Black Hills Forever Read online

  “You’re right, I’m being stupid. Lacey loves me and I love her and we’re going to get married.”

  Travis nodded his head firmly marshaling his thoughts and taking a deep breath to try and calm the butterflies. Oh yeah, those fluttery, jittery things that bumped around in his insides. He hated them and loved them all the same. Lacey told him once that they meant a person was doing something important with their lives. Well this was as important as it got and he was about to be connected with the most beautiful woman in the world. Some might have said the most beautiful woman in Hot Springs, but that was his world. It was the only place he had ever known and it was the only place he wanted to be.

  “You aren’t always the most brilliant person I know, Travis, but this time, you’re a lucky son of a bitch.” Rip grinned and slapped him on the back. Travis couldn’t help but brighten at his friend’s affirmation of what he already knew himself.

  “Besides if Lacey doesn’t marry you, I’m never going to have a chance with anyone in these parts. All the girls will be standing in line to console you.” Rip let out a huge belly laugh and Travis couldn’t help but join in. Never mind the irritated look that came from his mother and the censuring glare of the preacher.

  Travis added that to the pile for not being able to get married under the Crossing Pines and instead having to wed in the church. Winter in South Dakota meant snow and darn it, four days before Christmas and it was snowing so hard it would be a miracle for the guests to make it home. With any luck they would have a foot of powdery, glistening snow to keep the well-wishers at bay for at least a week!

  “Rip, if Lacey doesn’t marry me tonight, you can shoot me. I’m as good as done without her.” Travis’s voice was light and playful, but he meant it. Surprisingly without Lacey Allyn, the light in his life would be infinitely dull and to his credit, he had shared it with her time and again. Of course guys like Rip thought he was a fool for giving Lacey so much power by divulging his feelings, but Travis knew she was the one.

  “I got a shotgun in my truck just in case.” Rip grinned and Travis shook his head.

  “Only you would bring a shotgun to a wedding.”

  “Hey now, I didn’t do it on purpose.” Rip shrugged. “I didn’t not do it on purpose too. Ah you know what I mean!”

  “Easy. Don’t hurt yourself.” Travis joked with his buddy and Rip grimaced. Rip wasn’t the man of many words and he definitely didn’t have Travis’s flare for putting them together.

  “Just wait until I have to give my speech. You’re gonna wanna hide under the table.” Rip smiled widely and readjusted his vest and tie.

  “The way the snow is coming down outside, I don’t know if there will be a reception. I’m pretty sure Reverand Gott doesn’t want everyone staying here.”

  Both men looked at the man of God standing just up and to the front of them. Rev. Gott was seventy if they were any judge of age. Of course, when you are young everyone looks old, but this man had drooping jowls and bags under his eyes. He never found anything funny and he scared small children. Marriage counseling was something to be feared and even more so after having a sexual intercourse discussion with the man. Lacey couldn’t stop giggling and Travis wanted to crawl under the table and die.

  “I don’t want to stay here. I’d rather freeze to death in my truck.” Rip whispered loudly to Travis and they both busted a gut again.

  The few guests in the pews started to shift and Travis’s eyes were drawn to the double doors at the back. They were pushed open and at that moment the pianist started to play the Wedding March. Travis tugged on his vest and jacket as he watched Lacey’s best friend and maid of honor, Janell Parker walk up the aisle with a single white rose. The girl was funny and loved to flirt with Rip. The four of them had a great time together.

  As Janell smiled and took her spot across from them, Travis nearly held his breath. He couldn’t really see her dark hair or even her face as she stood next to her father, but he knew it was her. Lacey’s mother had insisted on a floral-patterned veil along with the overly ruffled white dress that had been sewn by a local seamstress for the occasion. Travis knew how much Lacey hated the dress and he had wanted to say something about it. She hadn’t let him though. Lacey was too afraid to hurt her mother’s feelings and he could understand that well enough.

