Twice Blessed
Page 25
In the late afternoon he headed to ranch headquarters. He tied Dusty to the hitching post in front of the house as Cade stepped out the front door.
“How are you?” Cade waited on the porch, studying him intently.
“Not bad considering I’ve been wrestling with the Lord for a couple of days.”
“Did He win?”
“I think so.”
“Good. Come in and tell me about it.”
“Only if you’ll feed me something besides pork ’n beans.”
“You know Jessie sent some grub out with me. How does leftover pot roast sound?”
“A meal fit for a king. Or a repentant man.”
“I think the second one will be better company.”
“I’ll go tend to Dusty while you warm up supper.”
After he returned to the house and they ate, Ty told his brother about what happened in town. They migrated to the living room where they discussed the things he had worked through with the Lord’s help. Then he told Cade what he planned to do.
Cade relaxed in his big chair, sipping the last of his coffee. “Reckon I’ll go to town with you tomorrow. That’s one day I don’t want to miss.”
On Monday afternoon, Ty walked quietly downtown. He’d arrived home about noon and cleaned up before heading off to make his last speech before the election. Being in front of a crowd normally didn’t bother him, but today his hands were sweaty and his heart pounded. He had some important things to say to one special person. He hoped the rest of the townspeople would take his words to heart, too, but Camille’s response was the only one that truly mattered.
Ty pulled his watch from his pocket. If Miller had started on time, he had been talking for about fifteen minutes. Judging from the pained faces of the large group around the specially built stage, his opponent had been particularly venomous. It appeared that just about everyone in town had turned out for the show.
“What kind of man is Ty McKinnon?” shouted Miller. “He pretends to be a God-loving man, but at the same time, he steps out with a woman who lived with another man—without the benefit of marriage—and who made her living as a gambler. In saloons, mind you, not a little bet on canasta or dominoes when the ladies got together for tea. She spent her nights cavorting with men.”
Ty curled his hands into fists as he worked his way through the crowd toward the stage.
“Now, some folks say McKinnon didn’t know about her past. Didn’t know she’d been a man’s mistress. But I say he should have checked into her background before he started courting her. As acting mayor of Willow Grove, he had an obligation to the citizens of our town to pursue a woman of high morals, not one of ill repute. His association with her shows poor judgment and a lack of character. Can you imagine the disgrace he would bring to Willow Grove if he actually married her?”
“That’s not any more disgraceful than you are, Miller,” shouted someone in the back. Ty couldn’t see who it was, but it sounded like Quint.
Several others shouted their agreement.
“And she kept us from losing our money to that faker.”
Ty walked slowly up the steps to the platform.
A murmur went through the gathering. “Thought you’d run out on us, Mayor. Good to see you.”
“Should have stayed gone,” shouted someone else. “Don’t need the likes of him running our town.” A brief argument broke out before the others shushed them into silence.
Miller turned around, glaring at Ty. “Go sit down. I’m not done.”
“Yes, you are. You’ve said way too much already.” He stared at his opponent, his gaze hard and unrelenting. “Shut your mouth and get off this platform or I’ll throw you off.”
About half the crowd cheered.
Miller spun around toward Ransom, who stood at the foot of the steps. “You heard him, Sheriff. He threatened me. Throw him in jail.”
“If I threw everybody in jail who has threatened you in the last couple of days, they’d be stacked up three deep. You’ve had your say, Miller. Get off that platform or I’ll haul you to the calaboose for annoying me.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Try me.”
Mumbling under his breath, Miller sent Ty a hateful look, then went down the steps, edging past Ransom.
Ty walked to the center of the stage, surveying the throng. He spotted Cade and Jessie standing with Camille and Nola across the street in front of the newspaper office. She didn’t leave. Relief swept through him, quickly followed by sorrow because she’d heard Miller’s vile comments. How that must have hurt her.
He waited until no sound could be heard except the faint whisper of the afternoon breeze. “I stand before you a sinner.”
A shocked gasp rippled through the crowd.
Ty pointed at the minister of his church, knowing the good man wouldn’t be offended. “Just like you.” Then the blacksmith. “And you.” One by one, he pointed to various people in the crowd, many of them strong Christians. “We are all sinners. To some of you, the sins of Miss Dupree’s past are worse than your own. But they aren’t. Not to God.” He pinned Miller with his gaze. “In God’s eyes, the gossiper or slanderer is just as guilty as a murderer or thief.”
He looked around at the assembly again. “We’re all sinners, saved by God’s grace, saved by the love and sacrifice of Jesus. Even Camille Dupree. She found salvation after coming to Willow Grove, and Jesus wiped her slate clean. He made her a new person. I challenge anyone to find fault with her behavior since she arrived here.
“I challenge each of you to look into your own hearts, your own past and see if any of you can stand in judgment of Miss Dupree. ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’” Ty looked over the crowd at Camille. She was wiping tears from her cheeks. “I’m certainly not worthy of judging her.” He looked at Harvey Miller again. “And neither are you.” Amazingly, Miller’s face turned red, not out of anger but shame.
“I’m not going to expound on the things I’ve done as acting mayor. You know the good and the bad. Overall, I think I’ve done a good job, and if you elect me, I’ll continue to do the best I can. But one thing you do need to know.” He looked back at Camille and rested his hands on the podium to keep them from shaking. “I love Camille Dupree with all my heart. I intend to marry her if she’ll have me. If she can forgive me for being a hypocrite and an idiot.” Smiling through her tears, Camille nodded vigorously. “If any of you have a problem with that, then you can vote for Harvey.”
