Chapter Thirty-Four

Aiden swallowed hard as he stood in the mirror in the ranch house bedroom and looked himself up and down. Ellie had surprised him with a new three piece tailored suit and waistcoat that she had made herself—and it looked nice. He wondered what Nick would think.

He ran his hand through his thick dark hair and smiled a shaky smile.

He was nervous.

Petrified.

He still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. He had no idea what was going to happen but... something.

A knock at the closed door pulled Aiden from his thoughts of dread and he stepped away from the mirror, "Come in."

Elizabeth entered and she smiled brightly at him, "You look real handsome, Aiden."

"And scared to death," Brody added as he too strode into the room, "You worried the uh.. groom might get cold feet?"

"He's not is he?!" Aiden demanded. Honestly he hadn't given that any bit of thought but now.... damn!

Brody laughed and Elizabeth smacked his chest with the back of her hand as she rolled her eyes, "No, he's not getting cold feet. He's wandering around outside, mingling with the crowd and hoping you show up."

Aiden breathed a sigh of relief and nodded as his attention returned to the mirror, "I just can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen."

Brody's posture tightened with tension, "What?"

"I don't know," Aiden shrugged, "Who's performing the ceremony today?"

"George Bass is officiating for Wendell and Kaitlyn," Elizabeth informed him. She breezed across the room and grabbed his cravat from the bed. Aiden raised his chin as she wrapped it beneath his collar and began tying it with an ease that surprised him, "I use to do this for my father all the time before he passed away," she replied to his questioning gaze.

"So, he's officiating for them but not for me and Nick?" Aiden asked quietly.

"Don't worry about that," Brody stated with a raise of his brow, "You'll be took care of."

"Who...?"

"My friend LeRoy is gonna sign the paperwork since he's ordained to do so and Susie wants you to have as real a wedding as you can get but, uh, Ryder wants to have a part in it as well."

"Ryder?" Aiden questioned with dread.

The amusement on Brody's face caused his scar to stick out that much more sharply, "Yep. He's pretty excited about it too."

Aiden shook his head and smiled. Elizabeth's face brightened as she finished up the cravat and took a step back, "Now, Brody had something he wanted to talk to you about so I'm going to head on out. We have another hour or so before Wendell and Kaitlyn's ceremony starts and I have to run home and get the cinnamon cookies I baked. You and Nick will be getting married just as soon as Wendell and Kaitlyn are done saying 'I do'."

With that Elizabeth left the room and Brody shook his head as he watched her, "Stay away from anything that smells like, looks like, or generally resembles a cinnamon cookie today," he warned once Elizabeth was out of ear shot.

Aiden laughed lightly and fingered the perfectly done cravat that Elizabeth had tied around his neck, "She's good at this at least."

"Yep, too bad I'd be shot dead before I'd wear one of those."

"I think it looks nice," Aiden countered causing Brody to chuckle.

"Of course you do.... The wives always like to dress up real nice on the big day."

"According to Ellie, the fact that you say things like that means you like me."

Brody crooked a brow, "Is that right?"

Aiden nodded as he adjusted his waistcoat and glanced at that clock on the wall, "Yeah. That's what she said anyway."

"She's right, I reckon. Chances are if I didn't like you I would have branded your head by now."

Aiden laughed outright, assuming that Brody was joking, "You wouldn't really brand someone's forehead." The slight raise of Brody's brow told Aiden that he was wrong. "You really would brand someone's head?"

"I've done it before," Brody shrugged, "It was an improvement."

"Okay....." Aiden mumbled as his stomach turned a bit. He couldn't imagine just how angry Brody must have been to brand a man's head, "What were you wanting to talk to me about?" he asked, changing the subject.

Brody crossed his arms over his chest and propped his weight to one side, "I reckon you're going to be the one walking down the aisle right?"

Aiden nodded, "Yeah, why you gonna make another crack about me being the woman again?"

