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Olli looked over her shoulder, a triumphant smile on her face. Spur smiled and shook his head. He’d just helped Daddy to a seat when the doors to the hall opened again, and more cowboys poured inside. Olli’s siblings and their families arrived. The girlfriends and finally, Blaine and Tam.
The only person who wasn’t there was Ginny, and Spur looked around for Cayden. He was obviously watching the door too, as was Olli from where she stood with her sister, Lena.
Ginny rushed through into the hall a few minutes later, apologies flying from her mouth. Olli hugged her and said something, and then she turned to find Spur. He knew his role here, and it was at her side, welcoming everyone to their family dinner party.
They reached for one another simultaneously, and Spur pressed a kiss to Olli’s forehead. “All right,” he said in a loud voice. “Quiet down now.” He gave everyone a moment to wrap up their conversations, and he realized how full of love this room felt.
Cayden and Blaine had both been by Mom and Daddy’s house to make peace. Those were the only two that Spur knew of, but he hadn’t expected miracles. Baby steps were fine too.
“We’re so glad everyone could make it tonight,” he said. “Families are such a special blessing from the Lord.” Where the words had come from, he didn’t know. Olli looked up at him, her smile genuine and perfect.
“There’s no assigned seats,” he said, getting to the heart of his speech. “Pick a place, get a plate, and get some food. We have the hall until nine, and we’re glad to be here to get to know everyone better.”
He glanced around, his eyes landing on Trey. “Trey, would you say grace?”
“Sure thing.” Trey took off his cowboy hat and gave the rest of the men in the room a moment to do so as well. He offered a prayer for health and safety, and he thanked the Lord for sending Olli and her family into their lives. Spur couldn’t help smiling at that, because he felt that same thankfulness down in his very being.
When the prayer ended, he stood back out of the way while everyone else started through the line. Olli held Ginny back with her, and then the three of them finally went down the table holding all the trays of food and loaded their plates.
By the time they got to the tables, there weren’t three spaces together. Olli looked at Spur and nodded toward the table where Cayden sat. He had two places there. Spur nodded, and Olli shook her hair over her shoulders.
Watching her made Spur so happy, and he followed in her wake as she approached the table. “Gus,” she said to her nephew. “Would you mind going to sit by Papa? I want to sit by Ginny and Spur, and there’s no room.”
“All right, Auntie Olli.”
“That’s a good boy,” she said, and she picked up his plate and handed it to Spur. He took the boy over to his grandfather and returned to the table to find Cayden right next to Ginny, with Olli on her other side. The empty seat remaining next to Olli was for him, and he chuckled as he sat down.
“Well done,” he murmured, glancing at Cayden, who had started talking to Ginny.
“It was like taking candy from a baby,” Olli whispered. “Look at them. Aren’t they so cute together?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Spur said, refusing to look at Cayden or move his mouth too much. He faced Olli instead, and added, “My brothers are in love with you for how you handle our mother. I think we’re going to need lessons.”
Olli trilled out a laugh that made Spur’s pulse fire more rapidly, and she said, “Just set it up, Spur.” She leaned closer to him and took a deep breath. Her eyes glittered as she met his gaze. “You smellfantastictonight.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I kinda have this fiancée who’s a genius with scents.” He leaned toward her and kissed her, finally settled and ready to get married again, because he was going to marry Olli, and she was perfect for him.
11
Tam tugged at the hem of her dress, hating where it fell. She wasn’t in Olivia Hudson’s wedding party, and she could wear any dress she wanted. The one she’d purchased had seemed great in the store, but now, it looked all wrong.
The dress was too long to be a party dress but too short to be considered anything else. She’d worn more dresses in the last couple of months than she had in the six months before that. She liked looking good when she and Blaine went out, and she liked seeing that glinting, desirable look in his eyes when she opened her door.
Today, his brother was getting married, and Tam pressed her lips together to refresh her lipstick. “You’re kissing him today. To-day.”
Frustration streamed through her, and she recognized it in her own eyes. She’d never dated Blaine before, but she felt like he was moving like molasses with her when he’d never done that with anyone else in the past.
They weren’t the kind of best friends that kissed and told, but she’d always known when he’d kissed his girlfriends. Her memory had grown fuzzy, but she seemed to remember that he’d kissed Alex within two weeks.
It had taken him that long to even decide if he should date Tam.
She pushed the poisonous thoughts out of her mind, because they didn’t do anyone any good. They just made her feel worse about herself, doubt that Blaine really liked her and wanted to be with her, and send her into a tailspin that she had to work for days to correct.
She’d made some amazing saddlebags in her last tailspin, and she’d earned great money from the sale. Didn’t mean she wanted to distract herself in her shop every time she fell into the dark recesses of her mind.
She turned away from the mirror and went into her closet. Perhaps she had something else she could wear to the wedding. In truth, no one would even care what she was wearing. She’d been over to Blaine’s several times in the past couple of weeks, and his brothers treated her the same way they always did—like she was one of them.
Tam pushed hangers left and right, finally concluding that she didn’t have anything better than the sunshine yellow dress she currently had on. She bent down to find the shoes she’d thought she’d wear with the dress, finally pulling out the pair of black heels from the back of the closet.
