Tumbleweed Weddings

by Donna Robinson

  “We can do it ourselves.” Madeline pulled a pair of pajamas from her backpack. “When Mrs. Lindley tells us to get ready for bed, we know what to do.”

  Cheyenne smiled at her. “You are very grown-up.”

  With a sigh, Kandi took off her left shoe and rubbed her foot. “I’ll be glad when we can get back to civilization.”

  Cheyenne unzipped her duffel bag. Give me patience, Lord!

  Cheyenne shifted on the mattress, turning on her side away from Kandi. Outside the window several crickets chirped. She listened to the even breathing of the two little girls on the floor. Her eyes drifted shut.

  “Cheyenne.”

  At her whispered name, she startled awake. “Yes?”

  “I have a question about Derek.”

  Great! Cheyenne turned over to face the middle of the bed. “What’s your question?”

  “I was just thinking about when Derek and I get married.”

  When! Cheyenne’s heart thudded. “I didn’t know the two of you were engaged.”

  “We’re not.” Kandi gave a high-pitched giggle. “But I’m sure it will happen. Woman’s intuition, you know.”

  Was that all Kandi was going on?

  “Anyway, do you know how many children Derek wants?”

  In the dark, Cheyenne rolled her eyes. “Uh, knowing Derek, he would say children are cheaper by the dozen. He’ll probably adopt twelve.”

  “Did you say adopt?”

  Cheyenne tried not to laugh at the incredulous sound in Kandi’s voice. She cleared her throat. “He volunteers at the orphanage every month, doesn’t he? I bet he’ll have two or three orphans living with him by the time you guys get married.”

  “All right. Now I know you’re kidding.” Kandi gave a little grunt. “I hope he doesn’t want to adopt. I sure don’t. I want to have my own kids.”

  “Yeah, so do I.” By the time I’m thirty! “But there’s nothing wrong with adoption. I already love those two boys I watched today. That little Arthur is so cute. I would adopt him in a heartbeat.”

  “Are you serious?”

  Arthur’s round face popped into her mind, and she realized it was true. “Yes I am. I would love to adopt him.”

  “That is crazy.”

  Arthur. What would it be like to be his mother? He had blond hair and blue eyes, as she did. He was tall for his age, as she had been. He was chubby, as she still was—unfortunately.

  Kandi yawned. “We’d better get to sleep. Good night, Cheyenne.”

  “ ’Night.” Cheyenne rolled back on her side. She smiled to herself as she thought of Arthur saying “Big is beautiful.” But then her smile faded. Rex said he wanted children, but what if he didn’t want to adopt Arthur? Adoptions were expensive. Of course, they could wait until Cheyenne inherited her grandmother’s money in a couple of years. But what if Rex said no? Or what if someone else adopted Arthur?

  Lord, I would love to adopt that little boy. She prayed for a few more minutes, asking God to place that desire in her future husband’s heart, too. A gentle peace filled her soul, and she drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 15

  The next afternoon, Derek stood in the back of the group beside his two boys, and Joshua, the ten-year-old, leaned against his left side. Derek threw his arm around the boy and squeezed his shoulder. “Ready to see Old Faithful blow its top, Joshua?”

  The hazel eyes looked up into his. “I’ve never seen a geyser before.”

  “There’s a first time for everything.” Derek glanced beyond Joshua to Nathan, his other charge. Nathan was a typical twelve-year-old—rebellious. But beyond that, Nathan seemed to be jaded by life. That boy’s attitude had been a problem since Derek met him a year ago.

  Cheyenne stood in front of Derek with Arthur and Noah. Kandi’s two girls stood with them as Cheyenne pointed at the steam from the geyser that floated off in the wind. Instead of standing next to her girls, Kandi planted herself beside Derek. He wished she would take her duties as a counselor more seriously. She didn’t seem to care about the kids at all.

  The crowd quieted as the geyser started, and the water went up a foot then stopped. The steam wafted off to the right.

  “False start.” Derek looked to his left. “Do you know what makes the geyser blow, Nathan?”

  The boy gave him a dark look before he shrugged. “Is this like science class or something?”

