"I won't pinch this sweet, little beauty," his grandmother said and Sammy ran over and hugged her, grateful to be spared probably.
Lara and Noreen took DJ and Riley to hang out with Wyatt for a while, and Gloria went with them because she wanted to be seen and see everybody. Sammy wanted to hang out with her dad though.
"Rico is busy being a best man. I'm gonna stay with you so you're not lonely, Daddy," she said to Mitch, but Rico wondered if she wanted to stay close to her dad because she was nervous. She had never been to a wedding or been a flower girl before.
"You are going to be a great flower girl," Mitch told her.
He looked absolutely gorgeous, but Rico decided he had to tear himself away from him anyway. Since right now Grandma was monopolizing Sam, Rico figured this was a good time to go and touch base with Wyatt. He and his buddies were hanging out on the clearing on the other side of the hill.
"You guys keep an eye on Sam for me. I'll go check in with Wyatt," Rico told Mitch and Sammy.
Coming from the leafy shade of the peach orchard, Rico came out onto the clearing where Wyatt was waiting along with the others. It was bright and sunny here, but there was a nice breeze blowing. Lara was off to the side with Raquel while Wyatt was talking to Noreen.
As Rico gave them a minute, Lara gave him an update. "Noreen is taking her turn to keep Wyatt steady. His bachelor buddies were driving him crazy, and Raquel got all weepy." Lara elbowed her and Raquel looked embarrassed.
"I get emotional at weddings, and Wyatt is my best friend," Raquel whined.
"Don't you worry," Lara told her. "Noreen knows how to cool things down. That woman doesn't have a single, solitary, sentimental bone in her tiny, little body. But she does look cute in that dress I put her in, right?"
"Oh, for God's sake, just go and confess your undying love to her already," Rico snapped at her, but Lara just shook her head at him.
"A little tense?" Raquel asked him.
"Maybe a little, but I'll keep my cool around Wyatt," Rico promised her and he went to switch places with Noreen.
As he approached, the first words out of Wyatt's mouth were, "How is Sam?"
"He's doing OK," Rico told him.
"Yu and Stan are still not allowed to talk to him. If you see them go near him, take them down hard," Wyatt instructed him. "They're expendable. Sam is not."
"You sure are nice to your friends."
"I love 'em, but I'll kill them if they upset my groom on our wedding day," Wyatt declared. "How about you? You have any warnings for me? Threats? Like 'You better be good to Sam or else.'"
"I can see you adore Sam. Keep up the good work," Rico told him and gave him a hug.
"I will," Wyatt said.
Damn, he was so in love and it was written all over his face. He looked overwhelmed too, blinking up at the bright, blue sky, which matched the color of his eyes. Rico had expected him to be much calmer than Sam, but it looked like the enormity of this day was getting to both of them.
"I feel so happy it hurts," Wyatt told him in a rough voice. "I didn't even know this kind of feeling existed. It's crazy."
Now Rico did warn him. "Keep it together, man."
Wyatt did look a little more sober as he gripped Rico's arm. "How is Sam doing?"
"You already asked me that. He's OK."
"Good. Go be with him, or I'm going over there myself," Wyatt threatened.
"I'm going," Rico told him and he was off. Damn, he was a handful. Everyone was going crazy, but as the best man, Rico was expected to keep his cool.
How was he supposed to do that when all these heightened emotions were swirling all around him, and Mitch was there looking impossibly handsome? All Rico wanted to do was throw himself into his arms and tell him to never, ever let go.
Chapter 41
Back in the orchard, Rico found that Sam was deep in conversation with some lady he didn't recognize. Mitch was standing with his grandmother, and Rico went to join them. Mitch looked so good with patched of sunlight landing on him here and there. Nearby, Sammy was using an old iPhone his grandmother had given her to take pictures. From what Rico could tell, she was taking lots of pictures of trees.
