Tumbleweed Weddings (60 page)

“Only at night. I want to watch my two during the day.”

Kandi sidled up to Derek. “We can all hang out together, can’t we?”

“Yeah, we can do that.” He walked to the back of his truck.

Cheyenne glanced at Kandi, who looked lonely standing by herself. Suddenly she felt sorry for the girl. “Don’t worry, Kandi.” She smiled at her. “We’ll all stick together and have a good time this weekend.”

“Okay.” Kandi smiled back, and that smile transformed her entire countenance.

She really is a pretty girl
. No wonder Derek was taken with her.

That afternoon, Cheyenne breathed in the warm air as a “covered wagon” bumped along the uneven ground toward the Rosey cookout near Tower Falls. She sat on a padded bench seat between Arthur and Noah. The orphans, as Mr. Lindley unabashedly called them, filled the long yellow wagon. A cowboy named Mitch held the reins of the two horses, and the wagon had canvas awnings tied up against the roof. The murmur of conversation surrounded them.

“When are we gonna eat?”

Looking down to her right, Cheyenne met the blue eyes of Arthur. “When we get to the cookout, we’ll eat. I hear they’re serving steak. That sounds good, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. I’m hungry. Can we have seconds, too?”

She raised her eyebrows. Arthur didn’t fit her perception of a poor orphan. Although he was taller than most five-year-olds, he probably weighed fifteen pounds more, with a roly-poly body and chunky arms and legs. A thatch of blond hair topped his chubby face.

Cheyenne cleared her throat. “Are you sure you need a second helping?” She lowered her voice. “Did you know that I’m on a diet, Arthur? I want to lose a few more pounds. At the cookout, I’m only going to eat what’s on my plate. Maybe you should do that, too.”

“But why?” His light-blond eyebrows formed a V in the middle of his forehead. “Just ’cause I’m fat? I’m not worried about being fat. ‘Big is beautiful.’ My mom always used to say that. She was a fat person, too.”

“Was she?” Cheyenne tried to hide her smile.

Arthur frowned. “What does it mean, Miss Anne?”

“My name is
Cheyenne
, not Miss Anne.”

“But what does ‘big is beautiful’ mean?”

“Well …” Cheyenne thought a moment. “Maybe your mom was trying to accept herself the way she was instead of trying to change.”

“I like myself just the way I am.” He grinned. “Big is beautiful, right?”

“Right!” With a laugh, Cheyenne put up her hand. “Give me five!”

Arthur smiled as he slapped her hand.

She glanced down to her left at her other little charge. Noah’s small brown head bent over two round magnets. He concentrated on keeping as little space between them as possible before they snapped together.

Amid the hum of conversation in the wagon, she heard Derek’s voice way in the back. “Hey, everyone! Bison on the left!”

The heads of counselors and children turned that direction. A hundred yards away, five humpbacked shaggy animals ate grass like cows.

“Wow! They’re big!” Arthur leaned against Cheyenne. “What are they?”

She glanced down at him. “Bison. Some people call them buffalo.”

“Oh.” Arthur nodded. “I know what a buffalo is.”

Derek’s strong voice reached over the wagon. “A herd of deer! Over on the right!”

Everyone’s head turned that way.

“Look at that.” Cheyenne pointed to the three deer that were leaping away from the wagon. “Don’t they run fast?”

Arthur nodded. “They’re cool.”

“More bison!” Derek’s voice again.

With a grin, Cheyenne turned around and raised her voice. “Are you the self-appointed tour guide, Derek?”

From the back bench he gave her a thumbs-up. “Hey, I’ve been to Yellowstone before.”

Cheyenne turned to the front, wishing she hadn’t looked back. Derek’s two boys sat on his left, and on his right Kandi MacKinnon stuck to his side. She seemed to be paying more attention to him than she was to the two little girls who sat beside her.

A sigh slipped between Cheyenne’s lips. She thought of her date with Rex last night, and his good-night kisses. If that man had been Derek …

Lord, help me to accept my circumstances as they are
. She would learn a lesson from Arthur’s mom.

Noah lifted his brown eyes to meet Cheyenne’s blue ones. “Are we almost there?”

“I’m not sure.” Taking his small hand in hers, she gave it a quick squeeze. Noah hadn’t said more than a few words, and she wondered if he had lost his parents recently. “But we’ll be at the Rosey cookout soon enough. Then we can eat.”

Arthur leaned against her. “I really am hungry.”

“You told me.” She smiled at him as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Hey!” Arthur jumped up. “I think I see the cookout place. We’re almost there, Miss Anne.”

“It’s
Cheyenne.”
She looked ahead. Between the trees, she spotted several long picnic tables. “Yep. Looks like we’ve arrived.”

She smiled, determined to forget about her relationship woes this weekend. She would “mother” these two sweet boys God had placed in her care.

It was dark that evening when Cheyenne unlocked the Lake Lodge cabin and opened the door. “Okay girls, here we are.” She flipped the switch inside, and the overhead light came on.

Stepping over the threshold, she glanced around as she set down her duffel bag. The small room was furnished with a double bed and a table with two chairs. Through the thin wall on the left, she could hear the exclamations of their neighbors—another group of girls.

