It had been an extraordinary year plus the nine months prior when Cady had first visited Jacob in prison. The adage that the first year of marriage is the hardest didn't apply to them. Their hardest year had been the one after Cady's attack on Jacob. Cady had apologized; Jacob had accepted it and had spoken for Walt at his trial but it wasn't right between them. They rarely saw each other and it was always strained. But that day in the prison conference room anger and guilt melted away and love remained.
Pregnancy, marriage, childbirth, building a life together: those were big challenges but they were together physically and emotionally and that made all the difference. They found it easy to accommodate each other. Something Jacob had worried about – not celebrating Columbus Day, Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July – turned out to be a non-issue with Cady. Her father and Henry had been friends for forty years and the Longmires didn't celebrate those holidays either. Columbus Day had never been a big deal; Thanksgiving was a feast too close to Christmas anyway; fireworks were loud and made a mess and though the colors were pretty it wasn't enough to offset the words 'merciless Indian Savages' in the Declaration of Independence.
Cady had wondered about Christmas. "Do you celebrate Winter Solstice instead?"
"No, you have to pick your battles and that one was lost centuries ago. Christians hijacked a perfectly good winter festival and made it all about them because they couldn't leave non-Christians alone."
"If we have Christmas here, are you going to say all that?"
"Only if someone gives me the opportunity."
"It will be us, Dad, Vic and Henry."
Jacob smiled. "Henry and Walt know better than to get me started but Vic might say something."
Cady and Jacob had planned to go away for their first anniversary but the twins weren't weaned yet and October weather was too good to leave Wyoming so they waited until January when the snow was deep and the temperature brutal.
They flew to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands and stayed at a Grace Bay resort for a week. Jacob took along his drawing pad; Cady packed an extra bikini.
They were tired from the flight and the time change so they spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. Except for one wild hour months before Jacob had rarely played with Cady's breasts while they fulfilled their biological purpose but the twins had been weaned for two weeks and their parents were looking forward to using them for recreational purposes again. Jacob began thrusting as his mouth closed over one nipple. Cady convulsed and almost screamed. He stopped and rolled away.
"What's wrong?"
Cady was quivering. "I came. Like, immediately. I still am."
"I thought you had a seizure."
"Kind of felt like it. As soon as you sucked it was like electricity from tit to clit. It's never been that strong before."
"Want to try it again?"
"Oh my god, yes."
Later Jacob rubbed his goatee and said, "Your skin is a little pink. All this time and I've never asked if I should shave this off."
"No! It looks bristly but it's soft. I like it; it tickles."
Jacob brushed his chin along Cady's jaw. Her expression never changed. He bent his head and brushed across her breasts. "Nothing? Not even a smile?"
Cady smiled then. "That's not where it tickles."
Jacob's head moved down past her stomach.
"My neck and the back of my knees," Cady said, obviously fibbing.
Jacob looked up at her.
"Okay, you can try my inner thigh first."
That evening they dressed up and went to dinner in one of the resort restaurants. As they were finishing their waiter approached with a bottle of very good after-dinner wine. "With the compliments of the couple at table four." He nodded at a man and woman smiling at them. "They asked if you were Jacob Nighthorse. I hope it was not presumptuous of me to confirm."
"It's fine," Jacob said. "Ask them to join us."
"We don't mean to intrude but we were sure we recognized you," the woman said as she approached.
"From your show in Denver last fall at the Layton Gallery," the man added. "Mike and Ginny Sullivan."
"This is my wife Cady."
They sat down together over the wine.
"We're so pleased with the piece we bought: Devil's Tower."
"Thank you. I climbed it thirty years ago. This time I thought painting it would be easier."
"So this is what it's like to be married to a famous artist," Cady said when they returned to their room.
"Wine and schmoozing with collectors. Is it all you dreamed it would be?"
Cady smiled. "It really is. I've never been happier and the wine and schmoozing have nothing to do with it."
