Drew lifted the sparkling crystal encrusted veil off of her face. He gazed at her with so much love that she went weak in the knees. His long, passionate kiss sent a rush of energy from her lips throughout herentirebody.
“May I present, Mr. and Mrs. Drew Grant,” theministersaid.
The gathering clapped and cheered as she and Drew turned to face them. They walked down the aisle, hand in hand toward the long table that had been set in their honor. Situated just outside the barn, it sat in front of the other tables. The edges of the cerulean blue table clothes fluttered in the breeze. Flower arrangements with yellow roses, white tulips, and Montana wildflowers decorated thetables.
Cindy waited as Drew pulled the chair out. As she sat, she silently congratulated herself on ignoring her mom’s insistence that she wear silk. It would have clung to her like a second skin in this heat. She’d chosen an aline dress with a sweetheart neckline and a corset back. A layer of white lace gave it the vintage feel she’d been looking for when she’d gone dress shopping. She kicked her white satin slippers off. In the last few months, she’d become more accustomed to wearing cowboy boots than girly shoes. Her feet were already killing her and they hadn’t even made theirroundsyet.
“I can’t wait to carry you over the threshold and start the honeymoon,” Drew whispered inherear.
“Let’s sneak out,” she murmured before giving him a kiss which hinted at what she wanted to do to himlater.
With all of their friends, family, and even some cousins in attendance, the gathering was upwards of one hundred people. As they filtered into their seats, she eyed the buffet. Madison had reluctantly allowed them to bring in a caterer after Cindy had pointed out that there was no way she could juggle a four month old and a full wedding service at thesametime.
In addition to a huge tray of shrimp cocktail on ice, she spotted baskets of bread, a still steaming platter of mouth-watering steaks, mashed potatoes, various salads and more. She could hardly wait to scarf down her first meal of the day. She’d been too nervous to eatearlier.
She couldn’t wait to see the cake either. She’d made a special request that Drew didn’t know about and she couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when they broughtitout.
Drew stood and addressed thegathering.
“Cindy and I want to thank you all for coming to help us celebrate our love. I know it seems like we’ve been having non-stop weddings. First it was Brady and Rachel. I’d like to think we all breathed a sigh of relief when she finally chose the perfect dress.” He grinned in Rachel’s direction. “We also got to welcome baby Tanner into the world a fewweeksago.”
As if on cue, the baby cried. A few peoplechuckled.
A tabby cat leapt onto thetable.
“Mittens!” Kate gasped as she jumped up to grab her cat. “Get down fromthere.”
“That cat’s always up to no good,” Drewjoked.
“It runs in the family,” Loganhollered.
Cindy and Drewlaughed.
“Okay, where was I?” Drew joked. “Oh, right. Mack and Madison were next to get married. They weren’t kidding when they said April showers bring May flowers. Who could forget that deluge? I’m glad we all fit in thenewbarn.”
A murmur of agreement rippled through thegroup.
“Cody and Abby tied the knot the end of May leaving me the last single brother in the group. But we all know I was already taken by the most beautiful, most loving woman in the world.” Drew turned to Cindy and smiled. “I love youhoney.”
A few of his brothers started to hit their champagne glasses with theirknives.
“Kiss.Kiss.Kiss.”
Drew leaned down and gave her a toe-curling kiss while everyone cheered. When he finished, he returned to his fullheight.
“And I can’t forget to mention the other most important girl in my life. Where’s Brooke?” He held a hand to his eyes to block the sun. “Oh, over by Jimmy. Those two are inseparable. Come on up here,honey.”
Brooke ran forward in her adorable white flower girl dress. She flung herselfatDrew.
“Can we eat yet, daddy?” sheasked.
“Of course, honey.” He hugged her and grabbed her hand so he could lead her to the buffet line. “Let’seat!”
Cindy followed closely behind them. She couldn’t believe how fast Brooke had accepted Drew. She said he was much better than her olddaddy.
Carol’s mom Vicki walked up with Sheriff Hunt in tow. The two had become inseparable over the last few months. June, Rachel’s mom, stood behind Vicki. They had formed a close friendship while watching thegrandkids.
After piling a plate full of a little bit of everything, Cindy returned to the table. She fed Drew bites of steak while he fed her spoons of mashed potatoes. She didn’t look up until a shadow passed over herplate.
