Chapter 5
Chapter Five
O liver Osburn woke on Christmas Eve, feeling as giddy as he had when he was only five-years-old. Actually, maybe nine or ten years old, after his mom had married Tripp Walker, and after their Christmases had started having presents again.
After Tripp, they got to eat more than pancakes. He got to see his mother smile again. He got to go to Seven Sons and ride horses, talk to Tripp’s brothers, and play with his baby cousins.
After Tripp, life had definitely taken a huge upturn for both Oliver and his mom. He never wanted to do anything to let his father down, and he hoped today would be a roaring success.
His biological father had sent a card, and Oliver reached for it as he sat up on the edge of the bed. His mom had given it to him yesterday, but Oliver hadn’t had the heart to open it. He barely spoke to his biological father, having burned the bridge between them over a decade ago when he’d met with the custody judge and asked to be placed with his mom and Tripp full-time.
His dad hadn’t quite forgiven him for that, and the requests for Tripp to adopt him over the years certainly hadn’t helped. The fact that Dan had sent a card was a pure miracle, and Ollie finally slipped his finger under the flap and tore open the envelope.
It held a greeting card in thick cardstock, with an embossed picture of wedding bells lifting from the front.
Congratulations scrawled across the bells in a scripty, romantic font.
Ollie opened the card and several bills fell into his lap. Dan had scratched out a note of congratulations to Ollie and Aurora, having scribbled out part of Aurora’s name to get it right. That spoke to the level of detail he wanted to include, and Ollie picked up the five twenty-dollar bills.
He honestly had no idea how much it would cost to live in Savannah. He’d never bought groceries for himself. He’d never paid rent. He’d never made a car payment.
His mother and father had sat him down last week, with Aurora at his side, and they’d gone over a budget with them. They knew how much the rent was on the one-bedroom house in Savannah. That went at the top.
Electricity , Dad had said. Water, sewer, garbage.
The list had gone on for a few more utility bills, all of which were required to live.
Then you get to stuff that just makes life nice , his mom had said. Cell phones. Eating out. Buying luxury items at the grocery store. Clothes.
Those could be avoided if there was no money, or they could splurge and go to dinner when they passed a big test.
Aurora had earned a scholarship to the SCAD with her impressive fashion portfolio. Ollie had to pay his tuition, and his dad had pulled him aside yesterday and said he’d be paying for all of Ollie’s schooling.
“ If you work hard, son,” he’d said. “I’m not paying if you’re going to play video games and order out for every meal. If you have that much free time and expendable income, you don’t need my help.”
“Yes, sir,” Ollie said now as he had then. He felt a bit overwhelmed, but he wasn’t going to back out of this. He was going to marry the girl he loved today, and they were going on a honeymoon for a few nights. Then, once they returned from Colorado, he could start the rest of his life.
He got up and pulled a shirt over his head, went down the hall with the scent of maple syrup hanging in the air, and entered the kitchen. Mom stood at the stove, flipping eggs, while Dad put a plate of pancakes on the table.
“There he is,” Dad said, beaming at Ollie. “The man of the day.”
“I thought Grandma and Grandpa were comin’ for breakfast today,” he said, his stomach a little nervous.
“They are, baby,” his mother said. “They should be here in a minute.”
“These are hot,” Dad said, and Oliver reached for a pancake. This felt so…normal, on a day that wasn’t going to be normal in any sense of the word.
The front door opened, and he got to his feet to go greet his grandparents. They both wore joyous smiles as he approached, and he hugged them both at the same time. He’d spent so much time with them over the years, and he suddenly missed them more than words could say.
“Oh, my dear,” Grandma said, stroking his hair. “You’re going to be fine. This is exactly what you want.”
“I know,” he said, his voice choked. “What if I mess up? What if it’s too hard?” He pulled away and looked at them. They’d helped him through hard times in the past, and he knew he could show up on their doorstep day or night, and Grandma would feed him, talk to him, and take care of him.
“It’ll be hard,” Grandpa said. “But you can do hard things, Ollie. You have been your whole life.”
“Not really.” Oliver had worked at Seven Sons for a decade. He knew what muscle pain felt like. He knew what a twelve-hour day did to a person. He did work hard there, but he also knew it wasn’t quite the same at all as having to take care of a house, a car, and a wife all by himself.
My word , he thought. A wife. What am I doing?
“Come now, child,” Grandma said. “The pancakes are getting cold.”
They ate, and again, Oliver felt like such a normal thing shouldn’t be happening today. Then his dad said, “Go shower, son. We have to leave in forty-five minutes.”
Ollie did as his dad said, and he picked up the garment bag that held his tuxedo. Wyatt had gone with him to get it, as the shop owner adored Uncle Wyatt and had bumped them up on the alteration schedule because of it. Without that, Ollie would be getting married in his regular suit he wore to church.
He drove himself to True Blue, because he and Aurora weren’t going home with their families. They had a reservation at a quaint little inn on the northern edge of Amarillo that night. They’d be flying to Jackson Hole the following day.
He’d be alone with his wife that night, in a single room. Ollie had no idea what that would look like, and a scattering of nerves ran through him.
“You ready, Ollie?” Dad asked, and Ollie turned toward him.
His dad came into the room. “Whoa, what’s goin’ on? I can see something all over your face.”
“What if I…What if I don’t know what to do tonight?” He looked up at his father. “I mean, I know about sex. You talked to me about it. I took health and stuff. I just….”
His dad wrapped him in a hug and held on tight. “Oh, my boy,” he said. “You’re going to know exactly what to do, I promise.”
