CHAPTER 14
A large shady area under some trees served as the site of the wedding ceremony. Chairs were set up for family and close friends, and the others in attendance stood in two large groups around the location, with a path in between for Melanie to walk, accompanied by Brad and followed by Denny as maid of honor. Louis waited under the trees with Smoke, his best man, and Walter Cordell, the minister from the Baptist church in Big Rock who would perform the ceremony.
As Louis shifted around a little, Smoke smiled and said quietly, “Are your feet getting a little chilly now, son?”
“No, not at all,” Louis replied without hesitation. “Melanie is wonderful, and I’m convinced that marrying her is the best thing I’ve ever done. I just don’t like waiting, you know? I’m ready to get on with it.”
As if taking a cue from what he’d said, the Big Rock town band struck up the chords of the “Wedding March.” Unlike some small-town bands, these musicians were actually pretty talented and well-rehearsed, and Smoke thought the song sounded good.
When the music started, everyone turned to look. Melanie had started from the house with Brad walking beside her, his arm linked with hers, and a bouquet of colorful flowers in her hands. She wore a cream-colored gown with no veil and looked absolutely lovely with a serene smile on her face.
Louis swallowed hard and stood up straighter as he watched his bride coming toward him.
Denny, looking unusually feminine in a sky-blue gown, followed Melanie. Nobody would have guessed that half an hour earlier she’d been dressed in range clothes and covered with trail dust from the race. The sort of transformations that ladies could make in such short periods of time never failed to astound Smoke. He glanced over at Sally, saw how she was beaming with happiness, and his heart warmed at the sight. Hardship and danger had played such large parts in their lives that it was good to witness moments of peace and happiness.
Then Louis stepped forward to position himself beside Melanie as she came to a stop and turned to hand the bouquet to Denny. The ceremony was underway.
For being such momentous occasions, weddings didn’t really take very long. Louis and Melanie’s concluded with the usual promptness, and it seemed to Smoke that barely any time had passed before Louis and Melanie had said “I do” and the preacher was telling Louis that he could kiss his bride. Cheers went up as he did exactly that.
As the band played again, the newly married couple went back down the aisle between the groups of applauding spectators.
Smoke put his arm around Sally’s shoulders as she leaned against him. “Well, they did it.”
“And it was a beautiful ceremony,” she replied.
The whole thing had seemed pretty cut-and-dried to Smoke, but then, he wasn’t a woman. And if he was being really honest, there had been a moment or two during the ceremony when he’d felt a little emotional tightness in his throat. Life had not been easy—all too often, in fact, it had been fraught with potential disaster—but his family had come through it all, was still together, and was even growing with the addition of two new members. With maybe more to come in the future . . .
That thought made him glance around and find Denny, who stood with her hands clasped in front of her as she smiled after Louis and Melanie. He couldn’t help but think that maybe someday he would get to walk her down the aisle like that, to where some fine young man was waiting for her.
He frowned slightly as he realized that he hadn’t seen Brice Rogers at all today. Everybody in the valley had been invited to the wedding and the accompanying festivities. Smoke wondered if Brice had chosen not to attend, or if his duties as a deputy U.S. marshal had him busy elsewhere. He would ask Monte Carson about that later, Smoke decided.
“I reckon we’ve got a feast to get started on now,” he said.
Sally nodded. “That’s right.” She came up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I need to get busy.”
“Anything I can help you with?”
“Just make sure everyone’s having a good time. I’ll let them know when all the food is ready.”
Smoke grinned. He knew what that meant. Sally would ring the iron triangle hanging on the porch, just like she was calling the ranch hands in for a meal.
She hurried off, leaving Smoke to amble back to the ranch house and climb the steps to the porch. Louis Longmont and Monte Carson joined him there. Louis offered them cigars, and even though Smoke wasn’t much of one for using the things, he accepted on the special occasion.
When the three of them were puffing on the cheroots, Monte said, “That was a mighty fine ceremony, Smoke.”
“Got the job done, anyway, I expect.”
“Melanie is a beautiful young woman,” said Louis. “The young man is very fortunate.”
Smoke grinned. “He’s always had an eye for a pretty girl . . . sort of like the fella he’s named after.”
“Speaking of pretty girls,” Monte said, “Denny looks mighty nice today.”
“You mean since she cleaned up after that horse race.”
“I saw her when she rode in with Cal,” Louis said. “What was that all about?”
Smoke explained about the near-debacle to his friends, which made both of them laugh.
“Miss Denny’s got a mind of her own, I don’t reckon anybody could argue with that,” the sheriff said. “But sooner or later some fella will come along and figure out how to tame her down a mite, I’ll wager.”
Smoke wasn’t sure he wanted that. Denny would be happier if she found somebody who could accept her as she was and not try to change her too much. Although it would be all right if she had a fella who’d rein in some of her more reckless impulses . . . He blew out a gray cloud from the cigar and said, “I was just thinking about Brice Rogers a little while ago. He and Denny sometimes seem like there’s a spark there.”
Monte grunted. “And sometimes it seems like they’re at each other’s throats.”
Smoke shrugged in acceptance of that point, then went on. “I haven’t seen him here today.”
“He got a wire from the chief marshal in Denver a couple of days ago that sent him off on the trail of some federal fugitive,” Monte explained. “He said he planned to be here for the wedding if he got back in time, but he didn’t really expect to. I guess he didn’t.”
“He seems to be pretty devoted to his duty.”
Monte nodded. “He’s a good lawman. Better than what I expected when he was assigned to this area, him being as young as he is.”
Louis smiled and asked, “Are you thinking about playing matchmaker, Smoke?”
“No, sir,” Smoke answered without hesitation. “I’d rather face down a whole gang of owlhoots than get mixed up in Denny’s love life.” He put the cigar in his mouth, clenched his teeth on it so that it stuck out at a jaunty angle, and added, “I’ll leave it up to her mother to do that!”