Chapter 16
Sixteen
Does your life insurance know how rough you like your sex?
—Boone to Denver
Boone
Five weeks later
Nettie is six months pregnant
“Son of a bitch,” I grumbled as Holly was all but sprayed with gallons of horse shit.
Holly stared in shock for a few seconds, then stepped forward and continued holding the back leg as best as she could.
I finished up what I was doing and then sedated the horse.
The owner looked at us both apologetically.
“Shower,” I urged. “Now.”
Holly left without another word.
I waited until the horse was resting comfortably in the hay before I told the owner, “I’ll give you a call with the results of the test a little later in the day.”
The owner winced. “Thanks, man.”
The horse lay down gently, and I gave Carlene, who had also been helping with the procedure, a look that clearly said, “be back after I get this shit off of my body.”
Carlene tried not to smile.
Failed.
“You’re such an asshole,” I grumbled, but immediately regretted it when I felt things I was trying not to think about dislodge off my face and tumble down across my lips.
We only had one huge shower that was used for dual purpose. Horse, cow, dog, cat, or person.
It didn’t matter who needed rinsed off, everyone was welcome.
I walked into the shower stall, uncaring that Holly was also rinsing off at the same time, thankful that I’d rid myself of my cell phone and keys before I’d taken the exam.
“This is the worst,” Holly declared from the other side of the stall.
I grunted, knowing better than to open my mouth again.
I turned face forward into the shower spray—thankfully there were two separate shower stalls separated by a curtain you could pull around you to cordon the space off—and tried not to breathe.
I don’t know how long I was in there, rinsing shit off my face, when I heard the voices.
“Just go look and see,” I heard my mother crow triumphantly.
My mother had bonded out of county jail within a couple of hours, but Kurt hadn’t paid and neither had my father.
It took us a while, but eventually we found out that it’d been Ida Bell. The poor woman had no clue who she was dealing with.
It was also too bad that I’d failed to trespass my mother from my vet practice. If I had, I’d have pressed charges and she would’ve wound up in jail again.
But she’d stayed away over the last five weeks and I hadn’t thought about her much at all. I’d been too busy enjoying my life.
“Are you not going to look?” my mother taunted.
I would’ve peered over the side of the shower stall had I not had shit now rolling down my face.
I could literally feel the chunky bits sliding down over the corner of my lips.
“They’re not in there together, Gail.”
Shit.
“Yes, they are.” My mother laughed like this was the best thing in the world.
I couldn’t open my mouth, either, because I was afraid of what would roll inside if my lips parted.
“Don’t go in there!” I heard Young yell.
But then the door was opening and there were gasps.
“Shit,” Holly moaned. “This isn’t what it looks like!”
I waited until my face felt clean before reaching for the soap I knew was on the shower stall above my head.
“Here,” I heard Nettie say. “Hold out your hand.”
I did and felt the palm of my hand fill up with industrial soap.
After washing my face and rinsing, only then did I hear Gail say, “Oh, my. I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t realize.”
Holly.
I wasn’t listening to what she was saying.
I only had eyes for the woman peering over the back side of the stall as she looked down at me.
“Is that what I think it is in your hair?”
I grimaced.
“I’d offer to help, but I think I’ll give this one a pass.”
“I told you not to go in there,” Young called from the other side of the room. “It smells awful. God, shut the door if you’re going to stay in there with them.”
Her smile was everything.
The last hour had been horrific.
But, seeing her smiling, obviously not mad when my mother’s intentions had been clear, was enough to have me breathing easier.
“I would’ve answered that call earlier but…”
“I’m glad you didn’t. I don’t want you getting that new cell phone covered in…poo.”
I just shook my head and held out my hand. “Hit me again.”
She did.
“Your rubber boots are filling up with soap, poo bits and water.”
“That’s a later problem,” I said.
An entire hour later, Holly and I were clean and none the worse for wear.
My mother was once again in handcuffs.
Someone had called to get her trespassed.
And the ol’ broad had left and come back.
Again.
Black had been a whole lot less understanding this time.
“I just wanted to talk to you for a moment!” Gail sounded ravaged. “Just five minutes, Boone. Just five, and I’ll never bother you again.”
Nettie jerked her head toward the door. “We already missed the appointment, babe. You might as well hear her out.”
The appointment for us to get married.
Fuck!
“Shit, baby,” I said as I finally clued into how fuckin’ beautiful she was. “I’m so sorry. I completely forgot.”
It sounded horrible.
But as I was leaving, a horse owner had torn into the lot with the hounds of hell on his heels.
When he’d gotten there, he’d told me his horse was about to die because her baby was stuck.
Holly and I had immediately jumped into action, delivering the two foals.
Sadly, neither foal had made it, and the mother was well on her way to dying as well.
I hoped with some relaxation and rest, she might pep up in the morning.
But still, I’d missed my own wedding day.
“We’re going after this.” She bumped me with her shoulder, a smile on her face. “I rescheduled when I called and you didn’t answer.”
Relief hit me like a battering ram.
I’d been looking forward to this day since we’d picked it.
We’d decided to go with the day that we’d met.
A day neither one of us would ever forget.
I’d never been the same since I’d first seen her standing in my grandmother’s cottage.
So it was fitting that we continue to make this day the best one of the year.
“Thanks, baby,” I said as I placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “But stay back here, yeah?”
She rolled her eyes, but backed up to stand with the employees who were watching the free show with glee.
