Where the Deer and the Antelope Play (Code of the West) (23 page)

Selena winked at Tap. “What a shame,
mi vaquero
.”

Tap stood up and rubbed his wrists. “You boys are really funny. You dang near cut off my circulation.”

“What a crybaby.” Pepper's bright green dress made her blonde hair look like pure gold. “You would have done the exact same thing to them if they were the ones getting married tomorrow.”

Tap gazed around the room. He broke into a grin. “Yeah, but it’s a lot more fun when it happens to someone else. Don’t just sit there, Stack. Play something for us.”

Tap walked over and gave Pepper a long hug. “Looks like you captured me.”

“It was only partly a joke. I don’t want either of us leavin’ the yard until after the wedding.”

“I just need to ride out and check the cows in the mornin’, but that’s not goin’ very far. You wouldn’t have any objection to—”

“Not a chance,” she insisted. “You’re not leavin’ the yard u
ntil you say the vows, and that’s final.”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“Do you honestly think I’ll change my mind?”

“I don’t reckon so.”

“You’re absolutely right, Mr. Andrews. So you might as well just sit down and relax. You’re not going anywhere.”

“You can settle over here with me,” Selena offered. “There’s plenty of room in this rocking chair for two.”

A glare from Pepper silenced her.

The evening was filled with food, songs, jokes, laughing, teasing, and some serious moments of reflection. While the others played cards, Pepper sat in Tap’s lap in the rocking chair by the fireplace.

She leaned her head against his chest. “It’s been a nice evening.”

Tap rocked back and forth for a while. Then he cleared his throat. “Miss Pepper, the room isn’t exactly filled with Col
orado’s most upstanding citizens. But they are our friends.”

“They don’t try to be someone they aren’t.”

“Nope. Cowboys and dance-hall girls, Indian lawyers and a shootist or two. That’s who we are.”

“How about ranchers?”

“I hope I’ll be allowed to be a rancher someday. But we’re likely goin’ to lose this place.”

“I know.” She put her arm around his shoulder and kissed his neck. “But we’re in it together. And we’re askin’ the Lord to lead us. That’s a whole lot more than we had six months ago.”

“Six months ago I was wastin’ my life away at the Arizona Territorial Prison.”

“I don’t even want to remember what I was doing,” she admi
tted.

He stroked her blonde, wavy hair. “It’s important for me to have something nice for you.”

“It’ll be tougher for you than for me. You know how little I’ve had in my whole life. I don’t need very much.”

“We’ll have it someday, babe. If not here, the Lord must have something better for us.” He laid his head on her hair.

Pepper knew there would be sadness in his big, brown eyes, so she refused to look at him. “Are you all set for tomorrow?”

“I surely hope so.”

“I brought your ruffled shirt with me. I can hardly wait to see you in it.”

Tap hugged her tight and kissed the back of her neck.

“Careful down there,” Selena called. “You two haven’t said those vows yet.”

Pepper stuck out her tongue and didn’t let go of Tap. “What time is everyone coming out?”

“The McCurleys and crews are going to leave before daylight and arrive by eleven. The wedding will start at noon. The reverend says it won’t take more than fifteen or twenty minutes. I figure we’ll have dinner, and then they can all get on the road by two.”

“That should put the whole passel back at McCurleys’ by dark.”

Pepper rocked the chair back and forth herself. “Can you imagine it, Mr. Tap Andrews? Tomorrow night we’ll be sitting here by the fireplace—all alone.”

“I don’t aim to spend much time in the front room.”

“Neither do I,” she whispered. “How does your ear feel?”

“I seem to be hearin’ everythin’ fine.”

“And your shoulder?”

“Can’t lift my left arm above my head, and it itches like crazy. It’ll heal.”

“Tap . . . when you were hurtin’, I told you some things . . . and now I don’t know if you heard them. I’ve got to tell you before the wedding, or I’m goin’ to regret it—”

He put his finger over her lips. “Shh. We aren’t goin’ to talk about the past.”

