Unbroken Hearts (29 page)

Chapter 27

     
Sarah asked Mama to give her away at
her wedding, and of course Mama was delighted.

     
Saturday was a perfect day -- not
overly hot, as it could often be in late August. Billowy white clouds filled
the sky and a skirt-swishing breeze caressed Sarah and Emily as they donned the
same dresses they'd worn to the social. They hovered around Mama, like bees at
a flower, fussing over her dress and her hair.
 

   
Roy could be heard from upstairs, teasing Cal, as the men donned their
Sunday best.

    
Ned wandered in, all spit and polish in
new clothes he said he'd purchased for the occasion. He fooled nobody. The old
veteran had been seen visiting Miss Geneva Grayson on two occasions since the
school social.
 

    
At the creek the ranch hands cleaned up
amid whoops and splashing and tall cowboy tales -- the kind of yarns that swell
with each telling -- and now they waited in the yard to congratulate the boss
and his new wife.
 

    
The minister arrived from town, and the
little group assembled in the parlor. Cal and Sarah beamed openly at each other
while they quietly repeated their vows. A ring was passed from Emily to Roy to
Cal, who made a great ceremony of placing it on Sarah's finger. And at the end
Cal gave Sarah a kiss that warmed everyone from head to toes.

    
The little wedding party moved outside
where Roy, bursting with pride, presented Mr. and Mrs. Cal Easton. A cheer rose
from the ranch hands, and each man made his way up the steps to congratulate
the happy couple. George Newman poured whiskey, and they raised their glasses
to Roy's toast honoring the newlyweds.

    
Earl Watkins had closed the store and was
there with his wife and son Edward. Jake Farrel had shuttered his blacksmith
shop, and he'd driven out with his wife, Mary, and Geneva Grayson.
 
Abe Wright, wife Carlotta, and daughter
Ella rolled up a fine carriage. Ella jumped out and promptly ran to the back to
unload pies. Handsome Doctor Rutherford trailed on horseback.
 

    
Everyone congratulated and cajoled the new
couple. Edward Watkins counseled Cal to avoid his wife's right hook. Doctor
Rutherford, last in line, winked as he took Sarah's hand, and he deftly guided
her away from the other guests.

    
"Cal's a fine man."

    
"Oh, yes." She blushed.
"Everything worked out just like you said."

 
   
"Mrs. Easton, your
courage is inspiring."

    
Rutherford bowed politely. "Before I
leave I'll have a talk with your new husband about how to keep a wife healthy.
Looks like I can leave out the part about how to keep her happy." He
half-smiled. "Of course, I wouldn't know so much about that."

    
It was Sarah's turn to smile. Dr.
Rutherford had a good heart.

    
Tables were lined up, and the smell of
beef roasting on spits wafted across the yard. After dinner entertainment
included foot races, a game of horse-shoe pitching, a roping contest run by
Bailey, and a shooting competition, which was popular, because Roy had offered
a twenty dollar prize to the winner.

                               
*
     
*
    
*

    
Dullen growled as he kicked dirt from
behind a hill a two hundred yards distant.
 

    
He'd noted the parade of guests as they'd
left Wounded Colt just after noon. He'd casually inquired at the general store,
and Watkins had smugly told him Cal Easton was marrying up.

    
Hitching himself to the hired help
. Dullen silently raged.
 

    
It wasn't the first time Cal Easton had
stolen a woman he'd set his eye on.

    
These days he'd seldom thought of Grace
Farrel, but now the memories came rushing back. And he'd marked this one for
himself too, only to be stymied by Roy Easton's antics, aided by the
self-appointed do-gooder, Ned Kingman.

    
The gloating Eastons needed to be taught a
lesson, and the sooner the better, he decided.

    
With no time to round up his usual posse,
Jack Dullen had followed the Wrights and Doctor Rutherford at a discrete
distance as they'd trekked out to the Easton spread, and then he'd taken up his
position, biding his time. He was far outnumbered by all those ranch hands
milling around so there was nothing he could do now, and that made him even
angrier. He made a mental note to visit that saloon girl when he got back to
town -- the one he could slap around because she needed his money.
 

    
But now he focused his spyglass on the
group, and he reddened at the hum of cheerful voices drifting up to his ears.
The Anders woman was lovely. How warmly the sunlight played upon the highlights
in her hair as she politely greeted visitors. She charmed everyone.

   
He raised himself up cautiously to steal a better view of Cal Easton's
young bride.

    
Dullen slid a bottle from his side pocket
and tipped it to his mouth. The sweet whiskey warmed his gut, and he stared up
at the sky, musing about how Miss Sarah would undoubtedly prefer his rough
brand of mating to what he imagined to be Cal Easton's s no-account style.

    
The afternoon wasn't a complete waste. The
hands had taken up an entertainment, a shooting competition. They were firing
at wood blocks placed on stumps behind the barn. After each round a few men
were eliminated, and the stumps were moved farther away to increase the
difficulty for those who continued. Cal and Roy Easton, who Dullen was loath to
admit were the best shooters in the territory, weren't among the contestants.
The groom obviously had other things on his mind, and best man Roy appeared to
be running the contest.
 

