Mrs. Ireson focused on Kristi, thank God. “How are the plans for the wedding coming, dear?”
“They’re moving along nicely. I just can’t wait for the big day.”
“I heard you postponed the wedding until late June,” Mrs. Ireson said.
Kristi glanced at him and he read the hesitation in her eyes. They never spoke about the baby. They didn’t tell anyone besides Brooke and Susanne. Not even Kristi’s parents knew about their loss.
And the extra time they’d taken had allowed them time to grow closer together and for Cody to see that they were a good match.
They fit. Several people had already commented on how great he and Kristi looked together. What a great couple they were.
“We put the wedding off a few months because of Cody’s caseload. We wanted to wait until things slowed down, and we could take a nice honeymoon without him feeling guilty for taking time away from his clients.”
“I’m sure he knows a thing or two about being guilty,” Mrs. Ireson joked.
Kristi squeezed his hand, reading his darkening mood.
He tried to lighten things up. “Not all my clients are guilty,” Cody said with lighthearted protest. “Some of them might actually have been framed,” he quipped.
“Spoken like a true defense attorney. How many guests are you expecting at your wedding?” Mrs. Ireson asked with interest. “You two make such a lovely couple.”
“Thank you.” Kristi beamed. “Two hundred and fifty, give or take a dozen,” Kristi said enthusiastically.
The waiters served dinner and conversation stilled.
Kristi leaned over as he picked up a bite of chicken with his fork and said, “I got the RSVP back from Brooke. She’s officiallynotcoming. I thought you should know.”
His hand dropped to his plate, the fork clinking loudly. Dinner forgotten, he tried to breathe through the punch of pain.
He didn’t blame Kristi for telling him this way. She probably thought it best done quickly and as matter-of-factly as possible, and in a place where he couldn’t disappear to be alone for hours at a time.
Cody had tried very hard not to let Kristi see how much he missed Brooke these last few months, but she sometimes caughthim in his office looking at the pictures on his desk and the walls. Pictures of him and Brooke.
He tried to show Kristi that he’d changed.
Without Brooke in his life, he confided in Kristi more. He talked to her about his work and things that were troubling him. Okay, maybe not unless she prodded, but still, he opened up to her about some of the things he used to share only with Brooke. Kristi’s way of handling things was always about him schmoozing someone to get what he wanted, or cutting corners to make this happen faster. Brooke had always encouraged him to be the better man and lawyer, saying that taking the easy way wasn’t always the right way. She always made him feel better about his final decision where Kristi sometimes made him feel like he wasn’t getting where she wanted him to go fast enough.
They still had nearly two months until the wedding. “Maybe Brooke will change her mind. By then, she’ll be home for the summer.” Cody remained ever hopeful that one day soon she’d call and they’d talk and find a way to be friends again.
“Maybe it’s for the best if she doesn’t attend.”
He was really tired of hearing that.
“You’ll only be uptight and worried about her. It’sourday. We want to be happy and carefree on the day.”
He hoped he could pull that off.
“I’ll move intoourhouse after the honeymoon. We’ll have the summer to settle in together as husband and wife. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had a boyfriend and she’d rather spend the summer with him.”
Cody downed the last of his bourbon, turned to Kristi, and in a low voice advised, “Maybe we should stick to how things have been the last few months and not talk about Brooke.”
Kristi’s eyes went wide at the anger in his voice, and she plastered on a smile for their audience at the table and asked in a cheerful voice, “How is that new bull working out at the ranch?”
Cody sucked it up. “He’s ornery as hell. He’s already gone through two fences. When we start breeding him, he’ll be happier. He’s going to make beautiful babies.”
“And so will we someday.” The minute the words left Kristi’s mouth, she went still and her eyes turned somber, like she couldn’t believe she’d said that after what happened.
Cody often thought about the baby they lost. He hadn’t realized how much he wanted to be a father until he knew there was a baby on the way. He knew these things happened, especially early in the pregnancy. The tiny being had barely had time to develop before they lost it. Still. It stuck with him.
