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touch hers in the tenderest of kisses.
    When they broke the kiss, she ran her tongue across her lips, still tasting him. “Our first kiss, and in our bedroom, too. It seems appropriate.”
    “The first of many, I hope,” he said, and led her to the front porch.
    This is magnificent,” she breathed. “I love it. I’m going to be very happy here.”
    They walked around the house. “I can picture flower beds across the front,” she said. As they rounded the rear corner of the house, Zebulon pointed out the bunkhouse, which was a rather large single story building, and the barn.
    “How many men do you have working with you?” she asked.
    “It depends. There’s usually from six to eight, except at roundup time, then we have gotten as high as fifteen. The foreman told me the other day, we need to think about adding a couple more. We will need them for the fall roundup, and were thinking about taking them on early. We have a cook that doubles as a wrangler.”
    “What is a wrangler?” she asked.
    “He works with the horses,” Zebulon said.
    I guess roundup is where you get all of the cows toget her,” she said.
    “Cattle,” he said. “Cows are for milk, and they don’t run with the herd. Cattle are what we raise for profit. Cattle are for food and breeding. At roundup, we do bring them all together, and search the grazing areas, and canyons for strays. We cull out the ones belonging to the other ranches, and we exchange them with their owners.”
    “Where are the neighbors?” she asked.
    “The Lazy J is two or three miles in that direction,” he said and pointed to the southeast. That’s Case and Carrie Jamison. You’ll see them in church, Sunday. The land to the north is Indian land. To the west, as far as the river, is ours. You saw what is east of us on the way out here. It’s government land between us and town.
    He gently turned her to face him. “When were you thin king about a wedding? I don’t mean to push you, you take your time. It’s your decision to make.”
    She looked up into his eyes, and said in a soft voice, “As soon as possible. Zebulon, I would like to ask one thing of you.”
    “What is that?”
    “I would like to have a proposal. I want something to remember, not something that resembles a transaction,” she said.

 
     
    chapter Ten
    A Proposal Of Marriage
    He took both of her hands, and looked into her emerald colored eyes and said, “Lottie, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you be my wife?”
    The sunlight filtering through the trees, reflected by the tears in her eyes, caus ed them to sparkle. “Yes, I will be your wife.”
    He embraced her, and as their lips met, he felt her shiver. His lips massaged hers. She responded by tightening her arms around his neck.
    A piercing whistle startled her. She looked around at the three men, dusty from their work, standing there grinning. “Whooee, look at the boss. What you got there, boss?”
    “Lottie, this mangy lot represents half our workforce. “That’s Clem, on the left, Jasper is in the middle, and the loud one there is Whit, who is the foreman and pretty much runs things.
    “Boys, this is Lottie Jenkins. She is going to be the mistress of the Circle P. She has just agreed to be my wife.”
    She smiled at his ease with his employees. “I’m glad to meet you,” she said.
    “Whereabouts are you from, Miss Lottie?” asked the one called Whit.
    “I’m from Baltimore,” she said.
    Clem said, “Land alive, the boss is marrying a Yankee. I never thought I’d see the day.” Jasper didn’t say anything, and just stood there, looking at his dusty boots.
    They came over and pounded Zebulon on the back, shook his hand and congratulated him for finding such a fine looking Yankee.”
    “ Where are the others?” he asked.
    “They went off after some strays, ” Whit said. “I expect they’ll stay at the line cabin up in the hills for a couple of days, while they get them together.”
    “When’s the