Taken to the hotel restaurant Joe ordered quail, a vegetable medley and fresh peach cobbler for dessert with homemade ice cream. They drank a fine wine and Anna Lee felt like a princess. This was a life she'd never experienced before. Up until now, Wayward was the only thing she really knew much about.
But Joe still seemed in a strange mood. She wished she knew how to relieve the tension between them.
They talked about everything, except the fact that they had gotten married. They talked about the good times they'd shared, the friends they both knew so well.
But she felt a tad uneasy about the fact that she faced a room with one bed in it, tonight. How would she convince him that he had to sleep on the cold floor? For she knew she couldn’t sleep with him, that would be carrying this thing way too far. She'd never gotten so far as to contemplate the wedding night.
Now that she had married him, what was she to do?
It wasn't a real marriage; it wasn't like he loved her that much. And she couldn't forget that.
Hells bells what would she have done with Bill? She might have run, herself.
It hadn't dawned on her that Joe might expect something of her. Would he? Did she know him well enough to expect him to be a gentlemen, even though they were married?
She tried to forget about tonight. She wanted to enjoy the sights and sounds around her. She'd never been to a place so exciting before. How could she let a little thing like getting married interfere with all this fun?
Mary Menger herself stopped by their table and wished them a happy life together. Anna Lee felt tongue-tied she was so impressed.
Afterwards, they had a late carriage ride through the streets of San Antonio, which followed the river running through the town. If he had loved her, it would have been the most romantic thing she'd ever done. But then, he didn't, and it wasn't. The love they shared was not the forever kind of love. The kind of love they shared was different. He didn't love her like a woman, he was still just rescuing her from difficult situations. Although years ago, she'd given up on Joe, now she realized what a predicament she'd put him in.
"Oh Joe, I cannot believe all of this. I never realized how stifled I'd been in Wayward." She told him. "And here, seeing the Alamo, for the first time in my life. It has an eerie feeling, as though their ghosts were here, doesn't it? You can almost feel them here, with us."
"Yes, it's part of the intrigue of this beautiful city. It's hard to believe that just thirty-seven year ago, all those men died for the state of Texas."
Joe put his arm around her as a light breeze filtered over her face. "I wouldn't know so much about this town if I hadn't been here so often to the auctions."
"I can't imagine you wanting to come back to Wayward after being here." She chuckled.
"Wayward is home, Anna. Like you I've lived there all my life. This is a place to get off to, to relax and enjoy what it offers."
"Thank you for bringing me here, on your vacation." She told him. "I love it."
"Anna, we married on the spur of the moment kind of thing. But we are married, I want us to live as man and wife." He blurted.
"You mean, permanently?" she gasped.
"Well, yes. You're the one who mentioned a divorce, not I!"
She sat very still. She felt a bit ill at ease now. What could she say, she had rushed him into this? "I don't want you to feel obligated to me, Joe. All I expected from you was the wedding, nothing more."
"But I am your husband, Anna. You're my wife, and I take it seriously. Unless, you want to divorce quickly, then say so now." Joe told her. "I suppose we can get it annulled, but if we do, we go back home and live our own lives again. It's something you need to decide on very soon. And if you want the divorce, it isn't going to keep you from being gossiped about, and you know it."
"I hadn't thought about it. I wasn't worried about the gossips, although Lord knows there will be plenty of that, too. This is the nicest day in my life, I wanted to enjoy it."
"Don't you think we should talk about it." He asked, pushing a curl away from her cheek. "Anna going through with the wedding is one thing, but when we go back, people will expect us to be and act like we are married. It's where we live. We have to talk about it. You'll move to my ranch, where we'll live."
"But surely, we won't have to pretend, will we?"
"Well, I have friends too, you know. What will they think if my wife acts like she doesn't know me?"
She reached for a curl and twisted it around her finger and stared out at the stars. "Do we have to talk about this now. I was so enjoying this."
Frustrated, he clammed up and sighed, "I guess not."
But he became very quiet and a tension surrounded them now.
Joe was right again; she hadn't thought this through. It was awkward, not knowing how he really felt? How did she feel? They couldn't act out a marriage for the rest of their lives, could they?
She hadn't solved her problem; she'd just made more.
