47. Six Months Later
FORTY-SEVEN
SIX MONTHS LATER:
Bryce Young didn’t want to overstep his bounds. His hand in Codi’s tightened as they walked up the front sidewalk of Bailey’s house. They’d been here a couple of times in the past, but not often, as Bryce had worked incredibly hard to make sure Bailey stayed on the outside of his life.
After all, he loved Codi with his whole heart, and he never wanted her to feel second, or like Bryce was choosing Bailey or OJ over her and their two beautiful boys. Never, ever.
“Maybe we should just go,” he said at the bottom of the steps. He looked up toward the front door, knowing he’d find Bailey behind the door, probably with Reeves, and plenty of wedding décor. Maybe her mother would even be here, as they had less than twenty-four hours until they said I-do.
He turned toward Codi as she faced him. “It’s as it should be,” he said. “What are we doing here?”
The mid-June breeze blew across Bailey’s front yard, ruffling the ends of Codi’s short hair.
“We brought her a gift.” She raised her eyebrows and the gift bag she carried.
“So let’s go give it to them.” She tugged on his hand, and Bryce went up the steps with her.
“And then we’re leaving for Lava Hot Springs. ”
Bryce pressed his teeth together and nodded. He knocked on the door, and it was Reeves who called, “Come on in,” from inside.
He reached for the doorknob and twisted it, but he let Codi step up and into the house first. Bryce entered the house to the living room, but he didn’t see either one of them.
Reeves came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “Bailey’s not back from the clinic yet,” he said. “But she should be here any minute.”
“We’re parked in the driveway,” Bryce said, his nerves settling at the sight of Reeves’s smile.
“She can get around you,” he said easily. He moved forward and swept a kiss across Codi’s cheek, and then hugged Bryce.
“We brought you guys a gift,” Codi said. “Since we won’t be able to be at the wedding.”
“Yeah, thank you,” Reeves said. He took it and set it on the fireplace. “Come on in. Do you guys want some coffee or anything?”
“We can’t stay long,” Codi said while Bryce had wondered where his voice had gone. Codi had always been able to shore him up and be strong when he couldn’t, and he thanked God for her, just as he had many other times.
The side door opened, and Bailey walked in. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I had someone bring in a pig who’d stepped in the barbed wire and had a pretty significant cut right through the hoof.”
She threw her purse and lunch box on the dining room table, took a big breath, and faced Bryce and Codi. Everything melted away as a smile spread her lips. “Hey, you guys.” She moved into them and gave Codi a tight hug, and then held on to Bryce.
“Hey,” he managed to say. “I’m really sorry we can’t come to the wedding.”
Bailey pulled back and met his eyes, something blazing in hers. “It’s fine. You guys have Codi’s family reunion in Idaho, right? I don’t expect you to change that for me.”
Bryce swallowed and nodded, because Codi’s family reunion had been on the calendar before Bailey’s wedding. They hadn’t deliberately planned a trip over it.
“They brought a gift,” Reeves said. “And I’m trying to get them to stay for coffee.”
“You should,” Bailey said. “And I even stopped at the Sip and Stay and got croissants.” She looked at Reeves, a guilty look coming into her eyes. “But I left those in my car….”
He chuckled. “I’ll grab them,” he said and stepped out the side door.
Codi picked up the gift bag and smiled as she handed it to Bailey. “It’s nothing special.”
“It’s a date night pack,” Bryce blurted out.
Bailey looked at him, and pulled out the pale pink paper, her eyes only dropping to the bag after it had been removed. She lifted out the gift cards and pulled in a breath. “Wow,” she said. “This is more than one date night.”
“It’s a coffee date,” Bryce said, indicating the gift card to Daily Grind.
“And a lunch date,” Codi said. “We heard you guys liked Wild Thyme in town.”
“We do,” Bailey said as she looked at the second gift card.
“And a dinner date,” Bryce said. “Carvers out at Silver Sage. It’s a great steakhouse, and out of the way.” He cut his eyes over to the garage entrance as Reeves came back in with the pale blue pastry box from Sip and Stay.
Bailey turned toward him. “Look, hon. They got us a breakfast, lunch, and dinner date gift cards.”
“That’s great,” Reeves said. Bryce didn’t detect a single ounce of trepidation in him, though he knew he didn’t like being recognized while out in public.
Bryce understood, and he and Codi spent a lot of time on their private ranch whenever possible.
“Thank you so much,” Reeves said, and he turned to get coffee cups.
“Is it just me and you, Bay, or are they staying?”
