RANCHO REYES Chapter 18 Lassoing a Bride

Honey Moon in New York
courtesy free clip art

 

John or Juan as everyone on the ranch called him wasn’t having any second thoughts about his decision to marry Mae.

He had sat in too many poker games reading the players not to be able to tell when someone had the goods or not.  He availed him self of all the experience he had garnered from dealing with all kinds of people to evaluate Mae.  He knew instinctively she was the real deal.

When he asked her if she would like to marry him she just answered with a simple, “I would.”  After that short answer he didn’t know how to follow up on that.

It looked like he wasn’t going to kiss her so she put her arms around him and kissed him several times.  She then told him you’re supposed to kiss your wife and it’s okay if we start before the wedding.

He wasn’t quite ready for that and didn’t have a snappy answer but after a while he smiled and said, “I’ll try to remember that.”

Little by little they were drawn closer together.  From the beginning there was this desire to be as one but their reticence of being close didn’t allow it.

Thinking back on it from the first time he met her, he was determined to have her as his mate for life but it took some time for it to play out.

It took a lot of being alone and chatting before they could let down their guard and for their relationship to blossom.  

They were both reserved and it was a series of small steps to get to the point of giving themselves to one another unreservedly.  In fact they were still working on it when the engagement was announced but John felt sure it was a done deal.

It was six weeks before the school term was finished so Mae wanted to put the wedding off until after it was finished.  She was willing to help Senior find a new schoolmarm as she wasn’t planning on continuing to teach but to make the most of their marriage and raising their kids if they came along.

John told her of the new house he was having built in Santa Fe and wanted her to have some input while it was still in the planning stage.  Quite a bit of work had been done but nothing that couldn’t be changed without much trouble at this stage.

John had envisioned a ranch style house that spread out all over and Mae was in agreement for it to be where their kids could have the run of the house without being afraid of breaking up housekeeping.

Along with that idea she said she wanted their kids to be able enjoy their home.  It was going to be difficult for the house to be finished on time for them to move in after the wedding so they decided to take a three week honeymoon in the east as John had never been there.

The days just dragged on and it seemed like forever till school was out.  

The wedding was going to be a gala event with many people there.  Some of John’s business friends from San Francisco were planning to attend.  

With so many people coming they set up what was a tent city.  The tents could accommodate several people and had wood floors to help keep them clean.

Barbara and the rest of the Reyes family helped Mae make her wedding dress and what they called her Bridal Trousseau.

A few days before the big day John’s business friends showed up and wanted to see where he came from.  Since they were more the buggy type John had one of the cow hands take care of them.  

John spent much of the evenings with them talking over the possibility of some new investments.  They wanted to meet John in New York when he and his bride were there on their honey moon.  John was about to object when of the men said you will need a break after a few days so just make the meetings part of the post wedding plans.

The wedding day arrived and went off without any problems.  There were so many people to greet after the vows were taken.  It was hours before the reception wound down and Mr. and Mrs. Reyes said goodnight to the partiers.  

 

When the minister introduced them as the Reyes it was the first time he realized that he was really a part of this family whose name he had take shortly after he had joined them.  Senior had accepted him in the family as a son and the siblings as a brother.

The next day they headed off on their big adventure to New York.  John knew that his sister Barbara and Raul her husband would be there in New York the last week of their honeymoon for they never had what you might call a real honeymoon themselves.

They have been at the ranch ever since they were married.  So it was agreed during the last week John would spend much of his time talking business.

While he was involved with looking over some deals Mae, Raul and Barbara were seeing the sight and shopping.  Raul’s sisters made Barbara promise to buy the some nice clothes from the big city.  So while they were shopping Raul was the one who carried the stuff back to the hotel.  

After three days of the shopping spree Raul said this is fun but I think I would like to see something and do something besides these fashion shops.

They laughed and said okay you’ve been good so for the rest of the week you can decide what you want to do. He said fine I have felt emasculated.

They asked, “Where did you hear that word?”   He said the Vet Doctor used it when we were altering the bull calves, Mae said; “Oh!”

During the time the shopping went on John and his partners were doing business they had sold most of their holdings and bought into things pertaining to energy.  They had convinced themselves energy was the wave of the future. After their time expired it was time to head home.

Barbara was missing her children and Raul wanted to get back to the ranch and see if any thing had been messed up while he was gone.

The latest news was some bandits had been making excursions across the border and rustling both cattle and horses.  As they prepared to go and face down the thieves John decided to join in.

It had been a long time since he had mixed it up with rustlers.

Continued