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“Your house,” I grumble, taking a drink of my champagne and glancing around the room until I find my daughter. She’s running around and playing with her many little cousins, my dad hot on their heels to keep them all out of trouble.
“I sense a bit of hostility in your voice. Someone isn’t getting road-head tonight,” she teases, making me smile.
“Doubtful. Lord knows how long he’s going to be working out there. Last I knew he hadn’t even painted it yet,” I tell my sister, looking toward the door and wishing my husband would walk through it.
Tomorrow, our sister will be married on the beach outside of AJ and Sawyer’s home. There’s a tent set up in their yard for the post-nuptial celebration, where everyone will enjoy a delicious dinner and dancing. Several dozen chairs will be put out tomorrow morning for the ceremony, in which the happy couple will stand beneath a gorgeous handmade trellis and proclaim their never-ending love for one another.
Except the trellis isn’t finished.
Actually, he hadn’t even started it until after the rehearsal.
An emergency roofing job ended up taking up all of his time the past two days, which resulted in the one job he had for the wedding not being completed. Now, he’s scrambling to get it done – and swears it will be. I know it will be finished and probably more beautiful than anything I could imagine – because that’s the type of man he is – but this argument just falls right in line with the one we’ve had for two weeks.
Don’t wait until the last minute to build the trellis.
Exhaling deeply, I turn my thoughts away from my husband and reach for my nephew. Nolan comes easily from his mom’s arms to mine and grabs a handful of my long hair. “No, no,” I say gently to the little guy in my arms, gingerly pulling the hair from his grip.
“He has a hair fetish,” AJ grumbles, taking a drink from her glass.
“Just like his dad,” I quip with a knowing smile.
AJ snorts, her eyes seeking out the man in question. She smiles softly the moment she finds him talking with Linkin and Dean across the room. “He comes by it honestly,” she says absently.
“Is this little man sleeping any better at night?”
“Not really,” she says and yawns, as if on cue. “He still has his nights and days mixed up. Even when we try to keep him awake during the day, he still thinks nighttime is party time.”
“That has to be rough,” I say, running my finger over my nephew’s delicately soft cheeks. He smiles up at me, but I can tell he’s getting sleepy.
“It is. Sawyer has been amazing, though. He gets up with me, even though I tell him to get some sleep. We can’t both be zombies at school.”
“He’s a good guy,” I assure her, knowing that Sawyer won’t be able to just go back to sleep when his wife is up dealing with their wide-awake baby at three a.m.
“He’s the best,” she coos, glancing his way once more. I look over and watch him crook his finger, indicating he wants her to come to him. She smiles with an ornery glint in her eye, takes their son from my arms, and says, “Excuse me.”
I watch as she saunters toward her husband, shaking her hips just a bit more in her stunning purple dress. When she reaches his side, he gazes down at her with so much love and adoration that it makes my heart full. I seriously love the way all of my sisters have found their happily ever after with their soul mates.
Sawyer takes the baby from her arms and gently cradles him against his shoulder. Then, he wraps his arm around his wife’s shoulder and pulls her in nice and close.
Yep, he’s definitely one of the good ones.
I seek out my daughter again and watch as my niece, Brielle, spins her around on the wooden floor. I can hear Amelia’s laughter floating all the way across the room, and my smile is instantaneous. I can’t imagine my life without her.
Or Ryan.
Funny, that five years ago, I was moving back home, licking my wounds from my failed engagement. I thought Gavin was my forever, but learned very quickly that I was wrong. Sure, I was devastated when he broke off the engagement, mere days before our big day, but in the grand scheme of things, it was for the best. Without that heartbreaking moment, I wouldn’t have met the love of my life.
I wouldn’t have Ryan.
Who just so happens to be walking in the door…
