The Cowboy's Bride (5 page)

“I know, Jake. All we can do is respect her
decision. That’s my daughter in there. I’ve seen her through cuts
and scrapes, boyfriends, cliques… she doesn’t want us in there. I’m
going to let her do it on her own, until she can’t anymore.”

“She said she doesn’t want to marry me.”

“Oh, Jake, she does. She loves you so much,
has always loved you. I think she’s just scared. Scared to love you
and then to leave,” Mary Jane said, crumbling into tears. Jake put
his arm around her and they cried together. A few minutes later,
William came out.

“You moving in on my woman, Anders?”

Jake laughed. “One Jons woman is enough for
me. No offence, Mary. I have all that I can handle right now.”

William chuckled. “I know that you do. She
didn’t mean what she said. She feels real bad about it, Jake. She’s
just stressed.”

“I hope so. I couldn’t leave. I don’t want
her to know I’m out here and make it worse for her. She doesn’t
want me here, but I just can’t leave. I have to make sure she’s
alright.”

“I think she is as well as she can be.”

Jake nodded. “I’ll wait a little longer. But
when she gets ready to go, could you please give me a heads up?
I’ll head on out before she sees me.”

“Will do, Jake.”

***

It was three days until the wedding, and
Jake went on as if it wasn’t cancelled. He built an arch for them
to marry under. It took several hours to build, but that wasn’t a
problem, because he stopped working once Tessa went to chemo. She
was still ignoring him, and it was killing him.

Thursday morning he pulled his tractor out
front and hooked the arch on to a trailer that pulled behind.
Loaded in the tractor trailer were tent stakes, a hammer, a five
gallon bucket of stain and the arch. After the trailer was loaded,
Jake pulled the tractor to the spot between their two properties
and got to work.

Four hours later, the arch was in place and
was perfect. It wasn’t fancy by any means, but it was beautiful in
its own way. Perfect for their wedding. If only Tess would forgive
him.

“What’s he doing?” Tessa asked her mother as
she watched out of her bedroom window. She could see Jake on his
tractor, pulling something.

“I have no idea. Why don’t you call him and
ask.”

“Har har…very funny, Mom.”

“Really, Tessa, the boy is lovesick and you
are killing him. Just tell him you’re sorry and get over with
it!”

“I’m not sorry, Mom. He needs to be taught a
lesson!”

“For now long, Tess? The good ones don’t
stay around waiting forever.”

Tessa huffed. “I told him I needed some
time.”

“You’ve had time. You’ve had loads of it.
Now you’re up here moping because he is moving on.”

“Moving on?” Tessa asked in horror.

“See, you aren’t over him. You love him,
dear daughter. Just call him.”

“No.”

“You are stubborn. Just like your
father.”

Tessa leaned over the sill and watched as
Jake unloaded a large arch and then moved the tractor down the
field a ways. The arch was tall and wide, and from what she could
see there was a horseshoe design toward the top. “What’s that
for?”

Mary Jane gasped and put her hands to her
lips. “Oh, Tessa. Please, tell the boy that you love him and that
you are sorry.”

“What the hell is wrong with you, Mom? You
are supposed to be on my side. I don’t need someone to boss me
around all the time. I don’t need another father.”

“Tessa, it’s a wedding arch. Look,” she
said, pointing to the place between their properties.

Tessa’s eyes widened at the romance of it
all. “It…it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s got to be one of the sweetest things
that I’ve ever seen, Tessa Marie.”

Tessa didn’t say anything as her mother left
the room. She only leaned forward more to get a better glance at
the arch. It was beautiful, and it was from Jake.

She watched him all afternoon as he sanded
and painted and got it set where he wanted. A few times he just
looked up at the arch and ran his hand down his face. Tessa’s heart
hurt. She knew that he felt bad, that he loved her, but it was too
hard to go to him, to tell him she was sorry. She didn’t want to
put him through the chemo, too. It sucked enough when it was her.
She didn’t need his pity. She didn’t want it.

