Across the gravel stood Wilder in a deep black suit with matching boots and a cowboy hat. One hand rested lazily in his pocket; the other held a rope loosely, Carl at his side. The llama stood nearly as tall as Wilder.
Their eyes met, and electricity flowed freely between them. Chairs curved around the space, Wilder at the epicenter and Savannah at the other end. “Go on, girls,” she said.
Sequoia walked to the left, along the back row to a secondary aisle at the same time Gal went right. They would meet in the widened middle, where three girls and three llamas could walktogether. Potted plants spilled bluebonnets, red poppies, crimson roses, and bright yellow sunflowers along that aisle—a nod to the flower cowboy her girls had fallen in love with long ago.
Savannah took careful, measured steps, noting Sequoia’s eyes locked on hers while Gal waved at everyone she knew, drawing giggles and twitters from the crowd.
Savannah stopped in the middle, grinning at Wilder while the girls brought their llamas back over to her. She threaded Nacho’s lead over her elbow, then took Gal’s hand in her right and Sequoia’s in her left. The three walked side by side, flanked by Mocha and Sheepskin, with Nacho hurrying them all along to Wilder.
At the altar, Wilder crouched and opened his arms. The twins rushed into his embrace. He said something in his calm, quiet cowboy way; they both nodded. He kissed their cheeks, then stood. “Go put the llamas where they belong.”
The girls obeyed. Savannah handed off Nacho’s lead, her eyes never leaving the cowboy she loved.
“Sorry we’re running a little late, sweetheart,” he said. “Were you worried?”
Savannah shook her head, though she had been a touch concerned. “A story you’ll have to tell me later.”
“Definitely.”
The girls returned to her side, and they all stepped forward together. Wilder slid a hand to her waist, pressed his cheek to hers, drew a deep breath, and murmured, “I love you so much, Savvy.”
“I love you too, Wild.” She felt shiny, full of glowing energy.
“Time to get married,” Gal announced.
Savannah and Wilder laughed with the rest of the crowd—because yes, it was definitely time to get married.
36
Smiles Glover kept his eyes on his best friend. Wilder shone like the brightest rainbow in a sky that still harbored gray clouds but promised a glorious day of sunshine to follow, and he knew his mother had been right.
He often joked with her that she was right only eight times out of ten, and he really wanted to prove this was one of the two timeshewas correct.
He looked over to her and found tears trickling down her cheeks, both hands pressed against her heart. He knew she wanted him to get married too, and shewasexcited about his new girlfriend.
One look to Wilder and Savannah—Aunt Willa and Uncle Judge both joining them at the altar—told Smiles had he brought Canessa, he would have outshone Wilder, and that would have been catastrophic.
Smiles didn’t mean to outshine anyone, and his momma had warned him that his charisma and big, bright personality would have to be contained at some times in his life.
At other times, she’d told him.You’ll be able to let it loose.
He’d first heard her tell him that when he was only ten years old—and again last week when he’d called to ask if he could bring his girlfriend to Wilder’s wedding. His momma hadn’t said no instantly, to her credit. But after only a single moment’s hesitation, she’d said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Stetson.”
His heart had settled somewhere in his stomach and stayed there, because he didn’t know how to explain to Canessa the many, varied, and complicated family dynamics of the Glovers. He wasn’t even sure such a thingcouldbe explained.
Secondly, his momma had used his real name, and that told him all he needed to know.
What he saw now was that today belonged to Wilder and Wilder alone, and yes, him bringing a girlfriend would have shifted all the focus to him. Number one, it would be a road trip—and that indicated something very serious for the Glover family, even if Smiles himself didn’t think it was that big of a deal.
Smiles hadn’t handled the situation that well, and Canessa’s feelings had gotten hurt. But she’d stayed in Amarillo while he’d made the trip home for the weekend and the wedding.
The truth was, Smiles would have his pomp and ceremony soon enough, as he would be graduating with a DVM in only another six weeks. He wasn’t sure what would happen with him and Canessa at that time anyway, as he planned to move back to Shiloh Ridge and finally step into the role that had been reserved for him for the past eight years.
Canessa was a first-year veterinary student and had three more to go after this. Smiles knew by experience that she couldn’t finish her degree here in Three Rivers. And there was no way someone could commute that far for that long, so they’d probably break up anyway.
While Momma hadn’t said that, she had told Smiles their relationship was fairly new and not super established, and therefore he probably shouldn’t bring her to the wedding.
Smiles did like her, and he felt time ticking away toward some unknown zero where a bomb might go off and everything in his life would shatter. He wasn’t sure why he felt like that, only that he did.
