Chapter 3 #2
He watched everyone get into place. “Yes, that’s right. Let’s begin. Dearly beloved…do you Ben, take this woman, Emily to be your lawful wife, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health and to keep yourself only unto her for as long as you both shall live?”
“I do.”
The judge repeated the vows for Emily.
“I do,” she responded.
“Ben, do you have a ring?”
“Yes.”
He reached in his pocket and took out a plain gold band.
“Repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed.”
“With this ring, I thee wed.”
He put the ring on the third finger of Emily’s left hand.
I’m married. Really and truly married to a man more handsome than I deserve. Sally said she rarely gets the matches wrong. I hope she’s right this time, too.
“Good. Now by the powers vested in me by the Colorado Territory and the City of Denver, I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Ben smiled, turned to Emily, cradled her face in his palms and kissed her. Really kissed her. When he ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, she gasped and he entered, plundered her untrained mouth. When he pulled back he had a big smile on his face.
“You’ll do, Emily Logan. You’ll definitely do.”
Emily, dazed, stood there for a moment and watched Ben whose grin spread wide across his face. Compared to that kiss, she might as well have never been kissed before.
She finally got her wits about her, cocked her eyebrow and looked up at her new husband.
“I think you’ll do, too.”
Ben chuckled, followed by Hank. Soon everyone was laughing at her saucy retort.
“Thanks, Hank. I appreciate you doing this for us.”
Ben handed Hank an eagle gold piece.
“That’s too much money, Ben.”
“Consider it a tip for being available without an appointment. I’m very grateful.”
Her husband was very kind. She doubted the judge was used to such generosity.
The judge put the ten dollar coin in his pocket.
“Glad I could help. Are you headed back to the ranch?” asked the judge.
“Yes, the trip will take us a while with the buckboard so Emily and I can get better acquainted.”
“Is your ranch out of town?” asked Emily, thinking she probably should have asked this before.
“About fifteen miles from here. It’s in between Golden and Boulder, closer to Golden.
Driving the wagon will take longer than in a buggy or on horseback, but we should still be home in about three hours, around eight o’clock.
That includes time for a supper break and feeding and watering the horses.
We cross a river about half way, we’ll take our meal there. ”
“Did you bring food with you?” asked Emily. Her stomach was still full of butterflies and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep anything down.
“No, but I ordered a basket to be made at my favorite restaurant, Mother Mary’s Cafe. We’ll stop there on our way out of town. We’re also stopping at the feed store for grain for the animals.”
After the stops Ben needed to make, they didn’t get on their way home until about five-thirty.
“We’ll be a little later than I thought we’d be, so we’ll have to cut our stay for supper a little shorter than I planned.”
“That’s all right. I’m really not in a big hurry.” She looked away so he wouldn’t see her blush but she wasn’t quick enough and heard his quiet chuckle.
“Emily.”
She kept her head averted.
“Yes?”
“Look at me, please.”
She slowly turned, her brown-eyed gaze meeting his blue-eyed one.
“All right, I’m looking.”
“Are you afraid of tonight? Being our wedding night and all, are you frightened of me?”
“No. I’m not afraid of you. I’m nervous about…well…you know…making love.”
She could just as easily have crawled under the seat as admit what she was thinking about, but she knew this was too important to give in to her fear.
His smile was easy and real.
“I will do my best to prepare you. I don’t want to cause you pain, though if truth be told, some pain happens the first time and I can’t take that away, but I can hopefully lesson it with preparation.”
The heat rose to points in her cheeks and she knew she blushed.
“Thank you. I’m woefully ignorant. Our kiss at the wedding…that was my first kiss and it was amazing. If that is what I can expect from all our kisses I’ll be swooning all the time.”
Ben threw back his head and roared with laughter.
“Can I always expect you to be so forthcoming? I think we’ll have a very entertaining marriage.”
Emily thought about this for a moment.
“You mean you’ll always be laughing at me for something I said that I shouldn’t have?”
He stopped chuckling.
“Emily. There is nothing that you shouldn’t say, not to me. I’m your husband and I will always protect you. I will attempt to never hurt you for any reason or in any way. Do you trust me?”
She wrung her hands in her lap.
“To be honest, I don’t know you well enough to trust you, but you are my husband and for some odd reason, I do.”