Oliver nodded against his father’s shoulder and let him hold his face and peer into his eyes. His shone with hope and love in the dark depths. “It’s normal, Ollie. It’s not hard. You’ll know what to do.”
Oliver could only nod again. He just wanted Rory to be happy, and they hadn’t talked about being intimate much at all. He’d kissed her loads of times, and he knew how to do that. He knew how to smooth her hair back and slide his lips along her cheek to her ear. Maybe he would be fine tonight. Didn’t stop the nerves from filling him to the point of choking.
Dad smoothed his hair back. “Now come on. It’s time to go up to Shiloh Ridge and marry the love of your life.”
All of the uncles had obviously gotten the message about being in the grooms’ room at eleven. The wedding was set to start at eleven-thirty, with lunch being served at noon on the dot. He and Aurora wanted a little party afterward, but with two large families coming together, the party had grown in size until it was out of control.
There would be dancing and karaoke, two of Aurora’s favorite things. They’d open their gifts, and then about three o’clock, it would all be over. They weren’t having a reception, and Ollie expected to be in Amarillo before dark.
“Wow, that jacket fits you like a glove,” Uncle Liam said, running his hand along Oliver’s shoulder. “And when did you get those muscles in your arms?” He grinned at Oliver, who didn’t stand quite as tall as the Walkers.
“He got them from me,” Uncle Jeremiah said, causing Oliver to smile and Liam to scoff. “What?” Jeremiah took Ollie into a hug. “I’m the one who made him work seven days a week on that ranch.”
He pulled back and grinned at Ollie. “She is so lucky to have you.”
“Thanks, Uncle Jeremiah.”
Uncle Rhett approached, and he held out a card too. “From Aunt Evelyn and I. We love you, Ollie.” He hugged Ollie too, who embraced him back and then held up the card.
“Should I open it now?”
“No, that’s one you open later,” Uncle Rhett said. “Like in-the-truck later. Or when you get to your inn.” He glanced at his brothers, who both wore cocked eyebrows and questioning expressions. “What? I just don’t want him to open it right now.”
“What’s in that thing?” Uncle Jeremiah asked.
“Nothing. Mind your own business,” Uncle Rhett said, grinning at his brothers and then walking away.
“I’m sure Uncle Wyatt will keep you clothed in the highest of cowboy fashions,” Uncle Liam said as the rodeo champion approached.
He lifted Ollie right up off his feet, both of them laughing.
“Wyatt,” Dad chastised. “Don’t rip his tuxedo. For the love.”
“I’m not gonna rip it,” Uncle Wyatt said, still chuckling as he set Ollie on his feet. “You’re the luckiest man in the room today, my friend. I loved getting married, and I’m so glad you found someone so early in your life.”
Surprise lifted Ollie’s eyebrows. “You are?”
“Oh, yeah,” Uncle Wyatt said easily. “You’re the smart one. Have you seen how tired we all are all the time? It’s because we have tiny children in our forties. You’ll actually be able to get out there and enjoy your kids.”
“When you have them,” Dad said quickly. “You don’t have to have kids right away, Ollie.”
“No, you don’t,” Uncle Skyler said. “But if you don’t, Momma will badger you about it every day. She’s dying to be a great-grandmother while she’s alive, and well, Ols, you’re her only chance.” He laughed, and Ollie sank into the warmth from his hug too. “No pressure or anything.”
Micah stepped into the empty space in his arms as Skyler backed out of it, and Oliver had known he was loved at Seven Sons. He’d felt it the very first time his dad had taken him to the ranch. The very first time he’d seen that big barn with the huge American flag painted on the side. The first time he’d met Uncle Liam’s horse.
“I love you,” Micah said. “You remember who you are, now, y’hear? When I left home the first time, I sort of forgot.”
“I’ll try,” Ollie said, trying not to let his emotions swell and choke his voice.
“You’re a Walker, son,” Micah said, indicating himself and all the men who stood beside him, all of them crowded in around Oliver. “Where’s Daddy?’
“Right here, boys.” They parted for Grandpa to come through. He hugged Oliver, his older body still full of strength and love. “He’s right, you know. You’re a Walker, through and through.”
Grandpa smiled fondly at Ollie and touched the tie tack with the shiny W on it. “You won’t always be wearing this when you go to class or work or even around the house. But you should have it branded in your heart,” he said. “That was something Momma’s daddy taught me. We carry things with us no one else can see. You carry our name, even though your last name isn’t technically ours.”
“I wanted it to be,” Ollie said, losing the battle against his emotions. He noticed his dad turn away and brush quickly at his eyes.
“We know that, Ollie,” Grandpa said. “Which is why you’re ours, and we’re yours. Any of us would drop anything to be with you if you needed help. Don’t you forget who you are and who you represent. First, the Lord. You can be a powerful advocate for goodness and kindness in the world. Second, the Walkers. It means something to be one of us.”
Oliver nodded, wishing and hoping and praying with every fiber of his being that he could be a good representative of these men. “I really will do my best.”
“I know you will.” Grandpa hugged him again, and this time, all the uncles and his dad joined in, the eight of them cocooning him inside their arms of safety.
“All right,” one of them said. “My alarm is goin’ off, and that means it’s time to get started.”
Everyone started lining up, but Ollie stayed near the back of the room where he’d been, the windows behind him letting in weak winter light.
His father didn’t move more than two feet from him, and Oliver was glad for the support. “You’re ready for this, Oliver.”
“I want to marry her,” he whispered, facing the door as Uncle Rhett opened it and led the brothers out.
“And you’re going to.” His father grinned at him and added, “Let’s go. I’m sure your mother is dying to see you for a minute before we need to get you to the altar.”