Mistletoe Mayhem: Clean Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 1) (8 page)

              “Well, what’s going on here?” Dean asked, looking around at all of the paraphernalia when he came in the door.

              Tessa and Sawyer explained as they gathered it all up, putting it neatly back in the cardboard boxes it had been in.  They stacked them in a corner and then Sunny and Tessa began getting supper.

              Sunny asked Sawyer, “Are you in a lot of pain?”

              She was a twenty-seven-year-old, beautiful brunette with Tessa’s dark blue eyes.  She looked just like Tessa had when she’d been Sunny’s age.  Although she was technically Sawyer’s aunt, they’d been raised more like cousins since she was only six years older than him. 

              “Right now, yeah, but that’s just because I’ve had it down all day.  When we’re done with supper, I’ll go over home and put it up,” Sawyer replied. 

              Sunny said, “I’ll go get you some aspirin.”  She left the kitchen.

              “Mike was telling me that they’ve recently been making some improvements to aspirin, making it more potent and refined or something like that,” Dean said.  “Half the time the stuff he tells me is over my head.”

              Tessa chuckled.  “There have been times when having a genius for a son has been difficult, but also very convenient.”

              Sawyer said, “Yeah.  He’s a human encyclopedia.  It was great when I needed to know something for school.  I’d always just ask him first and most of the time I didn’t need to look up stuff.”

              Sunny came back and gave Sawyer a couple of aspirins.  They talked about the ranch as they ate supper and Sawyer enjoyed the time with them.  It was nice having his grandparents practically to himself, something that didn’t happen very much.  He knew it was a little selfish, but he couldn’t help it. 

Dean coughed a little here and there, a complication left over from the respiratory illness he’d suffered when he’d contracted the same meningitis that had made D.J. sick.  Sawyer noticed the way Tessa’s mouth thinned a little whenever he did.  He couldn’t blame her for being scared.  His grandfather had almost died from the disease.

However, although he was older now, Dean was healthy other than the slight cough that plagued him during cold weather.  Even with gray hair, he was still a handsome, strong man, although he didn’t do the heavier ranch work anymore.  Sawyer smiled to himself over the fact that even though Dean was a year younger than Seth, he was the boss of the ranch.

At the conclusion of the meal, Sunny walked with Sawyer over to his house.

              “I heard that Devon came to see you at the hospital,” she said.

              Sawyer groaned.  “I forgot that there’s no real privacy around here.  Yes, she did.”

              “What was that like?”

              “Torture.  She brought me cookies.”

              “It was torture that she brought you cookies?”

              Sawyer said, “No.  The cookies were great.  Cora made them.  Seeing her was torture; we exchanged words.”

              “I see.  That was nice that she brought you cookies.  She didn’t have to,” Sunny said.  “You only usually do that for someone you like.”

              “Or pity.  It doesn’t matter why she did it.  It’s very clear that neither of our positions have changed.”

              “She was just afraid of losing you, Sawyer,” Sunny said.

              “Like I said, our positions haven’t changed.  She should have supported me,” he said.  “It’s not like I wasn’t afraid of losing her, too.  Guys go off to war and even if they’re married, women sometimes find someone else.  Some of my buddies had that happen to them.  I was taking just as much of a risk as she was, but I wanted to serve our country.”

              “I know, and I admire you for that.  I actually thought about going into the Red Cross like Hailey did, but with Pa getting older, I thought I’d better stay home and work the ranch,” Sunny said.

              “You would have done great with the Red Cross, but I think you were right in staying home,” Sawyer said. 

              “Devon broke it off with Teddy,” Sunny said.

              Sawyer was surprised by her abrupt statement and fumbled a little with his crutches.  Sunny steadied him.  “She did?  How come?”

              Sunny smiled.  “Think about it.  Not long after you come home, she brings you cookies and breaks up with the man she’s been seeing for several months.  You do the math.”

              “You’re seeing things that aren’t there,” Sawyer said, swinging up onto the porch.  “Besides, there’s no way I’m going to ever let myself get involved with her again.”

