Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right [The Chisholms of Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (27 page)

Pulling her body up against his so that her back rested against his heaving chest, he nuzzled her neck, whispering his love for her. Abby reveled in Dillon’s sweet words. His hands glided soothingly up and down her arms. He was still deep inside her as he tugged her hair to angle her mouth to meet his in a whisper-soft kiss.

“I love you, Abby,” he said softly.

“I know. I love you, too,” she responded in a whisper, sighing softly. She was loathe to disturb this perfect moment in time.

“Must be doin’ somethin’ right,” he drawled as he smiled at her.

“Dillon, everything you do is right.”

She shivered slightly as the sweat on her body reacted with the cooler air of the bedroom. He laughed softly and withdrew gently from her body, helping her lie down. Getting off the bed, he staggered to the bathroom, where she heard water running in the sink. She realized what he’d been doing when he brought back a warm, wet washcloth and cleaned the lube and his cum from her body. Urging her to move to the head of the bed, Dillon pulled the quilt from the footboard and spread it over her naked body then crawled in with her. He pulled her tightly against his body so they were spooning. Her head rested on one of his muscular biceps as his other hand held her to him, softly stroking her abdomen. They spoke whispered words of love to each other as they lay together in total contentment.

They were woken up around noon when Cassie, who was on speakerphone with Alex, called Dillon’s cell phone to get more facts about what had happened yesterday. His parents had gotten several phone calls at the Ranch with just enough details to make them worried sick. Dillon explained to his parents what had happened yesterday, leaving out the fact that Abby was pregnant, and told them what would happen next in the case. It’s not that they didn’t want his parents to know they were going to be grandparents again, but he and Abby wanted to talk and decide when to tell his family together. Before they left, he had asked both Decker and the county attorney not to tell anybody about the pregnancy for a while, and they had agreed.

After they got off the phone with his parents, one or the other of their phones literally kept ringing until they had talked to each of his brothers and sisters about the events of the past two days. Jordan, Taylor, Jessie, and Samantha all wanted to see Abby and make sure she was all right. Dillon looked at her inquiringly when they asked if they could come over, and Abby vehemently shook her head no. She hadn’t been hurt and she wanted to get back to normal as quickly as possible. Dillon told them they would see them all at Sunday lunch if they didn’t run into them on the Ranch beforehand.

* * * *

On Thursday, Abby got a call from the prosecutor. She was with Dillon in the vet clinic when the call came, so she put her phone on speaker so that he could hear as well.

“Doesn’t look like Hernandez’s attorney is going to be able to get him out of going to trial. Our psychiatrist says he’s cognizant enough to understand the charges and assist in his defense. They’re asking for a psychiatrist of their own choosing to do another evaluation. The judge will grant the request. It will probably be back in about ten days.”

“What happens if the two don’t agree?” asked Abby.

“Then it goes to the judge to decide,” answered Jim Mason. “Keep in mind that even if he is determined fit to go to trial, he can, and probably will, still use insanity as a defense. Good thing about that defense is that they have to tell us up front they’re using it. Won’t be any real surprises at trial. He won’t be claiming he didn’t do everything we’re saying he did, he’ll just claim he wasn’t sane when he did it.”

“Is that going to fly? Will the judge go for that?” Dillon asked.

“It won’t be up to a judge. He’s asked for a jury trial. Jury trials are a crap shoot but, in general, insanity doesn’t go over really well in Texas as a defense. Very few defendants get off that way.”

“So what’s next?” asked Abby faintly. She didn’t even want to think how she would feel if Jaime didn’t go to jail to pay for what he had done.

“We wait. The arraignment has been pushed back until they have the second psychological evaluation so his attorney can decide whether or not to use the insanity defense. It’s now scheduled for a month out. After that, a trial date will be set. I imagine the defense will waive the speedy trial, so this could go on for months. Sorry, you two. I know that’s not what you want to hear.”

“So, do we need to stick around here all that time? Is there a problem with traveling?” asked Dillon with a smile at Abby.

“Well, I’d like to know when you’re gone and how to reach you in case of an emergency, but, until we know the trial date, there shouldn’t be any problems if you wanted to go on vacation. Or a honeymoon, perhaps?”

