To Commit Page 17

  “I’ll try.” Stella said but her voice was hollow.

  Rance didn’t even know he was holding his breath until he exhaled loudly. “I think we’d better talk this one out rather than sleeping on it. But I want you to understand that I don’t have a physical attraction for her anymore.”

  She looped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Rance, I believe you. I trust you.”

  They sat on the bandstand, the only two people left in the barn, still warm from the big heaters that had been brought in for the party. He held her hand and tried to find the right words.

  “I knew her forever and didn’t know her at all. I’ve known you for a couple of months and it’s like our two souls have known each other forever. Does that make sense?” He asked.

  “It does.”

  “I’ve fought this but my heart won’t let it be.”

  “Me, too. Maggie and I were cleaning one day this week and she had an old Rascal Flatts CD. Have you heard “Bless the Broken Road,” the one they sang a couple of years ago?”

  “I’m a huge Rascal Flatts fan. Yes, I’ve heard that song.”

  “It talks about setting about on a road looking for a true love and how that every lost dream led me where you are, then in the chorus he blessed the broken road that led him straight to you. Well, that’s the way I feel, Rance. Looking back, I set out on a broken road and it took me on a journey that led me right back home to Brannon Inn where I found you. Every experience we’ve both had has brought us to this moment, and those experiences are what make us who we are today. Does that make sense?”

  “Yes, it does. I guess we both traveled down broken roads. Who’d have ever thought I’d end up in Oklahoma? Guess fate brought us to the right place at the right time in our lives.”

  “So what do we do now?” She asked.

  “You still interested in that lifetime thing?”

  She swallowed hard and nodded.

  “I am too.”

  “Is that a proposal or a proposition?”

  “It’s a proposal, Stella. I want the marriage license, the kids and grandkids. I want to teach my son how to ride a horse and walk my daughter down the aisle to a man who’ll never be good enough for her because she’s going to be the exact image of you and there won’t ever be a man in the world that good. I want to wake up with you, argue with you and make up after the fights. I want all of it. I lived in fear every day that you’d send a note by Lauren or Maggie to tell me it was over and I couldn’t see me without you. When I tried, it was as cold as that ice storm and as bleak as a desert. So Stella will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she said simply as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, erasing all fear from the C word forever.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Stella’s hands shook as she picked up the white daisies, tied up with a wide satin ribbon. She’d chosen a pale blue brocade western cut suit. The long straight skirt ended at the top of her new ivory satin lace up boots with a two inch dress heel, making her almost as tall as Rance. She wore the pearls Granny Molly had worn the day she married. Rance’s mother gave her the handkerchief she had carried when she married Rance’s father. Lucy provided something blue with the very garter she’d worn when she married Wes Brannon.

  “Look at you,” Roseanna and Jodie peeked in the door.

  Stella held out her arms. “Rosie! Jodie! What a wonderful surprise.”

  “Oh, no, no hugs today, girl. We’d get make up on your dress or squish your flowers. We’ll blow kisses.” Jodie put her fingers to her lips and sent a kiss across the room to the bride.

  “How are you Rosie? I haven’t seen you in years? Did you see Dee’s baby boy? Isn’t he a doll? I want a whole house full just like him.” Stella talked too fast to cover the nervousness.

  Roseanna’s eyes filled with so many tears that she had trouble catching them with a tissue. “You’re making me cry,” she said.

  “I’m sorry. What’s the matter Rosie?”

  “Oh, it’s not you or the wedding. I’m tickled to death that you’ve found someone like Rance. I met him down stairs and Jodie has known him for a long time. She says he’s a good man and if she says so, then he must have a gold heart and wings.”

  Stella put an arm around her old friend. “Then what is it?”

  “There’s a situation I have to deal with but I’m not ruining your day with details. So on with the wedding. Look here, here’s your father, all ready to walk you down the steps,” Roseanna and Jodie headed back down the steps.

  Wes smiled at his daughter. “You look beautiful. I’m glad you’re getting married here and I’m glad you gave the Inn to Maggie and Lauren. It’s just what she needs right now. Maybe someone like Rance will cross her path when the time is right.”

  “It was my inheritance when I needed it in the worst kind of way. Now it’s Maggie’s when she needs it. I’m glad you and mother are both here. I used to dream about a time when you two would get back together. I guess you have, kind of, only on a very different sort of plane. It seems right and fitting, somehow, that today we’re all at the Inn. It’s the place to heal our souls and begin new lives,” she said philosophically.

  “I think we’ve got a role reversal,” he said past the lump in his throat. “You’re playing the part of the parent but you’re right. A place to begin new lives . . . to heal old hurts. I love you, Stella.”

  “I know,” she smiled brightly. “Me, too, Daddy. Is Rance nervous? Lord, you’d think this was the first time around for both of us.”

  “I understand Rance today,” he said.

  “I bet you do. I bet you were every bit this nervous when you married Sandy,” the corners of her mouth turned up. “And I bet Momma and Junior will find out this summer when they tie the knot. Is it time yet? Where is Momma anyway?”

  “Down stairs, gossiping with Rance’s mother. They’ve hit it off really good. Now, Sandy, she’s taken to his grandmother more. A few years ago Sandy and your mother would have started the third World War if they’d had to share the same town, and now they are actually civil to each other in the same kitchen,” Wes said.

  She laid her flowers aside and wrung the hanky like it was filled with water. “Sometimes I wonder about how things do work out. Daddy, tell me I’m doing the right thing.”

  “Why? Your heart must have already told you that you were doing the right thing or you wouldn’t be where you are today. It’s all right to have jitters and doubts. Don’t ever take Rance for granted. Love each other for today because that’s all you get.”

