Chapter 31
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
Cash Young didn’t need three hours to get ready for his wedding.
He could put on a suit in roughly five minutes and be ready to walk down the aisle with his family in only ten—and that included Uncle Luke shining his boots, apparently something his uncle had done for all the Young family weddings in the past several years.
Cash’s nerves clashed inside him, because it was hard enough bringing together two families, and he had more like four he needed to manage.
The Youngs, of course, were pretty much beyond management, but Cash knew all of his aunts and uncles and cousins loved him and his daddy, and would do everything within their control to make this day amazing.
He also had to deal with Faith’s family, and his mother’s family as well.
He had a decent relationship with his mother, though she felt like a stranger most of the time.
Cash had lived with her until he was nine, when his father had brought him up here to Coral Canyon.
Out of all of the older cousins, he had two sets of grandparents who lived here, and he’d spent a lot of time talking to Boston about how to navigate all the expectations and personalities.
Everything felt forked and branched in his life as he stood on the back deck and watched his backyard become a wedding wonderland.
He’d kept his camera app open, and he glanced down at his phone every time it made a noise.
It was mostly the workers taking things back and forth, as well as his stepmom and Dani weaving flowers through the railing of the porch and stringing lights along the front of the house to the sidewalk that ran along the west side of it.
Faith had brought Celeste and Grace with her, and the little girls acted as runners back and forth from their mom to the car. Beth arrived, and she started helping too. Then finally, Cash saw his father’s truck. He suddenly felt like weeping, and he had no idea why.
He and his father had been through a lot in the past fifteen years, and Cash gathered his phone and turned to leave the backyard prep to the professionals. He strode through the house, arriving on the front porch about the time Daddy got out of the truck.
Cash came to a halt, because so did his mother. His pulse swooshed and whooshed through him, and then he got himself moving toward the woman who’d given him life.
“Hey, Momma,” he said, as he drew her into a hug. “Thanks so much for coming.”
“Of course,” his mom, Fiona, said. “I wouldn’t stay away for anything.”
Cash grinned at her, then looked across the hood of the truck to Daddy. He wore his usual dark-eyed glare, but it softened as Cash grinned at him and went toward him for his hug.
“Thanks for bringing her, Daddy,” he said.
“I’m surprised she wanted me to,” Daddy whispered back, because his mom did not like coming to Coral Canyon.
She’d learned years ago that who she’d thought was her biological father was not, and that her mother had had an affair.
She had felt lied to and isolated after that, and while she did her best to love and honor her mother, Cash knew his mom didn’t like her mom.
“She said she’d help wherever you needed her,” Daddy said.
Cash pulled back. “Maybe she’d like to be upstairs with Lark?” He looked over to his mom. “What do you think? Or you can ask Faith or Dani if they need any help.”
He’d ordered catering from the Silver Sage Lodge, and Boston and Cora had arranged for the kitchen staff to come a couple of hours early and use Cash’s kitchen to have their plated meal ready.
Because Lark’s family was small, but Cash’s wasn’t, the guest list sat at about one hundred twenty-five, at least for the dinner part.
“Hi, Fiona,” Faith said, her voice bright and cheery, and Cash’s mother looked that way. “Are you looking for a job?” She handed a daisy chain to Celeste. “Because we have a long way to go with this flower arch.”
His mom came to stand next to him, and she smiled at Faith. “Yeah, I can help with that.”
“Great,” Faith said with a great measure of relief. “Girls, this is Fiona. She’s going to be helping us with the flower arch. You do what she says now.”
“Yes, Momma,” Grace said, and Cash let his father guide him back into the house.
“Will they be okay out there?” he asked.
“They’ll be fine,” Daddy assured him, and he led the way into the master suite where Cash had been living for the past couple of months.
“Your place looks great,” Daddy said.
“Yeah, it’s coming along.” Cash took the suit from his father and hung it on the closet door.
