A Winter Wedding(110)

“What are you doing?” he murmured as he reached her, his soft lips curved in that half smile she found so sexy.

“For anyone who couldn’t hear, he’d like to know what I’m doing,” she said into the mic. “And to tell the truth, I’m not sure. I’ve never gambled on love the way I’m doing now. You see, I know Kyle doesn’t really want a music artist for a wife, especially one who’s as involved in her career as I am. But, in spite of that, he asked me to marry him before I left. And I didn’t answer. I was too afraid to say yes and didn’t want to say no. So...I’ve come back to see if he’ll ask me again.”

She thought he might ham it up for the audience. She’d put him on the spot, after all, had probably embarrassed him. But he seemed too caught up in the moment to care about who might be watching. He never took his eyes off her.

“I don’t mind that you’re a performer,” he said, speaking into the mic himself. “What’s important to you is important to me. So I’ll support you in that, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure you don’t regret coming back to Whiskey Creek—if you’ll marry me.”

“I’m not too young?” she teased.

“I don’t know... Nine years is nine years.”

Everyone started to boo.

“Sounds like I’m outvoted,” he teased back. “No matter what age you are, you’re just right for me.”

“Then I have your answer. It’s yes,” she said, and he pulled her into his arms to kiss her.

“Tell me you still have my ring,” she murmured amid all the noise and congratulations people were shouting at them. “I love that ring.”

“I took it back,” he said.

She pulled away. “You did? I’ve only been gone a week!”

He chuckled at her disappointment. “It’s at home, waiting for you,” he told her and kissed her again.





Epilogue

Four weeks later...

“So we’re planning another wedding?”

Kyle moved his chair to one side to give Baxter room to join them. Since Baxter had arrived at Black Gold Coffee a little late, the tables they’d pushed together were already about as crowded as they could get. But now that he was living in town again, the whole gang could be present for coffee on Friday mornings, and this was one Friday when they were. Even Eve’s husband, Lincoln, who rarely showed his face in Whiskey Creek because of his unusual past, had made the drive from Placerville with her and was sitting at the table with his coffee.

“You weren’t expecting it after what happened at my wedding?” Phoenix asked, laughing at his surprise.

Baxter’s eyebrows went up. “Last I heard it was a ways off.”

When Lourdes’s hand tightened on Kyle’s, he felt the same rush of happiness he’d experienced every day since she’d come back to him. She’d been in Nashville quite a bit—more than he’d consider ideal—but she’d spent all her weekends with him, and he’d gone with her on the last trip. He hoped they could make enough compromises; he knew he was going to give it everything he had. “It is,” he conceded. “It’ll be next winter, on December 1.”

“We’re just handing out the initial assignments,” Lourdes explained.

Baxter looked from him to Lourdes. “Do I get one?”

Lourdes grinned at Kyle. “Olivia will be the planner,” he said.

“Of course,” Callie responded. “We couldn’t have a wedding without Olivia as planner.”

“And Brandon will be my best man.”

“Of course,” Noah chimed in.

“The rest of you? You’ll all be in my line—”

Before anyone could say “of course,” Lourdes broke in. “Except the women. You’ll be in mine.”

“All of us?” Addy asked in surprise.

“All of you, along with my sisters and mother.”

Dylan whistled. “That’s going to be a long line.”

Lourdes winked at him. “Fortunately, there’s no limit.”

“Sounds great to me,” Riley said. “We’ll be there, ready to help with anything you need.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Kyle shifted his focus to the man who’d been the latest groom. “Especially from you.”

Riley’s eyes widened. “What? Don’t tell me—”

Kyle clapped him on the back. “Yep! You’re going to be performing the vows, buddy.”

Riley shook his head. “I asked for that, didn’t I?”

“You’ll do great,” Lourdes said, giving his arm an affectionate squeeze.

Kyle was delighted by how quickly she’d become one of the gang, how easily she fit in.

“Just don’t choke up the way Kyle did,” Noah said with a laugh.

“Here we go again,” Kyle groaned.

“I still can’t believe I missed that part,” Lourdes said.

“I’m glad you did,” Kyle grumbled. “I wish everyone had missed it.”

“I thought it was wonderful,” Phoenix said, but she would say something like that. Phoenix had more empathy in her little finger than most people had in their whole bodies.