Page 98 of Roping Her In

He’d had no idea that he could order a tuxedo in navy blue, and in fact, most people couldn’t. Elaine, though, had had his clothes custom-made for him, and that meant they fit better than anything Colt had ever worn, and were the exact shade she wanted. Jonas, too, had the cutest little navy blue suit made out of the finest fabrics.

The boards had been laid for the aisle, and the outdoor lights he’d hung in the trees cast a golden glow over the guests. Eight sat between each tree, and they went back fifteen rows on both sides.

“Welcome, everyone,” his mother said, and Colt dang near jumped out of his skin as he hadn’t seen her get up and move over to the microphone. Elaine had asked Willa Glover to marry them, and she currently sat on the very end of the front row, which actually held ten chairs on each side and curled up and toward the altar where he stood.

She’d definitely use the mic to project through the orchards, but Colt hadn’t been expecting his mother to.

“We still have guests arriving,” she said. “So if there are any extra seats by you, could you please move into the center to leave them open on the outer edges? And raise your hands, so people can find a seat.”

Colt had set out four more rows in front of the apple trees before the altar, which had provided a hundred seats for his family and the Walkers.

All told, he’d set out three-hundred-fifty chairs, some of them down the middle of the next row of trees over as an overflow area. He glanced that way and saw people taking those seats, and he marveled that this many people had turned out for the wedding. He supposed the Walkers were well-known and wealthy, and he shouldn’t have been surprised.

In truth, he wasn’t. The real surprise was that Elaine had agreed to marry him, and in fact, seemed quite enthusiastic to do so. After their nuptials here, they would be hosting a family dinner at Bellissima, about a thirty-minute drive directly west from the orchards. She’d rented the entire restaurant, and they wouldn’t be open for dinner that night beyond serving the Walker-Franklin party.

After their wedding dinner, they were hosting a town-wide reception at Seven Sons Ranch, which boasted plenty of parking, and brought their union full circle, as Elaine’s father had purchased the ranch and been the first brother to move onto it over thirty years ago now.

Colt adjusted his clasped hands in front of him and shifted his weight from foot to foot, ready to get this show on the road.

Finally, the music changed, and while a few people were still sliding into their seats, Colt couldn’t look anywhere but down to the end of the aisle, where his son now stood. Colt had practiced this with him several times in the past couple of days, and Jonas held two peach-colored leashes in his hands, each attached to one of their dogs.

The crowd stood, and giggles and aw’s moved through it as they saw Jonas. Colt nodded at him, and his son took the first step down the aisle toward him.

Elaine had three siblings and a multitude of cousins, all of whom had come back to Three Rivers for the wedding, but she hadn’t wanted a huge parade down the aisle. She’d wanted the focus to be on the new family they were creating. Therefore, only Jonas and the dogs would be walking down the aisle to Colt, and they would stand with him as Elaine got escorted by her father.

Colt grinned at his son, who waved at anyone who first waved at him. He crashed into Colt’s mother’s legs and held her tight, and then bumped fists with Myrah and got kisses from Birdie before he finally arrived at Colt.

“Good job, baby,” Colt whispered as he took his son’s hand in one of his hands and the leashes in the other. He brought the dogs to his left and told them to sit. Thankfully, they did, their tongues hanging out, though the May heat was being warded off by shade—and misters Colt himself had climbed into the trees and installed.

After all, nothing was too hard for Elaine Walker.

Jonas stood almost in the middle of the altar, and Colt employed every ounce of patience he had as he waited for Elaine to appear. They’d chosen these shorter rows for the wedding on purpose. One, she could get a ride right to the end of the aisle and not have to walk across debris-littered ground or an uneven surface. Two, they sat right on the edge of the orchard, and everyone could park nearby and make it to a seat.

As he watched, a pale pink limousine came into view. It seemed every eye had riveted to it, and Colt only knew that color to be blush because Elaine had told him.

Happiness flowed through him to see that almost everyone in the crowd had followed her directions for which colors to wear, and he watched as Finn, wearing navy blue slacks and a white shirt and a navy blue tie, leaned toward Edith, who wore a peach-colored dress. They whispered something, and then a hush fell over the crowd as Rhett appeared.

He opened the back door of the limo; he reached a hand inside, as if expecting royalty. Sure enough, Elaine held the skirts up on her dress, and Colt saw navy blue heels on her feet as she stepped out of the limo and directly onto the end of the first board marking the aisle.

She shone like all the sunshine in the world, and she glanced at her father and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Then he settled his custom navy blue cowboy hat back on his head, and offered his daughter his arm. Elaine took it, and Colt couldn’t quite get a breath when their eyes met.

Diamonds sparkled in her hair, and he realized she was wearing a crown. Of course she was, for she was a queen. She smiled at him and took her sweet time as she stepped carefully down the aisle, her blush-colored dress with its huge ball gown skirt swishing with every step.

She reached out and squeezed hands or waved to people, acknowledging every person in the crowd, the way royalty would.

Colt knew her love for them was genuine, and his for her grew and grew and grew, until she finally arrived in front of him. He had no words, and as Rhett passed Elaine to him, he said, “Anything can be worked out with love and a prayer.”

Colt passed him the leashes for the dogs and squeezed Jonas’s hand. Somehow, Elaine crouched down in front of the boy, though Colt had no idea how she did that in heels. She hugged him, and whispered something to him, and Jonas moved to sit with Momma.

Then Elaine put her hand in Colt’s, and rose to her full height. He couldn’t help it—he leaned down and kissed her right then and there, because he was the luckiest man in the world, and God had just filled him with gratitude.

“I think we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves,” Willa said into the mic, and Colt chuckled as he ducked his head, and then turned to face the altar with the woman he loved at his side.

36

Finn played a game on his phone while his wife lay on the exam table to his right. An ultrasound technician had brought them in about five minutes ago, and said that Dr. Richards would be in “in a moment.”