Wyoming Wedding (Culpepper Cowboys Book 1), Page 3

  After a moment the sound of horse’s hooves riding toward her and then stopping filled the air. She slowly opened her eyes to see a man throw his leg over the side of his horse and dismount, tying off his reins on the porch. “Hi.”

  Hope stared at him, her heart jumping into her throat. Never had she reacted so strongly to a man at first meeting. She laughed to herself softly. The truth was, she’d never reacted strongly to a man at all. She wasn’t sure she possessed the type of emotions that it took for love, but she hoped she did.

  “Hi. I’m Hope.”

  “I’m Karlan. I’m the oldest of the four brothers. Mayor of Culpepper, Wyoming.”

  “I’m Hope Quinlan. Oldest of the Quinlan quadruplets.” Hope made a face. She hated being a quad. Why had she introduced herself that way?

  “Wait. I knew we were marrying sisters, but quadruplets? Really?” Karlan walked over and sank down onto the swing beside her, setting the swing into motion with the kick of his boot.

  “Really. And our names are god-awful too. I’m Hope, and my sisters are Faith, Joy, and Chastity.”

  “Is she really?”

  “Is who really what?”

  “Is Chastity really chaste?”

  Hope laughed. “I sure wouldn’t swear to it. That girl is—well, you’ll see in a minute or two.”

  Karlan looked down at the pretty girl beside him. She was wearing a jean skirt and a long buttoned up shirt which was untucked. Her hair was shoulder length, which to him was the only thing that kept her from looking like a Bible thumper. “I’m not sure I care too much about meeting her. I think I’ve found my prize already.”

  Karlan was shocked to hear the words come out of his mouth. He’d never come on so strongly with a woman, but he’d also never met one and felt his ding-a-ling immediately jump in his pants. Why he felt so much after a moment’s acquaintance, he wasn’t sure. Would he feel the same for her sisters? Were they identical?

  “You may not think that after you meet the others. There are four of us after all.”

  “And four of us. Are you identical?”

  She shook her head. “No. Thank God! We look like we’re sisters, for sure, but we’re easily told apart. We have younger sisters who are twins, and they’re fraternal as well.” She was certain she was babbling, but she’d never been left alone with a man before, and especially not one who made her feel things.

  Karlan studied her face, glad they were close enough that he could see the small flecks of brown in her green eyes. “May I kiss you?”

  Hope blinked a few times, surprised that he would ask that so soon after meeting. “I don’t know. Do you think that would be right? Would it be weird if I ended up marrying one of your brothers, and you married one of my sisters and we’d kissed?”

  He grinned. “No, but I don’t plan on marrying anyone but you, darlin’.” He leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against hers. His hand moved to cup her cheek.

  Hope felt the passion shoot through her into her belly. She let out a gasp, and parted her lips, kissing him back. She’d always hoped it was possible for her to have these feelings for a man, and now here she was, enjoying a kiss.

  She scooted closer to him, her hand going to the back of his neck. His tongue traced her lip, and she sighed happily. Her hand stroked the strong muscles of his neck, and moved down to his shoulders. This wasn’t a man who sat behind a desk pushing papers around all day. This was a real man. It was all she could do not to climb onto his lap.

  Karlan lifted his head, tapping her on the nose with his index finger. “Marry me. I’m staking my claim before my brothers see you.”

  “I—uh—we haven’t known each other for five minutes.”

  “Hope, you just drove thirteen hundred miles to marry one of four strangers. Let it be me.”

  Hope slowly nodded, a smile creeping across her face. “Yes, I’ll marry you.” She wasn’t certain why she felt so shy as she said it, but she did. She was glad she’d finished her wedding dress before leaving Kentucky. They could get married as soon as Wyoming laws would allow.

  Karlan grinned, hugging her to him. “Let’s go tell the others.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait until tonight or something?”