From there, more and more uncles started arriving, and the scent of perfectly smoked brisket and salty bacon filled his house. Finally, an alarm went off on Uncle Tex’s phone, and he said, “You better get dressed, son.”
So Cash stepped into his suit, and Uncle Luke dropped to his knees and started shining his boots.
Uncle Jem started passing out cowboy hats, and Cash took his when it got handed to him.
His father left the room several times and came back only a few minutes later, finally saying, “We’ve only got five minutes, boys. Let’s round up.”
Cash hadn’t been raised particularly religious, but he’d found God in the last decade or so of his life. His daddy had too, and while he still struggled to go to church sometimes, Cash never doubted his father’s beliefs or faith.
He let his eyes roam the crowd of amazing men who’d gathered in the bedroom with him, marveling that this room could hold all of the uncles and male cousins in the Young family.
Boston came to his side and handed Cash the second half of Lark’s ring.
He tucked it into the inside pocket of his jacket and grabbed onto Boston and held him tight.
“I love you, brother,” he said.
“I’m getting in on that,” Bryce said, and he joined their hug.
“Me too.” Harry came over and did the same.
Cash laughed, and their four-way huddle broke up, but that only started more hugging when the next person his eyes landed on was Uncle Trace. He’d taken such good care of Cash and his daddy over the years, and Cash fought his emotions as he embraced his strong uncle.
“Love you, son,” Trace said.
“I love you too, Uncle Trace,” Cash managed to choke out.
Uncle Luke came next, and memories of going camping with him and his family flowed through Cash’s mind. He moved on to Gramps, and Cash lost his battle against his tears then.
“You’re a good man, Cash,” Gramps said, and since he spoke so very little, Cash believed everything he said.
He hugged Uncle Tex and Uncle Otis, Uncle Jem, Uncle Morris, Uncle Gabe, and finally stepped into Uncle Mav. He and Aunt Dani had always had their door open for Cash, day or night, and he knew he wasn’t the only one they’d welcomed with open arms.
Finally Daddy growled, “You’re supposed to be at the altar right now, son, and we still haven’t done the prayer.”
Cash cleared his throat and stepped back, took the handkerchief his dad gave him, and started blotting at his face.
“I’m ready,” he said. “I’m ready.” He shook his shoulders as if he could wipe away his emotions just as easily, and settled into the circle beside his father on his right and Boston on his left.
The men circled up the best they could, which meant they made more of an amoeba shape around the furniture in the room, and Daddy cleared his throat and reached to take off his cowboy hat.
Cash hastened to do the same, and he quickly linked his arm through his daddy’s and pressed his hat to his chest as he bowed his head and tried to find the quiet place inside him where he could hear the Lord. Complete silence filled the room, and Cash let it flow through him too.
He honestly felt the same way he did when he sat in the saddle on a bull, only moments away from the chute opening.
There was always this single moment of clarity, where Cash could see the entire eight-second ride in front of him, and the world wasn’t spinning on its axis, and everything just became still.
Then his dad drew a breath and said, “Dear Lord.”
Life rushed forward again, but Cash clung to the sound of his father’s voice, slow and deep and cowboy as it was. “We’re so grateful to be gathered here together as a family.”
Lark had only invited family and extremely close friends to the wedding. She wanted to walk down the aisle and know every person looking at her, so she’d invited her grandparents, parents, and siblings, a couple of friends from work, and that was all.
Cash’s family of aunts and uncles, grandparents, and extended aunts and uncles was a lot larger than hers, but since they’d been engaged for half a year, she’d come to plenty of family birthday parties, dinners, and other functions where she’d met Michelle and Denzel, Leigh and Morris’s extended family, and Uncle Shawn and Aunt Enid, who were Ev’s brother and sister-in-law.
And of course, Wade and Cheryl Ingalls, who lived right next door to Uncle Tex and Aunt Abby.
They’d all been invited, along with their kids, but Cash hadn’t included the Whittakers or the Hammonds or any other townspeople who knew his parents, grandparents, or aunts and uncles.