  “No, it’s like me asking you why a geyser shoots up.” He glanced from Nathan to Joshua, who looked at him with interest. “Do you know, Joshua?”

  He shook his head.

  Derek pointed toward the geyser. “Deep underground the water is heated—”

  “Skip the science lesson.” Folding his arms, Nathan looked away.

  “Hey, buddy. You might need to know this someday.”

  Nathan turned back with a frown. “Why?”

  “Well …” Derek lowered his voice. “Let’s say you started liking a really pretty girl, and your class went on a field trip to Yellowstone. What if you wanted to impress her?”

  Derek reached out and tapped Cheyenne’s shoulder. She turned around, her clear blue eyes meeting his. And she sure is pretty.

  He glanced back at Nathan. “If I wanted to impress Cheyenne with how smart I was, I would tell her that water heats deep below the surface by very hot rocks to a boiling temperature.” He looked around, realizing he had an audience. Not only were Nathan and Joshua listening, but Cheyenne and the other children stared at him with rapt attention. Kandi folded her arms, as if she didn’t like him using Cheyenne for the pretty-girl illustration.

  Kandi would just have to get over it.

  “That boiling water soon changes to steam. And steam rises. Right?” He glanced around, and several heads nodded. “Okay. Then the steam pushes the water above it up toward the surface. When the steam suddenly expands, it pushes the water out the geyser with great force.” Clapping his hands together, he lifted them as he made a whooshing sound.

  Cheyenne’s blue eyes widened. “Oh! So that’s how it happens.” She looked at the children surrounding her. “Isn’t Mr. Derek smart? I’m impressed.”

  He grinned at her before turning to Nathan. “See? I knew I could impress a pretty girl.”

  Nathan actually smiled. Derek squeezed his shoulder before glancing around. His eyes met Kandi’s.

  She wasn’t smiling.

  “Look, everyone!” Cheyenne pointed toward the geyser.

  A column of water, cloudy with steam, shot up about 120 feet in the air.

  “There she blows!” Derek looked down at Joshua. “Now you can say you’ve seen Old Faithful in action.”

  The children were silent as the geyser held their attention. When the show was over, Mr. Lindley walked in front of the group.

  “That was awesome, wasn’t it?” With a smile, he raised his bushy eyebrows as he nodded at several children. “There’s a lot of power in that water, and it’s really hot.” He motioned toward the wooden boardwalk behind them. “Right now we’re going to stroll along the boardwalk. You’ll see all kinds of geysers and boiling pools in this area. Stay with your leader, and don’t step off the walkway.”

  “Hear that, men?” Derek smiled at Nathan and Joshua. “Let’s go.”

  The two boys followed the others as all the children and counselors turned and started down the path. Derek brought up the rear.

  Kandi stayed by his side. “I’ll walk with you, Derek.”

  He frowned. “You’re supposed to be with your girls.”

  “Cheyenne has them.” Kandi motioned up ahead. Sure enough, Cheyenne strolled along the boardwalk with Kandi’s two girls as well as her two boys. Cheyenne talked to the children, holding the hand of one of the girls. They didn’t seem to miss Kandi.

  Derek shook his head. “I think you’d better go up there.”

  “But I need to talk to you.”

  He sighed. “What do you need to talk about?”

  “Did you like your cabin last night? I thought o
urs was kind of primitive.”

  Is this what she needs to talk about? He blew out a breath. “Were you expecting a five-star hotel?”

  “No, but it was so … basic.”

  “You don’t know what basic is, Kandi. Camping in tents is basic. Those cabins were nice, I thought.”

  She walked beside him in silence for a moment. “Cheyenne and I had a good talk.”

  He hesitated, but curiosity got the best of him. “What did you talk about?”

  “Well … we were talking about children, and she said she would adopt one of those orphans in a heartbeat if she could.” Kandi frowned. “She meant Arthur.”

  “Wow.” Good for you, Cheyenne! “That’s cool.”

  “I think it’s crazy. When I get mar—” She shook her head. “Never mind. But then we talked about someone else.” Leaning toward him, she grabbed his hand and squeezed. “You.”