Pepper felt tears well up in the corners of her eyes. “Tap, I really have to—”

“Now, look, Miss Pepper .
 . . I’m thick-headed and maybe slow, but I’m not dumb. I know a whole lot more than you think I know.”

She sat straight up in his lap and looked him in the eyes.

“What do you know?”

“I know about a miscarriage. And regrets. And tough times. And dumb doctors who worry about you carrying b
abies . . . and all that.”

“You do? You mean, you were listenin’ out in the barn when I told you?”

“Yeah, and I was listenin’ at that roadhouse corral with Dillard and Pardee.”

“But you never said anything. You never responded. How come?”

“I guess I just didn’t know what to say.”

“Well, this is your last chance. What do you want to say?”

He put his hands on her cheeks and gently held her face in front of his. “I love you, Pepper Paige and I’ll try my best to make you a good husband.”

She kissed him on the lips. “Knowing all that, you still want to marry me?”

“Lady, I’d marry you if you told me you had fifteen kids living in an adobe in Mexico.”

“You would?”

“Yep.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Do you?”

“Nope. They’re living in Tucson.”

“It doesn’t matter. You can’t chase me off now. You’re the one, darlin’. Me and the Lord have already made up our minds.”

Pepper laid her head back on his chest. They rocked back and forth in front of the fire for a very long time.

About midnight Tap, Wade, Wiley, and Stack hiked out to the barn carrying a dimly flickering lantern.

“Looks like the snow’s lettin’ up,” Stack reported.

“That’s good. Got to make sure the reverend and the others can get here tomorrow,” Tap added.

“How many you figure will come out?”

“Oh . . . Pepper thinks about twenty all together, but I don’t anticipate that many will want to brave the weather. Besides, we’ve got a houseful already.”

After Tap fluffed up the fire in the tack room woodstove, the four stretched out in their bedrolls on the wooden floor. The smell of burning pine, the crackle of pitch, and the o
ccasional yellow flash of fire flickering from the cracks in the stove danced across Tap’s senses.

“You know, me and Pepper surely had a passel of dreams about how we were goin’ to fix up this place. It’s goin’ to be hard to give ’em up.” Tap sighed and rolled to his stomach. “Now if you boys promise not to tie me down, I think I’ll get some sleep.”

“We ain’t promisin’ nothin’,” Stack joshed. “So you jist better keep one eye awake all night.”

As it turned out, Tap did sleep very little. But it had not
hing to do with pranks from Stack and the others.

Lord, I don’t really know what I’m doin’ gettin’ married now. I don’t have anything to offer. She deserves better. Just a little cabin and a claim—at least I should have that much. Life on the drift is tough enough for a man—but for a lady? Of all women she needs some stability. I want it for her, Lord. I want it real bad.

Tap woke up with the fire already blazing. His toes and face were hot for the first time in several weeks.

“Boys, he’s still here. I guess the weddin’s on for t
oday.” Wiley raised up on his elbow and watched Tap pull himself out of the bedroll.

“You ain’t gettin’ cold feet about this, are you?” Stack teased as he watched Tap rub his toes.

“I’m anxious to get this weddin’ over. I can hardly wait until you three ride out of here, and I don’t have to listen to this constant ribbin’.”

“A little testy this mornin’,” Wade joined in.

“I suppose it’s nerves,” Stack added. “Say, Wade, did you stew around like this before you and Rena got hitched?”

“Nope. I didn’t have time.”

“What do you mean?” Wiley asked.

“Me and Rena had been hittin’ it off fairly good ever since Stack and Tap left us at the train station.
Real
good.
¿Comprende?
So about a week ago we were walking down 16th Street in Denver. I remarked, ‘Maybe we ought to get married before we go down to Arizona.’ And she replied, ‘Mr. Eagleman, are you asking me to marry you?’”

