Marry Me Katie (Whispers In Wyoming Book 7) Read online

  He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. Job 8:21

  Chapter 3

  Meredith Louise Johnston crossed the porch, opened one of the double doors to the barn-shaped main house, and entered the foyer along with a coppery feathered bird who managed to topple inside without notoriety. She was in a hurry to pick up her great nieces for a morning matinee at the movie theater in Lander. A new animated version of Little Women was showing. Afterwards, she intended to take Jackie, Savannah, and Grace along with their mother and grandmother to a princess tea at the tea parlor close to her resale clothing shop called Second Chances. As she stepped inside, she kept one hand firmly on the wide brimmed hat she wore. The hat was the perfect complement to her pleated dress in a shade of rose.

  “Good morning Aunt Meredith,” Jill Haven smiled as she appeared in the foyer from the dining hall to the right of the foyer. She looked cheerful in a pale yellow, Chenille dress with a white, short-sleeved, summer cardigan. She wore her light golden brown hair rolled under and pinned beneath the brim of a simple cloche hat. The hat featured a yellow band of fabric with a white flower accent on one side. “I think we’re ready.”

  “Jill, you look like a picture of summer,” Meredith noted. “Your mother should be here any minute. I think I’m early. I love your espadrille wedge sandals. For a newlywed bride of about six months, you look positively radiant.”

  “Thank you,” Jill smiled. “Wait until you see the girls. We’re not nearly dressed up enough for what they’re wearing.”

  As if on cue, the girls followed her into the foyer to greet Aunt Meredith, all three wearing princess dresses with an excess of ruffles, ribbons, and layers of taffeta, lace, and tulle. Even Jill’s oldest daughter, thirteen-year-old Jacklyn, wore a princess gown she’d managed to sew on the machine her grandmother, Betty Anne Fontaine, had gifted her.

  Betty Anne arrived next, clutching her travel mug of coffee and an oversized tote bag stuffed with treats she intended to share with her granddaughters at the movie. Another winged friend managed to slip inside without fanfare. “Good morning girls! I love your outfits. They’re perfect for our tea.”

  “Hi Mom! Your dress is lovely, too.” Jill leaned forward and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, admiring the teal shade of Betty’s coat dress. “They’re so excited! We just finished eating breakfast.”

  “We had waffles,” eight-year-old Savannah announced, holding her tiara in place with one hand, a doll in the other.

  “And scrambled eggs,” Grace Anne inserted as the elder of the two at age eleven, “don’t forget!” Both girls clutched dolls dressed in their finest doll outfits.

  “Where’s Logan? What has my handsome son-in-law been up to lately?” Betty Anne asked as she turned back to Jill. “I’m glad you’re going with us today, but will you still be able to get some of your Monday writing done? You’re still taking Mondays off from doing marketing for the ranch so you can write, aren’t you? I’m anxious to read your next book.”

  “I’ll do my writing this afternoon. Logan is having breakfast with Senator Andrews from Massachusetts,” Jill replied. “His plane had to make an emergency landing here last night.”

  “Senator Andrews had to make an emergency landing here?” Betty Anne’s mouth dropped open. The Senator had been in the news now and then over the past decade and she was familiar with the Republican, following his story whenever she had the chance. After all, the Senator had grown up in Cheyenne. In addition, not many Republican candidates came out of a state with a longstanding history of Democrats like the Kennedy family. The Andrews family had caught her attention and she kept an ear out for news about his efforts on Capitol Hill. “You know he won two of his elections in landslide victories. I hope his plane is all right. What about his family? Are they here?”

  “It’s a long story,” Jill replied as she fished the keys to her Jeep out of her taupe Jimmy Choo clutch. “I’ll try to introduce you later this week. It’s only their first morning here. We should give them time to adjust to being our guests, Mom.”

  Betty Anne looked tongue-tied as she absorbed this information. “Oh, yes, of course. I’ll try to stop over later this week perhaps, when they’ve had some time to rest, if I have time.”

  “Don’t they look adorable?” Aunt Meredith held up her new phone camera and snapped a few photos of the girls with their mother, Jill, and grandmother, Betty. “Brings back so many memories of when Betty and I played princess growing up…”

  Betty Fontaine continued to inspect the dresses each of the girls wore. “Yes, they do look adorable. You did a very nice job sewing that dress, Jacklyn. Don’t get all sentimental on me, Meredith. If I start a walk down memory lane, I’ll start missing Mama… and Max.”

  “What does Max have to do with being a princess?” Meredith snapped. “It was Mama who gave us all of the yard goods to make our own princess gowns. Why you hadn’t even fallen in love with Maxwell yet. We were just children.”

  “Yes, but don’t you remember? I insisted on wearing my princess gown to the Valentine’s Day dance and that was our first kiss.”

  Meredith stepped in closer to inspect Jackie’s gown. The gown went all the way to the floor, a pale pink concoction of taffeta, tulle, and a bodice of white satin with an overlay of pink lace. “You do such nice work at such a young age, Miss Jackie Olivia. You have so much talent in sewing.”

