Part 38 (2/2)
”Stubborn,” Isabelle said.
Melody relaxed and smiled. ”Yes. Very stubborn.”
”We've come to help you out.”
”As well as be present for the wedding,” Isabelle said. ”I couldn't miss that.”
Chet had shown more genuine emotion in three minutes than he'd shown the whole time he'd been at the ranch. Melody wished she had a copy of the key Jake and Isabelle seemed to be able to turn so easily.
”Luke told us all about what's bothering Chet. It was a long letter.” Jake glanced over at Chet. ”It must have taken him a week to write it.”
”First, you're coming home,” Isabelle said. ”There's no point wasting time raising foolish objections. I'm sure Melody has listened to them enough for all of us. I don't want to hear a word about bringing trouble on us. There's not a gunslinger in Texas foolish enough to venture onto Maxwell land.”
”But you can't come right away,” Jake said. ”We've got a little problem we want you to take care of first.”
”Jake, I can't”
”I know you're a little old, but I'm going to send you off to college for a year or two. The cattle business is changing too fast for this old cowboy to keep up. I want you to go learn all this stuff about crossbreeding and marketing and new gra.s.s and whatever else it is they're using to threaten to run me out of business. When you figure you've learned about all you can stand, you come back and fix it so we can make more money than anybody else in the state.”
”Jake, I can't”
”Be quiet and listen to your parents,” Melody said. ”I like what they're saying.”
”What about it?” Jake asked.
”You forgot about the wedding,” Isabelle said.
”I count four women in this room,” Jake said. ”That's more than enough to organize a wedding. Now let's get out of here and let Chet and Melody talk things over.”
”He's marrying you and coming home,” Isabelle said, giving Melody a kiss on the cheek. ”No matter what argument he presents, just keep saying that. It may take a while, but he'll soon stop talking nonsense.”
”Do you always tell him what to do?” Melody asked, still hardly able to believe the past ten minutes.
”Of course. It saves a lot of time.” She winked. ”Welcome to the family.”
Jake stepped over and gave Melody a hug as Isabelle walked out into the hall to talk to Belle.
”We were praying he'd find somebody like you,” he said. He gave Chet a punch in the shoulder. ”I hope you've told him how lucky he is.”
”Considering he's been shot three times since he arrived, I doubt he'd agree with you.”
”That was nothing but a few little tests to make sure he was worthy of you. Someday I'll tell you what Isabelle and her gang put me through before they hoodwinked me into adopting the lot of them.” He turned to Belle. ”I seemed to remember a promise of something to drink.”
”You're welcome to anything we have,” Belle said as she drew him into the hall and closed the doors on them.
The sudden quiet was almost eerie. Melody felt stunned. Chet looked just as strongly affected. She decided not to waste the opportunity.
”I hope you listened carefully to everything your parents said. I have only one thing to add.”
Chet pulled her to him. ”Are you going to turn into a dictator like Isabelle?”
”Absolutely. It seems the only way to handle you.”
He nuzzled her neck. ”I could think of a few other ways.”
Melody could tell the battle had been won. They'd offered Chet the opportunity to do exactly what he wanted to do, and he was being smart enough to accept gracefully. She had her man. Not on her ranch where she wanted him, but that was probably best. Sydney would soon be old enough to run it.
”I can think of a few ways of my own,” she said. ”Suppose we make a list and make our way through it item by item.”
Chet kissed her and pulled her close.
”You are going to accept Jake's offer, aren't you?” she asked.
Silence.
She pulled out of his embrace. ”I can't stand this any longer. You will accept Jake's offer. If it doesn't work out, we can try something else. But we've got to start somewhere, and that seems like a good place.”
Silence. ”You do want to go back there, don't you?”
”It's the only place I've ever wanted to be.”
Melody breathed a sigh of relief. ”Good. Now let's talk about weddings.”
”I'd rather start on that list you mentioned.”
They were in the midst of a very satisfactory kiss when the office doors opened without warning.
”I've got to get the brandy.” Neill stopped in his tracks when he saw Melody and Chet kissing. ”You're not going to do that, too, are you?”
”Who else did you break in on?” Chet asked, smothering a smile.
”Ma and Dan and your ma and pa. They've kissed twice, and they just got here.”
”We can't help it,” Chet said. ”I warned you about those feminine wiles.”
”But you like them, don't you?”
Chet turned back to Melody. ”Yes, I like them very much indeed.”
Epilogue.
”Are you sure you don't mind changing your name?” Melody asked Chet.
”It's a little late if I did. I've been going by Maxwell for two years now.”
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