“Not for one moment did I believe you’d see me as a younger, thinner Kay. But I’m very happy that you like me just the way I am. I’ll still be the same obstinate, blunt woman fifty years from now, so if you didn’t appreciate me now, I’d drive you to drink within a few weeks of our wedding.”
Jake laughed then said, “Speaking of drink, Dave Forrest really tied one on last night. He looks as if he’d been visited by the god of the underworld. I’ve never seen him so hungover.”
“Don’t you visit the saloons, Jake?”
“Nope. I wasn’t about to give my father one more excuse to yell at me. When I was in the army, some of the other soldiers learned that I had never even tasted whiskey, so they took me to the sutler store. They explained all the fun I was missing and bought me a glass of whiskey. I took one sip and almost lost my supper. They laughed at me and called me Saint Jake after that, but I didn’t mind.”
“You don’t even drink beer?”
“Nope. Do you?”
Sara laughed then replied, “I tasted it when I turned eighteen, but it was so bitter, I just handed it back to my father.”
“That means we’ll have a dry house after we’re married.”
“You seem to have accepted our courtship very quickly.”
“I’d be a fool if I didn’t. I’m sure that I will never get a better proposal.”
Sara giggled before she said, “I know of a few young ladies who probably pray that you will call on them, but I staked my claim. Besides, I don’t believe one of them is nearly frank enough to propose. They’d just flirt when they met you and hope that you’d be impressed.”
Jake glanced at the open door and said, “I think we should show ourselves to Emmett. I don’t want him to get in trouble. For all he knows, we could be spending this time in my bedroom.”
“That’s where I’ll be in my dreams until it becomes real. But I think you’re right about letting Emmett see us. But I doubt if he’ll inspect my dress to make sure all the buttons are in place.”
Jake smiled as he stood and held out his hand.
Sara placed her hand in his before she rose, and they began walking to the door still holding hands.
As they left the house, Jake wondered if he should have kissed Sara, but figured if she had wanted him to, she would have told him.
After they stepped to the ground, Jake spotted Emmett winding his way among the horses in the corral and said, “It looks like Emmett is still undecided, but that’s Bill Jackson walking next to him. Bill will make sure that Emmett finds a good one.”
“You have a lot of nice horses. Do I get to tell him to choose one for Orville?”
“Be my guest.”
As they began walking to the corral, Sara said, “The horse you rode yesterday was the handsomest one I’ve ever seen. Is he yours, or is he one of the remuda horses?”
“I was there when he was foaled. He’s an offspring of my father’s amazing stallion, Emperor. I named him Mars and even though he’s been gelded, he’s still pretty touchy about who rides him. He seems to like me, though. As Emmett doesn’t have his own horse, can I assume that you don’t either?”
“That’s a good assumption. I’ve never really needed one and haven’t spent much time in the saddle.”
“Come into the barn and I’ll introduce you to Mars.”
“He won’t bite or kick me, will he?”
Jake laughed before he replied, “No. He only gets annoyed when someone other than me tries to climb onto his back.”
When they entered the barn, Sara asked, “You’re not going to use that big black for your packhorse; are you?”
As they approached Vulcan, Jake replied, “Just once. I asked Big Tom McCallister to find me a good packhorse and he surprised me when I saw his choice. He’s Mars’ younger brother, but I never even saw him. Tom said that my father was planning to have him replace Emperor, but never even got a chance to ride him.”
“At least you gave him a good name; didn’t you?”
“I think so. He seems to like it.”
She turned and looked up at him as she asked, “And what is his name, sir?”
“I was going to name him after a planet, but that didn’t work. So, I named him after Mars’ brother, Vulcan. Vulcan is the Roman god of fire.”
Sara slipped into Vulcan’s stall then began stroking his neck before she asked, “Can I have him when you return?”
Jake laughed then replied, “I thought I’d surprise you by asking you if you’d like to have him. I should have expected that you would beat me to it.”
She looked away from Vulcan and smiled as she said, “I hope you’re not getting annoyed with my direct manner already.”
“Not annoyed, but I am having to adjust. Even my sergeants weren’t as, um, brusque as you are.”
Sara laughed before she said, “You meant to say rude; didn’t you?”
“No, I really didn’t. I just used the comparison as a small jibe to get a rise out of you. Trust me, I’ve had to deal with other privates who were much more aggressive.”
Sara continued to rub Vulcan as she asked, “How was it in the army, Jake?”
“Boring. Even some of the veterans of the War Between the States said that it’s that way most of the time. When they weren’t moving from one place to another or engaged in a battle, they just sat around getting sick or losing their money playing poker or dice games. The officers had them drill and do target practice
