A wedding and an engagement

The weeks passed and another Christmas was just around the corner, along with Rita and Norman's wedding. Norman had quit the pony express and now worked full time as a telegraph operator at the Post Office with Oliver. The post office was getting busier with each passing day. More people were moving into town. More houses were being built and new businesses were opening almost daily.

Rita invited Shane to be her maid of honour and Norman invited Oliver to be his best man. They were getting married on Christmas Eve. They'd spend their wedding night at Eleanor's Inn, but they decided to delay travelling anywhere for their honeymoon until the winter was over. In the meantime, Rita was going to move from her parents' house into Norman's house. Rita was very excited about that!

The last week before the wedding, Shane and Rita were spending most evenings together sewing lots of items for Rita's new home.

"Are you nervous?" Shane asked her.

"About what?"

"Well you know, the wedding, the wedding night?"

Rita stopped sewing and looked at her. "I'm terrified; not so much about the wedding, but the wedding night. I don't know how on earth I'm going to survive it."

Shane chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

Rita looked at her curiously. "How do you know? How can you be so confident?"

Shane put her sewing down and looked at Rita. "Well, when you kiss him, do you feel like you're going to die?"

"No! What do you mean?"

Shane looked at her in shock. "How do you feel when he kisses you?"

"Well, I don't know, I mean, it's nice."

"Nice? Is that all?" Shane laughed.

"Well, how do you feel when Oliver kisses you?"

Shane blushed and felt hot all over. She hoped Rita didn't notice. "I feel nice, too." Shane decided to change the topic immediately, but Rita was not having it.

"Oh, hang on a minute," Rita said, laughing. "Nice? What aren't you telling me, Shane?"

Shane closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Oh Rita, I feel like I'm going to die or explode. When he stops kissing me, my heart breaks. When he's near me, all I want to do is kiss him… and…" Shane stopped talking and blushed deeply.

"And what?" Rita asked, looking absolutely terrified.

"Oh well, there's no harm in dreaming about it, is there?"

"Do you dream about it?" Rita asked, incredulously with huge round eyes staring at Shane unblinkingly.

"Oh Rita, yes, yes, I do." Shane said moaning as though the excruciating beauty of it was upon her. "I wish I was marrying him this week too. I can't wait to be his wife." Shane sighed dreamily, and then became instantly sad. "But then, I don't know when that will be or even if it will ever be since we're not even engaged."

"Oh, I see how he looks at you, Shane, I don't think you will be waiting very long."

"What do you mean?"

"He never looked at Holly the way he looks at you."

Shane gasped. "Really? How's that?"

"Well, for starters, we hardly ever saw them together. They ate at the Inn occasionally, but she always looked bored. I saw them together a couple of times waiting for the stagecoach to take them to Denver City. He looked like he was imprisoned in a torture chamber while she fiddled with her hat or her blouse or some other item of clothing. They were physically together but definitely not in concert."

Shane looked thoughtful. Rita continued. "As opposed to you two. He laughs when he is with you. He seems happy. Alive! With Holly he seemed frozen, waiting for something, anything to wake him up, waiting for you I suppose."

"Poor Oliver!" Shane said, with her eyes full of tears.

"He's happy now, Shane. He's like a new man. You have made all the difference. God knew what he was doing when he brought you here."

Shane smiled dreamily. They had just picked up their sewing again when they heard a knock on the door. It was Oliver and Norman. The 4 of them had a good catch up over coffee and lemon cake. They were all very excited about the wedding in 3 days' time. After a while, Norman and Rita left. Shane and Oliver sat beside each other on the couch. Shane snuggled under his arm, folding her legs under her skirt.

"So, how is Rita doing?" Oliver asked.

"Well, she's excited, but very nervous."

"About what?" Oliver asked absentmindedly. Shane had her hand over his chest, caressing him lovingly through the thin fabric of his shirt. Oliver was struggling to remain focussed.

"Oh well, stuff." Shane said nonchalantly.

"What kind of stuff?" Oliver insisted trying hard to keep the conversation going. But he was losing the battle. Unable to keep his mind focused or his hand away from her, he grabbed her hand from his chest, brought it up to his lips and planted a long and loving kiss on her knuckles. Shane forgot all about his question. As he stopped kissing her hand, she kept it on his face, caressing it tenderly. She ran her thumb over his lower lip gently. He captured it with his mouth and kissed it seductively.

