Prelude:



  ”Only four more days.” she thought.  “Just four.  I don’t even know him.  Definitely not enough to be his wife, anyway.”
  She leaned against the post supporting the roofing of the porch.  She sighed, heavily, wrapping her arms about her middle, as she looked up at the stars that adorned the night sky.
  “Beautiful.” she whispered.
  The night was uncommonly cool in the hills of Dallas.  The Texans were glad for the momentary relief from the heat, as they had suffered through a drought, the likes they had never before beheld.  Much was lost in its wake.  Farms were destroyed.  Herds of cattle, sheep and other livestock perished under the unrelenting heat without the necessary water to sustain them.  Changes had to be made to accommodate the disaster’s mark upon the state.  Her wedding was one of them.
  “Dakota?” a voice called.
  Startled, she snapped out of her mental musings and spun around to receive her caller.
  “Yes, Mama?” she replied.
  “What are you doing out here?”
  “…thinking.” she answered, absently.
  “What about?”
  Dakota sighed in response.  It was all the response Claire, her mother, needed.  She sighed, drawing her strength, preparing to give her daughter an explanation to a situation that was out of her hands.
  “Dakota, listen to me.” she began.  “Your father did what he felt was necessary.  He had little choice.”
  “But, Mama, I have no choice!”
  “Dakota!  Do not interrupt.” she said, sternly.
  “Yes ma’am.” she answered, lowering her head a bit.
  Claire cleared the distance between them with calm strides.  Cupping her daughter’s face in her palms, she brought her head up to face her directly.
  “Dakota, please try to understand.  Your father does all he can to maintain this family’s needs, but this drought his us hard.  We lost all but a few fields.  Though he did all he could, your father couldn’t do it all.  He needs help…more help than this family alone can provide.  Joining families is the only way for us to make it though.  And not only us, but the Westland’s, too.  They nearly lost all their livestock to the drought.  Joining their family to ours will help them to regain some measure of their losses.  You and Cody will be the link that will save two families.  Can’t you see that, Dakota?”
  Dakota paused for a long moment before finally responding.  
  “I see, Mama.” she said, in a voice just barely higher than a whisper.  “I see that to Daddy, I’m not much more than a poker chip in a shady card game to be used as he wants.”
  She turned and started for the door to the house.
  “Dakota?” Claire called.
  “Yes, Mama?” she called, over her shoulder.
  Claire was silent for what seemed like an eternity, groping for the words to convey what she intended to disclose from her heart.  When none could be found, she simply whispered, “Good night.”
  “Good night, Mama.” she replied, before entering the house.
  Claire watched her daughter retreat into the house.  If only her young heart wasn’t so torn, perhaps she would have been able to see the situation more clearly.  She wished she could, at least that would mean that one of them would be able to.  Suddenly, she gasped, as she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder and a body press against her back.
  “Mama, I know Daddy loves me.  I just wish he would have trusted me enough to have talked to me about all this before now.” Dakota said, softly.
  “Forgive him, Baby.  He was only trying to do what was best for the family.”
  “I know, Mama.  I know.”