it out to the porch. A full lover’s moon sat in the night sky like a queen on her throne with a gazillion stars twinkling around her like her adoring subjects. She sent Pax a text to ask if he was awake.
His reply came back immediately: Yes, got too much on my mind to sleep.
Her thumbs were a blur as she typed: Want to call it off?
Her phone rang in seconds.
“Hello, Pax,” she said. “What’s keeping you awake?”
“I’m worried that I might mess up and say or do something wrong. Matt would be devastated if he found out, and now we need to plan a honeymoon, right?”
“Only a long weekend one, and we’re planning it to please Daddy”—she paused—“but by then we won’t even have to go on one.”
“There’s a mountain resort not far from Pueblo, Colorado, that might be nice,” he suggested.
“Yes!” she said without hesitation.
“Then I’ll get the arrangements made,” Pax said. “There’s a four-day package and a seven-day.”
“Four,” she answered. “And we can drive rather than fly. I’ve been up there with Daddy on a Cattlemen’s Convention. It’s beautiful this time of year, and we can be home in half a day if he gets sick. I’ve read all I could find about his illness. From what the papers he brought home from the doctor’s say, his memory and motor skills should be fine, but he’ll get to where he sleeps more and more. With the medication they gave him, the tumor might stop growing, but even if it does, then six months is all they’ve given him.” She paused.
“We’ll hope that he stays well until this wedding is over.”
His calm tone comforted her. Who’d have thought that a big strapping cowboy like Paxton Callahan would have such a soft heart? She was so lucky that he was her friend and that he’d jumped right in when she asked him to marry her.
“Did you decide on how many women you’re going to have in the wedding party?”
“Yep,” she said. “If Daddy wants a big wedding, then by damn, he’ll get one. I’m having six.” She named them off. “I don’t know any of them as well as I know their husbands. I’ve only met Levi and Claire at a couple of weddings, and Rose adores her.”
“That’s great,” Pax replied. “Now I can ask Levi, Tag, Hud, Justin, Cade, and Maverick and not have to choose between them. They can each come down the aisle with their wives, right?”
“Sure thing.” She didn’t care how the wedding planner set it all up, so long as her father had a good time.
“Dealing with grief and all this at the same time must be tough,” Pax said.
“It’s sure not easy,” she sighed.
“I can be over there in five minutes if I jump the fence,” he said.
“I’m on the swing in my nightshirt and shorts,” she told him.
“I’ll be there in four,” he laughed.
“I’ll have a beer waiting for you.” She ended the call.
She took a minute to actually put on a pair of shorts before she went to the kitchen and got a beer out of the fridge. She was surprised to see him already sitting on the swing when she returned to the porch.
“That was fast.” She handed him a beer and sat down on the other end of the swing.
“I was motivated.” He smiled and took a couple of long gulps. “It don’t take long to get here when I come across the pasture. There’s a nice breeze this evening, and the moon is throwing good light, so it was a pleasant walk. Are you okay? You sounded a little frazzled on the phone.”
“I am,” she answered. “A couple of days ago the only thing on my mind was whether I’d go to the Wild Cowboy tomorrow night. I was listening to music while I took a bath and Vince Gill started singing ‘Go Rest High on That Mountain.’ Ever since it came out, Dad has said that he wants the song sung at his funeral, and I don’t know if I can bear it.”
“I’ll be right there with you, I promise,” he said. “I’m gonna be right beside you through all of this, Alana.”
She moved over closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. God, but it felt good to have someone to lean on and share her burden with. “This is one screwed-up mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. Planning a wedding one minute, and an annulment the next, and a funeral somewhere in between,” she