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“I can’t say it was my favorite thing on the menu,” I reply, “but I enjoyed it. I love trying new foods.”
“I do too. We do have a lot in common, don’t we, Brendan?”
I squeeze her hand. “I always knew we would.”
That’s no lie. For some reason, I felt a connection to Ava Steel when she first opened her bakery in town. It took me a while to act on it, given the age difference, but something about her called to me. Now I know why. Because she’s the love of my life.
Once the plates are cleared, Talon Steel walks up onto the stage where the band will play later. Dale Steel and his wife, Ashley, are busy pouring glasses of bubbly and distributing them.
Right. The time for the infamous Steel toast. They’ll eventually pull Ryan and Ruby onto the stage, where the two of them will act like everything’s fine. A tiny part of me feels kind of sorry for them. But the other part of me—everything but that tiny part—doesn’t feel the least bit bad. Something’s happening. Something that may hurt Ava.
And that does not make me happy.
“Hey, everyone,” Talon says over the microphone. “Thank you all for coming to celebrate my little brother’s twenty-fiftieth anniversary of his marriage to the love of his life. We are so grateful to all of you for being here.”
Thundering applause.
“I’m going to get Ryan and Ruby up here to say something, but first I want to talk a little bit about their wedding and what it meant to all of us here in the Steel family.”
He clears his throat, and for a moment, I think he may choke up.
“Twenty-five years ago today, my little brother and his wife stood in this very yard and promised to love each other forever. Standing next to me that day were my two sons, Dale and Donny. They weren’t legally my sons at that time, but Jade and I had taken them in, given them a home, and begun adoption proceedings. That’s how I remember this beautiful day. Because it was not only the beginning of a life of love and family for Ryan and Ruby, but it was Dale and Donny’s introduction into the Steel family. Ryan and Ruby played a huge role in bringing my sons into this family, and they’ve both always been close to my brother and sister-in-law, especially Dale, who shares Ryan’s love of and talent for wine. So I think it’s only fitting to bring Dale and Donny up here to do the toast to their Uncle Ryan and Aunt Ruby.”
More applause.
Dale and Donny walk up to the stage, and Donny takes the microphone from Talon.
“I’m going to let Dale—with his gift of gab—”
Laughter permeates the crowd, and Donny joins in.
“Right, though Dale does talk a lot more now that he’s married to his lovely wife, Ashley. I’ll let him do the majority of the talking, because he’s the resident wine guru and Uncle Ryan’s protégé, but before I hand him the reins, let me just say that I remember when Uncle Ryan and Aunt Ruby got married. We stood up for them that day, next to our father, wearing little gray suits, which were the most uncomfortable thing in the world for little boys to wear. We had just recently lost our birth mother. But we were welcomed into the Steel family that day, and it’s been the best thing that ever happened to both of us. Well, the second-best thing, next to Ashley and Callie.”
Laughter and applause.
“Thank you, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Ruby, for letting us be part of your day twenty-five years ago.” He slaps his forehead. “Damn, twenty-five years! It doesn’t seem possible, but I look in the mirror, and I see a little gray in my blond hair. I’ll be celebrating my own wedding soon to the lovely Callie Pike”—he blows a kiss to Callie, who’s seated with Brock and Rory at the table next to ours—“and none of that would’ve been possible without all of you welcoming us into the family the day Ryan and Ruby got married. So thank you, Aunt Ruby and Uncle Ryan, thank you, Mom and Dad, Uncle Joe and Aunt Melanie, Uncle Bryce and Aunt Marjorie, and all the people here who were around that day and welcomed Dale and me into the community. Thank you.”
More applause as he hands the microphone to Dale.
I’ve known Dale Steel since he came to Snow Creek. He was a quiet and frightened little boy of ten, and we were the same age and in the same grade at school.
Now he stands tall and proud, and he still wears his hair long like I do. He brings his wife, Ashley, to stand next to him. I’ve never heard him say more than about ten words at a time, and even from our table, I can see his eyes are glistening a bit.
