"I'm sorry," Julie said.
"Never thought I'd hear those words escape from your mouth," he gritted his teeth.
"Hey, when I goof, which is seldom, I apologize. I didn't mean to spoil your day by bringing up her name, but you've been aching for a fight all day, so bring it on big boy. Let's get it out and get it over with."
"Just pay the bills and write your own paycheck," he said. He went to stand at the glass wall and stare out into the courtyard.
"How much?"
"You decide. Whatever it is worth," he said.
She eased out of the chair and crossed the room, plowing through the heavy tension and silence all the way. She slipped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek on his back. "Are you over the pain and hurt she inflicted on you, Griff?"
"I am, but I'd never get over you doing the same," he said.
"Why?"
He turned and gathered her into his embrace, hugging her for the longest time before he planted a kiss on her forehead. "Because I've fallen in love with you. I've fallen in like with you. I've just plain fallen for you. I want you in my life. I can't give you my kingdom like Alvie offered because it's tied up on paper, but I would if I could."
She reached up and touched his face. "Griffin Luckadeau, is that a proposal?"
"It is."
"Then my answer is yes. I like you, too. I like the comfort we have between us but I also like the passion. I like looking out the kitchen window and seeing you hop over the fence as you come home for dinner but I also like sitting beside you in church. I like the way you smell after your shower in the evening but I also like the way you tuck your hands inside the bib of your overalls. Most of all I like the way I can trust you. I've thought about it for two whole nights—actually can't sleep for thinking about it. I love you. I like you. I want to spend my life with you."
"Are you serious? I figured you'd fight me on this."
"I did and I don't want half or all of the Lucky Clover. I just want its owner's heart," she said.
"Honey, you've had that for a long time. When?"
"Eli and Mamie deserve their time right now. Maybe after their wedding?"
He moaned.
"We're engaged. We're not just friends. We are two adults like you said when I told you I was six years older than you. Since we are not just friends anymore, let's go upstairs and celebrate," she said with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Right now? What about the kids?" He grinned.
"Right now. The kids are playing and my room has a lock. We only have to have a one-act play to celebrate. But honey, on our wedding night, I fully well expect the whole three-act Broadway production," she said.
He swept her up into his arms and carried her up the stairs to her room, where they undressed each other in a flurry of clothing—socks and undergarments landing all over the room. What they shared was wild, passionate, and left them both panting. Julie couldn't imagine what a lifetime of fast wild sex, slow lovemaking, or anything in between would be like, but it sure looked fascinating from where she was right then—staring at the most handsome cowboy in the world with his naked leg slung over her body.
"Sleep," he moaned.
"Forget it. If we've got time for a nap, we can use it for something a hell of a lot more fun," she said.
And they did.
Chapter 20
A NORTH WIND RATTLED THE BARE TREE LIMBS OUTSIDE the ranch house, but inside a glowing blaze inside the fireplace kept the place warm as women hustled and bustled in every room. Furniture had been moved out of the living room and chairs set in every available space for guests. Twinkle lights and illusion was wrapped around the stair banisters and red roses graced the dining room table and the metal arch in the den.
Mamie and her court had been given a bedroom to get ready in. The Luckadeau ladies were crowded around a vanity helping dress her. Milli set a circlet of fresh white roses with a shoulder-length pouf of illusion around a pile of soft curls on top of Mamie's head. Jane applied makeup and Julie helped fasten her skirt and jacket.
"I know now why they have flowers at weddings," Mamie said nervously.
"Because hundreds of years ago when folks only took a bath once a year they did it in the spring, and by June the bride was getting pretty ripe already, so they gave her a bouquet of flowers to take the smell away," Jane said.
"Maybe so, but the reason we still carry them even now when we take baths every day is to have something to hold on to. My hands are shaking worse than the night Eli proposed to me," Mamie said.
