Page 59 of A Cowboy's Convenient Marriage

"I know. And that's part of the reason that I wanted to stay in Sweet Water. I really believe that's where you're meant to be. And God has worked things out so that I believe it's also where I’m meant to be as well.

She smiled at him then, and he knew he had made the right decision. Not just because Ada was happy, but because in his soul, he knew it was what he was supposed to do, even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted. Being in Sweet Water would make him happier than anything he would've done in Virginia.

Ezra said a few more words, and then he moved away.

The music started to play, and the tune was upbeat and happy; it looked like people were doing some type of two-step.

"Are you going to teach me this dance?" he asked, looking around at the people who were dancing, and then squeezing his wife close to him.

"I can try. I'm not that good at it. We might look rather ridiculous."

“Does that bother you?" he asked.

"I would rather look ridiculous with you, then good with anyone else," she said.

He figured that was probably the exact right answer.

They started out, and she was right. She wasn't that good, and he was awkward. She kept changing her mind about what the steps should look like, and he would no sooner learn something, then she would decide that it was wrong.

He was rather happy when the slower song came on, and he said, "Let's take a break from that one. I can just hold you for this one, can’t I? After all, that's the reason I have you here." His voice lowered a bit. She had come willingly into his arms, so he said the last few words with his mouth right by her ear.

"That's the reason I agreed to come," she said, and he could feel her smile against his neck.

He didn't know if he could be happier, but he was guessing he probably could. It was just a theory though.

"So, on the airplane, you mentioned our children. I wondered how many of those you wanted to have?"

"Seventeen," she said immediately.

"Seventeen? And that's an exact number?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask what is special about seventeen?" he asked, wanting to laugh. She'd been so determined, and the answer came so quickly.

"I don't know. It just sounded like enough."

He laughed. "All right. Seventeen. Maybe we can renegotiate when we’ve had about four?"

"Oh. You want to chicken out when you hit four, is that it?"

"I don’t know if I can support seventeen children on a small town preacher’s salary."

"Then we might have to buy a ranch and put the kids to work, and start trying to grow our own food, so it doesn't cost so much."

"It seems to me like you might have had some wise counsel about this."

"Or experience," she said cheerfully.

They slowly turned on the dance floor. He was probably holding his wife a little closer than might be appropriate for a pastor and his wife, but they weren't in that position yet, and they were newlyweds. Surely they got a little bit of a pass for a month or two after the wedding?

"All right. Seventeen kids, no negotiating."

"That's what I wanted to hear," she said.

"So, my next question is... When do you want to get started on having these seventeen children?"

She was quiet for a moment. And, if he hadn't been so invested in the answer, he might have smiled and laid his cheek on the top of her head. She wasn't quite so quick on the draw with this one.

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