Chapter 37
Tyson Greene switched his attention toward the door. “Momma’s here,” he said.
That caused his daddy to get off the couch and go toward her. She carried a big box that splayed her arms wide, and Daddy took it from her as she spoke to him. She searched for him, and Ty lifted his hand, knowing full-well she’d come over and talk to him, whether he wanted her to or not.
She didn’t seem to know—or care—that she was in the groom’s room with only men as she picked her way past the pool table and the buffet where Bryan and Daddy had put out sandwiches, a charcuterie board, and drinks while they all waited for this wedding to get going.
“What’s going on, Momma?” Ty asked as she perched on the edge of the couch next to him.
She grinned at him, because his mother had never been cowed by his grumpy personality. “Wow, you look amazing.” She smiled at him. “Who knew you’d look so good in all black?”
“You’re funny, Momma.” Ty smiled, because he always wore all black.
She wore a dress the color of sun-white ripened wheat, with gems and golden sparkles from head to toe. Winnie had wanted what she called a “modern chic farm wedding,” and she’d chosen colors with plant and earthen names like sage, wheat, cream, and lavender.
They had a rust accent, but the only place Ty had seen that color was in his bowtie, vest, and socks. His groomsmen wore sage and olive, while siblings and parents were in wheat, and the bridesmaids boasted lavender.
He knew his bride wouldn’t be wearing a dress, but pants instead, and he’d told his parents so his momma wouldn’t die of shock right there on the front row.
Everyone else though…. Ty smiled just thinking about the gossip that would spread around town once news about Winnie’s wedding non-dress got out.
“Taylor just got here with the flowers,” Momma said. “Daddy’s going to make sure everyone gets what they need.”
“I saw you with them,” he said. “Everything’s ready outside? They got the tent situation fixed?”
Momma nodded. “Yep. Carolina and I took care of it.”
Ty had no doubt his mama had done exactly that. She’d probably started the conversation with, Look, I have three children, and this is the third wedding for one of them in the past five months, and I need you to….
The number of times Ty had heard that since he and Winnie had been engaged…it brought a smile to his soul—not because the Year of Weddings had caused his mother some stress, but because he wouldn’t have to go years as the outlier in his family.
Of course, he loved Winnie with his whole soul, and that had made waiting the past six months to become her husband an exquisite form of torture Ty wouldn’t wish on any man.
Momma looked down and brushed something invisible from his knee. “Winnie’s a little bit nervous,” she said, and Ty’s heart squeezed.
“She is? Why?”
Momma looked up, a bit of surprise in her eyes. “Ty, she’s been here before.”
“Not right here,” he said. “Her last fiancé ended things a week before the wedding.”
“Yes, and she thinks you might end them an hour before.”
“We’re within an hour, aren’t we?” Ty asked. “Dear Lord, if we still have an hour to go, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
His momma said, “It’s twenty minutes from now.”
“Well, then, we’re fine,” he said.
“If you’re ready and willing, she’d like to meet you a little earlier.”
“Let’s go,” Ty said, and he immediately started to get off the couch.
Momma simply rose from it, because of how she’d perched on the edge, but Ty felt like the beast had swallowed him.
He had to push himself out before he could stand up, and Momma reached out and steadied him on the back of his elbow.
Irritation fired through Ty. “Momma, I’m fine,” he growled.
She pulled her hand back and cleared her throat. “She said she’d meet you at the golf cart.”
Ty nodded, reaching up to adjust his tie as he scanned for his father. “I don’t have my flowers.”
“Oh, right.” Momma found Daddy and hurried over to him. A quick conversation ensued, and then she turned with Ty’s boutonniere in her hand. “Daddy says he’ll take care of everything,” she chirped just before pinning his boutonniere to his lapel like she did such a thing for a living.
Ty hadn’t wanted to walk down the aisle by himself, nor did he want to stand there and wait for Winnie. Her father had undergone back surgery recently, and while he’d recovered well, and he could certainly walk Winnie down the aisle, she hadn’t wanted that.
She’d planned all of those things for her first wedding, and she wanted to do the complete opposite for this one, so as to not be reminded of anything that had happened previously.
She’d rented a beautiful facility that had massive grounds, and they would be married outside in the Infinity Garden, and then move indoors for their dinner and reception in the Moonlight Hall.
The only reason Ty cared about any of it was for Winnie. When he’d mentioned renting the golf cart that the Highland River Gardens offered, Winnie had readily agreed.
Not only that, but she’d taken it one step further and said they could ride down the aisle on it together, so he wouldn’t have to limp in front of everyone or stand there with everyone staring at him. “It solves both of our issues,” she’d said in her perpetually sunny way.
Ty smiled as he ducked out of the groom’s room and turned left down the hall.
This center on Country Club Drive was huge, and theirs was not the only wedding that day.
Their guests had been assigned parking lots A, B, and C, and they had a beautiful western-facing garden, with the altar set up at the back, so the sunset would come right underneath it.
He stepped out of the air conditioning and looked left, where he would’ve found a golf cart in another twenty minutes. Now, his beautiful Winnie already sat there, looking at her phone.
“Hey, I heard you were getting married today.”
She looked up, and relief poured through her expression.
