“Well, honey, I’m the head of this family and I’ll control the money. If you need anything at all, you just have to ask me and I’ll give you the money. I wouldn’t deny you anything. Having two checking accounts is ridiculous. So are you going to close it?”
“All right I will. I don’t see that I have any options,” I grumbled. “But I want to be the one to close it!”
We lay there for a second. “You know, Shay, you may have control of the money, but you don’t have control of me!” I said with my smart mouth.
Shay rolled over on the upper half of my body, gently running his hands through my hair. Then he gave me a long, gentle kiss. Afterward, he lifted his head and said:
“You may still have that cute little ass, princess, but you’re mine now and I do control you. Conversation over. Now go to sleep, darlin’.”
He cradled me in his arms as usual and off we went to sleep.
As I drifted off, I thought: Shay James Westover, you do not control me.
***
Shay woke up around 6 a.m. I felt his hand touching the side of my face, then a sweet, gentle kiss. “Callie, Callie. You awake?”
“No, I’m still asleep.”
“No, you’re not, babe. Come here, darlin’. I want to ravage your form.”
“Could you just do it while I sleep?”
“Oh no, I don’t think so.”
I opened my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck. The next hour and 15 minutes was sheer ecstasy. Then we were up. Shay showered while I bathed. We had packed the night before, so Shay loaded the car and, after eating breakfast in the restaurant, we were on the road.
I had no idea where we were, but Shay said we were going to go to Cheyenne, Wyoming, cut northeast and then go up through Ainsworth, Nebraska. Well, it wasn’t long before we hit rain. Not hard rain, more like a gentle mist coming down and kissing your skin. It made me think of the light mist they put over the vegetable section at the super market.
We got there after dark, around 9:30 p.m. We had made several stops along the way to eat and see the sights. Since everything was dark I had no idea what things looked like when we arrived. There was a small light on inside the house. Shay pulled into the driveway, got out, came around and opened my door as usual. We walked up the steps and onto the open wrap-around porch. Shay unlocked the door and opened it. He didn’t go in, just turned and looked at me and said, “Come here, princess, I’m going to carry you over the threshold.”
“But this isn’t our home, would it be right?” I stopped and looked at him. “We never talked about it!”
“Let’s talk about it later, princess,” he said and carried me over the threshold.
It was very nice inside, with a big flagstone fireplace and two sofas, one on each side facing the other. The walls were a bright, shiny, western-style, knotty pine wood, the kitchen was huge, with a knotty pine picnic table and two long benches. The master bedroom had a knotty pine, king sized, log frame bed, with a beautiful quilt. The bathroom was spacious, with a huge shower, plus a tub. There was an office, a den, and four bedrooms, total. Truly, it was quite lovely. Maggie Westover had good taste.
“Callie,” Shay said, “you can bathe or shower, put on your PJs and relax. I’m going to drive down to the bunkhouse, see if I can find our foreman, Jose. I need to let him know I’m here, tell him what time we need to meet in the morning.”
“All right, no problem, I’ll be here,” I said, and Shay was off.
It was like a replay from when the roads were washed out.
After bathing and putting on my PJs, I grabbed a pillow and lay down on one of the sofas. It was lights out for me. I must have been wiped out. Not that I had done that much, but I had had a lot of ‘exercise’ on this trip and was, after all, pregnant.
I have no idea what time Shay came back, but he was quiet while he showered and worked in the office for a while. When he was ready to go to bed, he picked me up off the sofa and while holding me in his arms and kissing me, said, “Callie, remember the promise I made on our honeymoon? Well, I’m keeping that promise.”
He whisked me into the bedroom and made the next couple of hours worth the long ride through the Sand Hills. We fell asleep shortly after making love, around 1 a.m. Shay said he had to meet Jose at 5:30 a.m., so I knew there would be no sex the next morning. As it was, Shay was only going to get four and a half hours sleep. Poor guy. I felt sorry for him.
4:30 a.m.
“Callie, Callie, baby, wake up. I’m not going out to work without making love to you, baby.”
And he gently rolled me around into different positions on the bed, kissing and caressing me until we were both fully awake. Then we made love. When it was over, Shay jumped up, put on the clothes he’d put out the night before and was out the door, calling, “I love you, princess! I’ll see you later today. Have fun!”
“What am I going to do?” I called.
“Do anything you want, but don’t leave the property… I don’t want you getting lost. Bye babe, love ya!” And he was out the door.
He didn’t even have a decent breakfast, I thought. Though I did see him grab an apple off the table as he went out the door. I sat there in that big bed all alone with a silly, happy smile on my face. This was my Shay and I loved everything about him. I wondered how God could love me so much to give me Shay. Then I flopped back on my pillow and went to sleep.
