Mackenzie
“Honey, you look beautiful.”
Standing in Bruce’s bedroom, staring at the full-length mirror we’d set up in the corner, I saw it. The dress was beautiful, but it was more than that. It felt like I’d spent my whole life waiting for this moment and now it was here, I didn’t know how to process it. Turning around, seeing Mom’s teary eyes and the wonder on the faces of all my female family members, feelings, so many feelings, rose and that stopped me from saying thank you. Instead my hand shook as it went to my eyes.
“Oh, Mackenzie…” Mom rushed forward, wrapping her arms very carefully around me to give me a hug. “Today will be amazing. Just you wait and see.”
“Especially as you didn’t make us wear some ugly dress as bridesmaids,” Madison said, plucking at the champagne coloured satin of her dress. “Props, cousin, for not forcing us into some puce monstrosity.” Madison, Emily, and Charlie were my bridesmaids and apart from the colour, I let them pickwhatever style suited them best. “Because damn girl…” Madison made a show of looking over Charlie’s suit. “You look amazing.”
“Everyone does.” Charlie’s voice was a little clipped, but I knew why. There were more people on the farm than there had been, ever, and I knew she had to be longing for the peace and quiet of the rescue.
Because I was craving it too.
“Now, if I can get all of your ladies to come outside. I’ll drive the tractor up to the paddock.”
“Tractor?” one of my aunts said. “What no limo?”
“No limousine is going to make it up a dirt road,” Mom replied. “We decorated the trailer last night. It looks amazing, Jackie, you’ll see.”
And it did. The big trailer used to transport hay had been scrubbed within an inch of its life and spray painted white. Organza bows decorated the sides, as well as bunches of white daisies. Everyone started twittering at once as they walked up the ramp and sat down around the sides.
“Last chance to back out.” Charlie smiled as she stood beside me. “If you need me to get you out of here and far away from that brother of mine, I’m your girl.”
“Chicks before dicks?” I said, holding out a hand for her to fist bump. She obliged.
“Sisters before misters,” she replied.
“You’ll be my sister after this.” God, my voice cracked on that and Charlie’s eyebrows shot upwards. “Like I always wanted a sister and?—”
“We’ll have the rest of our lives to work through that, but if I know my brother.” She glanced down at her watch. “He’ll be freaking out, thinking you’ve bolted, right about now. As much as I like tormenting him…”
I didn’t. I loved Troy Drysdale so much that today, I was going to marry him.
Nothing felt real on the trip up to the paddock. Not when I saw how the boys had transformed the area from a cow pat strewn grassland into a gorgeous outdoor venue. The sun was starting to set, staining the sky pink, orange, and red, but it was him that caught my eye. Standing on a podium made from wooden pallets, the celebrant and Troy’s groomsmen were standing around chatting, but he seemed to sense me before I even got close. Turning around, his smile faded, replaced instead by wide-eyed wonder. He’d stared at me like that for a second when he found me in that paddock, then again when he asked me to marry him, but right now, he didn’t try to mask that behind a frown. He just smiled, really beamed, and then nudged his brothers. As we got out of the trailer, the band took up their instruments and started to play the wedding march.
“Ready?”
Mom appeared at my side, resplendent in a pewter dress. My dad was never a figure in my life, so it made sense that she would be the one to walk me down the aisle.
“Totally ready.”
People rose from the white wooden chairs that had been set up either side of the aisle. I smiled when I saw that a walkway had been created out of yet more pallets. This was not the swanky wedding I had planned with Alex. That wedding was what I thought marriage should be, but this? This is what I actually wanted. Something real, a little rough around the edges maybe, but solid and strong.
Just like Troy.
“You look so damn beautiful,” he growled under his breath the moment I drew near. “Mackenzie…”
“We’re gathered here today…” the celebrant started to say, quiet falling over the field. Strangely it was the sound of the bird calls and far-off flocks of sheep I heard, not the words. I didn’tneed a ceremony to make this real, yet when it came time to say our vows, we knew exactly what to say.
“Mackenzie.” Troy smiled down at me. “I should’ve known I was in trouble when I found an American girl trying to rescue a wombat from a bull. I’ve spent my life protecting things, this land, my family, but all of that paled into insignificance when I laid eyes on you. You call me on my bullshit.” A little titter of laughter went across the crowd. “People call me stubborn, but you’ve got me beat. When I dig my heels in, you keep pushing me, right where I need to be.”
Work-roughened hands stroked my cheek as he leaned closer.
“I promise to stand between you and any storm you might face. I will spend my life protecting you.” His lips quirked at the corners. “Though if you could steer clear of cattle paddocks, that would be great.”
Bronson fought the urge to smile, it taking real effort to stay solemn.
“I promise to stop and listen, to think before I react because the thought of hurting you.” His hand went to his heart. “It hits me here. I want smiles and sunlight on our skin. Long, hard, happy days with you by my side. I’ll drink all the coffee in the world, if it means I treat you right. Whatever it takes to make you happy, love, I’ll do it. I’ll always be there for you.”
