“JJ said Bailey reserved the whole week for weddin’ guests. Maybe some have come in early.”
Reese got out of the truck and helped Tesha out of the back seat.
“Probably for the bachelor party,” Brantley said as he joined him. “I still don’t know why we’re doin’ it.”
When JJ initially brought up the idea, she’d suggested they have separate parties, but they had vetoed it. Reese hadn’t been keen on having a party to begin with, but he saw no reason to do them separately since they shared the same friends. JJ eventually relented, and they even convinced her to dial it down to merely a get-together. He didn’t see the need to celebrate the last of his bachelor days when the only thing he wanted to do was marry Brantley.
That wasbeforeshe sprung the surprise bachelor party on them. He still wasn’t sure how she’d kept it a secret for so long.
Of course, Reese should’ve known she wouldn’t stop there. He’d hoped the party at Moonshiners was merely a ruse to throw them off. Nope. They were having two bachelor parties. And since they’d agreed to a larger get-together, it wasn’t like they could back out of it now.
“It’s a tradition,” Reese told him as they walked onto the wide, wrap-around porch. “What can it hurt?”
“I take it you haven’t seen The Hangover.”
Reese laughed. Yeah, he’d seen it. “We survived the weekend, didn’t we?”
“Barely.”
“Whatever.” It had been a phenomenal weekend and no major mishaps, so Reese considered it a success. “I can assure you, there’s not a stray tiger roaming around Coyote Ridge, so I don’t think we have to worry too much.”
“Have you met my family?” Brantley quipped.
The door to the B and B was unlocked, so they walked inside. Voices carried throughout the main floor, coming from the direction of the dining room where the continental breakfast was served each morning.
“We could’ve eaten here for free,” Brantley muttered softly. “Then again, you’re probably still hungry after that bird food you forced down, so maybe you wanna grab a seat.”
Reese rolled his eyes.
When no one came to greet them, Reese took Tesha into the separate living space while Brantley headed for the kitchen where they knew Bailey generally hung out.
“Lay,” Reese instructed Tesha while he perched on the arm of a chair.
She instantly went down to her belly, her attention on the door as she waited for Brantley to return.
A moment later, he appeared with Bailey and Holt in tow.
“Good mornin’,” Bailey greeted with a smile, but it faltered, and Reese could see the worry taking over. “I didn’t know y’all were stoppin’ by.”
“We hadn’t planned on it,” he admitted, hoping to assuage her growing concern.
Bailey looked up at Holt and then back to Reese. “I can assure you, everything’s gonna go off without a hitch. I’ve already talked to JJ—”
“It’s not about the wedding,” Brantley told her. “That’s all JJ. We’re just plannin’ to show up.”
She smiled brightly.
“We actually came to talk to you,” Reese told Holt as he stood and shook the man’s hand.
Holt’s forehead pinched as he glanced between them. “Did I do somethin’?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Brantley stated in his best hard-ass investigator voice.
Bailey’s eyebrows popped, and worry once again creased the corner of her eyes.
“I’m kidding.” Brantley huffed a laugh. “We just wanted to ask him a coupla questions. Nothin’ official. Swear.”
She exhaled heavily. “Thank God. I’m not sure I can handle anything more than what’s on my plate right now.”