***
A few hours later, something gently brushed my lips. At first I swatted it away, thinking it was a fly. Then I heard:
“Are you still sleeping, Callie? It’s 1:45 in the afternoon! You must have really been tired.”
“Well, don’t forget I’m pregnant,” I said. “But hey, wait just a minute. I’ll get up and fix you something to eat.”
“No need, babe. Sherry made lunch for everyone. She sent you a plate, too. It’s on the table. But I have a better idea, stay here a few minutes.”
As I heard the shower running, I knew sex was in my immediate future. I might have to get this guy a nine-to-five, I thought; or who knew how often he’d be popping in during the day!
Well I was right; we had a passionate, romantic afternoon. Afterward, Shay got up and went into the kitchen, got my plate of food, came back and sat on the bed. He put a pillow behind my back and fed me my lunch in tender forkfuls. Shay always made me feel so special.
He went back out around 4:30 p.m., came back at 8 that night. We had our usual, great all-night love-in—though we did give it up around 2:30 a.m. It was lights out in the ranch house. The Westovers were going to get some much needed sleep!
The Auction
I had been a married woman for six days, when I found myself wide awake one morning, while Shay lay sound asleep. It was five in the morning. I could see out the window that we still had that soft mist coming down. We hadn’t had any sun since we’d been here, but that was fine with me. Even though I was a sun-worshipper, I loved misty rain. I rested my head on my hand, braced myself on my elbow and watched my beautiful husband sleep. I think I let him get away with more than I would anyone else, because he was so gorgeous and so good to me.
I started flicking his hair at his forehead, and he opened those beautiful brown eyes and put his arm up around my neck, pulling my lips down to his. “Good morning, baby doll. You know, I’m all yours today,” he said, smiling sleepily. “I’m not working. I’m spending the whole day playing with you, my little friend.”
“Oh, great!” I said excitedly. “What are we going to do?”
“Well, first I’m going to make love to my wife, and after that I think I’m going to show you the ranch. Then we’ll build a big fire in the fireplace and spend the rest of the day cuddling. We’ll make some popcorn, dance a little, and I’ll cook for you. How does that sound?”
Sounded like music to my ears!
“I’m going to take good care of you and my little baby girl you’re carrying,” he said, stroking my belly.
“What makes you think it’s a g
irl?” I asked, turning onto my side.
“I want a girl, so it’s a girl,” said Shay matter-of-factly.
“But I want a boy, Shay. I want to give you a son.”
“Well, that’s not necessary. Girls are so sweet. I’m so stuck on our Kelly, I’ll take twelve more of her.”
“Oh, I don’t think so buster, this is it. My limit, a girl and a boy.”
“Sounds perfect to me.”
And we dropped the subject there.
Shay took the pickup and drove me all over the ranch; lots of long, rippling prairie grass and open stretches of sand. It was beautiful.
“Shay, where are we going to live when we get home?”
“Well,” Shay said, “we’re going to live in the Big House. Maggie said we could have the large guest suite. It has a big bedroom, large bath with a tub and shower; den with a fireplace, and best of all it has an empty attached room you can decorate for the girls. It will be a great nursery!”
“I don’t want to live in the Big House,” I said. “I want to live in Hudson near my parents.”
“Well, princess, I work on our family farm and that’s where we have to live.”
“Stop the truck, just stop the truck,” I said.
Shay stopped.
“Screw you,” I said, getting out. “I’m walking back.”
“It’s two miles, Callie, get in the truck. Now quit being so spoiled and get in the truck before I come out there and get you!”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do? Hold me down in the truck?”
Shay jumped out and came around on my side. He opened the door and said, “Get in.”
“No.”
“You spoiled little brat,” he said and picked me up and put me in the front seat, shutting the door.
“You know, you’re not my parent, you can’t treat me like this,” I said.
“You just watch me, princess. Now you stay in there and I’ll take you back to the house. I would say we’ll discuss it later, but we won’t. It’s a done deal. We’re living in the Big House.”
I started crying.
“You didn’t even consult me. I don’t want to live with other people; I want to live with you alone. I want to walk around naked when I want to, and cook for you. I want to do your laundry. I don’t want Cookie doing it. I’m your wife!”
Shay slid across the seat and put his arms around me. “You’re right, princess, that wasn’t fair to you. I’ll make you a deal: if you live with me in the Big House until spring, I’ll move us into one of the farmhand houses after that. One of them has three bedrooms; we’ll remodel it. New kitchen, new baths. We’ll re-carpet. You can decorate it and we’ll have our own little love nest.”
“Well, you know, Shay, that’s a long time away, at least ten months. I don’t know if I can live in the same house as Sterling for that long.”
“Well, honey, will you please try for me?” he asked, giving me an irresistible look of love with his brown eyes.
“Alright, Shay, I’ll try. If you promise we will get one of the smaller houses.”
“We will, honey, we will.” Shay kissed me with a very long generous kiss. “So what do you say, babe, shall we go back to the house?”