***

That next afternoon she had another dose of
chemo. Her body felt weak and drained of all life. And she was
sick. This time she heaved for a few hours straight before they
would let her leave the hospital. Once she looked out the window
and saw a truck that looked exactly like Jake’s. But when she came
out, it was gone, as if it had never been there in the first
place.

When she got back to her parent’s house, she
went directly upstairs and looked out the window at the arch. It
stood, like a sentinel, guarding the two properties. It was
beautiful. But now surrounding the arch were two sections of
chairs. Tears flowed down Tessa’s face, before she lay back and
went to sleep.

***

“How’s she doing?” Jake asked Mary Jane. He
just finished working and doing chores when he saw their car pull
up to the house.

“She’s doing well today. She saw the arch,
Jake.”

Jake’s heart hammered in his chest.
“And…”

“She loves it. She didn’t want to say
anything, but I could see the look in her eyes. Keep going, Jake,
she loves you.”

“I love her so damn much it hurts. I just
wanted to see how she was doing. Is she still getting sick?”

“She was pretty sick this afternoon, but
it’s tapered down a bit.”

“How long till we find out if it’s
working?”

“I really don’t know. I’ll call the
doctor.”

“Tomorrow is the big day, and she still
hasn’t talked to me.”

“I know, Jake, maybe just a little more
time.”

Jake nodded, his throat was tight. “I’ll
talk to you tomorrow, Mary Jane.”

After they hung up, Jake went and took a
shower. He had a lot more work to do before what he hoped would be
the big day.

***

The next day it rained. That afternoon, the
arch gleamed. The white chairs were all wet, and there was a new
addition to the area, a long white piece of material for the bride
to walk down the aisle.

Tessa’s lips trembled. At three o’clock she
was still watching the arch, and that’s when she saw Jake ride up
on Midnight. Fully clothed in his tux and gleaming black shoes. The
rain held off for an hour. She watched Jake as he stood there. By
himself. Tessa cried, then threw up the rest of the afternoon.

The next morning when she awoke she looked
out at the arch. All of the chairs were gone, the white aisle, too.
But the arch was still there. Tessa sobbed loudly. Her mother came
in about halfway through her tears and held her in her arms,
stroking her back.

***

Jake felt like his insides were broken and
shattered. A few times, he looked up to Tessa’s window and saw her
watching. She knew he was out there, and she let him wait. And he
waited all night long.

He didn’t know how much longer he could
wait. Sure, he wanted her for a lifetime, and it was easy to say
that he would wait forever for a chance with her, but he didn’t
know if his heart could take it.

After taking the chairs and the aisle cloth
back and packing them away, Jake decided that he would give her
more time. What she was going through had to be tough, and he
wanted to help her through it, but it wasn’t for him to decide,
unfortunately. All Jake could think of was what if’s. What if they
had met up for drinks earlier, what if he never saw her that night,
what if the baby that they had hoped was there was there. What if…
Jake closed his eyes and walked into his house, stripping his suit
off and headed to the shower.

***

The work week passed quickly and the weekend
approached. Unfortunately, work was never done for a rancher. He
liked his job, he loved the animals, his way of life, his ranch,
but he wished that he could get one day where something didn’t have
to be done. There were always chores, work to be done. Jake walked
out to the barn early Saturday morning, after all the animals were
fed and loaded up the tractor. He drove out to the arch and started
unloading the trailer.

He took out the chairs and tried for a new
design. This time he had four rows of three on each side, and down
the middle he brought the same white cloth. After he stretched it
tight, he pegged it to the grown with tent stakes. When he was
finished, he got back in the tractor and drove it home.

When Tessa woke up that Saturday, she looked
out at the arch. Her hand went to her mouth and she trembled. The
chairs were back in place and the long white carpet was there, too.
The only thing absent—people.

Tessa cried once more. Feeling the sickness
invade her stomach, and she let it go. Jake hadn’t forgotten about
her. He still wanted her, even after she had treated him so
poorly.

***

At three o’clock, Jake once again rode up on
Midnight, dressed in a suit and white Stetson. This time, he had a
rose attached to his lapel. And one long, stem white rose in his
hand. Tessa watched him as he stood, waiting for his bride. She
nearly screamed as she watched him. He was calm, cool and
collected. She was a nervous mess.

