Slade’s black Ford, transformed from a working ranch vehicle with mud on the running boards and rope in the bed, to… this. White roses and pink peonies wrapped around the mirrors and door handles. AJust Marriedbanner stretched across the tailgate in looping script. Tin cans tied to the trailer hitch that will rattle all the way down the mountain road.
My eyes meet Slade’s. He looks just as surprised by this part as I do.
“It’s not a real country wedding without some tin cans tied to the back,” Sadie grins, bouncing Mari on her hip.
“We matched the flowers to your hair,” Josie adds, approaching me to give me a firm hug. “Did I mention how nice it is to finally have another girl in this family to do this stuff for?”
Lucky chooses this moment to break free from Rafe and make her determined way down the porch steps. She launches herself into the truck bed with more enthusiasm than grace, turns around three times and lies down.
Settled. Ready. Not going anywhere without us.
The goodbyes are warm and chaotic. Hugs and congratulations from all the Rhodes family, and finally from their patriarch. Daryl gives me a hug, eyes sparkling as he says, “Welcome to the family.” When he releases me, he winks.
Slade’s hand finds the small of my back as he guides me to the passenger door. I climb in.
The tin cans rattle as we pull out of the driveway. I turn back, waving to them all the while until we disappear over the horizon.
It’s only a five minute drive to Slade’s house from Rosemont, which is just as well, because the quiet between us feels thick and charged.
We’re married. Husband and wife.
And yet… not really.
Slade is clearly deep in thought, and I’m too full of a confusing jumble of emotions to try and sort through them even in the privacy of my own head. I try to think of something to say to ease the tension.
What pops into my head is, “Are Rafe and Josie together? Like, boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Slade’s head whips towards me. He gives me a strange look. “What? No way. Rafe’s our brother. I mean, not by blood, but in every other way. Why?”
I think about the way the two of them looked at each other. Her laugh. His hand on her hip.
That was anything but a brotherly touch.
I open my mouth to make a comment to that effect, then stop myself.
When I met Josie tonight, she threw her arms around me, immediately declared me the newest member of the Rhodes family sisterhood, and wouldn’t hear a word of pretend-this or arrangement-that.
I like her. I like Rafe, and I like all the other Rhodes’s too.
But I don’t know them. Not really. And I never will.
Whatever is or isn’t going on between Rafe and Josie, it’s not my place to stir things up when I don’t know what I’m talking about or what I really saw.
“I was just wondering,” I say.
Luckily, Slade doesn’t question me any further.
When we pull up to the house he cuts the engine. We sit for a second in the quiet.
“Good day?” he asks.
“Really good.” The truth of it comes easily to my lips. “I could not have asked for a lovelier wedding day.”
“You would tell me if you had regrets, right?”
“Of course.” I look at him uncertainly. “Areyouhaving regrets?”
“No,” he says, firmly enough that I believe him right away. There’s a pause before he adds, softer, “I just want you to be happy.”
