Nice Shootin' Tex

by Cyndia Rios-Myers

  "How do they look to you, in this light?" asked my astute fiancé.

  "Worthy," I softly replied.

  He squeezed my hand in pride and I beamed up at him. Just then, a short blond woman wearing a smart black suit approached us. She smiled at all of us before settling her eyes on me.

  "Are you Lauren McCoy?"

  I couldn't help but beam back at her.

  "I am."

  She laughed at that.

  "I'm Terry Nelson - the owner of the gallery. It is such a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

  I tried not to laugh or look stupid when she praised my artwork. I tried not to cry when she told me I had a real gift. I tried not to pass out when she told me what people were trying to pay for my work.

  "Your artwork wasn't titled, so I went ahead and named them. Work boots," she said, pointing at the art of my boots, "has reached a bid of two thousand five hundred dollars. Gun smoke," she said, pointing to the pig that had shotgun barrels for eyes, "has reached a bid of four thousand dollars." Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the eyes of my brothers and father widen. "Sow," she said, pointing of the image of my mother holding a piglet, "had reached two thousand dollars." She then pointed to the final picture - the one of the devastated pond with a fat, black and white bull sleeping in the middle of it under the light of a half moon. "Devastation has reached a bid of four thousand five hundred dollars."

  I tried to do the math in my head, but could not. I wasn't stupid at all or bad with numbers, I was just too stunned to do it. I looked up at Daniel for an answer.

  "That's fourteen thousand dollars, Lauren," he replied, sounding stunned too.

  I stared at my art in shock. I was an artist. A good artist. An artist who wouldn't starve anytime soon. I couldn't believe it.

  "I know that these four pieces of art aren't for sale, but I would love to get my hands on some pieces of yours that are."

  "Uh, sure," I replied probably sounding stupid. I couldn't help it though.

  I was soaring high in the sky on the way home. I could barely remember a word that Terry had said. Thankfully, Tim and Arnold took notes and told her that I was interested in having my art displayed in her gallery. Arnold might have even promised a delivery date for a few pieces, but I could not be sure as to what he promised.

  "Wow, Daniel. Can you believe what happened back there?"

  He laughed out loud and smacked his steering wheel.

  "Hell yes. But hell no, too."

  We both laughed at that.

  "I knew that you were really good, but dear Lord. Your work is inspiring people to crack open their wallets wide open."

  I smiled at that.

  "I'm proud of you, Lauren. Your folks are proud of you."

  I had made sure to thank my brothers and father profusely before leaving them back at Fort Worth. They thanked me back for gifting them with little investments which made me laugh. Life was great.

  But of course, life had a way of throwing a wrench into things; especially when things were going very good.

  Chapter

  I had not watched the entire season of American Sharpshooter due to Daniel's feelings on the matter. We were in the kitchen where I had just finished up cleaning after dinner when I turned to face him. He was still sitting at the table where he was reading a paper.

  "About the competition."

  That made him set the paper down and stare right at me.

  "I didn't watch the show because of how it made you feel."

  Immediately, he opened his mouth to speak, but I silenced him with my finger and a step closer to him.

  "I know that you didn't ask me to do that. I haven't forgotten that. But I'm thinking that I want to watch the finale tomorrow night."

  He sighed at that.

  "You don't have to watch it with me. As a matter of fact, you can stay here and I'll watch it at my dad's place."

  He rolled his eyes.

  "I'll watch it with you," he replied.

  I got excited for a moment, but then remembered that my fiancé could be really crabby and sulky if he wanted to be.

  "Don't feel the need to watch it because of me, Daniel. If it's going to be too hard for you to watch, I'd rather you stay here."

  He sat up at that.

  "Wow. Is that your way of telling me that if I don't behave that you'll kick me out of your dad's house?"

  I nodded.

  "I love you. But yes. I'll kick you out 'til the show's done."

  He laughed out loud at that. "Come here," he said, signaling for me. I did just that.

