“That would be a hoot. Let’s do it.”
They switched seats again. This time Jenny was able to make her seat adjustments quicker because she knew where she wanted them to be.
“You shouldn’t need more than fourth. When you get to the house, coast it to a stop.” He laughed. “Try not to run over anything.”
As they got close to the house Hugh reached over Jenny and gave a quick tug on the air horn cable to the left above her head. He had phoned ahead to let everyone know they were on their way, and he wanted to bring everyone out to see Jenny driving.
Jenny made a perfect stop in front of the house just as the whole family came out and down the front steps.
Hugh climbed down from the passenger seat to greet everybody, but they were already flocking at Jenny’s driver’s side door to give her hugs and kisses as she stepped down from the cab.
“Look!” Jenny said. She showed them the printout of her permit.
“Congratulation, honey,” Martha said. “How about if you all come on up. I’m betting you haven’t had lunch yet.”
Chapter Forty-Five
During their late lunch, Hugh and Jenny briefly filled the family in on the events that had happened since Jenny had rejoined him on the truck.
“I don’t know what it is about you, Hugh,” Hugh senior said, only half joking. “You can’t seem to get fifty miles down the road without trouble finding you in a big way.”
“And you, sweetie. How are you feeling about what you went through?” Martha asked Jenny.
“It is what it is,” Jenny replied, and left it at that.
The family sensed Hugh and Jenny weren’t eager to further discuss Jenny’s kidnapping and the aftermath. Martha, always sensitive to others’ feelings, changed the subject.
“So what’s next? What do you guys have planned for the near future?” Martha asked, with a wink at Hugh.
Jenny shrugged her shoulders, but Hugh spoke up. “Do you suppose it’s a good time to tell Jenny?” he asked his mom.
Martha nodded.
“Jenny, Mom has been getting some things ready, and she’d like you to go into town with her.”
Jenny looked at Hugh, then at Martha. Her expression searching for clues to what Hugh was talking about.
“You need to pick out a wedding gown and flowers, and all the stuff that goes with a wedding,” Hugh said. “Mom has scouted around and lined up all the places to go, but we wanted you to be able to make all the decisions and choices about our wedding.”
Jenny brightened at hearing that. “What about the date? And the marriage license. All that?”
“My pastor has given me a list of dates available for him to officiate, some in the fairly near future,” Martha said. “Hugh was thinking he’d like to have the wedding here at the ranch. Is that OK with you?”
“Definitely,” Jenny replied.
“As to the marriage license, I’ll need to go to the county recorder’s office with you to get that,” Hugh told Jenny. “But all the rest is between you and Mom. Please leave me out of it.”
“What are you going to do in the meantime?” Jenny asked.
“First, I’m going to take a ride out. Buck and I need to have some quiet time together.”
Mary glanced at Martha with a, “No surprise there,” kind of look.
On his occasional visits to the family ranch Hugh often took to the forest on his horse to unwind from his long stints on the road.
Buck was a special horse to Hugh, one he favored over all the others in the family’s stable. He was a buttermilk buckskin gelding – the color of light café mocha, but with a beautiful, black mane and tail.
Buck had been Hugh’s horse ever since he had first seen him as a colt on one of his infrequent home-time visits at the ranch. He’d had a hand in gentling him to the saddle, and had spent a lot of time with him every time he’d come home.
One attribute of Buck’s that Hugh particularly liked was his sturdy comportment and large size for a quarter horse – standing a little over sixteen hands.
The two rode as one, seeming to read each other’s thoughts, and Hugh would never consider riding out with any other.
“When I get back I need to drive over to Spokane to take care of some business,” Hugh said.
The next morning, as Martha and Jenny got ready to go into town to make wedding preparations, Hugh went out to the stable to feed and brush his favorite horse.
“Hey, Buck, old man. How are you doing?”
Hugh slipped easily into the mode of talking to his horse, and Buck pricked up his ears at hearing Hugh’s voice. The feeling between man and horse was mutual.
“I’ll come back in a little bit, and we’ll go for a ride.”
Hugh returned to the house in time to say goodbye to Jenny and his Mom. He handed Jenny his credit card and a list of friends he suggested they could invite to the wedding.
“If you approve, of course. And add anybody else you’d like. Can you send out invitations as soon as you get a date?”
Jenny took the list from him, and skimmed the names.
“This is going to be sudden notice for those folks who are far away, which is just about everybody,” she said. “We’ll just have to hope for the best.”
Hugh gathered up items he would need for his ride out – his rifle, his Bible, trail food, a sleeping bag, and minimal camp cooking gear and utensils.
What he usually carried with him on these outings was his trusty Ruger Mini-30, a semi-auto carbine in the popular, cheap, and highly-available 7.62x39 NATO caliber.
His Mini-30 was a sweet little carbine, and he
