Page 43 of Colorado Christmas Carol
Essa flushed.
Mellie grinned. “You have to marry him!” she told her friend. “Then you can come live on the ranch with us, and we can go riding all the time!”
Essa burst out laughing. “Now, listen here . . .”
Duke got up and pulled Essa into his arms. “Mellie, go play that handheld game of yours in the bedroom. With the door closed,” he added. “Now.”
Mellie laughed gleefully and went running to obey her dad.
Essa was kissed until her mouth was sore, and then kissed some more. It was the most delicious few minutes of her whole life.
“I love kids,” he whispered into her parted lips.
“Me, too,” she managed weakly. “And Mellie shouldn’t really be an only child.”
“So we can get married and raise kids and hell in Benton, Colorado.”
“Most definitely.”
“Is that a ‘yes’?” he teased.
She pressed closer with her arms around his neck. “I might need just a little more persuading,” she whispered. He chuckled.
“No problem at all,” he whispered back.
* * *
A small Christmas church wedding, with Mellie as flower girl, poinsettias all around them for decoration, and a passionate wedding night and morning and afternoon and night and morning later, Mellie knocked on the door of their new ranch house. Beside her, one of the receptionists for the sheriff’s department, whose family she’d been staying with during the brief honeymoon, grinned, as it seemed to take a long time for someone to answer the door.
Essa opened it, wearing sweats, with her long hair around her shoulders. “Mellie!” she exclaimed, and hugged the young girl, and then hugged her some more. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you!”
“And I’m so glad to have you as my mom!” Mellie exclaimed, hugging her back, hard.
Duke came to the door yawning, also wearing sweats. “I hate jogging,” he said to nobody in particular. Mellie ran to him, and he hugged her.
“Jogging?” the receptionist asked.
“Jogging.” He sighed. “Our new morning routine. I suggested coffee and toast, but the exercise guru here”—he jerked his thumb at his new wife—“said not until we did a mile. So we did a mile.”
“It’s great exercise, and we don’t want you to go to fat, now do we, sweetheart?” she asked with a purr in her voice.
He just shrugged.
“Thanks for bringing her home,” Duke told the visitor with a grin.
“My pleasure. And when Jack and I go to Yellowstone on our vacation, you get to return the favor,” she teased. “Except that we’ve got four kids. You’ll be calling us every day to see when we’re coming home,” she added with glee.
“Don’t count on it.” Duke chuckled. “I love kids.”
“Me, too,” Essa said. “You’ll have to bring help to get them back.” She chuckled.
“Am I going to get brothers and sisters?” Mellie exclaimed, all smiles.
“We’ll do our best,” Essa said solemnly. She grinned at Duke.
He laughed, too.
“We also think that our chef should retire and work on her profession,” he told Mellie.
