CHAPTER 6

Friday morning at 8:00 am found Matt and CJ, along with Catey Rose, being dropped off at the hangar for the flight to Houston. As Matt got out of the Navigator's passenger side and began pulling luggage out of the back, Hoyt and Vince walked over to help, as did Lamar who had driven the Houstons there.

"Hey Ace! I heard you got conked over the head – again. How bad did it tear up whatever they hit you with?" Vince shook hands with his friend and the men exchanged a hug.

"I don't know what they hit me with but it sure gave me a headache." He grinned as he pulled out two garment bags – one holding CJ's dress for the wedding and the other his tuxedo. The three friends walked toward the plane and caught up with CJ who was carrying Catey Rose and her diaper bag. Mama Novelli was waiting on board.

Matt gave the Italian lady a big hug. "How was your flight, Mama?"

"Good. Vincenzo flew most of the way." She looked proudly at her son who had been an Air Force fighter pilot at one time.

"I guess Murray and Chris haven't made it yet. Hope they haven't changed their minds." CJ gave Mama a big hug and handed over Catey Rose so that they could spend a little time together.

"I'm going to go check on the refueling." Matt put the garment bags in the closet at the back of the plane and went back down the steps and out onto the tarmac.

"Hoyt, would you keep an eye on him for me?" CJ looked a little concerned.

"Is he still having problems?" He started for the door.

"Not that he'll admit it, but yeah, I've caught him a couple of times getting dizzy and kind of pale."

"No problem. Vince here was going to show me about the refueling, weren't you bud?" Hoyt patted his friend on the back.

"Oh yeah, absolutely." They started down the steps and caught up with Matt.

"What did he do this time?" Mama sat down in one of the seats with Catey Rose as CJ explained what had happened.

Mama clucked her tongue and smiled. "He always manages to get into trouble."

"He does. But people are always coming to him needing help – and he just can't say no. Look at Wednesday for example. If he hadn't gone down there, chances are that girl would still be a prisoner."

Outside the plane the refueling was completed and Murray and Chris drove up together. Matt went over to help them with their luggage along with Vince and Hoyt. "Nope, you escort this pretty bride to the plane, Houston, we'll help Murray." Vince pushed the private investigator and his secretary toward the plane. Matt wrapped an arm around Chris.

"I just want to thank you again for letting us use the ranch, Houston." Chris was obviously nervous.

They stopped just short of the steps and Matt turned her to look at him. "Chris, you know that we were happy to be able to help you. And for heaven's sake relax, okay? You look like you're wound up tighter than an eight day clock." He gave her a big smile and she hugged her boss and they went onboard the plane.

As Matt took a seat next to CJ and put on his seatbelt, Chris was surprised. "I thought you were going to be our pilot."

A little sheepishly, Matt cut his eyes over at CJ. "No, not this time." Once everyone was settled on board, the plane took off for the three hour flight to Houston. Hoyt, Vince, Murray, and Mama were playing poker, while CJ and Chris were discussing wedding details.

Vince looked over at Matt. "Aren't you going to play?"

"No, not right now. Maybe later." Houston tilted his head back and rubbed his neck.

A short time later, Matt started snoring. Chris quietly asked, "CJ - is he okay?"

"He will be. When he and Hoyt went down to San Diego on a kidnapping case Wednesday he got hit over the head and ended up with a moderate concussion – along with ten stitches." She got up and pulled down a blanket from the overhead storage compartment and gently tilted her husband's seat back and covered him up.

"That's why he's not flying. I wondered. He's usually excited about it."

"We had a little disagreement about it yesterday." CJ grinned. "See what you've got to look forward to?"

"Thank goodness Murray isn't as adventuresome as Houston – I think I'll have it a lot easier than you do." Both women giggled.

Matt woke up just a few minutes before the plane was due to land and seemed to be feeling a lot better. They were met at the airport by the limousine from the Houston Ranch and everyone had a good time on the way to the house. Once they had gotten everyone settled in, Murray came to Houston. "Uh, do you think we could talk – privately?"

"Sure. Let's take a walk." They headed out the backdoor and wandered down to the barn. As Matt climbed up on the fence, the horses started coming over to him. He had brought in six more horses to use while working the cows and Marty and Pat Hoffmann, two of the ranch hands that worked for Matt also had their horses there. "Come on up, Murray. Paying attention to them will help relax you, bud. I know you're pretty nervous." Murray climbed up on the fence and started petting on the horses. "So what did you want to talk about?" Houston looked over at the CEO.

"Well, uh, I…how do I say this?" Murray was stumbling for the right words.

"Just spit it out." Matt turned to face his friend.

"I, uh, well hell!" Murray rarely cussed and Matt couldn't help but laugh and then finally the CEO laughed at himself. "I'm a little concerned about, you know, the wedding night."

Matt stopped laughing. Murray had never been big in the dating department and Matt had secretly been glad for his friend when he and Chris had hit it off. "Is there anything in particular that concerns you?"

"Well Houston, I know you've had a lot of experience with women, but I haven't. I'll be honest with you. It's only happened a couple of times and I really don't remember the first time – I was drunk."

"Oh." Matt stopped for a minute. "Okay, uh, well first off Murray, have you and Chris talked about kids?"

"Oh yes, we both want kids and are planning on starting you know, tomorrow night." He had blushed.

"Look bud, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, okay. We're friends, right?" Matt put a hand on Murray's shoulder.

