Trouble in Dixie

by Becky McGraw

  Katie’s grin widened and she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, where Karlie had laid out a towel and the makeup. She put the towel around Katie’s neck and clipped it with a hair clamp, then went to work. When she finished, she took the hair clamp off the towel and fluffed Katie’s hair then twisted it up and used the clamp to secure it. “I have the curling iron hot in the bathroom, let’s go in there and I’ll finish you up,” her sister said with a smile.

  There was a knock at the door and Karlie huffed a frustrated breath then went to answer it. She only cracked the door open an inch and then said, “Go away—we’re almost done. Fifteen minutes,” before she shut the door again.

  “Was that Tommy,” Katie asked her.

  “Who else would it be? He’s chomping at the bit, let’s hurry up, so he doesn’t bust down the door and carry you out over his shoulder,” Karlie told her with a chuckle.

  Katie put on her horseshoe pendant and the matching earrings that Tommy had given her recently, then stomped into the white cowboy boots she’d bought to go with her dress. With one more look in the mirror, she smiled with satisfaction, then she and Karlie walked down the hallway to the family room. Tommy was at the breakfast bar and he turned when he heard them. The look on his face was something she’d remember for the rest of her life. It was like he was mesmerized by her, in awe and the love shining in his eyes totally enraptured her.

  She was sure her face looked the same way, because not only had he cleaned up, he had on the charcoal gray suit that made him look good enough to eat. The same one he’d worn the day he’d come back from Amarillo, after meeting with the Rangers and the FBI, the same one that he’d swiftly removed, so they could have angry sex. Her blood heated, and she made a vow to rip it off of him herself tonight, after they were husband and wife.

  “My, god, Kate, you look unbelievably beautiful, darlin’…an angel,” he said and walked toward her with intent in his eyes.

  Karlie stepped between them and put her hand on his chest, then said, “Back off, bucko. It’s bad enough you’re seeing her in the dress before the wedding, you’re gonna keep your hands off her at least.”

  Tommy took a step back and grinned then said deferentially, “Yes ma’am…she’s just so gorgeous, I wanted to steal a kiss.”

  “You’ll get your kisses after the I do, this is a shotgun wedding remember?” Karlie told him with a chuckle.

  “No shotgun needed, Karlie…I want this as much as Katie does…more,” he said seriously, then looked into Katie’s eyes, and finished, “Let’s go get married, baby.”

  Karlie stepped up to him and straightened his tie then asked in a low voice, so low that Katie could barely hear her, “You have the marriage license and the ring?” Tommy nodded and patted his suit pocket. “Good, let’s go…you’re driving to keep your hands occupied and off my sister,” she told him with a grin.

  Katie noticed Tommy’s hands were shaking on the steering wheel, when he pulled into a spot that opened up right in front of the courthouse, and asked him, “You nervous, baby?”

  She hoped that wasn’t the case, because she sure wasn’t nervous, anticipation and excitement were her emotions of choice, and she welcomed them. This was going to be the best day of her life…the beginning of the rest of her life…with the man she loved more than life.

  He snorted then gave her a sexy smile, “Hell no, that’s adrenaline, and anticipation, baby…I can’t wait til this is over and you’re my wife.”

  Gabe was standing on the steps of the courthouse waiting for them. He had been in Lubbock meeting with Beau and Glen to help them sort out the evidence they were going to give to the D.A. for Mark Preston’s trial, which was coming up in the next few weeks, so it had only taken him an hour or so to get from there to Amarillo, Katie guessed. Edith Preston was in a mental facility, but if and when a doctor said she was fit to stand trial, she would for attempted kidnapping, among many other charges.

  Katie smiled at her sister’s handsome husband, and then they all walked into the courthouse. As they passed people in the corridor, eyes turned their way, and people smiled sappily. None of those smiles though, could be any sappier than the one she had on her own face, she thought, as they stood and waited for the elevator. Regardless of her sister’s insistence that Tommy not touch her until after the wedding, he moved to her side and grabbed her hand to lace his fingers with hers, then smiled down at her softly.

  Katie squeezed his hand and returned the smile, then followed him into the elevator, grabbing the skirt of her long dress to make sure it didn’t get caught in the door. Her heart surged to her throat, as the elevator door opened again and she stepped out with Tommy, then walked toward their future.

  EPILOGUE

  How in the hell can you look that damned good after giving birth to twins nine months ago? Karlie asked Katie incredulously, then looked at her own expanding waistline.

  Her sister was whining and she was only four months along and barely showing. Katie couldn’t wait until Karlie hit the seven month mark, she’d really be howling then, and she was only carrying one baby. Katie had looked like she was wider than she was tall, she thought with a chuckle. “Just wait sis, the best is yet to come.”

  “That dress is absolutely breathtaking, Katie…I bet you’re glad you waited now, huh?’

