Page 19 of My Cowboy Date
In this part of the day, before lunch, there aren’t that many people around. It doesn’t start to get crowded until the evening. And when I say crowded, I mean small town crowded so probably twenty or so people.
I’m carrying the basket and singing softly under my breath when I spot Wilder standing in the way holding a large gift bag. My heart leaps at the sight of him and I know I’ll never get enough of looking at him. I know that my heart will always react the same way.
He sees me and grins, then strides over to take the basket. “What’d you make?”
“Just some sandwiches.”
He takes my hand in his and we walk between the mythical creature’s fairy display and the baby dragon one.
The sun is shining on the path and the birds are singing. I’m filled with peace and happiness, so much of it that I can’t help smiling.
We stop in front of a bench just off the path that has plenty of shade and sit together.
He hands me the bag, saying softly, “Open this.”
I pull a thin, wide box out and open the lid. There’s a photo album nestled in white tissue paper. I take it out and flip open the cover. The page is blank but the writing at the bottom reads, “Us cooking a meal in our new home….”
“Wilder,” I whisper his name with my entire heart.
I flip to the next page which is also blank but at the bottom, the words are, “Us in the backyard looking up at the stars…”
I start crying and he leans over and turns the page. This one, also blank except for words that say, “Us putting the baby’s nursery together….”
I’m crying hard as he turns the page again. This one is blank except for an engagement ring attached to the page and below that are the words, “This is not the end, but the beginning. I want to fill out all these pages with photos of our memories. Will you marry me?”
I can’t even speak through the tears. All I can do is nod my head.
Wilder removes the ring from the album and slides it onto my finger. Then we’re in each other’s arms.
“I love you so much,” he says. “And I want to marry you as soon as possible if you’re okay with that. I don’t want to wait to start our life together.”
“I don’t want to wait either,” I say. “I don’t know how fast we can get married, but the sooner, the better.”
Wilder
Sooner turned out to be a week later and that’s only because I told my mother flatly that we weren’t waiting longer than that.She’d insisted that Aspen needed a wedding that’s as beautiful and memorable as she is, and I couldn’t argue with that.
The whole week was a flurry of activity and we stayed busy as hell and yet the time crawled by. I just wanted Aspen to be my wife.
Now the day has finally come for us to get married and I’m glad it’s here. I haven’t gotten much sleep lately partly because of spending nights making love to my woman but also because I’ve had to work through some fears.
One fear is that I’m not bringing much to the table. I’m a debt-ridden cowboy with big dreams while she’s everything that’s good in the world. The way she says my name with such delight when she sees me gives me a hitch right in the center of my heart.
She lets me know all the time that I belong to her and that come hell or high water, she’s never leaving my side. She’s talented and beautiful and sweet and there’s just not a better woman in the whole universe. I pity my brothers. They’ll never have what I have with her.
“You okay?” River asks as he leans closer.
We’re standing in a gazebo my dad and brothers worked their asses off to build for the wedding. It’s white with all kinds of scrollwork and inside it’s crammed full of flowers. The women in the family and all their friends were squealing and talking about how beautiful it is when they saw it.
All I could think of when I saw it was that it’s the place where I’m going to marry Aspen. Which meant it was perfect.
I straighten my black suit and tie and give my brother a nod. I don’t trust myself to speak right now. When my brothers and I became family by law thanks to Gavin and Frances adopting us, I thought that was it. That was the meaning of home.
And it is in a way. But Aspen is the warmth of home. She’s the light in the window. She’s the fragrant smell in the air. She’s the laughter and the hugs. And there she is.
Walking along the grass in her long, white wedding dress, her face wearing all her joy and love for me.
I have to swallow once, twice to make myself keep it together.