  Travis couldn’t help the grin that spread quietly across his face as Lacey neared him. She had confided in him just yesterday that Janell had gone to Rapid City with the expressed intent to buy something sinfully exciting for Lacey’s wedding night. Apparently quirky Janell had succeeded. Lacey had blushed while sharing her delight with him. Travis hadn’t wanted to tell his lovely bride to be that he preferred to see her without anything to impede his vision, but he had thought better of it. Why not let her be excited to show him something if it wasn’t her dress?

  Lacey and her father stopped in front of him. Extending his hand to her, his soon to be father in law took his daughter’s hand and placed it in Travis’s. He felt Lacey’s hand tremble slightly and then they moved side by side. She clutched his hand as they turned to face the incomparable Rev. Gott. Travis fought the urge to laugh, but couldn’t hide his smile.

  “Dearly beloved, we gather here today in the sight of God to unite these two people in holy matrimony.”

  Rev. Gott droned on and his voice echoed in the small church. The man could only do the very traditional vows, but Travis and Lacey had talked him into letting them say a piece of their own as well. Travis was first. He hoped he wouldn’t lose his train of thought and just stare dumbfounded at his bride. He cleared his throat. Finally out of impatience or irritation, Lacey pushed back her veil. He loved the soft blue of her eyes.

  “Lacey Allyn, I never thought I would be so lucky as to call you my wife. I remember the first time I told you that I loved you and you laughed at me.” He felt his stomach clench and he heard soft ohs from the crowd. “Maybe it was a joke then, but it isn’t now. I give you my whole heart. I promise to be a good husband, your best friend, and God willing a good father. I will love you forever.”

  Lacey blinked the tears that welled up in her eyes. It didn’t keep them from pooling up in those blue depths. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but could only squeeze her hands. She struggled to get ahold of her emotions before she spoke. He waited patiently.

  “Travis Johnson, you have changed everything I thought I wanted in my life. I never imagined that I would find someone so caring and kind. I never thought I would be happy as a rancher’s wife, but with you, I have every chance to be. As long as we are together, anything is possible. I love you and I always will.”

  A pin could have dropped in the church and it would have been heard. Luckily Rev. Gott was used to that kind of silence and continued on. Travis watched Lacey’s face pale a bit further. He knew what she wanted to say hadn’t really come out right. He would reassure her later that he knew what she meant.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife. Travis, you may kiss your bride.”

  From the sound of Rev. Gott’s voice, that was the part he disliked the most. Rip chuckled behind him and Travis could only grin. Stepping into Lacey, he slid one hand along her jaw and the other around her waist. To heck with those prim and proper audience kisses that mimicked those you gave to your grandmother!

  The world tilted as he felt the warmth of her lips press into his and he tipped his head to claim more of her mouth. Lacey hesitated for only a second and then clutched at the hand that gripped her waist. The bouquet of white roses dug into his skin, but he held onto her.

  His wife. His bride. His.

  The whole room erupted into applause, but Travis thought it was mostly for the uncertainty of what to do while the couple was pretending no one else existed. Lacey pulled away first, but she looked into his eyes. Her’s were radiant and sparkling with life. He wanted to commit this moment to memory. Never wanting to forget a minute detail, Travis stared at her.

  “You’re staring.” Lacey half whis
pered to him.

  “I know.

  “They are staring at us.”

  Lacey looked toward the crowd out of the corner of her eye.

  “No. They are staring at you—the most beautiful bride they have ever seen.”

  As he knew that she would Lacey blushed and grabbed his arm. She threaded her own through his elbow and allowed him to lead her off the dais down the aisle. They stopped once more before leaving the room completely.

  “Ready?”

  It might have sounded like such a strange thing to say, but it was more a question for them both. So many things were waiting for them. Could they handle them all? Could they weather every storm? Could they do it together?

  “Yes.” She said it with as much confidence as was in his heart. Into the snow, Mr. and Mrs. Travis Johnson stepped out of the church together.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The nerves in her body felt as if they had been overused, leaden and incapable of moving. Her eyes stung with the salt from the tears that only now stopped though her cheeks were still wet. The monitors beeped in a nauseas cadence that meant her beloved husband was lived, but remained out of reach.