"No, actually I'd like to walk you down the aisle."

Aiden was shocked, humbled and amazed by Brody's offer. He was embarrassed by the emotion that lodged in his throat and the tears that pricked behind his eyes. He cursed himself mentally. There was no way he could cry in front of Brody!

"Please don't do that...." Brody grumbled as shifted his feet and glanced toward the door. "Do you want me to walk you down the aisle or not?"

"Yeah!" Aiden exclaimed quickly and when Brody raised his brow higher, Aiden took a step back and swallowed hard, "I mean sure. If... uh," he shrugged, feigning a lack of excitement. "If you want to."

***

"Ty, we have to go!" Liza called from the front porch, "We're already going to be late to Wendell and Kaitlyn's ceremony. I don't want to miss Nick and Aiden's. This means a lot to Susie."

Ty sighed as he stepped out of the barn. He could remind his wife that he'd been ready to go nearly two hours ago and she had been the hold-up but given her current bad mood that would probably not be the wisest course of action and he was a smart enough man to know it.

"I'm ready, Liza," he said instead as he jogged to their waiting cart and helped his wife lift her heavily pregnant frame into it. He took his place beside her, gathered up the reins and led them down the main street of town.

Ty's eyes scanned the streets. Quite a few folks were already gone out to the ranch for the wedding but there were those who refused to come or simply didn't know either party getting married. Some women refused to come to Kaitlyn's wedding because their husbands had had a bit too much fun at the saloon when Kaitlyn had worked there and there was a big majority that wasn't going to the weddings because they didn't agree with Nick and Aiden being allowed to marry.

Ty wasn't that sold on the idea either but Susie was his sister-in-law and he loved her. He'd do this for her because it meant so much and also because Ryder had begged and pleaded until he'd grudgingly agreed.

They were nearly out of the main part of town when Ty saw the richly dressed man and woman step from the hotel. He shook his head at the sight of the woman's dress. She was wearing so many petticoats, corsets and ribbons that she'd never get herself on a horse or in a cart for that matter—it would take a whole team of men. The man was wearing a suit and top hat and combined with that fancy gold handled cane in his hand, Ty figured his get-up cost more than Ty's salary paid him in a year.

Ty loved his town and the folks here mattered to him but they did get very many fancily dressed visitors. Most folks around here worked too hard to be bothered by frills and lace.

"Can I help you folks?" Ty asked as he stopped the cart and looked down at the out of place individuals.

"Hello, sir," the gentleman replied as he removed his hat and tipped his head, "My wife and I are looking for someone and we were told we could find him at a place called Atkinson Spread with a man named Brody Atkinson."

"Brody?" Liza whispered as she and Ty shared a look of dread.

"That's right," the woman sniffed as she covered her cheek with her silk encased hand, "He seems a most unsightly sort based on the letter we received from him."

Ty crossed his arms over his legs and held the reins loosely in his hands, "Well as you folks can tell, I'm the law around here. Why don't you tell me who it is you're searching for and I'll tell you if he's around here."

"This is a matter of utmost discretion," the man warned in a whisper.

Ty nodded, "Understood."

The man took a step closer and his brown eyes darted back and forth, "Our son, Aiden Washington."

Washington? Aiden's last name was Washington? A tiny little thing like him with such a powerful last name? Ty nearly laughed. It was a question that he hadn't ever asked the man but it made sense. Family rich and in the government—of course he was a Washington. Ty wondered if he was any relation to the first president of their fine country. He did chuckle a bit at that thought. Oh, what the founding father would say if he could see his blood kin now.

"Can you excuse us a moment?" Liza asked brightly and then she yanked Ty's arm and pulled his face close to hers.

"What?" he demanded, not liking being handled so roughly in public. There was a certain amount of respect that he needed to be given as sheriff when others were around.

"You had better do something about them," she warned in a whisper, "They mean trouble, I'd guarantee it! They nearly killed him themselves before sending hired men to do it for them."

