Page 35 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

Late breakfast for Brad was an early lunch for the rest of the family. Then with Patrick and Crissy happily in charge of the little guys, Hanna and Brad headed over to Yvette and Alex’s farm.

The wedding was small. Guests were mostly members of the fire hall crew and a few people from Silver Stone who Alex worked with. Yvette’s grandmother sat in a comfortable seat, smiling hugely as the others joined the gathering set up in the cozy barn area.

The other guest of honour was Creighton Reiner—now good friend to Yvette and Alex and previous owner of the farm. He sat beside Geraldine, chatting easily since they were both residents at the seniors home.

Hanna slipped her hand into Brad’s as Malachi Fields stepped forward. “Now that we’re all here, I welcome you to the wedding celebration for Yvette Wright and Alex Thorne. If you two could join me please.”

From the side of the barn, Yvette stepped forward, dressed in a pretty green dress with long sleeves. At her side Alex⁠—

Whatever Alex wore for clothing, Hanna didn’t notice. She was too caught by the sight of the sling holding his arm to his body. “What?”

She wasn’t the only one expressing concern.

Alex grinned at the wedding guests as he caught Yvette’s fingers with his. “Had a bit of a run-in with another lady yesterday. Nothing’s broken, but it was a good reminder that I’ve got the perfect woman already.”

Yvette snorted. “Because I’ve never bucked you off into a water trough?”

“At least not yet,” Alex offered, lifting her fingers so he could kiss them. “Ready to get hitched? Even if there’s another woman in my life?”

“I’m aware of your other love. I’m glad she didn’t break you too hard before we did this up official.” Yvette turned to Malachi. “We’re ready.”

The tall man with silver at the temples of his black curly hair smiled contentedly. “You’re doing a great job. Keep rolling, and I’ll finish up.”

With a nod, Alex twisted Yvette to face him. “This is going to be quick and easy. I’ve said it for a long time now, but I love you. I’m more than ready to spend the rest of our lives together.”

She smiled. “You have said it, and you’ve lived it. I hope I’ve been saying it as loudly as you, but just in case…” Yvette reached into her pocket and pulled something out. “This is for you.”

Alex took it, his expression changing from amusement to curiosity as he opened the lid. “It’s a key. I don’t get a ring?”

“You get a ring too, but one thing I really wanted you to know is that I’ve learned forever comes one day at a time.” Yvette grinned. “Which means you need one more thing to unlock on a regular basis.”

Laughter rolled out, starting from Alex and sweeping through the guests. The moment was so them.

As Malachi finished up with the official words that made Alex and Yvette husband and wife, Hanna leaned into Brad’s side contentedly. No relationship flowed in exactly the same. No marriage followed the same pattern as another.

But when people loved with all their hearts, magic happened.

Caleb had gone back into silence mode. It had been a long time since Tamara had seen him this way, and even knowing the why of it, she didn’t like it.

Right after Dustin spoke with him, Caleb had shared with her what Uncle Frank hoped for. After Tamara’s own first sensations of shock had passed, she’d felt such a sense of pride that Caleb’s concerns weren’t based on a woman taking the reins, but not wanting his daughter to be farther from home.

“She’s smart, and she’s a hard worker, but she wouldn’t be here.”

Caleb had said it with his heart in his voice, which made it easier to agree to wait before approaching their daughter.

But now? It had been weeks, and he had begun to pace through each day, answering questions with nothing but monosyllables. He stared into the sky far more often than warranted for this time of year.

He clearly wasn’t himself.

Tamara wouldn’t have said anything yet, no matter how much it pained her to see him like this, but all the children were beginning to sense something was wrong, and that was not what Caleb would have wanted.

Emma tried her best to please him in small things. Tyler offered hugs but scurried out of the way quickly and then went and cuddled with his sisters instead of crawling into his papa's lap.

Sasha…

She had the best memory out of all the children from the time in their lives when Caleb had been silent because of his personal pain. When her father barely answered her questions at the dinner table, the calculating gaze behind Sasha’s eyes said Tamara could no longer let this lie.

Besides, Tamara realized with a bit of a sigh, she too had been moving cautiously over the past days.