Dixie Under Siege (A Warrior's Passion #2) - Natasza Waters Page 0,5
She wanted every dime to go toward college.
The university letters were nothing more than fire starter now.
A dark pall covered their home, as if waiting for a sorrowful event. Wasn’t a girl’s wedding supposed to be a celebration? A moment of bonding with her mother. Tears of joy and sadness from a father who’d give her away. No one had mentioned a word in regard to the wedding.
Dix had always felt like she wore an invisibility cloak in the Hammond household. A worker bee with no identity. Now she had one—the black sheep of the family.
In one week, she’d shift from the preacher’s daughter to Josh Hunter’s wife. Her gaze dropped to the cracked egg on the cement floor. Who was Dixie Hammond?
****
Dix walked the mile of dirt road to Josh’s ranch that evening. Instead of knocking on the front door of the big, old white house, she paced in the barn, knowing he’d be there at seven o’clock to take care of the horses.
“Dix?” he said, startling her. “Hey, babe. What’s going on?”
She met him in the middle of the breezeway but when he leaned in to kiss her, she stepped back. “Doesn’t any of this bother you?”
He swept the cowboy hat from his head and sat down on a nearby hay bale.
Nerves popping, she needed to move and started to pace. Josh wasn’t only her boyfriend, he was her best friend.
“Getting married?” he asked, looking calm, cool, and collected as always.
She stopped and toed a few pieces of straw. “We’re eighteen.”
He shrugged. “So what? We graduated school. You’re not pregnant, and we love each other. It’s all good, Dix.”
“Don’t you want to do something with your life?”
“I will. Dad’s agreed to give up a section of land. Gonna start building a house for us.”
Build a house? Out of everyone, Josh should understand. “You know I want to go to college in September.”
“Ranching is a decent life.” He raised his gaze to meet hers. “I had dreams too, Dix. Maybe this is happening sooner than I expected, but we’ll be fine.”
“If you have dreams, then why didn’t you say anything when our parents decided our future?”
“Because my future always had you in it. We’ve got my family to give us a jump start. We’ll make it work.”
Why wasn’t he pissed? “I don’t want to make it work, Josh. You’re not listening.”
He tilted his head. “Sounds like you’re trying to tell me you don’t want to marry me.”
She shook her head. “Not now. At least, not when I haven’t had a chance to go out there,”—she pointed toward the falling sun at the entrance to the barn—“and try to be something.”
“Be what?” Josh crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. “You don’t have anything to prove.”
“It’s not about proof. It’s about independence.” She flapped her arms in exasperation. “This is our future. Don’t you want to have a say in what happens? What we do or when we do it?”
Josh strode across the breezeway and picked up the pitchfork. “So college is in your future, but I’m not. Is that the point you’re trying to make?”
“I’m saying it’s our decision, not our parents’. Do you think what we did is a sin?”
He ran a hand through his brown hair and eyed her. “That’s what we were brought up to believe, but no, I don’t.”
“To me, it feels like marriage is a punishment. You love ranching, but isn’t there something else you want?”
Josh gnawed on his cheek while gripping the handle of the pitchfork. “Yeah, but you mean more to me.”
He meant a lot to her as well. “Then why don’t you do it?”
“I just told you why. I’m staying here because of you. Stop freaking out over this. Next week we’ll be married and you can move out of your parents’ house.”
Dix wanted to thump her head against the barn wall.
“You’re right. I don’t need to freak out because this,”—she thrust her arm toward him and then at herself—“is not happening. I am not going to throw my life away.”
The pitchfork clacked against the cement floor. Josh shoved his hands deep into his front pockets. “If you think making a life with me is throwing yours out the window, then I agree. Nobody can force you to do a damn thing. If you want to call off the wedding, then call it off. Here and now.”
“Fine. It’s off.”
His head jerked in agreement. “Great. Have a nice life, Dix.”
Her mouth gaped open. “Have a nice life? You’re dumping me because I