Texas Wedding (17 page)

Robbie sidled closer and placed a hand over her shoulder. “Of course you wouldn’t. Your dad’s got some adjusting to do. He needs to understand as much as you do now.”

“I bet he wishes he never took me in,” she hiccupped.

A strong arm came between them, and Riley gathered his daughter into a hug. “Hayley Campbell-Hayes, don’t you ever say that.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean it—” “I’m sorry, Hayley. I know I’m interfering—”

They spoke at the same time, and slowly Robbie backed away. This was Hayley-Daddy time, and he needed to find Eli for the appointment if they were going to get there in time. Riley shot him a grateful glance, Robbie nodded in recognition then left the two of them talking.

He found Eli out the back of the barn with Vaughn, and it seemed like today was the day he was coming in at the end of conversations. He hung back until they’d finished because Eli looked like he was talking to Vaughn seriously.

“…I can’t see it myself,” Vaughn said. He was hefting equipment for transfer to the school, lifting it from the ground onto the trailer.

“If SCOTUS says yes today, though, what’s stopping you?”

Robbie stopped. He and Eli had discussed this same-sex marriage thing at great length last night, and Eli had reminded Robbie of what he’d said.
If it’s legal here, the very day that Texas says that, I will be on my knees begging you to marry me. So you can never run away.

How come Eli recalled it so readily, word for word? Robbie never really imagined it would be passed, not really. Texas was his home, but he never thought it would get to this point.

He wanted so badly to be Eli’s husband.
So bad, it hurt.

Vaughn stopped what he was doing and considered the question. “My Nana Pearl was a mom to five and a wife in everything but name. She said she never saw the big fuss for the paper saying it was legal. Her and my gramps were together fifty-seven years, and not a day of it was after swapping vows.”

“But if we get the chance, we should. We owe it to the people who fought for this.”

“So,” Vaughn began lazily. “You’re saying that if they pass it today and it’s legal, that jus’ ’cause we can, we should?”

“No, not like that. But you love Darren, don’t you?”

“No doubt about that.”

“And you haven’t thought about what you’d do…?”

“We talked some.” Vaughn shrugged. “We’re happy as is for the moment.” He didn’t sound uncomfortable, but Eli had words in his head that looked like they were going to tumble out, and Robbie needed to put a stop to it before Vaughn decked him one.

“Hey,” he said, announcing his arrival.

Eli beamed a huge smile. “Hey back,” he said.

Robbie and Eli had only parted an hour before, but every time he saw his man, Robbie felt his chest tighten with emotion. Getting to be a bit of a nuisance, actually, all this passion and love and need that threatened to burst out every time he saw Eli.

“Ready?” he asked.

Eli nodded, sketched a wave to Vaughn, who nodded back. Robbie imagined he saw relief on Vaughn’s face, and he smiled.

“Whatcha smiling at?” Eli asked.

“Happy to see you,” Robbie said as smoothly as he could.

Eli smacked him on the chest, his green eyes sparkling with amusement. “Liar.”

They walked to the car and were off the Double D before Robbie spoke again. “How you feeling?”

Eli glanced at him. Robbie made sure never to ask Eli that. He showed his concern in different ways—touching, kissing, loving Eli the best he could.

“Blah-blah cancer, blah-blah check, usual shit, blah-blah,” Eli intoned.

He was good at that. So smart at dismissing what he was thinking about this checkup while not saying anything at all. Tests had been done, and Eli hadn’t been called back immediately. This was routine, nothing to worry about. It gave Robbie and Eli a chance for a midweek day off, which usually included a good steak somewhere, maybe shopping. Eli loved shopping; Robbie loved making Eli smile by going with him.

“I was talking to Vaughn. He’s not at all interested in getting married.”

Robbie didn’t correct Eli. Firstly he was too busy negotiating joining the road into the city, secondly he wanted Eli to keep talking so that he didn’t think about the meeting.

“Shame,” Eli continued. “I think Vaughn and Darren are such a cool couple. I also think they’d make great dads, as much as Riley and Jack do.”

That was new. Eli suggesting Vaughn and Darren have children like Jack and Riley had? He’d never mentioned that to Robbie. He’d never seriously talked about them having kids. Well, except for a throwaway line, which Robbie had shut down with a wicked one-liner.

“Yeah,” he said in his best, uncommitted voice.

