Irish Eyes

"Relax honey. Wilson doesn't own this ranch anymore. Let's look around. I want to know what you think about the house." Caitlin stared at me and shook her head but let me lead her around the house. I took her upstairs and we walked through the bedrooms and then back downstairs. There was a large living room, a nice paneled den, two rooms set up to be home offices and finally the kitchen. I could tell by her face that she loved the new kitchen. There was only one room with furnishings and that was the one I was going to use for my office. The rest of the house waited for her to decide what she wanted.

"What do you think of the house?" I asked her.

"It's really nice," she said.

"Do you think you could live here?"

"Dammit, Carson. What the hell is going on?" I could see she was confused and getting upset. I dropped to one knee and put my hand into my jacket pocket.

"Caitlin, Wilson no longer owns this ranch, I do. I am asking if you could live here. Could you live here as my wife?"

"You own this?" she asked with wide eyes.

I nodded. "Yes." I then took the engagement ring out of my pocket and held it up. "Caitlin, I love you with all my heart. Will you be my wife" Caitlin's face kind of scrunched up and her eyes filled with tears. At first I thought I had made a mistake until she tackled me onto my back and covered my face in kisses.

"Yes, Carson. Yes I well marry you," she shrieked. Our next kiss was filled with passion. Caitlin then presented me her finger so I could put the ring on her. Caitlin looked around the house with new eyes. She began to run from room to room again looking at everything. I patiently waited until she came running back into my arms.

"The house is beautiful, I love it," she said enthusiastically. I led her across the room to two doors that opened off a hallway.

"There are two offices. One for you to run your business from and one for me," I said. That earned me another long kiss. I led her into the office with the desk and pulled out a large piece of paper. It had a drawing of a property gate and over it it said Double C Ranch. Caitlin looked it over and her brows furrowed.

"What is the Double C?" she asked.

"That stands for the Carson and Caitlin Ranch." I saw the light bulb go on.

"Oh my god, that's perfect," she cried.

She started pulling at my clothes and I joined in stripping her off. When we were naked I set her on top of the desk and christened the office with our love. In the days to come we made love in every room of our home.

Once we had recovered and dressed I told Caitlin it was time to go tell her parents. She was so happy that I think she floated out to the truck. We got back a few minutes after six and Bill, Colleen and Sam were already in the kitchen for supper. We walked in together and Caitlin held up her left hand.

"We're getting married," she squealed. Colleen jumped up and ran over to hug her daughter while Bill and Sam came and pumped my hand and pounded me on the back. I then got a big hug from my future mother-in-law while Caitlin hugged her father and Sam. When things calmed we all set down to eat.

Caitlin waited until everyone was eating. "Of course this means we will be moving," she said as nonchalantly as possible.

"What?" cried out Bill, Colleen and Sam in unison.

"Tell them, sweetheart," Caitlin said to me. I nodded.

"Well, Bill, you know how Wilson wanted to combine his ranch with yours? I was thinking it could be a good thing," I said.

Bill stood up looking furious. "There is no way in hell the Flying W is going to get my ranch," he roared.

I laughed. "Bill, calm down. It is no longer the Flying W. It's the Double C Ranch and the new owners are sitting at your table right now."

"What the hell are you talking about," he shouted, now totally confused.

"I bought out Wilson and now the ranch belongs to Caitlin and me," I explained.

"Double C. Carson and Caitlin," Colleen said. She got it right away.

"Bill, I thought if we combined the two ranches you could run them. We would split the profit fifty fifty," I added.

"But the Flying, I mean Double C is over twice the size of my ranch. It brings in a lot more profit," he said.

"Bill, you have done this all your life. I need your help. I would like us to be equal partners. You would be in charge of the operations. What you say goes. Besides it is part Caitlin's ranch too. It will be keeping everything in the family," I explained.

Bill sat down and looked at Colleen. She nodded her head. Bill stuck his hand across the table to me and we shook on it. "Dammit Carson, this is going to take some getting used to but I accept your offer."

"This means we are going to have more hands to oversee and that means Sam will be the head foreman," I said. Then I groaned. "And now I get to pull out all those fence posts I worked so hard to set on that side of the property." Everyone laughed at me.

Supper that night was a loud and boisterous celebration. Caitlin spent the night in my cabin and wore me out. We were late for breakfast the next morning but everyone was still in the kitchen when we came in. They were waiting for us to eat so we could all drive over to the Double C and Caitlin could show off her new house. Everyone was impressed and I saw Colleen stare jealously at the refurbished kitchen.

It took Caitlin and her mother a month to have the house furnished. It was ready to move into on our wedding night. We were married on the Double C. Bill and his family were respected and well liked and ranchers and their families for miles around came to celebrate the day. As Caitlin's husband and Bill's son-in-law and the new owner of the Double C Ranch I was welcomed into their society.

It was late that night when we got to bed and we stayed there making love that night and most of the next day. We would still be there but on our third day of marriage I took my bride to Fiji for a tropical honeymoon.

Our first roundup that year payed off well and we sent a lot of cattle to market. We made a nice profit. A lot of mine went to pay off the loan but with Caitlin's business we were making a nice living. We even built a nice new house for Sam and he has a girlfriend now that is close to his age who lives in town. We may be having another wedding soon.

Another year has gone by and my beautiful wife has just given me the most fantastic news. She's pregnant. We're going to have a baby. We're driving over right now to tell the future grandparents.

One final word before I go. I know there are those who will say I should have learned my lesson the first time and had Caitlin sign a prenuptial agreement. If so then you really haven't got to know my Caitlin. She isn't Janice. She works her butt off at her job as well as taking care of our home. She is her mother's daughter and she shares her love with me everyday. With me and only me. Every day that I look into her blue Irish eyes I see that love.