Chapter 19 Lane
“What are you doing here?” Lane demanded.
“I came to see you. Everyone knows that your engagement was fake. You did that just so that you could make me jealous. We were meant to be together,” Rachel said.
She wrapped her arms around Lane and kissed him, trying to press her tongue into his mouth. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away.
“Girl, you are out of your cotton-pickin’ mind. I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last female of breeding age left in the world. You are mean, superficial, and have no concept of what it means to be a real human being,” Lane said. “You need to go home.”
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked. “I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
Lane could tell that she was trying to muster up a tear, but he wasn’t sure if it was because she wasn’t getting her way or if he had hurt her feelings. Either way, he didn’t care. He had enough of her.
Colton had walked in right before the kiss and simply shook his head when Lane looked over at him for help.
“You don’t know the meaning of love,” Lane said. “The only person you care about is you. If my bank account didn’t look like it does, you wouldn’t look at me twice. Go home.”
“I don’t have a return ticket and no way to get to the airport,” she pouted.
“How did you get out here?” Colton asked.
“Uber.”
“Well, you can just Uber back,” Lane said.
Unfortunately, there was no one available to pick her up, even for the large sum of money that Rachel was offering.
“Fine. Colton and I will take you back,” Lane growled.
“I’m going to have to wait by myself at the airport for a plane,” she said.
“That sounds like a your problem,” Lane said, out of patience with the woman.
The two men were nice enough to carry in her luggage for her, setting it down just inside the front doors and left.
“Do you think we should have at least helped her find a cart?” Colton asked.
“Nope. She is not a nice person, and she was not invited here,” Lane said.
“True enough.” Colton was quiet for a second and said, “You know that Taylor saw Rachel put her arms around you and kiss you. She took off when you put your hands on Rachel’s shoulders.”
Lane groaned. “Great. Hopefully, she realizes that I had nothing to do with Rachel coming.”
“Maybe, but maybe not. You high-hatted her at the barn-raising. On top of that, according to Willow, people in town have said a few things about her that were very ugly. She’s struggling right now.”
They stopped at The Bullhorn for a drink.
Lane noticed that people stared at him until he looked back at them. Then, they would quickly glance away.
“What are you going to do about the situation?” Colton asked.
“I guess there is only one thing to do. I’m going to ask her to marry me for real,” Lane said.
“Why?”
“Because I managed to fall in love with her,” Lane said. “After Catherine, I never thought that I would love another woman but then Taylor popped into my life. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but it’s been long enough.”
“It’s like that cliched saying, the heart knows what the heart wants,” Colton said. “I’m not surprised that you love her – just a little surprised to hear you say it.”
Lane headed for the cabin as soon as they got back to the ranch. He could tell it was empty as soon as he opened the door. The silence screamed at him. His heart shattered as he read the note. A lump formed in his throat and his stomach twisted into a knot.
He tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. Either she had her phone turned off or she didn’t want to talk to him. He can’t say that he blamed her. It was Lane’s suggestion that had gotten her into the mess to begin with.
It was late and the diner was likely closed, so he spent a restless night tossing and turning, thinking about Taylor. He was angry with himself for hurting her and hoped that he could talk to her before she decided that she hated him.
Lane was at the diner as Alice was opening the diner. “You have to help me. I need to talk to Taylor.”
“You’ve hurt her enough,” Alice said coldly, glaring at him as though he was wearing horns.
“Please listen. You don’t understand. I love her. I want to ask her to marry me – for real,” Lane said.
Alice studied him, trying to figure out whether he was being honest.
“I swear that the last thing I want to do is to cause Taylor any more pain. She won’t answer my call or my text that we need to talk. I have to find her.”
“Fine,” Alice said. She scribbled down an address for him and told him, “If you hurt her, I swear that they will never find your body.”
“Understood,” Lane said.
He quickly drove to the address Alice gave him. Lane had never been so nervous as he was standing at the door.
