Chapter 29 #2
Then his eyes landed on a couple several yards behind Wyatt, and Tex once again changed course.
He wanted to check and see where Bryce stood, and if OJ and Otis had made it to the group yet, because Bailey was currently walking toward them with her hand secured in that of a dark-eyed, dark-haired cowboy who wore black everywhere except for in the light gray T-shirt, which bore an American flag waving across the front.
“Bailey, hey,” Tex said, when he was only a few steps away. She’d seen him, of course, and she smiled. He pulled her straight into his chest and held her tight. “How are you? How are things at the clinic? How’s your farm going this summer?”
Bailey laughed. “That’s a lot of questions, Mister Young.”
“You don’t have to call me Mister Young,” he said, as he stepped back. He looked at the young man next to her. “Howdy,” he said. “I’m Tex Young.”
“Yes, sir,” the man said, and he shook Tex’s hand heartily. He had a good grip and a good spirit about him. “I’ve seen you play with Country Quad. Your online tour a couple of years ago was genius.”
“Thank you.” Tex looked between Bailey and her boyfriend, his smile only growing. “I think Bryce told me your name is Reeves.”
“I can’t believe OJ hasn’t told you everything about me,” Reeves said with a laugh.
Tex’s chest collapsed again, and then expanded. “Well, I don’t spend as much time with him as Graham and Laney.”
Bailey’s smile fell from her face, but Tex kept his perfectly in place. He heard a very familiar voice, one that he’d toured with and traveled with and sang with for decades, and he turned to find Otis approaching with OJ as well. “Come on,” Tex said cheerfully. “Are you planning to sit with us?”
Bailey looked past him to the fray of Youngs spread out across the lawn. “OJ did invite us,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if we would, but—”
“Hey, Bay,” OJ chirped as he stepped off the sidewalk and landed next to Bailey. He didn’t act like his daddy had kept him back for a lecture, but that was also classic OJ.
She put her arm around him and gave him a quick squeeze. “Hey, you.”
“Are you going to sit with us?” he asked.
Bailey looked at Otis first, and while Tex’s brother wore a dark look, it cleared as he nodded at Bailey. “Yeah, we can.” She leaned over to OJ, who now stood as tall as her. “But remember, Reeves is a closet celebrity, buddy, and we just want to hang out in the background.”
OJ blinked like he had no idea what hanging out in the background meant, and Tex did everything he could to control his laughter.
“All right.” OJ stepped out of the group and continued toward the rest of the family.
Tex heard his momma’s exclaims over the boy, and he too turned and gestured for everyone to follow him.
He had no doubt Bailey and Reeves would sit by Harry and Belle, Bryce and Codi, and Adam and Joey, as that was their age group, their peers, and who she would certainly be most comfortable with.
Tex fell back to Otis’s side and let them go ahead, though he had no idea what to say to his brother. “He’s a closet celebrity?” he finally asked.
“He runs a YouTube channel,” Otis said. “It’s really popular—millions of views, tons of comments. It’s how he pays his bills.”
“He pays his bills with a YouTube channel?” Tex couldn’t believe that real people did that.
“Hey, we pay our bills by playing the guitar.” Otis chuckled, and Tex’s heart grew wings, because he was so glad to hear the happiness in his brother’s voice.
“If there’s anything you need me to do with OJ….” Tex let the words hang there, because he wasn’t quite sure how to finish the offer.
Otis sighed and shook his head. “He’s my favorite boy on the whole planet,” he grumbled. “But he also drives me to the edge of madness.”
Tex burst out laughing, because that summed up teenagers perfectly. “Well, he’s got a good momma and daddy,” Tex said, and Otis turned fully toward him. He wore a look of pure vulnerability, almost like he couldn’t quite believe what Tex had said.
“We think he’s seeing too much of Bailey, but she doesn’t seem to mind, and we don’t know how to tell him no.”
“I heard she babysat for Bryce and Codi,” Tex said, watching as chairs got shuffled to make room for Bailey and Reeves among Harry, Bryce, and Adam.
“Yeah, we’ve heard that too,” Otis said. “A couple of times now. I heard OJ was there this last time.”
“Is that right?” Tex watched as Bailey got folded into the embrace of the Youngs, finally taking a chair on the very edge of the group. Reeves sat next to her on the inside, next to Luke of all people. Sterling sat next to him, and then Adam, Harry, and Bryce, along with their significant others.
Tex knew his son and Harry would end up on the blanket with the little kids, at least for the next couple of hours before the fireworks started, and he couldn’t help thinking that Luke was acting as a bodyguard for Reeves.
He was a no-nonsense country music sensation, and everyone knew to leave him alone when he was out with his family.
He had the dark horse persona perfected, and his bark came out super loud.
But when two of Gabe’s triplets came over to Uncle Luke and climbed onto his lap, Tex couldn’t help but watch him melt into a golden retriever instead of a Rottweiler.
He stayed there with Otis for a couple more minutes, the two of them just taking in the family in front of them. Tex noticed how all the grandkids went over to Daddy and showed him something, or brought him a drink, or a plate of food.
Momma stood at the table supervising who took what, as per her usual, and he grinned over to Denzel as the man came to his side. “What are we doing back here, boys?”
“Watching,” Otis said, and that about summed it up.
Denzel stood with them as his wife went ahead with their three children and found a spot with Leigh, Hilde, and Ev. Wade and Cheryl fit right in, and so did Shawn and Enid as they crowded in with Reggie and Kassie.
The Whittakers sat on the left side behind them as well, and the Hammonds spread out to their right, filling the space over to the food table. Wyatt and Marcy sat with Cole and Rachel by Jem and Sunny, Sterling and Luke, Dani and Mav.
While Tex could see the different factions of the Young family, he also knew they were completely unified as well. God had brought them all here, healed their hearts, and given them experiences that had knitted their souls and minds and lives together.
He’d done that great and mighty thing, so that when Bryce needed a babysitter for his two-and-a-half-year-old son, but his usual helpers were unavailable, he could ask Bailey.
Tex marveled that such a thing could happen, as he’d been around for the past fifteen years of pain and hurt feelings, distance and silence.
None of that seemed to exist anymore, and all Tex could think about was how merciful God was to His children. All of them, no matter if they’d strayed, wandered along dark roads, or seemed lost.
None were lost to God, and Tex could see it as he stood there taking in the enormity and vibrancy of his family.