              Sunny opened the door for him.  “It’s none of my business, but—”

              “You’re right; it’s not.  I love you, Sunny, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring this up again.  The subject is closed,” he said in a surly tone as he entered the kitchen.

              “Fine,” Sunny said, angrily turning on her heel and going back home.

              D.J. and Frankie were sitting at the kitchen table and had heard the last part of their exchange.  Sawyer could tell that they had and said, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

              “Ok,” D.J. said.

              Sawyer was just about to lower himself into a chair when Skip burst into the kitchen from outside.  “Hi!” he said loudly.

              He startled Sawyer, who almost fell over when he got off balance.  Skip grabbed him, putting an arm around him.  “What are you tryin’ to do?  Kill yourself?” Skip scolded him.  “Sit down.”

              “I was trying to—”

              “You shouldn’t be trying to do anything but sit down.  You break that thing again and Dr. Walker’s gonna kick your ass and break
that
.  Is it possible to break your rear end?” Skip asked.  “I don’t know.  That would be bad.  You’d have to lie down or stand all the time.  How would you go to the outhouse?”

              They laughed at his ramblings.

              “Oh!  He’s getting married, or he might be; they have to talk about it.  But they might.  He’s happy about it.  I didn’t know.  Did you?” Skip asked Sawyer.  “He never said anything until today and I saw them.  They held hands.  In town, no less.  They might have somewhere else, but I’m not sure.  Do I smell cherry turnovers?  You make the best turnovers, Mrs. Samuels.”

              “Skip!” Sawyer said, holding his hurting sides.  “Who the heck are you talkin’ about?  Who is
he
?”

              “Joey, of course,” Skip said, pacing a little.  “Haven’t you been listening?”

              Frankie said, “Yes, but you didn’t mention any names.”

              Skip frowned.  “I didn’t?  Oh, jeez.  That was pretty stupid.  I guess I’m just so excited.  I’ll be best man or you might if you can stand up by then.  You could use a chair.  That would be ok.  We’ll be best men together.  The two best men.”

              Sawyer whacked Skip in the stomach when he got close enough.  “Will you start at the beginning, please?  You’re not making any sense!”

              “Ow!  That was uncalled for.”  When he got excited, Skip couldn’t sit still.  “I went to Elliot’s this morning and Joey was walking along holding hands with Snow Song.  Holding hands!  Can you believe that?  I was so surprised.  I mean, I know he always tries to get her to go out with him, but she always turns him down.”

              The three Samuels were stunned.

              “My cousin Snow Song?” Sawyer asked. 

              Skip rolled his eyes.  “Of course your cousin Snow Song.  How many Snow Songs do you know?  It’s not a common name.  Turns out they’ve been seeing each other for six months.”

              “Six months?” D.J. asked.

              “Yeah.  Raven caught them down at camp last night,” Skip said.  A funny look crossed his face.  “I, um, guess Raven wants them to get married.” 

              The other three knew that there would be only one reason for that—Joey and Snow Song had been intimate.  Skip always tried to be sensitive about that subject because of Sawyer being an illegitimate child.  It had been a source of tension between the Bensons and Samuels for a while since Jackie’s father, Dex, had blamed D.J. for Jackie’s death because he’d gotten her pregnant.

D.J. groaned.  “Oh, boy.  I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m really not.”

Skip said, “But he loves her.  He really does.  He’s never cheated on her.  She didn’t want anyone to know because of her being half-Indian.  You know how people are right now about that.  There’s been some new people moving into the area and they don’t understand how it is around here.  I guess some people have been making it miserable for Snow Song because Joey flirts with her the most out of any of the girls.”

Frankie said, “But he goes out with other girls, Skip.”

“That was just an act so that no one suspected they were seeing each other,” Skip said.

Sawyer said, “I can’t believe he kept this a secret for so long.  I had no clue.”

“Me, neither, and we’re his best friends.  He must really love her if he worked so hard to make sure no one knew because she didn’t want them to,” Skip said.  “They’re having a meeting at camp tonight about it.  Well, not the whole camp, but their families.  Just their parents and Joey and Snow Song.  Wow, their kids are gonna be good looking, huh?  She’s so pretty and he’s a handsome guy.”