"I should go." He said breathlessly, desperately, looking at her with his mesmerising blue eyes, obviously facing a huge internal battle with what he wanted to do and what he should do.

However, instead of getting up to leave, he turned on the couch, pinning her back to it and then found her mouth with his. He started kissing her gently, his lips softly brushing over hers. She parted her lips, licking his and softly biting his lower lip. She always managed to break his resolve to contain himself. He was no match for her. He quickly deepened the kiss hungrily, ravenously, giving in to his desire. The need to have more of her took over. He grabbed her and sat her on his lap. She just melted into him, moulding her body into his.

"Shane?"

"Ummm?" She moaned into his mouth.

"I… I think… I need to go… errr… before I do something I might regret." "Hummm ummm!" She said, holding more tightly onto him. After a few more seconds of intense kissing, she let go of him and tried to get off his lap, but he held her firmly in place. He looked at her and asked, "What is Rita afraid of?" She just smiled at him and shook her head.

He looked intently at her and asked, "Will you be afraid of the same thing when your turn comes?" She thought for a second as to how best answer his question since he had the uncanny ability to perfectly read her.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so. I could be wrong, but I think I'm ready. In fact, I desire it above anything else." She blushed deeply and lowered her eyes, thinking she shouldn't have said the last few words. He nodded and helped her get off his lap.

"Thank you, Miss McInerney for being so honest. I appreciate the fact you do not try to be coquettish to manipulate people in your life. Your honesty is refreshing."

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "How long did you court Holly before you asked her to marry you?" He raised an eyebrow at her, turned his eyes away and looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Oliver. It's none of my business. What a stupid question."

"No! It's not stupid and you have every right to know more about me." He raked his fingers through his hair, looked at her and nodded, as if he had made up his mind after a brief contemplation.

"I knew Holly for only two weeks when I married her. She was actually the one who proposed to me. Since I had already done something I shouldn't have, I felt obliged to do the right thing. We walked into the first registry office we could find and made it official. That marriage was a mistake from beginning to end. We didn't actually know each other at all. I didn't know her character. All I knew about her was she was good in bed." He looked sad and defeated as he acknowledged his weakness.

Shane was hit hard by his last words. "Was she very good in bed?" She asked softly.

"Yes! She was! For your information though, that's not what a man is looking for in a woman he plans to marry. Her physical talent was not a good thing. I was drunk on lust and failed to see how detrimental to our marriage her "exuberance for physical relations" would eventually become."

Tears started to roll down Shane's face. "I'm so sorry, Oliver. I shouldn't have given in to my curiosity and asked you. I'm sorry I made you feel that pain all over again. It's done, it's finished and I really hope we can all move on."

"Yes, Miss McInerney. We are definitely moving on... to better things, God willing!"

Oliver left soon after; feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It was good to share with Shane all his character flaws now so she would really know him, and then she could decide whether she wanted a future with him or not.

###

Rita and Norman's wedding day arrived. The church and reception room were decorated with ribbons, evergreens and dried flowers. Ellie Richards had started her own flower business since she had the most amazing gardens and green houses. She had worked hard to have flowers dried for events during the winter. As she predicted, her efforts had come in handy for their wedding.

Pastor Ramon did a superb job officiating the ceremony.

Shane and Oliver were the best maid of honour and the best best man ever. They were the perfect combination of support and encouragement to both Rita and Norman.

As the reception was going on full force inside, Oliver invited Shane to put on her coat and step outside with him. It was freezing and whatever Oliver had to say to Shane, she hoped he wouldn't take long to say it.

"Shane, I love you." He started. "When I first met you over 18 months ago, I never realised how important you'd become to me. I certainly wasn't prepared for how quickly you'd take over my heart. You came into my life and entered my heart without asking for permission. You quite simply made yourself at home. I realise now I can't live without you." He then went down on one knee, took a ring from his pocket and presented it to her. "Will you marry me and let me love you for the rest of my life? You'll make me the happiest man alive!"

Shane, who had covered her mouth with one hand, squealed in delight. In the midst of her tears of joy she said, "Oh Oliver, I will marry you and love you forever and be the happiest woman alive. I love you, my Oliver, with all my heart. I shall cherish you as the most precious gift I'll ever receive."

News of their engagement quickly spread through town. Everybody was overjoyed for them, knowing how much Oliver had suffered at the hands of Holly; they looked forward to the day when they would see him happy once again, with an excellent wife by his side.