“I’ve got my pills with me, so I’m protected that way,” I told him honestly. “But I’d like for both of us to get checked out before we do anything without protection.”
Rowdy nodded. “I understand that. I’ve had to deal with the fallout of unprotected sex and that shit was painful.”
“I know I don’t have anything or my doctor would have told me after my last exam a few weeks ago, but I know you’ve probably got some trust issues about things like that. Kari is going to call them for me tomorrow and get an appointment set up for Friday.”
“Thank you,” Rowdy smiled. “You already understand some of my quirks. I called my doctor, too, and I go in to see him on Friday at three.”
“So, if we leave early in the morning, can we get all the way to Austin?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rowdy hefted my suitcase up into the bed of his truck. He was driving his own four-door truck today rather than the tow truck he had used when we had been with him yesterday. “I’ve already called and reserved rooms for us at the hotel. The girls room will be connected to ours with a bathroom in between.”
“What time will we need to head out of town?” I asked him as he opened the door for me.
“The county clerk's office opens at 8:30. We can be there the second they open and get our license and then hit the road.”
“Oh, yeah,” I laughed as I stepped on the running board to get into the truck. “I never even thought about a marriage license!”
“Marriage license?'' Both girls screamed from the backseat.
“You handle that one, I’m going to take my time walking around to my side of the truck,” Rowdy said right before he shut my door.
I listened to the girls screaming excitedly as I watched Rowdy creep around the hood of the truck. He paused and inspected a spot on the hood for at least ten seconds before he pulled the hem of his shirt up and buffed the paint. He started moving again, syrupy slow, and glanced up in the cab and saw me glaring at him. He laughed so hard he had to brace himself against the truck, all the while the girls were questioning me at top volume from the backseat.
I kept watching him slowly creep around the truck as I answered the girls questions.
“Yes, we are getting married, it’s next weekend, you'll both be in the wedding, you’ll both have pretty dresses to wear, I’ll put a little makeup on both of you, I’m not pregnant, Lexi and I will be moving into the house with you guys,” and then I paused when the last question from Leia hit me. “And yes, Leia, you and Lexi will be real sisters and I’ll be your mom now.”
Rowdy opened his door just in time to hear me say that last sentence and he stepped back when both girls screamed in excitement. He decided to join in and yelled at the top of his lungs while he did a little dance in the open door. I laughed at his antics while I appreciated his natural rhythm.
The dirty part of my mind thought that the way he moved his hips boded well for my future while the good girl inside of me was just glad to see he had rhythm and wouldn’t embarrass me during our first dance at the reception.
◆◆◆
ROWDY
The girls excited screams pushed me back out of the truck, but when I realized just what Sierra had said, I felt like I should join in on their happiness, so I started to dance around a little bit with my own joy.
I heard Sierra laughing at me and I didn’t care. I was happy. I was also relieved that I was hopefully putting any chances of Beverly getting to see my daughter to rest and glad that I could help Sierra with her problem at the same time.
I waited until the girls had calmed down just a little bit before I stepped up into the truck and got behind the wheel. Before I buckled myself in, I leaned across the console and pulled Sierra toward me with a hand behind her neck. I kissed her soundly, not even caring that the girls in the back had fallen silent as they watched us.
When I let Sierra go, she was flushed and out of breath and I let my ego absorb that for a second before I got down to business.
“Let’s pick up a pizza or two and head to the house, ladies,” I told my crew. “We’ve got chores to do that I skipped this morning and we need to hit the sack at a decent hour so we can be up early in the morning to get on the road.”
“Chores?” Lexi asked.
I caught her eye in the rearview mirror and braced for impact before I said, “I’ve got horses.”
10.
SIERRA
“Dad, when I get out of the shower will you braid my hair?” I heard Leia ask Rowdy from the hallway.
“Yeah,” Rowdy answered her. “Make sure you bring out the box of supplies. You’ll need to sleep in your cap so you can just take it off and be ready to go in the morning.”
“Can you do Lexi’s hair, too? She said Sierra doesn’t know how to braid.”
“Sure,” Rowdy answered her and I heard his voice get closer to where I was standing in the kitchen. “There’s an extra cap in your box, I think.”
“What’s the cap for?” I asked Rowdy as he came around the corner and joined me in the kitchen.
“It’s a silk turban thing I tie on her head so she won’t get flyaways from the pillow while she’s sleeping.”
“Hmm,” I nodded. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“Lout used to wrap his sisters hair in one every night before he put them to bed,” Rowdy told
