Lucky Forever - Cee Bowerman Page 0,29

her to see who has her back now and know that she’s not alone anymore.”

Lout nodded slowly and smiled his evil grin that I knew meant he was thinking of doing damage to someone somewhere.

“That’s his caveman way of saying, ‘Welcome to the family!’” Willow laughed. “You’ve picked the right bunch - the women in this family can throw a blowout wedding with only a day or two’s planning. We’ve had experience - first with my sister and then with me.”

“I have no idea where to start!” Sierra whispered. “I thought this was going to be in the courthouse with just a few witnesses. I only have a few people I’d like to invite, but I guess Rowdy has enough to fill up the space on my side of the aisle, too.”

“More than enough!” I laughed. “We’re going to take a pre-honeymoon with the kiddos and head to Austin, then we’ll be back for the wedding.”

“How are you going to plan a wedding while you’re on vacation?” Willow asked.

“Kari,” I smiled. “Between her and Sarah along with the other girls, we’ll be set.”

“True,” Lout laughed. “Kari is a force to be reckoned with. Add Sarah to the mix and those two could take over the world.”

“I’ve already sent Kari a text. She and Sarah are both meeting us at Sam and Carlie’s house in just a little bit so that we can iron out the details,” I told the two. “We’ll get word to you about when and where as soon as we know something.”

“You guys go ahead and I’ll have Reagan bring the girls to you there when they’re finished,” Marcus told me. “I need to wrangle those boys of mine and spend some quality Lego time.”

“Thanks for your help, Marcus,” Sierra smiled and stuck her hand out to shake his. He laughed and shocked her by pulling her in for a hug.

“Alright, Cocoa, let’s head to the house before the little ones have Emerald pulling out that hair I worked so hard on yesterday,” Willow smiled and hugged first Sierra and then me. “Welcome to the family, Sierra. I’ll get in touch with you soon and invite you over to a child-free girl night at Mom’s house as soon as you two get settled. You can dish the dirt on this hottie you've got here.”

“Get in the car, perv,” Lout said as he pretended to push Willow away. He shook my hand before he followed his wife to the front door. As he held it open for her, we could hear him say, “We’re going to stop somewhere and have a little alone time before we head back to the minions. I need a little vanilla sweetness.”

“Those two,” Marcus shook his head. “I’ll talk to you guys later on in the week and I’ll take care of all the other details while you’re gone.”

We walked out the front door just as Lout and Willow roared off on their motorcycle and I saw Sierra watch them until they turned at the end of the block.

“They’re both so sweet,” Sierra told me as I opened the door for her. “Your friends are so nice.”

I shut the door and just shook my head as I walked around the truck. I’d have to tell Lout that my wife thought he was sweet. He’d get a good laugh out of that one.

9.

SIERRA

“Do you hear that?” Carlie asked as she leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling on the sunporch of Lisa and Zeke’s house where we were having our first ‘planning meeting’ about the wedding. “It’s so quiet.”

Kari laughed at her as she refilled her shot glass with more tequila.

“The terrible twos are going to kill me,” Carlie moaned.

“The threenager stage is worse,” Lisa complained. “Brighten looked at me the other day and said, ‘Woman, don’t even think about it.’ Kale had to feel some pain with the vibes I was sending his way.”

“He would have just laughed at you and high-fived her behind your back,” Kari told her sister-in- law. “Now, stop bitching and get to drinking. We’ve got a wedding to plan.”

Sarah pushed a spiral notebook in front of me and handed me a pen.

“Answer the questionnaire, please, ma’am,” Sarah said in what could only be described as her customer service voice and smiled sweetly at me. “We’ll get you set up and married in a flash.”

“A questionnaire?” I asked as I looked down at the paper in front of me.

“Things like sizes, favorite colors, favorite flowers - all