marrying her to protect her. Maybe he wanted her, too, but men could want without loving, hadn’t she learned that from watching her mother flit from man to man?
She wiped the consternation from her face and clung to Butch’s hand while she teased Mrs. Denton about the series and the bad guy who might turn out to be a hero.
“Give it up,” Cassie Denton told Esther with a sly laugh. “You’ll never find out until they actually air the last episode of the season. But,” she added, “you’re going to love it. Honest.”
“Okay!” Esther said, and grinned from ear to ear.
* * *
She’d been full of joy and laughter until they got back to the cabin and went inside together. Everything was different, now. She wasn’t a house guest, or even a fiancée. She was a wife.
She looked up at Butch with all her worries in her blue eyes.
He smiled. “Nothing’s changed except we’re married,” he said softly. “So suppose you change into some comfortable clothes and we’ll go out to eat? Then we can go riding, if you like. J. L. said we could go around the bridle path at his place, and he’s got plenty of horses.”
“Oh, that’s so nice of him! We haven’t been riding together,” she added. She hesitated, worried again that she’d put her foot in her mouth.
“I can ride, tenderfoot,” he teased, reading her expression. “I’m not graceful getting on or off, but I know my way around horses. You sweet little woman. Were you worried?”
She nodded. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, even with words.”
His chest felt twice its size. He smiled at her. “Lord, Esther, every time I look at you, I feel like I’ve won the lottery. You’re beautiful and sweet and kind.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what I’ve done in my life to deserve a wife like you.”
“Awww,” she said. She went close and hugged him. “I feel like that, too. You’re such a sweet man, Butch. I’ll be the best wife in the world, honest. I just need to, well, I need . . .” She searched for the words and flushed.
He chuckled, deep in his throat. “You need a dark room.”
She let out the breath she’d been holding. “Well, yes,” she faltered, and looked up at him. “How did you know?”
He leaned down. “I wasn’t always experienced,” he told her. “My first time, I got my zipper caught in my underwear and fell over a chair.”
She gaped at him. “What did you do?” she exclaimed.
He laughed. “I ran for my life, of course. She told everybody she knew, so it was really bad for a while. I was in the service before I had my first real experience. Fortunately, the zipper didn’t get stuck that time.”
She was laughing. “I can’t believe it.”
“She was a very sophisticated girl,” he recalled. “The one where I had the zipper issue.” He made a face. He studied her. “You’d have laughed, but not at me. You’d have laughed with me, and I wouldn’t have been embarrassed.”
She smiled. He knew her very well already. Her eyes were bright with joy as they met his. “I’d never laugh at you,” she said softly.
He bent and kissed her lightly. “You look very pretty in that dress,” he said.
“It’s off the rack,” she replied, “but I thought it looked bridal.”
“It does. Very. Okay, go get changed and let’s find something nice to eat on our wedding day.”
“We could go to the little Scottish place,” she called over her shoulder.
He scowled. “What little Scottish place?”
She poked her head out of her bedroom door. “McDonald’s,” she teased, and closed the door. She could hear him laughing, even through the wood.
* * *
They had hamburger and fries and then drove over to J. L.’s place, where one of the cowboys was waiting to saddle horses for them.
“This one is nice and tame,” the cowboy said as he led it out.
Butch’s face hardened. Did the man think he needed a rocking horse because he was disabled?
“This horse is for Miss . . . Mrs. Matthews,” the cowboy said quickly, wincing at Butch’s offended expression. He tipped his hat to her and returned her smile. “I thought you might like an easy horse at first, ma’am.”
She laughed. “I would. I haven’t been riding for a while. Thank you.”
“This one’s for you, Mr. Matthews,” the cowboy said as he went to retrieve a gelding. “Rudolph. He’s not quite as tame as the other,” he added dryly.