  “Whew, we’ve talked more about heavy things this day than we ever did in our lives. You didn’t tell me things like that the first time,” she hugged him.

  “Nope, but I should have. Mitch wasn’t the man for you and I knew it but didn’t think I had the right to say a word since I’d left your mother for Sandy.”

  Lucy spoke from the door where she’d been listening, “How right you are. Rance looks like a movie star and he’s waiting. Maggie held up two fingers when I came up the stairs, so I guess that means two minutes. You should have let her stand up with you, Stella. After all she is your sister.”

  “Rance chose his grandpa and you’re my best friend, so I wanted you. Did you see Dee and Jack and the new baby boy?”

  “Yes, Jaxson is too pretty to be a boy. When do I get another grandbaby?”

  “Is nine months too long?” Stella teased.

  “Not if it takes that long to make one as pretty as Jaxon. That Jack can sure make pretty babies. I bet Rance does a good job of it, too.”

  “Hey,” Wes said, “you mean I don’t run anyone any competition?”

  Lucy hugged him briefly. “In your day, honey, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. But it’s time for us old dogs to step down and let the young ones have a chance. Now give your daughter your arm, and let’s get this show on the road. We’ve got a couple of hours to drive to the reception after the wedding, and honey, me and Junior are going to show you and
Sandy how to cut a rug at the dance.”

  “Bet me,” Wes grinned.

  Lucy slowly descended the stairs and took her place in front of the fireplace.

  Rance waited, his eyes never leaving the staircase until he saw her at the top, dressed in blue and carrying daisies.

  Stella’s heart beat so fast she was afraid it would explode before she reached the bottom of the stairs, and then it settled down to a steady thump as the distance closed between them. By the time she reached his side, every single doubt she’d had was gone. This was right and like her father said, she only had today. And today she was marrying Rance. She’d take care of tomorrow when it got here.

  “Dearly beloved,” the preacher said the familiar words, “we are gathered amongst a few friends and family to share in the union of Rance Thomas Harper and Stella Sue Brannon. Who gives this woman in marriage?”

  Wes put her hand in Rance’s. “Her family and I do. Be good to her, son.”

  “I will sir,” Rance said

  She handed her bouquet to her mother and faced Rance.

  “Stella, I listened to you tell me what you wanted one day on the top of Bromide Hill. You said you wanted a lifetime thing and I’m prepared to give it to you today. My heart in exchange for yours for a lifetime. I promise to honor, respect and protect you and our love forever and ever. I give you my promise with all my love,” he said as he looked deeply into her eyes.

  The preacher cleared his throat. He had not been prepared for vows at that particular time.

  “Rance,” Stella said, “I know I told you I wanted a lifetime thing out there on Bromide Hill, and that’s truly what I want. But I want more. I want a daily thing, too. I want to open my eyes every morning to find you beside me and the last thing I want to see at night is your face before I shut my eyes. I want to realize that every day is a blessing when I can spend it with you, and so I give you my love, not just for a lifetime, but today. And tomorrow I will wake up and give it to you again.”

  “I accept and return the vow. Now, I have this ring which is a pledge of my love to you.” He placed it on her finger and kissed the tips when he finished.

  “And I have this one for you.” She put the matching plain gold band on his finger. “I pledge my love to you with it, forever, amen.”

  They both turned to face the preacher, who smiled. “I think my job has just been finished. But I would like to say a few words,” he closed his book. What he’d been about to say didn’t fit, somehow, so he simply bowed his head and said a simple prayer.

  “And now by the authority vested in me by the state of Oklahoma, I pronounce you man and wife. Rance you may kiss your bride.”

  Stella put both arms around his neck and claimed her husband.

  They were met at the barn door in Dallas by Rance’s grandfather. “Half the state of Texas is in there and they’re all waiting for you to cut the cake and dance the first dance so the party can begin. We got the barbecue ready and the caterers have been working since daybreak. Cake is beautiful.”

  Stella slipped her hand in Rance’s. “Then let’s go cut the cake and dance.”

  The barn had been transformed into a wedding chapel with yards and yards of white bridal illusion draped everywhere. A six tiered cake waited on a round table flanked by two eight foot tables on either side. One of the tables held a German chocolate groom’s cake and the other a bubbling champagne fountain. Not one thing intimidated Stella like it had when she attended the New Year’s Eve party. She was part of the family now and accepted by everyone.

  The photographer pointed to the cake. “We’ll start the pictures here. Rance put your hand on the knife first and Stella, you put yours over his. Now look right into the camera,” he said and captured the moment for all eternity.

  When they’d finished listening to a toast from Grandpa Grayson, one from Lucy, and still another from Cindy and Grady, the band played “Bless the Broken Road,” and Rance led Stella to the middle of the floor.

  She kissed him passionately to the whoops and hollers of everyone present. “What a nice surprise.”

  “Hey, I’ll hire the band to play this all night for that kind of reaction,” he said softly into her ear.

  “Deal,” she said.

  “And now, Rance and Stella have asked that everyone join them for the last part of the song, and give them their blessing and support by finishing the dance with them,” announced the band.

  “I love you,” Stella said.

  “I thought you might, but do you like me?” Rance asked.

  “Yes, sir, I truly do,” she said.

  They left amidst a shower of bird seed at midnight. They would spend the night in Dallas and fly out the next morning. Then they had a whole week in complete privacy with nothing to keep them company but each other.

  He carried her over the threshold at the hotel, kicked the door shut with his boot heel without breaking the kiss he started when he opened the door.

  “Help me get all these buttons undone,” she whispered.

  “All in due time” he said. “We’ve got a whole lifetime ahead of us.”

  She pushed him back on the bed. “No, honey, we don’t. Some things are lifetime things. Some are right now things.”