Page 27 of Astrid
“And Lucas is your man of honor?” Astrid grinned at the other woman.
“Yes, I was going to ask April, but she said she didn’t want to be on display with her pregnancy. That’s why she and Dillon won’t be getting married until next spring.” Morgan sipped her coffee and shook her head. “See, Lucas was the one who found me, and after having a few nights of nightmares, thinking I had died, he asked his father and Wyatt if he could come to the hospital to see me. You know, to reassure himself that I hadn’t died. It had been a week since the accident, and I’d been unconscious the entire time. I woke when they walked into the room. Because I had absolutely no memory, Lucas said he’d take me home and take care of me.” Morgan shrugged and sipped her coffee.
“Did he?” Astrid asked, fascinated by the tale. “Take care of you?”
“Not in the sense that I needed any help with anything. Once I came home from the hospital I was fine. I could take care of myself, and I even helped out around the house. I didn’t go out in the fields, but I started taking care of the chickens, and things like that. The only thing wrong with me was that I had no memory from my life before I woke in the hospital. Lucas always made sure I was comfortable.”
“Like asking if you need anything?” Astrid grinned. “I’ve seen him do that when he’s here.”
“Yeah, and because he—” She used air quotes for the next statement, “—’claimed’ me, I asked him to be my man of honor.”
“Are you having a big wedding?”
“Not really, the actual ceremony will be around seventy-five to a hundred people. It’s the reception that’s going to be huge.” Morgan sighed, then leaned back and studied the other woman intently. “The Erwins are famous for their BBQs. They only have one a year, or depending on the weather, and the work around the ranch, one every other year. We had one on the fourth of July a couple weeks back, but Wilson, the ranch foreman told everyone to come back for the one the ranch hands are throwing us for the reception.”
“Oh, wow, so it’ll be big?”
“God, if any of the ones from the past are any indication, then we’re talking over five hundred people.”
“Holy shit, that’s a lot.”
“Yeah, the wedding’s eight weeks away. About a week before the wedding, my parents, and Uncle Chip and his wife will be here. They’ll be staying until a week after the wedding.”
“Will you be going on a honeymoon?”
“Not until later. The wedding’s around the time fall round-up happens, and Wyatt can’t leave the ranch then. We’re going to go someplace when the ranch dies down a little, probably between Christmas and New Year.” Morgan picked up her drink again, then nodded to Astrid. “Enough about me, what have you been up to lately?”
Astrid grinned as she took one last sip of her coffee, then sat up and began moving papers around on her desk. “First, I’d like to have yours, Wyatt’s and Dillon’s cell phone numbers.”
“Why?” Morgan frowned at her.
“Because, everything is wired, the house, office, and garage. Each building has their own separate alarm panel, where you have to enter a code. I’ll go over them with you later, and we can set you up with a code. Do you think Wyatt and Dillon would need one?”
“No, I can always leave the office unlocked when I’m in there, or can they walk in, and we’ll just have to enter a code when they enter?”
“We can do that. Okay then, the reason I want your cell phone numbers is because the way I have it figured, is that us here in the house are the first line of defense.”
“I agree with that,” Morgan chuckled. “Since you’re living here.”
“Right. Now I’m going to program your phones, so that if someone enters and doesn’t enter their code number, then all of our phones will go off. Like I said, we’re first the first line of defense.”
“Wyatt and I will be the second, where Dillon will be the third. He can come to us, and together, the three of us can come here to your aid.”
“Correct.” Astrid only held out her hand, and as soon as Morgan placed it in her hand, she quickly got to work. In less than fifteen minutes, Astrid looked up at the other woman, and grinned as she pressed a button. Morgan stared at her with wide eyes, then laughed.
“I like it.” She took the phone back, and gave her the phone number to the two Erwin brothers. “Remind me, or call me around suppertime, so I can tell the guys about it. Do you need their phones?”
“No, I can do it from here with just their numbers.” Astrid grinned. “I’m that good.” When Astrid finished what she’d been doing, she settled back, then sighed. “So, what’s next on the agenda?”
“Communications are all set?”
“Yes, everything on my end is done. I’m only waiting for a few more monitors to come in, but it shouldn’t take long to hook everything up. John and Chuck mentioned last night at supper, that the office should be completed by the end of the week.”
“Good, I’ll go talk to them after I’m done here.” Morgan leaned up on her hip and pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to Astrid.
“What’s this?” Astrid asked as she took it and unfolded it. She stared down at the address on the paper, then back at Morgan.
“It’s an address that Uncle Chip told me to have one of you girls check out.” Morgan held up her hand. “I’ve already dispatched Joyce and Ava on their own missions for the day. They have different addresses to follow up on.” Morgan stood, and headed toward the office door. She paused and turned back. “Take one of the Boswell vehicles, don’t use your personal one.”
