Ring of Fire Book Two of the McKay's (6 page)

She sighed heavily as Wendy passed by
. "Wow, that must be a good dream…" Wendy chuckled.

Letty woke
, reddened and glanced up to see Wendy standing in the doorway.

"What's got you hot and bothered?" Wendy giggled.

"Wouldn't you like to know…?" Letty got up off her bed and straightened it, ignoring the guilty feeling Wendy evoked, after all she was entitled to dream. Still, his insinuation into her life puzzled her. He hadn't done the insinuating, she had. He attracted her without effort.

She wanted to know more about Hank Silver!

Chapter Four

Julie's wedding was held outside on the property, the guest list held 500 names, half from Cade's family and friends, and half from Julie's. Kellie was so excited about being a bridesmaid and walking down the aisle with Aiden, her new friend. Aiden was twelve, a little older, and the first boy Kellie had ever liked that much. He was in her class and Kellie would come home talking about him every day. So he was not only invited for the wedding, but at Kellie's insistence invited to be in the wedding. After all, he'd been to the ranch on numerous occasions already to ride with Kellie.

Kellie was beaming that beautiful morning as she checked on the flowers that covered the beautiful archway where her parents would take their vows. Almost eleven now, she wanted to make sure everything was perfect for this day.

"So were the flowers alright?" Letty asked her as she bounced up the stairs.

"They are perfect. The c
ake's arriving soon. Daddy's folks are coming and a lot of his friends. Which means half the town will be here."

"Your father is a popular man in these parts." Letty smiled at
Kellie. "And I would say that was partly because he knows how to handle his men fairly, and is an all-around good guy, wouldn't you?"

"
Most definitely. I know everyone likes him. He used to go into town a lot and spend time talking to people, he says. Mom's friends from work are coming, too; I'll know a lot of them. This is going to be one of the best days of my life," Kellie explained with a huge smile on her face.

"Yes darling, it is. I'm so happy for all of you
," Letty cried, grabbing Kellie for a hug.

"I'm just glad Grandpa made us come back here.
I know he's watching and smiling too. I've seen a lot of pictures of him lately and I can just imagine him smiling." Kellie looked into Letty's eyes. "I wonder if he knew this would happen?"

"
That's an interesting thought, isn't it? I'm sure he's watching too," Letty said and moved away to brush a tear from her eye.

"You miss him a lot, don't you Aunt Letty?" Kellie asked
, following her into her room.

"I didn't know it showed so much…" Letty wiped at her eye.

"So does Mom. I catch her crying every now and then, and I know it's Grandpa she's crying about. But I think he's very happy today."

Letty smiled at her. "Is your dress pressed
? If not, I can press it when I do mine." Letty tried to change the subject. Talking about her father had become somewhat painful and this was a good day; she wouldn't spend it crying.

Kellie nodded.
"Thanks…"

"Okay, it'll be in here when you want to change." Letty let her know as she set up the ironing board.

"I love you, Aunt Letty," Kellie cried and went to hug her again. "Thanks for helping Mom get this set up."

"What are sisters for?" Letty smiled.

Moved by Kellie's affection, Letty hugged her back and then insisted she check on her mom to see if she needed anything pressed too.

Letty glanced out the window and saw that Hank was working in the corral and Caleb was helping him.
She watched them for a few minutes, both men moving about the corral with the ease of a woman cleaning her house.

She wondered if Hank
would be in the wedding, but she wasn't about to ask. Then she wondered if Caleb would be around.

There was entirely too much to be done though to worry about such matters.

Julie burst into her room with a smile on her face. "I don't need a thing pressed, the dress has been hanging in the closet for a month, and looks great. But thanks for asking, honey." Julie smiled.

"Okay, well, I was pressing Kellie's dress and thought I'd check with you.
No use all of us ironing at once." Letty laughed. "So, are you ready for this?"

"Oh yes, more than ready. I can't believe you helped me get this going so quickly. I couldn't have done it alone, you know.
I mean, all the phone calls you made to make sure everyone got their invitations, all the arrangements you made that takes a lot of time. Oh Letty, I'm so on cloud nine right now, I can't even think straight. I'm nervous, but not because of anyone else, just giddy from all the excitement of it, and how quickly it came together. A lot of my friends from work will be here thanks to you and a lot of Cade's family and friends too."

"You aren't supposed to think on days like this, just feel, and be happy." Letty laughed.

"I am…and I wish this for you too." Julie smiled, holding Letty's hand for a second as they reached out to each other.

"Maybe someday!
" Letty asked, "Have you had your bath yet?"

"Yeah, everyone's been in there but you…" Julie cried.

"Good, hope you all left me a little hot water." Letty nodded.

"I wouldn't bet on that. Oh Letty, I'm going to be married today. I'm going to be Mrs. Cade Weston. A few months ago
, my life was so different…So many things have changed."

"Do you miss that life?" Letty asked.

"Not one bit." Julie laughed.

"Good.
Now…have you eaten?" Letty asked.

"No, but I'm about to go grab a bite, can I bring something up for you?"

"No, I had a bite of sausage earlier. I'm going to finish this ironing then jump in the tub."

Julie nodded and went downstairs.

Letty smiled at how happy Julie and Kellie were. She wished them so much.

She glanced at her Navy dress that Julie helped design for the bridesmaids and smiled. Julie had picked Navy and white as her colors with blood red roses and white baby's breath for her bouquet. The design was unique and lovelier than most bridesmaid dresses but this wasn't her day to shine, it belonged to her sister and she'd do everything she could to make it as wonderful as Julie hoped it would be.

