THE WEDDING RECEPTION was held at the Stagecoach Saloon with family and only a few friends.
Kate had insisted they elope. “Otherwise, my parents will demand a huge wedding that would take over a year to plan, and hundreds of guests that neither of us know.”
“Are you sure?” Tucker asked. He’d asked her to marry him one day at the saloon with his family all around and Kate had said yes. It was, to that point, the happiest day of his life. “I thought every woman wanted a huge wedding on her special day.”
“By now, you should know that I’m not every woman. All I want is to become Mrs. Tucker Cahill and I don’t want to wait.”
They’d gotten married at city hall with his brothers and sister as witnesses. Lillie and Mariah had planned the reception, as if he could have stopped them.
But he had to admit, it was all perfect. Tucker found himself looking around the noisy room at his family and friends. The conversations jumped from one topic to the next, broken only by laughter or friendly joking. His heart swelled as he realized how blessed he was to have everyone who mattered here, including his new nephews.
Jayce stepped up to him and handed him a glass of champagne. “To Kate and happy-ever-after,” his friend said, and they clinked glasses.
Tucker had missed Jayce. He was just glad they’d put the past behind them. Jayce had confessed that he was in love with his former receptionist and going to ask her to marry him when she returned.
Tucker spotted Kate across the room. Kate made his heart hammer, his blood run hot. She was his equal. A woman who could hold her own. A woman who challenged him.
He laughed at the thought. Kate was all that and more. She made him laugh, made him cuss, made him want to take her over his knee. But mostly he wanted to take her in his arms. Just take her.
The passion she ignited in him still surprised him. He’d thought he would never want a woman the way he did her. He’d certainly never planned to give his heart freely, but Kate had stolen his heart from the get-go.
He smiled over at his father. Maybe Ely wasn’t so crazy, after all. “Only a damned fool would let that one get away,” his father had said of Kate. Tucker smiled. Now she was his wife. His smile broadened as she caught his eye and headed for him.
* * *
“LET ME SEE THAT!” Lillie shrieked as she rushed to Billie Dee and grabbed her left hand. She stared down at the diamond and shrieked again. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?” she demanded.
“You’ve been a bit busy with your son,” Billie Dee said.
“Oh, Billie Dee, I’m so happy for you. I knew it. I just knew it. Henry Larson, right? I knew it,” she said again before Billie Dee could confirm it. “Oh, you said you were going to find yourself a handsome cowboy, and, boy, did you. Darby! Have you seen this?”
Lillie practically dragged the cook over to the bar. “You have to see this!” Lillie thrust the cook’s hand out at him. “Billie Dee is engaged!”
Darby’s gaze went from the ring on her finger to Billie Dee’s face. He burst into a huge smile. “Congratulations. I’ve known Henry Larson for years. He’s a great guy.”
“Thank you.”
“So when is the wedding?” she asked, turning to Billie Dee. “You absolutely have to let me help you with it. You can have it here! Isn’t that right, Darby?”
“She can have it anywhere she wants.”
“We haven’t set a date,” Billie Dee said. “We want a very small wedding with family only, but since the Cahills are my only family, I want you all there.”
From the bar, Billie Dee saw Ashley Jo raise an empty glass in a mock toast and smile before mouthing, “Congratulations.”
* * *
LILLIE NOTICED HER brother Cyrus standing by himself at the edge of the dance floor. Lillie also noticed that Ashley Jo had been giving Cyrus moon eyes all evening. “You should ask Ashley Jo to dance,” she suggested.
He chuckled as he glanced toward the bar. Ashley Jo quickly looked away as if embarrassed to have been caught watching him. “What makes you think she’s my type?”
“She’s female, attractive, single, and I can tell she likes you.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Go bug Hawk. It looks like he and Drey need you.”
She glanced in Hawk’s direction. Why was it that those two couldn’t stay away from each other at every event? When were they going to realize that they belonged together? Lillie sighed and said as much to her brother.
“Don’t tell me. Tell Hawk.”
She thought she just might do that. As she headed for him, Drey said something and stormed off. There was no hope for Cyrus and Hawk, she thought. “What was that about?” Lillie asked Hawk. She hated seeing her brothers upset. She would give anything to know what the problem was between Deirdre and Hawk. They’d been so in love in high school. What had happened to drive them apart? And yet every time she saw them together there seemed to be something going on as if they couldn’t keep away from each other.
“Nothing,” her brother snapped.
“Hawk—”
“Drey is getting married.”
Lillie blinked. “To whom?”
“I didn’t ask.” With that, he walked away.
Lillie fought tears. Hawk was so stubborn. If he let Drey go, she feared he would regret it for the rest of his life.
* * *
KATE WOUND HER way through the crowd, her gaze on her husband. Oh, how she loved the sound of that word on her lips. Tucker Cahill. Her husband. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her father in deep conversation with Tucker’s father, Ely. She didn’t want to know what that was about.
Her mother was visiting with Maggie, the sheriff’s wife. From the animated conversation, Kate bet they were talking about decorating. Maggie and Flint had just moved into their new house and Maggie had been busy furnishing it—a favorite subject of her mother’s.
As she reached her husband, he put his arm around her and pulled her close. “I love you, Mrs. Cahill.”
She sighed against him. “I like the sound of that.”
“There’s something I want to show you,” Tucker said and, taking her hand, led her toward the back of the building.
“I’m afraid to ask,” she said as he led her upstairs. “Tucker, this is our wedding reception,” she said, pretending to resist. “Surely what you have in mind can wait until tonight.”
He laughed as he opened the door to the upstairs apartment. “Darby and Mariah have moved out. Darby offered it to us until we either buy a house in town or build on the ranch. What do you think?”
“It’s cute,” she said, taking in the apartment. “Who decorated it?”
“Mariah and Lillie. You can change anything that you don’t—”
“I love it. I don’t think I’d change a thing. They have good taste,” she said as she walked around looking at the furnishings, the paintings, the window and bed coverings. “It really is perfect. A love nest.”
He grinned at that. “One bedroom, which is all we need right now, and a bathroom. With the kitchen and the bar downstairs...”
“This might really work,” she said, nodding as she met his gaze. “Billie Dee has promised to teach me to cook. I guess Ashley Jo is interested in lessons, as well. So by the time we get our own place...” She stepped to her husband. “I will be cooking you amazing meals.”
Tucker put his arms around her. “I can’t wait to see you in our kitchen. Actually, I can’t wait to see you in every room in our house.”
She laughed. Their gazes locked and he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. The sound of music and laughter worked its way up the stairs as Mr. and Mrs. Tucker Cahill slow danced in their new apartment before going back to their wedding reception and beginning their new lives.
* * * * *
Read on for an extract from RANCHER’S DREAM by New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels