“I’ll help Mam babysit,” Pax volunteered. “Alana has gone off on a road trip to Odessa with Matt, so I’m free until Sunday morning.”
“It’ll be good for Alana and Matt to have some time together before the wedding.” Iris sat down at the table. “Things are about to change drastically over there at the Bar C. It’s only been the two of them since Alana was ten years old, and now there’ll be a third in the mix.”
But you’re so right, Pax thought. A drastic change is definitely coming, and none of y’all have any idea how huge the change could very well be.
Chapter Seventeen
Soft rain was falling outside when Alana awoke on Sunday morning. The drops sliding down the window reminded her of all the tears she’d shed in the past few weeks. Determined that she wouldn’t cry anymore and that she’d be thankful for what time she had left with her father, she pushed back the covers and grabbed her robe from the back of a rocking chair. She was already in the bathroom when she realized that she wasn’t the least bit sick that morning.
She brushed her teeth and laid a hand on her flat stomach and then glanced through the open door at her wedding dress, hanging on the back of the closet door. The preacher hadn’t known how right he’d been when he had talked about tangled webs. If she hadn’t asked Pax to pretend that they were getting married, none of this would be happening. What she’d created by telling her dad that she and Pax were involved would take years and years to unknot but seeing him so happy made it all worthwhile.
The smell of bacon and coffee hit her when she reached the bottom of the stairs, and she could hear her father humming before she reached the kitchen. She headed straight for the coffeepot and poured herself a mugful.
“You’re in a good mood this morning,” she said.
“Why wouldn’t I be? We had a fantastic road trip, bought two good bulls that are going to bring new blood to our line, and today I get to have Sunday dinner with good friends. Life is good,” he replied.
“What can I do to help with breakfast?” she asked.
“Not a thing,” Matt answered. “Sit down and enjoy your coffee. Bacon is done and the waffle iron is hot. Breakfast will be on the table in five minutes. Do you realize that two weeks from right now, you’ll be waking up with your brand-new husband in the honeymoon suite of a hotel in Amarillo? I arranged a little surprise for you.”
“Another one?” she asked.
“Yep, but you know how hard it is for me to keep a secret so…” He shrugged as he poured batter into the waffle iron. “I’ve chartered a private plane to take y’all to Colorado so you won’t have to spend the first day of your marriage driving.”
Alana opened her mouth to argue, to remind him that she might need to get home in a hurry if he started feeling bad, but then she clamped it shut. If he could charter a plane to take them to Colorado, then if it became necessary, she could do the same to get back home. “That’s so sweet of you, Daddy. You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“If I haven’t,” he said with a grin, “I promise I’ll do my best to do so before the weddin’. Let’s keep this our little secret so we can at least surprise Pax with it.”
“I hope he’s not afraid of flying,” she laughed.
* * *
Alana remembered her comment about Paxton’s possible fear of flying when the choir director at church that morning asked everyone to turn their hymnals to “I’ll Fly Away.” She’d only flown a few times in her life, and she loved being as high as the clouds and higher. But usually she and her dad drove to rodeos or cattle sales, and more than likely, they would have a trailer hitched up to their truck with either a horse in it or plans to bring some sort of animal back with them.
“Have you ever flown anywhere?” she whispered in Pax’s ear.
He shook his head. “Nope, always had too much gear.”
“Shhh…” Iris poked him on the shoulder from the pew right behind them.
He gave Alana a slow, sexy wink and gently squeezed her hand. She nudged him with her shoulder and started singing again. When the song ended, the