Rancher's Girl

by Jeanne Harrell

  Lily was dressing in their bedroom, while Sandy and Jason had been kicked out to another bedroom to dress. Jeanne and Page brought in the wedding dress and helped Lily put it on. She looked beautiful! They had flown up to San Francisco to find a gown and this one looked incredible on her. The skirt had miles and layers of satin with a strapless beaded bodice. She wanted no veil but designed an upsweep hairdo with decorative combs holding it back. Her makeup was minimal, maximizing her beauty.

  “Ouch, watch it there.” Lily winced. “That’s skin you’re trying to zip up with the dress.”

  “How in the world could that dress be snug?” Page wondered aloud. “It fit beautifully two months ago when you bought it.” A light bulb appeared above her head and Jeanne’s at the same time.

  “…Lily, honey,” began Jeanne. “Why is your dress tight? Anything you care to tell Page and me?”

  They folded their arms and stood there waiting for her answer. Page tapped her toe.

  “No, Jeanne, nothing at all.” Lily’s eyes danced.

  “…Lily, are you…are you pregnant?” Page clapped her hands together. “Are you?”

  Jeanne let out a yip.

  Lily gave them a stern look. “Look, you two. I haven’t even told Sandy, so I can’t admit anything to you.”

  “Okay, then, just nod if you are or shake your head if you’re not.”

  Lily nodded her head. Jeanne and Page each gave her a big hug and started wiping tears that slid down their happy faces.

  “That is so wonderful, sweetie. I’m happy for you both.” Jeanne searched for a tissue from a box on the dresser.

  “Me too, Lily. What wonderful news. Sandy will be thrilled,” sobbed Page.

  Jeanne handed her several tissues.

  “You two pull yourselves together. My mascara is starting to run and I need your support right now. Not your hankies.” Lily patted her cheeks with her soggy tissue.

  “Absolutely right, Lily.” They helped her with the finishing touches. “We’re here for you, sweetie.”

  A few minutes later came a knock on the bedroom door.

  “You decent in there, honey? It’s show time…” Sam came in wearing a tuxedo and Jeanne about swooned. His smooth face and salt-and-pepper hair made him look like Sam Elliott more than ever.

  He stopped and sighed just looking at his lovely daughter in her wedding dress. “I wish your mother could see you now. She would be so proud.”

  “Dad, you’re going to make me cry again. I miss Mom too,” Lily sniffed. “Especially at a time like this.”

  Meanwhile, at the altar, Sandy and Jason were nervously shifting their feet. Jason’s bow tie felt a little tight and Sandy’s cummerbund pinched him in the back. They weren’t used to such elegant clothes, but many of the women in town looked on admiringly. Amy was giving Jason the once-over, which he liked.

  “Do you think she’ll be much longer, Sandy?” Jason tugged at the tie.

  “We’re stuck in these fancy duds for the night. Better accept it and look around. We’re being appreciated,” Sandy laughed.

  “Jesse looks pretty cute in his tuxedo. He’s a good ring-bearer.”

  “Yep.”

  Then the music started. Lily and her father walked up the aisle to the archway to Willie Nelson singing I Want to be with You Always. Jason poked Sandy, “God, she’s gorgeous! You’re such a lucky man.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  Sandy was mesmerized. Lily was already stunning, but in her wedding gown, she was impossibly beautiful. People murmured as she and Sam joined Sandy and Jason at the altar. Sam gave both Sandy and Lily hugs, and then gave Lily’s hand to Sandy. With a sweet look between them, Sandy and Lily faced the minister.

  They recited vows they had written from the heart. It was all very moving and many in the audience were teary. Jesse stepped up with the rings looking very official. As soon as they were pronounced ‘Husband and wife’, they were kissing. At that moment, instead of applause, the audience started hooting and hollering. It was a cowboy crowd, all right.

  Sam and Jason brought up horses and the minister explained that they had wanted to ride together as their first act as husband and wife. Sandy helped Lily on her horse. That was difficult with the amount of satin and lace on her multi-layered dress. Lily laughed at his clumsiness trying to get the dress situated. Then he gracefully mounted his horse and said to Jason, “Give us fifteen minutes and let Jesse ride down to us. We’re just going to the little stream about fifty yards down.”

