34. Chapter 34
Sadie
I’d seen a lot of cute things in my life. None of them prepared me for the cuteness of Cole Hart going head-to-head with a toddler. I sat on my bed and watched. I could help, but where was the fun in that?
“Come on, Em,” he said. “Let’s get your dress on. Look how cute it is.” He held up the frilly blue dress.
Emery glared at him. “No.”
“Come on. Give Uncle Cole a break. Don’t you want to wear the princess dress to see Tiffany get married?”
Tiffany refused to be called grandma, or any variation of it.
“Itchy,” Emery said, glaring at the dress.
Cole sighed and ran his hand over the netting inside the dress. “It is itchy. Who puts this kind of thing in a kid’s dress?”
I smiled. “I always wondered that. The cuter they are, the more uncomfortable.”
“Are you going to help me?” he asked. “Or let me lose to a two-year-old?”
I winked. “I’m still undecided.”
“When Brynlee asked me to get Emery ready, I thought it was like a five-minute deal. I didn’t realize Emery was Brynlee stubborn.”
He dropped to his knees. “Look how pretty,” he said, swishing the dress back and forth.
Emery pursed her little pink lips. “Yuck.”
“Em. You need to wear this dress.”
She walked over to the dresser and grabbed a pair of Cole’s sunglasses. “These.”
“You want to wear those?” he asked.
“Okay.” She shoved them on her face, upside down. “Pretty. Show Mom.”
Cole sighed. “You can wear my sunglasses, if you wear the dress.”
“Kay.” She went forward, and Cole put the dress over her head.
“There,” he said, zipping it up. “Beautiful.”
She scrunched her nose. “Itchy.”
He turned the sunglasses around and smiled. “Perfect.”
“What about her hair?”
He gave me his adorable smile. “I thought you might enjoy that.”
I rubbed his head. “Only because you’re cute.”
“Thank you.”
I took Emery’s hand and led her to the bathroom. I sat her on a stool and grabbed a brush.
“Where is Brynlee?” I asked.
“She ripped her dress, and they ran to the city to get it fixed. They better hurry.”
I ran the brush through Emery’s brown hair. It had small, soft curls at the ends. “Do you think Nayvee will bring the baby?”
He leaned on the doorframe. “I’m not sure.”
“Momma gots a baby,” Emery said.
I tilted my head. “Oh, yeah?”
She stuck her finger up her nose. I looked at Cole. “Do you think that was an announcement?”
He chuckled. “Who knows? Maybe the Harts will take over the world.”
“You have three nieces and nephews. That’s hardly a hostile takeover.”
“But just think. If all seven of us have two kids, that’s fourteen. Three? Twenty-one. Four? Twenty-eight. Let’s just say we all have three. Then our kids all have three. That’s sixty-three.”
I laughed. “You sound like someone who should be a math teacher.”
“Because I’m so smart?”
“Because you care about boring statistics. And I want four.”
He grinned. “That might be because you’ve never had one. It sounds easy on paper.”
“Are you saying I can’t take it?”
“I’m saying you don’t know what you don’t know.”
“That’s deep, Cole,” I teased.
“I think so.”
I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with Emery’s hair. It was pretty short. I put her tiny tiara on and called it good. If Tiffany didn’t like it, she could change it.
“There you go, princess,” I said, setting Emery on her feet. “Now all you need is shoes.”
“No.”
I smiled at Cole. “Good luck.”
Cole
I was glad I’d fought for Sadie and the bridesmaid dresses.
The ones they finally settled on were pretty, elegant, and not falling off anyone.
Sadie moved confidently, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.
The last week had been full of… well, mostly making out every time Alyssa wasn’t looking, and man was it agreeing with me.
Mom stood next to Haskell. Behind her were all my sisters, sisters-in-law, Sadie, and Alyssa. My brothers, brothers-in-law, and I stood in a line near Haskell. I’d have preferred to be in the audience, but it wasn’t worth arguing with Mom.
Mom was overdone. Not a surprise. Her hair and makeup must have taken a highly trained team hours. That might be an exaggeration, but only a little.
