Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

Wedding Day After Effect

He took her hands, "I'm sorry, I should have told you, I guess I have too much on my mind."

"No more surprises, okay? I can deal with things, just remember to tell me."

He could tell by the look on her face that she meant it and he wanted to smile but didn't. He'd underestimated her and would have to be careful not to do it in the future.

"How much trouble am I in?" This time he couldn't suppress the smile, "You haven't spoken more than two words since we came back from the courthouse. You've been acting like you went to a funeral, not like a newlywed bride. Am I going to wind up having to sleep on the couch tonight?"

"I am mad at you, Travis. I feel like you tricked me into marrying you, but I don't want this to be the way we begin our marriage. You can't just take control and make all the decisions—believe me, I know what a control freak you are. If it's business, that's one thing, but you can't take control of our marriage or me. I know you're older but give me a little credit. If you'd just talked to me instead of springing your shotgun marriage on me, it would have been different."

"Sweetheart, it wasn't a shotgun marriage," he objected but she held up her hand.

"It felt that way, it felt like a surprise attack. You didn't even tell me you were planning this, or why. All you needed to do was tell me what was going on, but you didn't."

"Well, now that you know how I am, are you sorry you married me?"

"I had a crush on you when I was twelve and wanted to marry you when I grew up. Maybe that twelve-year-old girl still wants to marry you. No, I'm not sorry." But we have issues, she thought.

"You know," he said, shaking his head, "I remember seeing you at John's when you were twelve. I hadn't seen you in a few years and you were blossoming into a lovely young lady. You were practicing your barrel racing, and you took a turn too sharp and fell off your horse. You yelled "shit" and everyone started laughing. It was funny, the way you didn't bother to apologize, you just got back on your horse. I remember thinking how gutsy you were, and wondered what you'd be like when you grew up. Now I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!"

"You mean you hope you weren't deceived by the blond hair and blue eyes?" She went to him and sat on his lap.

He reached up and pulled the pins from her hair, then unzipped the dress she'd married him in. "You're festy and you've got a lot of guts. I like the way you speak your mind." He pulled off her dress and laid it on the bed, "I'm going to have to watch my p's and q's around you, I bet you'll do your best to keep me honest."

"Ha!" she laughed, "But you're right, I'll do my best, but you have to do the rest."

He unhooked her bra and removed it, "I must say, Mrs. Wheatley, I do prefer you with your clothes off."

She put her arms around his neck, "Why don't you take off yours?"

When they returned to the house the next morning, they found that Gemma had prepared a feast. Bacon, ham, eggs, waffles, pancakes, and a large bowl of strawberries sat on the table. At least her mother hadn't broken out the good china and the silver, but breakfast looked good. Gemma had also prepared a bag of sandwiches and a large thermos of coffee to take with them so they wouldn't have to stop to eat, or resort to eating at a restaurant.

Her father was going to his office late so he could see them off. All but one of her brothers and sisters were there to congratulate them. They had to endure the hugs and good wishes she had hoped to avoid. She wanted little fuss over this marriage, but it seemed that her mother had foiled her and made it a family affair.