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“Or something, yeah,” he said, laughing.
“Well, I need you to do up my necklace and I don’t trust anyone else, so here I am.”
She handed him her necklace with her engagement ring hanging from it and spun around, efficient as ever. Sawyer chuckled as he strung it around her neck, brushing a curl out of the way as he fiddled with the clasp, finishing off his duty by kissing the freckles on the back of her neck.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered in her ear, and Josie leaned back into him.
“You look pretty good yourself there, mister,” she said as he continued to kiss down her neck. “You still feeling like this isn’t really happening?”
Sawyer didn’t know how to answer that. Neither of them had gotten much sleep last night, too nervous and excited to think about going to bed like the next day would be normal. They’d talked into the early hours of the morning and Sawyer had confessed how he kept thinking that this was all a dream, that he would someday wake up and it would all be ripped away from him. Surely this was all too good to be true. Was he really supposed to have all this happiness around him?
“I think,” he said into Josie’s shoulder as they stood in their kitchen, about to walk down the aisle in less than an hour. “That it still might all be a dream, but if that’s the case I’ll just refuse to wake up.”
She took his face in her hands, gentle despite the calluses she had from a lifetime of hard work and smiled up into his face.
“I won’t wake you, I promise.”
They kissed again, the novelty of it never growing old, even after months of living together.
Sawyer had been able to watch Josie blossom over those months… If he’d thought she’d been a bucket of sunshine before, then he’d had no idea of what was in store. Even paying for the ranch in its entirety, in cash, and retiring all in the same week, Sawyer had been smart with his money over the years despite the parties and frivolity that most people saw. He had savings and investments, and financial security wasn’t something they’d ever have to worry about. It had taken Josie a long time to get used to the idea. She was still getting used to the idea, really. Not having to work two jobs just to scrape by, she was at a bit of a loss at first with what to do with all her free time. They’d also been at a bit of a loss as to what direction to take the ranch in. Did they go back to cattle rearing? Move onto crops?
Eventually, Sawyer had sprung awake at four a.m. one night with the perfect idea, solving both the future of the ranch and Josie’s aimless energy in one fell swoop. They’d invested in more horses, some from excellent studs and born to be under a saddle and others from auctions that needed rescuing and could never be ridden but needed a home nonetheless.
Turns out there was plenty of people who wanted to spend their free time taking care of the animals, riding them, grooming them, feeding them, but didn’t have the money or space to have their own. Maybe they needed lessons on how to ride in the first place. Maybe they could get a horse of their own. People like Josie who, if Sawyer hadn’t been able to buy the place from Luke, would’ve lost access to her favorite thing in the world.
Both the ranch and Josie found their directions again, and most afternoons there were at least three other vehicles parked up on the property as different faces came and went, Josie teaching them how to pick out a hoof or lead a horse to pasture.
Sawyer had never seen her so happy, and that was his direction. To keep her that happy, always. He had something along those lines written out in his vows, and the stray thought had him patting his jacket pocket for the millionth time to check that his notecards were still in there, safe and sound.
Josie was now looking out the window, watching the world go by.
“We should probably get down there,” she said, a hint of nerves in her own voice for the first time, and Sawyer leaned down and pecked her on the cheek.
“Have you got your bouquet?”
“Sandy’s got it for me.”
“Then I guess we’re ready.”
He held out his elbow and Josie wound her arm through his, both of them walking out the door and into a new chapter of their lives, Herb following with a trot in his step, excitedly looking around at all of the trucks and cars that had arrived and at all of the people waiting for them by the barn. Hopefully, this chapter would be slightly more traditional and maybe even a little less chaotic. Not that they were really going the traditional route anyways. They’d walk down the aisle together.
“We can’t just run away from our own wedding reception,” Sawyer called, chasing after Josie as she picked up the flouncy skirts of her dress and ran from the barn up to her truck, Herb barking at her heels.
“Sure we can!” she yelled over her shoulder. “It’sourwedding. We can do whatever we want.”
Sawyer only caught up to her because of the length of his legs, but by then they were at the truck and Josie was climbing in, the perfectly made-up bride now at odds with the interior of her truck. Sawyer, despite his previous protests as she’d tugged him out of the barn that was now set up for dancing with Luke’s banquet set up on tables for everyone to share, climbed into the passenger seat.
“Come on,” he called to the dog, and Herb jumped up into the footwell, taking up his regular driving position at Sawyer’s feet, content to be wherever the humans were. Sawyer was always the passenger on the farm; he had never driven Josie’s truck, and he never would. It was just one of the weird superstitious habits that had developed between the two of them over the last year.
Josie started driving, not going down the drive but out towards the fields, and Sawyer immediately knew where she was taking him. As the sun started to dip, surrounding them in the soft light of dusk, he couldn’t help cackling every time he looked over and saw Josie driving in her wedding dress like it was a regular Saturday afternoon.
It wasn’t all that long before they were parked in the field closest to the creek, hidden behind its living wall of trees. They both left their shoes in the truck and wandered over, Josie taking the lead as always as she tugged Sawyer along by the hand, looking over her shoulder with a smile brighter than the sun.
Then, slipping through the trees and feeling like he was stepping into another world, they were back in their spot, nothissecret place anymore, but theirs. Josie didn’t hesitate before walking into the creek up to her ankles, looking around and letting thelast of the sunlight kiss her shoulders and the back of her neck. Herb bounced around happily, jumping from the grass to the water and back again, stopping to sniff something or chase a frog.
Sawyer just stood there and watched, soaking it all in and making sure that he would remember every detail of this moment.
The ceremony was a blur. It had gone without a hitch. The sound system had worked and he’d remembered his vows, barely needing to look at the notes he had written out. There was more than enough food for everyone and, in fact, they’d probably be eating leftovers for the rest of their lives judging from the tables they’d left behind with the guests. The whole thing had gone so quickly, and suddenly, Sawyer had been kissing Josie and was now able to call her his wife.