“Ty.” She stood, and Ty got the full view of her wedding gown: a wide-leg pantsuit in cream, of course, with intricate, beautiful, shiny appliqués of big, matching-color roses.
His eyes dropped to her feet, where she wore a pair of gold heels, and then recentered on her waist as she fiddled with the tie there—a silky rusty-colored orange band that cinched her waist in.
He whistled and shook his head. “Wow. Whoever this guy is, he’s the luckiest man in the world.”
She smiled and dropped her chin. She took a step toward him, and he saw that the band around her waist flowed behind her almost like a train, and she wore sprigs of lavender and ripened wheat as a crown around her updo.
He fell in love with her all over again simply by looking at her, and when he reached her and swept his fingertips across hers, he fell again. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Do you still want to marry me?”
Her eyes moved up to his. “Ty, of course I do.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t be here?”
Her jaw jumped, and she nodded. Anger flashed through him, because he’d been telling her for months that he was not her ex-fiancé.
“I mean, obviously I knew you’d be here,” she said. She rolled her eyes and huffed out her breath. “I don’t know. I was ready, and I just wanted to see you in your suit before everyone else.”
“It’s actually a tux,” Ty said. “It’s got tails and everything.” He flipped one out on the side and grinned at his almost-bride. She smiled back, and she’d painted her lips a light peach, which really fit her all-natural theme.
He drew her into his arms, thrilled with the way she sagged against him and ran one hand up his chest. It seemed she didn’t have anything else to say, and perhaps she’d simply needed to see him in the flesh.
He twined his fingers with hers, and they sat on the back seat of the golf cart together until their driver came out.
“Oh, you’re both here. I’m not late, am I?”
“No,” Ty said. “You’re right on time.”
“Well, let’s do this then.” The man wore a black suit, and he got behind the wheel of the golf cart and started it up.
“I just have to wait for radio confirmation from your coordinator,” he said.
Ty trusted that they knew what they were doing here, and he felt strong and masculine as Winnie leaned her head against his shoulder.
“Will you help me re-tie my bow when we get there?” she asked.
“Sure thing, sweetheart.”
“All right, is everyone in?” the man called.
Ty looked down and picked up one trailing end of Winnie’s bow and tucked it under her knee. “We’re ready.”
They’d already gotten directions from the driver, and Ty had ridden in many a golf cart in his life. The driver zipped them down the sidewalks and over to the Infinity Garden, which was surrounded by hedges and had a wide opening that a couple of cars could fit through.
One of the options for a ride had been a horse and carriage, but Winnie had opted for the cheaper golf cart, claiming she wanted people to see her pants as she walked down the aisle.
Ty suspected it might have more to do with cost than she’d let on, but again, he didn’t care about much of any of it, as long as Winnie was happy.
“All right, we’re here.” The driver brought the golf cart to a halt and twisted toward them. “Are you going to stand up?”
“Yes, I think so.” Winnie looked over to Ty. “Do you still want to stand on the back here?”
“Sure thing, sweetheart.” He got off the golf cart and helped Winnie to her feet.
When she was steady and holding the pole on her side, he stepped up onto the golf cart again, balancing himself with the pole on the side.
It was on his right side, so he could use it to balance with his good left side.
When the driver asked if they were ready, Winnie said, “Yep, I think we’re ready.”
With that, he entered the gardens and took them across perfectly manicured grass to the end of the tent. Ty stepped down and moved to help Winnie as their guests got to their feet.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Pastor Knowlton said into a mic. “Please stand for the bride and groom.”
Ty was used to people looking at him, having spent a lot of years in the spotlight.
This felt different as he offered Winnie his arm in front of everyone, and she willingly took it.
She beamed at him, and he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple just before the wedding party started parading along the back row of the tent.
They would meet in the middle where Ty and Winnie already stood, and then go down the aisle in front of them. Bryan led the way, and Ty grinned at him and moved over to hug him.
“Thanks, brother,” he said.
“You’re going to love being married,” his brother said.
Bryan met his wife Ellie in front of Winnie, and they linked arms and turned at the same time, heading down the aisle in the next moment.
Colt came next, and Ty laughed as he hugged his friend. Colt met Winnie’s sister, Taylor, and escorted her down the aisle.
Trap came next, and he grabbed onto both Winnie and Ty, his smile as wide as the sky. “It’s a great day to get married,” he said, and then he met one of Winnie’s coworkers, Jackie, and they went down the aisle.
Carolina and Hugh went next, and then Winnie’s brother, Brad, and his wife Steph after that.
With those five couples now walking down the length of two tents, Ty took a deep breath. “Last chance,” he murmured. “You sure you want to do this?”
“Yes.” Winnie looked at him. “Are you?”
“With all my heart.”
She smiled and reached up and wiped a corner of her eye. “Don’t make me cry yet.”
“Okay, don’t look at me,” he said, and together they faced the aisle stretching in front of them. It sure seemed like a long way to go, and Ty told himself to conquer it the way he had everything else in his life: one step at a time.
He took that first step, and Winnie moved with him, the two of them moving as a unit.
“Is she wearing pants?” he heard one woman whisper, but he kept his eyes forward, his goal singular, because yes, Winnie was wearing pants on her wedding day, and he loved her all the more for it.