Cowboy, Stay with Me

Chapter Thirty-Six: Traditional Man

Sean gulped and was glad he was alone because he knew he was probably slightly ashen in the face right then.

Holding something tight in his pocket, he headed inside the house.

###

Martha was still in her cast and wheelchair, even though her leg should have long since been healed by now. She was lounging back, sipping a glass of ice tea while she gossiped with Grandma Flora, when Sean walked in.

"Oh, why, hello there, Mr. Marshal, sir!" Martha tittered, patting her hair. She'd gotten her salt and pepper hair cut into a new bob recently.

Sean paused in the doorway to grin at them. "Evening, ladies." He drawled, tipping an invisible hat to them.

"Would you like a glass of ice tea, Sean?" Flora said wryly. "Lucy's just out in the paddock with Travy, they'll be back soon."

"Oh, that's fine, ma'am, thank you, but I'll have to take a rein check on that. I was wondering if the menfolk were about, actually. There's something I need to ask them."

Flora's eyebrows shot up and she and Martha exchanged a quick glance. "They're in the main office, just down the hall. Oh, you know where it is!"

Sean smiled at their obvious fluster, deliberately torturing them a bit by remaining entirely nonchalant, as if nothing special whatsoever was afoot.

He knew it made them crazy, but he just couldn't help himself.

They both put their heads together as soon as he'd strolled casually away, whistling with his hands in his pockets.

"Oh! Do you think he's gonna finally propose?!" Martha squealed softly, glancing at the door with bright eyes full of vicarious delight.

Flora crossed her arms and pursed her lips. She'd been raised a good Christian woman, after all. "He had better, if the boy knows what's good for him!"

###

Grandpa Leroy and Guy were going over the books together in the main office, just as Flora had said they were, but they were also smoking cigars, even though they'd both promised their womenfolk that they were quitting.

Sean smirked at their guilty expressions when he walked in.

"It's okay, I won't tell on ya." He assured them, sitting down across the long desk from them.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Guy asked him flat out. He believed in always being blunt to the point of brutal honesty.

Sean appreciated this because he, too, believed in getting straight to the point. "I would like very much to ask for your blessing, from both of you, to ask Lucy to marry me."

Leroy leaned back in his chair and puffed on his pipe thoughtfully. "Well, you hardly asked us for permission to knock her up, I don't see why you should start asking for permission now! The girl obviously loves the hell outta ya and it's ultimately her choice."

"Yeah," Guy grunted, squinting at Sean as he inhaled a cloud of cigar smoke into the air, "maybe you outta ask my mother for permission, for that matter, everyone knows Flora's the one who runs things around here."

Leroy nodded shamelessly. "It's true."

Sean started to smile in mild exasperation. "Is that a yes, gentlemen?"

"Well, I suppose it goes without saying that if you take her, you had better darn well honor and cherish her forever.

"You best not go running off again at the first sign of trouble. And if you hurt our little girl, at all, in any way, well, I think you're familiar with mine and Pa's personal gun cache, yes?"

Sean saw Leroy conceal a wince and he granted Guy a small smile that wiped Guy's expression of smug superiority away at once.

"Are you threatening a US Marshal, Mr. Davenport?" Sean asked softly. He respected the hell out of both of the older men, but he was also an alpha male and he knew he needed to stake his claim on Lucy firmly or they would never respect him.

"US Marshal or no," Leroy backed up his son, always, "if you break our Lucy's heart, we'll kill ya."

Sean grinned. "Fair enough."

They all laughed heartily after that and shook hands then they insisted he smoke a cigar with them to congratulate him preemptively.

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