"Yes, but it's just…I'm a grown man for heaven's sake."

"So? Everybody has to start somewhere, Murray. Now that we know about the kid aspect of it that helps out a little, right? Now you don't have to worry about taking care of that. See, one less thing to worry about."

"I guess so. I hadn't really thought of it that way." He took a deep breath. "Okay, I just…I want to be sure that she's happy, if you know what I mean."

Matt looked back up toward the house and noticed that Vince and Hoyt had come out onto the back deck. "Let's go for a ride. I don't think you want everybody in on this do you?"

"No definitely not – it was hard enough to come talk to you."

Matt called one of the calmer horses over and slid onto her back and moved the horse closer to Murray. "Okay bud, put your right leg across her – here, grab my arm and I'll steady you." Murray did as he was told and the pair took off riding around the pasture.

"Uh, Houston – there's no saddle on this horse and you don't have any – what do you call them – reins?" Murray had never ridden a horse without a saddle before.

"That's okay, Murray, the horse doesn't care." He grinned and then he and Murray had a long talk.

Uncle Roy and Murray's brother Myron showed up just before dinner. After having some of Madre Rosa's famous beef fajitas, the men and women parted ways for the parties. Madre Rosa was going to babysit Catey Rose for the evening. After saying goodbye to their daughter, Matt and CJ headed out on the back deck. "You boys stay out of trouble, you hear me?" CJ had her arms up around Matt's neck.

"Yes ma'am, we will – but you ladies better mind your manners, too." He leaned down and gave her a kiss, one of the weak in the knees kisses that never failed to leave her breathless.

"C'mon already, Houston! Gees, you two still act like newlyweds!" Vince and Hoyt were both chomping at the bit to get to the roadhouse.

Matt leaned over and whispered in his wife's ear. "I'm gonna miss you tonight."

"Are y'all going to come back home or will you spend the night there?"

"I personally vote on coming home – but then I've got a good reason for it – they don't." He grinned down at the men who were whooping and hollering for him to come on. "I'll text you later and let you know what's going on. Love you, Babe." He kissed her again, much to the disappointment of the men.

"Love you too, hon. Go on before they start a riot." They kissed once more just to irritate their guests and then went their separate ways.

Matt drove Murray, Vince, Hoyt, Roy, and Myron to the roadhouse and they were met there by some of the other men that would be present at the wedding the next day. They pulled into the gravel parking lot of the bar and Matt pulled out his keys and unlocked the door of the bar and let everyone in, then locked the door again.

"Alright, the first order of business. I'm the designated driver for one of the groups here – do we have any others?" A couple of the men raised their hands. "All right, the rest of y'all give me your keys." He took a lock box out from under the bar and everyone put their keys in it, then he locked it and replaced it. "If you want to drive when we're done here, you've got to pass a sobriety test. And no I'm not kidding. That's why Chuck is here." Matt pointed to his friend, Chuck Wylie who worked for the Harris County Sheriff's Department. "We don't want to have to go to any funerals or bond hearings. Now, the second order of business." He walked across the barroom and slid the jukebox out from the wall and hit a switch on it so that no one would have to pay to play songs that night. "Okay, Murray, since you're the victim – er 'scuse me, the groom," all the men groaned and whistled, "You get first dibs on the music, bud." He grinned at his friend and clapped him on the back.

"Alright boys, the bar is open. We've got beer, tequila, bourbon, and more beer." Matt walked behind the bar and started taking drink orders. "No, I'm not fixing any of those sissy drinks like grasshoppers and appletinis." There was a roar of laughter from the men. "And Murray – I have instructions not to let you have more than you can handle – want some milk?" He held up a gallon jug of milk as the men all broke into more laughter.

After a couple of hours of eating hot wings and nachos and drinking, Matt and Vince slipped into the backroom to let in the stripper that was going to pop out of a cake that they had gotten for Murray. Once she was inside the mock-up cake, Matt and Vince hauled it out into the barroom and in front of Murray. The music started blasting and up popped the stripper – a very busty and voluptuous lady who immediately went straight for Murray. The shocked CEO looked like he was going to pass out when she began to dance for him and sat in his lap. Several pictures were taken and in each one Murray was beet-red. Matt and Vince were laughing so hard they could barely stand. After she had finished her routine and left, the guys were having fun threatening to show the pictures to Chris.

After a few more hours of eating, drinking, and poker playing, the party wound down and the guests began leaving. When everyone was gone except for the folks staying at the Houston ranch, Vince and Hoyt got Murray into the truck and Matt locked up the bar after texting CJ. They headed back to the ranch. It was 3:00 am. When they got there, Matt let the other men out at the back deck of the house and took Murray down to the bunkhouse.

Staggering and slurring his words just slightly, Murray looked at Houston who was helping him into the bunkhouse. "Houston, where am I?"

"You're going to spend the night in the bunkhouse, bud. That way you won't see Chris before you're supposed to, okay?" He eased the man down onto the couch.

"Oh okay, thanks for everything Houston. You're my best friend in the whole *hic* wide world." Murray was about half asleep as the words left his mouth.

"You're welcome. Now get some sleep, okay?" Matt covered the man up with a quilt and quietly slipped outside where his wife met him at the barn. "I was wondering if you would actually come down here." He smiled as he wrapped his arms around CJ and kissed her.

"You don't think I'm chicken do you?" She kissed him back and they edged on inside the barn.

"No ma'am, I know you're not." Matt took her into his arms and closed the door.