest.
“Don’t do that. You know what that does to me.”
“Ok. I was just thinking how happy you make me,” she said.
Gathering her close, he kissed her softly. “You make me happy, too. I hope you know that.”
“You might have mentioned it once or twice.”
He smiled. “Once or twice a day is more like it. I mean it, though. I always think that I couldn’t be happier, and yet I am every day when I wake up.”
She bit his chest again. “Aren’t you glad that I pulled you down off that fence?”
He groaned. “You’re not gonna let me forget that, huh?”
“No, but I promise not to bring it up all the time. Just when I can use it against you,” she said.
“You sound like a lawyer,” Brock remarked.
“Speaking of lawyers, has Walt been around much?”
“Off and on. I can’t figure Ellie out. Talk about being on a fence. She watches the guy when he comes in, but doesn’t want him to know she is. I can tell that she still likes Walt. I tried a couple of times to get her to tell me what happened between them, but she won’t.
“Hunter is thrilled that they broke up. He has it in for Walt. He keeps saying that there’s something strange about him. I don’t understand it because Hunter likes almost everyone, but he can’t stomach Walt at all.”
“It’s definitely a strange situation,” Daphne agreed, yawning.
Brock smiled because she was falling asleep and now he was wide awake. He might tease Daphne when she made the remark about dragging him off the fence, but she was absolutely right. If she hadn’t, he might still be sitting up there, miserable and alone.
He was incredibly grateful that she’d had the courage to make the first move. Her bravery was one of the things he loved most about her. He’d decided to emulate her and never miss an opportunity for happiness again. If he hesitated, it might pass him by, and he couldn’t allow that. Lying in the dark, holding his beautiful wife, he vowed that he would never sit on the fence about anything ever again.
