This Calder Sky (Calder Saga 3)

Congratulations on your engagement. I hope Phillip makes you very happy. From the things you said about him in your letter, it sounds like he will. I wish I could meet him, but right now I don’t see how I can make it to your wedding.

Things aren’t going too good here. It hasn’t rained since April. The ground is all cracked and hard. The one creek has already gone dry and the grass is burning up. If it doesn’t rain pretty soon, I’m gonna have to start feeding my winter hay to the cattle so they’ll have something to eat. Just about everybody is hauling water—except the Calders, of course. They got plenty of water. They’re doling it out to the rest of us like it was candy, giving us just enough to keep us from dying, but not enough to satisfy our thirst.

I’m glad you got away from here, Maggie. There aren’t any rich doctors around here to marry, just a lotta dust and heat. I can’t be there, but I wish you all the best.

Your brother,

Culley

She let the paper settle onto her lap once more and remembered the way the sun could scorch a Montana sky. She heard footsteps in the grass approaching her lawn chair. Maggie looked up and smiled a welcome when she saw Phillip walking toward her.

“Hello.” He stopped beside her chair and bent to lightly kiss her mouth. His glance fell on the letter in her lap. “What’s this? A love letter?” He teased her with a smile as he pulled another lawn chair closer and sat down.

“Yes, from my brother.” She folded it along its creases and returned it to the envelope. “He won’t be able to come to the wedding. September is a busy time on the ranch.”

This wasn’t the first time Phillip had observed how quiet and introspective she became after receiving a letter from her brother. He guessed they often opened old wounds. He glimpsed a trace of disappointment in her expression.

“I know how much you were hoping your brother would come. Maybe if we postponed the wedding until October or November—” Phillip wasn’t allowed to complete his offer.

“No.” Her refusal was firm. “Everything is already arranged. We’re going to be married in September.”

He didn’t attempt to discuss it with her, lightening his mood, smiling and saying, “Good.” He reached inside his summer-light suit jacket and removed a half-dozen travel brochures from its inner pocket. “Because I’ve just come from my travel agency. How does a September honeymoon in Paris sound to you?” He passed her the brochures and reservations. “I thought you might like to practice your French.”

“Paris?! Phillip, it’s marvelous!” She leaned over to kiss him, then began looking eagerly through the brochures. “I’ve always dreamed of going there.”

“Then I’m twice as glad I chose it.”

“So am I.” She reached out to slip her hand into his and let it remain to link them together. With a mother’s watchful eye, she noticed Ty stalking an imaginary foe near the flowerbeds. “Ty, don’t get into the roses!” she called out the warning. The little boy paused, then began slinking in another direction. “He’s getting to the age where I never know what he’s going to be doing next. I expect any time for him to start swinging out of the trees, playing Tarzan,” she murmured with a slight shake of her head.

“I have been meaning to talk to you about Ty,” Phillip said.

“What has he done this time?” She smiled.

“It’s nothing he’s done, Elizabeth,” he assured her. “It’s what I want to do. I’d like to adopt him. I’ve always wanted a son.”

There was a husky quality to her voice when she replied to his statement. “Ty couldn’t choose a better man to be his father.”

“I’ll call my lawyers tomorrow and see about putting the adoption procedures into motion. Hopefully by September, the three of us will legally be one family.”

“I’d like that very much.” Her hand tightened its hold on his.

Ty hollered a greeting to someone and Phillip glanced around to see Cathleen wheeling his sister across the lawn toward them. “You two look like an old married couple, sitting there holding hands like that,” Pamela observed. “I hope you don’t mind if I join you.”

“Of course not.” Maggie was diplomatically quick to welcome her.

It was a very small wedding. One of Phillip’s associates, a friend, acted as his best man, and Pamela was Maggie’s maid of honor. Since Culley wasn’t there to give her away, she and Phillip walked to the altar together to exchange vows and receive the marriage sacrament, while Cathleen and Ty looked on.

The reception was held outdoors on the lawn of the Gordon home with about fifty friends in attendance. Pamela had arranged for it to be professionally catered, complete with uniformed staff. There was champagne, an assortment of hors d’oeuvres including caviar, and the traditional wedding cake. It was all on a small but lavish scale, complete with a photographer to record the event.

During a rare moment when they were alone, a little apart from the throng of well-wishers, Phillip sipped at his glass of champagne and quietly studied his young bride. “Are you happy, Elizabeth?”

“Yes.” Her answer was soft and positive, reaffirming what his eyes saw. “Only one possible thing could make me happier than I am this minute. I wish Culley was here. It would have been nice if he could have met you.”

“I can have our reservations changed to include a stopover in Montana. It wouldn’t be at all difficult to arrange.”

“No.” It was a very definite answer. She slipped her hand inside the crook of his arm. “This is a happy time for us. I don’t want anything intruding on it that might change that.”

He smiled an acceptance of her decision and wondered if he would ever know the full truth of her past. She had gone through so much in her young life. It had all happened back there in Montana. He was beginning to realize that she needed the stability he could provide. She needed it as desperately as he loved and needed her.