Rugged Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,86

weren’t known for being terribly quiet when they got together. Because of that, no one paid much attention to Dallas as he entered the kitchen.

Thomas stayed right by his side, but Remmy went right into the fray, catching the attention of Nick, who scooped her up and handed her a baby carrot. She smiled at him, and he her, and Dallas was so glad he’d landed at Hope Eternal Ranch. Everyone here treated him like family, and they’d accepted him and his kids into their fold, no questions asked.

“Hiding out at the back of the room?” Nate asked, settling against the wall next to Dallas.

“Mm, yep.” Dallas looked around at the other men in the kitchen, and he was surprised they’d been left alone with so much tasty-looking food on the trays littering the counter. No one tried to take any of the desserts though, and a roar rose up when Ted walked into the room, wearing a handsome tuxedo—and a cowboy hat.

Dallas grinned at him, and he waited his turn to hug Ted and wish him well. Once he’d gone around the room, he lifted both hands above his head. “All right, all right. Settle down, you lot. Are we ready?”

Another cheer went up, and Dallas took his son’s hand and wove through the bodies to the back door. Nate and Connor joined him, as they’d be the first two to walk out behind Ted. They weren’t having a very traditional wedding, just as Nate hadn’t. At least they were having their meal after the nuptials had been completed.

Ted squeezed past Dallas and Nate and opened the back door. He went out onto the deck and looked left, toward the West Wing. The men continued to line up behind Dallas, and while the kitchen here was fairly big, he was starting to feel claustrophobic.

“Here we go, boys,” Ted said over his shoulder. They quieted down, and Ted moved forward, freeing up some space for Nate to move into. Dallas followed him, still holding onto his son’s hand.

“Remmy,” he said over his shoulder, and the little girl skipped toward him. He took her hand too, just before they stepped onto the deck.

Ted kept his pace even and strong, and Dallas watched as a line of women walked across the cement and toward the Annex from the West Wing. Emma led them, carrying a massive bouquet of flowers in pale pink, coral, and yellow.

Ted met her at the bottom of the steps, and they linked arms. Right behind them walked Missy, along with the man and woman that had been raising her while Emma kept her hidden from her crime lord father.

Ginger was third in line, and she met Nate with a grin and a high five for Connor. They linked arms too, not breaking the processional as they continued across the grass toward the cabin where Emma lived.

A beautiful carved altar waited for them, half of the wood cleared of bark, polished, and gleaming in the spring sunlight. The other parts were still wild, with craggly bark where someone had stuck in a few more flowers that matched the ones in Emma’s bouquet.

The pastor stood there, and empty rows of chairs waited for all the guests to arrive.

Dallas reached the bottom of the steps and looked at Jess. His beautiful, patient Jess. He was nowhere near ready to propose to her, but they’d been getting along really well in the past few weeks since he’d dressed up all her horses and used them to make up with her.

They’d gone to see the house he and the children had found, and she liked it as much as they did. Dallas had put in an offer on the house, and it had been accepted. He’d close in another ten days, and then, finally, he felt like a new brand of normal could begin.

Even as he thought it, he resisted. There was no normal. No set date for when it should begin. No event that would mark the end of abnormal and the beginning of something new. He just had to keep living each and every day to the best of his ability.

A wedding and marriage had been implied when they’d walked through the house with Jess, but he hadn’t bought a ring yet. He was still getting to know Jess and all the things she liked and didn’t like.

Ted and Emma reached the altar, and the rest of the crowd flowed around them, offering congratulations and shoulder pats as they did. They