Sandy and Wendy were bouncing around the place, doing little things to help.

"Wow, Cade and Julie," Wendy murmured.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Letty snickered.

Sandy wandered into the room
. "Yeah, just a few months ago, Julie was about as removed from this ranch and the people on it, as she could be. Now look! And Cade, honestly, the man never went out with anyone. In fact, Wade seemed worried about him."

Letty's brow twitched
. "Yeah, but underneath it all, through all those years, there must have been something going on."

"They hadn't even dated, until she came home…" Wendy protested.

"No…" Letty eyed her. "But they had a daughter together."

Wendy's expression changed and nodded
. "Yes, they did…"

Hours later, as the wedding march played
, Letty kept looking for her father for some reason to pop out of the bushes and take Julie's hand down the aisle, but that never happened. Instead, a cousin did the honors.

Julie almost shook standing up there by the alt
ar with Cade, and Cade's face was washed with happiness as he spoke the words, "I do."

Letty glanced around for the first time during the wedding to see who all
had come and where everyone was, not realizing she was looking for Hank. Her sisters were bridesmaids, and there were cousins everywhere. Wade had been Cade's best man, as Letty expected. A few of the ranch hands had been groomsmen. Back in the back, she saw Hank and her eyes followed him as he moved to sit at the back. When he sat down she saw that Caleb was there too, both looked very nice and despite everything Letty's heart jumped for joy.

Afterwards
, there was dancing and eating and Letty kept a close eye on her niece as she headed for Hank and Caleb.

"I'm so glad you came…"
She grabbed Hank's arm.

"Wouldn't miss the boss's wedding for anything. They looked very happy." Hank smiled.

"My sister was on cloud nine." Letty laughed.

"She looked lovely," Caleb added.

"Wasn't she gorgeous?"

"Guess you'll be finding someone soon too," Caleb added.

"Oh…I don't know. Maybe…" Letty let that drift away slowly as her shy glance found Hank's.

"You know, from what your dad told me, I didn't think you would be the marrying kind." Caleb shifted his weight and pulled at the tie as though uncomfortable.

"Every woman is the marrying kind, Caleb. It's just that some shop around longer…" Letty laughed.

Hank's glance slid up and down her.

"You certainly look beautiful today," he managed.

"Thank you. And I gotta say, I've never seen either of you two looking better."

"You know, if I had a pretty woman standing here holding onto me, I'd be asking her to dance." Caleb jabbed at Hank.

Hank looked down at Letty
. "That's a good idea…Would you do me the honor?"

"Thought you'd never ask…" Letty chuckled.

Caleb nodded and smiled.

Hank's hold on her was light, as though he might be afraid of hurting her.

"So why'd you really quit law?" he asked as though making sure the conversation didn't become personal.

Letty riveted with shock.
"Everyone asks me that."

"And your answer is?"

"I don't know for sure. It's just when I came home, I realized I was happy here. I missed being here. It was like my life changed the moment I packed my bags and said goodbye to the University."

"How can you pass such an education up?" he asked.

"I haven't exactly passed it up. I can finish if I want to. It just won't be on a time schedule," Letty insisted. "Did you always want to be a cowboy?"

"Yep. Always!
"

"Wow, such a positive answer."

He shrugged and pulled her closer, relaxing against her. "My folks weren't too happy about it. But my grandmother understood. We were from a long line of cowboys. Most of my family though didn't want any part of it. They thought I was nuts for settling as they called it."

"Do you have brothers and sisters?" she asked liking the way he cradled her in his arms and relaxed as though talking about the weather.

"One brother, one sister, both out of state now with big careers and families," Hank informed her.

"And your folks, have they gotten over the fact that this was your chosen profession?"

"My folks died in an car accident, together. I was the youngest. Since my siblings were already grown and moved away, I decided to make my home here."

"So…do you live with your grandmother now?
" Letty pulled away from him to look at him in the eye.

"On the weekends, yes.
"

"On the weekends?
"

"Well, during the week I stay at the bunk house, but on the weekends I go home. She's partially blind, so I take her to the store, and church and anywhere else she wants to go."

"That's lovely, and that's where you go on the weekends. I wondered?" she asked. When his head twisted in question, she explained, "Well, I noticed you weren't on the property."

"Oh…
"

"I'd love to meet her
…sometime." Letty smiled.

"You would?" he asked
, startled by her admission.

"Any reason I can't?" she asked.

"Not that I can think of." He pulled her back into his arms.

They slow danced for a long while, neither wanting to find a new partner.

It was Kellie that brought her out of her stupor and insisted she throw the rice.

Rice went everywhere and before long Julie was leaving with her husband. Kellie would be Letty's responsibility for the next week. Letty didn't mind, she had spent a lot of time getting to know Kellie and found the two of them had a lot in common. Kellie loved to ride and her new friend did too.

Hank seemed to disappear after that and Letty didn't see him again until late that evening.

She was walking up from the barn and saw him pulling out to go home
, to his grandmother's.

Letty waved
, but Hank didn't see her.

That night her and Kellie popped popcorn and talked about their male friends together.

"So, you like Hank?" Kellie asked.

"Let's say I'm interested…"
She smiled as she brought the popcorn into the living room and they curled up on the couch, prepared to watch a good movie.