Page 128 of Bailey

Momma brought her hands together in applause, and the room erupted. Reeves reached over and took her hand in his, squeezing her fingers tightly. She looked at him, an entire conversation happening in less than a second. Yes, she’d have eyes on her, and then the tree would be lit, and everyone would ooh and ahh at that, and she could fade into the background again.

You came home for things like this, she told herself.

“After we light the tree,” Daddy said. “We’re going to move into our new event space, where all the stockings have been hung. Everyone should have one, and if you have any gifts you meant to put in them, hopefully you can get there before the owner of it empties it.”

Several murmurs moved through the crowd as the excitement grew, and Bailey found herself smiling.

Momma took the mic from Daddy. “This year we’ve asked our oldest daughter, Bailey, to light the tree.”

She heard murmurs move through the crowd, but Bailey ignored them as she got to her feet. Thankfully, her legs held her, and Reeves turned his knees to the side as Bailey stepped past him. Only a few steps later, she arrived at her mother’s side, and she smiled out at the crowd.

She swore she went blind, and then…it sure seemed like God had pressed pause on time, so she could have a moment to take in the joyful, shining faces of the people in the crowd.

Every single one of them beamed Christlike love back at her, and she felt it knit itself together and sink way down deep into her heart.

“All right, a lot of you have been here for many years and know how this goes. Lighting, food, stockings, great company,” Daddy said. “But this year we have a slight modification to the program.”

Time rushed forward again as Bailey looked over to him, horror flowing through her veins. She met her mother’s eyes, surprised to see Momma smiling with tears gathering in hers.

“What’s going on?” Bailey asked right out loud. She swept to the crowd again, her eyes immediately seeking Reeves on the end of the second row.

His chair was empty.

With panic building, she looked at her parents again, just in time to see Daddy switching off his mic and lowering it. Whispers started to move through the crowd, and then a loud click filled the area, and Bailey recognized it as another mic being switched on.

She searched for it and finally found movement in the middle of the far-left section of chairs that had been set up in front of the tree. Bryce currently stood there, and Reeves used the steadiness of his hand to climb onto a chair. Adam handed him a mic, and Reeves held it in front of his face as his gaze locked onto Bailey’s and the other two men retook their seats.

“I know you probably hate this,” he said, his smile absolutely huge. “And I promise this will be the most public thing I ever do. Well, besides when we get married.”

Bailey smiled and quickly glanced at her mother as Momma took Bailey’s hand in hers.

“There are no cameras rolling, wildflower,” Reeves said. “And let me tell you, that was a real fight with your aunts and Momma.”

Tears gathered in Bailey’s own eyes.

“But I know you won’t want this online,” he said. “And I’ve promised you that our private life will stay private.” He exhaled as if he had too much breath in his lungs, and he closed his eyes in an extended blink.

His eyes opened and he gazed at her with all the love a man could possess for a woman. “I love you, Bailey McAllister,” he said simply. “Every day that you’re not my wife is a day that could be a lot better if you were. I love how hard-working you are, and how kind, and how you have so much room in your heart to love.”

Tears splashed her cheek, coming from her right eye, and Bailey quickly reached up and wiped them away.

“Hold on, I’ve got to get a little closer.”

Bryce jumped to his feet and once again steadied Reeves as he climbed down off the chair and moved to the aisle.

“You’re an amazing vet,” he said as he walked toward her. “And my best friend, and the woman who rescued me from a life of only gray.” He reached the front of the crowd and simply had to walk across the front row before he would be right in front of her.

However, he paused at OJ, who handed him the diamond ring. A sob caught in Bailey’s throat as Reeves handed the mic to OJ and turned back to Bailey. She caught the river of nervousness in his expression before he smoothed it away.

“I love you,” he said loudly as he now didn’t have a microphone to project his voice. “I can’t start a new year without you wearing my ring and knowing you’ll be my wife.”

He dropped to both knees and held up the ring. “Will you marry me?” He asked the question so softly that Bailey could barely hear it from a couple of feet away.

Momma squeezed her hand, and then stepped back.

“Yes,” Bailey whispered.

Reeves’s smile got bigger, and he started to slide the ring on her finger.