Codi looked at Bryce, and Bryce looked at Codi. She would defer to him on this, and the softness in her eyes told him that she wouldn’t mind staying. So he turned to Reeves and said, “We’ll stay for a minute, but we’ve got to get back to our boys real soon.”
Tex Young sat in the third row of chairs that had been set up for Bailey’s wedding.
He and Abby had left their kids with Wade and Cheryl and driven the fifteen minutes around the corner to Reeves’s property for the nuptials.
Apparently, the man didn’t have any family, but a friend of his had come in from Alaska.
They’d kept the affair small, and Bailey’s family took up both sides of the aisle in the front two rows, as well as part of the third across from him.
From the Youngs, only he and Abby had been invited, along with Otis and Georgia and their children, Adam and Joey, Luke and Sterling, and Momma and Daddy.
Luke and Sterling had not brought their kids, and Tex was glad that Reeves and Luke had become friends. Something in the air shifted, and Tex turned to look over his shoulder at the same time Abby did.
Reeves stood on the deck, and a natural aisle had been created at the bottom of the stairs by the stepping stone path that went through his lawn and onto his farm.
He grinned as wide as the sky above them and took a cowboy hat from Graham.
He settled it on his head; Graham clapped him on the shoulder and faded into the background.
Tex scrambled to his feet along with everyone else, and Reeves gave the crowd several seconds to do so. Then he walked down the stairs, as calm and as casual as could be, though Tex expected the man had earthquakes happening inside him.
He nodded to those around him and even stopped to press his cheek to Abby’s, shake Tex’s hand, and then Luke’s, saying, “Thank you for coming.”
He pulled Otis and Georgia into a double hug on the other side of the aisle. He nodded down to Joey and Adam before he continued into the throng of Whittakers. They seemed to surround him, pulling him into the nucleus, where he only emerged a couple of minutes later.
He hugged his friend Shane at the altar, and then cleared his throat, tugged the sleeves on his jacket down, straightened his tie, and faced the deck again.
Bailey’s family already sat out in the rows, and the only person they needed to arrive now was the bride herself.
Tex’s heart hammered the longer the deck stayed empty, and he looked over to Abby and saw the worry furrowing her brow as well.
Feet shifted, though no noise rose into the air as they all stood on grass.
It had taken Tex a long time to work through his complicated feelings surrounding Bailey McAllister. He’d seen a counselor and done the hard work, and now he loved her as if she were his own daughter. Fine, maybe not that much, but he definitely held a soft spot of fondness for the woman.
He knew Graham and Laney had been praying over her for years, and that alone endeared Bailey to Tex—and of course they’d be forever connected through Bryce and OJ.
Dear Lord, he prayed when Bailey still had not made an appearance, and if he were Bryce, he’d have spoken the words out loud. We’ve all come so far in the past fifteen years….
Sixteen really, if he counted Bailey’s pregnancy.
This seems like the happily-ever-after we all need. Where is she?
The back sliding door opened, and Graham stepped out.
Relief flooded Tex as the man turned back and offered his hand to someone.
Bailey emerged from the house, wearing a gorgeous white gown that fell to her feet in luxurious waves of silk.
She hadn’t even stepped into the sun yet, and Tex could see the shine on the fabric.
She paused at her daddy’s side and leaned in as he kissed her on the cheek.
Three dogs piled out of the house after her, all of them wearing fancy canine wedding clothes. A smile touched Tex’s heart and filled him, body and soul, until it emerged onto his face.
Graham took one of the leashes, a pink studded thing that connected to Bailey’s little fluffy white dog, Hydrangea, and faced the crowd. Bailey linked her arm through her daddy’s, and instead of carrying a bouquet, she bent and picked up the two other leashes, one for Pansy and one for Sir.
Perhaps the canines had added some extra trouble to the preparation, and that had taken them a few extra minutes to get ready. Either way, Bailey glided across the deck, then paused at the top as the photographer flitted around and took pictures.
She looked at her father. Graham nodded, and together they descended the steps. Bailey radiated goodness and pure happiness, and as she and Graham passed, Abby sighed and leaned to Tex. “I’m so glad we’re here,” she said. “What a blessing it’s been to watch her get to this point.”
Tex had never thought of heartache and difficult trials as much of a blessing, but as Graham and Bailey paused at the end of the first row so she could hug her momma, Tex realized how right his wife was.
“I’m so glad they found each other,” he whispered. Then he busied himself with sitting down with the rest of the crowd to bask in the glorious covenant about to be made.