"What about earlier? You seemed pretty happy then."
"That was orgasmic euphoria and it definitely contributes to overall happiness."
They FaceTimed with Nova and Neon every morning and afternoon. Walt, Vic or Henry was usually with Charlotte and the twins. Vic told them Walt had practically moved in; she and Henry stopped by before or after work.
They went sightseeing by land and sea and did touristy things. January is the coldest month in Providenciales. More guests swam in the heated pool than the ocean but when you come from northern Wyoming in winter an ocean temp under eighty still feels warm.
Jacob made a few sketches but soon gave it up saying, "I don't have much feel for tropical paradises. Apparently I'm inspired by a climate where you have to be stoic to survive."
Two days later while they were shopping a woman broke away from a group and approached them.
"Are you Cady Longmire?"
"Yes," Cady said, surprised to be recognized. "Cady Nighthorse now. This is my husband Jacob."
"I'm Olivia Nelson and I teach in the Law College at Laramie. I joined the faculty a few years after you graduated. We'd like you to speak at the college about your work at the legal aid center on the Cheyenne reservation."
"I don't work there any longer. The center isn't staffed right now."
"I know. Drew Snowhawk said he'll be taking over when he graduates this spring. But you were the first director and you arranged for him to finish law school. That's how I knew who you were. We want our future lawyers to consider this type of outreach even if it's only for a year or two."
"In that case, I'd love to. Give me a call in a couple of weeks."
As they walked away Jacob said, "So this is what it's like to be married to a famous attorney."
"I get unpaid speaking engagements instead of wine." Cady laughed. "The last time a stranger recognized me was Lizzie Ambrose."
"Walt's girlfriend?"
"I don't think she actually achieved that status. She saw my picture on Dad's desk. It was so awkward when she realized I didn't know anything about her."
They had dinner with another couple on their last night. Back in Wyoming Omar and Myra Rhodes had told them they were going to Turks and Caicos a week after Jacob and Cady so they planned to meet.
"How long are you staying?" Jacob asked.
"Four days on TCI," Myra replied, "Then we're joining an island tour."
"Aruba, Jamaica, all the others," Omar explained. "Just like the song."
[A/N: Search for 'Beach Boys Kokomo']
"Sounds fun," Cady said, "But you'll be gone for weeks."
"Darlin' you have no idea," Omar said. "After Kokomo we cruise through the Panama Canal and on to Hawaii."
"Omar, are you avoiding winter in Wyoming?" Jacob asked.
"That's the plan. We'll get back on the first day of spring."
"But in Durant that usually means another three weeks of winter weather," Cady said.
"Just enough for him to complain about," Myra said.
"Aw, hell, I like some winter in Wyoming, I just don't like all of it. Especially since I got shot on that mountain in the snowstorm a few years ago."
While Omar and Jacob bickered over who would get the check, Myra and Cady quietly told the waiter to split it and add it to their room charges.
"While men argue, women get shit done," Myra said. "Now let's go for a moonlight walk on the beach."
Omar countered with "How about a drink first?"
"Beach then bar. Do you want to wander around drunk out there and drown?"
So they went to the beach, all four barefoot in the sand, the men's pockets full of their own shoes and their wives' sandals.
Later in their room, Jacob and Cady talked about the Rhodes.
"Are they the best or worst couple we know?" Jacob asked.
"Both. Occasionally at the same time. But they're fun if they're not trying to kill each other. You know, it's possible that Myra will destroy the tetraptych in a rage someday."
"And then pay me triple to recreate it," Jacob said.
The Rhodes's fights were legendary and so were their make-up gifts. Myra had once given Omar a helicopter.
The temperature was seventy-eight when the Nighthorses left TCI. When they deplaned in Denver it was sixteen degrees. Jacob shivered while they waited for the car to warm up.
"We're stoic, remember?" Cady teased. "You must feel so inspired."
Jacob gave her a look. "Is the honeymoon over?"
"Yes. But the marriage goes on."