“So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” Trudy asked. “I’m planning to make breakfast and a light lunch. Rehearsal dinner will be tomorrow evening at the church. Iris has a caterer lined up for that.”
“We have a lady bringing in the stuff to do mani-pedis in the morning,” Alana answered. “Then in the afternoon a massage therapist is coming to give us all a full-body massage. Then we do a rehearsal at six o’clock and the dinner afterward. I’m getting nervous thinking about how fast the days are going.”
“That’s completely normal,” Trudy said. “I’d worry more about you if you didn’t get a little bit of bride jitters.”
“Yep,” Iris said. “Do you think that massage lady can work miracles and rub a few of these wrinkles out of my face?”
“Who said it’s a massage lady?” Alana giggled and remembered teasing Pax about chaps. “Maybe it’s a cowboy wearing nothing but chaps and boots.”
“Oh, my!” Iris laid a hand on her chest. “If he’s going to do that, then I’ll be last.”
“Why’s that?” Alana asked.
“By then, he’ll be too tired to laugh at the way gravity has claimed most of my skin,” Iris answered.
“It’s a middle-aged lady who’s been doing this for years,” Alana confessed. “All of y’all’s husbands would kill me if I brought a hunky man in here to massage us.”
“They might at that.” Retta yawned. “But what a way to go. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m taking my daughter, Miss Cranky Pants Annie, up to bed. It’s early, but it was a long drive out here, and we’ve got a big day tomorrow. Lord, I’m lookin’ forward to having my nails done and getting a massage, even if it won’t be by a sexy cowboy. I would have driven all the way to California for that.”
“Me too.” Claire looked down at her nails. “It’s so sweet of you to plan something like this for all of us.”
“Daddy and the wedding planner did it,” Alana admitted. “And Saturday morning, the hairdresser will be here to take care of all of us.”
“Holy smokes!” Dixie exclaimed. “I hope someday I can have a wedding like this.”
“What you want most,” Claire said, “is a good marriage like we’ve all got and what Alana and Pax will have.”
“You got that right,” Dixie said.
* * *
The barn had been transformed into a fairy-tale setting by Friday evening when the entire wedding party arrived. Dixie, bless her heart, had volunteered to help out by staying at the ranch house and watching the children for both the rehearsal and the dinner afterward. Trudy had insisted on staying late to help, and Billy Ray had popped in at the last minute to see if his mama needed him for anything.
Iris volunteered to stand in for Alana during the rehearsal, since Matt kept to the idea that it was bad luck for the bride to walk down the aisle before the actual ceremony. Everything had pretty much been set in stone before Landon showed up on their doorstep, but Iris had insisted that he have a little part, so Alana asked him if he would do the scripture reading for the preacher.
Pax and the preacher walked down the aisle and took their places on the stage. The music began and one by one the bridesmaids came from the back of the barn, each on the arm of her husband. They slowly came down the aisle formed by the placement of a couple of dozen folding chairs reserved for the closest of their friends. They separated at the top of the steps with the bridesmaids going to the left and the groomsmen to the right.
The first run-through was a little off with the music, so Crystal insisted that they give it another try. “I want the music to end at the exact moment the last bridesmaid takes her place.”
They went through it again, and Crystal clapped her hands. “Perfect. Do it exactly like that tomorrow evening. The place will look even better for the wedding when the flowers and the food are here.”
“Yeah, and the bride will look like she stepped into a time machine and will be a helluva lot younger when you see her in her pretty dress,” Iris said. “Before we leave, would any of the rest of you like to walk down the aisle with Matt? It’ll do wonders for your looks,” she joked.
Yes, Alana thought, I’d like to step into your time machine and go back to my teenage years when I didn’t want to spend time with my daddy. I’d like a redo on all the Saturday nights when I went to the Wild Cowboy instead of staying home with him.
