by Meg Ripley
“I’m sorry it has to be that way. I wish they would move back.”
“Me, too. I wish things could be how they were before the feud started.”
He nodded slowly. “We can’t change that now. But maybe we can get them to make up.”
“It would take a miracle.”
“I think…” he said, “maybe that part already happened. We’re here, together, aren’t we? I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Could be a miracle. It does feel like heaven to be with you.”
His mouth spread into a slow smile. “Glory Thomas, are you saying you’re coming back to Big Bend for good?”
I sighed. “I am. As unbelievable as that is.”
“Well, I figure you’ll need a place to live and all, and if you’re going to be sticking around town for a while, maybe you wouldn’t mind marrying me?”
Joy surged through me and brought a grin to my face. “Wouldn’t mind?”
He lifted one shoulder and gave a coy smile.
“Wyatt, you’ve always been the only one for me.”
“That is a yes, right?”
I laughed. “Yes. Of course, yes.”
22
Glory
Epilogue
I paced the living room floor, checking out the window every few minutes.
Wyatt walked into the room, watched me for a moment, then crossed his arms. “You’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”
“I know, but I thought they would have been here by now. I hate that cell service is so bad in Big Bend. After having it for so long in the city, I got used to always being able to contact them.”
He came to put his arms around me. “I’m sure everything is fine.”
I let out a sigh, and the list of last-minute things I had to do filled my mind. “I guess I could work on putting together the programs. Maybe that will take my mind off it.”
“Want some help?”
“Sure.”
We sat, tying silver ribbons to the card-stock programs until finally, the sound of a car door closing reached our ears.
Dropping the program, I rushed to the window. “It’s them!”
I ran outside and threw my arms around my mother. “You made it!”
“It was quite the trip,” she said, blowing out a weary sigh. “We had to pull over several times because your father got car sick.”
I leaned into the car to see my dad in the passenger seat.
“Glad you made it, old man,” I said, planting a kiss on his cheek.
“It was time we came back.” He smiled up at me. “But that was a difficult trip.”
Wyatt walked up behind me, a little hesitant in his approach. He held a hand up to greet my parents as my mother opened the car door for my dad.
“Howdy, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas.” He came to my father’s side to help him out of the car.
“You’ve grown up into a strong young man,” my dad said, leaning heavily on him as they shuffled toward the house.
“Thank you, sir.”
My mother put a hand on Wyatt’s shoulder as she walked on his other side. “It’s good to see you, Wyatt. Really.”
“You, too.”
We got them inside and settled into our extra room. My dad needed to rest a while, since the Montgomerys would be coming over for dinner that night. The rest of us worked in the kitchen prepping things for dinner, Wyatt standing by me, peeling potatoes, while my mother whisked the gravy. As I packed the meatloaf into its pan, the impossibility of the moment settled over me.
My parents had made it. After a gazillion phone calls, they’d finally made all the changes needed to move back to Big Bend. They ended up driving so frequent stops could be made, and every place they stayed along the way was near a hospital. The truck with their possessions would arrive the next day at the modest house they’d purchased on the edge of where Marathon meets Big Bend.
Their house was small enough that they could easily care for it, located near a medical facility and not too far. I couldn’t ask for anything more, and I still couldn’t believe how easy it’d been to convince them to move back. When my mother confessed that they’d been considering it for years, I was stunned. Once they heard I was Alpha of our clan and that I was moving there to marry Wyatt, the decision was made.
That night would be the first time the Thomases and the Montgomerys would be together. If things didn’t go well, I wasn’t sure what would happen at our wedding, which was just a few days away.
By the time dinner was almost ready and the Montgomerys were expected, I felt sick to my stomach. What if this failed? What would it mean for our future?
Wyatt put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “It’s going to be fine. Don’t you worry, now.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “I know. I’ll just feel much better when it’s all over.”
He chuckled. “Me, too.”
There was a knock at the door and my eyes grew wide.
“I’ll get it,” he said.
He kissed my forehead and went to the door while I scooped the mashed potatoes into the serving dish. I scurried around, finishing up, but mostly to avoid going into the living room. I listened intently, though.
I heard them all greet each other. So far, so good. Small talk, nothing serious, all friendly sounding. Okay. Maybe it will be okay. I got the food on the table and went to join them in the living room.
“I hope you’re all hungry,” I said.
A few minutes later, we all sat together at the dining room table. My parents were across from Wyatt’s and he and I were at the ends of the table. Which might have been a mistake. I needed to hold his hand through this, but all I could do was make faces at him.
Wyatt took control of the situation, saying the blessing and getting the food moving around the table. We’d talked about this beforehand, and he followed our plan perfectly. When dinner was coming to end and everyone was mostly done eating, Wyatt spoke up.
“Glory and I wanted to talk to you together. Or really, we hoped that you all would talk to each other and bury this feud once and for all.”
