Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Happy Halloween,” Charley whispered into the mirror in the master bath at Sully’s house.
Charley had been with Sully at her cabin or his house for three and a half weeks.
He wouldn’t hear of her paying him back for the gun or boots.
In turn, she made good on her plan to surprise him with a delivery of Rocky Mountain Columbines and a few of her favorite plants for his store.
She’d cooked for him, and he’d grilled steaks as promised.
They played in his jacuzzi, made love at her cabin as well as his house, had ridden in his Jeep with the top and doors off, and become inseparable.
Every time they were at his gun club, he’d given her target practice lessons and she had helped with his customers.
Sully claimed that not only was she a naturally great salesperson, but the male customers were all charmed by her and therefore bought his most expensive weapons and doubled their needed ammunition.
With Sully and Randy and the guests urging her on, Charley had given it a try.
After missing three clay targets, the last one exploded in the air, and everyone clapped.
A good time was had by all. Randy had escorted the guests back to the Custis stables as Sully took Charley on a side trip to a stream that ran across Triple C Ranch-South and floated lazily through his ranch.
She’d packed their lunches, and they’d eaten deli sandwiches and potato chips while sitting on a boulder near the water.
Always enjoying the sound of Sully’s mellow baritone voice as he talked about his love of ranch life, his horses, and running his gun club, a recurring tune that had been playing softly in the back of Charley’s mind once again rushed to the forefront in full melody.
She was head-over-heels in love with Sullivan Custis.
Refocusing on the bathroom mirror now, being in love with Sully crescendoed so loudly in her head, Charley glanced at the closed bathroom door as though he might have heard her thoughts. She was crazy in love with her protector. Her defender. Her hero.
“I love you, Sully,” Charley whispered into the mirror.
“Hey, you,” Sully said from the other side of the door, making Charley jump.
“Hay is for horses!” she squealed and heard Sully laugh.
“Time to show me your costume.”
“Have you got yours on?” she asked through the door.
“Yes.”
Charley gave herself a last look in the mirror.
A light brown cap with chin-length ears covered most of her head.
She’d sliced a hole in the middle back of the cap and pulled her braid through it.
She’d drawn black eyeliner around her eyes, dabbed on extra mascara, and colored the end of her nose coal black.
She was zipped into a form-fitting, softly furred light brown, white, and black one-piece costume.
She fastened the bejeweled red collar, with the name Bingo on it, around her neck.
It delighted her that the collar matched her shiny red lipstick and red leather cowboy boots.
Placing her hand on the doorknob, she said, “Promise not to laugh.”
“I promise.”
Charley opened the door. Sully stood before her, with his large hands on his tapered hips.
He wore his black cowboy hat over his thick black hair.
A couple days of growth of black beard gave him that rough and rowdy look that was so sexy.
A black leather vest fit over a long-sleeved white button-down shirt tucked into a pair of snug blue jeans.
A black leather belt, fastened by a big silver buckle boasting his gun store logo, matched his black cowboy boots.
“You look gorgeous, cowboy,” Charley said. “Where’s your costume?”
Sully pulled back the left side of his leather vest to display a silver star. “Wyatt Earp, Deputy US Marshal here to protect the—” he paused to overtly look her up and down, “sexiest beagle puppy west of the Mississippi River.”
Charley did a little curtsy. “Thank you.”
“Gotta tail?” he asked. Charley turned around and wiggled her fanny, making the brown and white tail dance along with her braid. “Hell. Do we have to go to the party? Can’t we stay here, and I’ll strip you outta that costume instead?”
“No.” Charley giggled, twirling to face him. “We told everybody we’d be there.”
“Damn.” Sully groaned. “We’ll say we forgot.” Pulling her to him, his strong arms closed around her as his lips touched hers. His mouth opened, and their tongues played.
Then leaning back, she said, “Don’t try to sidetrack me, Wyatt. We have to go.” Sully grumbled, but let her tug him out of the bedroom. Charley grabbed her purse and the keys to her little red convertible that they’d picked up earlier that day. “Want to take my car?”
“Yes, since you drove it here, I’d like to drive it to Triple C-West and see how it handles,” he said.
“Please do the honors, Marshal Earp,” Charley said and dropped the keys into his hand.
“Okay, but we’re coming back to my house as soon as we can.”
Sully drove them to Triple C Ranch-West, where orange lanterns hung from the pine trees along the driveway. Several cars were already parked near the house. More orange lanterns lit up the pretty, wraparound porch decorated with hanging ferns, white rockers, and carved pumpkins.