“No takers?” Iris chuckled. “Well, then let’s all drive to the church fellowship hall and have some dinner. The caterers have it ready for us, and, Alana, darlin’, it’s bad luck for the groom to see you after midnight. So that’s y’all’s curfew tonight.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Pax saluted and then stepped off the stage to hold out a hand to his fiancée, who had been sitting on the bottom row of the bleachers.
She put her hand in his, stood up, and asked, “Do you have your vows written?”
“Yep, and memorized,” he answered. “How about you?”
“Haven’t even started them,” she answered. “I’m worried about making vows in front of God, the preacher, and my daddy that I don’t intend to keep.”
He gave a kiss on the forehead. “Just speak from your heart.”
“Good advice, but it’s hard to follow,” she said.
* * *
Pax kissed Alana good night at the ranch house door and headed over to the Callahan Ranch. There would be cowboys in every bedroom, sacked out on the sofa in the living room, and even a couple in sleeping bags on the living room floor. He went over his vows as he drove home, went straight to his room, took a quick shower, and got into bed.
He closed his eyes, and hundreds of pictures flashed through his mind, beginning with his first solid memory of Alana. They couldn’t have been more than three years old, and she was as tall as he was even then. Mam had left him in the nursery at church that Sunday morning. Alana was sitting in a small rocking chair with a stuffed horse in her arms, singing “Jesus Loves Me” to it. The thought of someone holding a stuffed horse had seemed strange to him, but he liked the idea that she was being nice to the little brown animal.
His next memory was of when they were in first grade, and they flashed on through the years until he got to the ones they’d made that very night. “I’ve been in love with her my whole life, and I’m just now realizing it,” he said out loud.
He sat straight up in bed and held his head in his hand as his thoughts swirled around so fast they made him dizzy. “I love Alana Carey. I want to marry her for real. I want to have a family with her and grow old with her,” he muttered. He looked at the clock beside his bed—five minutes past eleven. He couldn’t write anything in the stars in fifty-five minutes. Hell, he couldn’t make even a simple wire halo in that amount of time.
“But I can speak my mind,” he whispered as he picked up his phone and sent her a text: Meet me at the tack room?
One came back immediately: On my way.
Most of the guys were snoring when he slipped out the kitchen door and jogged across the pasture. He put a hand on a fence post, sailed over the top strand of barbed wire, and was out of breath when he reached the barn. Stopping for a minute to catch his breath, he checked the time again. He had forty-five minutes now to convince her his love was real. After all, it would be bad luck if he saw her on their wedding day before she walked down the aisle.
She met him right inside the barn doors. “Please don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind.”
He put his arms around her and drew her close to his body. “Not one bit. I had to see you before midnight. I had to tell you something, and it can’t be done over the phone or by a text.” He held her out at arm’s length and gazed at her worried eyes. “I love you, Alana Carey.”
She gasped. “What are you talking about?”
“I loved you when I was three years old, maybe even earlier, but that’s my first memory of you. You had on a blue-and-white-checked dress, and you were rocking a little stuffed pony in the church nursery. I’ve loved you our whole lives, and I can’t tell y
ou the exact moment that I fell in love with you, but it’s been sometime over this past month. You are the kindest, sweetest woman I’ve ever known—and the sassiest, most determined, and the most bullheaded.”
“At least you aren’t wearing rose-colored glasses and seeing only my good side,” she joked.
“I know you, and you know me. We both see things as they are.” He stopped long enough to kiss her. Could he really do this? Was he ready for a lifetime commitment?
When the kiss ended, he took both her hands in his and dropped down on one knee. “I love you. I’m in love with you. Let’s make tomorrow real. Let’s grow old together. Will you marry me, Alana Joy?”
She knelt before him, and he was afraid she was going to refuse until he saw the tears streaming down her face. “Yes. Yes, I will. I love you so much, Pax, and I’m in love with you, too.”
He took her in his arms and held her, both of them on their knees and his tears blending with hers. “Cowboys aren’t supposed to cry,” he said, “but, darlin’, you’ve made me the happiest man in the world tonight.”