Our dads looked at each other. Mr. Montgomery spoke first.
“It is true? That you…” He looked at his wife, then back to my dad. “You lost the ranch?”
My dad nodded slowly. “It’s crazy how fast things go down when you have one bad year. We got behind, then more behind, and before we knew it, the bank was knocking on the door.”
My dad looked embarrassed and kept his gaze down.
“That’s just terrible,” Mrs. Montgomery said. “I can’t imagine.”
“I wish you would have told us,” Mr. Montgomery added. “Carl, we would have helped you.”
My dad pressed his lips together.
My mother spoke up next. “We know you would have. And that’s why we didn’t say anything. We thought”—she stopped to chuckle nervously—“we thought that would end our friendship.”
“But I’m such a clumsy fool,” my dad said. “I know I needed to make it right. I still do. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it right back then.”
“No,” Mr. Montgomery said. “Everything is right between us. That old barn needed to be torn down. It was just the principle of it that made me so mad. I couldn’t understand why you would refuse to cover the damages like that. I thought when I took the sheep, you would realize how ridiculous the whole thing was. When the police showed up… but I know why you did that, too. I know what that gun meant to you, and I’m sorry you had to sell it.”
“Well, it’s my due for being such a bull-headed idiot,” my dad said.
Mr. Montgomery laughed. “We both were. But I think we’ve grown up some.”
“And now our kids are going to be married.”
“So, it’s either fight over every holiday when the grandkids come, or we bury the hatchet and go back to being friends.” Mr. Montgomery watched my dad’s expression, waiting.
My dad stuck his hand out. “Where’s the shovel?”
/>
Mr. Montgomery smiled and shook his hand. “Mighty nice to see you again, old friend.”
“And you.”
Wyatt and I exchanged a look of weary happiness. That feud had caused us so much grief over the years. It caused us to miss eight years of our lives together. We had talked about that dinner for weeks. We’d both been nervous; so much rode on them being able to get over it. Now we could go on with the wedding with nothing in our way.
Just a few days after our dinner, I stood in my wedding dress with my father in a wheelchair by my side. Walking any distance had become too difficult for him.
I could see only part of the church beyond the mostly-closed doors in front of me. Wyatt’s family and clan sat on one side, mine on the other. We’d had to talk with Aunt Emily about the feud and convince her to let it go. She’d agreed, and she’d also become a part-time caregiver for my dad to help out my mom.
I heard the music change and knew it was time. “It’s our turn.”
The doors opened and everyone stood when they saw me. I took my first step and reached down to take my dad’s hand. We made our way down the aisle, but halfway there, he stopped.
I looked over at him when he paused. He pushed himself up shakily until he stood by my side.
He leaned in and whispered, “I want to actually walk my daughter down the aisle.”
I grinned and continued our walk, my father breathing heavily by the end of it. After handing me over to Wyatt, he quickly took his seat. But I glanced over at him, made eye contact, and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Wyatt beamed with the biggest smile I’d ever seen. Mine had to match because my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
“You’re gorgeous,” he whispered.
The ceremony began, and as we exchanged our vows, both of us choked up as we spoke the words promising to love each other forever. We walked back down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs., our hearts overflowing with joy.
After dinner, the obligatory dances and cake cutting, Wyatt and I twirled slowly around the dance floor.
“What do you think,” he wondered. “Three kids? Four?”
“Definitely at least two. Three sounds doable. Four, maybe. We’ll have to reassess once we get there.”
He nodded. “Fair enough.”
I bit my lip and gave him a mischievous smile. “I was going to tell you this later tonight, but I…stopped taking my birth control pills.”
“You did? I thought you wanted to wait a while.”
I shrugged. “I thought about what you said, and I realized that I’ve been putting off the life I wanted for so long, I just got used to putting things off. No more. I don’t want to wait to have kids, and you’d already said you didn’t want to wait, so I stopped taking them to surprise you.”
He returned my mischievous smile. “Why wait until tonight? Let’s get started right now.”
I looked around and laughed. “On the dance floor in the middle of our wedding reception?”
He took my hand and pulled me off the dance floor.
“Where are we going?” I hissed. “Hi.” I waved at several guests who called out to us as we passed.
He turned down one hallway and then another. “Here we go.”
“A supply closet?”
He wiggled his eyebrows at me and pulled me close. “I don’t think I can wait any longer.”
I felt his hardness and it made me warm all over. One wall contained a metal shelf with cleaning supplies; mops and brooms lined another wall, but in that moment, none of it mattered.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed along his rigid jawline. He slowly lifted the skirts of my dress until he could see the white lace panties and lace-trimmed thigh high stockings beneath.
“Oh man,” he said.
He pulled my panties down and off, then slid his hands along my thighs, pushing my legs apart and flicking his tongue over my most sensitive spot. I let out a soft moan as he teased me, sending ripples of pleasure through me.