She ran her hands down her hair and
clutched. Just then, a chunk of hair came out into her palms and
she did scream. The scream echoed throughout the home, and as if
Jake could sense it, he looked up to her window just then, right
before she ran out.

“Her hair is gone, Jake,” Mary Jane said.
Her voice trembled when she spoke. Jake cursed.

“I heard her scream. Was that it?”
Please
tell me that was why.

“Yes. She stood at the window, watching you,
and then she said she brought her hand down and she had a huge
chunk of hair in her hands. It’s all gone, Jake. Her beautiful red
hair is all gone.”

“It’ll grow back,” Jake said. “I don’t care
about her damn hair. I suppose she won’t see me now.”

“She has given strict instructions, Jake. I
don’t think I have ever seen her so broken. Will and I are really
worried. We’re afraid she’s…”

“She’s not giving up. We won’t let her.

***

That next day, Tessa received two dozen
white roses from Jake. They were the most beautiful flowers that
she had ever seen. They matched that of the one that he wore on his
lapel the night before.

Tessa couldn’t help it. She felt sorry for
herself. She looked out the window at the arch and felt lonely. She
wanted more than anything to just be with Jake, but the stupid
cancer would make that dream non-existent.

She felt like giving up. Jake would never
want her like this. Hairless. A freak. She couldn’t have a
perfectly round head like Sinead O’Conner. No, she had to have a
pointed top. She looked like one of the Coneheads off of Saturday
Night Live.

Tessa looked in the mirror on her door. She
had clumps of random areas of hair. But she knew if she moved her
hand down her head the hair would be out.

Tessa pulled out her cell phone and took a
deep breath. Screw it. She was going to call Jake. She needed to
hear his voice.

The phone rang three times before voice mail
picked up. Tessa felt sick. Jake always picked up her calls. Tessa
threw her cell across the room. Anger built within and she slammed
her hand down on her dresser.

“Everything okay, Tess?” Mary Jane
questioned.

“I’m just…I’m angry! Jake isn’t taking my
calls. This stupid… this cancer! This … my hair!” Tessa screamed.
“I hate this! I hate it!”

Mary grabbed her daughter and held her
tight. Tessa’s dad was standing in the hall, watching helplessly.
“I can’t take much more of this, Mom.” Tessa’s sobbed loudly,
soaking her mother’s shirt.

“Tess, God never would give you anything
that he didn’t think you could handle.”

“I’m through with God,” Tess said angrily.
“I’m through with it all.”

“Tessa, you don’t mean that. You’re just
angry. Things happen. But they make us stronger.”

“Momma, I’m tired.”

Mary Jane broke down then. It was William
that came up behind the two and held them up. “I don’t want to hear
that kind of talk from my daughter. You are a fighter, Tessa Marie.
And besides, you want to look your best for the wedding.”

Tessa cried loudly then. Her sobs turned to
hysterics. “He’s done with me.”

The moment Tessa cried, she saw the Arch in
the field. There Jake was, laying underneath the arch with a book
and what looked like a bottle of beer.

Tessa laughed unexpectedly. Her parents
turned to where she was looking and her dad spoke. “I haven’t been
happy about how this whole thing started, Tessa, but that man loves
you, and it sure as hell doesn’t look like he’s given up.”

Tessa sniffled. “No, it doesn’t, does
it?”

Chapter 6

J
ake put his hands
behind his head and let himself relax. Looking up at the arch he
constructed for the wedding, he noticed a few things that he wanted
to change. One, there was only one horseshoe and one heart. Jake
thought he could easily remedy that. He would carve two hearts
together and on either side, a horseshoe. Maybe he’d even add their
names. Jake pictured the wedding several times, watching Tessa walk
down the aisle toward him, his heart beating to a quick tempo. Her
beautiful eyes full of love.

It had been three weeks now since he had
seen Tessa, other than in her window. He had a rough time sleeping,
eating was less enjoyable, and his own mom commented on the look of
his eyes. Apparently he had now wrinkles under them.