  “Why? You’ve agreed to be mine, and I’m ready to shout it from the rooftops.” He wasn’t even sure why he was so drawn to her, but he was. He wanted this one, not one of her sisters. Hope, well, she gave him hope. Hope for their ranch, and hope for his future. He could imagine spending long winter nights making love with her in front of a fire. Yeah, she was definitely the girl he’d been looking for.

  Hope nodded slowly, not sure if her sisters would be angry that she’d already gotten engaged to one of them before they even had a chance to meet him. She was used to being a self-sacrificing woman, so it felt weird not to let her sisters choose, and she would take the runt of the litter. Oh, she wanted him though.

  Karlan stood and held a hand down for Hope, keeping her hand in his as they walked in through the backdoor of his mother’s house. As soon as he’d closed the door behind him, he announced, “I’m marrying Hope.”

  Linda looked up from the ham she was carving. “Well, that was quick. Why am I not surprised?” She hurried around the counter and hugged Hope. “Welcome to the family!”

  Hope felt her sisters’ stares, and for a moment thought about apologizing. Why should she? It wasn’t her fault that Karlan had seen her and immediately wanted to marry her. She had a right to be happy, didn’t she?

  Karlan was still holding Hope’s hand, and as soon as his mother released her, he brought it to his lips.

  Dr. Lachele hurried over to them, a big grin on her face. “I would have put you two together. There’s no waiting period for a wedding in Wyoming.”

  Hope felt as if her heart was about to beat out of her chest. No waiting period? “Not even three days?”

  “There’s no waiting period in Kentucky, either,” Joy reminded her.

  Hope felt like the world was spinning out of control. She turned to Karlan. “So, we’ll get married in three weeks or so?” That seemed like a reasonable period of time to wait. After all, her first kiss had been just minutes before.

  Karlan shook his head, a smile touching his lips. “Today. That way you don’t have to unpack more than once.”

  She put her hand to her throat. “Today?” she squeaked out.

  Karlan nodded slowly. “Why wait? You came here to marry one of us.”

  Hope pulled him toward the back door. She had to talk through this, or she was going to have a panic attack right there in front of everyone. She hated when that happened. Once the door was closed, she turned to him, struggling for the right words.

  “I did agree to marry one of you upon my arrival, but I thought I’d have a little more time to get to know you first. My first kiss was with you ten minutes ago. I can’t—well, you know.”

  He shook his head, being deliberately obtuse. “No, I don’t know. What can’t you do?”

  She closed her eyes, saying a silent prayer for help. “I can’t sleep with a man I don’t know. I need a couple of weeks before I’m ready for that.”

  He chuckled. “I can give you some time. I just want to get that knot tied nice and tight before any of my brothers get the chance to know you a little better.”

  Hope couldn’t believe her ears. She opened one eye to see if he was serious. “Really? You’ll give me time?”

  Karlan used the hand he still held to pull her toward him. “Absolutely. I just like the idea of you living with me. I have three bedrooms. We don’t even have to share a bed to start with. I don’t want to have to play the courting game under Mom’s watchful eyes, though. If we decide we’re ready, we won’t have to rush for the preacher, because we’ll already be man and wife.” And besides, he was pretty sure he could talk her into his bed within a couple of days, if not that night.

  Hope nodded slowly. “Let’s get married today then. I’d like a church wedding. Or at least to get
married by a pastor.”

  “Our pastor from town will do it.” He looked into her eyes, thinking. “How would you feel about getting married right here in my mom’s backyard? I’d love to marry here on the ranch.”

  She nodded slowly. She had her wedding dress after all. “Later this afternoon?” It was just after noon. If they married around four, she’d have time to shower and get ready.

  “Sounds perfect. Let me call Brother Anthony.” Karlan watched her sit back down on the porch swing as he pulled out his phone, dialing the pastor of his church. He had the man on speed dial, because Cooper had insisted they all put him on speed dial before the women arrived. He didn’t want anything to slow down their weddings.

  “Brother Anthony. Karlan Culpepper. Are you free this afternoon?” After a three-minute conversation that made Karlan’s head spin, he had the man agreeing to be there at four for a wedding. “Yes, of course, you can bring your wife. Miss Lovanne is always welcome!”

