Chapter 13
Wilder Glover adjusted his tie for the third time as he stood at the back of the ballroom, watching snowflakes drift past the tall windows.
He prayed the weather would hold long enough for him to get Savannah and the girls back home, as the drive into town had been a bit sketchy.
The wind had been relentless lately, and it currently sent the snow into a blur, making everything white in all directions.
January in the Texas Panhandle could be unpredictable, and this morning’s storm had been on the calendar for the past ten days.
Aunt Ida had started making contingency plans immediately, and while Judy and Trooper hadn’t wanted to have their wedding at the ranch, in the family barn where so many others had tied the knot, they’d chosen a beautiful old church in town that had been converted into a wedding venue.
The Perennial had indoor and outdoor space, and Ida had rented the whole building, so they’d simply had to reconfigure some of the seating for the reception, and Aunt Etta had stepped in to help her twin call around and find a tent rental company that could handle the snow.
In the end, the wind had canceled some things, and Wilder reached up and wiped a thin sheen of sweat from underneath the brim of his cowboy hat.
“It’s hot in here, isn’t it?” Savannah appeared at his elbow, wearing a smile that made his heart skip one, two, three beats.
“There’s too many people here,” he said.
She reached up and straightened his burgundy tie, her engagement ring catching the light from the blinding snow-light overhead. “You look perfect.”
He swept one arm around her waist, as she was the one broadcasting perfection. “I’ll take handsome and distinguished.”
She laughed, that musical sound he’d fallen in love with the first time he’d heard it. “How about devastatingly gorgeous cowboy who cleans up real nice?”
“Mm, yes. A cowboy with his queen.” He leaned down and touched his lips to hers, marveling at how natural it felt to have her beside him. Seven months ago, he’d stood at a wedding very much like this one, feeling sorry for himself and completely convinced he’d never find what his cousins had.
Now, with his own wedding only three months away and Savannah wearing his diamond, he could barely remember what all that misery had been about.
“Where are the girls?” he asked, scanning the crowd of family milling about the ballroom.
“Your mother has them,” Savannah said, nodding toward the front where Momma sat on the right side with Gallery and Sequoia flanking her like tiny bodyguards.
Both girls wore matching silver dresses which Judy had sewn specifically for them, their hair braided with ribbons that coordinated with Wilder’s tie.
His chest tightened with affection as he watched Sequoia turn toward his mother, who nodded, smiled, and smoothed her fingertips along the little girl’s hair. The twins would be turning six years old in a couple of months, and his momma had already started planning the party.
As Wilder watched, Daddy arrived, and he handed one juice box to Gal and reached past Momma to give the second one to Sequoia. He ducked his head as he smiled, because his parents’ hearts had been melted by the twins once Wilder had made it very clear that he and Savannah were serious.
“They’re doing great,” he said. “I don’t know what you were worried about.”
“Really?” Savannah scoffed. “You don’t know what I’m worried about?
Gal asked me this morning if she could catch the bouquet, and when I told her it was for unmarried women, she announced she was going to marry Harry Parker—who is this rascally boy in her kindergarten class.
” She rolled her eyes, but Wilder threw back his head and laughed.
“She’s the best,” he said, because Gal definitely had a larger-than-life personality.
“She certainly thinks so.” Savannah smoothed an invisible wrinkle from her forest green dress—one that Aurora had made.
Judy had wanted everyone in specific clothing, and to do that, she’d made everyone come in for a fitting, and she and Aurora, Aunt Etta and Aunt Ida, and a seamstress out of Amarillo had been sewing for months.
Savannah’s dress fit her like a glove, the straps wide and flowing over her shoulders.
Judy had a silver shawl that looked like chain mail for each woman, and Savannah adjusted hers as she surveyed the crowd that just continued to swell, and swell, and swell as more aunts, uncles, and cousins arrived.
“Is this where we’re hiding out?”
Wilder grinned at Link and drew him into a hug. “I’m not hiding. We’re just staying out of the way for the moment.” He released the co-foreman at the ranch and hugged Misty too. “Where are the kids?”
“Sitting with Janey and Trevor,” Misty said.
Wilder nodded, though he couldn’t locate them, or see Link’s kids anywhere. Misty carried their little girl on her hip, and she passed her to Savannah when she reached for her.
“The weather’s not looking good for the next couple of weeks,” Link said with a sigh.
“Tell me about it,” Wilder said, a dark note entering his voice. “Shadow called and said he’s not sending his crew out until it clears up.”