  “Damn, straight…I don’t know what I was thinking trying to do this pregnant,” Katie told her and readjusted the slightly too snug bustline of her wedding dress. The cut of the beautiful chiffon dress definitely exposed more of her than she expected. Her boobs were trying to escape from the sweetheart neckline, and her back was exposed down to the very last decent point at her lower back.

  “You decided if you’re wearing your boots?” Karlie asked her and retied the side of her hibiscus print sarong, so less of her thigh was showing.

  “Nah, boots and sand aren’t gonna cut it, I’m going barefooted like any self-respecting country girl,” she told her sister with a hoot, then closed the clasp of her horseshoe necklace, before she put in her earrings. “You think these flowers in my hair look good?”

  Karlie snorted and Katie laughed, because the sound was just so damned funny. Thank the Lord she hadn’t wound up with the same nasal condition, Katie thought. Karlie’s snort sounded something like a happy pig rooting in a sty, and it was such a stark contrast to her beautiful sister’s appearance, people always lost it when they heard her.

  “You look like something from the pages of Bridal Monthly, sis…Tommy is gonna split his britches,” Karlie told her.

  “I hope he waits until after the ceremony to do that,” she told her sister with a sly grin and a waggle of her eyebrows. “I’m so excited to be able to spend some time with him alone…the babies have been a handful.”

  “That’s because neither of you will turn loose of them long enough for someone else to hold them, and if it’s not you, it’s Dixie toting them around,” Karlie said then slipped her feet into the hot pink thong sandals that matched her knee-length sarong. “I’m looking forward to having them to myself for a week!”

  Katie smiled thinking of her beautiful blond daughter, who was going to be their flower girl today. She was so excited, Katie about had to hog-tie Dixie last night to get her to sleep. “Where is Dixie anyway? We only have a few minutes, before the ceremony.”

  “Getting spoiled by Gerrie and Tommy’s dad…those two are so cute together, and I think she’s talking him into moving back to the ranch with ya’ll, so be prepared,” Karlie warned her.

  Tommy’s dad had come for an extended visit to the ranch after the babies were born, and hadn’t left yet. He and Gerrie, their new housekeeper, had hit it off, and they been almost inseparable ever since.

  “Have you seen how many people are here?” Katie asked nervously, then added, “Everyone we sent invitations to came!”

  Karlie snorted again and then said, “Of course they came, it’s a free vacation in Tahiti, for God’s sake!” then she shook her head and sa
id, “I still can’t believe you spent all that money.”

  “A drop in the bucket…” Katie told her with a grin and tugged up the bodice of her dress again. “Chase has made me a very rich woman. I could do this ten thousand times, and still have enough left over for a lifetime.”

  “Yeah, he’s not just a pretty face, that guy is plenty smart too…but damn if he isn’t fun to look at,” Karlie said with a snigger.

  “Don’t let Tommy hear you say that, Gawd he’d have me in the bedroom making me tell him I’m only his…again,” Katie told her with a dark laugh, as chills raced through her at the thought. Her sexy cowboy had come a long way, since they met, and he was one hot man in the bedroom…and the kitchen…and the creek…and everywhere else he could think of for them to make love. He was pretty damned creative, and their ‘to-do’ list grew every day. She was hoping to put a serious dent in that list this next week.

  Dixie walked in and ran over to her with excitement in her light blue eyes. Looking up at Katie, she squealed. “Paw Paw gave me a bucket!” she said then held out the wicker basket with gardenia and orchid petals in it.

  Katie and Karlie both were reduced to belly laughing, and Dixie started laughing too, though Katie knew she didn’t know why. They all wound up sitting on the floor of the hut by the beach, howling and wiping their eyes with tissue.

  Katie pushed up to her feet and extended her hand to Karlie to help her stand, then helped Dixie up. “Let’s get this show on the road girls, before we’re late and my not so new husband spanks me,” Katie said and another round of shivers ran along her spine.

  “Are the boys behaving with Gerrie and Paw Paw?” Katie asked Dixie with concern. Her boys were a blessing, but they did like to move around.

  “They’re being angels, Miss Gerrie said so,” Dixie told her proudly, then added, “My baby brothers are always angels.”

  Katie grabbed Dixie’s hand and squeezed it. “You are the most beautiful flower girl and daughter a bride could ask for.”

  “Thanks, mama…I’m gonna try to go slow like we practiced, but it’s hard,” Dixie said nervously.

  “You’re gonna do great, sugar…just look at your daddy like I’m gonna be doing,” Katie told her then they walked to the door, and she took a deep breath, then opened it, and stepped back. She pushed Dixie out first, then let her sister go, before finally she grabbed her bouquet off the table by the door, and walked out behind them.

  The soft swells of the Polynesian music they’d picked for the walk down the aisle started and Dixie bounced to the beginning of the human aisle their friends and family had formed for them on the beach. Karlie met Gabe at the beginning of the aisle and he smiled at her tenderly then took her arm and they started down the aisle, after Dixie. Once they reached the altar, which framed the gorgeous teal blue ocean, they parted and stood on either side of the preacher, with Dixie on Karlie’s side holding her hand.