  He clicked off the phone and took her hand pulling her to her feet. “You ready for this?”

  Hope shook her head emphatically. “Of course not! But I’ll manage.” She stood on her toes and brushed her lips against his. “I am happy I’m marrying you.”

  Karlan grinned. “Me, too. Let’s go eat lunch!”

  He took her hand and pulled her back into the house, thinking about kissing her later and not having to stop. Well, not unless she put the brakes on things, and he was pretty certain he could convince her that she’d look great wearing nothing but him.

  Every eye was on them as they stepped into the room. Hope saw that her sisters had seemed to pair off with the Culpepper men. Chastity was trailing her fingers up and down someone’s arm as if she wanted to drag him off to the bedroom and have her way with him. Hope said a quick prayer that her sister would hold off until after their vows were spoken. Or if she didn’t, that she would pretend to hold off. If her sister was going to screw the man before the wedding, she didn’t want to know about it.

  Karlan took advantage of everyone’s attention. “I just talked to Brother Anthony, and we’re getting married this afternoon at four. I hope you’ll all attend.” The last was said with an impish grin.

  “Today?” Linda asked, her voice full of surprise. “But how can you have a reception if you do it today?”

  “Why don’t we do a joint reception for all four couples after the last one gets married?” Karlan asked. “It’ll save money and time. We can’t all afford to take off a full day every week for a month.”

  Linda threw her hands up. “The ranch is the most important thing in the world. Don’t worry. I won’t forget again!”

  Hope suddenly felt at home. The sarcasm, which had never been apparent in her parents’ house in Kentucky, warmed her from the insides. How could it not? She knew then she’d made the right decision by coming here, and by agreeing to marry the man beside her. She squeezed his hand, hoping he’d understand her silent communication.

  3

  Linda volunteered her room for the girls to get ready in. It had a huge master bath that was perfect for the four girls, who were helped by Lachele.

  Hope shivered as her sisters helped her slip her wedding dress over her head. She’d chosen this dress for a faceless man, who was so much more than she’d expected. All of the Culpepper men were huge, strapping cowboy-types. But Karlan in her mind, was the biggest, the strongest, the smartest, and the most handsome, all at once.

  Linda was off helping the boys ready themselves, which made Hope sad. She would have liked to pepper her with questions about her oldest son.

  “He’s the one I would have chosen for you,” Lachele said softly. “You picked well.”

  Hope smiled at that. “He just seems right. When he sat down beside me, I felt more for him than I’ve ever felt for another man.” She didn’t add that she’d spent her entire life thinking she was frigid. That she’d never feel the sexual excitement for a man she should.

  Chastity sighed. “I can’t believe you get to have sex tonight. I wish it was me.”

  Hope looked at her sister. “You want to have sex with Karlan?”

  “Well, he’d do, but I’d sure prefer Chris. Have you seen that man? The sexiest of all of our Culpepper Cowboys.” Chastity had a faraway look on her face.

  “Don’t sneak away to have sex with him, Chastity. Wait ‘til you’re married. Please.”

  Lachele grinned as she observed the four sisters. Chastity sat on the bed mooning over Chris, a man she’d known for merely hours. Hope was in her wedding dress, looking more nervous than she’d ever seen a bride look. Faith was calm as she calmly did Hope’s make-up, as if she were working on one of her doll’s faces. Joy was detached, observing the others as if she felt as if she’d need to jump in to referee at any moment. The Culpepper Cowboys didn’t know what they were in for.

  * * *

  “Why are you in such a hurry to marry her, Karlan?” Kolby asked. “You’d think you’d want to get to know her a little bit first.”

  Karlan shrugged, not wanting to admit that he was trying to take her out of the running so none of his brothers could get to know her before she was married to him. “She seems like the right one for me. Why wait?”

  Chris frowned. “I think Chastity’s the one for me, but I’m not marrying her today. No, sirree. I’ll wait as long as I can to make sure she’s just right.”