“Strong cowboys have strong emotions,” she whispered as she brought his lips to hers.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I’m getting married today,” Alana squealed when she awoke on Saturday morning. She threw off the covers and sent Pax a text: We’re getting married today.
She got a message back with a dozen heart emojis and one word: Yes!
“Did I hear my new granddaughter yelling in here?” Iris carried breakfast into her room on a tray. “She sounded happy about something that’s happenin’ today.”
“I’m in love with Pax,” she said.
“Well, I would certainly hope so, since you’ll be married to him in about twelve hours.” Iris set the tray on the bed. “I wanted to do something really special for you today to welcome you into my family, so I made my cinnamon rolls for breakfast. You’re gettin’ these fresh from the oven, and there’s plenty more in the kitchen for the rest of the girls.”
“Oh, Iris.” Alana opened her arms for a hug. “I’ve always envied Pax because he had you, and now you’ll be my grandmother too, and our baby will have a great-grandmother. That’s so exciting.”
Iris bent and gave Alana a hug. “I’m a blessed woman to have both you and Bridget in my family and to see my boys both happy. Now eat up, and let’s get this show on the road. We’ve got a lot to do today. The hairdresser will be here in an hour, and I expect it will take her several hours to take care of all of us.”
She started toward the door and turned to say, “Trudy said to tell you that she’s asked Rachel to help her during the wedding and for you not to worry about her one bit.”
“What’s Trudy going to be doing that she needs help?” Alana asked.
“She’s volunteered to keep the nursery for all the little children,” Iris said with a smile.
“Does Rachel know what she’s going to be doing?”
“I have no idea.” The smile turned into a giggle. “That’s one way for her to keep that woman away from Billy Ray, isn’t it?”
“Yep.” Alana took a first bite of the warm, gooey cinnamon roll and moaned. “If I get married every day, will you make these for me? Matter of fact, there’s lots of room in this house. You can come and live with me and Pax.”
“Only if you marry my grandson every day,” Iris answered. “And, honey, I’d love to come visit y’all, but I need my own space, like you and Paxton need yours. Especially, during this first year of marriage. Always remember, though, I’m less than an hour away if you need to talk to me.”
“Thank you, Iris,” Alana said.
“From now on, that will be Mam to you, not Iris,” she said.
“Thank you most of all for that.” Alana nodded and was happy that she could truly call her Mam—and that it wouldn’t be a big fat lie.
She took a picture of the cinnamon roll with her phone and sent it to Pax with a note: Iris says that I can call her Mam.
She got back a picture of a dirty plate and a text that read: I had three for breakfast. I love you!
* * *
Pax expected the day to drag by like a turtle on crutches, but he was wrong. After Matt and Lucas had served up a big breakfast for all the guys in the Bar C bunkhouse, Matt told them all what they were going to do that morning. Lucas would give the other guys a tour of the ranch, but he and Paxton had business in town.
“You need me to go with you?” Landon asked. “He might have a hangin’ tree between here and there. You could need some help escapin’.”
“Don’t think so,” Matt said with a grin. “I been tryin’ to get this cowboy in my family for years. Neither he nor my stubborn daughter would listen to anything any one of us had to say. We’ll be back by noon and we’ll be bringing in fried chicken from a little café in town for dinner. If y’all have any ranchin’-type advice, tell Lucas. We’re always on the look out for ways to improve.”
“Thank God, you weren’t arranging a golf game this morning,” Cade said.
“Why in the hell would I do that?” Matt asked.
“We read somewhere that that’s what some groomsmen do on the day of the wedding so they won’t get in the way, but we’d rather get a tour of your ranch,” Levi said.
“Speak for yourselves,” Landon piped up. “Next to surfing, I like golf pretty damn well. Maybe we could turn at least one pasture into a practice green, you know, a nice level area to tee up and flags to tell us how many yards our drives made. I could give the cowboys some lessons.”
Lucas shook a finger at him. “You want to play golf, you can hitch a ride up to Amarillo. You want to learn more about ranchin’, you can stick around here. Now get out there on one of them four-wheelers and let’s go take a tour of this whole place.”