  During the show's viewing the following night, Daniel was not as composed as he had promised me he would be. My dad sat on his recliner and Arnold sat next to me. Timmy sat on another chair with Laura on his lap. I sat on the middle of the couch with Daniel sitting right next to me. Daniel's arm was on my shoulders as he held me close to him during the show. It was nice, of course, but I couldn't help thinking that he was touching me for reassurance. It was bittersweet. I allowed it. However, every time he saw Trevor on the screen, he would squeeze my shoulder. I looked at him every time he did it, but it appeared that he didn't even know he was doing it. It didn't hurt too much, but it was getting old. We were only fifteen minutes through the one hour show, too.

  "Alright! We are getting to the good part," said Arnold, sitting forward in his seat and taking another sip of his beer.

  I sighed, as I watched myself at the part of the show where I threw the competition away. Did I really throw it away at the end, or did I throw it away once I became intimate with the host? That was something to ponder at a later time, I decided.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as my brothers cringed at my poor shots. I watched as my dad's brow furrowed which made me nervously swallow. I watched both Trevor's angry face on the TV telling me that I'd been eliminated at the same time that I watched Daniel's brow furrow further and further. Uh-oh.

  Daniel released his arm from my shoulders before grabbing the remote off of the coffee table and then rewinding the entire scene. Damned DVR, I thought to myself.

  "Do we have to watch this again?" I nervously asked.

  Tim, Laura and Arnold nervously glanced at both me and Daniel. My dad was staring at the TV like his life depended on it.

  "Yes," Daniel quietly replied as he sat at the edge of the couch.

  Nervously, I began tugging at my lip and tapping my right foot. I held my breath as they all watched the scene, again. Once it was done, Daniel hit the live button which fast-forwarded the scene to my climbing up the hill and heading back to the mansion.

  "You threw that competition, Lauren," Daniel said.

  My heart began to slam in my chest at his words. He knew.

  "I lost, Daniel," I feebly replied.

  He set the remote control on the coffee table and then turned to face me.

  "You threw the competition,” he repeated. “You could have won that."

  Arnold, Tim, Laura and my dad turned to face us.

  "Daniel, the competition is over. I lost," I repeated.

  "You lost because you wanted to lose. You could have made those shots," he said as he pointed to the TV.

  Arnold chose to speak then.

  "Hey. She missed the shots. Get off her back," my brother angrily said.

  Daniel ignored him.

  "You didn't tell me that you threw the competition. You said that you lost," he said in a heated voice.

  "Get off her back," Tim piped in.

  Daniel turned to face him then.

  "I understand that she's your sister, but I know your sister. I trained her."

  He then turned to face me again.

  "Why did you do it?"

  I didn't want to answer. I couldn't answer. I was so damned ashamed of myself - for everything I'd done in the competition. I just wanted the whole thing to go away now. My panic must have shown in my face, because my brother reacted.

  Arnold stood up looking angry.

  "
That's enough, Daniel."

  Daniel turned to him with an angry look of his own. Uh oh, I thought to myself. There was no way I could let my fiancé and my brother fight. I stood up myself and stared at Daniel.

  "Fine! FINE! Do you want to hear it? Will that make you happy? YES! I threw the competition Daniel! I did!"

  Tears began to fall from my face as Daniel stared back at me. What hurt were the looks of disappointment on the faces of Arnold and Timmy, though. Not wanting to face them, I turned around and walked outside. I stared at the moon as I tried to compose myself.

  It was hard to dry the tears on my face, because they just kept coming. I could have gone and won the show, but I didn't. I blew it.

  "I'm not disappointed or mad that you threw it, Lauren."

  I turned to Daniel and saw that he looked tired, not mad at all.

  "Then why are you upset?" I said on a sob.

  He sighed and took a couple of steps towards me.

  "I'm upset because you didn't tell me that you threw it. You kept it from me."

  "I was putting it behind me, Daniel. I thought I told you all that mattered."

