Page 61 of Bailey

Reeves took in the enormity of the living room that he’d entered, as well as the grand staircase that went up to the second floor. A landing ran all across the back wall, and hallways branched off of it. Gorgeous stone tile covered the floor, and a huge fireplace sat on the left-hand side of the room. Four full-sized couches filled the area, with brown leather armchairs in front of the windows as well. He followed Bailey out of the living room and back into the expansive kitchen and dining room where OJ had led them.

“We’re almost ready to eat,” OJ said. “So I think everyone’s outside.” He detoured to the left down the hall, and then made a right.

Bailey flowed with him, asking him more questions about the horse, and Reeves followed along, quite content to exist in both of their shadows. But the moment he stepped outside, Bailey reached for his hand. She’d waited for him, and it was clear she wanted him next to her when she started introducing him to everyone.

A big tent had been erected outside, the kind that most people used for weddings, and several six-foot tables had been set up underneath it. Two of them had been pushed end to end and sat in front of the grill. Graham stood on the other side of the table while two men who looked suspiciously like him manned the grill that was built into the patio.

“That’s your Uncle Eli, right?” Reeves asked, remembering that Eli and his son, Stockton, had come to help Bailey move in the day Reeves had found her passed out in the snow.

“Yes,” she said. “And my uncle Beau is helping at the grill too.” She glanced around. “I don’t see Uncle Andrew.”

“Andrew’s not here yet,” OJ said. “I guess he went out to get in his truck, and it had a flat tire or something.” He barely took a breath before bellowing, “Grandma Laney, Bailey’s here!”

Those two words—Bailey’s here—caused every person who’d been working at the food table—a woman laying out tomato slices, another unwrapping cheese, and a third down at the end opening the condiment bottles and removing the little plastic pieces so they could be used—to look their way.

Bailey’s hand in Reeves’s tightened. “I told you he was exuberant,” she said. Then she painted a smile on her face and started toward the tent.

Reeves felt the moment they all moved their gaze from her to him, and that only took a second. He shouldered the weight of their eyes, glad he’d been able to go home and shower, put on fresh clothes and cologne, trim up his beard, and make sure he looked presentable.

Bailey took him under the tent, where her mother greeted them.

“Hello, my darling.” Her momma hugged her, a wide smile on her face as they pulled apart.

Bailey looked at Reeves. “Momma, you remember Reeves Durham. He’s my next-door neighbor.”

“Of course. How are you, Reeves?” Laney stepped in and hugged him, too. “Bailey told us you two have been seeing one another for a couple of months now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Reeves said.

“And remember, Momma,” Bailey said, her eyes skirting to his. “We’re not moving fast.”

Laney cut her a look and then focused back on Reeves. “I remember.”

Graham joined them, and Laney said, “You remember Bailey’s daddy.”

“Of course I do,” Reeves said, and he extended his hand for the man to shake. “Good to see you again, Graham.”

Graham shook his hand, then pulled him into a hug, the same way Reeves had done with OJ. He laughed as he stepped back. “Welcome,” he said. “I see you guys met OJ on the way in.” Graham leaned forward. “He’s been watching for you for twenty minutes.”

“You don’t say,” Bailey said dryly.

Reeves chuckled, and that only brought every eye back to him.

“Grandpa Graham, do you think Bailey has time to look at the horse before we eat?” OJ called from the other edge of the patio.

Reeves looked that way and saw barns and stables standing at the end of a long sidewalk.

“No, son,” Graham said. “She can do it after.” He looked over to Bailey. “If she wants to do it at all.”

“Oh, all right.” The teenager didn’t seem happy with this answer, and he shaded his eyes as he looked back toward the stables.

“Come on over here, OJ,” Laney said. “I need you to run inside and get the ice.” She smiled at him as he returned to them, and he looked around at all of them.

“Oh, I know what’s going on here.” He stopped and cocked one hip.

Bailey grinned at him. “What’s going on, OJ?”

“You want to get rid of me, so you can tell Reeves all about me.”