It was early still, but the kids needed to go to bed and so did Demi. Within half an hour, we were saying goodbyes to everyone and herding them into the house.
“Is it weird that I’m nervous?” Demi asked as Emery and I carried the twins inside.
To my surprise, she was looking at me instead of Emery. “Oh, huh. I don’t know.”
“We’ve been together for seven years. Why does this still feel significant? I’ve already entwined my life completely with his. I’m knocked up with his babies. Again.Threeof them. As many as I’ve had so far.”
Ah. I caught Emery’s eye as we let her go up the stairs ahead of us and he nodded at me.
She was having pre-wedding jitters.
“I think the important thing here is that you’re in love with that man. He’s the father of your babies and adores you. This will mostly be a big party to celebrate all that,” Emery said firmly.
“What he said,” I added, and they snorted in unison.
I handed Phinneas to his mother and gave them a sideways hug. “I’m going to go shower. Holler if you need me.”
“Thank you, Ville,” she said, kissing my cheek. “I appreciate you.”
Oddly moved, I nodded and left the room.
As I showered and got ready for bed, I wondered about marriage. I got where Demi was coming from with her little freak out and I also understood Emery’s point of view.
I couldn’t see a situation where I was standing at the altar, waiting for him—waiting foranyone—and not feel a bit insecure about whether they’d show up or not. Maybe it was some sortof a self esteem thing or whatever, but to me, getting married seemed like a big deal.
To me, marrying someone meant forever. The vows weren’t just words for me.
With my lifestyle though, I couldn’t see a point in the future where I would be able to make such a commitment to a person.
And the Harringtons, they loved hard and took relationships seriously. I wasn’t sure what that meant for Emery and me, and for the first time, because we only had a week and a couple of days left here, I was a little scared to find out.
Chapter 18
Emery
It was as though I had a perpetual countdown in my head that started at T-minus twenty-eight hours and just kept ticking away.
Demi had made a good choice to have the rehearsal and dinner two nights before the wedding. There were a lot of last-minute things to get done today, and this way, there was no pressure to manage it all before the rehearsal. Plus, there wasn’t a big party the night before everyone had to get up early. Even still, I felt the time crunch.
My twin sister had intended to be involved in everything today, but she was growing three fetuses simultaneously, while mothering her three other children, and she was wiped. Mom had put her foot down and insisted Demi rest as much as possible today so that she could enjoy tomorrow. I would havebeen right by Demi’s side, helping get it all done, but because she was indisposed, it fell to me.
And I was bound and determined to handle everything she needed me to.
I hit the ground running at just before eight. Ville had tried to keep me in bed, and as tempting as he was, always, I needed to move. The wiggle maneuver had been a feat of genius, though I had to race from the room before he untangled himself from the blankets. I wasn’t dumb. I knew damn well it would only work once. Ville would be ready for it in the future.
Fortunately, Nick had the coffee carafes filled already, and I poured a travel mug and grabbed a bagel which I ate dry as I headed out. I had a list on my phone that Demi had forwarded me the day before, and methodically I checked everything off. To the Event Barn to check on things and help Fern with the centerpieces. As much as Demi trusted Fernie and her vision, there was a certain way Demi wanted things to look and no one understood that better than me. Then to town to grab the dress, accessories, and the right makeup from the house. Demi had intended to bring it with her today when she arrived, but since we’d convinced her to stay last night, it was up to me to get it.
It wasn’t as though I was the only one doing things. Everybody had tasks to handle today, and they were. But anything Demi herself wanted a hand in, it was now up to me to take care of. And I did. Even when it meant missing lunch, because she called in a panic that she just had to have a certain perfume to wear. It had been the one she wore when she and Luke had first started dating, and he loved it. She hadn’t worn it in years, mostly because she didn’t wear anything these days. If she’d thought of it earlier, she would have already bought some. But she didn’t, which meant that I had to make the trek to Colorado Springs and a Sephora. Fortunately, they had it and I was back on the roadtwenty minutes later. If I sped a little, pushing the speed limit by a bit, no one could blame me.
I made it back to the ranch and delivered the perfume to Demi, who started sobbing, blamed her hormones, and hugged me tightly enough I couldn’t breathe. Breathing was overrated anyway, when it made her so happy.
I finally got her to let me go when I reminded her I needed to go bathe her horse. She let me go so quickly I almost toppled into her, but she just laughed even as she wiped her eyes and shooed me out the door.
Before Demi had retired to train horses and riders, she’d competed herself. And though she was well versed in both Western and English, she’d shown in hunter under saddle. Her career and name had been made with her big hunt seat mare, the one Demi had picked out when the filly had been only two years old. Demi had trained the horse from the ground up, at first with Dad’s help and then on her own, and been a champion four times over.
Jolene was a star in her own right. Beautiful conformation, natural slow, smooth stride, and really good minded. Demi had seen magic in her when she was just a filly, and she’d been right. The bay was mostly a pasture pet now, at seventeen. Demi still rode her every day, though not for as long as she used to. But Jolene was Demi’s heart horse and she wanted the mare in her wedding photos.
Which meant getting her “show ready.” First a bath and then braiding her mane. Yes, there were other people who could do it. Plenty of hands were more than capable. But this was another thing Demi was particular about, and I was the only one who knew how to do it “right.”
