Chapter 4 – Colton and the Cow Ponies

The children had been fed, except the two sets of twins; they were deemed old enough to eat breakfast with the adults. There were eggs and bacon, biscuits and gravy, fresh milk and homemade peach jam. Talk veered from subject to subject, with Beau the most curious about the creation of the B Bar M Ranch. It seemed odd that the very ground he spent his first few years on should look so different than it did then. When a lull in the conversation finally came, it didn't last long. Beauregard cleared his throat and all eyes turned his way.

"There's somethin' I wanna say, and I'd like you all to let me say it without interruption." He glanced around the table, it was as quiet as a church. "I been mullin' over somethin' for a long, long time, and I've finally come to a decision. There ain't no doubts in my mind, this is somethin' that I'm damn sure of. I swore when Isabelle died that I'd never marry again, and I've abided by that decision all these years. And you all know that I've not lacked for female company. But I never found a woman that came close to what I had with Belle . . . until I met Maude Donovan." Pappy paused, and if it had been quiet before it was deathly still now.

"I lost her once to a younger man, a good man, and I thought that road was closed. But some damn fool murdered the man, and she was alone again. I was afraid I'd hesitated too long, but I finally got up off my butt and did the right thing; the respectable thing. I ain't gonna lose her twice. This mornin' I asked Maude Donovan to become Mrs. Beauregard Maverick, and I'm proud to say she had the good sense to accept."

Stunned silence greeted Pappy's announcement for about ten seconds, and then all hell broke loose. There was clapping and cheering and congratulations everywhere; Doralice jumped up from her chair and embraced her mother as they both wept. Bret and Bart grinned from ear to ear and Bentley hadn't looked this happy in years.

Maudie and Belle jumped up and ran to their grandparents; they were ecstatic. Benny turned to his father. "This is a good thing, isn't it Pa?" Beau nodded his head; at the moment he was too emotional to speak. He knew what a big step this was for his uncle, and he was thrilled the whole family was together for the announcement.

Dani was slightly bewildered by it all, but since everyone was so joyous, she was, too. She'd listened to her husband's tales for years about his Uncle Beauregard and what a curmudgeon he could be, but the man sitting at this table was a sweet, tender man. Maybe he'd been this way all along and deliberately hid his true feelings from the world to protect himself. Whatever the truth, she was happy for him. Since she was sitting next to him, she reached over and squeezed his hand . . . Beauregard raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, giving her a dazzling smile. She felt a little shiver run down her spine, and she smiled back at him.

Lily Mae had gone back into the kitchen for the coffee pot and didn't hear the announcement. When she returned she found a room much changed from when she left, and she asked Bentley what all the commotion was about. "Beauregard finally asked Maude to marry him." Lily was somewhere between ecstatic and overwhelmed. She set the coffee pot on the table and went first to Maude and then Beauregard. She whispered something in Maude's ear and kissed her on the cheek; Maude turned about six shades of red. Then she went to Beauregard, and he stood and wrapped her in his embrace. It was his turn to tell her something, and she smiled and nodded. Whatever it was, it pleased them both.

"Have you set a date, Pappy?" Bret asked.

"Nope, but we want to do it while everyone's here, so I guess we best get at it. Bentley, I'd be obliged if you'd stand up for me."

"I'd be pleased as all get-out," Bentley answered.

"Any idea where you want to do this?" Doralice asked.

"I should think here at the ranch. No reason to be anyplace else," her mother replied.

"Why not right here in the house?" Bart suggested. "It's plenty big enough for everyone. We can get Reverend Miller to come out and perform the ceremony."

"That's a good idea, Bart. But I'm gonna need everyone's help to get ready."

"You know we'll give you all the help we can, Momma. Right, ladies?" Doralice asked. Every female head in the room bobbed up and down.

"Us, too, grandma," Maudie insisted.

"Yes, please," Belle added.

"Can I help, too?" Abby wanted to know. A wedding was always exciting, especially one in your own family, and she wanted to be a part of it, too.

"Of course, sweetheart. We wouldn't exclude you," Maude told her.