This was a wedding I never would have thought possible.
Mom hadn’t transformed into a new person, but she had changed.
That meant something. The fact that it had taken this long for her to admit her feelings made me feel for Haskell.
That man must be patient. I didn’t know their whole story, but it was obviously a long one.
My eyes locked with Sadie’s and I winked. She smiled.
I couldn’t listen to wedding ceremonies. I didn’t know why. Too many other thoughts filled my head while I scanned the crowd.
Haskell looked like he might overheat. He tugged at his shirt until Mom shot him a look, then he straightened.
Van’s parents were in the crowd. His mom was holding baby Wyatt. They sat off to the side, probably trying to keep him away from germs.
I held in a yawn. There was no way I was letting my mom spend the rest of my life trying to guilt me over yawning at her wedding.
I clapped with everyone else when Mom and Haskell kissed. I officially had a stepdad. That was a foreign thought. I wondered if Mom would let him out in public.
A dance followed. It was in Mom’s backyard.
“Do you think we can sneak away?” my brother, Chance, asked, coming up behind me.
I shrugged. “It’s hard to know with Mom. She might not notice, and she might take us out of the will.”
Chance chuckled. “I’m not sure I care about that.”
“Where’s Eliza?”
“She’s walking Nayvee to the car. I guess they got an out since they just had a baby. Mom told her she could leave after the ceremony.”
“That’s good. She’s probably tired.”
“That was a crazy birth story.”
“Sure was. And now Sadie’s pretty sure she needs a baby.”
Chance laughed. “Makes sense. You’ve been married for what? Two days?”
“Three weeks,” I said.
“Ah. Better.”
“Is Bryn pregnant? Emery said something.”
“If she is, she hasn’t told me.”
“I don’t get why people keep it a secret. In this town, secrets don’t keep long. Anyone else pregnant? I figure Eliza and Taya are next.”
Chance shrugged and looked at the crowd.
“Eliza’s pregnant,” I guessed.
Chance glanced at me. “What makes you say that?”
“Just admit it.”
He chuckled. “Fine, but don’t tell. Liza wants to do some weird announcement thing in a week or two.”
“Congrats.”
“Thanks. Why aren’t you dancing with your wife?”
I scanned the crowd. “I don’t know where she is, for one thing.”
“She’s over there talking to Grandma.”
I cringed. Grandma was usually safe, but you never knew what she might say. I hurried over.
“Hey, Grandma,” I said, draping one arm over Sadie’s shoulders. “Nice wedding.”
Grandma studied me. “It was. I still think you should have put your foot down and demanded Tiffany change her date. I never took you for a pushover.”
“I’m not. Not when it matters. Mom had probably been planning this for a while. Sadie and I decided things fast.”
“And we didn’t want a big wedding,” Sadie added. “I preferred our little ceremony.”
Grandma’s eyes softened just a touch. “What are you two up to now? I know about the gym. And the school job.”
I nodded. “Everything’s falling into place. Sadie’s taking some online classes while she figures out what she wants long term.”
“I’m helping at the museum part-time,” Sadie said. “Since Nayvee’s on leave, I’m running a few tours.”
“And?”
“It’s fun. I’ve only done a few, but I like it.”
“Good. That’s good.” Grandma looked between us. “Shouldn’t you two be dancing?”
I grinned. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
I took Sadie’s hand and led her toward the dance floor. She melted into me, and I let out a slow breath. Holding her made everything feel right. Not perfect. Just… solid.
“Have I told you that you look stunning?” I murmured. “I didn’t hear a word of the ceremony.”
“You don’t look bad yourself.”
“I tried.”
She laughed softly. “Emery looked adorable.”
“I put her shoes on the wrong feet. Brynlee corrected me.”
“I always figured that was optional. Right foot, left foot… who cares?” She sounded distracted.
“Tired?”
“Exhausted.”
“We can sneak out.”
“But I like being here. With you.”
“You can be with me at home,” I said quietly, glancing at Dax and glaring when he shot me a thumbs-up. “With fewer witnesses.”