The Cowboy's Love

{Chapter} 35

{Chapter 35}

Aubrey smiled as her train pulled into the cute little town of Casden. She was glad to be nearly over the Texas/Louisiana line, and her heart beat ever faster with anticipation of being back in Texas - home.

The train stopped and she stood to exit the train while they made a quick stop. Her back ached from the uncomfortable train seat and she felt restless from the cramped quarters. Since returning from wide-open Texas, she had grown to feel uncomfortable in small spaces.

“This your stop?” A new seatmate that had boarded, Phoebe, asked.

“No, I’m just going to walk around a minute” Aubrey explained.

Phoebe nodded. “I guess I’ll join you.”

They both disembarked the locomotive and walked out into the sunshine.

The train going east was just about to leave, and the loud sound of the engines was near deafening.

The train station was bustling with people here and there, boarding the trains or getting off, looking around the town under the clear blue sky. The sun was setting just behind the trains and shone through where the train cars met and left a small crack between the two. The chilly air pierced the air and made Aubrey long for a nice warm fire and the arms of the one she loved.

*God, please hear me in the middle of all this racket. Please let Wade take me back. I need him to know how I feel.*

She looked at the eastern train and where people were boarding, heaving a sigh and trying to calm her nerves down. People were everywhere. Some big, some small, some finely dressed, others not.

Her eyes latched onto a tall figure wearing a dark green shirt and a brown, roll-brimmed Stetson. For a moment she stopped and stared at the man, thinking that he was the one she had traveled for days to see.

Then, she shook her head; sure that she was seeing things. Yet when she looked up, he was looking right back at her. Those sapphire-colored eyes belonged to only one person, and that person was Wade Dylan.

“Wade?” she thought her eyes were deceiving her.

“What?” Phoebe looked around.

“That’s him!” Aubrey felt her knees begin to buckle, but she held herself up.

He seemed equally shocked at first, but then started stepped off the train and onto the train depot’s wooden deck.

All of the other people faded away and it seemed as if only the two of them remained in the world. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, so many apologies she wanted to give, yet no words would come out.

The next thing she could comprehend was that she was in his arms. She didn’t know how she got there, or even where they were. All she knew was that Wade was holding her and there were people all round them. She clung to him and didn’t dare think of letting go. She was telling him everything in her head, yet the only thing coming out was happy tears.

Wade pushed her to arms length and they both started talking at the same time.

“You first” Wade said.

“No, its okay, you go first” Aubrey pressed.

Wade’s eyes never wavered from hers. “I can’t believe you’re here” He kissed her forehead. “You have to let me explain this. There was never anyone but you, love. I promise you this. That perfume was just an accident from when I went into town. Tim Martin’s daughter was testing out some new perfume they had shipped in and accidentally sprayed some on me. I was so tired that I forgot to tell you. I started taking half days because there was something I had to work on that I can’t tell you about until you come home with me. I’m sorry and I shouldn’t have kept it from you. So, if I have to beg on my knees right here in the middle of this town, I will. Just please trust me, Bree.”

The feeling in his voice would have stopped her from every wrong thing she had ever thought of him, had not her complete, undying love already done that.

“Wade, I’m sorry. I jumped to conclusions and left without as much as a rational thought. I was silly and immature and I can’t even remember why I did it. All I know is that I made a major mistake. I didn’t put God first in our relationship and that’s why this has all been messed up. I’m different now, Wade. I can feel it inside. Please say you’ll forgive me” Aubrey held her breath.

“Aubrey, you don’t have to…”

“Just say it, please? I’d feel so much better,” Aubrey pleaded.

Wade smiled. “Okay, I forgive you.”

“There’s more. I’ve waited for the perfect moment to tell you this but I’ve come to realize that that’s never going to come” Aubrey took a deep breath. “Wade Dylan, I love you. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of that and how I don’t deserve you. You’re just about perfect and how I managed to snag you I have no idea. It could have been any person that found me out in that storm, yet God chose you. We’re meant to be, Wade. That‘s just how I feel.”

Wade smiled. “But what about your father?”

“He actually bought my ticket to come find you,” Aubrey said, a grin spreading across her face.

“He did? Well, that’s just as well because I wasn’t going to mind him anyway” Wade grinned.

Aubrey laughed. “Me either.”

Wade cupped her face in his hands, kissing her with a passion he hadn’t expressed to such a degree before. Love and butterflies broke loose inside Aubrey, and she cherished the awkward feeling.

“I’m going to love you as long as I live,” Wade whispered to her after they pulled apart.

Suddenly, Aubrey noticed that her train was moving away at a fast pace.

“Oh, no” she said in a monotone. “I missed my train.”

“That’s just a shame, isn’t it?” Wade shook his head in mock dismay.

“All my luggage was on it,” Aubrey told him.

Wade shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to wire the next town to send them back.”

“That’ll take a day or so,” Aubrey reasoned.

“No one’s expecting us at either of our destinations, are they? I suppose we can escape for a few days. The McBride’s are taking care of Jay” Wade smiled.

“A few days away from all responsibilities and people we know? That sounds… wonderful” Aubrey giggled.

“In the meantime” Wade leaned closer to her ear so only she could hear his next words. “We’ve never actually had a honeymoon, have we?”

Aubrey blushed and smiled at him. “Don’t guess we did, at that.”