Chapter 14 – At Last

Pappy's question was the one weighing on me. "When you gonna ask her?"

After a nice long visit with my father, I rode back to Little Bend. There was only one thing on my mind, and that was Doralice and just how I was gonna handle the problem that lay before me. Not that she was the problem, mind you. Nope, my own indecision was the problem here. How, when, where, and just exactly what I was gonna say were the problems.

Life went on as before. A little quieter, a lot calmer, the most exciting thing that happened was when Cristian told Maude she was no longer married to Luther Donovan. They celebrated, I'm sure, in their own way, and began making arrangements to get married a week from Saturday. No big ceremony like last time, they decided on a quiet little wedding at the saloon, with a big party to follow. Only the Maverick's, Josie, Dave Parker and the saloon staff were invited, and again I got to be Cristian's best man while Pappy escorted the bride to her groom. Uncle Ben and Lily Mae were happy to be there, and I think the entire town attended the party that followed.

Once again I was struck by how beautiful Doralice was. Not just beautiful on the outside, but a truly magnificent soul. I found myself wondering, as I held her in my arms and danced with her, just what life with this woman would be like. I had the feeling it would never be dull, and suddenly I was eager to ask her the question I'd been waiting to ask my whole life. I may have said the words before, but I never meant them the way I would mean these. She was everything to me, and I didn't want to live another day without her.

The wedding celebration went on all night, and it was almost sun up as we walked back to the house. I'd been living here with her for quite some time, but I'd never thought of it as 'our' house. This morning I saw it that way for the first time. I was beginning to see a lot of things differently than I had before, but there was this little thing I needed to do to make that a reality. She unlocked the front door, and suddenly I picked her up and carried her into the house, kicking the door closed behind me. "Have you lost your mind?" she giggled as I set her down on the settee.

"That insinuates that I have one to lose."

"Don't you?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. I think I lost it the first time I saw you in Mexico."

She giggled again. "You were appalled by what you saw."

Ah, yes, the filthy, shackled creature that the Mexican soldiers were dragging towards me. I could see the matted hair, the dirty and torn clothes, the bruises and welts on her back. But what I really saw was the portrait that hung over Maude's desk; the beautiful, golden hair, the smooth, perfect skin, the aqua blue eyes. I was repulsed and enthralled at the same time. She saved my life and the repulsion vanished; the only thing that remained through the years was the beauty that I had seen under all the dirt.

I'd waited long enough. I resisted for years, insisting that we were far better as friends, that I didn't want her, that I didn't love her. And then somewhere along the way I realized all the denials were lies, and the only one I wanted was Doralice. For the rest of my life.

I wasn't afraid anymore. I knew that she'd never try to fence me in or tie me down, and she understood that when I left to go play poker I wasn't running away from her, and when I returned I was running to her. And I knew that she loved me with all her heart.

"There's somethin' I been waitin' to ask you for a while. Ever since . . . well, ever since Maude won the lawsuit."

"Is this about Melody?" We'd talked on more than one occasion about bringing the cat to live with us; she was gettin' older and the barn out at the ranch was no place for her to spend her final years.

"No, it's not about the cat."

"Then what's it about? And why did you pick me up and carry me into the house? Are you plannin' another poker trip? So soon after the mess we just been through? Or did you wanna talk about the changes you wanna make to the saloon? If you do . . . "

I walked over to where she was perched on the settee and sat down beside her. I reached over and took her left hand in mine, and brought her fingers to my lips and kissed them. "This is about us. Not the house, not the business, not your mother or my father, and certainly not the cat. Just you and me. I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?"

"Well, I have an idea that I think would work out if we gave it a try."

"And what might that be?"

Before I had a chance to get started, it sounded like a cattle stampede outside the front door. The great room was no place to ask the most important question of my life with all the noise, and I picked her up from the settee and carried her to the bedroom. It was quieter in here, and I laid her down on the bed and kneeled on the floor next to her. "What are you doing down there?" she questioned.

"I'm closer to your ear down here."

She giggled again as she turned towards me on the bed. "And why is that important?"

"Because I want to be sure you hear me."

"Bart, I always hear you."

"We've been through a lot since I started staying here with you."

"It'd be a lot easier if you'd move everything you've got in here."

"I'd feel like an intruder, Doralice. Like a boarder that should be payin' you rent."

She thought about that for a minute. "Yeah, I can see that. There must be a way to avoid it."

"There is, and it's so simple I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"Okay, what is it?"

I leaned over and whispered in her ear, "All you have to do is marry me."

She looked at me like she hadn't heard me right. "What?"

"Doralice Donovan, will you marry me?"

She sat straight up in bed. "You're serious? This isn't some sort of a joke?"

I looked her right in the eyes. "This is no joke. I want you to marry me. Will you?"

"When?"

"Right away. As soon as we can manage it. I've waited long enough for this."

"You're sure?"

That's when I leaned over the bed and kissed her. I was still on my knees on the floor, and she pulled me up to my feet and onto the bed. "You haven't answered me," I reminded her as I wrapped my arms around her and rolled over her on the bed.

"I haven't, have I?" she teased. "I suppose I should. Give you an answer, I mean." She was silent for a moment. "Does Beauregard know?"

"He does."

"And what did he have to say?"

"I don't care what Pappy had to say. Will you marry me?"

"Bartley." I sighed. It was obvious she was gonna drag this out as long as she could.

"He wanted to know what took me so long."

"That's an excellent question. What did take you so long?"

"I'll be damned if I know." I rolled out the other side of the bed and stood up. "Any other questions?"

"Not at this exact moment."

"Well?"

"I'm thinking."

That's when I walked out of the bedroom and pulled the door shut tight, then stood there and held it closed. It only took a minute before I felt tugging on the door knob. "Are you holding this door closed?" I heard mumbled through the wood.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"Well, let me out."

I shook my head, even though she couldn't see me. "Not until you give me an answer."

"To what?" she asked innocently.

I didn't answer her, and we stood that way for a good five minutes – me on one side of the bedroom door, the woman I loved on the other. Finally, I heard a very faint, "Bart. Bart, let me out."

"Will you marry me?"

"As soon as you let me out of this room."

I opened the door and had two arms full of the most beautiful aqua eyed blonde in the world. The once and future Mrs. Bart Maverick.