Sawyer said, “Slow down, Skip.  We don’t know that they’re gonna get married.  I mean, do they
want
to get married?”

“I don’t know.  Things are sort of mixed up,” Skip said.

“I guess so,” Sawyer said.  “I don’t envy either of them right now.  I’ll bet their parents are livid.”

D.J. remembered how furious Dean had been with him when he’d learned that D.J. had fathered a child out of wedlock.  Dex had abruptly shown up with Sawyer in a basket, shoved the basket at D.J., informed him and Tessa that Jackie was dead, and left three-day-old Sawyer with them.  He’d also told them that he and his wife, Freda, had wanted nothing to do with Sawyer.

Dean had given D.J. the worst tongue-lashing of his life while D.J. had held Sawyer and cried with shame.  But even though he’d been ashamed of his own actions, he’d never been ashamed of Sawyer.

The moment he’d seen Sawyer’s little face for the first time, the baby had ensnared his heart and the two had been almost inseparable.  D.J. had only been eighteen at the time, but he’d been a very responsible and mature father.

He’d worked full-time at the newspaper, which he co-owned with his cousin, J.R., and his twin sister, Katie.  It had just started taking off at that time and he’d taken Sawyer with him almost every day.  He’d rarely relied on other people to watch his son.  Sawyer had been a constant joy to D.J. and then to Frankie once she’d come on the scene.  He’d been such a cute, funny child and no one had been able to refuse him very much.

D.J. said, “I’m sure they’re all very upset about it.  I hope they can work it out.  Raven’s very traditional about that sort of thing.  He’s going to demand that they get married.”

Frankie nodded.  “That’s right.  They’re so young.”

“They’re right about the age I was when I had Sawyer,” D.J. said.  “I was wrong to be with Jackie, but I’ve never regretted having you, Sawyer.  You know that.”

Sawyer nodded.  “I know.  I don’t really think about it much, so talking about it doesn’t bother me.”

“Let’s go down to camp and see what we can find out,” Skip said to Sawyer.  “I brought our car.”

Sawyer had planned on taking it easy that night, but he was as curious as Skip to see how it all panned out.  “Ok.  Let’s go.”

              As soon as Skip and Sawyer arrived at camp and alighted from Skip’s car, Sawyer caught sight of Devon and his stomach clenched.  Why did she have to look so beautiful in her jeans and black wool coat? 

Sawyer wanted to go back home so he didn’t have to associate with her, but he didn’t want anyone to know that she affected him so much.  He put up his barriers as he made his way over to the central fire.  Skip helped him sit down and then seated himself.  Raven’s cousin, Reckless, sat at the fire along with his wife, Brook.

Reckless smiled at Sawyer.  “I am not surprised to see you two.  Word travels fast.”

Sawyer smiled.  “Yeah.  Did any of you have any idea?”

Brook said, “No.  It was a big shock.”

“What do you think is gonna happen?” Skip asked, knowing how close Reckless and Raven were.  “What did Raven say to you?”

Reckless smiled.  “If he gets his way, they will be married before too long.”

Devon said, “No one should be able to force them to do that.  That’s Joey and Snow Song’s decision.  We wouldn’t even be having this issue if Raven hadn’t spied on them.”

Reckless said, “There are times when a parent must resort to such measures to look out for their child’s welfare.  What if she becomes pregnant?  Should they not marry?”

Sawyer said, “That’s why both of them should have been stronger and not let themselves get into this situation.  I wish I’d known.  I’d have talked some sense into him.”

“Me, too,” Skip said.  “But Joey’s always been impulsive.”

Devon looked at Sawyer for a moment and then dropped her gaze.  “It’s like they say; sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants.  And sometimes nothing can make the heart stop wanting it.”

The group fell silent after that, just waiting quietly while a very serious deliberation took place in the house across the clearing.

*****

              Voices were raised and points of view exchanged inside Raven and Zoe’s house, but not by Joe.  He remained uncharacteristically quiet, listening and absorbing it all.  Zoe finally noticed his odd behavior.