  Kolby shrugged. “I think I want to marry Joy, but I want to spend a little time with all of them first, just to be sure. Joy is tugging at me, but they’re all gorgeous. Why should I pick today?”

  Linda shook her head at them all, pinning sticky geraniums to each of their lapels. “If you’d let me have even a day’s notice, we could have had carnations.”

  Karlan shook his head. “Does it matter what kind of flower we have?”

  “Carnations are more traditional. They’d have looked better.”

  Cooper shook his head. “I think this makes their wedding unique. When I marry Faith, we’ll have carnations, so you can get your carnation wedding in. Don’t worry about that, Mom.”

  Linda looked at Karlan. “Speaking of which, she’s not going to have a bouquet to carry. You need to pick her flowers on the way back to my house, so she can make a bouquet of them.”

  Karlan rubbed the back of his neck, wishing the wedding were over with. “Yeah, I’ll do it.”

  They were in Karlan’s living room, putting the finishing touches on their looks. All four men were freshly showered and wearing dark suits. Linda looked around at her four tall, handsome sons and sighed. “I wish your dad were here to see you now.”

  Karlan had few memories of his father, who had died when he was six. “I wish he was too.” Truthfully, their granddaddy had been more of a father to them than their dad had. “I wish Granddaddy was here too. Of course, if Granddaddy was here, I sure wouldn’t be marrying today. Manipulating old coot.”

  Linda nodded. “He always was a manipulator, but he loved this ranch. And you four boys.”

  “Then why did he leave the ranch in equal measures to us and cousin Travis? Why not just to the four of us?”

  Linda shrugged. “He probably felt it was only right to leave it to the five of you equally. Cousin Travis might not be your favorite person in the world, but he’s your aunt’s son. He has as much right to it as you four.”

  Karlan didn’t argue. His cousin had been the worst as they were growing up, but he was married now, with two kids. That had mattered a great deal to Granddaddy. He couldn’t help but wonder if he and his brothers had married, if the will would have been easier for them.

  As they walked to the big house from Karlan’s house, only about a quarter mile away, Karlan picked all the wildflowers he could find. If she didn’t like some, then she didn’t have to use them. His house was just far enough from hers for privacy, but still close enough they could go home for dinner every night if they felt like it. The men’s homes were all about the same distance from their mother’s
home and from each others, their houses making a half circle behind her house on the ranch.

  Instead of going to find her, he handed his mother the fistful of flowers he’d collected once they got to the big house, and she carried them back to her bedroom. “Hope, Karlan picked some flowers for you. We can make them into a bouquet.”

  Hope stared at the flowers in Linda’s hand, her face lighting up with pleasure. “That’s so sweet!” Karlan hadn’t seemed like the romantic type to her earlier, but maybe she’d read him wrong.

  Linda smiled, handing the flowers to Joy, who held her hand out for them. Faith was still fussing with Hope’s make-up. “You look beautiful,” Linda said softly, her eyes filling with tears. “I can’t believe one of my boys is really getting married.”

  Hope smiled, hoping her nerves didn’t show on her face. All at once, she wished the rest of her family was there with her, while being glad they weren’t there. “Thank you for making it so easy to join your family.”

  “I’ve always wanted daughters. I’m excited to have one finally.” Linda hurried to the mirror and brushed away the tiny bit of mascara that had run. “I never wear make-up, except for special occasions.”

  “You don’t need it,” Joy told her.

  Linda laughed. “You haven’t seen me without it yet. Wait until you do!”

  The doorbell rang then. “Oh, that must be Brother Anthony and Lovanne. Hurry and get ready so you can join us.” Linda rushed out of the room to go to the pastor.

  Lachele walked over to Hope, taking both her hands in hers. “Are you nervous?”

  Hope laughed. “I’m standing here praying for the earth to open up and swallow me. I would say I’m a little nervous.”

  Lachele laughed. “He’s a good man. I hope you know I’ve investigated him. He’s a good mayor, a good businessman, and he has an incredible reputation. I couldn’t find a fault in his past. I think you’re going to be happy with him.”