The door opened and a tall woman, beautiful enough to make most men take a second and third look, stood in the doorway holding a cup of coffee. Her face was perfectly made up and her blond hair framed her face.
“I know who you are. You aren’t welcome here,” she said.
“I need to talk to Taylor,” he said.
“You’ve done enough,” the woman said, blocking his way.
“It’s okay, Melissa,” Taylor said.
Melissa turned around and studied Taylor for a second and then nodded. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Is Diablo, okay?” Taylor asked.
“He’s fine,” Lane said. “When I left this morning, Sam was giving him apple chunks and petting him.”
“Good.” An awkward silence hung over the room like a cold wet wool blanket.
“Will you take a walk with me?”
She hesitated for a minute and then nodded.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Melissa.”
Taylor stepped on the porch and blinked a couple of times at the bright sunshine.
“I’m sorry for the way I treated you when we had the barn-raising. I didn’t mean to ignore you. I just had a million things going on in my head and around me.”
“No worries,” Taylor said.
“I’m also sorry about Rachel. I didn’t invite her here and sent her packing. Colton said you saw her kiss me and must have thought that she and I were a thing.”
“It was convincing,” Taylor said. “Especially in light of all the gossip that’s been going around.”
“About that. I know that you’ve been the brunt of all the gossip, stares, and all that. I’m so sorry. I never intended for it to get out of hand like that. In retrospect, I should have realized that Mom would go a bit overboard,” Lane said.
“Apology accepted,” Taylor said. “I agreed to it, knowing there could be consequences.”
They had arrived at the park, and they slowly walked over to the swings. Taylor sat down in one and stared off into space, not looking at Lane.
“Taylor, please look at me,” he said.
She slowly turned her head.
“Although it was certainly not my intention when I hired you, somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you.”
Her eyes got wide, but she didn’t say anything back.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
“Are you just asking me to get the yappers off my back?”
“No. I’m asking you because I love you and I can’t imagine my life without you in it,” Lane said.
She smiled and said, “Yes.”
Chapter 20: Taylor
“This is the perfect day for an outside wedding,” Alice said. “The sun is shining and there’s not a cloud in the sky. It’s not too hot and not too cold.”
“I guess the Good Lord approves of us getting married,” Taylor said.
“He should. You two were made for each other,” Willow grinned.
Everyone watched as Melissa carefully applied Taylor’s makeup, using eyeliner and shadow to highlight Taylor’s eyes, and added just a little bit of blush and lip gloss.
Willow had already braided Taylor’s red hair and wound it around her head like a coronet. Tiny carnations were tucked into the crown.
Caroline sighed heavily and said, “Since it was an outdoor wedding, we could have invited a lot more guests.”
Taylor laughed and said, “I think that we have plenty. Seven brothers with their plus ones, Robert, Sam, Franny, and Della, their plus ones along with some of our close friends is more than enough people.”
“Hmph,” Caroline said.
Laughing, Taylor hugged her soon-to-be mother-in-law. She knew that while Caroline loved to throw huge parties, she was thrilled that Lane finally found someone to settle down with.
“You could have at least let me send you guys on a honeymoon,” Caroline said. “You could have gone on a cruise, to the Bahamas, or Hawaii.”
“We might go on a trip sometime but probably not to one of those places. We’re more likely to go on a hiking or camping trip,” Taylor said. “But right now, I want to get my horse ranch up and going. We’re merging the two, but I’m running the horse training aspect of it.”
“Do you have something borrowed, something new, something old, and something new?” Alice asked.
“I have your pearl necklace and earrings that I’m borrowing,” Taylor said. “My garter is blue. The veil was yours, so it is old. The bracelet that Melissa gave me is new. I’m all set.”
Alice helped Taylor slip on the simple white satin dress with a lacy overlay. There was no train or anything fancy.
“You’re beautiful,” Willow said.
“Thank you,” Taylor replied shyly.
A light knock on the door let the women know that it was time. Alice looked at Taylor and hugged her tightly.