  “Thank you,” Jacklyn eagerly accepted the compliments from her grandmother and great aunt while smoothing out the tiers of her long gown. She had combed her hair back and secured the rest of her golden-brown locks into a knot. A strand of faux pearls wound around the knot completed her princess look.

  “Are we ready?” Jill asked as she held one of the doors open for them to leave. “We should get going or we’ll be late for the movie. Then Jackie has a piano lesson after the tea, and the girls will want some time to ride their ponies this afternoon.”

  The group filed out of the doors, offering a good morning as they passed Joey Trenway arriving for breakfast. Two more chickens slipped directly inside the foyer following behind him, strutting about nonchalantly.

  “How’s everything going at The Sweetwater?” Mama inquired as they walked toward Jill’s red Jeep.

  “Wonderful! We’re booked solid for the rest of the year,” Jill replied. “If we can maintain our five star rating, we’ll have no trouble attracting new guests.”

  “…In addition to that, you’ll need a new rudder assembly. It was somehow damaged in the landing,” Joey explained as he sliced through a stack of pancakes. “Might take about a week before the parts come in, maybe another week to do the repairs. You should be good as new in about two weeks.”

  “Thanks for getting back with me so promptly,” Senator Andrews replied as he stirred his coffee. “I’m long overdue for a vacation. I’m thinking my daughter and I will enjoy the amenities the ranch has to offer while the repairs are made. Maybe my wife can join us at some point.”

  “I appreciate you helping the Senator to sort this out,” Logan’s words directed to his aircraft mechanic were cut short by what happened next.

  A guest from Minnesota accidentally stepped on a chicken, not expecting to find one in the dining hall amongst the guests and ranch hands enjoying their morning coffee and the variety of selections from the breakfast bar. The chicken responded by squawking loudly and flapping her wings, eventually jumping up into the seat of an empty chair. From there, the chicken flapped her wings again and landed right on the edge of the table where about half of the guests were seated. The bird proceeded to run the length of the table. She flapped her wings, knocked salt and pepper shakers over, spilled a glass of orange juice, stepped in a plate of scrambled eggs, and let out squawks at everyone as she progressed toward the far end of the table.

  Logan immediately stood up, as did all four of the wranglers. Corky Wright, one of the cooks handling the breakfast bar, froze from behind a table serving as the pancake and waffle station. A little boy sitting with his parents squealed with delight to see a chicken running up and down the long table. The child soon spotted the other three chickens before the wranglers could make a move. Lurching out of his seat, the little boy began chasing the rest of the chickens about the room as guests jumped up from their seats or remained stunned where they were.

  Logan decided he had best try to catch those chickens and managed to gulp out, “I’m so sorry, Senator Andrews. We don’t allow chickens…” He reached out to swipe at a chicken that raced over his cowboy boots and missed the feathered friend as he attempted to finish his sentence with, “…in the dining…” He decided to lunge for another chicken at that point and managed to land partially beneath the buffet table, tangling himself up in the skirting of the buffet tablecloth, successfully pulling a majority of the food down with a loud crash. The more he tried to free himself of the tablecloth, the more he seemed to encounter pieces of seasonal fruit, pastries, strips of bacon, and sausage links.

  Buck dove for the coppery chicken and slid across the floor colliding with Logan’s mess. Bronson attempted to outsmart the feisty hen running amuck on top of one of the dining room tables by blocking one end of the table like a goalie at a soccer game. Jed and the young boy tried to catch another chicken, but they only ended up running in circles around the tables, devoid of catching any winged beast. Jed ultimately smashed into Corky, causing a pitcher of pancake batter in Corky’s hand to go flying.

  By this time, the other ranch cook, Mrs. Wright, ran into the dining hall from the kitchen. She was anxious to discover what had crashed to the ground moments ago. As she ran into the hall from the kitchen, a chicken pecked at the floor and scampered around her feet into the kitchen.

  “What on earth?” She surveyed
the excitement with shock and amusement which quickly faded away when she considered the amount of cleaning required in order to return the dining hall to some semblance of order. That is, if they could manage to get those hens out of the house and back into the coop. One look at her husband and she had to stifle a laugh. Corky, who usually served up made-to-order omelets, waffles, and pancakes for the ranch guests, was wearing most of the pancake batter… and some coppery feathers, too.

  McGuire, overwhelmed by the scene, his cowboy boots frozen to the floor, happened to glimpse outside the window toward the coop as something caught his eye. He took a few steps closer to the window, momentarily blocking out the commotion going on all around him with shrieking guests, cackling chickens, and dishes crashing everywhere as the chicken on the table knocked over another glass of water. While Logan and Buck wrestled to free themselves of sausage gravy, linen, and feathers, McGuire squinted his eyes and peered out of the window beyond Senator Andrews. As he suspected given the evidence, the gate to the coop was wide open. If his eyes did not deceive him, he also spotted the Senator’s daughter perched on top of the hen house in the middle of the coop. She looked to be clinging on for dear life to the peak of the hen house, and waving one arm at several aggressive roosters below. What in the world was going on? Wait… was that a horse wandering around on the deck? What in the world?

