Page 50 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

“I’m not going to,” Dawson said crossly.

“Well, you’re totally grumpy,” Duke fired back. “You think Caroline wants to see your growly bear face as she comes down the aisle? I can guarantee you she doesn’t.”

Duke was just as grumpy as Dawson, as evidenced by the lecture he’d just spewed. The truth was he was right. Dawson didn’t want to feel like this on his wedding day. He turned toward the little window above his desk and looked outside.

“Did it stop raining?” he asked.

“I’ll go check,” Brandon said.

Dawson had awakened to rain on his new roof that morning. He’d made breakfast through it. Caroline had shown up twenty minutes early with a somber look on her face. She really wanted to get married outside. Dawson wanted to do whatever he could to make his lovely bride’s dreams come true.

So he, her daddy, her brother, Duke, Brandon, and her sister’s husband had set up the tents that morning. Zona and Belle had started setting out chairs and decorating them according to their plans.

Because Arizona came from the Glovers, who had plenty of money, she’d found some last-minute rentals that she wouldn’t reveal the price of, and she’d paid to have them installed from the back of the barn to the wedding tent in the pasture.

It was only about twenty feet, but if it rained, those extended tents would keep the ground dry and allow them to have the wedding outside. Guests might get a little wet if it was raining when they came and parked, but they’d be dry once they made it into the barn. Everything was covered after that.

Zona had found heaters somewhere, and Dawson had given up trying to ask her how much everything cost and when he could pay her back. “Nonsense,” she’d said to him. “You don’t need to pay me back. We’re family, and this is your wedding.”

He loved his sister-in-law so much. She’d been so good to him and Brandon over the years, and she’d tamed Duke. Sheraised good kids, and Dawson hoped April would have a good time at the wedding.

Caroline had been extra-kind to her over the months, as April came around Dawson often. She’d said she was worried she wouldn’t be able to, but Dawson had assured her Caroline wouldn’t mind, and that April could still pop by whenever she wanted.

The door opened, and Dawson expected either Brandon or Daddy to come in, but instead, he heard “Uncle Dawson,” in April’s voice. He turned toward her. She wore a pretty green dress the color of sagebrush, almost gray but definitely still green.

Caroline had chosen blue, yellow, green, and pink for her colors. “I can’t decide on just one,” she’d said. All the girls in the family, in the wedding party, wore a different color, and Dawson thought it looked like a field of wildflowers, just like the dresses Caroline liked to wear.

She’d been wearing a flowery, flowing dress for breakfast, and then she disappeared into the farmhouse where her mama and sisters and Dawson’s momma and sister-in-law would all prepare. She’d do her final staging in the barn as that was where the aisle started—right at the back where the big double doors could be opened to the ranch beyond.

“What’s up, little miss?” he asked.

“Grandpa says it’s time for you to come over. We’re lining up.”

Dawson’s pulse practically attacked him, but he nodded. Duke looked at him, grabbed him, and pulled him into a hug. “You are so ready for this. You are gonna make her so happy.”

Dawson had never really thought that he would do anything for Caroline.Hefelt like the lucky one.

“Let’s go.” He stepped out of the barn office and down onto some extra mats that someone had put down, which was a brilliant idea because then he didn’t have to walk in the mud.

The ranch would be mucky in spots, but he hoped they’d gotten the tent up soon enough to keep things mostly dry. Daddy had mowed the aisle right down to the dirt almost, and a certain buzz filled the air that also seemed to crawl right into Dawson’s bloodstream and make him more excited than he’d been before.

He went into the barn, scanning for Caroline, but he didn’t find her. A whole mess of people stood by the doors in the back—the family wedding party.

Brandon should be off getting the crows to do what they needed them to do. Nobody had any idea if Rocks and Nugget were even around today. They certainly wouldn’t come under a tent. They were wild animals, so Dawson wasn’t sure how he was going to get them to hop down the aisle the way Caroline wanted them to.

He heard the warbling of chickens, which meant his hens were here, but he couldn’t find Judy to see if she had them leashed the way they’d planned. She’d practiced a couple of times, and it really was the cutest thing Dawson had ever seen—his five favorite hens tied with twine and walking along, bobbing their heads behind a little girl.

“Where’s Ruffin?” Just as he asked, Daddy appeared at his side with his dog.

“Hey, Daddy.” Dawson melted right into his father’s arms. “I’m really doing this.”

“You’re really doing this,” Daddy said. “And it’s about time.” He grinned at Dawson, and turned him toward his mother to hug.

“I love you, Momma,” he said.

“Oh, I love you too, my precious boy.”

Then Daddy took her arm and tugged her away from Dawson. “We have to go up to the front.” Everybody shifted that way, in fact.

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