Chapter 52
Chapter Fifty-Two
Raffe
Iwatch as my son walks his grandmother down the aisle. He’s so proud, and so am I.
“Look at our baby boy, Rachel.”
Jenny turns toward me as if she’s read my mind. “Rachel would be so proud,” she says. “I know I am. Look at him. He’s so handsome.” She turns back to watch him give her mother’s hand to Ray.
It’s quiet as everyone waits to see if the music will play again, but the only tune playing is coming from the wind chimes from across the lake.
Everyone turns toward the sound. I rub my hand over my chest, sad that not everyone can be here today.
The ceremony is simple but beautiful. As it’s coming to an end, Jenny jabs me in the ribs. I look down at her. She stands on her tiptoes and whispers in my ear, “Is that a chicken?”
My head pulls back, and she points to the little girl hiding under the chairs across from us. “How did she smuggle a chicken in here?” I whisper.
I try waving to get Willow’s attention, but she’s crying, zoned-in on her brother. She’s been over-emotional with the baby due any minute and the brother she once believed was dead getting married. I get it.
I try to get Elizabeth’s attention, but no luck. Her eyes are glued on Lexie. Fuck.
“I’m going to go over there. I’ll go around,” I whisper to Jenny.
She nods, craning her neck to look at our naughty little granddaughter.
I hear Carson ask his brother if he’s really seeing a chicken as I hurry past them.
Not good. Not good.
I get all the way around the rows, and just as I snag her around the ankle, the chicken breaks free. He runs right behind the couples getting married, clucking loudly, happy to finally get away from the girl who loves it a little too hard.
“Rosie! Rosie come back!” Aspen begins to yell.
Her mother’s head dips to look under the chairs. “Aspen!” she exclaims.
Aspen squirms out of my grip, joining the chicken in a good chase down the aisle and through the crowd.
“I’ll get her,” I tell Willow. I don’t want her up running around. She’s due to pop anytime.
Jenny jumps to her feet to help.
The entire crowd is rolling by the time Jenny wrangles Aspen while I grab the chicken by his feet. “Sorry about that,” I say, dipping my head. “Continue.”
“Go on back to the wedding. Watch your mother,” I tell Jenny, taking Aspen’s hand.
Jenny grabs my face and kisses me. A kiss that whispers a thousand I love yous.
“I have missed you,” she says, smiling brighter than I’ve ever seen. She doesn’t wait for me to say it back. She gives Aspen a quick peck on the cheek and then hurries to her seat.
I tug Aspen up to the warehouse, wondering where the hell I’m going to put Rosie. “How did you get this chicken here?” I ask her.
“I put him in my bag when Mommy wasn’t lookin’,” she answers. When she smiles up at me, all I can see is her father’s ornery grin.
“You’re trouble, you know that?”
“Daddy says that all the time.”
I laugh, looking up at the sky. “You could have sent a little warning about this,” I joke with Rachel.
“Who you talking to, Papa?” Aspen asks.
“Your angel grandma,” I tell her.
“Oh.” She skips happily beside me, so darn cute in her little dress. She stops and looks up at the clouds. “She heard you,” she says, pointing up at them.
I follow her finger and see a perfect heart-shaped cloud floating above us.
My eyes fall closed, and I know she’s here with me.
I don’t know if I’ve felt her until now. But here she is, smiling down at us.
“I think you’re right,” I tell Aspen. “Now, let’s find a place to hide this chicken.”
She just giggles.
Turd.
We find an empty closet, leaving Rosie there for now. I’ll have one of the prospects run her back to the farm as soon as the ceremony is over.
Aspen and I watch the rest of the wedding from the kitchen window. I’m not taking any chances.
She points to the little frog. “Froggy,” she says.
“Yep, it’s a froggy.”
She giggles, leaning to look out the window, and my stomach falls. “What did you do now?”
“Daddy has froggies.” She giggles again.
“Did you and Daddy leave froggies somewhere?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
Aspen covers her hand over her mouth.
“You weren’t supposed to tell, were you?”
She shakes her head, keeping her hand over her mouth.
“Are they like this froggy?” I ask, pointing to the one in the window.
She kicks her legs for me to set her down, and she crouches in a little ball before projecting herself forward in a little hop. “They go ribbit ribbit,” she says, jumping around the kitchen.
I sigh. Brody and Daisy are in for quite the surprise when they get home tonight.
The rest of the evening goes smoothly. I can’t take my eyes off Jenny. I’ve never seen her happier. She dances. She plays with the kids. She eats, and she laughs.
Everyone is having a great time, and so am I until the night winds down and everyone begins to leave.
I watch Jesse and Dirk working together to clean up the kitchen.
Jenny is in the living room, sitting on the couch with Lily’s feet in her hands.