  "Don't you think that just because you kept it a secret makes it an important detail?"

  "No. I was ashamed of myself," I said as I cried.

  I tried to compose myself through my sobs to speak some more.

  "I left there like a coward, Daniel. I was heartbroken. Trevor had told me that it was over and it hurt so I fled. I ran away to get away from him; the money and the title weren't worth the cost of what little self-respect I had left."

  Suddenly, Daniel looked sorry.

  "I'm sorry, Lauren. I didn't mean to make you this upset. It doesn't matter, okay?"

  I dried my face and kept talking, though.

  "Yes it does. I threw it all away for a stupid...fling. I threw away my pride, my self-respect, my shooting skills and lay them at the feet of someone who didn't deserve them. I'm so damned sorry that I did that."

  Daniel came over and pulled me into his arms. It felt good, but it did little to stop the pain that I had inflicted on myself.

  "Hey. Easy there. No one thinks less of you, Lauren. You are an awesome shot. That show couldn't give that to you. Nor did it take that away from you."

  I couldn't stop crying, though. It felt like I had uncovered a box full of shame in my head that I didn't know existed until then.

  "Oh, Daniel. What did I do?"

  I was a mess. Daniel agreed. He made excuses for me before driving us home that night. My tears had stopped by the time I got in bed with him, which was a relief.

  "Are you sorry? About everything?" he asked.

  "With the exception of you? Yes. I regret my actions so much."

  I looked in his deep brown eyes while I wondered if that made him happy. I asked him as much, which made him get up on his elbow and look down at me.

  "Even though I'm a jealous and possessive son of a bitch, I wouldn't change a thing about you Lauren. You were with that bastard because he made you feel good. Maybe you had good times with him. Don't wish that away on my account."

  He then grabbed my left hand and held up my ring finger.

  "You belong to me. Your heart belongs to me. If it were a contest, I won it. I know that."

  I began to cry again at his words that were such a balm to my soul. I wanted him to know that he had won the first time I set my eyes on him. I wanted to tell him that, but I didn't. There was no use dredging up the fact that he could have told me he was interested in me, but did not.

  "Why are you crying?"

  "Because I'm happy," I whined.

  He laughed at that before bringing his head down to mine to kiss me. Soon enough, he was making me happier than ever.

  Chapter 31

  Our wedding was beautiful. It was a cool autumn evening when I walked down the aisle with my father by my side. I saw all of the faces of my friends and family. I saw all of the family on Daniel's side too. Everyone looked so damned happy. No one looked as happy as Daniel did, though. I began to cry as soon I saw that he'd been crying too. Looking deep into each other's eyes, we whispered our vows to each other while everyone watched us.

  Our first kiss as a married couple was such a divine one. His lips were gentle on mine and mine were on his. I wished that I could stretch that moment out forever. When the minister introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Serrano, I cheered along with everyone else. I belonged to him and he belonged to me.

  The reception was great too. It featured roast pork (of course), steaks, chicken and all other sorts of things. Out of respect for Daniel's family, we'd made it a dry wedding. It didn't make me score points with my extended family. I didn't care, though; I was part of something bigger which trumped the disapproval.

  We waited to go on our honeymoon to Berlin, which was alright by me. I had to get used to the morning sickness after all. Daniel had told me that I should probably get off of birth control pills a couple of weeks before our wedding.

  We were in his bathroom at his condo over the gun shop, as we had just gotten out of the shower.

  "Well...I thought that it would just be me and you for a while," I'd told him.

  He smiled at my reflection in the mirror before responding. "It will be. I just don't want there to be any problems when we are ready to have babies, Lauren."

  I smiled and bashfully tucked my robe around me.

  "Are you ready for kids...now?"

  He laughed. "I am. I'm ready for everything with you, Lauren."

  That warmed my heart.

  "But who knows how long it takes for all of those hormones to get out of your system? It might take us a while to conceive."