He stood and unzipped his pants, then proudly presented his member. “Let’s make a baby.”
Slipping inside me, he gripped my upper thighs to pull me closer as he thrust into me. Maybe it was the secret, scandalous nature of what we were doing or the fact that we’d just gotten married, or maybe even that we might have been making baby. Whatever it was, the pleasure washed over me, so intense that I came with just a few hard thrusts.
He moaned and leaned over to kiss my neck. “God, I love that sound.”
“I love when you make me make it.”
“Let me get you to make it again, then.”
He turned me, bending me over a giant package of toilet paper rolls, and entered me from behind, sliding in deep with each thrust. He held my hips and drew me closer, slamming in hard.
I bit my lip to keep from crying out too loud. Wyatt groaned, and I thought he was getting close, but then he paused.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking back over my shoulder.
“Not like this,” he said.
I gave him a questioning look.
He backed up and turned me so I was on my back on the stack of rolls, then slid me up so he had room to position himself over me. He slipped into me again, but this time moved slowly, rocking his hips each time he entered me.
“If we’re going to make a baby, I want to do it in pure love, not just lust,” he murmured, lightly drawing my earlobe between his teeth. “Which I have a lot of.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as I wrapped a leg around him. In no time, the sensation built in me again as I rocked my hips faster, grabbing his ass to pull him close. He sped up while I was just at the brink, hitting the spot he knew so well, and I cried out as I came a second time. When I sensed him getting close, he pounded me hard several times and let out a deep cry, flooding me with his release.
I let out a satisfied sigh. “I don’t see why we can’t have love and lust at the same time.”
“Mmm,” he murmured. “Do you think something is happening in there?” He put his hand over my abdomen.
“Maybe. It’s a good time of the month for it.”
He leaned over and kissed me deeply. “I love you so much, Glory.”
“And I love you. But we’d better get back out there to our wedding.”
“You’re right. It feels like I never get enough time alone with you.”
“Well.” I sat up and retrieved my panties from across the closet. “You’ll have to put up with me every day for the rest of our lives. Bet you’ll be sick of me in a month.”
“Not a chance.” He pulled me close and held me. “I’ve loved being around you since before I even knew what love was. From playing with blocks when we were two to seeing you walk down the aisle to me—every moment with you has been a dream.”
I put my hand to his cheek. “And I can’t wait for all the moments to come.”
“Now, come on, Mrs. Montgomery,” Wyatt teased. “Let’s go dance the night away.”
I straightened my dress, but had no mirror to check my hair. “How bad is it? Do I look like I just had sex?”
He smoothed one strand of hair. “You’re perfect.”
Taking his hand, we headed back to the reception, the hope for our future glowing within our hearts.
Preview Of Sawyer’s Mate
Werebears Of Big Bend
1
Madelyn
I looked up at the hotel standing tall before me as I turned into the parking lot. What they say is true: everything is bigger in Texas. I pulled my rental car up to the entrance and grabbed several bags from the trunk. A man came to help me and loaded them onto a cart. I’d never traveled with so much luggage before, but I wasn’t on a short-term trip. I would be there, in Big Bend, Texas, for an entire semester.
I headed into the hotel’s lobby and took off my cardigan while I waited. Even in January, the temperature was warm enough for t-shirts—nothing like the Januarys back home in New Hampshire, where the high was only 18 degrees that day. It
was hard to imagine snow in this arid climate where the sun shone so brightly. But soon enough, I would be back home, with a fresh degree in paleontology from Harvard in my hand.
After I checked in and got my key card, I followed my luggage up to my room. I was pleasantly surprised; Harvard had said the accommodations would be first-class, and they certainly were. The room was actually a suite with a bedroom and bathroom on one side and a small kitchen on the other. A living room was nestled in the center, where a large TV hung over an electric fireplace.
The bellhop finished unloading my luggage, and after I handed him a tip, he thanked me and padded off. I was alone, and for a moment, I felt overwhelmed. Not only was I far from home and my family, I was also far from school and my classmates. I hoped my new partner, whoever she was, would be pleasant and that we’d become friends. It’d be nice to have at least one person to hang out with while in town.
As I unpacked my things, I thought about what this semester would be like. Long days in the extreme heat, digging in the dirt, hoping to unearth bones or fossils. I needed to find something in order to write my master’s thesis and graduate. That final semester, where everything I’d learned so far would come into play in a real-live dig site inside Big Bend National Park, was going to provide part of the research needed for my paper.
I pictured the hot days, the cool showers and air conditioning afterward, and my evenings spent writing or seeing the town. A few months of that and then I’d be moving back home. I’d likely live with my parents for a few months while I found a job and a place of my own. Then, I’d be on my way into a new career—and a new chapter in my life. It was so close, I could taste it.