  “Me?” With a frown, Derek disengaged his hand and thrust it in his pocket. Kandi was coming on a little too strong. “You know, I really think you should walk with Rayna and Madeline. Mr. Lindley put you in charge of those two girls.”

  Her lips formed into a pout, but Kandi turned and jogged ahead to join Cheyenne and the children. Derek slowly let out a sigh. Why couldn’t that girl take a hint and leave him alone?

  Nathan turned around and grinned at him. “I guess you told her, huh, Derek?”

  Great! He should have figured the two boys in front of him would hear every word of their conversation. “Girls are hard to figure sometimes, Nathan.” Which is why I should remain single.

  Derek looked out at the barren land as they walked. The wooden boardwalk cut a path through the sedimentary deposits on the land, and a dead tree spread its spindly branches toward the sky. A heavy sulfur smell hung in the air.

  This area was just as barren as his love life.

  That evening, Cheyenne sat on a split log with Arthur on her left and Noah on her right, and they watched the sparks of the campfire ascend into the evening sky. The group had left the geysers in the early afternoon and had spent an hour wading in Yellowstone Lake. After a picnic supper, Mr. Lindley and Derek built the campfire in a cleared space. Now the orphans and counselors sat around it.

  Derek had taken a seat beside Arthur, along with his two charges, and Kandi was off to his left with her two girls.

  Cheyenne looked down at Arthur, aware of Derek’s presence on the other side. “I like how the sparks go up from the campfire. Do you see them?” She pointed above the fire, watching the little orange sparks ascend into the evening sky.

  Arthur watched. “There’s so many.”

  “That fire is hot. I wish we had some marshmallows to toast over the fire. Wouldn’t that be good?”

  “Yeah! Marshmallows!” Arthur’s blue eyes lit up. “Why can’t we have some, Anne?”

  Derek turned to the boy. “Her name is Cheyenne, buddy.”

  “My name’s not Buddy—it’s Arthur.”

  Derek spread out his hands. “See there? You don’t like it when you’re called by the wrong name. It’s the same way with Cheyenne.”

  Arthur gave her a puzzled glance before looking back at Derek. “But why is Anne so shy?”

  Derek burst out laughing. “Oh, I get it!” He caught her eye. “Shy Anne!”

  She laughed with him. “No one’s ever called me shy before.”

  “Nope. This girl is not shy at all, Arthur.” Derek continued laughing as he reached his hand over Arthur’s head and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her toward him and bringing the three of them into an intimate circle.

  Cheyenne’s heartbeat pulsed into high gear, and she automatically placed her arm around his waist. Their hug only lasted a few seconds before Derek let go.

  She glanced into his eyes, and he winked, causing her heart to race again.

  Talk about sparks!

  Arthur looked up at her, a puzzled expression on his sweet face. “What did he mean, Anne?”

  She put her arm around him and gave him a hug. “Let me spell my name for you.” Bending over, she found a short stick and carved out the letters in the dirt at their feet as Arthur watched. “That’s how you spell Cheyenne. It’s the same name as the capital city of Wyoming.”

  Derek leaned toward her to whisper in her ear. “He probably can’t read.”

  She glanced into his eyes, and a little smile shadowed his face.

  Mr. Lindley walked in front of the group and raised his voice. “We can’t have a campfire without singing.” He motioned toward a cowboy who had a guitar strapped around his back. “This is Jonas. He’s going to lead us in some songs.”

  “Hello, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.” Jonas had a deep voice that reminded Cheyenne of Rex.

  Rex! She had completely forgotten about him. How could she do that? She certainly didn’t want to cheat on him.

  “Our first campfire song is an old classic—’Kumbaya.’ Ya’ll know that one? The words go: ‘Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya …’ ”

  Cheyenne raised her eyebrows. That song was way before my time. How would these kids know it? She looked over Arthur’s head at Derek.

  He rolled his eyes.

  She grinned. Derek was just a good friend, right?

  Too bad he was the one who made her heart zing.

  Chapter 16

  On Sunday morning, the orphans and volunteers filled the two vans and took off for a ranch located near Cody, Wyoming. Reaching their destination—a white farmhouse with a huge red barn—Derek helped Mr. Lindley herd everyone inside the barn. Bales of hay lined one side of the long, dusty room.

