“Gramps. You’ve got to get the dog out of here. We’ll have to talk about it later.” What was going on with everyone? First Zina confided how lost she’d be without me. Now Gramps wanted to talk about having Zeb move in with us and remodeling the ranch house.
Gramps shook his head and stomped toward the warehouse. I grabbed the sprayer to return it before the wedding party arrived.
“There you are.” Char caught up to me as I reached the larger of the two tents, the one we’d designated as the reception area.
“What do you need?” I didn’t mean to lash out, but I was feeling backed into a corner. All of a sudden it seemed like everyone had plans for me, everyone but me.
“Nothing. Geez, what’s wrong with you today?” Char grinned as she elbowed me in the side. “I figured you’d be in a good mood seeing as how you’re almost ready to give up the penguins and get back to normal.”
Normal. My normal had been globe-trotting around the world. Meeting new people and taking part in amazing adventures. “What do you mean ‘normal’?”
“You know, sending the penguins packing, settling down . . .”
My stomach twisted into knots. Why was everyone assuming I was going to be settling down? “Settling down?”
“Yeah. Gramps told me you decided to move out to the ranch with him. With the way things are going between you and Zina, it seems like there might be another wedding in the not-so-distant future if you know what I mean.”
The edges of my vision went fuzzy. Like I was staring down a long tunnel and Char stood at the end, yapping her mouth. But no words came out. A buzzing rang in my ears. I shook my head to try to knock it, but all I could think about was how everyone had already seemed to figure out my future. Everyone but me.
“I’ve gotta go.” I wasn’t even sure if I’d managed to utter the words out loud, but I didn’t wait around for Char to respond. My boots crunched on the gravel as I stalked toward the truck. Every fiber of my being urged me to do one thing . . . flee.
Zina
“Where’s Alex?” I checked my watch. He should have been there by then. Chyna would be on-site in less than ten minutes and the first thing we’d planned to do was show a united front by meeting her in person and walking her through the events of the weekend. I’d checked every detail myself. The only update I needed was from Alex regarding the penguins.
At least that was one area I didn’t need to worry about. He’d surprised me by how dedicated he was to making sure the wedding went off without a hitch. It was nice to not have to do everything all alone and be able to depend on someone for a change.
While I waited, my phone rang. Lacey. I’d lost count of how many times she’d called, but it had to be in the high double if not triple digits.
“What now?” I asked.
“Please tell me you didn’t give Kirby the go-ahead to pick the wedding party up at the airport in his hearse.”
“What?” I gasped. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”
“Because he just tagged the Phillips House on social media saying he was waiting for the bride and groom.”
“No.” All the breath left my lungs. Why would Kirby have taken it upon himself to fetch the bride and groom? “I set it up with an outfit from Houston. Let me give them a call and I’ll call you back.”
Lacey disconnected and I tried to take a few deep breaths as I looked up the phone number for the limo service I’d booked.
By the time they answered and explained someone had canceled the limo service, Lacey was calling again. I clicked over, with no idea how to explain that Kirby had gone rogue.
“He’s got them,” Lacey shrieked through the phone. “He just updated his status and he’s on his way. What’s going on?”
“I’m sure it will be fine. Kirby knows how important this is. He’s not going to do anything to put the wedding in danger.”
“Danger?” Chyna’s voice rang out from the back of the tent. “We’re all going to be in danger if we can’t turn the air up in here. The whole wedding party will roast.”
“Chyna’s here.” I eyed the wedding planner as she made her way down the center aisle. “Can you call Kirby and see what’s happening? I’ve got to go.”
“So help me, if he ruins this for us, Bodie may have to book me for manslaughter.” Lacey groaned.
“Everything’s going to be fine. Text me and let me know what you find out.” I disconnected and took in a breath, trying to center myself. I’d been in war zones before, I could handle a little last-minute chaos for a wedding. Then I pasted themost patronizing smile on my face I could summon under the extenuating circumstances and turned to face Chyna.
“Chyna, I’m so glad you made it. How was your flight?”
“Fine. Now fill me in. The Munyons will be here soon.” She looked striking as always, in a designer ensemble complete with a trendy pillbox-style hat she wore over a new shade of bright pink hair.
