Page 5 of Hadley

“Is he here now?” She nodded, and he asked her if she needed him to take action. “I can do whatever you wish. Declaring you would be what I’d think would help if you think it will make him back off. What sort of stalking are we talking about?”

“He thinks that the…no, he’s demanding that I marry him so he can run this farm. I haven’t any idea why he thinks he could do anything, like even going so far as to manage the shoes in his closet, for which I think he had thousands of, but that’s what he wants. I actually think, and GGMa agrees with me, that he wants to marry me so he can sell off the land here to the highest bidder and be wealthy. His family was, at one time, wealthy, I mean, but now they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel as much as anyone else I know. Thanks to you guys, at least your family, this farm has been prospering more each year.”

When someone grabbed him from behind, he knew who it was immediately. He could feel not only the other man’s anger but his confusion as well. But taking a cue from Colby’s book, he turned and hit the man in the face with his fist. Hadley pulled back at the last second so that he’d not kill the man. Not yet, at any rate. But he had managed to knock him back on the ground and give him a satisfying fat lip and bloodied nose.

“What the hell was that for? And why are you talking to my girl?” He asked him who his girl was. “CJ there. She’s my soon-to-be wife, and I’d appreciate it if you weren’t mauling her all up like you were.”

“Mauling her up? I wasn’t even touching her.” Hadley put out his hand to help the man out. When he waved it away, he put his arms across his chest to let the man know that he was a much larger man than he was. Colby told the man on the ground that her name was Colby, not CJ. “I don’t think she likes you all that much. Even I can hear the disdain in her voice. What did you do to piss her off so much?”

“She’s forever pissed off about something. If you were to spend more than ten minutes with her, she’d tell you everything that is wrong with you. And I call her CJ to keep track of her with all the other Colbys around here. Every fucking one of them is named that name.” Colby told the man on the ground that it was just the firstborn women. “Whatever. How am I supposed to make people know who I’m talking about when I say I’m marrying a Colby?”

“My grandparents and my mother are old enough to be your grandparents too, stupid. And again, I’m not marrying you, Levi. I don’t know why you keep telling people that when everyone in town knows I’d kill you the first time you tried any of your macho shit on me. Get it through your thick head. I am not going to be marrying you. Not ever “ Hadley turned and winked at Colby when she told him to get up off the ground. “Hadley, this moron is Levi Mitchel. His family is the Mitchel’s that are losing their businesses all over town.”

“We’re just regrouping. We’re not going to—if you would just say yes to marrying me, all my troubles and those of my families would go away. Damn it, woman. Can you see what you’re doing to me?” Colby told him that she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to say yes to him ever. “You keep saying that, but you know that there isn’t anyone else around that would take you on. You’re hard on a man. Anyone, I guess, but especially hard on men, CJ. You should just marry me, and I’ll get you trained up on how to be a proper wife, and things will be perfect. For both of us.”

At the poke on his back, Hadley turned around and looked at Colby. When she rolled her eyes at him, he laughed as he went on bent knee to propose to her. Things were working out better than he could have imagined, and he was so glad to be able to do this with all the family around.

“Colby, will you marry me? I’m sorry I don’t have a ring—” Another poke to his side this time, and his mom was standing there. Slipping a ring off that she wore around her neck on a beautiful chain, he stood, kissed her on the cheek and went back to his position in front of Colby. “My mom, Cindi M—”

“Hello, Cindi. It’s so lovely to meet you.” Mom nodded and laughed. “Thank you for coming to the recuse of your son.” Looking at him, she mouthed to him, no last names.

“All right. Will you marry me, Colby?” Slipping the ring on her finger, he wasn’t the least bit surprised to find that it was a perfect fit. As others joined them, while he was still waiting on her to answer him, he thought about the future that the two of them would have. “I’ll be at your beck and call for whatever you want from me. I would die to keep you safe. From this day forward, you are my only priority. My only love and the light in my heart.”

“Yes. I’ll marry you, Hadley.” Levi got up then and started stomping around the ground, saying how Hadley had no rights in proposing to his fiancé. Mom hugged them both and then called over the others to hear the great news. “I only hope that you understand that I’m going not change anything about me to suit you. I’m going to be myself like I am right now. I expect no less of you, either. You be who you are, and we’ll get along just fine.”

“I don’t know exactly what that means, but no, I have no desire to change a thing about you other than your last name. I want only what you want.” She told him that she wanted him to be happy too. “I am. Happier than I think I’ve been in my entire life.”

Colby’s mother and grandmother came to hug them. When her great grandma, or GGMa as she called her, joined them, he was happy to see they were all thrilled with the news. It wasn’t until Levi came over to the group that things quieted down a little. He demanded that he take back the ring and the proposal.

“Oh, do grow up, Levi. You’re more like that idiot of a father of yours every day. She told you daily, sometimes nearly ten times a day, that she didn’t want to marry you. I don’t even remember one time when she even hesitated in giving you no for an answer. Go home.” He told the older Colby that he had to marry her. “I think that ship has sailed, don’t you?”