  Lacey followed the wires connected to various devices, dripping bags hooked on stands, and saw the bandages that wrapped just about everywhere she could see of his body that wasn’t swathed in blankets. Even his face was bruised and battered. Lifting a trembling hand to the hospital security glass, she barely felt the cold of the window on her bare skin. Nurses came and went from his room. No one could be bothered to stop and tell her what was going on. She had been here for nearly twelve hours.

  Twelve horrible fucking hours!

  Swallowing hard, Lacey felt the welling of tears again and she hated how awful it felt. She wondered if she wasn’t able to cry how else she would be able to weather the emotions. Her stomach rolled and pitched with the events of the day and the lack of food. Though she was sure if she tried to eat, she would throw it all back up. Odd really how her body wanted to live, but her spirit wanted to cease to exist.

  “Mom?” Lacey closed her eyes and let out a shuddering breath. “Mom?”

  There was no choice but to turn and face him.

  “Yes, Garrett?”

  She hated that her voice sounded so hollow. She hated that one look into those brown eyes made her feel an anger that scared her.

  “Let’s go for a walk, huh?”

  Garrett’s presence only added to her burdens.

  Is that fair of a mother to say?

  “I don’t want to go for a walk.” She fairly growled in pain and torment. Lacey only wanted to stand as far as the nurses would allow her and that was right here. The window was as close as she could get and by God, she wouldn’t go any further away from Travis. They had been married over thirty years. Her lip trembled and her heart nearly split in two.

  They had been married for a long time and IF her husband was going to die, she would be here for that too.

  Blinking as fast as humanly possible, Lacey fought the surge of tears. She couldn’t fight the torment though.

  “Come on, Mom, you’re scaring the nurses.”

  Garrett tried to inject some humor, but the situation was far beyond the bounds of salvageable via humor. Her eyes focused on him or what she could see of him. Her throat was one giant constricting ball of muscle and even swallowing was a miracle.

  How could hate and love reside so fully in a person?

  “I’m scaring…” Lacey shook her head dismally. “I’m not FUCKING moving until someone tells me what is going on with my HUSBAND!”

  Her voice carried along the tiled corridor toward the Nurse’s Station and she could hear the hurried female chatter. It irritated Lacey to no end. Even Garrett looked hopefully around to see if anyone would make a move on her words. She turned back to look through the window past the steel-reinforced glass to the immobile man lying in the hospital bed.

  “That should have been me.” Garrett’s voice sliced through her and his pain was undoubtedly laced with guilt. She took a sharp breath through her nose, felt her lungs fill and then it all came out in a rush. Lacey turned to look at her second child with a shame she felt almost as much as the anger and love.

  “Your father was doing his job and he protected you from this.” Lacey’s tears slid once more down her cheeks and her vision blurred. Her jaw ached from being clenched so tightly.

  Garrett’s deep chocolate eyes swam in his own tears, though he wiped them away as they fell. He bowed his head as he stared down at his boots. They were still muddy from this morning’s accident in the corral.

  “I can’t stop replaying it in my head.” Garrett swiped at his eyes and sniffed loudly. “He stepped in front of me and pushed me behind him.”

  Her own heart would have broken again, but such a thing couldn’t happen now. Hers had been shattered when the phone call came in to her at the house on the Crossing Pines. She had taken the call in the kitchen and she could only stare at the coffee mug he had left on the table. Lacey’s first thought had been that Travis never left his mug on the table.

  Never--he always puts it in the sink.

  “I’m sorry.” Lacey turned to him and pulled her son roughly into her arms. Although Garrett wasn’t a boy anymore, he swept his mother into a bear hug and held on tight. Lacey didn’t mind. Maybe by some miracle he would keep her from shattering.

