Page 33 of A Small Town Risk

I gaze at him. He’s smiling.

“We haven’t talked about kids.”

He lays a hand on my tummy and kisses me. Looking into my eyes, he says, “I want kids with you.”

He hugs me again. We’re going to have a kid. I’m going to get married and have a child all in one year. Leaving Texas, I never anticipated something like this.

We move our conversation into the bedroom, and a thought hits me. A vision, really, of me waddling down the aisle. “We have to get married before I grow too big.”

He laughs like I said something funny. I punch him in the belly.

“Don’t laugh at me. I mean it.” Then I think of something else. I close my eyes and fall back onto the bed. Ryan sits next to me.

“Now what’s wrong?” he asks.

I can tell he’s trying not to laugh again. None of this is funny.

“I won’t be able to drink at my wedding,” I cry out as I open my eyes and glare at him.

He does laugh at me now and lies down beside me. I look over at him.

“It’s not funny.”

He pulls me closer so I’m snuggled against him. “I won’t drink at our wedding either, if that’ll help.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s fine. I love you. We’ll get a date set.”

I relax in his arms. It’s going to be alright.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

PARKER

There’s a knock on the door. What’s wrong now?

None of us make a move; it’s been one thing after another.

“Enter,” Elle yells. She’s the brave one.

An unknown woman sticks her head in.

“Sorry to bother you but we can’t find your bouquet. Do you know where it is?”

I try not to freak out; it’s my wedding day, and nothing is going right. It all started with the minister. He came down with something this morning so he couldn’t officiate the service. So all the Mannings scrambled to find someone else. Then, the caterer called to say their van had broken down and they’d be running late.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it,” Mom says, getting up and leaving.

“I’ll help,” Linda, Ryan’s mom, adds, following her out the door.

“It’s going to be fine,” Elle tells me. She and Catherine are seated next to me. They’re both getting their makeup done. I give them a weak smile.

Neither Ryan nor I wanted a formal wedding; we’re doing this for our moms.

“Parker, it’s going to be okay,” Catherine says, interrupting my thoughts.

I shake my head. “Yeah, I know.” I need to maintain composure and conceal any signs of nerves.

---