As Sully stopped the car, Charley said, “We have to stay for at least an hour.”
“We’ll see,” Sully said with a cocky grin and got out of the car. She did as well and met him as he came around to her side and returned her car keys. She put the keys in her purse and her phone in her pocket, as he said, “Your Mini Cooper handles nicely.”
“Glad you think so,” she said. The insurance company had only been willing to repair, not replace the slashed tires. “Thank you for the new tires, Sully.”
“You’re welcome. I want you to be safe on the highway,” Sully said. “If it rains, snows, or is icy, these country roads can get treacherous. So be safe and don’t speed.” As they paused in the lights of the porch and driveway, he said, “I think the convertible top looks like new.”
“It looks just like the day I bought it. Thank you for recommending that body shop.”
“My pleasure.” He nodded toward the main road as a hay wagon full of people, pulled by two big horses, turned onto the long drive. “Here come Cash and this week’s dude ranchers.”
Charley and Sully waited for them beside the porch steps.
As the hay wagon neared, Cash and little Carly waved to them.
Cash hopped down from the driver’s seat and turned to Carly, who’d been beside him.
A middle-aged man who Sully identified for Charley as Sam Reynolds, Cash’s ranch foreman, handed Carly to her father.
“Happy Halloween,” Cash called to them as Derek strode onto the porch.
“Happy Halloween,” Derek called to everyone. His costume consisted of a buckskin vest over his shirt, jeans, boots, and a buckskin cowboy hat. “Welcome. Where’s Tracy?”
“Coming in the car with Kellie,” Cash said.
“Who’s Kellie?” Charley asked Sully.
“Sam’s wife. She manages the restaurant at the Lodge.”
No sooner had Sully spoken than a car carrying the two women just mentioned turned onto the ranch.
Kellie parked the car, and Cash helped Tracy out.
Cash introduced Sam and Kellie to Charley, and then the two senior employees of Triple C Ranch-East assisted Derek in ushering the dude ranchers inside to the party.
“I love the hayrides,” Tracy said to Charley and Sully. “But we decided with me being just over eight months pregnant, I should travel by car this Halloween.”
“You and Carly look absolutely adorable, Tracy,” Charley said.
“Thank you. So do you,” Tracy said. She and Carly wore matching pumpkin costumes. “This costume was conducive to my pregnant belly.”
“It’s perfect,” Charley agreed.
Cash was dressed similarly to Sully and Derek, but with a white mask across his eyes.
A truck pulled into the driveway next. Chase and Jade were in the front seats, along with nine-year-old Colton and seven-year-old Courtney in the back seat.
Two weeks prior, Chase and Jade had taken Charley and Sully to dinner at the Lodge so that Charley could meet Jade and the kids.
Charley found Jade as kind and gracious as she was beautiful.
In past years, Chloe said Jade had come to the Halloween party as Marilyn Monroe, and that would certainly fit the woman whom Chase called his blonde bombshell.
As for Chase, he was handsome and formidable as always, a man clearly devoted to his wife and children.
This evening, Chase wore a black mask over his eyes.
Jade, with her blond hair, was a perfect Glenda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz.
Courtney as Dorothy, her hair in pigtails, wore a blue and white dress and sparkly red shoes.
Colton, doing his own thing, was a ninja.
“Happy Halloween!” Chloe Cooper Brevard said in greeting.
Dressed like a lady from the wild and wooly old West, Chloe stood in the doorway of the big country house.
Earlier that week, the Brevards had treated Charley and Sully to a backyard barbecue.
Like she had with Colton and Courtney, Charley had fallen in love with the Brevard children: Cooper, who was ten, and the eight-year-old twins, Austin and Abilene.
Entering the house, for the next few minutes it was a veritable free-for-all as everyone, including the dude ranchers, greeted everyone.
The children had put together special treats for each other, and those were busily exchanged, too, along with hugs.
“I’m Miss Kitty tonight and you remember my husband, Marshal Matt Dillon,” Chloe Brevard said to Charley, referring to Derek as they stood near a unique indoor fishpond in the foyer. “Your costume is adorable, Charley. As you know, we are big fans of dogs and cats here.”
“Yes, thanks. It’s nice to see you both again, Chloe,” Charley said. “Marshal Dillion, I believe you have something in common with my date, Marshal Earp.”