“Heaven help us if Miller wins,” hollered Mr. Hill.
Most of the crowd broke into loud cheers and applause as Ty ran down the platform steps. A path opened up for him as he made his way to Camille, receiving several pats on the back in the process.
To his eternal relief, she welcomed him with open arms. Holding her close, he leaned down and spoke into her ear. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” Then she squeezed the stuffing out of him.
Laughing, Ty let loose with a rebel yell. He didn’t need to do anything more to announce their engagement. Cade gave them a joint hug before Jessie wiggled in to do the same.
Ty shook hands with those around him, keeping one arm around Camille the whole time. He hugged Nola with the other arm and kissed her forehead. “Thank you for not letting her run.”
“You have Jessie to thank for that. Though I had my say on it, too.”
Ty met his sister-in-law’s gaze. “Thank you.”
Jessie winked and put her arm around her husband.
As soon as they could leave, Ty and Camille slipped into the Gazette and went into the inner office. He noticed that Mr. Hill pulled the entrance door closed and stood guard outside. Ty drew her into his embrace and kissed her gently.
“I assume this means you forgive me,” he murmured.
“And you forgive me.” She framed his face with her hands. “I’m so very sorry.”
“So am I.” He kissed her again. “How soon can we set the wedding date?”
“Why?”
“Last night I dreamed we were married in a beautiful meadow of wildflowers.”
“We don’t have meadows out here. We have prairie. Open range.”
“That will do.”
Ty laughed quietly. “Yes, it will. In a few weeks, the range will be wearin’ its spring coat of many colors.”
Her expression grew solemn. “I want a small, quiet wedding. Just family and close friends. Maybe at the ranch.”
“Fine with me, as long as I get to run away with you afterward, go some place where I can have you all to myself.”
“We can’t be all by ourselves. We need someone to cook.”
“A minor detail. Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“I believe you mentioned it, in your quiet shy way.” She smiled dreamily. “I believe you said it was with all your heart.”
“Yes, ma’am. And all the rest of me, too.”
Two weeks later, Reverend Brownfield, Ty and Camille stood before his family and their closest friends a short distance from the ranch house. God had decorated the scene for the wedding by covering the surrounding prairie in wide ribbons and bouquets of blue, purple, pink, white, red and yellow. No one could remember such a proliferation of wildflowers in the county. Cade stood up with Ty, and Bonnie with Camille.
Reciting their vows with tenderness and conviction, they promised to love, honor and cherish each other for the rest of their lives. Radiant with joy and love, Camille’s eyes grew a little misty as Ty slipped the wedding band on her finger, then shifted her two-week-old diamond engagement ring from her right hand to join the band on her left.
Glancing up at him as she slid his wedding band on his finger and said her vows, she noted moisture in his eyes, too. Thank you, Lord, for this man, for the love You’ve given us. For healing the hurts of the past and the present.
“I now pronounce you man and wife.” The minister beamed at them. “You may kiss your bride.”
Ty happily obeyed, kissing her gently, but with the promise of the passion awaiting them. When he ended the kiss and raised his head, he looked into her eyes, his own shining with love. “Good morning, Mrs. McKinnon.”
Camille sighed, her heart overflowing. “My, that sounds nice. Good morning, Mr. McKinnon.”
Cade slapped Ty on the back. “Now that you two have gotten acquainted, give the rest of us a chance to congratulate you.” He picked his brother up in a giant bear hug, making them all laugh. Camille saw the tenderness in the big man’s action, and his joy over his brother’s happiness.
The others gathered around them in a flurry of hugs and good wishes. As the commotion died down, Cade whistled to get their attention. “There’s food up at the house.” He looked over at the newlyweds with a grin. “If you two walk slow, you might get a few minutes to yourselves. I’ll have Jessie save you something to eat.” Like a true cowboy, he herded everyone else toward the house.
Ty and Camille stayed where they were, savoring the moments alone. He caught her hand, kissing the back of it. “Have you read Ecclesiastes?”
“No. Old Testament?”
“Yes. In chapter three it talks about life. There are quite a few different things mentioned, but some of them stand out to me more than others. I remember thinking about the verses the night you and I went to the box supper and walked down to the creek. They weren’t in quite the same order as in the scripture, but they fit us and our situation. ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…a time to heal…’ We’ve been through those, though we missed the dancing. We’ll have to make up for that. Now, it’s our turn for the best one.”
“Which is?”
“A time to love.”
“May it last a lifetime.” She put her arms around him.
“Amen.”
A gentle breeze sprang up, rustling the grass and turning the flowers into waves of delicately shimmering color. In her heart of hearts, in the quietness where Jesus had first whispered her name, Camille knew God was giving them His blessing, both now and forevermore.
A small article appeared in the Gazette on Friday regarding the wedding:
On Wednesday last, Mayor Ty McKinnon, serving his first full term since his landslide victory, and Miss Camille Dupree, associate publisher of this paper, were married at the McKinnon Ranch south of the city.
No church or home could have been more gloriously decorated for the plighting of the troth between these two fine people. The setting for the nuptials, the open range about a hundred yards from the ranch house, was painted in a rainbow of banners and bouquets by God’s own hand.
After a honeymoon to San Francisco, the happy couple will reside here in Willow Grove and continue with plans for the building of the new opera house and city hall.
Some folks were put out at the shortness of the piece, but word quickly spread that Miss Nola was privy to all the details and would gladly share them.
After all, it was high time the town had something good to talk about.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5952-6
TWICE BLESSED
Copyright © 2004 by Sharon Gillenwater
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