              “Joe, you’ve hardly said anything,” the beautiful redhead said, adjusting her glasses.  “What are you thinking?”

              Joe pursed his lips and rubbed his chin a little.  “I’m thinkin’ that we’ve got bigger problems than just their premarital relations.”

              Raven’s brows drew together.  “What do you mean?  This is serious.”

              Joe sighed and shifted a little.  “I agree, but there’s something else we need to think about.  Joey turns eighteen in April, right before he graduates.  If this war is still on, he’ll be called up.  You know how quickly they’ve been snapping up every eligible man.”

              The house grew quiet as his statement sank in. 

              Lacey’s heart twisted in her breast as she thought of another son leaving home to face so much danger.  “So many of our men have already gone, especially since they changed the age ranges to include the younger men and some of the older men.”

              The last time the Selective Service had called for more men, they’d widened the scope from twenty-one to thirty-one years of age to eighteen through forty-five years of age.

              Joe gazed at Joey and Snow Song who sat close together.  “You might not like this, but I agree with Raven.  If you love each other as much as you say you do, get married.  If Joey gets drafted, you’ll be together and just in case any kids come along after Joey goes, which happened with Emily and Bobby, that baby will be legitimate.

              “Not only that, but things are really squirrely in a lot of places and they’re throwing people in prison just on the suspicion of anti-war or anti-government views.  So letting it be known that you two are getting married in case he goes to war and that he’s willing to fight for our country will set a good example,” Joe said.  “It comes with being who we are.  In times like these, everyone is watching everything we do.”

              Raven’s fist clenched.  “They are insane!  People are becoming hysterical instead of listening to reason!”

              “I know,” Joe said.  “I agree with you, but right now, you can’t say things like that out in public.  We’re in a better situation than some places about this because I can keep us a little secluded.  Since I’m part of the county committee for the Montana Council of Defense, I can assure them that everyone is behaving and supporting the war effort.

              “Since I’m a mayor, my word carries a little more weight than some other fellas’ does.  But everyone has to do their part, including doing things that we normally wouldn’t do.  Like getting married so young and making a show of being willing to go fight for our country,” Joe said.

              Joey’s heart throbbed with apprehension, but he would do his duty.  “If that comes to pass, of course I’ll go.”  He looked at Snow Song.  “Can we have a few minutes to ourselves, please?” he asked the others.

              Raven sighed.  “Yes.  Perhaps that would be best.”

              Once they were alone, Joey took Snow Song’s hands.  “I love you so much and I’ll do anything to protect you.  They’re right.  We should get married.  Not only because of what they said, but mostly because we love each other.”

              Snow Song said, “This is all so sudden and not how I ever imagined getting engaged.”  She steeled herself and looked into his eyes.  “But, I agree.  If—”

              He put a finger over her lips before dropping down onto both knees.  “When I was fourteen, I fell half in love with you.  I thought you were the most beautiful, brave, smart girl and I think so even more now.  I never thought anything would come of it, though. 

              “But when you told me that you felt the same way about me, I fell the rest of the way in love with you.  I know that we’re young and I know that people think I’m just like my father, and in a lot of ways, I am, but not when it comes to you.  Since you kissed me in the barn that day, there’s been no one else I wanted and I know that I never will.  You’re the woman I love and you will be until I die.  Snow Song Dwyer, will you marry me?”

              Usually his eyes shone with devilish good humor, but at that moment they reflected utter sincerity and his expression was completely serious.  How could she refuse him when he was looking at her with such love?  Her heart swelled and she didn’t want to refuse him.

              “Yes, Joey, I’ll marry you,” she said, smiling.

              His posture deflated with relief; he’d been holding his breath while he’d anxiously awaited her answer.  “Oh, thank God!”  He fished around in his pocket until he found what he was looking for.  “This wasn’t meant to be an engagement ring, but I’m improvising, so bear with me.  I was gonna give it to you for Christmas, but I guess Christmas came early.”