"If you are all that nervous we can all be in Cancun by breakfast. I know how to run out on a wedding even at this late date. We can sneak out the back door, get in my truck, and let Ellen drive us to the Dallas airport. Bet we can be there in under an hour with her driving, even if we stop for a bottle of Jack Daniels at the first liquor store," Jane teased.
Mamie giggled. "It's not nerves that I don't want to get married. It's nerves that I'm not good enough for him or that I'll be a horrible preacher's wife."
"We'll have no more of that kind of talk. You are talking about my friend and I don't let people talk about her like that. Besides is this the same woman who encouraged me to move to Saint Jo?" Julie asked.
"I guess it is," Mamie said.
"And that move changed a bunch of lives, didn't it?" Julie asked.
Sally poked her head in the door. "I heard that, Julie. It damn sure changed my life and I'm grateful to you for it. Is the party in here?"
Julie hugged her. "Well, look what the cats have drug up."
"Speaking of what the cats have drug up, I'm going to be a momma cat. I got pregnant the first week we were married. When are you getting one, Mamie?" Sally asked.
"ASAP," Mamie answered. "Where's Alvie?"
"Down there sitting with the men. Eli is so nervous he's chewing his lip," Sally said.
"Then he's more nervous than you are, Mamie, so stop fretting," Julie said.
Jane patted Mamie on the shoulder. "You'll forget all about that nervous stuff the first time you have a big old fight, anyway. Congratulations, Sally. I guess by the way Julie didn't squeal that she already knew about the baby."
"She did. I saw you the night of the sale but I was so thunderstruck by Alvie, I'm not sure I remember names. Tell me if I'm wrong. Jane with the brown hair who looks like Ashley Judd. Milli who looks like Jennifer Lopez, only with a darker tan and a hell of a lot prettier."
"She's a charmer," Jane said.
"Is the hen party in here?" Melinda cracked the door.
"It is. We weren't expecting you," Julie said.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing according to Momma. She said Mamie was getting married and she was bored so she made Daddy and Matt bring us down here. We've got rooms at a hotel in Dallas when it's over," Melinda said with a wink at Julie.
"So tell us, Sally. Is the honeymoon still going strong even though you are pregnant?" Julie asked.
"Had a rocky day about two weeks ago but it's back on course. Here, let me fasten your skirt. I've got a feeling there could be a baby bump under this skirt before long. I picked hay out of her hair after the sale," Sally said.
"Hey, hey, tell us more," Jane said.
"This is Mamie's day, so hush," Julie said.
"Okay, it's my day and I'm nervous as hell, so I want a story. Tell me about the speed bump in the honeymoon that was going to last forever," Mamie urged.
"You sure? I don't want to intrude," Sally said.
"I'm very sure. It's fifteen minutes and I'm about to hyperventilate. Tell me something to get my mind off walking down the stairs without falling and saying my vows without crying," Mamie said.
Sally smiled. "Lord, I'm glad I went to the courthouse and didn't have time to think about anything other than buying a rose to throw at my sister."
"Which is bullshit anyway because Mamie is getting married before me, so I wasn't the next bride," Julie argued.
"Stop arguing with her or I won't hear about the first fight," Mamie said.
Sally sat down on the end of the bed. "Okay, here it is. I came home from the grocery store to find a tall blonde in a black teddy laid up on my bed with rose petals strewn all around her, two glasses of wine already poured on the bedside table, and a gleam in her eye."
"Damn. What did you do?" Jane asked.
Sally smiled and her eyes widened.
"You didn't…" Julie started.
Sally nodded. "I did. Grabbed her by the arm with one hand and twisted it up between her shoulder blades. Damn thing wouldn't pop off like a Barbie doll when I played karate but I got to admit, I tried real hard to make it. Then I got a fist full of hair and tiptoed her to the front door, where I threw her out in a foot of snow flat on her ass. She didn't stay there very long. Jumped up like a windup toy and tried to run to her truck without touching the snow in her bare feet."
"And?" Julie asked.
"Alvie came home and had the audacity to laugh when I marched him to the bedroom and asked for an explanation."