  “Gotcha, Sandy.”

  As they walked the horses, Sandy glanced at her.

  “You look so beautiful. Lovely dress.” His smile swept her face. “And how do you like the horse I got you for a wedding present? She’s a thoroughbred—a black beauty for a black-haired beauty.”

  “She’s pretty and minds well. Hopefully, you don’t intend us to be alike in that regard.” She was laughing at him.

  After they had stopped by the stream, their horses bent down to get a drink. Lily fished an envelope from some hidden pocket on her immense dress.

  Sandy watched her. “Where did that come from? You must have all kinds of hidden compartments in that dress.”

  Lily blushed and handed him the envelope. “This is my wedding gift to you, darling.”

  He took out a black and white picture from the envelope and held it up for a good look. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “…What do you think it is, husband of mine?”

  Sandy looked stunned and then incredibly pleased. “Are you… pregnant, Lily?”

  “Yes, it was a very busy two nights in San Francisco that did the trick. What do you think? Sandy? Did you fall into a coma?” A few layers of satin moved in the breeze and she smoothed them down.

  He dismounted quickly and helped her down gently. Although the dress was hard to manage, he folded her into his arms and hugged her. When he tilted her face up with a finger to kiss her, tears were running down his face.

  Lily wiped them away. “That was not the effect I had in mind. Are you okay?”

  “…Are you? Should be you riding?” He patted her stomach.

  “Doc said it was okay—just not galloping. Oh, and one more thing…” She paused for effect.

  “There’s more?”

  “Yes, the doctor said it’s a boy.”

  “…Oh, Lily. And I bet his name is Colt.” They embraced until they heard the galloping sounds of a horse riding up to join them. Jesse rode up and stopped his horse by theirs.

  Sandy lifted him out of the saddle and they brought him into their embrace.

  “Son, we have something to tell you,” Sandy began.

  “Daddy, can I ask a question first?” His high-pitched voice piped up.

  “…Lily, are you my mommy now?”

  Lily and Sandy shared watery eyes at the innocent question coming out of sweet Jesse’s mouth. His face scrunched up and he looked puzzled.

  “Yes, please, Jesse. I would love to be your mother.” She was crying and Sandy couldn’t keep his composure either. Lily bent down to give Jesse a big hug. He hugged her back.

  “Good!” he said with happy grin.

  Sandy wiped his eyes. “Jesse, you’re going to have a little brother in a few months. What do you think about that?”

  “…Oh, goody! I’ve always wanted a brother.”

  Jesse got back on his horse and shaded his eyes to look around.

  “What are you doing, son?”

  “Looking for my new brother,” Jesse said loudly enough for a few wedding guests to hear him.

  Sheriff Bud Moody winked at his wife and said, “See? I told you this wedding would be fun.”

  THE END

  Would you please take a minute to write a review of Rancher’s Girl? Click on review at the very end. The author would appreciate hearing your comments.

 

  As a token of the author’s thanks, here’s a sample chapter from the next book in the series.

  Contin
ue reading for an excerpt from Colt’s story, WHISPERER

  PROLOGUE

  The night he was born was a wild one. The wind blew stoplights down, thunder rattled the town over and over, and rain beat so hard at the windows, the glass was in danger of breaking. Even with all the turbulence, his mother Lily was calm when he was put into her arms for the first time. She knew he would be special. The line of his face was perfect. Smiling faces agreed with her.

  Growing up, they always knew if he disappeared, they could find him in the stables with the horses. The stables would frighten his brothers and sisters, but never him. From the beginning, his knack with horses was uncanny. Boy and animal seemed to understand each other and it was inexplicable. His father, Sandy, had a favorite Appaloosa named Anna. Sometimes he could be found curled up by Anna’s feet, but she never harmed him—an incredible feat for a horse 15.5 hands high, weighing five hundred pounds.

  He and older brother Jesse would often ride with their father to check the cattle on their sprawling ranch. His mother wouldn’t let him sit a horse until he was three, but he was a natural even then. By the time he was eight, he and the vet figured out problems with the horses together. For a while, it looked like he wanted to be a veterinarian. --- But fate had other plans for him.

