Chapter 26
twenty-six
. . .
Axel
The Fourth of July at my aunt and uncle’s house was an event that everyone in town looked forward to. My mom and Aunt Ellie worked for weeks to get everything together for the party.
It was a big event in Rosewood River.
Wren had gone every year with me up until the last two years, and I was just happy to have her by my side again today.
She’d gotten up early this morning, long before the sun rose, and taken Wrax out for a long run.
Cross-country training was a big part of her preparation, and she knew exactly what she needed to do for the upcoming competitions.
I’d never known anyone who worked as hard as Wren did.
I admired it.
I was proud as hell of her.
She was looking forward to relaxing and having a fun evening.
Aunt Ellie always hired a photographer for this event, and instead of taking the photo under the tree where everyone else was taking it, we asked the photographer if we could step over by the barn, where we’d left Honey and Wrax in the stalls.
“Okay, how about a natural pose,” Brenda said as she looked through her camera.
Wren wore a pair of red shorts, a denim vest, and her red boots, and she looked sexy as hell. Without warning, she jumped up in my arms, legs coming around my waist, arms hooking behind my neck.
I supposed this was our most natural pose.
I laughed, and she leaned down and kissed me.
“Y’all are so cute,” she said as she continued snapping photos of us.
“Thanks, Brenda,” Wren said as she slid down my body and her feet hit the ground.
My fingers intertwined with hers, and we made our way over to where the party was already off and running.
The DJ was playing country music, and people were out on the rustic wood dance floor that they had brought in, line dancing and having a good time.
I fetched us each a beer out of the cooler, and Wren headed over to grab us a seat at the large table where my brother and cousins and their significant others were all sitting.
“Hey, Uncle A,” Cutler said as he was coming from the dance floor. He had a layer of sweat across his forehead and a big goofy smile on his face.
“Hey, Beefcake.” I bent down and hugged him.
“Want to come see what Grandpa Keaton and I made this morning in his woodshop?”
“Sure,” I said. “Let me drop these off at the table.”
We walked over, and I handed Wren the beers and told her that I’d be right back.
Cutler walked me out to my uncle’s woodshop, and he pushed the door open.
“I made a few things I wanted to show you,” he said. “I made this for my mama.” He held up a wooden flower that he’d painted pink and white.
“Wow. This is gorgeous,” I said, surprised with how meticulously it was painted.
“Well, I drew it, and Grandpa did the cutting because my pops won’t let me use the saw yet, even though I know I’d be fine. I’m going to be a contractor just like him someday.” He chuckled. “And then I painted it this morning for her.”
He moved to the counter on the opposite wall and held up the pink heart. “This one is for my girl, Gracie.”
I studied it and saw the initials. “CH plus GR?”
“That’s right. Cutler Heart plus Gracie Reynolds.”
“You’ve got it bad, Beefcake,” I said with a laugh.
“Nah. Pops says when you know, you just know.”
This kid was wiser than his years. An old soul. He was something.
“Well, they’re both going to love them.”
“I made something for you and Wren, too.”
“Yeah? That was nice of you.”
“Mama told me she thinks you two are going to be sad because you’re not going to be living by each other anymore,” he said, his eyebrows cinched together with concern.
“It’s true. She’s going back to North Carolina, and she’ll start competing again and doing her thing. But we’ll still get to talk all the time,” I said, and I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him or myself that everything would be okay.
“Gracie doesn’t live by me, but that doesn’t matter. Heck, I meet lots of girls at school, but Gracie’s always been my girl. No one else is like her.” He shrugged. “That’s how you are with Wren, right?”
“Yep. No one else is like her.”
He walked over to the counter and came back with two hearts in his hands. “There’s one for each of you. I noticed you have matching tattoos and I asked my mama about it. She said ‘In a heartbeat’ is your saying, ’cause you will always be there fast for each other, right?”
“That’s right,” I said as I studied the two red hearts with a zigzag line representing a heartbeat across the front of them.
“Now you both have these hearts to keep with you to remind you of your saying in case you ever forget.”
This fucking kid was too much. He’d become a part of our family instantly.
He’d fit just perfectly with all of us.
“This is absolutely amazing. I love it.”
“Yeah?” he said, smiling up at me.