Julie raised an eyebrow. "I suppose he landed in the snow?"
"No, but he talked real fast and he didn't stutter. She's a lady who used to come around every so often. Lives in Jackson Hole and they had this agreement. On a certain day of the month she'd make him very happy. She had no idea he had gotten married. He had no idea she didn't know. He promised she'd know in the length of time it took him to make a phone call. He put it on speaker phone so I'd know for damn sure. The next day the furniture store in Jackson Hole drove out to our place with a brand spanking new bedroom suite, because Alvie was sleeping on the couch and I was sleeping in a spare room until he got rid of that damned mattress. The audacity of him, expecting me to sleep on a mattress where he'd had another woman."
"Don't make me laugh anymore. I'm going to bust the stays in this damn long-line bra," Mamie said.
"Not to mention our makeup." Jane dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
"You want to fly in once a month for our poker night?" Milli asked.
"Sounds like fun. Maybe once every three months? But this is about Mamie. It's her day. God, I'm so glad you see something in my dorky brother that appeals to you. He's been a damned old zombie for ten years. It's good to see him biting his lip and in love," Sally said.
A light knock took their attention to the door. Julie opened it to find Lizzy and Annie in their pretty red velvet Christmas dresses.
"Can we come inside, Momma? Just for a minute so we can give Aunt Mamie a hug before the wedding?" Annie asked.
Julie nodded. "Come right in."
Mamie squatted as far as possible and opened her arms. "You two are beautiful. You need to wear red every day. It's gorgeous on you."
"But Aunt Mamie, you are the pretty one. Momma, can you find us a Barbie outfit like this?" Annie fingered the brocade on Mamie's suit.
"That's a tall order. For now go on downstairs and sit with Grandma Deborah or Grandma Laura. Whichever one has room beside her. I hear the music. It's nearly time to get this show on the road."
Sally, Milli, and Jane all followed the girls down to the den and found their husbands. Julie picked up her bouquet and handed Mamie hers. The room that seemed so small a few minutes before was suddenly huge and silent.
"Thank you," Mamie said.
"For what?"
"For not fighting God or fate or whatever brought you here. You've brought more happiness into more lives than you'll ever know," Mamie said.
"Hush, you'll make me cry."
"When are you and Griffin going to do this?"
"We don't want to steal you and Eli's thunder. And I was supposed to ask you before now, but they were all in here and we wanted it to be a little bit of a surprise. And besides, I didn't want to put you on the spot, so you can say no and it won't hurt my feelings. Since the families are all here, would you mind terribly if we made this one a double?"
Mamie squealed and reached out to hug Julie. "It would be the most perfect thing in the world. Did you already get your license and everything?"
"We got it today. If you want to have the day all to yourself, Daddy will marry us tomorrow morning before they go back to Jefferson."
"Hell, no! Let's do it up right," Mamie said.
"Thank you so much. Okay, that's my cue. I'm on my way. Pray real hard I don't fall on my face down the stairs."
Mamie blew her a kiss. "You do the same."
Griffin stood beside Eli in front of the arch and the minute he saw Julie, there was no one else in the room. She was beautiful in jeans and T-shirts, gorgeous in red satin, but in the dark green suit she was breathtaking. He'd never thought that day that he went searching for Lizzy that he'd fall in love with the red-haired banshee with dirty feet who came around the end of the house. But he had and she'd promised to marry him. His hair wasn't the only thing that had a lucky streak.
Mamie followed and Eli stepped up to the bottom of the stairs to lead her to the arch. Once her hand touched his, he stopped biting at his lower lip.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here this day," Luke Donavan began the ceremony.
Julie scarcely heard the words. Her heart had set up a banging in her ears that took all thoughts from the vows her brother and Mamie were exchanging. She had a sudden bout of straight-up fear that lasted about three seconds until she looked up into Griffin's blue eyes. Doubts might come, but Griffin looking at her like that would erase anything that threatened their relationship.