  Mr. Lindley pointed. “Take a seat on the hay bales.” He watched the children file by him. “Everyone sit down, please. Be sure you have your Bibles.”

  Other people from nearby ranches entered the building. The bale “seats” were soon filled to capacity.

  Derek stood by the door, waiting for the children to settle down. Nathan and Joshua waited beside him. He placed his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “This is an authentic cowboy church, Nathan. What do you think about it?”

  The boy looked around, an interested look in his eyes. “Cool.”

  Praise God! Derek had been praying for Nathan’s attitude all weekend. “Let’s sit back here, guys.” He gestured toward the fourth row of bales since the first three were filled.

  Nathan and Joshua sat down, and Derek settled next to them.

  A moment later, Kandi plunked down beside him. “Is this where we’re having church?” Frowning, she glanced around the barn.

  Derek cut a glance toward her. I cannot get rid of this girl. “It’s called a cowboy church.” He raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t it great?”

  She lowered her voice. “But it’s so … rustic.”

  “Take a deep breath, Kandi.” He demonstrated, breathing in the faint smell of manure. “The pews are here.” He grinned.

  She didn’t even smile.

  Cheyenne would have laughed her head off. “Uh, you need to sit with your girls.” He motioned toward the first row where Cheyenne was sitting beside Madeline and Rayna.

  Kandi grimaced but stood and walked to the front. She sat beside Rayna.

  Derek released a sigh. She is really getting on my nerves.

  A half hour later, after several guitar-playing cowboys sang hymns with the congregation, one of the men opened his Bible. “My name is Pastor Wes. Let’s look in God’s Word this morning for a few minutes. God has a purpose, a will for your life. That’s what we’ll be talking about.” He removed his cowboy hat. “But first, we’ll begin our message with prayer.”

  Bowing his head, Derek prayed that the Lord would speak to his heart. He wanted to know God’s will for his life.

  Pastor Wes concluded his prayer and donned his hat. “If you have your Bible, open to Colossians chapter 1.” He waited as the rustle of pages filled the room.

  Derek pulled a New Testament from his shirt pocket. Beside him, Joshua and Nathan both opened their Bibles to Genesis a
nd began to page through every book.

  Leaning toward them, Derek whispered, “Let me help you.” By the time he found Colossians in both Bibles, the pastor was reading verse 9.

  “ ‘… that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.’ ” Pastor Wes looked up. “God has a will, a purpose, for every Christian. If you have to struggle with what you feel is God’s will in your life, then it might not be God’s will.” He paced the dusty floor in front of his congregation. “Before God calls you to do something, He will first give you the desire to do that very thing He wants you to do.”

  Derek stared at the pastor. A desire.

  His eyes shifted to Cheyenne. He had a perfect view of her profile from where he sat. She kept her attention on the pastor, nodding her head slightly at what he was saying.

  She is so pretty.

  Another realization hit him. He couldn’t go back to what he was before—a bachelor who didn’t want to marry until age forty, or maybe never. He wanted what his brother had. He wanted a wife to love, children to raise for Christ’s kingdom.

  Did that involve Cheyenne?

  It wouldn’t be a struggle to have a relationship with her. His mind traveled back to that intimate moment in his truck, the time he held her in his arms at Tonya’s party, the closeness at the campfire last night. He raised his eyebrows before a grin stole to his face.

  No, it wouldn’t be a struggle at all. Unless …

  What if Rex wouldn’t give her up without a fight? Or what if she really wanted to marry him?

  Pastor Wes concluded his message. “Let’s all stand for a closing prayer.”

  Derek stood as the congregation rustled to their feet. Bowing his head, he didn’t hear the pastor’s prayer. He had his own petition.

  Cheyenne was stuffed. The entire “church” had shared a huge dinner on the grounds, and now she sat on the grassy banks of the Shoshone River that ran through the rancher’s property. The orphans played together, hiding behind the trees or wading in the river. She smiled at Arthur and Noah as they played near some large rocks at the river’s edge.