  McGuire rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his hair as he wasted no time grabbing his cowboy hat. He shoved aside a chair in his path and abandoned the disaster in the dining hall to rescue Katie Andrews from the roosters… or maybe it was to rescue them from Katie Andrews. In either case, he was pretty sure she was going to be more trouble than the hens or the roosters.

  A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22, KJV

  Chapter 4

  “Put me down right this instant!” Katie demanded, slung over the cowboy’s right shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She kicked her bare feet as she clung to her sandals with one fist. “I insist you put me down!”

  The wrangler wearing the cowboy hat kept walking, ignoring her request, using one hand to hold her firmly in place over his shoulder. She decided to stop pounding on his chest as it only seemed to wear her out… at least for the moment.

  He had rescued her from her perch on the roof of the hen house all right, but he seemed pretty angry as he marched out of the coop, making long strides towards the deck without setting her down onto the ground. Of course, hanging upside down and slung over his shoulder like this, she couldn’t really see where he was taking her. Her hair was a perfect mess now, and those chickens were a vicious lot as far as she was concerned. He couldn’t possibly be mad at her over those dangerous birds with those sharp little beaks. Why anyone could see they were quite dangerous in her opinion.

  McGuire took three steps up to the deck and a moment later, the legs and hooves belonging to a horse came into her view. She tilted her head and saw him grab the mane of the horse with his free hand. “C’mon Mia,” he spoke gently. “Let’s get you back in your stall before your mistress returns home.”

  A flock of chickens flapped their wings and fluttered aside, making a path for him to lead the horse down the rear deck steps where they’d come from and toward the barns.

  She decided to start beating on him again. Maybe between the chickens and her fists, not to mention the heels of her sandals in one hand, he might finally consider putting her down. It was getting downright embarrassing the way he was carrying her around like a sack of flour. “I insist that you put me down, Mister Cowboy whatever your name is! McGuire, isn’t it?”

  His chest only seemed to harden and puff up in response to her pounding. Her fists seemed small in comparison to his broad torso. In fact, she wondered if they were making any impact whatsoever on him. She kept pounding, only now she was yelling her head off with demands.

  “I’m not putting you down, yet!” He finally replied firmly.

  She stopped pounding. Her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest from her anger and efforts. Thinking as quickly as she could, she hollered, “Why ever not?”

  “Not until we return every last horse and every last chicken,” he calmly replied, opening the gate to Mia’s stall and ushering her inside. “There ya go, Mia. Home, sweet home…”

  Katie’s mind raced with fury as the smell of manure and a view of hay below them returned to her view. His soft and kind tone with the horse served only to infuriate her further. She felt herself instantly despise this bully and his display of brawn.

  When he backed out of the stall and closed the gate, to add fuel to the fire, another pair of cowboy boots appeared in her view.

  “Here’s Queen,” the voice said. “What the heck happened out here this morning, McGuire?”

  So his name was McGuire! She was certain he was the handsome one who’d given her the ride on the horse last night.

  “Thanks, Jed,” McGuire responded as he walked toward the road outside the barn where another horse meandered. “I dunno, but I think the culprit has been apprehended. I’ll get Queen.”

  She couldn’t see the wink he gave resulting in one of those never ending laughs from Jed, but she could almost feel it as he shifted her weight on his shoulder, driving his broad muscles into the pit of her stomach.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said, not appreciating being the subject of McGuire and Jed’s little joke.

  “You’re not getting out of this that easy, little lady!” McGuire returned, ignoring her complaint. Since another set of horse legs had come into her view, she wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or the horse, but soon realized he’d been talking to her as he changed his tone to the sweet one reserved for the animals again. He reached for the mane and coo’d, “C’mon Queen… time to go home.” She immediately started pounding her fists and kicking her feet again, yelling her head off about him putting her down.

  McGuire stopped walking. She thought he was finally going to put her down and stopped pounding on him until he said, “Hey Buck! Are those all of the chickens from the dining hall?”

  He had only paused to speak to another one of the wrangler dudes. Great! Just what she needed… more cowboys to see her being treated like a child for something that was certainly not her fault. The dining hall? Had the chickens managed to find a way inside the main house?

  Buck passed in front of them with four squawking chickens, two in each of his hands on the way to the coop. He must have taken one look at her backside slung over McGuire’s shoulder and thought it amusing. There was a smirk in Buck’s tone. “Yeah, but half the flock is in front of the barn house and the rest scattered all over the place. I see you rescued the Senator’s daughter from the hen house roof…”

  McGuire grunted and Buck roared with laughter, continuing on his way.

  “How’d you know she was on the roof of the hen house?” McGuire hollered after him.

  “The Senator looked out the window about the time you reached the chicken coop. I think he figures you’ve got things well in hand.”

  Maybe her father would come to his senses and put these cowboys in their place, but if he already knew she had been stuck on the roof at the coop, why hadn’t he bothered to rescue her? She could only hope he would change his mind and help her out of this predicament, but there was no sign of anyone else except a few more stray horses in the distance when she tilted her head up to look around. She felt herself growing dizzy from being upside down and everything started to look rather dim.

  “Please, put me down…” she managed to croak out as her body went limp.

  For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. 2 Corinthians 12:20, NIV