She leaned back against his arm and he studied her a moment. Then suddenly he leaned over and kissed her on the lips once more, this time thoroughly. His lips felt like soft velvet; his day-old beard made her aware of him even more as it gently scraped her cheeks, making her aware of the kiss. She couldn't stop her response either. Her lips moved with his, inviting him to explore her sweet mouth. Her heartbeat quickened and she lost breath she was so enamored from the possessive kiss he offered.
The slightest of a sweet woodsy cologne on him, made her reach to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him closer. She felt his arm hold her, as the kiss deepened. How could he kiss her like this and not love her?
Simple, he had to be acting. But why?
When he turned her lose, she sighed, and slowly opened her eyes. No one had ever kissed her like that. She looked into his eyes and melted. She swallowed.
"I always wondered what it would be like to kiss you." He told her.
"Then why didn't you?" she murmured.
"Best friends don't go around kissing each other like that." He informed her quickly.
"I remember, it was like rules you set for our friendship. I didn't mind back then; you were older and knew so much more than I. I was just glad you were my friend. So, your no longer my best friend?" she asked with surprise.
"Nope, I believe that changed today. Today, I'm your husband." He smiled at her.
"Joe, we're moving too fast. I have to have some time to figure out where all of this is going. Don't you see?" she gasped.
"I think we've been moving too slow all this time. Maybe if I'd have kissed you sooner, you wouldn't have been jilted three times." He suggested.
"But Joe, you don't love me like that!" she proclaimed sitting up now and adjusting her dress.
"Oh, I don't know. I think that kiss changed a lot of things between us. And the way you responded tells me you might feel the same." He winked.
"Joe," she turned his cheek toward her, "Be serious. This isn't for real!"
Something in his expression changed now as he stared down into her startled face. "Honey, that's where you are wrong. You can stage all the dramatics you want in Wayward, but the fact is, we're married. Legally! And from now on, you are going to either stay married." He told her in no uncertain terms. "Or we'll get the divorce before we go home. Understand?"
Shocked she sat back and glared at him. What did he mean? Was he taking their marriage vows seriously? Surely not! He wasn't in love with her!
But the way he kissed her just now, made her wonder.
"Why do I have such little time to decide?" she asked.
"Because we are married, and once I take you, there is no going back to being a Murray. Now do you understand?"
"But it was just supposed to be temporary." She cried.
"That was your idea, not mine. You suggested to marry. I took you up on it. Now it's on my terms."
"Your terms?" she asked.
"That's right. Sometimes decisions are made on the spur of the moment. But marrying you is no joke, Anna Lee. You're either my wife or you're not. And you've got to the end of our vacation to make up your mind. Once and for all, you are going to face your own problems and come up with your own solutions. If we go back divorced, then you'll go back to your merry little life, but I won't be bailing you out ever again. If we go back married, we'll live our life together as a couple. And we'll make the best of it, however it turns out. That's what people do when they marry."
"You're angry." She cried.
"A little yeah!" he nodded and stopped the buggy.
"When you say you love me, you say it, I don't know, too easily, as though it means nothing. When and if I say I love you, I'll mean it, Anna Lee. If you can grow up, and face your own responsibilities, I might say it to you. But not until. And you've got two weeks to decide if you want to be the spoiled little girl from Wayward, Texas, or the sweet woman I know you can be. If in two weeks you decide you want to end this farce, then we will get a divorce. If you want to try to make a go of it, we'll go home together and we will be man and wife, like it should be. Those were sacred vows we took Anna. They meant something. It was nothing more than an escape for you. You've got to learn once and for all that actions have consequences."
"My God, you hate me, don't you?" she cried.
"No, I don't hate you. But I should. We're in this together, and yet I'm the only one that feels married. I don't like being alone in this. And I won't live that way the rest of my life to keep from humiliating you."
Her face flushed from his words. "I understand." She whispered.
"Good. When you've made your decision, you can let me know."
"Are you going to be mad for the next two weeks at me?" she asked.
He stared and something warmed in his expression. "No, this is a vacation. And I want to enjoy it."
She stared and a slow smile spread over her face.
It still left the question of how they would sleep, and she was uneasy for the rest of the evening although she did her best to hide it.
Would he insist on his matrimonial right, or would he wait until she decided what to do?
If she were truthful with herself, she had only herself to blame for this. It just now dawned on her what she'd done to his life.
Perhaps he loved another. There were obviously a lot of things she didn't know about her best friend. And it looked as though she was going to find out, one way or another and very soon.