He patted her knee.
“Good. I won’t let you down.”
“So tell me about your family.”
“Well…” He cleared his throat. “There is my mother, my sister, her husband and their two children. The kids, three-year-old Jenny and six-month-old Henry are the best. I have to admit, I adore them. I’m their favorite uncle.”
“You have brothers?”
He grinned. “No, I’m also their only uncle. Their father has three sisters, no brothers.”
“Tell me what I should know about them. Starting with your mother, who I believe lives with us.”
He rubbed his hand behind his neck.
“I might as well get this out. My mother is a witch. She’s very difficult and is of the belief that I should go chasing after the girl who left me at the altar and beg her to marry me.”
“What? Why would she do that? Regardless, you can’t very well do that anymore, can you?”
He chuckled.
“No, I suppose I can’t.”
“You’d better not. Let’s get things perfectly clear right now. I don’t share. I won’t put up with infidelity on any level. You are now my husband and I expect the courtesy of you remaining faithful to me, or that we annul before we go any farther.”
“Whoa.” He lifted his hand, palm out. “No annulment will take place. You are my wife, you wear my ring, and I will never take that lightly.”
“I take my vows seriously. I’m glad to see that you do, too.”
“I do. My word is my bond.”
He waved his arm taking in the prairie around them.
“Out in this country, if your word can’t be counted on, you won’t have many friends or be able to do business.”
“My word is also my bond. I won’t lie to you. You can ask me anything and I will always tell you the truth.”
“I’m glad to hear it. So tell me about yourself. You said you were a governess, a teacher.”
Amid the landscape that was a riot of wild flowers, even this late in the year, she answered his question as honestly as she could.
“Yes, I was a governess, but was let go from my position and my friend Sally said I should become your bride. She said I had all the attributes you were looking for. Apparently patience is one of them and it does happen to be my strong suit. Why do you say ‘teacher’ like it’s a bad thing to be?”
“I have my reasons, but I’ll keep them to myself for now. Suffice it to say a teacher for a wife is not something I expected or aspired to. Why were you let go?”
“The lady of the house discovered the man of the house pawing me and thought I had instigated it.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Of course, I didn’t. I would never flirt in any way with the parent of my charge. Besides which the man was offensive, ugly and generally a swine.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“I told you I would tell you anything. As to my family, I haven’t any. I was given to the sisters when I was about two and raised there until I was eighteen and took my first job as a governess.”
“How old are you now?
“Twenty-seven. And you’re thirty, I would guess.”
“That’s right.”
They came to a creek and stopped for a break. Ben watered and fed the horses while Emily set out the food they’d bought from the restaurant.
“Chicken sandwiches, a round of cheese, apples and peach cobbler. A whole peach cobbler! Goodness, just for the two of us?”
“I like peach cobbler. Did they pack any cream?”
She smiled and took a half-pint jar from the basket.
“Yes, there is a small jar of cream.”
“Perfect. There should also be a quart of lemonade.”
She pulled the drink out of the basket, along with a cup, plate, bowl, and cutlery for each of them. “You’re right there is. There are also half a dozen sugar cookies.”
“That’s for while we’re moving along. Easier to snack on the cookies than on the cobbler.”
Emily felt completely at ease with Ben. Eating their supper together seemed like the perfectly normal thing to do, even though it was their first time. And, for the first time, she wasn’t embarrassed about her appetite.
They finished their supper, got back into the wagon and continued on to his ranch.
They arrived around eight-thirty that night and Ben pulled up to the side door.
“This is where you get out. The kitchen is through that door. If my mother comes in just tell her who you are.”
“I’d rather stay with you, please. Let us meet your mother together.”
Ben smiled.
“I guess given what I’ve told you about her, meeting her together makes sense.”
“Even if you hadn’t told me anything about her, I’d still want to meet her with you.”
“Of course, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I do. You don’t want to face your mother and hear her wrath when she realizes her dream of having Melissa as a daughter-in-law will never happen.”
Ben slapped the reins on the horses and got the wagon moving again.
“You’re right. I hate the thought of hearing her complain.”
Then he grinned.
“Although, seeing the shock on her face when she sees you, and realizes who you are, will make it worth listening to the complaints.”