“Ship? I don’t have…you mean that I’ll be able to have one when she finally says yes to me? Yes, that’s a good thing to have. A ship. I’ll be able to sail all around the world then, with CJ by my side. But she’s gotta say that she’ll marry me first. You make her Colby One. Tell her that she has to marry me on account of me being here first.” Colby One? When Hadley understood what he was talking about, he burst out laughing. “You’ll be laughing out of the other side of your head when my daddy hears about you taking away my bride. CJ was meant to be mine, and I’ve been courting her since we were children.”

“You do understand that courting and annoying someone isn’t the same, don’t you, Levi? I mean, I don’t know what you were told, but it’s not nearly the same thing as wooing a woman so that she only has eyes for you. I think you have annoying someone confused with courting.” He said that he did no such thing. Hadley laughed again. “It’s a moot point now, I guess, since she did tell me yes. Maybe I’ll see if you can come to the wedding. Or not. That would be entirely up to Colby three.”

They walked around the big party over the next couple of hours. Most of the time, Levi would be behind them bitching about this and that. However, for the most part, they were able to slip away from him from time to time so they could talk privately. It was then that Hadley was able to talk to Colby. They were getting to know one another.

“Why didn’t you want him to know our last names?” She said that it was none of his business who she was marrying. “I guess not. I was thinking that it had to do more with him wanting to hit my family up for money or something.”

“I wouldn’t put that past him either. His family has been living outside of their means since before Levi was born. And as I said before, I think that his father, who really does want him to marry me, just wants the monies from the sale of this place. I don’t think anyone but this family and yours know it can’t be sold to anyone but you and yours.” Hadley said he knew that as well but thought that if she had ever asked, they’d allow them to do what they wanted with the land. “That’s good to know, but I’d never sell this place. It’s been in my family for longer than anyone I know that can remember.”

He knew that it had, too, but just how long, he wasn’t entirely sure. Not that it mattered a great deal either, he supposed. As they were in line to get some of the food he’d been smelling all day, he was approached by no less than ten people asking him if he planned to live here with Colby. Since he wasn’t sure what her intentions were about where they lived, he referred them to her. That wasn’t a decision that he knew how to answer, to be honest.

Once they were seated on a blanket that he was sure was older than Colby, with their food, he asked her about their living arrangements. He expected her to point out that she wasn’t going to be easy or that he was going to be getting anywhere with her anytime soon. But she surprised him by saying that she really wanted to live out her life here. It gave him the opportunity to tell her that she was an immortal.

“I’m not sure how I feel about that. I mean, to outlive all of my family? What do you do when…I guess they’re all immortal, too, aren’t they?” Hadley told her they were but that she could give immortality to whomever she wished. “I don’t know about that either. There are some, even family members, that I don’t think I could stand any more than one lifetime that they have much less an endless supply of them.”

Hadley laughed again. It was a good feeling too. One that he’d not been so free with in the past. As they enjoyed their dinner, she told him about the house that she’d grown up in, as well as what was referred to as the big house.

“I haven’t any idea why they call it that. It’s not much more than a cabin with a couple of rooms and has running water and electricity, thanks to the little people that are here. I don’t know that there is any room in there for more than a few people. I was born there, of course. As well as my GGMa, her daughter and my mom. But as for living in it? I’m not sure, with you being such a large man, it would work for us.” He told her about the house that he and she owned not far from here. “All right. We could live there, I guess.”

“It doesn’t matter to me where we live, Colby. I swear to you, I can work from anywhere. And if you want to live here, I’d love that as well. All this open room? I’d be able to be my dragon whenever I want, and no one would be the wiser.” He laughed again. “I’m a diamond dragon, so it’s not so hard for me to hide right out in the open anyway. Whatever I’m near when I become him, I blend in nicely with all the things around me.” He looked at her white hair then and noticed that there were streaks in it that were more silver, more diamond-like color than before. But before he could comment on it, he heard his name being shouted out. They both turned to see who it was.

“Oh well, I guess things were starting to be normal and nice around here. That’s Levi senior. Levi, the idiot’s father. Just so you know, he’s about as bigoted and narrow-minded as they come. Also, he believes that women are dumber than rocks and need to be trained well in order to be considered good wives. I don’t like him at all.” Hadley said he wasn’t sure he was going to like him all that much, either. “Just don’t kill him. Please. It’s my GGMa’s birthday, and I’d rather not have to explain why Mr. Mitchel’s burnt to a crisp in the front yard. Or squished. I’m not sure that either option would make anyone anymore happy than me at this point, but there would be a great deal of paperwork to fill out.” He turned to the man as soon as he was only a couple of feet away from them.

“Mr. Mitchel. What can I do for you?” The man looked pale and out of shape. Like if he had to turn around and walk back the way he’d come, he’d be dead from the stress. Staying where he was on the ground, Hadley didn’t mind the least bit having to bend back to have a look at the overweight man. “We were just enjoying a nice repast. I’m sure there would be plenty enough—”

“What is this I hear about you turning down my son? He’s going to be marrying CJ. Not you. She’s not going to be under any circumstances marrying someone like you.” He looked at Colby. “You’ve been dangling along my son long enough, young lady. I’ve taken it upon myself to file a license for the two of you, and you’ll be marrying him post haste. I’m not going to be told no any longer. You’ll see. He’ll have this place running like it should have been from the start. Women just don’t have a head for business like men do.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com