“You’ve read my mind,” replied Dillon even as Abby punched him in the arm.

“Thanks for letting us know what’s going on, Jim. I really appreciate it. Let me know what we need to do next.”

“We’re in a holding pattern right now, Abby. I’ll call you when that changes. Good-bye.” As soon as he said the last word, he ended the call.

“Well, baby. What do you think?” asked Dillon, watching Abby closely.

“On the one hand, I think it’s really shitty that this asshole might get off because he’s got mental problems. He stalked me. He trashed my apartment. He was planning on kidnapping me and who knows what else. Of course he’s mentally unbalanced. What kind of sane person does those things? On the other hand, if he’s really insane, he needs help more than he needs to go to jail. I guess I’m torn.”

“That’s not really what I meant, Abby. But I’m glad you shared how you feel. I have to admit I’ve had some of the same feelings about him as you. I’ll be a whole lot more sure when we get the psychological evaluation. What I was really talking about was how you feel about taking some time right now to go on a honeymoon. What do you think?”

“The honeymoon usually comes
after
the wedding, Dillon. I’m not really up to planning a wedding right now. I’d rather get this craziness behind us before I get into the even-crazier world of planning a wedding.”

“Have you forgotten you’re pregnant?” he asked gently. “The prosecutor said it could take months for this thing to end. I want to be married to you before the baby comes. Don’t you want that?”

“Shit. Of course I do. I just don’t know how we can manage a quickie wedding without hurting your family’s feelings.”

“I’ve been doing some checking. I have a friend, a roommate from college, who manages Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. We can fly in Sunday night, hang out Monday—maybe you can shop for a pretty dress—and we can have the ceremony on Tuesday in one of their chapels, he said. We’d stay in the honeymoon suite until Friday, then maybe go somewhere for a honeymoon. What do you say, baby? Wanna get hitched?”

“What about your family?” Abby was warming to the idea, but she didn’t want to upset her future mother-in-law before they even got married.

“I already brought it up to my folks. I told them we want to get married real soon, for several different reasons. The trial is going to be a circus and, again, it could be months before it’s all behind us. I know neither one of us wants to plan a wedding with that hanging over us, but I want to be married soon. Bryan, that’s my friend, said his people could take care of everything from getting the license to the reception. All we have to do is show up. I’ve got a black suit I can wear, and you can do some shopping in Vegas on Monday to pick out your dress. Bryan said there were at least two shops in the hotel that would probably have what you need.

“Mom just wants an invite. I say we tell my family where and when and let them decide whether to show up or not. No hard feelings if they can’t make it. I know my family. They’ll be there with bells on. I asked Eli to be my best man. I called him yesterday to see if he could make it to Vegas and, since it’s not on a weekend, it shouldn’t be a problem. I know you’ve only met him a couple of times, but we’re pretty close. Who would you want to stand up with you?”

“I don’t think I could pick between Taylor and Jessie.” Although all the Chisholm women had welcomed her with open arms, Abby had grown closest to those two wonderful women.

“Great. I’ll ask Levi to stand up with me, too. He’d be my choice if Eli wouldn’t have been able to do it. How’s that sound?”

“What about vet coverage for the Ranch?” She wasn’t trying to put up roadblocks to the plan. She was trying to make sure he’d thought of everything.

“I’ve already talked to old Doc Sorenson. He agreed to be on call.”

“Shit, Dillon. Did you think of everything?”

“I tried to, baby. I didn’t want to give you any reason to say no.”

“I would never say no to you. Especially about becoming your wife. Tell your friend it’s a go then let’s get on the phone and call your family. The more notice we can give them, the better.” Now that they’d decided on a plan, she was anxious to get started.