   
Although he couldn't see faces clearly from his position, Dullen
recognized the runner-up because it was, of all things, a woman. Whoever would
have figured the spinster Grayson to be a crack shot!
 

    
The winner was also easily identified
owing to his lame gait. He'd never have taken Ned Kingman for a sharpshooter,
but he remembered Aiken's report about the man zealously protecting the house
when the other men were out on the range, and now his dead-eye shooting
confirmed exactly why he'd landed the job.

    
The contest ended, he took another swig of
whiskey. He decided when the time came he or his men would need to eliminate
Kingman. The shooting match proved the man was trouble; deadly accurate with a
rifle and so blindly loyal he'd go to the end of the trail for the
Eastons.
 

    
Dullen shook the bottle and tipped it to
his mouth to salute his clever scheme. He was confident -- his men would
trample over Mineral Creek Ranch like a mile-wide twister. The bottle was
empty. He cursed disgustedly, and half-walked, half-slithered to the brush
where he'd hidden his horse.
 

    
He'd had enough of the Eastons for one
afternoon.

                                 
                     
*
      
*
         
*

     
Friends and neighbors made to get
back to jobs and homesteads. They said their goodbyes, gave their best wishes
to the new couple. Each reserved a special goodbye for Mama.
 

    
Cal sought out his wife and took Sarah's
hands, drawing her to him. He leaned forward and impulsively kissed her cheek.

    
Sarah smiled back like a ray of sunshine.
"I've never been to a better party. Thank you."

    
He grinned. "Honey, go pack clothes
for tonight and tomorrow." Cal had been seriously distracted all
afternoon. His coffee eyes had flickering to her constantly, even when he was
talking with groups of guests.

    
"We're leaving?" She frowned.

    
"Sure, sweetheart. Don't you want a
honeymoon?"

    
"Oh." His heat aroused her even
when he was just standing near. She pushed her gaze up to his eyes.
"Who'll tend Mama?"

    
"Roy." He squeezed her hand,
thinking that younger brothers could indeed be useful now and again. "And
tomorrow morning Nettie will come, and Emily said she'd help."

    
Sarah started to open her mouth but he cut
off her objection.

     
"Mama already agreed to it.
Truth to tell, it was her idea. She's downright anxious for
grandchildren."

    
Sarah blushed deeply. They hadn't
discussed children, but she was suddenly pleased he wanted them. "Well
then. I'll go and get ready. Where?"

    
He grinned. "It's a surprise."

    
Sarah strode into the house, now
her
house
. She went to her shared room,
put clothes into her bag, and slung it merrily over one shoulder as she walked
back out to the porch.
 

    
Roy brought Cal's horse around. Cal swung
up into his saddle and Roy handed him his rifle in the scabbard, which he slung
across his back. Then he leaned down, wrapped an arm around his new wife, and
lifted her into position in front of him.
 

    
Sarah looked surprised.

    
"Saree, we aren't going far."
Cal wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her back firmly to rest against
his chest.

    
Roy tied their bags and supplies to a mule
he jokingly called a 'wedding gift', and mounted another horse to ride
behind.
 

    
Ranch hands, Emily, and Ned waved wildly,
calling out "goodbyes" and "good lucks" as Cal slapped the
horse into motion. Instead of heading out to the main trail that ran past the
ranch, as Sarah had expected, the men turned and rode north along the creek.

    
Cal turned and smiled when they came
within sight of the Easton's old family cabin. "Surprised?" His
golden eyes flickered.

    
"Yes! Oh, I love it!" Sarah
smiled at the cozy-as-a-hug cabin.

  
They stopped in front of the little abode, and Cal swung off his mount.
He held out his arms and Sarah moved easily into their warmth. Cal didn't take
his hands from her waist when she touched the ground. Instead he wrapped them
firmly around her in a promising embrace.
 

    
Roy glanced sideways and went about
unloading and hauling.
 

    
Roy mentioned that he'd be getting back to
the big house. When he got no response from the kissing couple he shrugged,
mounted, and rode away.

    
Cal took Sarah's hands and gazed into
verdant eyes. Then he lifted her into his arms and carried her through the
doorway of that little cabin. Sarah Her head fit perfectly into the
hollow between his shoulder and neck when she relaxed into his strength.

    
Inside was one room with a loft, where
Sarah imagined little Cal and Roy must have slept when the family lived there.
A large bed, covered with a pretty patch quilt, filled one corner. Yellow
curtains covered the windows. A small table for meals was located near a
cookstove, and a shelf was lined with pots and pans.

    
Cal lowered Sarah to her feet and pulled
her into his heat. His eager kiss was pure pleasure. Her response floated to
him, and their desire kindled in a slow upward spiral. He moved his hands to
her buttocks, pulled her against him in a caress that escalated to an insistent
command, while his lips moved down her throat. Abruptly he halted, and swung
her to face away from him. He worked the buttons on the back of the lavender
dress, one at a time.