The old man looked at her for a moment and then his gaze came slowly back to Longarm. He said, 'Him?'
'Yes, Daddy. He's the best-lookin' thing I've ever seen.'
Mark sent up a howl, but Asa Colton raised his hand. He said, 'Shut up, Mark, for the last time.'
Then he turned back to Longarm and sat intently as if he was looking for something that Sally was seeing that he wasn't. He said, 'You want to marry this one?'
'Yes.'
Longarm felt a hollow feeling inside. A flame of fear rose inside him as sharply as he had ever felt. He said, 'Marry? When did we ever start talking about marrying?'
The old man said slowly, looking at Longarm, 'Well, son, I don't know how it is where you come from, but when a stranger comes in and goes to beddin' down with a man's daughter, there'd better be a marriage, or there's gonna be a funeral. You understand what I mean by all that?'
Longarm swallowed. For once, he was totally at a loss for words. He just stared at the old man and then at Sally.
Asa Colton said, 'Now, daughter, you sure? Marrying is not the same as bundling. You can bundle and then not be there the next day, but you marry, you've got to be there the next day. You want to wash his shirts and fix his meals and have his babies for the rest of your life? That's what marrying means, daughter.'
She said stubbornly, 'I've seen a bunch of them, and he's the first one I wanted. Daddy, I choose him. I told him the first time I got my hands on him that I chose him.'
Longarm could remember her saying that before. He could also remember wondering exactly what she meant by it. Now he knew. It gave him a deep, sinking feeling inside.
The old man scratched his head. 'Well, it looks like we're gonna have a weddin'.' He looked down the table at John. He said, 'Son, how long will it take to get a preacher here?'
John shrugged. 'I can send a man later on in the day, but it kind of depends on whether or not you want the rest of the kinfolk to get here. You know, we've got this big shipment, and we ain't got but a couple more days before that train's due at the siding.'
Asa nodded. He looked at Sally. He said, 'Well, can you wait three days, girl?'
Sally said, looking a little unhappy, 'I can wait if we can bundle.'
Asa shook his head. He said, 'No, if y'all are betrothed, then there can't be no more bundlin' until the preacher says the words over you. No, ma'am, I can't have that.'
Longarm felt like a man in a deep, dark prison seeing the first glimmer of light. He said, 'That's only fitting, Sally. You've got to do these things right, the way your daddy says. Yes sir, I give you my word, Mr. Colton. We won't do no more bundling until after the wedding.'
Colton nodded slowly. He said, 'Well, son, I knowed from the first time I laid my eyes on you that you were a gentleman and that you had some good blood in you. I reckon I'll trust my daughter to you.'
A thought struck Longarm. 'You realize, Mr. Colton, that I live in Arizona and that your daughter will have to go with me?'
He felt certain that the idea would cast a serious pause over the idea of marriage. But Mr. Colton said, 'It's only fittin'. In the Bible, it says that a woman's supposed to follow her man. If you're a-takin' that whiskey back to Arizona, I reckon that Sally'll be goin' with ya after the words get said.'
Longarm said, 'But are we going to get that whiskey loaded and ready to go before the wedding?'
John said, 'I don't see why we don't have the wedding right then. They can get married and get on the train right there.'
Longarm, desperate for a way out, said, 'But, Mr. Colton, I won't have the money. What if Frank Carson doesn't get back here on time with the money?'
Mr. Colton snorted. He said, 'Son, you'll be family then. It won't make no difference about the money.'
It had to make a difference about the money. Money had to change hands. Longarm said, 'Oh, no, sir. I've got to pay for that whiskey. That deal was struck before the marriage. No, sir. I cannot take your daughter's hand in marriage and twenty-five hundred dollars' worth of whiskey at the same time. No, sir, I can't do that.'
John said, 'Why don't you let it be a wedding present from the whole family? That wouldn't be too much.'
The old man looked at Longarm. He said, 'There. That's a bargain for you. You get a pretty little girl and two thousand gallons of whiskey. A man can't get a better deal than that, can he?'
Longarm could feel his heart sink as he sought for a way out. No man with a lick of sense would turn down such an offer. He said, 'Mr. Colton, I've got a sense of honor about these things, sir. A business deal is a business deal.'
The old man shrugged his shoulders. He said, 'Aw, shucks. We ain't got to worry about it right now. Hell, it's three o'clock in the morning, and here we are a-sittin' and talkin' about a weddin' and whiskey and all that sort of thing and there ain't no call for it. Mark, you put that damned shotgun up, and if you ever point it at your sister's betrothed again, it's liable to be you gets taken out into the woods and laid bare with a pissellum club, so you just keep that temper of yours down. I'm the one watches out for my children, not you.'
Then he turned to Longarm and put out his hand. He said, 'I'm mighty obliged to have you for a son-in-law. You'll make a good one.'
Longarm looked over at Sally. She was smiling contentedly. She said, whispering to him, 'I can wait, but it's going to be hard.'
Longarm just nodded weakly. There was not another word he could say.
They all stood up. The old man said, looking first at Sally and then at Longarm, 'Remember now, no bundlin'. We'll get this whiskey shipped, then get y'all married, and then y'all can go on out to Arizona. How does that sound?'
