“Doesn’t mean I couldn’t do it,” Summer said.
Darcie leaned closer to Summer. “If you want to aim for something in law enforcement, I think you should do it.”
Summer looked at Darcie. “Really?”
“Why not? You have no one to be responsible for except yourself. This is the point in your life that you should be experimenting with anything you think you might have an interest in. And if this is one of those things, don’t let anything anyone else says to you deter you,” Darcie said.
“You know, what? You’re right!”
Darcie smiled at her and high-fived her.”Go get ‘em girl!”
“Here, baby! I got you all kinds of shit,” Havoc said, plopping an overfilled plate down in Analise’s lap. “And I got it to you before Remi got one to Cristie. Got more on yours, too,” he said proudly.
“Hey! We playing next or not?” Sebastian yelled.
“I’m coming!” Havoc answered. “Love you, gotta go,” he said, grinning at Analise.
“Clay! Cruz! Are y’all coming?!” Sebastian yelled.
“Yes!” Cruz answered, wiping barbecue sauce off his fingers from the ribs he just ate.
“I’m coming,” Clay said, getting a bottle of water out of the cooler and walking over to where the horseshoe game was set up.
“Me, too!” Trey added as he got up and threw his plate away. “Baby? I’m going to play horseshoes with the guys.”
“Have fun. I’m about to sit my butt down right over there and relax,” Sheryl said, as she turned off the heat to the grease she’d been cooking with and made sure it was secured so it wouldn’t spill over.
“Cristie, do you want to go ahead and cut the cake?” Maia called out when she realized that everyone was winding down on eating and the cooking was coming to an end.
Cristie sat up and looked around, everyone had pretty much finished the first round of food, not that there wouldn’t be a third and fourth round before it ended. This was an all day celebration, and some of Remi’s family had even come to celebrate with them. “Is anybody ready for cake?” she asked.
“We are always ready for cake!” Sebastian answered as he tossed his first horseshoe.
“Cut that cake, baby-girl,” Maverik said as he popped the top on a beer and took a sip.
“Then, I guess we’re cutting cake,” Cristie said, as she stood up and looked around for Remi. She found him talking to their mothers and the ladies they were sitting with. “Remi? You ready to cut the cake?” she asked.
“Definitely,” he said, looking up at his mate. He took her by the hand and they walked over to the dessert table where the cake sat in the middle of it, surrounded by banana pudding, chocolate pie, and cookies. But their cake was definitely the center piece. It was an elegant wedding cake, but done in pale oranges and yellows, since those were Cristie’s favorite colors. The flowers on it were made of sugar, but looked like wild daisies, again, one of Cristie's favorites.
They posed behind their cake, both of them holding the knife as they smiled at the camera.
“You know, that’s a wedding cake, and y’all didn’t get married,” Sebastian said.
“Yes, I know. I will get married when I want to get married, and I will have cake when I want to have cake, and the two do not need to coincide. I’m celebrating my mating, not a wedding,” Cristie snapped.
“Fine! Jesus! You heard that, huh, Remi? I tried to warn you,” Sebastian said.
Remi leveled a calm, yet somehow threatening look Sebastian’s way.
Sebastian saw the orange glow of Remi’s Dragon as it stared at him through Remi’s eyes. Sebastian quieted down right away. “I’m just going to be over here throwing horseshoes,” he announced. “Great mating celebration!” he added as an afterthought.
“Oh, horses! Damn! I forgot, I’m supposed to check on one of my horses,” Harper said.
“You don’t have a horse,” Libby said.
“I may not own a horse, but I work with them, Mom. They depend on me. We have a new horse boarding at the arena and I promised to go check on her.”
“Because nobody else can do that,” Travis said.
