McKee!” At the minister’s words, the congregation gathered on the lawn erupted in cheers. Daniel stole another kiss from his new bride, then took her hand to walk her down the grassy aisle.
Jess watched, tears in her eyes, as Hayley stopped at the end of the aisle to wait for Daniel’s girls to catch up. In their flower girl dresses, Gracie and Bryn were the picture of sweetness, and both of them leaped into Daniel’s arms as they reached him. The photographer clicked madly, trying to capture the exuberance of the moment, and Jess couldn’t wait to see how the pictures came out.
“Wow.” Kyla wiped her eyes. “And I thought my wedding was perfect.”
“It was. It was perfect for you and Decker. Today was Hayley’s perfect.”
“She looks so beautiful. Did you ever think—”
“No. None of us ever thought we’d see her walk down an aisle without a gun to her back.” Jess laughed softly. “And look how wrong we were.”
Hayley and Daniel headed for the main lodge, and once they were clear of the aisle, Decker put his arm out for Kyla. “Come on, Mrs. Driscoll. Our turn.” Then he kissed her playfully before they headed down the aisle.
Jess took a breath. She and Cole were next. She hadn’t even spoken to him since his cabin last night, and the unanswered questions had been flipping through her mind ever since. During the rehearsal dinner he’d kept busy with Daniel and Decker, and when he wasn’t with them, he’d been goofing around with Bryn and Gracie. Jess had tried not to believe he was consciously avoiding her—but after a point, it seemed obvious that he was.
And then, when the rehearsal was done, the guys had gone off somewhere to do some sort of night-before-the-wedding ritual, and she and the girls had headed to her cabin. This morning had been all about the wedding, so she hadn’t even laid eyes on Cole until she saw him waiting at the altar in his tux.
Standing there now at the head of the aisle, he was impossibly gorgeous, impossibly perfect. His hair was neat, his Stetson was absent, and even his shave was fresh. His bright blue eyes peered at her from under impossibly thick lashes, and he crooked his arm in a clownish fashion.
“Cowgirl?”
She smiled tentatively as she slid her hand around his elbow, then looked up at him. She’d always laughed bitterly at phrases like he took my breath away, but right now, in this moment, she honestly had to remind herself to inhale.
“Are you afraid I’m going to mimic the other two and kiss you in front of all of these people?”
“Desperately, yes.”
He nodded ruefully. “Well, since this is the kind of thing that got Hayley and Daniel into this unfortunate situation, I’ll try to resist.”
“Thank you.”
“Welcome.” He leaned down, mouth close to her ear. “When I kiss you, I’ll make sure it’s in a very quiet, very private spot.” He pulled away, then leaned close again. “And I know I still owe you an answer from last night. I promise we’ll talk about it. But today, I just want to have things be about Hayley and Daniel, okay?”
She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“Ready to experience a reception with the best wedding date ever?”
“You’re impossible.”
“You’ve mentioned that. Come on, cowgirl. The dancing awaits.”
They started walking down the aisle, and as Jess looked around, she saw lots of familiar faces. Just like Kyla’s wedding last summer, it looked like the entire town of Carefree had been invited.
When they reached the end of the aisle, Cole took her hand inside his and raised it to his lips. “Thanks for agreeing to be my date.”
Jess smiled. “Thanks for asking me. Even though I was number ten on your list.”
“Number one. We discussed this.”
“Mm-hmm.” She cocked her eyebrow in challenge.
“I can see I still have some work to do in order to convince you that you’re actually tops on my list.”
“Maybe.” Her stomach hummed in anticipation.
He leaned down, his mouth dangerously close to her ear. “I look forward to the challenge.” Jess gulped, hoping he didn’t notice. He kissed her fingers again. “But it might have to wait until after dinner. The groomsmen have a little surprise planned for Hayley, and we have to go practice—I mean—get it ready.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“A good one.” He winked. “But I can’t tell.”
“Because girl code would require me to run straight to Hayley and spill the secret?”
“Exactly.”
“You do realize Hayley hates surprises, right?” Jess cringed. “Please tell me you’ve figured this