“Good morning, Rosie,” she said.
“This is breath taking,” he said.
“I wake up to it every morning.”
“You can actually walk over to that river and catch fish! Just like he said.”
“Would you like a pole?”
He turned to look at her. “I wasn’t sure about you marrying this guy and after that crazy ass wedding, I had more doubts. I had to come out to check and I see... you look amazing...this scenery...the fresh air...my God!”
“Here drink this, come inside, meet our friends, have some breakfast,” she said to him.
He took a drink of coffee and was shocked. “This is really good,” he said to her as he followed her inside the cabin that also took his breath. He examined her craft room, her first attempts at a quilt, the jams she made before he sat down and enjoyed the company in the room.
Nearly a half hour had passed before anyone missed Cassandra. Roscoe was knocking on the back door with a rock again which completely tripped out Roosevelt. It freaked him out even more when Darlene asked the raccoon what he wanted. The raccoon made a sound.
Jamar bent down closer to Roscoe at the backdoor asking, “What’s wrong boy? Did Timmy fall down the well?”
Roosevelt started to laugh when it looked like the raccoon gave Jamar his middle raccoon finger. The off handed comment garnered a couple of giggles from the people in the room. Everyone but Darlene. The raccoon was pointing out something no one else had noticed. Cassandra wasn’t in the house.
“Where is Cassandra?” She asked as everyone stood.
“Was that the woman who walked out and around the house on her cell phone?”
“Yes, did you see her?”
“She walked around side of the house,” Roosevelt told her.
Darlene walked out to the front porch, just in time to see her husband pulling up but another unknown vehicle was parked in the front yard by the guest bathrooms.
“Are those public bathrooms in your front yard?” Roosevelt asked.
What had Darlene’s focus was the car and the two heads inside it. It caught Daniel’s attention as well, especially with the car rocking from side to side and a woman’s whimpers coming from inside of the vehicle. Daniel jumped out of his truck with his weapon drawn. Roosevelt came down the front steps with a large piece of wood he grabbed off the front porch. Roosevelt went around to the driver’s side of the vehicle. Three taps on the passenger window from Daniel, “Hey in there!”
The car stop moving.
Daniel tapped again. “I need to see some hands, and some faces right now,” he said with authority in his voice. Roosevelt was waiting on the driver’s side in case anything went awry.
The window rolled down with Cassandra poking her head out the window. “Hey there park ranger!”
“Cassandra?” he asked confused by her new look.
“Yeah, it’s me. I got one eyebrow and some new teeth,” she grinned at him.
“That’s great, but what are you doing in my front yard in this vehicle with...” he looked inside to see an odd looking rat faced man trying to hide his face in Cassandra’s arm pit. She moved against him again and the poor man, whimpered, twitched, and gripped on to her tight. “Shit Hell,” the man said as it was obvious he had finished the love making session he and Cassandra was having in his car.
Daniel was furious, he brought his weapon upwards, “Cassandra who is this man?”
“Whoa, Daniel! This is Dr. Tommy Fischer. He is the vet over in Laramie. He came to take me on a date for my burfday,” she said happily.
It did not matter to Daniel. All he saw was a man who was taking advantage of a lonely woman. It came out in his voice when he said, “Get yourselves together and step out of that car right now!”
Less than a minute later, Dr. Fischer stepped out the car, red faced, embarrassed and uncertain if Daniel was going to shoot him. He started trying to explain, “Honest, I came to over to pick her up to take her to dinner in Laramie...but she came out looking so fine, that I was just gonna kiss her...and then one thing led to another and before I knew it...”
Daniel moved closer to tower over the man. “Please tell me you are not standing before me as a grown ass man, telling me it just happened!”
“No...no, what I am saying is, I had a whole romantic evening planned in Laramie for us, but man, she was looking so fine, I am sorry...I didn’t mean...,” Tommy tried to say.
The anger in Daniel’s voice was evident when he spoke. “What is pissing me off is that you had the nerve to do this in my front yard, in your car like Cassandra is some five dollar trail tramp that you can take advantage of... it’s not that kind of party Dr. Fischer.”
The scared little man held up his hands. “Cassie and I know each other from veterinary school. I have always had a thing for her...but then she...well, you know, and when she called me...said she wanted to go out...I hurried up and got here...I meant no disrespect.”
“Well, I feel disrespected and so should you young lady!” he said with a stern tone. “You deserve so much better than conducting yourself like this!”
Everyone stood on the porch watching him as he lit into her. It bothered him that cleaned up she was rather attractive and men would be noticing. Men who would take advantage of her kind heart and desire for affection.
“Look up on that porch Dr. Fischer. Cassandra has a family that cares about her, and if anything were to happen to her, you will have to deal with all of us, do you understand me?” He told the man.
Dr. Fischer looked up at the porch at the two black women, the burly white man, and the thin black man who was shaking his head no and mouthing, “Not me...you can have her.”
Daniel holstered his weapon and looked at his brother-in-law. “What....,” he said as he looked at his front porch finally noticing Krysten, Jamar, Jack and Roscoe watching. Sheila D. growled low at Roscoe who threw a rock at the dog.
Daniel ignored it as he turned his attention back to the lovebirds, “You two get inside and get cleaned up, and before you take her anywhere Dr. Fischer, I want to know a little more about you.”