They’d been invited to the reception, along with Cash’s former rodeo friends, as over five hundred of those invitations had gone out.
“We’re grateful for the institution of marriage,” Daddy said next. “And how it brings two people together on their journey through life and helps them to grow and change into the kind of people that will put others first and serve Thee.
“We’re grateful to be gathered together here in Coral Canyon, so close to where so many of us boys and uncles have grown up and can remember our roots and the good teachings of our parents.
“We’re grateful for Thy healing power and Thy constant call to repentance and for giving us ears to hear and eyes to see Thy power in our lives.”
Cash sniffled, and he wasn’t the only one. Daddy had strong opinions that he rarely voiced in a large group, and it did Cash’s heart good to hear his father’s inner thoughts. Sometimes it took so much to drag them out of him.
“Bless Cash today, Lord,” Daddy said next, and then he paused for longer than necessary.
That meant only one thing, and that Daddy had his own battle with his emotions raging.
“And bless him to be a good man, and a good friend, a good cousin, a good brother, and a good husband.
Help him and Lark know which steps to take in their lives that will bring them closer to each other, and closer to Thee.
“Bless any in this company who stand in need of something specific, that it will be granted unto them according to Thy will, and bless our good wives and our children to continue to be able to put up with us Coral Canyon cowboys.”
Cash’s emotion settled, and he smiled as Daddy finished with, “In Thy name, Lord, Amen.”
“Amen,” chorused through the room.
Cash wanted to go around and give everyone a hug again, but Daddy took his arm. “You need to be at the altar right now.” Cash stumbled after him, trying to put his hat on his head as he went. “My phone’s been buzzing against my thigh for five minutes.”
Daddy led Cash out the sliding glass door on the side of the master suite and down the steps that led into the backyard.
He hustled him up the right side of the crowd and practically pushed him toward the altar near the new back fence in the yard.
The pastor stood there already, and Cash watched as Daddy hurried back into the house.
Everyone who’d been in the groom’s suite with him flowed out of the house and simply went to take their places in the audience.
No sooner had the last man gone down the steps than the women came.
Cash grinned at all of them as frilly violins and flutes played through the speakers that had been set up in the corners of the tent.
Peach, pink, and sky-blue flowers drifted in the breeze from the poles, which had been tied to the backs of the chairs, and Cash glanced toward the sidewalk that ran along the side of the house.
Lark should be coming that way with her daddy, and she’d walk across the back of the crowd on his right, and then down the middle aisle to him.
She’d told him her dress was simple, a worried look on her face as she’d asked, You know I’m simple, right, Cash?
He’d kissed her and assured her that he knew her and loved her, and sure enough, when he caught sight of her walking down that sidewalk with her arm looped through her father’s, he probably could have picked out her dress for her.
She made his breath catch down deep in his lungs, and fire flamed in his face and spread through his veins.
“She’s stunning,” he said right out loud, and he drank in her shape as the antique ivory-colored fabric clung to all of her curves and went up over her shoulders in wide, structured straps. Her arms remained bare, and she carried a small bouquet of wildflowers in one hand.
She and her daddy arrived at the back of the aisle, and the crowd stood.
The music changed, and Cash suddenly wished that all they’d planned was this wedding, and then to get in the car and head to Jackson.
As it was, he had a plated dinner and a reception to get through, and Lark took the first step toward him, her eyes now locked on his.
Her hair had been piled up on top of her head with tendrils and curls snaking down. She wore gloves up to her elbow in that same vintage lace, and no shoes whatsoever. Cash laughed when he saw her bare feet, and he practically pulled her into him as Marv released her and gave Lark to Cash.
He pressed a kiss to her temple, and as the crowd settled back into their seats, that moment of time stilled and solidified, and he whispered, “I love you with everything I have.”
Lark beamed up at him with only rays of sunshine in her eyes. “I love you too, Cash,” she said, and then together they faced the pastor, ready to become man and wife.