  The band changed to the bridal march, Polynesian style, and Katie started down the aisle and then latched her eyes onto Tommy who was standing at the end, his eyes were moist and his face frozen in awe. She felt the same way when she saw him decked out in lightweight white drawstring pants and a loose fitting white linen shirt. He was barefoot too, and she resisted the urge to run down the aisle and start their belated honeymoon before the vows were reaffirmed. God, she loved that man, even when he was at his most irritating, she loved him so much her heart hurt sometimes.

  A soft, gentle breeze brushed over her skin, and dried the happy tears that pooled in her eyes, as she walked slowly toward him, her lover, her life. When she got to the end of the row of friends, she looked to the right and Tommy’s daddy winked at her, then tousled Ethan’s dark hair, and he wiggled trying to get down. Gerrie was holding Eddie who was sucking his thumb, quietly watching the proceedings with his beautiful hazel eyes. Her boys were identical in every way, except temperament, just like her and Karlie. Although she and her sister were a lot more alike these days than they used to be, Katie thought, then turned heated eyes back to her handsome husband.

  When she reached him, he took her hand and kissed her forehead, then leaned down close to her ear and said, “I’d marry you a hundred times…happy anniversary, baby.”

  Tears burned her eyes and she swallowed down the lump of emotion that pushed up into her throat, as they turned toward the preacher, who was back-dropped by the gorgeous aqua ocean. The gentle waves crashing on the beach lulled her, and the smell of the gardenias and orchids in her exotic bouquet intoxicated her. Her head was filled with fluffy white clouds and sunshine when she turned toward Tommy, and he took her hands and repeated the vows he said once before, with just as much emotion as he had then, before slid the platinum band on her finger, and brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

  “I love you, Katie, forever,” he said in an emotional voice, then pulled her into his arms and leaned her over his arm and kissed her forever.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Becky McGraw is a married mother of three adult children, and a Southern girl by birth and the grace of God, ya’ll. One of several career changes transplanted Becky and her family to Indiana, where she now lives with her husband and dog Abby.

  A jack of many trades in her life, Becky has been an optician, a beautician, a legal secretary, a senior project manager for an aviation management consulting firm, which took her all over the United States, a real estate broker, and now a graphic artist, web designer and writer.

  She knows just enough about a variety of topics to make her dangerous, and her romance novels interesting and varied. Being a graphic artist is a good thing for her too, because she creates her own cover art, along with writing the novels.

  Becky has been an avid reader of romance novels since she was a teenager, and has been known to read up to four novels of that genre a week, much to the dismay of her husband, and the delight of e-book sellers.

  She has been writing fictional short stories and novels for fun, as well as technical copy for her jobs for many years. She was a member of the Writer’s Guild on AOL during her last venture into writing romance, as well as a founding member and treasurer of the first online chapter of the Romance Writers of America, From the Heart Romance Writers.

  With the advancement of online publishing opportunities, Becky has started writing again as voraciously as she reads. Be looking for all of the books in her Texas Trouble Series, a contemporary cowboy romance series, with hot cowboys, a dash of suspense, and a lot of southern flavor.

  ***

  Be sure to read the first three books in the Texas Trouble Series, by Becky McGraw, MY KIND OF TROUBLE (#1, Texas Trouble), THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE (#2 Texas Trouble), DOUBLE THE TROUBLE (#3, Texas Trouble), and LOOKING FOR TROUBLE (#4, Texas Trouble)

  READ EXCERPTS BELOW

  MY KIND OF TROUBLE

  by Becky McGraw, Texas Trouble Series #1

  Copyright @ June 18, 2012

  Cassie Bellamy thought she’d left Bowie, Texas and Luke Matthews behind for good. She’d been gone for ten years and in that time had built a successful real estate business, had a new fiancé, and had all but forgotten about the Texas bad boy who’d sent her running to Phoenix in the first place.

  She wouldn’t be going back now, but her daddy needed her at the Double B.

  Driving her old pickup truck “Bessie” back to Bowie had seemed like a good idea when she’d left Phoenix, but it didn’t seem so good when she was broken down on the side of the road in ninety plus Texas weather in between Bowie and her daddy’s farm. And it seemed an even worse idea when her knight in brown khaki turned out to be none other than the bad boy himself, a Sheriff now, and still as hot as the Texas sun.

  Cassie does her best to ignore Luke and remember her fiancé back in Phoenix, but Luke seems determined to make her remember his kisses and their nights of stargazing by the lake instead. And she definitely still has stars in her eyes when she looks at the delectable Sheriff.

  Luke Matthews had worked damned
hard to change the way people thought of him. He wasn’t know as the bad boy son of the town’s drunk anymore, they called him Sheriff now. For ten years, Luke had been living on the right side of the law, and had forgotten about Cassie Bellamy, the woman who’d left him dangling on a limb ten years ago.