The little man nodded as Cassandra slipped her hand into his. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think he was gonna be home so soon or get that mad at me getting some loving...”
Tommy squeezed her hand real tight. “It’s good to know you have a family out here that looks after you....and that dress is so pretty on you. I’m sorry if I got carried away and disrespected you.”
“I disrespected myself Tommy, but I wanted some lovin’ and dang golly I got me some,” she told him as she pulled him into the house.
Daniel rubbed his fingers across his eyes. He needed a hot shower, something to eat and a kiss from his wife. Rarely if ever did he have company, but with his new wife also came a new life. He suddenly felt like his father coming in from work and scaring the hell out all the boys who hung around their house like maggots on dung. The flashback of catching his sisters in a car parked out front with some handsy horn dog brought back a bad memory which took him back to his teen years.
“Long night?” Roosevelt asked.
“Yeah, two lost hikers,” he said. “I was going to ask you to come out and take a peek, stay a minute, see where your sister lived...but at this point...welcome,” Daniel said forgoing the rest of what he was going to say to welcome his brother-in-law.
Roosevelt patted him on his back. “Well, food is ready, I was hoping we could get in some fishing before I leave on Monday, and maybe when you’re up to it, you can show me your beautiful land.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes. “Right now, my main concern is the burning desire to kiss my wife.”
She stood on the porch, the sun shining on her like fresh dew on a petal. “Good Lord you are beautiful,” he told her.
Her arms went around his neck to hold him close. “Welcome home,” she told him. “It seems that while you were away our family expanded.”
“So it seems. Were the kids a handful while I was a
way?” He said with a chuckle.
“You have no idea,” she told him as his lips met hers.
Jamar called out first, “Hey, I forget to tell you guys, I brought this new game with me called Cards Against Humanity. I can’t wait to play it!”
Daniel started to chuckle as he asked Jamar, “Is it family game time or something?”
“Awww Dad,” Jamar laughed as he went inside to get the cards and set up the table.
Everyone followed him inside leaving Darlene and Daniel on the front porch.
“I know this will never replace the family you lost Darlene and it may even be a poor substitute...” he started to say. Her hand covered his mouth as she looked up lovingly into his eyes.
“I could not have hoped for anything better than what you have given me here, makeshift family, friends or whatever you want to call them, I am happy,” she told him.
“That’s all I needed to hear,” he said, pulling her close as he guided her inside of their home.
“I’m going to grab a shower guys, go ahead and start without me,” he told them as he headed down the hall.
“I’ll feed Sheila D.,” Jack called behind him.
Roosevelt went into the kitchen to get more coffee, pouring a fresh cup and observing his sister’s new family. He liked Daniel. He liked Jack- whoever he was. He truly got a kick out of Jamar who reminded him so much his nephew George. The thing the he could not get over was the transformation in his sister. She looked so beautiful and happy that tears began to sting his eyes. He wiped away the moisture as he turned to gaze out the window, giving himself a minute alone with his thoughts.
Everyone was gathering in the living room ready to play the game as the coffee table was converted to a gaming table and stools came out from underneath the tabletop for extra seating. The voices were loud, noisy and unordered as Jamar and Cassandra talked over each other. It may not have been the family that either of them asked for, but it was what they had.
Daniel stood still at the end of the hall looking back at his new family. His lovely wife sat there calmly in the midst of the noisy chatter. A warm feeling tugged at his chest as watched the newly formed family he always wanted. It even included a daughter with the boyfriend he didn’t approve of, another son who wanted to be just like him and a Jack. Krysten was telling jokes, Jamar was poking fun at Cassandra, Dr. Tommy was coming to her defense, and Darlene sat in the middle of the fray with a smile on her face holding her cup of coffee.
Family.
His dark lonely days were over.
She was worth the wait; all of his cold Wyoming nights were over.
He finally had a family of his own; starting over, never felt so damned good.
I wouldn’t trade this journey for anything.
- Fin -
About the Author
Olivia Gaines is the award winning bestselling author of Thursdays in Savannah. She also writes the best-selling serial The Blakemore Files. She lives in Augusta, GA with her husband, son and snotty cat, Katness Evermean.
Connect with Olivia on her FB page at http://on.fb.me/1eorEAr or her website at http://ogaines.com
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Did you love Wyoming Nights? Then you should read An Untitled Love by Olivia Gaines!
Orlando Flynn wasn’t beyond calling in the debt Jacquetta Mason owed him to get what he wanted. The love shared between them had always been untitled and he was ready to change it to something more concrete. Orlando knew exactly the label he wanted on his relationship with Jacquetta. He wanted her as his wife.
Read more at Olivia Gaines’s site.
Also by Olivia Gaines
Slice of Life
Friends with Benefits
A New Mommy for Christmas
Slivers of Love
The Cost to Play
Thursdays in Savannah
The Blakemore Files
Being Mrs. Blakemore
Shopping with Mrs. Blakemore
Dancing with Mr. Blakemore
Cruising with the Blakemores
Dinner with the Blakemores
The Davonshire Series
Courting Guinevere
The Value of A Man
My Mail Order Wife
Standalone
Santa's Big Helper
A Menu For Loving
North to Alaska
Turning the Page
An Untitled Love
A Better Night in Vegas
Wyoming Nights
Watch for more at Olivia Gaines’s site.
Wyoming Nights Page 14