“I love you so much,” Alice said, wiping a tear away.
Caroline hugged her, too, and the two mothers hurried outside to take their place.
Jim smiled and said, “Are you ready?”
Taylor nodded. An image of Carl popped into her mind. She had loved him so much, and the last time she had been led down the aisle on her father’s arm was to marry Carl. Instead of feeling sad, though, she felt as though Carl was smiling at her, glad that she was happy.
Melissa went into the hallway and placed her hand on Colton’s. Willow walked out on Ryder’s arm.
They walked down the stairs and outside. Everyone stood, as Taylor walked down the aisle on her father’s arm. Her heart fluttered as she saw the tall handsome man waiting at the altar for her.
Brother Ayhart smiled at Taylor and then began the ceremony. “Friends and family. We are gathered here today to witness Lane Johnson and Taylor Williams be joined together in holy matrimony.”
Taylor suppressed a grin as she heard a small sob come from her mother. Alice always got emotional at weddings, even when the bride or groom were casual acquaintances.
“The bride and groom have written their own vows. Lane?”
“Imagine my surprise when I was trying to hire a ranch hand and a woman named Taylor walked into my office cock-sure that she could do the job as well as any man. I had my doubts, but you quickly erased them. You worked as hard as everyone else, and you did it with a smile. Along the way, you brought light into my life. You mended my soul and then you stole my heart. Taylor, you made everything in my world right and I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“Taylor?”
“You were the enemy but my only hope of getting back my beloved ranch. Somehow, though, enemies became friends, and then so much more than that. You taught me that it was possible to heal from a broken heart and to find love again. You brought peace, comfort, and happiness into my world again. You brought sunshine into my life and shattered the darkness that had hovered about me. I’m proud to walk through this world by your side.”
“Lane Johnson, do you solemnly swear to take this woman, Taylor Williams, as your lawfully wedded wife; to forsake all others; to have and to hold; through sickness and health, through richer or poorer, until death do you part?”
“I do,” Lane said.
“Taylor Williams, do you solemnly swear to take this man, Lane Johnson, as your lawfully wedded husband; to forsake all others; to have and to hold; through sickness and health, through richer or poorer, until death do you part?”
“I do,” Taylor said.
“By the power vested in me, by the great state of Colorado, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride,” Brother Ayhart said.
Taylor looked into Lane’s chocolatey brown eyes, smiling softly. Her heart beat a million miles an hour as he lowered his head. Lane pressed his lips against Taylor’s. Lightning exploded and thunder clapped around them their souls melded together as one.
“Lane, Bro, save some for the bedroom,” Colton said, tapping Lane on the shoulder.
Grinning, Lane pulled apart and looked at Taylor.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
Brother Ayhart grinned and said, “May I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Lane Johnson.”
Everyone clapped and threw birdseed as they walked away from the altar and outside of the tent.
A second tent was set up for the reception. The DJ that Caroline had insisted on hiring set up while the photographer took tons of pictures. Several more people showed up for the reception.
The first song was Nat King Cole’s song When I Fall in Love, It Will Be Forever.”
Lane put his hands around her, pulling Taylor close to him. Taylor smiled into the loving eyes of her husband. The love she felt for him surged through her. Her heart thudded in her chest and butterflies exploded in her stomach.
He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Their breaths mingled and the world slowly disappeared, until it was just the two of them alone together.
Taylor smiled as everyone wished them well. She and Lane danced, ate, cut the cake, and accepted good wishes from everyone.
Finally, though, it was time for them to be alone. She felt a little shy as they stood together in their bedroom. He unzipped her dress and it fell to the floor. They slowly undressed each other, their hands and mouths exploring their lover.
They fell into bed together, their bodies entangled. They took it slow as they made love for the first time. Hot waves of pure ecstasy exploded through them as their bodies met and they became one.
Taylor snuggled close to Lane, her heart rate slowly returning to normal. He kissed the back of her neck and said, “I love you, now and always.”