              The ring sparkled brilliantly in the lamp light.  She would recognize that sparkle anywhere.  Although there was no stone setting, the gold-backed solid band of quartz shone so brightly on its own that it didn’t need any. 

              He slipped it on her finger and they kissed until they were breathless.  They slowly parted, smiling into each other’s eyes. 

              “Does that mean you like the ring?” he asked.

              Snow Song laughed.  “Yes, I love it.”

              Joey kissed her again and got up off his knees.  “I guess we’d better let the folks know, huh?”

              She nodded.  “Yes, we should.”

              No sooner had their parents reentered the house than Joey said, “She said yes.  We’re gettin’ married.”

              All four parents gaped at the couple, who hugged each other happily.

              Lacey asked, “Is that why you wanted us to leave?”

              “Yeah.  I was nervous enough as it was.  I couldn’t do it with you all in the room,” Joey said.

              Snow Song held out her hand so they could see the ring.  “Isn’t it beautiful?”

              Zoe smiled.  “Is that quartz?”

              “Yes.  It was supposed to be a Christmas present,” she said.

              “It’s lovely, Joey.  You couldn’t have picked a prettier ring for Snow Song; she loves quartz so much,” Zoe said.

              Joey thought his chest was going to explode from all the pride he felt inside, both in having just become engaged to the girl of his dreams and by the compliment from Zoe.  “Thank you, Zoe.  I appreciate that.”

              Lacey hugged Snow Song and congratulated them while Raven grasped arms with Joey and thumped him hard on the shoulder.  Joey was positive that he’d find bruises, but he never winced.  Joe smiled and hugged both of the young people, but he was still a little subdued.

              Joey and Snow Song ran out to the central fire to start spreading their good news and their parents followed them.  Shouts of surprise and joy rang out and a couple of people brought out some whiskey to celebrate the occasion.

              Skip teased Snow Song, “At least you don’t have to worry about changing your last name.  Mr. Dwyer adopting Raven came in handy, huh?”

              Snow Song laughed and nudged him.  “Shut up.”

              Sawyer said, “You have plenty of practice writing that signature, too.”

              Joey said, “It was strange saying her whole name to propose since it’s my last name, too.  Maybe that’s a sign that it was always meant to be.”

              Sawyer was so happy and relieved that things had worked out for his friend and his cousin.  However, he wondered why their parents were slightly subdued.  Then he figured that even though the couple was happy, that didn’t mean that their parents didn’t wish things had happened differently.  He planned to get Joey alone at some point in the next day or two to find out exactly what was going on.  For the time being, though, he joined in the revelry, raising his cup along with everyone else in a toast.

              Devon watched her little brother and his new fiancée and couldn’t believe that they were getting married.  Snow Song was such a good match for Joey, she thought.  She had all of the attributes she could imagine Joey preferred in a girl and she was no pushover, which was also good.  Joey’s choice in a ring was sweet and thoughtful.

              It was amazing that they’d been able to hide their relationship for so long.  Now they knew why Joey had kept pursuing her so hard; they were already a couple and it was a great cover.  She chuckled to herself at their ingenuity.  However, she knew that Joey being married wouldn’t change him from being the impulsive, reckless, charming, funny young man that he was.

              Across the fire, her gaze suddenly clashed with Sawyer’s and the expression on his face clearly said, “That could have been us.”

              It was a hard look and Devon couldn’t look away for a few moments.  Then she got up and walked out of the firelight, disappearing into the darkness. 

Skip was goofy, a little scatterbrained, and sometimes hard to shut up, but he was also very observant, and he hadn’t missed the little exchange.  Unlike his father, who was hopeless with tools or sharp objects, Skip was good at fixing things.  His Uncle Will had taught him all about fixing furniture and mechanical devices and he excelled at it.  But how did one fix a broken relationship?  He didn’t have the answer to that question right then, but he tucked it into what he called the “Question Cabinet” in his mind.

This was a place where he filed questions to be answered when a solution came to light.  He’d had success with this method in the past and he hoped that he would with this, too, since it would help two people he loved.  As he drove Sawyer home, he talked about the evening, but all the while, his active mind worked on the problem.