***
After our little spat, we had a great day. We cooked, watched television (we got all of one channel), made popcorn, made love and it was starting to get dark. I opened the door and stood in the doorway, looking out at the beautiful mist, which was all thick and lit up by a lamppost in the yard.
I said, “Shay have you ever danced naked in the rain?”
“Babe, I can truly say no, never, and I don’t plan to.”
“Well, I’m going to,” I said, taking off my babydoll pajamas and dashing out under the yard light. I started dancing and jumping around in the rainy mist.
By now Shay was standing on the porch, wrapped up in an Indian print blanket, barefoot, in nothing but jeans.
“Callie,” he said, “get back in here.”
“No!” I said, dancing around in the glowing mist.
“Callie, you’re going to catch a cold, and you know the bunkhouse is just down the road. Some of the hands could be out walking and see you.”
“No, no, no,” I chanted, dancing. “I’m not coming in, you come and get me.”
“Don’t make me do that or you’ll be sorry.”
“Make me sorry! Make me sorry, big boy.”
Shay later told me, as he stood on the porch, even though he knew I shouldn’t be out there with no clothes on in the spotlight with the bunkhouse but a few miles away, at the same time he was so turned on watching me dance naked in the rain, the light reflecting little rain drops off my perky breasts, my hair wet. He said my body looked so shiny.
“Callie, seriously,” he said. “Get back in here.”
“No, come and get me.”
I saw him start down the steps. I waited a few seconds then took off running. I don’t know why, because I knew how fast he was. It took but seconds before he tackled me to the ground (gently, making sure to hold my body all the way, so I wouldn’t hurt myself or the baby.) I landed in a big patch of sopping wet prairie grass.
Shay spread the blanket beside me and rolled me over on the blanket.
Nothing could top making love in the mist that night. An hour and a half later, as he rolled me up in the blanket and threw his jeans on top of me, Shay said:
“Well, Callie, I sure hope we were the only ones out here. And if we don’t get inside and get a hot shower soon we’re going to get sick.”
He carried me up the steps, through the house, and into the bathroom; where he gave me a long, soapy, hot, steamy shower. We must have been in there over an hour, then we got out and he dried me off, toweling my hair dry and brushing it back with my hair brush.
“Raise your arms,” he said and rolled on my underarm deodorant.
Then he rubbed lotion on me and dusted me with a big powder puff of perfumed powder his mother had on the vanity.
“Stay there, woman,” he said and brought in my silk pajamas and dressed me like I was a baby. Then he picked me up and deposited me on the sofa, covered me with a warm dry blanket, went in the kitchen for a few minutes and came back with hot chocolate.
“Here, princess. Drink some of this so you don’t get sick,” he said, holding the mug up to my mouth.
Talk about being pampered! He called me spoiled. Well, I think he may have been the spoiler. After holding the cup up to my lips until I was done, he sat in the other corner of the sofa, holding the cup in his usual way, handle to the back, hand wrapped around it. He sat there just looking at me.
“Okay,” I said, “what are you thinking? I know you’re thinking about something.”
“You’re naughty, Callie. I can’t believe how wild and naughty you are. Better yet, I can’t believe I love you being that way. You fascinate me beyond words. Then I remember you’re mine. You belong to me.”
“Now, Shay, nobody belongs to anyone, but you know, I know what you mean, and I like belonging to you. Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?”
With that he put the cup down, picked me up and carried me through the bedroom doorway.
***
We had to get up early the next morning to go to the cattle auction. We had our usual morning routine—breakfast and then out the door.
“Where are we going to have lunch?” I asked.
“They have a cafe on the grounds, we’ll eat there.”
“Oh, great. We’re going to eat a cow.”
“Oh, aren’t you the funny one, Callie.”
When we arrived at the auction, I was amazed to see so many cars. I didn’t think that many people lived in the Sand Hills. Let me tell you, the sun was out! The weather was beautiful. I guess our rain was over. I just left my jean jacket in the car; it was too nice for a jacket. We walked all around the corrals, Shay looking to see which ones he might buy. I told him one cow looked just like another to me.
“Yo
u know, Callie, some of these cows, as you call them, are steers. Do you know the difference?”
“No and I don’t care to. Someday when I’m having trouble sleeping you can tell me all about it.”
“All right, smart mouth.”
As we walked around, all the guys seemed to know Shay. Everywhere we went it was, “Hi there, Shay,” “How’s it goin’ Shay?” “Heard you got married, is this the little wife?”
Shay must have introduced me to twenty-five different people. One thing I learned that day was that auctions, like pool halls and fishing holes, were places guys went to shoot the bull with one another. I couldn’t believe how bored I was going to be. I should have stayed home, I thought to myself. Just then I heard the whinny of a horse.
Samson and Sunset Page 8
