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“I love you, too,” Pike said, his eyes sliding closed. He was out like a light, moments later.
He slept hard, dreaming of a future with Tulsi and another sweet little girl with her blond curls and his eyes. By the next day, he had nearly forgotten about the strained moment when he offered to adopt Clem or his brief suspicion that Tulsi was keeping something important from him.
He would only remember when the truth finally came out at five thirty the following evening and his entire world was turned upside down.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Tulsi
It wasMia’s big day, but Tulsi couldn’t help feeling like the luckiest woman in Texas.
As she walked down the aisle, with the afternoon sun warm on her face and a gentle breeze setting the wind chimes in the trees to tinkling, filling the air with fairy music, she felt so full of joy, hope, and gratitude she wouldn’t have been surprised to find her boots floating off the lavender carpet spread out on top of the trail. The weather was beautiful, the chairs on either side of the aisle were filled with friends and family, and the love of her life was starting down the aisle behind her.
Pretty soon she and Pike would be standing side by side as Mia’s maid and man of honor, watching two people they loved promise their lives and hearts to each other. And someday, not too far from now, she and Pike would be doing the same. They were going to have their happily ever after, with enough love in it to make up for all the hard years apart. Tulsi could see the beautiful years stretching out in front of them, filled with more sweet babies, trail rides on Pike’s ranch, family holidays and celebrations, and long nights together spent learning how to drive each other even more wild than they did already.
Tulsi reached the end of the aisle and took her place next to her friend Bubba—Mia’s other “bridesmaid”—and turned around, meeting Pike’s gaze as he walked slowly down the aisle, her heart skipping a beat as memories of last night danced through her head.
Making love with Pike was even better than it had been when they were younger, but she’d enjoyed this morning—crowding into the bathroom with him as they got ready for the day, feeling Pike’s fingertips linger on her shoulders as he zipped her into her strapless dress with the lavender bow at the waist—almost as much. Every simple intimacy was a miracle, every shared experience a memory she knew she would treasure forever. And as Pike took his place beside her and looked down at her with a loving smile so transparent she knew they must be giving themselves away, Tulsi couldn’t bring herself to care.
Let the whole world think they were crazy for jumping back into love head first, all she knew was that she was where she was supposed to be. She was by Pike’s side and she didn’t plan to leave it until death did them part. They would get around to saying their wedding vows, but in all the ways that mattered, she already belonged to him. She’d promised herself to Pike Sherman a long time ago, during that spring when loving him had changed the landscape of her heart forever.
She reached out, capturing his hand and holding tight as the bluegrass quartet began to play and Clementine appeared at the end of the aisle, drawing a collective “aw” from the witnesses. In her white flower girl dress with the lavender flowers spilling down the front and more lavender flowers in her blond curls, Clem looked like an angel. And the solemn expression on her face, as she set a slow, deliberate pace down the aisle, tossing equal handfuls of white rose petals with every other step, was so sweet Tulsi couldn’t keep tears from filling her eyes.
“I told you you’d need this before the vows,” Pike whispered, fetching his handkerchief from the pocket of his tuxedo shirt and pressing it into her hand. “That’s one beautiful little girl.”
“She is,” Tulsi said, smiling through her tears as she dabbed discreetly at her eyes.
“Just like her mama.” Pike squeezed her hand and Tulsi’s smile widened.
She was so lucky, so truly blessed. She’d been reunited with a man who loved her as madly as she loved him, she had a sweet, smart, healthy little girl, and pretty soon they were all going to be a family. She was so happy that she could only laugh when Clementine disobeyed her express orders not to deviate from the walk they’d practiced, for a solid thirty minutes before the ceremony started, and turned to perform a dramatic curtsey at the end of the aisle. A wave of laughter swept through the crowd, and Clem earned herself a brief round of applause that had her beaming as she took her seat in the front row by Mia’s mother.
Clementine grinned up at Tulsi and gave her a thumbs up. Tulsi gave her a wink and a thumbs up in return. Moments later, Mia and her father started down the aisle.
The rest of the ceremony was every bit as perfect. Mia was beautiful in an antique lace dress that ended just below the knee paired with her gray and lavender boots. And the look on her face as she promised to love, honor, and cherish Sawyer forever brought a fresh batch of tears to Tulsi’s eyes. The love Mia felt for her soon-to-be husband made her even more stunning.
It was a moving reminder that love was patient and kind, but it was also magical, a transformative force that planted seeds of hope and faith wherever it went. By the time Sawyer was given permission to kiss his bride, Tulsi was a blubbery mess, but she didn’t care. Her tears were happy tears, and she knew Pike would always think she was beautiful—even with her nose all red and her eyes swollen and puffy.
“You need another one of these, Tulsi?” Bubba held out his handkerchief as Mia and Sawyer turned to walk back down the aisle hand in hand, while the bluegrass band played “I’ll Fly Away” and their friends and family got to their feet to applaud.
“Yes, thank you.” Tulsi wadded Pike’s already soaked handkerchief in her hand and put Bubba’s to use mopping up the rest of her damp face.
Bubba patted her back with a chuckle. “Poor thing, you’re too tender-hearted for weddings.”
“It was just so beautiful,” Tulsi said, fighting another sudden wave of emotion. “I’m sorry you guys got stuck by the weeper.”
“Don’t you dare apologize.” Pike pulled her in for a hard hug that immediately made her feel a hundred times better. “I loved being by the weeper.”
“Me too,” Bubba assured her. “I might have even cried a little myself.”
“You totally did. I saw your eyes shining!” Marisol, Bubba’s fiancée, appeared beside him in a flurry of long silky brown hair and coral chiffon, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You big softie. Are you going to cry at our wedding?”
Bubba grunted, but he was clearly fighting a smile. “A manly tear or two might be shed. But they’ll be manly tears. That’s a whole different thing.”
“Right,” Marisol said with a wink in Tulsi’s direction. “You want to come to the bathroom with me and I’ll fix your makeup?”
“That would be amazing,” Tulsi said just as Clementine ran up to grab her hand.
“Come on, Mama,” Clem said, jumping up and down as she tugged at Tulsi’s arm. “They’re putting out the buffalo wings! I can smell them from here!”