  “Maybe I should get Nora, huh?” Garrett asked her, his chin resting on her shoulder as he held her. Lacey closed her eyes and just let him hold her. She was so unbelievably tired.

  “She shouldn’t be in here. Knowing your sister she would catch something.” Lacey tried a stab at humor, but she couldn’t bear to smile. She felt Garrett nod in agreement.

  “She would.”

  The silence wasn’t as awkward as it was uncomfortable. There were so many what ifs to be voiced if the mouth only opened. Lacey feared what would be first. Crossing her arms and fisting her hands, she stared into the brightly lit hospital room.

  “Someone should call Blake. He needs to know.”

  “Matt called Bailey and then he called Blake. Andy is keeping the kids with her tonight.”

  Garrett rubbed his hand over the short growth on his chin. Lacey was sad to see that her oldest son had seemed to age ten years in only a day. Worry and fear did that to a person.

  “That’s good. They wouldn’t understand anyway.”

  “Drew might, but he shouldn’t needlessly worry about Dad.”

  Lacey shook her head, thinking of all the things her husband still needed to do with the grandchildren. He needed to take them fishing, looking for worms, searching for arrow heads, and teaching them the history of the ranch. Poor little Regan was only a few months old and Nora’s child…that tiny being just newly formed…it might never know Travis.

  “Mom, you gotta stop thinking that way. He’s going to get through this. He’s tough and he won’t go down without a fight.” Garrett’s voice cracked in his pursuit to ease her mind. He was right of course. Travis Johnson was a fighter.

  “I just wish I knew what was going on. I’ve talked to one doctor since nine am this morning. Surely we should know something by now!”

  Lacey felt the rising ache finding purchase again as it filled up every empty space inside her. She stared at Travis in the bed, resembling something like a mummy.

  YOU cannot leave me, Travis Johnson!

  “Let me go see what I can find out. I think you’ve scared enough nurses this evening.” Garrett offered a smirk that at any other time she would have smacked off his face, but tonight, she was thankful for the support.

  “Lacey.”

  Her name melted into a feminine voice tentative and sad. Lacey turned to find a new member of their growing family. Bailey Campbell came swiftly down the hall with her brow furrowed and her dark eyes filled with worry. Bailey didn’t slow down when she neared her, but caught Lacey up in a hug.

  “I’m so sorry. Matt called me, but I was running t
he center for him.” Bailey’s voice was lowered out of respect, but her warmth and sweetness made Lacey hang on a bit longer than she should have.

  “It’s ok. You don’t have to be here. I know it’s late.” Lacey stepped back and tried to shield the more vulnerable spots inside herself. It wasn’t easy hiding from Bailey. The girl had been through a great deal in her young life. Blake had too come to think about it. Blake and Bailey certainly made a matched pair.

  “I do have to be here. Blake wants to be here, but as he can’t just yet, well I am here for him.” Bailey swallowed hard and bit her lower lip. Lacey knew that the last few months had been hard for the new additions to the Johnson family. Blake Phails came to them in August looking for his biological father and ironically enough, his father was Travis. It was a relationship gone awry even before Lacey and Travis had started dating.

  Now Blake was in Washington finishing with his counseling for PTSD so that he could be discharged from the Army. A few weeks and he would be back home in South Dakota.

  “I haven’t had the chance to call him yet. Darn doctors aren’t saying much.”

  Bailey nodded, tucking her hands away in the pouch of her sweatshirt. They both looked through the window.

  “Do they know anything?” Bailey asked, tipping her head forward.

  “Just that he had some internal bleeding which they did surgery on. They aren’t sure about his brain, but there is some swelling. For now they will keep him in a medical coma.”

  Lacey reiterated the doctor’s words with some editing of course. It was rather scarier than that. There was a possibility that Travis wouldn’t wake up, even if they allowed the medical coma to lax.

  “Matt told me what Travis did for Garrett. That was very brave.” Bailey’s voice sounded so tortured. Lacey knew she must be thinking of her stepfather and the recent loss there. Sometimes it is hard when you can’t help someone.