“It’ll be fine,” Savannah said, a hint of warning in her tone. “The house will be done in plenty of time.” She turned her back on him to greet Clover, who’d just arrived with Rock.
“Howdy, brother.” Wilder took Rock’s hand and pulled his cousin into his chest. They bumped there, then separated. “Where’s Smiles?”
“Oh, he met some woman,” Rock practically growled. “I swear, the man knows everyone.”
Link chuckled. “Yeah, leave it to Smiles to come to a family wedding alone and end up leaving with a date.”
Wilder grinned too, though he couldn’t find the shiniest star in the Glover family either. “Did Gun make it off the ranch?”
They’d been out since dawn, moving animals into barns and stables, and Wilder had had to leave before anyone else to get all the way to Llama Mamas and back to the wedding on time.
“Yeah, he and Camila are here.” Link pointed toward the far side of the room where Gunnison stood with his wife, both of them laughing at something Ashton was saying.
“Okay, good,” he said. “Brandon and Lenore said they’re not going to make it.”
“That’s because she’s pregnant,” Clover said.
Wilder whipped his attention to her. “She is? How do you know?”
“She texted us.” Clover gestured to Savannah, herself, and Misty. “We wives have our own thread, remember?”
Wilder blinked at his fiancée. “You’re on the wives thread?”
She grinned at him. “Oh, did I forget to tell you that?”
Rock laughed right out loud, and he linked his arm through Clover’s. “Come on, you. We’ve stirred up enough trouble for one day.”
“Yeah, we’re the ones causing trouble,” Clover said dryly, and that made Wilder grin all the wider.
“I didn’t know Lenore was pregnant,” Link said.
“Me either,” Wilder said.
“I did,” Finn said, sidling up to them and taking Rock’s spot. “Edith told me last night.” He lifted a can of Diet Coke to his lips, took a sip, and then grimaced. “Ew, that’s warm.”
“You had to bring in your soda pop?” Wilder teased. “They’re going to serve dinner in less than an hour, buddy.”
Finn grinned at him, shook his head, and turned. He found a garbage can a few steps away, and tossed the can into it. “Hey, when you have children, you’ll learn you’ll do anything to get them in the car so you can get somewhere on time.”
Link laughed and said, “Yeah, you sure will.”
“What are you lot doin’ over here?” Dawson Rhinehart came their way, first stepping into Link and hugging him hard. “Thank you so much for coming to help with that mudslide. My word. I don’t know what we’d have done without your excavator.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Link said, and Wilder basked in the camaraderie and brotherhood that seemed to beam off Dawson and Link. They’d been friends for a long time, and they’d been through a lot together as they both worked neighboring ranches.
“Did y’all see who Ty Greene just walked in with?” Finn asked. He nodded toward the door, where Ty, wearing black from head to toe—boots, belt, cowboy hat included—stood with a gorgeous brunette wearing a bright red pantsuit with white zebra print zigzagging everywhere.
“Well, they’re not trying to hide, are they?” Link murmured.
“He is,” Wilder said, his smile only growing.
“Anyone know who she is?” Dawson asked.
“That’s Winona Landry.” Wilder nodded at Conrad Walker as he joined them. “Ty’s out with Winnie.”
“Yeah, we walked in with them,” Conrad said. “But Sari had to go to the bathroom, though we made her go before we left.” He sighed. “She is not adjusting to the new baby as well as I’d hoped.”
“It gets better,” Link said.
“She asked if we could take him to Grandma’s and leave him there.” Conrad shook his head, and he did look tired. “I mean, I get it. He cries a lot, and I swear he throws up everything he eats.”
“Does he?” Savannah asked, and Wilder flinched. He’d forgotten she stood nearby, as more and more cowboys had been crowding around him. “Has Glory Rose taken him to the doctor?”
“Yeah, he’s got some reflux thing,” Conrad said. “We’ve switched his formula now, and he’s doing a little better.” He smiled at Savannah. “Also, those llamas you sent me? You’re going to be so mad you didn’t get them.”
“They’re amazing, aren’t they?” Savannah didn’t happy about it, though.
“Incredible.”
“Dang it.” She shot Wilder a look. “I knew I should’ve snatched them up.”
“It’ll be good for the guardian llama report,” he said. “And when our place is done, you can get as many llamas as you want.”
“Oh-ho-boy,” Finn said as he laughed. “That’s a big promise, cowboy.”
“What are we promising?” JJ arrived, and he carried his darling baby girl in his arms. Jade was as dark as midnight, just like her daddy, and she had big, soulful eyes like her momma.
“He said I can get as many llamas as I want,” Savannah said with a smile.