"Alright, ladies, let's get these dishes out of here and start planning. Girls, I don't think we need you today. Why don't you go ahead and do whatever you had arranged, and then we'll see where we need you. Gentlemen, go find somethin' to do. There's some youngsters out back that need some attention; how about if all the men pull baby duty this morning? Bart, can you handle that?" Doralice knew what his answer would be . . . he and Bret both loved playing with the little ones.

"Of course, blue eyes. Bret, Beau, help me get some chairs out back, and Pappy and Uncle Ben can sit down and be comfortable while we ride herd on everybody else. Then later this afternoon we'll take everybody around the ranch for a look-see."

Beau turned to his father and whispered, "Bart's gotten to be quite the man in charge, hasn't he?"

"Yep, son, I'd say the natural line of succession skipped right on over your oldest cousin and landed square on the shoulders of his brother."

"Whoever would have thought?" Beau mused.

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"Honestly," Benny asked, "you don't expect me to ride a horse named Marigold, do you?"

"Why, what's wrong with Marigold?" Maudie shot back.

"Well . . . it's a girl's name, for one thing."

"And what's wrong with a girl's name?" Maudie asked defiantly.

"Nothin', if it's a girl. I want a horse with a strong name, a solid name, like your Zanzibar."

Maudie decided there was no insult intended and thought for a minute. "How about Colton? He's that chestnut with the blaze over there."

Benny looked to where she was pointing. Now that was the horse for him. "He's a fine looking horse. Can I ride him?"

"Sure, I don't know why not. He's one of the cow ponies that poppy is using around the ranch. Come on, let's get him saddled up."

Fifteen minutes later they were riding out of the barn, headed towards the south pasture. "Pop says this all used to be grandpa's land."

"Uncle Bentley, you mean? It was. When uncle came to live with you, he sold it to poppy and Uncle Bret. Then a big fire swept through here and burned everything to the ground."

"That's terrible!"

Maudie laughed. "Oh no, it worked out well. Saved poppy from having to tear down all the buildings and clear the land. All them and Pauly's crew had to do was clear the debris."

"Who's Pauly?"

"Pauly Wilcox. He and momma got a business of their own, inventin' all kinds of gadgets. Pauly works here full time now; see that little house over yonder? They built that for Pauly and gave it to him with the land he needed for the business. He still manages all the buildings here, and most of the ranch hands. He's like our second cousin, once removed. We can stop over there on our way back."

Benny watched the way Maudie had pointed . . . there was a small house with two or three sheds out back, and a corral to the north. A somewhat diminutive man saw them and waved; Maudie waved back. "That's Pauly."

"Is he a kid?"

The girl laughed again. "Oh, no, Pauly's just on the small side. Don't be fooled by his size; I think Uncle Pauly could lick a wildcat."

"What do they invent?"

"You saw that fancy water pump at the kitchen sink? They invented that. Every house on the ranch has got one. That way nobody has to go outside for fresh water. Besides that they've got all kinds of little gadgets. Next they're workin' on an indoor toilet."

"An indoor toilet? Right inside the house? Wouldn't that stink somethin' awful?"

"I think so, but momma says they're workin' on a way around that. I told you they're creative."

Benny shook his head as they walked along. "Boy, your family is involved in so much different stuff. It must really be interesting to have things changin' all the time."

"I don't pay much attention to most of it. I'm involved with the horses more than anything. And that way I get to spend a lot of time with poppy."

"Why do you call him poppy?"

Maudie looked startled and pulled her horse to a halt. "Why, what else would I call him?"

"Pop, Pa, Daddy, Father, Pappy, even Bart."

After mulling it over, she nudged Zanzibar forward again. "Nope. I'm stickin' with Poppy. It fits him. He's the best Poppy a girl could ever have."

Having gotten a reasonable answer, Benny nodded. He might not understand Maudie's reasoning, but she was happy with it, and that was good enough for him. And the two newest friends rode on towards the south range, where most of this year's crop of cow ponies spent their time. It wasn't the last time they'd head out this way.