said it before, but I’m so happy about this wedding and knowing that y’all are going to be together.”
Pax shot a knowing look at Alana, but she turned her head and looked out the side window. Big black clouds rolled in from the southwest. A long streak of lightning flashed through the sky, and a roll of thunder followed right on its tail. Pax’s grandpa had always told him to count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder, and that would tell how many minutes he had to get inside before the storm hit. If that was the truth, then they barely had time to get parked and into the café without getting soaked.
“Looks like we’re in for a frog strangler,” Matt said when Pax parked the truck right in front of the café.
“Kind of does, don’t it?” Pax agreed. “Y’all go on in and I’ll get the truck parked and join you in the café.”
“You best hurry,” Matt said as he slammed the door shut.
Alana didn’t even look at him, but slid out of the passenger seat and hurried toward the café.
Something told him that whatever squall was boiling in Alana’s heart was going to be much bigger than what the weather could deliver that day.
* * *
Matt was already heading back to the table where Iris, Bridget, Maverick and Laela waited when Alana got into the café. She took two steps to follow him, but Danielle touched her arm and whispered, “I’m warning you that Rachel is really angry at you for not asking her to do something at the wedding. She called me on my way from the church to here.”
“Well, maybe I should ask her to be on bathroom duty. She could hand out pretty monogrammed paper towels for the ladies to dry their hands on,” Alana said with a saccharine smile.
Danielle giggled. “Are you really going to have someone do that?”
“Nope, but it would be a good job for her. Here comes Pax. Thanks for the heads-up,” Alana said.
Pax came through the door and made his way right to her. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and said, “Glad y’all got inside before it started. The way the wind is picking up, it could be quite a storm out there in a few minutes. I’d hate for you to get your pretty dress all wet, darlin’.”
The heat of his arm resting south of her shoulder made her angry. She didn’t want him to have that kind of effect on her emotions. What she wanted was for him to agree with her about putting an end to all the lies and start telling the truth. She didn’t want to talk about baby names, not when she wasn’t sure whether she was pregnant or had cancer. The latter would mean that she’d probably die young and never have children, so why pick out names for children she might never have.
“I took the privilege of ordering us all sweet tea,” Iris said. “Our waitress will be back for our orders in a few minutes. I swear to God, the servers in this place get younger every year. The one who’s waiting on us can’t even be out of high school.”
“No, she’s not,” Matt said. “That’s Doc Wilson’s granddaughter, and she’s been working here all summer.”
“Well, how about that,” Iris crowed. “I like to see kids work. It teaches them responsibility. Now tell us what y’all were really arguing about at the church.” Her grin faded as she stared across the round table at Alana and Pax.
“They’re trying to decide whether they should start a family right after they get married or wait a year or two,” Matt answered. “I already got it out of them, and guess what, Iris? When they have a son, they’re going to name him Thomas Matthew, and when they have a daughter, her middle name is going to be Joy.”
Iris’s smile was so bright that it lit up the room. No one around the table even thought about the rain pouring down outside. “That’s the most precious thing I’ve heard in months.” She sighed. “Your grandpa would be so proud.”
“Whoa!” Maverick threw up both hands. “Bridget and I were going to wait to tell all y’all, but if you’re stealing my boy name, then we might as well let the cat out of the bag right now. We’re expecting a second child in November. And we’ve decided if it’s a boy, we’d like to use the name Thomas.”