AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not because of you,” he said. “I actually am having fun. I just mean because of this heat. Who gets married outside in July?”
“Abby’s been praying for a cold spell,” Tam said.
“She didn’t pray hard enough,” Blaine said dryly.
“Maybe the Lord won’t listen to her, because she steals people’s boyfriends,” Denise said. Tam gasped, and Blaine turned to stare at her too.
He reached out and took her still half-full glass of wine from her. “I think you’re done, Denise.”
She let him take the glass, and she covered her mouth with her hand. “Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes,” Tam said with a small squeak. Her blue eyes danced, and she grinned like a wolf who’d just found his next meal. “Yes, you did.”
Blaine put the half-drunk wine on a tray and took Denise by the elbow. “Let’s go find a seat in the shade, okay? If I’m sitting in the sun for this, Tam owes metwoyears of free labor on the ranch.”
“I’ve already done that,” she said as he turned. He looked back over his shoulder at her, a smile passing between them that definitely conveyed he’d rather be at this wedding with her than Denise.
She reached up and touched her fingers to her lips, and warmth spread through Blaine from head to toe—as if he wasn’t already hot enough.
He found a spot in the shade, and he saved a seat for Tam on his left. She walked down the aisle with the other bridesmaids, and then she came to sit beside him. She pressed her thigh right next to his, and Blaine couldn’t help moving his hand to touch hers.
She leaned toward him, and he inclined his head toward her. “You’re hot in that tuxedo, cowboy.”
He grinned as the preacher started the ceremony. “You don’t look so bad yourself,” he whispered, and then she laced her fingers through his and held on tight.
10
Spur reached to take down the last of the red, white, and blue banners that had been put on the homestead for the Fourth of July holiday. That had marked the one-month mark until his wedding.
Two more weeks had passed, and tonight Spur had called a family dinner. He’d met with Mom and Daddy to talk to them about the meal. He’d called another brothers meeting to tell them what he expected. Olli said she’d prepped her mom and dad, as well as her brother and sister.
“That’s the last of them,” Cayden said, handing him the banner.
Spur tossed it in the bin and put the lid on. “Thanks for helping with this,” he said. “You’ll put the ladder away and come help me get all the food, right?”
“Planning on it,” Cayden said. “Spur, you need to chill about this.”
“Chill?” Spur repeated. “I don’t even know how that’s possible. I’m getting married again in two weeks.” That was insane, and Spur turned around like someone would be standing there to tell him the whole thing was a joke.
Cayden got down from the ladder and put both hands on Spur’s shoulders. “Do you love Olli?”
“Yes,” Spur said, searching his brother’s eyes. “But, Cay. I loved Katie too.” He hated this doubt in his soul, and it didn’t belong to Olli. It belonged to him. He doubted he could keep a woman like Olli happy for long; he hadn’t been able to do so for his first wife.
“You are not the same man,” Cayden said. “She is not Katie.”
Spur nodded. “You’re right. I know.” The rising panic subsided, and Spur took a deep breath. “What about you, Cayden? Who are you seeing?”
Cayden sighed and turned to fold up the ladder. “Not many people, I’m afraid. I’ve been out here and there. I asked Libby out, and we went to dinner. Had a right fine time, but there was no spark.” He faced Spur and hefted the ladder onto his shoulder. “I need a spark.”
“I know the feeling,” Spur said. Every time he even thought about Olli, a whole network of sparks raced through his bloodstream. He loved her. This was just dinner, and if it didn’t work out, so what? He’d told Olli once that he didn’t care about anything but the two of them. He still didn’t, but he’d like Olli’s parents to think she’d gotten a good husband and family, not a crazy-loud bunch of men who didn’t know how to mind their manners.
Spur took the bins into the front shed and put them away, noting Blaine’s neat desk and barbells by the door. He seemed like he was happy with Tam, and Spur hoped that was true. Sometimes Blaine could be his own worst enemy, and as Spur thought it, he realized he could be too.
“No more of that,” he told himself as he left the shed.
He met Cayden at the truck, and the two of them headed to Dreamsville to pick up the food. Enough to feed twenty-five people, even if some of them were children, took several trips to carry to his truck. By the time he and Cayden had it loaded, he was ready for the event to be done.
“Maybe you’ll meet someone at the wedding,” Spur said. “Olli has a lot of female friends she’s invited.”