  Ha. I was pregnant one month exactly from the time I got off of my birth control pills. Daniel almost steered off of the road when I told him my suspicions.

  "What?! Already?"

  It had only been a couple of weeks since our wedding, but my lack of a menstrual cycle along with my constant nausea made me suspect I was pregnant.

  "Well...I haven't taken a test yet, but all signs point to yes, I think."

  His look of shock turned to one of excitement.

  "I'm not surprised, you know. I am quite the virile male, you know."

  I laughed at that. He laughed too.

  "Are you happy about that?" I asked.

  "Hell yeah, I am! Come here," he said, reaching for me.

  Unbuckling myself from the far right side of the seat, I slid over and strapped myself in next to his side. He kissed my cheek.

  "Are you okay with this?"

  I stared out at the windshield for a moment while I considered it.

  "Yeah, I am. I didn't think it would happen this soon for us. I wanted more time alone with you as a married couple, I think."

  I watched Daniel's face sadden a bit at that.

  "Did I push you too hard on this? Please tell me if I did."

  He sounded so worried that I wanted to comfort him.

  "It was both of us, I think. I guess that I wanted to make you happy and give you what you wanted, but at the same time I was looking at Tim and Laura and their problems with conceiving."

  I remembered their hunger for a family and thought about the fertility medications Laura was taking. I then thought about that rental house on the street that I turned down - the one with all of the pregnant women residing in it.

  "Well, I'm sorry I pushed so hard, Lauren. But I'm not going to apologize for your being pregnant."

  "I wouldn't want you to," I replied with a smile.

  I got used to being pregnant very quickly. Daniel's family lavished me with attention and praise. My dad and Arnold were very enthusiastic. I was a bit more gentle with my news to Laura and Tim, though.

  I was eating breakfast with them one morning at their house while Daniel had gone to Fort Worth on business.

  "That there is a lot of food, Mrs. Serrano," Laura said with a smile to me.

  I laughed as I looked down at my plate full of sausage
, eggs, potatoes, bacon, and biscuits. My morning sickness was starting to abate and I was starting to make up for lost meals. Tim had just sat down next to Laura with his cup of coffee.

  "Actually, that was something I wanted to tell you guys about." I sighed, bracing myself for shock. "Daniel and I are expecting."

  Laura's eyes widened in shock along with Tim's.

  "Already? You just got married!" said Tim.

  Laura gently smacked Tim's arm.

  "Congratulations, Lauren. I'm so glad to hear it."

  I looked into her warm brown eyes and saw that she was being sincere. It touched me that she was able to put aside her own feelings to be happy for me.

  "Thank you, Laura."

  "But just so you know, I am going to be hanging out with you a lot to get some of those pregnant woman hormones off of you."

  In that moment, all thoughts of nervousness and or sadness attributed to my early pregnancy disappeared. I was in love. I was married to the love of my life. I was having his baby. Life was great.

  The trip to Germany was a fun one, for the most part. The flight was very long which wasn't fun, but travelling with Daniel made it wonderful. He kept making jokes about joining the mile-high club, but I put him off. Our hotel in Berlin was just gorgeous and our room was absolutely lavish. We even had a chauffeur taking us around to see the sites. I'd even gone along with Daniel to a defense office where we met a bunch of different officials. It made me blush and laugh when a lot of the people in the office tried to speak to me in German; I guess that my fair looks made them think that I was from there. Daniel laughed and explained that his wife was ‘as Texan as they came.' I loved hearing that. They even took us to a local weapons manufacturing plant, but I kind of hindered progress there with all of my stops to the bathroom. After my third stop, Daniel stopped Frank, our tour guide.

  "I'm sorry, Frank. Can we continue this tour after lunch?"

  "Is everything okay?"

  Daniel sighed and put his arm around my shoulders.

  "My wife is with child and is experiencing lots of growing pains with that."

  The tour guide warmly congratulated us and told us that he would be happy to continue the tour after lunch. I persuaded Daniel to let me stay at the hotel, though.