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The cake is covered in candles and Katherine’s handwriting in icing that says,Happy Birthday, Poppy. The singing ends, and she holds it out toward me.
“Make a wish, poppyseed.” Rhett kisses my hair and releases me enough to lean forward and blow out the candles.
“What did you wish for?” Wade asks, his little voice filled with curiosity.
“Something happy,” I tell him vaguely, smiling over my shoulder at Rhett.
Because whatexactlyI wished for…well, that’s a secret. Everyone knows if you say your birthday wish out loud, it won’t come true. And when I look over at River and Hayes, arguing quietly next to the buffet of food, I know I’ve made the right choice.
I have everything I could ever want. Why not spread the love?
Three months later…
“You’re surethis is what you want to do?” Katherine asks as she stares at all of us standing on her front porch.
I’m in a long-sleeved white sundress and the cowgirl boots I bought this past summer. My hair is freshly dyed Rhett’s favorite peachy pink, I’m wearing the cowgirl hat they got me for my birthday, and I’m freezing. Who knew Montana was so cold in the fall? Not me.
“It was her idea.” Rhett shrugs and laughs. “Who am I to turn down the woman I love?”
“But we need to stop and get flowers,” Jolene says. “I need to have some flowers to throw around when they’re done!”
“I’ve already got the rings!” Wade roars, showing Katherine the little box that holds two gold bands. Mine has pretty floral etching in it, and Rhett’s is just plain yellow gold. We’ve had them for a while now, having gone to pick them out only a month after my birthday.
I’m tired of not wearing them.
“Alright, let me go get my shoes on!” Katherine starts digging through piles of shoes in the entryway until she finds her boots. “Clyde!” she shouts into the house. “Your son is getting married!”
“Which one?” he calls out.
She groans. “Who do you think? Rhett, you old man. I’m going to be the witness. We’ll be back.”
Clyde walks out into the hallway, grinning ear to ear. He takes me in a hug so violent I’m worried my ribs are going to crack.
“So happy to have you officially in the family,” he says, his voice cracking on the words. He sets me down and then firmly shakes his son’s hand, pulling him in for a rough hug at the end. “Proud of you, son,” he whispers. “Always have been, always will be.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, taking a couple of steps back, fighting the tears. “We have to go, or I’m going to start crying, and I would like to last through the ceremony.”
Clyde sniffs and smiles, letting Rhett go but giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. They lock eyes for a moment, something unspoken being passed between them, and then we’re off. The kids run toward the truck, Katherine scooting in the back with them and buckling them in. As always, Rhett lifts me into the front seat, kissing me hard before running around the front.
“This is so exciting!” Jolene sings from the back. Her little feet are kicking like crazy as she bounces up and down. Both of them look so freaking cute in their fancy clothes that I want to squeeze the absolute life out of them. Wade is even in little suspenders that make him look far too old for my liking.
“Ready?” Rhett asks as he slides in.
“Giddyup, cowboy.”
* * *
The town courthouse has a green dome on top. It’s made of copper, Rhett tells me, and was once new and shiny. But over the years, it’s turned a muted green color because the town doesn’t have the money to constantly clean it. But it oddly works with the rest of the old brick building.
We walk inside, getting the marriage license signed and notarized before being led down to the room they use for weddings. I guess we just got lucky that there’s a judge here today. I didn’t really think about that before suggesting that today be the day.
But it all works out. Katherine and the kids stand off to the side, Wade clenching that little box with all his concentration and Jolene holding her little bouquet of flowers. My family.
Rhett stands in front of me, his nicest jeans and button up shirt on. He’s wearing his cowboy hat, and I’m so full of love for this man I think I might burst. Never in a million years did I see myself here, getting married to a rancher I met only a few months ago, but the heart wants what it wants.
“Have you both prepared vows, or would you like us to use the standard ones?” the judge asks.
“We did—”