“‘Why, yes, ma’am, I am. Miss Rena, will you marry me?’”

“What happened then?” Stack asked.

“Everybody around us clapped.”

Tap tugged on his boots. “And what did she say?”

“‘Mr. Eagleman, if you’re serious, my answer is yes.’ ‘Of course I’m serious.’ Then she said, ‘Prove it.’”

Wiley slipped his suspenders over his shoulders and straightened his britches. “Prove it?”

“Then she said, ‘There’s the judge’s office. Let’s get ma
rried right now.’ And we did."

“Just like that?” Wiley questioned.

“Yep. Sure beats being nervous for months.”

“Nobody gets married just like that,” Wiley protested.

“Rena does.”

Tap pulled on his coat. “She does have a knack for gettin’ her way. I’ll go see that the fire’s built in the house and that some coffee is boilin’.”

To his surprise, the girls had already stirred around. Rena gave him a pot of boiling coffee and a plate of sourdough biscuits and shoved him back out the door.

“You men make a breakfast out of these. We don’t have time for anything else. Until the wedding, this house is off limits for you, Mr. Tap Andrews.

“Pepper said you already had your wedding clothes out in the barn, and she does expect you to shave. Would you please tell Mr. Eagleman to do the same?”

“Yeah, sure, but I .
 . .”

“Go on. Quit muttering around.” Rena scooted him out the door.

After breakfast Wiley rode out and checked on the cattle. Wade and Stack kept Tap company. He fed the horses, shoveled out the stalls, split some firewood, and filled the troughs with water from the well. Then he polished his boots, shined his spurs, brushed his store-bought coat, and stared at the ruffled shirt hanging beside it.

By 10:30 several guests had arrived, trudging through the snow. Not long afterward, the McCurleys arrived with Reve
rend Houston.

“Those drifts are four feet in some places. It’s going to be mighty hard gettin’ back to the hotel,” Bob McCurley pr
ojected.

“I’m sure once we break open a trail, the others can follow in the tracks,” Tap responded. “You know, Bob, I don’t even know some of these folks.”

“Pepper’s made quite a few friends around the hotel.”

“What time is it?”

“About eleven.”

“I reckon it’s time for me to dress up.”

“By Pepper's orders, you are to come to the back door and stay in the kitchen until one of us comes and signals you out,” McCurley instructed him.

“Right. The back door. I’ll be over pretty soon.”

Wiley and Wade left for the house. Stack was standing guard next to a bowl of hot water when Tap entered the tack room.

“Come on, you promised Pepper you’d shave.”

“I don’t know if I got time.”

“You’ve got time,” Stack insisted.

Washing his face, neck, and hands, Tap shaved and began tugging on the ruffled shirt.

“I knew an old boy from New Orleans that wore a shirt like that once,” Stack mused.

“Don’t you start in on this shirt, Lowery.”

“He got shot for hidin’ aces in the ruffles.”

“That’s enough.”

“You’re right.” Stack chuckled. “It looks darlin’ on you.”

“That’s it. I’m not wearin’ it.” Tap began to unbutton the shirt.

“Oh, no. You wouldn’t want to break Pepper’s heart now, would you?”

Tap pulled his Colt and waved it at the big piano player. “One more word out of you, and your shirt will have more holes than my hat.”

“Sorry, Andrews, but you can’t wear the six-gun. Reme
mber?”

“I’m wearin’ my hat.”

“Not while you say the vows.”

“I’ll hold it then. Is my tie straight?”

“Yep. You look about as comfortable as a stuck pig ready to roast.”

Stack and Tap walked over to the house. The snow was fal
ling more heavy and thick than before.

They slipped into the pantry and kitchen from the back door. The room was stacked with steaming food and smelled of roast beef and apple pie.

Wiley peeked in at them. “Five minutes ’til doom. I mean, noon. Whewee. That’s a nice shirt, Andrews.”