She smiled softly, a little bit of confusion mixing with that fear, before she headed back toward the picnic area.
Lexington cleared his throat. “Anyway, thanks for playing hero and saving my niece. I don’t really want to think about what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“But Iwasthere. Best not think about the worst things when you have the future to worry about.”
“Somehow that’s reassuring and scary all at once,” the other man said.
“I do my best.” I stood there awkwardly, doing my best not to look over at Livvy. That would just be too obvious, and ridiculous. I was never going to see that woman again.
I ignored the disappointment that shouldn’t have been there to begin with.
“So, why are you down here again?” Lex asked.
Jackson smiled wide. “All my pre-wedding festivities.”
“So you’re in the wedding then?” Lexington asked.
I nodded. “Yep. His bride-to-be and all of her friends are doing a whole event.” I tried to hide the annoyance in my tone, but I didn’t do a very good job since Lex just snorted.
“Well, if you guys have any time before you head out, let us know. Maybe we can get you a beer or something in thanks.”
I shrugged though part of me wanted to see Livvy again—an irrational thought. “I didn’t do much. No need to do that. But it was good to see you again.”
“Yeah, Ewan. And it’s nice to meet you, Jackson.” Lex finally went over to the picnic area where the others had gathered.
Jackson shook his head. “That scared the shit out of me. And I didn’t even see all of it.”
I’d do my best not to think of those scenarios at all, though I had a feeling I’d have a few nightmares over it. “Well, she’s safe. And now we can head on to whatever is next on the list.”
“I don’t know why you don’t sound excited about it. I’m getting married.”
“And I’m somehow your best man. Didn’t you have other friends?” I asked, shoving at his shoulder. We made our way to the other side of the park over the hill where Jackson’s friends and family were situated. And I did my best not to look behind me. Because if I did, I would want to see if Livvy was watching me.
And I wasn’t quite sure which answer I wanted to that question.
Jackson immediately moved to his fiancée, Kandi’s, side, and dipped her into a kiss that had all of the women swooning.
“What took you so long?” she asked as she stood up, her cheeks blushed.
“Well this cowboy Ewan over here had to go save the day.”
At their curious glances, he explained it all, making me sound far more heroic than I was.
Kandi looked over at me, wide eyes. “And she’s okay? That little girl?”
“It wasn’t anything. She would’ve been fine.”
Although she had been damn close to that car, and I tried not to think about it. I had a feeling it was going to echo in my dreams for far longer than I wanted. Same with the scream that had ripped from Livvy’s throat.
I couldn’t imagine how scared she had been, but I didn’t have to imagine anything else. Because Amelia was safe. And I wasn’t going to look back at the Montgomerys. No good could come from that.
“Well, where was the mother?” Trish asked, and I did my best not to sneer or growl at the maid of honor. Trisha decided because we were walking down the aisle together, we had to do everything together. I was trying to be a good sport about it, but honestly, it hurt my brain to think about being alone in a room with her for longer than thirty seconds. Everything she said sounded like a complaint, even if she was trying to be nice about it. And I wasn’t quite sure Trish knew how to be nice.
She hadn’t liked the flowers Kandi had chosen, hadn’t liked the setting, and was the reason we were down in Colorado Springs doing a local brew tour and celebration rather than up in Wyoming seven hours away where the wedding was going to be.
Jackson’s family owned the spread next to my family’s. While Jackson’s was far bigger than ours, we had over five thousand acres, and it wasn’t as if we were anything small. We each raised cattle, and shared water rights on some of the boundaries, and had grown up together.
Kandi and Trish as well as the other bridesmaids were born and raised in Cheyenne. And while it wasn’t the huge metropolis Denver felt like, they still didn’t like ranch life. I had a feeling Kandi was going to fit right in once she found her footing, but Trish hated everything to do with having the wedding on Jackson’s ancestral family home.