  Colt Johnson knew that communicating with and helping horses was all he really wanted to do. And that talent would take him to many places, familiar and unknown, in his lifetime. It would be his love of horses that would lead him to another love.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Sierra Mountain Ranges in Nevada were rugged, strong and insurmountable. Sierra means ‘saw’ in Spanish, which is appropriate because the mountains look like the teeth of a saw with their granite rock offerings dwindling down to lower elevations. Just up the road was beautiful Lake Tahoe, a clear, freshwater lake with an elevation of over 6,000 feet. Various canyons in the glacially scoured area included Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite and Kings Canyon. The groves of giant sequoias occurred along a narrow band of a lower altitude on the western side of the Sierra Nevadas. On the east side lay the town of Naples, just south of Carson City, where the Johnson family had resided for six generations and would endure for many generations more. Their ranch was a sprawling two thousand acres. Cattle raised there were unique, expensive and sold all over the world. Colt Johnson was a sixth generation Nevadan.

  “Dad, I know what you’re saying, but I think I need to get more practice,” said Colt.

  “Son, I hear what you’re saying too, but why do you need to go to Sonoma? Why do you think Grandpa Sam can help you?” Sandy, his father, was trying to understand his thinking.

  “Grandpa’s been training horses for probably forty years and I think I would learn a lot from him.”

  “Honey, I think Grandpa would learn more from you, than you from him,” said Lily, his mother. “You know you have a way with horses that none of us understands. Why Sonoma?”

  “It’s not something I can explain, but feel. That probably makes no sense -- my saying that feelings count more than facts, but that’s about it.” He looked at his mother for confirmation. She was still so beautiful with all that luxurious black hair. No wonder his fair-haired father had fallen head over heels for her. But he also knew Lily believed in fate. It’s what brought her to Naples in the first place to meet her beloved husband, Sandy. Lily smiled at him.

  “You know, Grandpa will love having you, as will Grandma Jeanne. They are up there at this time of year and will gladly help you with anything. Like they did with Meggie.”

  Sam Cable, Lily’s dad, had married Jeanne Johnson, Sandy’s mom, the year after Sandy and Lily had married. Their relationship went back a long way – back to when they were in grade school. They lived part of the year in her home in Naples, Nevada and the rest of the year at Sam’s ranch in Sonoma, up in northern California. Sam and Jeanne had taken in their granddaughter Meg for a while, while she attended the Culinary Arts Institute in Napa Valley. It appears that Meg, named for Lily’s mother Margaret, had inherited her grandmother’s cooking skills as well as her name.

  Sandy frowned at him. “I thought you and Jesse would take over the ranch together someday. What happened to that idea? That’s what you said you always wanted.”

  “Jesse can take care of the ranch for now. I’ll help him when he needs it, but I want to try some things on my own. It’s what I need to do.” Colt looked at his mother and father, whom he loved. He was his parents’ first child together—His brother, Jesse, had been five when Sandy married Lily. He knew what a special bond they had with each other and it was partially because of him. It was hard to break away.

  Minutes passed. Sandy and Lily looked at each other remembering that torrential night in the barn all those years ago, when they had discovered the love they felt for each other. Colt might have been conceived that night—an unforgettable night. An unforgettable child and now, man…Yes, he had to find his own way. Sandy took a good look at him—over six feet tall with wavy black hair like his pretty mother. He was incredibly good-looking and had always been a good son. He hadn’t been in half as much trouble as his younger brothers --Only twenty-four, but wise beyond his years.

  “So will you call your grandparents tomorrow? They should know that you’re coming and be prepared.” Lily looked at her husband.

  “Absolutely, call first. They will want to arrange something. Maybe a trip to the Hitching Post Restaurant.” Sandy smiled at Lily, remembering a trip there a long time ago. Lily’s father, Sam, was not too sure that Sandy was the man for his little girl. It took a while to smooth everything out.

  “God forbid, he should take our son there,” she laughed and patted his arm.

  “I’ll be fine,” said Colt. “Actually, I already called and they’re expecting me sometime late tomorrow.”

