him and Oakley and their children. “Bear’s family will all be at the firepit. We called Simone Walker, and she spread the word through their family.”
“Ranger,” Etta said. “That’s too much.”
“Oh, it doesn’t stop there,” he said. “Duke invited his family. Libby called her mama.” He grinned at her. “I think you forgot who Bear was. He put it on the ranch owner’s text, and well, the boys from Three Rivers are on their way. Gavin Redd and his family are coming, along with some of their cowboys. Montana’s aunt and uncle have been there for an hour, tending to the campfire for Ward.”
He nodded toward the exit. “Come on. You never get the credit you deserve, and you said you wanted this.”
Etta studied the carpet at her feet and shook her head. “What’s wrong with me, Range?” She lifted her eyes to her brother’s with as much bravery as she could. “Honestly, now.”
“Etta,” he said quietly, but with plenty of chastisement. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“There must be,” she insisted. “If I knew what it was, I would fix it.” She looked away and brushed at her eyes. “I would try, at least. Maybe it’s an unfixable problem.”
“There is no unfixable problem with you,” he said, sliding his hand through her elbow. “Come on now. We’re not going to leave you alone for a single moment tonight. You don’t need to worry.”
Etta went with him, but her heart beat strangely. “You’re not going to leave me alone for a moment tonight, because August is going to be there, isn’t he?”
“I mean, Ward sent it out on the ranch group,” Ranger said. “So August’ll have gotten the memo. He won’t come.” Ranger led her through the doorway and into the living room. To her left, Ward, Ace, and Ida waited right along the back of the couch. Brady even wore his police uniform, and he gave her a kind smile.
“If there’s a problem tonight,” he said. “I’ll take care of it for you, Etta.”
She smiled at him and went around the back of the couch to give him a hug. “Thank you, Officer.” She hoped he knew it was for everything he’d put up with over the past few weeks she’d stayed in his guest bedroom. Of course, he and Ida had gone out on several fun dates while she babysat their twins, so he probably couldn’t complain too much.
“There’s not going to be any problem tonight,” Ward said, taking his daughter from Dot. “Everything is over there, and a bunch of people have arrived already. It’s just a walk over.” He took Etta’s hand and squeezed it. “Okay?”
“Is there food?” she asked. “I haven’t eaten much today.”
“There’s food,” Oakley said with a smile. “I think you might’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with.”
“Been down in town too long,” Ace said, grinning too.
“I tried to do just a campfire dessert bar,” Dot said. “But Holly Ann insisted on food.”
“A party needs food,” Holly Ann said. “I’m not going to apologize for that. Plus.” She hit the last word hard. “Bob and Jackie brought a ton of barbecue, and the Bellamores brought an enormous suckling pig. You can’t blame me for having food.”
Dot laughed, and Etta knew no one was unhappy about the party. “I was teasing,” she said. “Though I do think we tend to complicate the menu in this family.”
“Oh, no one’s denying that,” Ida said. “Who’s going to get up on a chair and explain it all tonight?” She grinned around at everyone, and Etta’s heart filled with love once, twice, three times.
“I love you guys,” she said, her voice breaking. She opened her arms, and her siblings and their spouses all stepped into her, engulfing her right in the center of all of them. She told herself this was enough. They loved her, and they would never give up on her. She wasn’t a replacement for them, and she never would be.
“We love you, Etta,” a few of them chorused, with more saying, “I love you,” and “You’re my favorite.”
She held onto Ace’s shoulders tightly on her left, and Ida on her right. She wished she was strong enough to weather this break-up on her own, but the fact was, she wasn’t. She needed someone to come to her house and take her for a walk, the way she’d done for Preacher last year. She needed someone to remind her to test her blood sugar, the way Ward did for Dot. She needed someone to reassure her that