"Maybe they've had a change of heart?" Ty offered doubtfully.

Liza snorted, "Yes and maybe the butcher will have to build a roof on his hog lot to keep the pigs in when they sprout wings out their backsides."

"Be awful hard to fly if the wings come out that end," Ty pondered. Liza glared at him. "I'll handle things." He turned his attention back to Aiden's parents, "What business do you have with Aiden?" he asked. "He's pretty well liked around here and I'd hate to think he's in some kind of trouble."

The man and woman shared a look and she shook her head ever-so-slightly, "No, he's in no trouble," Aiden's father said slowly, "We are simply concerned for his well-being and would like to have him back home with us where he belongs. The last time we saw one another things did not turn out very well."

"Well you're in luck," Ty smiled and sat up straighter, "He's at Atkinson Spread all right and we was just fixing to head out there ourselves." Ty felt Liza tense beside him and he also noticed the barely controlled rage flit across Aiden's father's face. Oh yes, the man certainly seemed concerned about his son's well-being... mainly the fact that he was still breathing.

"Yes and we're late—" Liza began.

"Is there something happening out there today?" Aiden's mother questioned.

"Yep," Ty nodded and put his hand on Liza's knee to silence her, "A wedding... double-wedding actually."

"Well good then. Allow us to rent a buggy and we will follow you..."

"I have an extra one down the road," Ty countered. "I'll let you use it free of charge just follow me." He handed the reins to a confused Liza and jumped down from the cart, "Just wait here for me, honey," he stated with a smile.

Aiden's parents followed him willingly enough down the road but stopped when they reached the jail, "What are we doing here?" his mother demanded.

"My building is pad locked and the keys in here somewhere."

"We'll wait out here," Aiden's father stated.

Ty shook his head, "Come on now, it's hot out here and a bit cooler inside and it might take a while for me to find that key. I'm a bit unorganized."

Aiden's father gave his wife a questioning glance and she nodded as she fanned herself, "Please, dear, it is dreadfully hot out here today. Texas is much too warm for my tastes."

Ty smiled with triumph as the fancy couple followed him inside and his deputy frowned at the sight of them. Ty closed the door and locked it which of course caused Aiden's parents to whirl around with alarm.

"What are you doing?!" his father demanded.

"Well, Mr. Washington, the truth is that your son is getting married to the man he loves today out there at the ranch and I just can't allow you to go interrupt things. See if I let you do that then my wife would get really hard to live with and I'd make an enemy of a man I'd just as soon keep as a friend by the name of Brody... and it would hurt my sister-in-law which of course would lead to my brother gunning for me. So see I'm in a bit of an awkward spot."

As he spoke, Ty pulled his gun, aimed it in their direction and motion with his other hand for the deputy to open the door that led to the cells.

"You will not lock us away like common criminals!" Aiden's father bellowed as his mother clung to him.

"Yes I will. You're an attempted murderer and when that didn't work you hired men to kill your son who was not guilty of any crime as far as the law is concerned... and your wife there is an accomplice to all of that since she went along with it."

"You wouldn't dare! Do you have any idea who I am?"

"No," Ty shrugged, "And I don't give a shit neither. Now get back through there and let's not make this ugly. Just as soon as the ceremony is over I'll let Aiden know you're here and he can decide what to do with you."

Ty led them to a cell while they stuttered, stammered and grew angry. He locked them safely inside and handed the keys to his deputy, "They don't leave until I say so," Ty warned and the deputy nodded,

"Yes sir."

Ty tipped his hat to the man and wife as she sobbed and he glared. When Ty rejoined Liza out at the cart he felt pretty good about what he had done...all except for the fact that locking up a well-known government official could cost him his badge.

"Did you honestly lock them up?" Liza asked, sounding quite impressed.

"Yep. Now come along darling," Ty jumped up in the cart, took the reins and kissed her cheek, "We have a wedding to be getting to."