“Yes, sir,” Landon said as he followed the other cowboys outside.
Eight engines roared into life, and the machines kicked up a fair amount of dust when the cowboys followed Lucas’s lead. Pax would have far rather been with them as going to town to talk to a lawyer. He had a pretty good idea that Matt was going to have him sign a prenup that said if he and Alana ever divorced, he would only take away from the Bar C Ranch what he’d brought to it. That, of course, would be only his clothing and his pickup truck. He was more than willing to sign such an agreement, but he wondered if Alana had anything to do with the idea.
The ride into town took a few minutes, but Pax wasn’t worried a bit. He wasn’t going to divorce Alana, but if they ever did, he wasn’t the kind of man to take what wasn’t his to begin with. The only other vehicle in the parking lot at the lawyer’s office was an older model pickup. Pax pulled in beside it and turned to Matt. “This is Saturday. Randall isn’t open today.”
“He is for me.” Matt got out of the truck and started toward the small building.
Randall Marshall stepped out onto the porch and waved. “I’m all ready for you. Come right in. Want a cup of coffee?”
“Would love one.” Matt took the steps one at a time and held on tightly to the railing. “Me and Pax both take it black.”
“Does this visit have anything to do with a prenup?” Pax got ahead of Matt and opened the door for him.
“Nope,” Matt answered. “But then maybe it does in a way, since you’ll be signing the papers before your wedding tonight.”
Two cups of coffee were already sitting on the edge of the lawyer’s desk. Matt sank down in a buttery soft leather chair, picked up a cup, and took a sip. “So you’ve got the papers all drawn up like I asked? Lucas is to have the inheritance that we talked about and a twenty-thousand-dollar bonus for every year he stays on at the ranch and helps these two newlyweds out.”
“It’s all right here, like you want it,” Randall told him. “Lucas gets his payments in a lump sum. The ranch is to be jointly owned by Paxton and Alana Joy Callahan, and a trust fund will be set up for any future grandchildren to be used for their education. Alana Joy signed the papers this morning, and all I
need is yours and Paxton’s signatures.”
“What if we were to split up or get a divorce?” Pax asked.
“It won’t happen. I can see how much y’all love each other.” Matt signed the papers and slid them over to Pax. “You told me that you’d love and take care of her, and a cowboy always keeps his word.”
“But, Matt, I’m half owner of the Callahan Ranch and Maverick needs me.” Pax held the pen over the papers but couldn’t make himself put his name on them. He couldn’t forsake his brother. He didn’t need to be half owner of the ranch—that was Alana’s inheritance, not his.
“A man can’t ride two horses with one ass,” Matt said. “You’ll have responsibilities at the Bar C. Lucas should have retired ten years ago. You can’t do justice to either place if you divide all your time between them. And Alana can’t do everything by herself, especially not after the baby gets here.”
“I know I’m late to the party, Matt, but I wasn’t payin’ a bit of attention to the time.” Iris pushed her way inside the room. “I’ve been tryin’ to get you all alone for a week to talk to you about this, Pax, but something was always coming up.” She sat down in the third chair and laid a hand on her grandson’s arm. “I want you to sign your half of the Callahan Ranch over to Maverick. We’re going to turn the tack room into a little living space, so in the next month, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’ll have it all finished by the first of July, and then Billy Ray is going to live in it and take over as foreman for Maverick.”
“I need a minute to think,” Pax whispered.
“What’s there to think about?” Iris asked. “You’ll have a ranch, your brother will have a ranch, and I’m putting half the fair market price of the ranch into a trust fund for your new baby to use for her college expenses,” Iris said. “That only seems fair to me.”
“Why don’t you put that money back for Laela and whatever other children Maverick and Bridget might have?” Matt suggested. “I’ve taken care of the grandchildren that will be raised on the Bar C.”
Cowboy Strong - Includes a bonus novella Page 24