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“You guys might as well celebrate properly.” Leia returns from inside with a bottle of champagne that she hands to Cole for him to open. “I’ll go find some glasses.” She heads back inside.
“I’ll come help.” Maisie bounces after her.
“So he managed to convince you to come back?” I smile at my new sister-in-law.
“I never wanted to leave in the first place. I belong here.” She looks out across the yard and breathes a soft, relieved sigh.
“You do,” I agree, suddenly realizing how much she’s changed since she got here. Savannah has made herself part of the family and I’m so happy she’s given my brother another chance.
The girls return with five empty glasses, and one filled with orange juice for Leia, and suddenly everyone looks to me to say something.
“Me? I ain’t the one who just got married,” I point my head at Cole.
“Oh, trust me, Cole did all his public talkin’ back in LA.” He gets a cute little nudge from his wife before she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses his stubble.
“C’mon. You’re head of the family, Garrett, and you’re gonna have to polish up on your speeches if you’re gonna be Mayor.”Wade urges me to get it done and when everyone else starts shouting at me, I hold up my hand in defeat.
“Okay, okay.” I laugh as I pass Jack over to Wade to join his brother and quickly think something up. “I guess I should start by welcoming Savannah to the Carson family. I speak for everyone when I say you were missed.”
Cole places his wife in front of him so she’s facing us, and wraps his arm around her neck. I watch him kiss her cheek and the happiness on his face puts a lump in my throat. I swear I haven’t seen him look that way since Grandpa taught him how to rope his first calf.
“The last couple of years have been the hardest of our lives, but somehow you women have made ‘em feel like the best. Being in love with a Carson man ain’t always gonna be easy. But nothing, and I mean nothing is more important than this right here.” I look among my family, at my beautiful kids and their amazing mama. I look at my brothers and the girls that have come into their lives and made them even better men than they were before. “This family has never been stronger than it is right now. And I’ve never been prouder to be a part of it.”
“Whatever it takes.” Maisie steps forward and clinks my glass with hers.
“Whatever it takes,” everyone else repeats, knocking glasses together and filling the yard with laughter and smiles. Just how Grandpa would want it.
It’s getting dusk and since all the jobs around the yard are done and I got no campaign commitments, I sit out on the swing chair on the porch enjoying the quiet and watching the sun go down.Cole steps out and hands me a beer before he sits beside me and we swing in silence for a while.
“You're lucky, you know?” I rest back and take a sip.
“Never felt luckier,” he assures me.
“Uncle Jimmer called just before you got back. Tawk and Ruckus gave Dan enough of a beatin’ to make it seem as if the line was drawn. He’s got a few cracked ribs and some missing teeth. His dad apparently witnessed the whole thing, did nothing, just cried.” I spark up a cigarette and exhale.
“Danny boy thinks he’s gotten away with it.” I shake my head and laugh, because that piece of shit has no idea what’s coming to him.
“Until the day he least expects it and I take him to that little shack in the woods and slice that fucker open.” Cole knocks back his drink and I nod my head, figuring it’s a solid plan.
“What ya both doin’ out here?” Wade opens the front door and steps out.
“Taking in the peace.” Cole sniggers as he taps his beer to the one Wade’s holding.
“It’s carnage in there. They’re planning a baby shower for Leia, and a party to celebrate you getting' hitched.” He sits sideways on the step so he can rest his back against the porch pillar.
“You were right in what you said earlier, these past few years, they’ve been tough. I don’t know how we’ve survived ‘em,” he tells us, looking thoughtful.
“That’s how we’ve survived it.” I look back into the house over my shoulder and through the window.
Maisie is in her element surrounded by her friends, wrapping her soft blonde hair into a messy bun as she enthusiastically explains something to them.
“We found the reason to keep fightin’.” I look back to my brothers. “Things are gonna be different around here, those girls have been through enough.”
“You wanna go legit?” Cole laughs.
“Even if that was an option, I wouldn’t take it,” I assure them both. “We just have to keep thinkin’ smart. Protectin’ them is our priority. Havin’ one of Uncle Jimmer’s charters here is a good idea, but it ain’t gonna happen overnight, and we’ve learned the hard way that there are few people we can trust.”
“There are a few less of ‘em to worry about too.” Wade winks at Cole who shrugs unapologetically.
