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“Hud, he’s going to the mat for them. He wants nothing to go wrong, so they can enjoy the day. Like neither should even lift a finger on their wedding day.”
When he returned to the kitchen and saw us there, dishing out breakfast, he came right to me, ducking his head. “Sorry, Master. It was the wedding stuff.”
“I know. I’m not angry.”
Brightening, he said, “Thank you.”
“Go eat at the table today. I don’t feel like feeding you.”
“Thank you!”
We all sat at the table, and Brett asked me if we could speak freely with Theo, and I happily granted the request. “Is everything on track for the wedding?”
“It’s going to be beautiful. I talked Noah and Eli into having the ceremony on their porch. It’s big and pretty, so we’ll string flowers and green garland around the rails, eaves, and posts and have a white carpet laid for them to walk up when they get off their horses. Noah refused to wear a tux, so they would wear some casual clothes, which is fine. Can you see what a saddle and an animal would do to a tux?”
Ryan asked, “Where are the guests going to be?”
“On either side of the aisle leading to the stairs. Beyond three chairs will be tricky, as one side slopes farther than three chairs wide. I may have to place five on one side, two on the other, but that’ll be weird for one of the grooms.”
“Eli has fewer people for his side,” I mentioned. “No real family, and the only friends are all of us. You’ll be running doing the wedding, Joel and Burke standing with him. That leaves his side lonely, so it might be nice to have fewer chairs on that side.”
“That’s terribly depressing for him! Old friends? Wasn’t he in some kind of military service?”
“Army, sure. You can speak to Burke about old army buddies, but if Eli doesn’t invite them, there may be a reason. He had some pretty bad PTSD, right?”
“He said it was terrible before Noah and his psychologist helped him.”
“Then don’t push!”
“I would never!”
We all laughed at that.
“Well,” Theo relented. “Not him. Never him. He’s charming.”
I had Theo kneel by me while I got going on my new job and found three of my old army buddies to fill three slots we had open for security personnel. They were vetted quickly, and their background checks came back clean, so I set them up and called Burke about it.
I saw Theo perking up to eavesdrop, and I let him, of course. “Hud, thanks for filling those. I’m so behind in everything right now. I’m thrilled you’re working with me.”
“Me too. It’s actually kind of fun. Besides that, though, Theo is working on Eli’s wedding and has realized that the guest list is a little lopsided on Noah’s side.”
“Right. I noticed Eli didn’t invite a lot of people. Joel had me helping him with mailing the invitations.”
“Is…there a reason?”
“Most of the guys he came up with in boot camp either scattered once they were all out or…didn’t make it. I didn’t push him more than that. We have two of them coming with their wives. That’s all, and that’s the way he wants it. The rest are friends from the town that he now shares with Noah. I think he mostly wanted to keep the past in the past and live the life he has now. I’m hoping that’s it.”
I understood that completely. “I’d feel the same. It seems my life’s changed so much now that my past relationships aren’t as…good. If that makes sense.”
“Superficial. I know. Not my army buddies; they’re still brothers to me. Eli, though,…had a tough go of it mentally dealing with what happened to him. The wedding is a day that he should feel free and happy.”
“I get it. Damn, yeah. I’m sorry, Burke. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“We’re all friends now. No worries. And those passes for the night for your friends, Ginger and Blue Eyes, or should I now call Patrick and Drew? They are all set. They just have to come in beforehand to pick them up and show me IDs, if they…have them?”
“I’ll bring them over, and yes, they have them.”
“Good. If you come by tomorrow, you all can help me get ready to open this weekend.”