Kandi walked inside and frowned. “How … primitive.” Her two charges, Rayna and Madeline, dropped their sleeping bags on the floor.

Rayna smiled, showing the gap in her teeth. “Cool.”

“Yeah. I like it.” Madeline’s ponytail bobbed as she nodded her head.

“That’s good.” Cheyenne walked to a small window. “The room is clean, but it’s a little stuffy in here. Let’s open the window.” After a couple of tugs, she succeeded in sliding it open. A cool evening breeze brushed past her. “Ah! That feels good.” She turned back to the room.

The little girls knelt on the wooden floor to spread open their sleeping bags, but Kandi still stood by the door. Her hand rested on the handle of her suitcase, and a frown rested on her face.

Cheyenne took a deep breath. She
would
get stuck sharing a room with Kandi MacKinnon—with a double bed of all things!
Lord, help me to have a good attitude
. She smiled at the two girls on the floor. “You girls have the right idea. We might as well call it a night and get ready for bed.”

With a sigh, Kandi rolled her suitcase to the double bed and opened a narrow door in the wall. “At least we have a bathroom. I hope the shower has plenty of hot water. I feel grimy after being outdoors all day.”

“Um … Kandi, why don’t you let the girls use the bathroom first? Then they can get to sleep.”

Kandi plunked down on the bed. “Okay.”

Cheyenne raised her eyebrows. “Uh … are you going to help them?” She didn’t mind helping the girls, but they were supposed to be in Kandi’s charge, not hers.

“We can do it ourselves.” Madeline pulled a pair of pajamas from her backpack. “When Mrs. Lindley tells us to get ready for bed, we know what to do.”

Cheyenne smiled at her. “You are very grown-up.”

With a sigh, Kandi took off her left shoe and rubbed her foot. “I’ll be glad when we can get back to civilization.”

Cheyenne unzipped her duffel bag.
Give me patience, Lord!

Cheyenne shifted on the mattress, turning on her side away from Kandi. Outside the window several crickets chirped. She listened to the even breathing of the two little girls on the floor. Her eyes drifted shut.

“Cheyenne.”

At her whispered name, she startled awake. “Yes?”

“I have a question about Derek.”

Great!
Cheyenne turned over to face the middle of the bed. “What’s your question?”

“I was just thinking about when Derek and I get married.”

When!
Cheyenne’s heart thudded. “I didn’t know the two of you were engaged.”

“We’re not.” Kandi gave a high-pitched giggle. “But I’m sure it will happen. Woman’s intuition, you know.”

Was that all Kandi was going on?

“Anyway, do you know how many children Derek wants?”

In the dark, Cheyenne rolled her eyes. “Uh, knowing Derek, he would say children are cheaper by the dozen. He’ll probably adopt twelve.”

“Did you say
adopt?”

Cheyenne tried not to laugh at the incredulous sound in Kandi’s voice. She cleared her throat. “He volunteers at the orphanage every month, doesn’t he? I bet he’ll have two or three orphans living with him by the time you guys get married.”

“All right. Now I know you’re kidding.” Kandi gave a little grunt. “I hope he doesn’t want to adopt. I sure don’t. I want to have my own kids.”

“Yeah, so do I.”
By the time I’m thirty!
“But there’s nothing wrong with adoption. I already love those two boys I watched today. That little Arthur is so cute. I would adopt him in a heartbeat.”

“Are you serious?”

Arthur’s round face popped into her mind, and she realized it was true. “Yes I am. I would love to adopt him.”

“That is crazy.”

Arthur
. What would it be like to be his mother? He had blond hair and blue eyes, as she did. He was tall for his age, as she had been. He was chubby, as she still was—unfortunately.

Kandi yawned. “We’d better get to sleep. Good night, Cheyenne.”

“ ’Night.” Cheyenne rolled back on her side. She smiled to herself as she thought of Arthur saying “Big is beautiful.” But then her smile faded. Rex said he wanted children, but what if he didn’t want to adopt Arthur? Adoptions were expensive. Of course, they could wait until Cheyenne inherited her grandmother’s money in a couple of years. But what if Rex said no? Or what if someone else adopted Arthur?

Lord, I would love to adopt that little boy
. She prayed for a few more minutes, asking God to place that desire in her future husband’s heart, too. A gentle peace filled her soul, and she drifted off to sleep.

T
he next afternoon, Derek stood in the back of the group beside his two boys, and Joshua, the ten-year-old, leaned against his left side. Derek threw his arm around the boy and squeezed his shoulder. “Ready to see Old Faithful blow its top, Joshua?”

The hazel eyes looked up into his. “I’ve never seen a geyser before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” Derek glanced beyond Joshua to Nathan, his other charge. Nathan was a typical twelve-year-old—rebellious. But beyond that, Nathan seemed to be jaded by life. That boy’s attitude had been a problem since Derek met him a year ago.

Cheyenne stood in front of Derek with Arthur and Noah. Kandi’s two girls stood with them as Cheyenne pointed at the steam from the geyser that floated off in the wind. Instead of standing next to her girls, Kandi planted herself beside Derek. He wished she would take her duties as a counselor more seriously. She didn’t seem to care about the kids at all.

The crowd quieted as the geyser started, and the water went up a foot then stopped. The steam wafted off to the right.