May 1999
The first thing they did at their new house was get married on the front porch. Gunner and Leah did the same, on their porch. Not quite a double ceremony. More like dueling ceremonies. First Simon and Deb, then Gunner and Leah, both married by the Baptist minister from Wheaton.
Leah looked like a little blonde elf, in white lace and a flower crown, and Deb wore a pale blue dress with slender straps that showed all of her lithe arms and shoulders and hugged those little tits so Simon could hardly stand it. She didn’t wear a crown or anything on her head, but she’d done something to her hair that made it lift up like a ponytail and then cascade down in thick black curls. Normally, he liked her hair loose and wild, but nowadays, when she had it up, he could see his flame, centered on the back of her neck. He liked to see that.
He liked to see it when he grabbed her hair and took her from behind, too.
After they said the words and were pronounced husbands and wives, the women put out a huge spread on the front lawn. Their invitation list had included the Bulls family and friends, their closest business associates, and almost everyone Deb had ever known in her life. Two hundred people had watched them all get married and now meant to dine and dance, and about twenty women had prepared to make that happen.
The Bulls had done their part as well. They’d built long tables from sawhorses and scrap wood, and they’d strung miniature Christmas lights through the skimpy new trees and around the porch. Those lights, and the old Coleman lanterns down the middle of the tables, made the whole yard glow.
Simon sat on the porch steps, drinking a beer, taking a minute to himself, watching the party. People talked and laughed, danced and played, unconcerned about their differences. Bikers and Baptists, Russians and rednecks, everybody was having a good time. A local band played country music, which Simon hated. But it was right for this day. He was a country boy now. Had himself a John Deere cap and everything, bestowed on him with a flourish by his smirking woman, on the day the house had been completed.
Deb had been right when she’d insisted that they didn’t want to seed or sod even around the houses yet but just leave it plain dirt. He’d thought it looked too ugly for their wedding. But all these feet clomping around would have torn hell out of new grass.
Practical. His woman was practical.
She emerged from the crowd of their friends and walked to him, smiling. She’d traveled a hard road this past year, but she’d arrived safe and sound. They had this new house, the fields were sown with soybeans, she planned to start up her produce business again next year, and the club had been working smoothly for almost a year now. No trouble at all since they’d made the truce with the weakened Tulsa Hounds.
And now they were married. Tomorrow, they’d get on his bike and ride east, to New England. Nearly a month away on his first real vacation since he was a kid—and hers, too. They’d see the Atlantic Ocean, visit some coastal cities, see some history. And spend a week on a tall ship cruise.
Life was good.
They’d built a house not much different from the one that had stood here for generations. A little bigger, with a couple more rooms, and a lot more updated, but the layout and look was much the same. Gunner and Leah had built a ranch-style house with five bedrooms. They had big plans for filling it up.
Simon had never before thought about kids, but he and Deb had talked about it, and maybe. Sitting on his own porch in the cool warmth of a late-spring evening, surrounded by friends and family, watching his wife stroll toward him, silhouetted by the glow of their wedding party, he thought definitely maybe. They had extra rooms, too.
“Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, beautiful.” He held out his hand, and she caught it and let him pull her to sit on the step below his, between his legs.
She rested her head on his thigh. “It’s a good day.”
He stroked her hair, playing with that cascade of curls. It had fallen a little during the day and wouldn’t take much to bring it all down. “The best day.”
“My dad would have popped his buttons over this.”
“Maybe he is.”
“Maybe.” She sighed and took his hand, pulling it down a little. She kissed his forearm, where her name was now inked, under his grandfather’s silver bracelet. “I love you.”
She didn’t need to hear it echoed back every time; they both preferred to use those words when they had real weight. So he bent down and kissed her temple, and knew she understood. He lingered there, enjoying her scent and the satin of her skin.
“You want to dance?” she asked.
They’d done their time on the dance floor, doing the required first dance, but Simon didn’t dance. There was a line dance thing happening up there now, and he was not remotely interested. Off to the side of the wooden floor they’d put up, Gunner and Leah were very nearly fucking while upright. She had her legs wrapped around his waist, showing her sparkly wedding cowboy boots, and he was nearly all the way in her personal space.
Simon chuckled. “Not in public, no.”
Deb turned and grinned up at him. “Bedroom’s right inside. Nobody’ll notice. We can break in the new bed.”
Oh, that idea was an excellent one. He stood up, bringing her to her feet with him. Then he swept her into his arms and carried her through the threshold of their new house.
Their new life.