A Winter Wedding(111)

Kyle rubbed his chin. “I knew the second it happened I’d never live it down. So I hope you do choke up,” he told Riley. “I hope you cry like a baby.”

Riley motioned for everyone who’d jumped in to quiet down. “You’re going to be a tough act to follow,” he said. “But I’ll do my best. Maybe by then I’ll feel more experienced at this whole marriage thing.” Leaning over, he dropped a kiss on Phoenix’s lips, and Noah threw a balled-up napkin at them.

“Enough! My God, no one’s seen wedded bliss until they’ve seen you two.”

Callie nudged him. “I hope you’re kidding, because it wasn’t too long ago that you were acting the same way about Addy.”

“I still act that way about Addy,” he said, putting his arm around his wife.

“So have you decided what you’re going to do with your house in Tennessee?” Eve asked Lourdes.

“Sell it,” she said. “Since I’ll be living with Kyle here in Whiskey Creek, it makes sense.”

“Then where will you stay when you go back to do things like you’re doing next week?” Ted asked. “When you meet with those prospective managers and Broken Bow Records to demo ‘Refuge’?”

“My mother’s talking about returning to Angel’s Camp,” Lourdes said. “She misses it. Or maybe she’ll come here, since it’s close. But I can always stay with my sisters. They love Nashville and plan on being there for a while.”

Cheyenne broke off a piece of muffin for her one-year-old. “So you’re going to be able to juggle it all?”

Lourdes leaned a little closer to Kyle. “I think so,” she said.

He took her hand, with his engagement ring on it, and kissed her fingers. “Everything’s going to be fine. You guys just be ready for the wedding. We’ll handle the rest.”