“Yeah,” Eli repeated softly, then he turned up the radio, rested his temple against the window, and hummed along to the music.

Robbie imagined himself with children. He was around them a lot. From the team that Jack and Riley had created, to the special needs kids who came to the specialist riding center on the DD. Of course, he’d considered what it would be like one day to be a dad. He’d seen the twins when they first came home, and he had a special bond with Max. Hayley would sit on the fence and chat to him. He wasn’t scared of kids.

Robbie resolved to talk more about it after the appointment, but the need to know what Eli thought kind of sneaked up on him. “You ever believe that we should adopt or something?”

Eli moved upright, and Robbie could sense him staring. “Yeah,” he finally said. Then he added sarcastically, “That would work, we could leave them with one of the hands when I go for my cancer checks.”

The words were sharp in Robbie’s heart, and he chanced a glance from the road to Eli, who had moved back to his position against the window.

“Eli?”

Eli changed the subject very abruptly and obviously. “Oh, I meant to say, we have another photo shoot on the ranch. Jack signed off on it. Something about the money in some new charity for gay kids with nowhere to go.”

Eli rambled on and on until Robbie lost the will to discover what Eli really thought about kids, and they reached the clinic office.

They were shown straight in, which was a first, as they normally had to wait around. They left half an hour later with another all-clear and plenty of reassurance that Eli had likely beaten this entirely. Of course there was another appointment booked. Eli wasn’t taking chances, and Robbie was right behind him on that one. When they got outside, they hugged, but Eli slid away before Robbie could kiss him.

“Can we go back to the ranch today, instead of shopping?”

Eli not wanting to go shopping was like the Cleveland Browns winning the Super Bowl. “We can.” He stopped Eli and cradled his face, staring into bright green eyes. “Talk to me, Eli.”

Eli closed his eyes briefly. “Not here.”

Robbie nodded, then drove them out of the city. He was looking to stop at the first diner on open roads.

The news came over the radio, and Eli leaned over to turn it up. “The Supreme Court of the United States, SCOTUS, has ruled in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide. In a landmark opinion, a divided Supreme Court on Friday ruled that same-sex couples can marry nationwide, establishing a new civil right and handing gay rights advocates an historic victory. In the five to four ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote an announcement for the majority with the four liberal justices. Each of the four conservative justices wrote their own dissent.”

Robbie didn’t know how he felt. This was such a big day for couples like him and Eli, for people who wanted equality. He pulled into the far end of the parking lot at a huge McDonald’s, parked under some trees, and killed the engine. He turned to talk to Eli, but Eli was out of the car and standing under the tree with his back to Robbie.

Robbie joined him. “Now will you talk to me?”

Eli turned to face him. His expression was closed. “You know how I get round appointments. They always freak me out,” he answered. “I’ll be fine in a bit.”

Robbie ran his hands up and down Eli’s arms. “This seems different, somehow.”

Eli shrugged. “Nah, I’m having a moment.”

“So, what do you think of the news?”

“It’s good. A step forward.” Then Eli changed the subject. “Wanna get something to eat?”

Eli had lost all his excitement, and the enthusiasm he’d had while talking to Vaughn. Robbie wanted that back.

Robbie frowned at him. “I wanted to talk first,” he said.

“What about?”

“Us.”

“Us what?”

“I said that I would—”

Eli placed a finger on Robbie’s lips to stop him talking. “Not now.” He pulled out of Robbie’s hold and walked past the car toward the golden arches.

Robbie didn’t think. He acted on impulse. He fell to his knees in the dirt. “Eli!” he called.

Eli turned, looking directly ahead, then, with a frown, he looked down. “Get up,” he ordered.

“Nope, not going anywhere until you come back here.”

“Get up.”

“No.”

“Stop being stupid. People will look.”

“Let them look.”

Eli shook his head. “Jesus, Robbie. Let’s get food or something.”

“Get your ass over here now,” Robbie shouted.

Eli huffed, threw up his hands in exasperation, stalked over to Robbie. “What the hell?”

Robbie grabbed his hand and held it. “Elijah Martin, I’ve loved you since you wanted to take photos of me naked, since I saw your green eyes and realized you were the most beautiful thing in my world.”