They’d never liked my mother, and it showed now in the way they were all standing in a defensive arc around Nettie.
I walked unhurriedly to my mother who was standing in handcuffs by Gentry’s cruiser.
She stared at me pitifully, and I noticed then that her clothes were unkempt.
They weren’t as starched and pressed as they usually were.
I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
“I didn’t tell you about your other sister because she was supposed to die.”
I shouldn’t be surprised by her words, but I was.
Still, I didn’t talk.
“She has a heart condition,” she persisted. “They expected it to kill her being born. It didn’t.”
“And you think that your husband would’ve been upset with a baby that had a heart condition?” Gentry snorted. “Get the fuck out of here.”
He opened the door to the cruiser and started to shove her inside.
She resisted, her eyes on me.
“Felicia was born the same day, in the same hospital,” my mother continued. “She was abandoned. I took her home instead.”
I blinked.
“I had a nurse switch her with the other girl.”
The other girl.
That was how she referred to Ida Bell?
“And Ida Bell?” I asked. “What happened to her?”
“I made sure she was safe. Provided for.”
“And who does she think you are to her?” I pushed.
“Just a family friend of her father’s.” She swallowed. “Your dad wanted that girl so much. I just…I had to make sure he got his girl.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” I pointed out. “And let’s talk about why you poisoned Felicia. Why does she hate us so much? Why does she act exactly like you? She was an innocent baby herself once. Her attitude is a learned behavior.”
My mother’s eyes narrowed for a heartbeat in time, then cleared.
She was pissed that I was questioning her, but she didn’t want me to know it.
“Felicia is just Felicia. I didn’t turn her into anything.”
Uh-huh. Sure.
On that note…
“Have a good one, Mother,” I said. “I’m going to get married.”
Gail inhaled swiftly.
Hearing that I was done, Nettie started toward me.
She opened her bag and pulled out something rectangular from her purse before she turned it to face my mother and me.
“Don’t worry, Gail,” Nettie cooed as she held the mugshot photo to her chest. “You’ll be there in spirit.”
My lips tipped up at the corners as I caught my girl around the waist and pulled her to me. “Let’s go get married.”
The only people at our actual ceremony at the courthouse were Weaver, Eddy, Denver, Sorcha, Grams, and my dad.
We were standing in front of the judge who was marrying us, both of us dressed casually. Nettie in a light, flowy dress that barely showed any of her middle. And me in a nice pair of jeans, tan button-down, and boots.
She’d had me wear my cowboy hat, too, which had me grinning like a loser. I wore the hat in the deep summer only when the sun blazed and my poor neck liked to fry.
I knew that the hat really did things for her—she’d been telling and showing me so since I’d started wearing it the first year she’d bought it for me after a bad hiking burn. But for her to want it in our wedding photos meant that she wanted to have the look encapsulated for all of time.
“And did you write your own vows?”
Nettie opened her mouth and said, “I did!”
Denver snorted.
My grams shoved him with a feeble elbow.
Nettie twisted back and forth in place, causing her dress to flit around her knees.
It was mesmerizing, and I didn’t know where to look. Her eyes as they sparkled. Her legs as they shifted and the muscles there bunched and relaxed. Or her midsection where I could finally see the beginning of a baby bump.
“You may begin.” The judge gestured at her.
She bit her lip for a few seconds, then pulled something out of her pocket.
She smiled at me apologetically, then unrolled it.
Like a damn scroll containing her vows.
“I had to write them all down,” she admitted sheepishly.
“It’s okay,” I urged.
She continued the twisting motion with her hips as she started.
“The day that I met you, I was at the lowest point in my life.” She paused.
“I was young, opinionated, and desperate for a way out of a life that was slowly suffocating me. Then you came along. You smiled at me that day, and somehow, I knew that everything was going to be okay.” She pressed her lips together.
“We made mistakes. We did things the wrong way. But I knew, whatever mess I made, you’d be there to help me through.
You encouraged me to continue to play soccer even though I couldn’t afford to play.
You begged your dad to help sponsor my sister and me so that we could continue doing what we loved.
You didn’t freak out when I told you that I was pregnant at sixteen.
You were my rock when we lost our baby. You fought for me for years while I tried to make sense of my life.
And you never once complained when I left after you helped me make that sense.
I’m sorry that I waited so long to finally get my head on straight.
But I promise you now, I will forever try to make that up to you.
I won’t stop until those shadows are long banished from your eyes.
I’ll be your wife. I’ll bear your children.
I’ll carry your name. I’ll wait for you on the front porch every night when you come home.
I’ll cook all the meals. I’ll make sure you’re so happy that you’ll never remember being unhappy.
I’ll teach our kids how to love nature. I’ll… ”
I stopped her with a kiss on her mouth. “You already make me happy.”
Her shoulders wilted.
“You don’t have to apologize or make up for anything,” I told her. “This is the first time you’re living your life just like it’s mine. We don’t have to make apologies for anything. We just have to be happy. Nothing stands in our way anymore.”
She threw her arms around my shoulder, knocking my hat clean off my head.
It hit with a thud behind me, but neither one of us made a move to pick it up.
“Do you have any vows, kid?” the judge asked me.
I smiled. “Nothing more than I love her with my whole heart and won’t ever stop.”
She started to sob in my arms.
“Then I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
She pulled back and pressed her wet lips to my own.
She tasted of salt and forever.