“Dude. How do you know how to make these? These are perfect.”
He shrugged. “I just like making stuff for people.”
“Wren is going to love this.”
“Are you sad that she’s leaving?” he asked. “Mama’s worried about you. She thinks you’re going to be real sad.”
I chuckled, because my family knew how close we were. “Well, it’s hard, because I’m happy for her. And I’m really proud of her. But I like being with her every day, so yeah, I’m sad she’s leaving. But I don’t want to be selfish, either. You can’t be selfish with the people you love, Beefcake.”
“My pops always says that hard times make you happy for the good times. And you’ll get to see her a lot, right?”
The truth of it was that it would be complicated.
I had a business to run, and Wren’s training and competing were not flexible.
I’d been with her since she’d started, so I knew what she was going back to.
It was intense. She was an elite athlete.
It was no joke. So this would be a challenge, but I knew in my gut it was one we were both up for.
“I’ll see her as much as I can. It doesn’t matter where she is, because she’s my girl no matter what. So we’ll figure it out.”
“In a heartbeat, Uncle A.”
“In a heartbeat, kiddo.” I winked at him.
“Man. You got it bad, huh?”
“Yep. I’ve got it real bad, buddy.”
“Okay, let’s go take this one to Wren, and you can show her yours,” he said as he carried one heart in his hand and I carried the other. I loved that he’d noticed the tattoos and made these for us.
I led him back to the party, and Wren turned to look at us, a big smile on her face.
“Hey, Wren. I made you this to take back to North Carolina with you, so you’ll remember that Uncle A can be there in a heartbeat.”
Her eyes watered as she looked at the carved wood that he’d painted for her. She blinked up at him. “I love this. And I love that I’ll have a piece of Uncle Axel and a piece of you with me everywhere I go.”
She pulled Cutler onto her lap and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you for this. It means the world to me.”
“Are you excited to go back? My grandpa was telling me that you’re a real superstar, and I bet it’ll be fun to go back and show the whole world that you’re the best.”
That seemed to catch her off guard, and she thought it over.
“I used to love trying to prove myself to everyone,” she said, shaking her head.
“But I’m not sure I care what anyone else thinks anymore.
I love being out there with Wrax, that’s for sure.
And I don’t love that my last competition ended in disaster, so I’d like to fix that. That’s as much as I know right now.”
“Man, I bet she shines so bright up on her horse, Uncle A.” He smiled up at me.
“She sure does. Prettiest Horse Girl I’ve ever seen.”
“Beefcake!” Melody came waltzing over with a chocolate-covered banana in her hand and a chocolate mustache above her lip. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Hey, Mels. I’m right here.” He kissed Wren’s cheek and hopped down.
“We’re having a tater sack race, and you needs to help me beat the boys,” she said, and I scooped her up and kissed her in the crook of her neck a couple of times as she busted out in a fit of giggles before I set her back down.
“Come on. We’ll go beat all the boys,” Cutler said as he took her hand, and they walked off.
“What did I miss?” I asked. I pulled Wren off her chair and sat my ass down before settling her on my lap, since there were no more chairs at the table.
“Not much.” Easton laughed. “Rafe is acting like he has ants in his pants because he’s suffering from a bad case of razor burn.”
“We won’t be making that mistake again.” Lulu tugged him down for a kiss. “But you missed our big news. We set a date for the wedding, and Wren is going to make sure she doesn’t schedule anything so she can be there with us in Paris.”
“Paris, huh?” I asked.
“Yep,” Rafe said. “My girl wants a small wedding, just family and close friends, and we’re doing it in the City of Love.”
“That sounds great. I’ve never been.”
“I’m glad you chose Thanksgiving because Melody will have a few days off of school,” Archer said.
“Sounds like a good plan,” I said before leaning down and whispering in Wren’s ear. “And I like the idea of you and me in Paris.”
“Moi aussi, mon amour,” she said as she tipped her head back to look at me. Wren had taken years of French in high school and college, and she spoke it fluently.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means, ‘Me too, my love,’” Bridger said, and everyone gaped at him. “What? I speak French, dickheads.”
The table erupted in laughter, and I wrapped my arms around her a little tighter.
It was a good day.
A really good day.