  “Colt, I love you more than life, and I want you to be happy. Please say that you will come back to visit, because I need to know that.” Lily looked away, fresh tears on her cheeks. Sandy took her hands in his.

  “I promise. Honest…please don’t cry, Mother. I’ll keep in touch.”

  Colt and his mother hugged and she kissed him on the cheek. He shook hands with his father and then hugged him as well. He went off to pack.

  Sandy looked at his wife. “Sweetheart, you knew this day would come. He can take care of himself and he has a gift. It’s time he used it,” Sandy shrugged. “All our children are talented. He isn’t the first to leave home.”

  “I know. But there’s something about Colt that is so special. He seems bound for greater things.” Lily smiled at her husband. They studied each other; a little older perhaps, but the love they felt was as strong as it had ever been. Colt would be fine.

  “On to Sonoma then.”

  “Godspeed, Colt.”

  Lily went into the kitchen to make some fudge. The best in three counties, Sandy said…

  * * *

  The drive to Sonoma would take about four hours. Colt watched Nevada leaving in his rear-view mirror and California beckoning him up ahead. His home was Nevada and always would be. Colt knew he’d come back—but not just yet.

  Going up the road to Tahoe, the huge lake soon spread out before him. That icy, blue lake ringed with tall pines and various mountain ranges was the site of many happy memories—a few of them flashed through his mind as he drove through the town of South Lake Tahoe. His dad had brought him and his other siblings up to Lake Tahoe fishing many times over the years. They had fished for mackinaw – a great tasting variety of trout. Thinking of that fish, his mind wandered to a particularly funny occasion…

  His younger twin brothers, Miles and Joey, had apparently been born to create a little havoc and turmoil in the Johnson family. Colt smiled at the memory of their first infamous boat trip on their own. Even though Dad had taught them boating safety and they had practiced with the equipment, Miles forgot to put the plug in the boat before
launching it, or so Joey claimed. Dad had bought them a nice aluminum fishing boat, complete with all the fishing equipment they would need.

  About a mile off from shore, the boat started taking in water. Joey had a soda cup bought at a convenience store that he was desperately trying to bail out the boat with. It was a losing battle… They started sinking and faster than they thought possible. Other boaters came by to rescue his brothers, but by the time Harbor Patrol got to the boat, it was nearly submerged. All the fishing equipment was lost and the boat eventually sunk. Colt laughed as he remembered the twins had flipped a coin to see who was going to call Dad. He had driven up with his pretty pissed-off father to get the boys and couldn’t control his laughter… After making sure they were all right, Dad yelled at Miles, then Joey, then Miles again. They were only teenagers then, but Sandy wouldn’t let them use a boat alone for a very long time after that escapade.

  Just one of many… Miles was a published author now and had used the story in one of his books. Dad still wasn’t pleased, reliving the whole story in print, although Mother had doubled over laughing… Colt smiled. He had a nice family…

  Driving into Sacramento meant lunchtime. Sacramento was a large city with lots of suburbs and too much traffic. Colt decided to go to Old Town for lunch, as his family had done many times over the years, driving to see his grandparents in Sonoma. Old Town had a wonderful train museum that he had visited many times as a kid. He had had an obsession with trains that lasted a few years and still had lots of toy trains packed away. Colt decided to grab a hamburger in the little restaurant next door to it.

  Old Town Sac reminded him so much of Naples -- an Old West veneer on refurbished wooden buildings. Restaurants, souvenir shops and the occasional saloon made the place look like the set of ‘Gunsmoke’, the old western TV show. It had the same wooden sidewalks with horse and buggies going by hauling tourists around for a look. Still, it had a comfortable feel and he enjoyed coming here. Colt entered the Sweet Pony Restaurant and sat down in a booth. Looking around, he caught the eye of a beautiful girl sitting not too far away. She had been scowling at the woman sitting across the table, saw him looking at her and smiled. It wasn’t even a smile of surprise, it was more like ‘Hi. Where have you been?’ Wow. It made Colt catch his breath. She had dropped her napkin on the floor and Colt strode over to pick it up for her.