Sunday afternoon, Abby, Dillon, and most of the Chisholm family packed into the CRE jet to fly to Las Vegas. Eli would take off by truck from the rodeo in Mesquite, Texas to the one scheduled for the following weekend in Odessa, Texas, and take a commercial flight out of whatever large airport he could find between the two cities, arriving on Monday afternoon or early evening. He’d be there for the rehearsal and the dinner afterward. When the festivities were done, he’d fly back into the same airport, claim his truck, and continue on to Odessa for the next rodeo. Jennifer was flying directly to Las Vegas from Austin and she planned to arrive Sunday evening. Celia Bach was covering at Bach Florists while Samantha was gone, and the two head bartenders at Chaps & Spurs were covering for Ryan and Ryder.

Sunday evening, the group had dinner at
Rí Rá
Irish Pub. It was one of the casual restaurants to eat at in the hotel. The beer was flowing and the food was excellent. They were a little loud and a little boisterous. Everyone managed to get back to their rooms around one in the morning. Most of them were at least a little bit tipsy, including their parents.

Monday morning they all ate at the hotel again. The men were itching to try out the games and the women were ready to shop for Abby’s wedding dress. When both Levi and Xander volunteered to stay back at the hotel room with the children, Abby urged Jordan and Taylor to bring the little ones with them, reminding them there were plenty of women who could help them take care of the little ones. Besides, Abby told them, they were going to be shopping right at the hotel, so they could always take a break and go back to the room if they needed to. Also, Abby could tell Dillon really wanted both Levi and Xander to join him, Ryan, Levi, and their father at the Bellagio, where the men had agreed to start their gambling. Eli had called and would be in on a flight by midafternoon.

The women went to one of the shops recommended by Dillon’s friend, the manager of the hotel, and Abby found the perfect wedding dress. Jessie and Cassie had good luck and found their bridesmaid dresses, too. Jen found a new dress to wear for the wedding even though she had already brought one along with her.

“Now we just need to find the perfect shoes,” Abby told them. “Do you think I should buy a necklace to wear with the dress or should I go without?”

“I think you should leave it up to my son to provide you with any jewelry you wear with that dress. I didn’t raise stingy sons. If I know my boy, and I do, he’ll find the time to stop at a store while they’re gambling to find you some pretty jewelry,” remarked Cassie.

“How will he know what to get?” asked Jordan.

“Yeah, Mom. He doesn’t know what color she’s wearing,” agreed Jen.

“Daughters, daughters. Diamonds go with anything. Didn’t you know that?” Cassie smiled and they all laughed.

“You need shoes? You should go to Shoe Obsession a few stores down. Oh, and don’t forget to stop at Frederick’s of Hollywood at the other end. Nothing like sexy lingerie to perk up a groom after a long wedding and reception,” recommended the saleslady with a smile.

They paid for their purchases and the saleslady put them in solid-blue, hanging bags so nobody would be able to see what was inside.

“Let’s head to Shoe Obsession. After that, I need to take a break with little man here,” suggested Taylor. The women found the store quickly and each found shoes to match their dresses. While Taylor and Cassie took A.J. and Hunter back to their room for some playtime, Abby also wanted to stop at a jewelry store as she realized she had no ring to give to Dillon during the ceremony. She and the rest of the women headed to the jewelry store.

After looking over the selection carefully, Abby selected a ring for Dillon. She knew he would want something simple as he would be birthing calves and the like when his hands would get dirty and bloody. He wouldn’t want to have to keep taking it off and putting it on when he was working. It was a solid band of platinum which matched her engagement and wedding rings. The jeweler could size it by the next morning, but Abby didn’t know Dillon’s ring size. Taking out her phone, she hit speed dial and waited to be connected to her future husband.

“Hey, baby. What’s up?”

“I need some information, handsome. We’ve been out shopping and I’m picking out your wedding band, but I don’t know your ring size. Can you try on one of your brother’s wedding rings and guess your size? I don’t want it to fall off of you tomorrow.”

“Hold on a sec.” She could tell he took the phone away from his mouth as she could hear him talking to someone in the background. She couldn’t understand what was being said but she figured he was hitting up his brothers for the information she needed. After a few seconds, he came back on the line.

“It’s a twelve and a half, baby. So, you’re picking out the old ball and chain, huh?”

“You’d better believe it big guy. I plan on chaining you to me until death do us part. I can be just as possessive as you can be and I want everyone to know you are
taken
.” She heard him chuckle at the other end of the line.