“Robbie—”

“Hush, Eli, I’m talking. I love when you snore, when you laugh, when you cry at YouTube videos of dogs. I love your hair and your stupid tight clothes. I love the sighs that leave your lips when we make love. Eli, will you marry me? Now. Right now. Today. I’ll phone Jack, get leave, we’ll go to Vegas.”

Eli blinked down at him. “We could have done that anyway before the vote.”

“But not so it was held as legal in Texas. C’mon, Eli, marry me.”

Eli crouched down in front of Robbie, like all his energy had left him in one huge dramatic sweep. “I know you love me, and God, I love you so badly that sometimes it hurts. But, my cancer—”

“What cancer?” Robbie asked. “You got the all-clear, again.”

“I’ve been in a place where I didn’t have to consider it, and I see us married and adopting and all that stuff, but I have these appointments. Fuck, Robbie, what if it comes back?”

Robbie placed his palm on Eli’s face. “And what if an asteroid knocks me off my horse?”

Eli smiled a small smile, his lips curving gently. “Robbie.”

“Say yes.”

“I love you.”

“Then. Say. Yes.”

Eli’s smile widened. “Yes.”

Robbie stood and pulled Eli with him, and they kissed each other senseless in the shade of the tree outside McDonald’s.

No place could have been more perfect.

Their burgers were cold after they ordered, then spent too long talking. Their coffees were bitter, but none of that mattered. They sat opposite each other in a sticky booth, grinning like idiots. Robbie had left a message for Jack and was waiting for the answer. If it was a no, they would go back to the ranch and wait for the next time they could get away. If it was a yes, they’d go back, grab their IDs and after twelve hundred miles of driving, they could be married.

When the phone rang, Robbie answered it immediately.

“Everything okay with Eli?”

It was Riley and not Jack. Shit, Robbie hadn’t realized that if Riley heard the message on the house phone, he would think something was wrong.

“Riley, everything’s fine, I promise. Eli had the all-clear.”

“Can I talk to him?” Riley sounded suspicious.

Robbie handed Eli the phone with a smile. “Riley wants to know you’re okay.”

Eli took the phone. “Hey, Riley, everything is okay. … Yeah. … Robbie proposed. … Yeah, no shit, we’re eloping. … Going to Vegas. … Can Robbie have a week off?” Eli laughed at something Riley said. “Haven’t you seen the news? We’re going to be legal. … I know. …” Robbie wished he could hear what Riley was saying, but he had to settle for trying to work it out from Eli’s answers. “Yep, we’re coming back for our stuff. … Okay, see you in an hour.”

Eli ended the call and passed it back to Robbie.

“What did he say?”

“That he’d clear it with Jack, and that he never interfered with Jack’s cowboys before, and we’d better be happy because he’ll catch hell with Jack.”

Robbie narrowed his eyes. “You’re fucking with me.”

Eli grinned. “Yes, I am. Jack was there as well. He said we should take two weeks and get a honeymoon in.”

“Two weeks? I can’t—”

“And Riley said that Jack said that if you argue, I am to tie you up and dump you in the trunk of the car.”

Robbie chuckled. He leaned over to kiss Eli squarely on the lips. “Always knew Jack was the kinky one.”

Eli stood, collecting their trash on the tray. “Ready?”

Robbie added the empty coffee cup, already planning the route to Las Vegas in his head. “Let’s do this thing.”

Riley ended the call and sat back in his chair. “Well, shit,” he said.

“They could have got married in Vegas anytime,” Jack said. He’d happily agreed to Robbie and Eli going off to get married, but he couldn’t understand why the minute it was legal here the two men had decided Vegas was where it was at.

“In case they change their minds,” Riley said, answering the unspoken question from Jack. “We talked last week, and Robbie was saying that if it was agreed, he was worried they could take it back.”

“It’s SCOTUS,” Jack was confused. “They can’t go back on a decision.”

“He knows that, but he said….” Riley sighed and rested his chin on his steepled fingers, his elbows on the table.

“What?”

“That he wanted it fast so that for even one day, he was legally married to the man he loved, right here in Texas.”

“He didn’t want to wait and get married here, though?” Jack frowned.

“It doesn’t mean the same to him as it does to us,” Riley wasn’t sure how he was going to explain how he felt. “Until I met you…” he began, “…I didn’t feel for the ground we stand on. I didn’t care where I lived, only that I had money. Then you came into my life and I wanted this land, wanted permanent.”