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“Me either,” Rory said, wiping at her eyes. “I wish you weren’t.”
“I’m literally moving to the next ranch.”
They all laughed at that.
“You’ll be a McCloud,” Fia said.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m a Sullivan. I’m a Sullivan by blood. No matter if I’m a McCloud in name.”
“You could alsonottake his name.”
“I want the same name as the baby.”
“Fine,” Quinn said. “I guess that makes sense.”
“But don’t worry. I won’t forget where I came from.”
They all piled into one truck, and drove the little ways down to the lake. What she saw made her jaw drop. Because everything there was already set up. For her. For them. Food and a cake and it was beautiful. It wasn’t like a last-minute thrown-together fake wedding.
It actually was like a romance novel. Everyone that she cared about right there, each one of them putting so much work into all this.
Even the Kings were standing there grilling. Even the Kings had contributed.
“Don’t be mean to Landry,” she hissed at Fia. “He brought meat.”
“I’m not always mean to Landry,” Fia said archly. “Mostly, I avoid him.”
“Yeah, God help us if she ever drinks too much when he’s around. I have a feeling the end result would be bad,” Rory said.
Fia’s grin went sharp. “Because I would tear him a new one?”
“No,” Quinn said. “Because you’d be walk-of-shaming home the next morning. And I think you know that.”
Fia huffed inelegantly, and parked the truck. The other girls piled out and then Fia suddenly regained her speech and opened the door, hanging halfway out. “Gross! And no!”
“Convincing,” Alaina muttered.
Fia glared at her, then got out, following Rory and Quinn.
She hung back until her sisters got assembled down by the lake, until Gus was standing there in his position. He didn’t have anyone standing up with him.
A couple of the ranch hands who played music at the town hall meetings got out their guitars and started to play a song.
Alaina scrunched her nose, trying to keep her emotions at bay as she walked away from the truck, down toward the lake. Down toward Gus.
And when she got there, the way he looked at her... It was really something.
Her heart was pounding, and Fia reached out and took her flowers from her hand. Which meant she had to...
“Join hands,” said Pastor Flip-Flops.
She had to smile, because hehadcome in flip-flops, and she didn’t know if Gus’s threat had reached him. But if it had, he clearly hadn’t cared.
“Join hands.”
She stepped forward, and took Gus’s hands in hers. His hands were so rough. And so much bigger than hers. The vows went by so quickly. Far too quickly. How was it so easy to pledge her entire life to another human being? How was it so fast?
It didn’t seem right.
