Page 17 of She Autumn Be Mine

“I know. Look. I like her and the kid a lot. Give me some time. I will eventually bring them by to meet the folks. Promise.

My twin squinted her eyes at me for a long moment, her mind rolling over it all the way we used to negotiate as kids. “Okay. I won’t say a word. As long as you introduce me right now.”

“Terms accepted.” I had no other choice. I took her by the elbow and led her over. Autumn’s eyes grew bigger as we got closer.

“Autumn, this is my sister, Jamie. Jamie—Autumn. And this little man is Stetson.”

“Okay first, please excuse my brother, walking over here all official. He still has a lot of SEALs left in him, treating everything like a mission.”

“Yes, he can be a little scary,” Autumn chuckled and winked at me. A wink. I got a wink. I’d take it.

“Can I just say, you are gorgeous. And this handsome little guy… Oh my gosh, look at his tiny bow tie.” Jamie swooned, especially when he held up his hand for a high-five like we’d been rehearsing lately.

“Baba,” he said, pointing at me. At least he didn’t say dada, not that I would’ve minded, but didn’t need the complication with my sister.

The two women fell into easy conversation after that, appraising everything about the wedding and reception so far. The baby changed hands, and Jamie, who pretty much stayed on the fence about having children, practically gave her heart to him then and there.

It took a good ten minutes to pry him loose from her. Eventually the two women hugged. She made me promise to call her soon, and off she went to chat with old friends.

“Sorry about that ambush.” I apologized, settling back in with Autumn alone. “We’re twins, but safe to say she’s always been the extroverted one. I asked our parents once if they could return her like a pair of shoes at a department store.”

Autumn chuckled, watching Jamie go. “It’s completely fine. It was nice to meet her. You have family here who care about you. Hold on tight to that.” She bumped my shoulder with hers, easy, like it was a thing we did now.

A corner of my mouth lifted about to say more. But the sheriff and Harper came by announcing dinner in the tent, putting a pin in that.

“Avery is inside the farmhouse watching our little one. Why don’t you two take Stetson up to her?” Harper suggested. “She can let us know if it gets to be too much with two babies. But at least that’ll get you through dinner without fussing with him.”

“Dinner among adults? I think I’ll take you up on that,” Autumn responded positively to the idea, which kind of shocked me. She usually worried about him when she was at work, texting me a few times to see how he was doing. I took it as a good sign she was settling in more and more here.

Avery was all too happy to assist. And Stetson remembered her, hardly noticing we slipped away back out to the reception

Inside the tent, I found our table on the seating chart. Ivy had us seated with her and Colt, Harper and the sheriff, and Willow and Ash, while the newlyweds held court at a sweetheart table just for them in the center of the tent.

At the buffet I found the barbecued pork and it made my night. Almost. I’d decided a dance with Autumn would be the icing on the cake.

While we all ate, conversation flowed, and without Stetson claiming her attention, Autumn relaxed. In fact, after the two more glasses of champagne she drank over dinner, I found her chair got closer to mine, elbows and thighs brushing often. I kept an arm casually draped across her chair back. If she noticed, she did not seem to mind.

“Ivy, honey, you’ve outdone yourself. Hasn’t she, Gavin?” Harper continued, not missing a beat, after the sheriff nodded with a mouthful. “Daisy’s the luckiest bride in Montana having you plan this.”

“Thank you so much. But I think I aged a year, and even saw a gray hair today,” she laughed at herself. “Honestly, though, I couldn’t have done it without Knox’s mom and her connections. She saved us a ton of money.” She waved at the woman at the next table over.

“You two have been engaged since Valentine’s. Set a date yet?” Ash dared ask.

“Better ask her.” Colt pointed at Ivy, grabbed his beer, and took a long strategic drink.

“Ask him,” Ivy replied, sweet as frosting, batting her lashes, a look shared between them that said this had been covered many times before without resolution.

“My family is all back east,” Colt explained to the table. “My mom, my sisters and their husbands. A herd of nieces and nephews. Her people are here. My brother-in-law Rex is well to do and has offered to fly all of Forest Grove out to Holly Creek for a wedding.”

“Like that’s a normal thing a person offers.” Ivy shook her head. “Besides, I always pictured a Montana wedding,” Ivy lamented.

“So we’re stuck.” Colt reached out and squeezed her hand on the table.

“We’re not stuck, just…” Ivy searched for the word.

“Stuck,” Colt quipped. Ivy laughed it lightly off. “We’ll figure it out at some point.”

“Yes. Until then, I guess I have some time on my hands now that this wedding is done.” She ended in a sigh.