She’s rubbing them as the two chat happily about the wedding.
Aspen is curled into Lily’s side, fast asleep.
The little chicken smuggler crashed out a few minutes ago, finally running out of steam.
Jackson is getting ready to leave, but I notice his goodbye with his Uncle Dirk is running long. Willow slips beside me, wrapping her arm around mine. “I have a question for you.”
I drag my eyes away from the pair and stare down at her. “What’s that?”
“Would you and Jenny like to be in the delivery room with us? I already asked Lily and Dan if they could watch Aspen, since everyone else is now currently on their honeymoon.”
“What about Jesse and Dirk? They could watch her.”
Her face softens, and she cradles my cheek. “I think they’re leaving in the morning.”
“Oh.” I glance at them and see Jackson and Dirk hug tightly. “I didn’t know that.”
“Dirk announced it a few weeks ago, remember? He jumped up on the picnic table and told everyone.”
“Oh, yeah. Now I remember.”
That fucker.
“So, do you want to be there or not? Of course, you’ll have to stand by my head,” she says, laughing lightly. “No offense, but I don’t want you seeing my lady bits.”
I rub my forehead and laugh. “Yes, I want to be there. I know Jenny will too. Thank you, Willow. That is very kind of you to let us be a part of something so special.”
“Oh, I’m doing it for me. I’m scared out of my mind. I need all the support I can get.”
Jackson walks over and places his arm around her. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah,” she says, placing her hands on her back. “I’ve had such an ache in my lower back. I think I’ve been on my feet too much today.”
Soon after they leave, it gets super quiet. When I peek out to the living room, Lily and Jenny are both asleep on the couch side by side. You couldn’t slide a piece of paper between them. Jenny’s hand rests protectively over Lily’s stomach.
Jesse walks up beside me. “They look so peaceful,” she says quietly.
“They do. I think it’s been a long time coming,” I say sadly, turning to look at her. “You’re leaving?”
Her head drops between her shoulders. “Dirk and I have a meeting in Oregon tomorrow. We need to get on the road in the morning if we’re going to make it on time.”
“So you’re not leaving on your vacation?” I ask.
“No, we are. We just have to give someone a ride home first.”
“You found Melody’s family?”
She nods slowly. “Her parents were heartbroken but relieved she is finally coming home. Maggie helped us. She had Melody’s urn exhumed yesterday.”
“Because Maggie is next of kin to Jenny.” I let out a long sigh.
She nods. “Dirk told them we recently discovered the records had been mixed up. Rachel gave Dirk the paperwork, so we’ll have something to give to them for proof of the remains.”
“Wow, that’s a lot.”
“Maggie had her headstone removed, but the lot still belongs to Jenny. The one in between her and Rachel is now yours.” Jesse bumps her shoulder to mine. “I know you and Jenny offered to help find her family, but Dirk said you two had been through enough. He needed to do this … for Rachel.”
I glance back at Dirk. He’s talking to Dan. Dan doesn’t look any happier about them leaving than I do.
“We won’t be gone forever, you know?”
“I know, but I’ll miss you guys. You’ve always been here.”
“You’ll be so busy with the grandkids and Jenny you won’t even know we’re gone.”
“I will. You know I will.” I fold my arms over my chest, and she hugs me. “But I do want you to have the best of time. Really, I do. I’ll quit sulking now.”
She places a kiss at the corner of my mouth. “I love you, Raffe.”
“I love you too.” I pretend to kick rocks, and she laughs.
We walk over to Dan and Dirk, and the four of us join together in a group huddle. “You fuckers better keep an eye on my daughter and grandkids,” Dirk warns.
“You know it, brother,” Dan promises him.
“It’s been a hell of a ride, hasn’t it?” Dirk says.
“It sure has,” I agree quietly.
“Okay.” Dirk pats Dan and me on the back in a final goodbye. “We’ll call you guys when we get to our first destination.”
“No need. We’ll be stalking you,” Dan jokes, but it’s not a joke. We’ll be tracking them. He grabs the back of Jesse’s head, bringing their foreheads together. “You call me if you get in trouble, little girl. Got it?”
“Fine.” She rolls her eyes and pretends to throw sass, but it’s not as convincing when tears are streaming down her face.
“Okay then. Onward and upward, my friends,” Dirk says, guiding his wife out of the warehouse. They stop on the threshold, looking back. “Until next time.” He gives us a one finger salute and then ushers her out the door.
“Well, hell, brother. I suppose we better get going too,” Dan says.
We’re just about to wake the girls when both of our phones go off.
We pull them out at the same time, read, stare at each other for a few minutes, and then jump into action.
“Shit, girls. You’ve got to get up,” I say, lightly shaking Jenny.