Chapter 8: A Match made in Heaven

An incident occurred the following weekend at the Gordian Ranch while BB was in Phoenix. The incident happened about 2:00 AM, Sunday, on the portion of the Gordian Ranch that bordered highway 69 between Prescott and Cordes Junction. Some men tried to steal a truck load of Gordian cows.

Officer Pete Sandoval worked for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, commonly known as DPS, or the Highway Patrol. Pete had the shift from midnight to eight in the morning and his area of responsibility was that stretch of highway 69 bordering the Gordian Ranch. He saw headlights and movement south of the highway where there shouldn't be any.

Cattle thefts had been reported around central and northern Arizona for the last six months but no suspects had been found. Truck tracks had been found, but the tread markings matched about 50,000 of the 250,000 trucks on America's highways any day of the week. Every DPS officer is briefed about current investigations, and alerts, as they go on duty. The cattle rustling had been kind of a joke at first between the patrolmen. This was 1975, not 1875, and cattle rustling went out with the horse and buggy. The watch commander heard them and gave them some statistics. Rustling accounted for over five million in losses to ranches in the western US every year. Arizona contributed nearly $750,000 annually to that number. This particular series of thefts seemed to be more organized than the individual truck load of cows hauled off in the past, so was of more concern. Arizona's annual number was nearly reached because of them and it was only August. Pete called for backup when he saw the lights and moved his car to block the exit. He was going to catch himself some rustlers.

What Pete actually caught was a 38 caliber slug in the chest that deflated his right lung. He managed to get the officer down call on the radio which brought every law enforcement person within 50 miles swarming to the site. The rustlers were caught, and Pete was credited with the arrest. He was picked up by an old Seahorse helicopter that was military surplus left over from the Korean War for his ride to the hospital. The helicopter started taking Pete to the Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Prescott but was redirected due to construction and renovation to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix. He was rushed into surgery as soon as he arrived and didn't regain consciousness until late Saturday afternoon. The first thing he saw, when he opened his eyes, was a stunningly beautiful black woman bending over him straightening his covers. Her name tag read, Wilson.

Susan was on duty in recovery that Saturday. Everyone knew that Susan was always more solicitous of injured law enforcement people because her dad was a cop, before he was killed. No one thought it was unusual when she spent even more time with the tall, black, DPS officer that had been shot in the chest. There was something about this man that was different though. His presence seemed to pull Susan's heart into her throat. There was no doubt that he was beautiful. His lanky body was well muscled, and his strong, square chin gave him a noble look. It was more than just his looks though. Susan tried to examine why she was feeling this way. She was always brutally honest with herself. Maybe her heart was doing flips because of how he got shot.

The story around the hospital was that Pete Sandoval was a hero. He had been shot, had managed to report officer down on the radio, and was able to force the bad guys to stay put by returning fire until backup got there. Susan didn't know if that was a smart thing to do for a bunch of cows, but she admired anyone that brought such passion and conviction to their job. She was adjusting his covers and still pondering why she was reacting so strong to him when he opened his eyes. They weren't the half focused, drowsy eyes often seen in patients that just returned from surgery. They were clear, and sharp, and as deep as the seas. Susan fell into them as their gazes locked and she knew she was lost.

"Good. You're awake. Now we can get married," Susan announced.

She didn't know why she said that. It just popped out. She tried to put a little smile on to take away some of the seriousness she felt with the statement. Susan was terrified when she realized that she was completely serious. She tried to hide her terror from her future husband, but she didn't think she was successful.

Pete's eyes flicked to her name tag and the fingers on her left hand before latching onto her eyes again. "Uh, Miss Wilson," he croaked out hoarsely. "First I'd like to have a drink of water, then your first name, and at least one date before I agree to marriage," he said in a husky, scratchy voice.

Pete spent seven days in the hospital. Susan was transferred from recovery to his ward. She had to call in some favors, threaten a few people, and do some serious begging to get the assignment change. Pete enjoyed the verbal jousting with Susan about marriage. He wasn't sure if she was serious but he knew he was.

They were in agreement by the fourth day that it might be fun being married to each other because they enjoyed each other's company. Pete pointed out that it wasn't a fair test because he was a captive audience. He met Liz, and Sheila, and got their stamp of approval. Liz and Sheila knew that Susan liked Pete a lot but they still didn't know that she planned to marry the man. They also didn't know that Pete wanted to marry Susan and thought that she was completely out of his class.

Susan brought Martha and Sean in on the fifth day of Pete's stay in the hospital. Martha knew they were an item as soon as she saw them look at each other. Martha sat in the chair beside Pete's bed, turned Sean so he could see Susan and Pete and asked, "So, have you set a date for the wedding yet."

Susan and Pete looked at her in slack jawed astonishment. Pete recovered first and shot back, "We can't plan a date yet. I gave her three conditions for marriage and she has only met two of them."

It was Martha's turn to be astonished. She expected just about anything from Susan and much less from an injured man. That kind of a snappy come back from the DPS officer, in his condition, said a lot about him. She got control of herself pretty quickly though.

"Oh, I'm sorry. So, that means you aren't ready to announce the date yet," Martha said blandly. "I won't say anything until you are ready." She looked down at Sean, and asked, "So, what do you think big boy. Is he good enough for our Susan?"