Page 83 of Relief Pitcher

Larry and Carolyn held hands and looked at me with kind smiles. “What’s this?” she asked.

I cleared my throat and gripped the sheet while my pulse thundered. “In my spare time, I’m a wood artist.” I imagined Ty giggling at that and nearly laughed myself. “I carve wood and wanted to make sure you still had your tree in some form.”

When I turned back to the sheet, I caught sight of Ty walking toward us with a soft, encouraging smile. I smiled back and took a steadying breath. His presence gave me the strength to continue with the reveal. Hell, Ty gave me the strength to continue, period. He’d made life worth living again.

“I knew there were important things on that tree, and I did my best to save them.” I carefully pulled off the creased sheet to reveal the abstract trunk I’d carved and assembled from pieces of the original tree. I’d carefully cut hearts around each of the initials and attached those to the trunk in an approximation of the original tree.

Carolyn gasped. “It’s beautiful.”

Before I could say anything else, she barreled into me and wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me the biggest bear hug I’d had in as long as I could remember. The last time I’d had a hug like that was from my own mom at Aleck’s funeral.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”

My skin grew damp where her cheek pressed against my neck. “You’re welcome. Glad I could do it.”

She pulled back, gripped my arms, and stared up at me. “I’m so happy we have you in our lives. For all of us.” She cupped my cheek, glanced at Ty, then stepped back and wiped her eyes.

Larry soon took her place and shook my hand. “Incredible work, son. Thank you. This means a lot to us.” His eyes were glassy. He wrapped his arm around Carolyn’s shoulder as they walked over to the piece and murmured to each other.

“Gold star for impressing the parents.”

I turned to Ty and smiled. “What can I say? Parents love me.”

He hooked his pinky around mine and turned back to watch his parents. “I bet lots of people do.”

CHAPTER36

TYLER

“I agree. A lovely ceremony.” I nodded at my uncle and said the words with feeling, which was impressive after uttering the line a dozen times already to relatives and friends of my parents who had approached me since the vow renewal had ended an hour ago.

“Anyone special in your life?” He raised eyebrows that resembled electrocuted caterpillars.

I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t anticipated getting asked that repeatedly. I’d let my guard down and hadn’t prepped a response. Normally, I would jovially laugh and say I was having too much fun to settle down or too busy with work—depending on whoever I was talking to—but Coop’s smiling face flashed to the forefront of my mind. He was special, but was hesomeonein my life?

Before I figured out an answer, someone interrupted and grabbed my uncle’s attention. I seized the opportunity to escape and refill my beer. While moving through the crowded barn, people smiled everywhere I looked. Nearly a hundred people had shown up to celebrate my parents. It was incredible to see the love for them from people I’d known all my life, some I’d seen around town, and some I’d never met.

Everywhere I looked, people held cups of beer from our brewery or plates full of Caleb’s delicious cooking. Loved ones had pitched in to decorate Grandpa’s property and barn, an old high school friend of Mom’s offered to take photos, and one of Dad’s coworkers with a side cake business recreated their wedding cake. Even the guys had suggested we close the brewery for the evening so they could join the party. Ethan and Dom said my parents were like parents to them too, and they didn’t want to miss it. The community had come together to celebrate my parents and their forty years of marriage.

Whenever someone would ask me in high school whether I thought I would return to Dahlia Springs, I’d laugh. No chance in hell. But now that I’d built a life with my favorite people, I couldn’t imagine being as happy anywhere else.

My gaze found Cooper as it had all evening. That man had wormed his way into my heart. I’d never expected to see him again after that first weekend, let alone fall for him, but he’d ended up among my favorite people. Cooper had even earned Gavin’s stamp of approval. My chest had swelled when he’d pulled me aside earlier and said it was a good thing I’d met Cooper first. Otherwise, he’d go after him.

Literally, all my favorite people were in one place. I couldn’t believe Gavin had come to town without telling me. Sneaky fucker.

Coop turned toward me from where he was chatting with one of my dad’s golf buddies. They seemed familiar with each other. Must be a client of his. Coop and I had found a few moments to chat when happy hour started, but he’d done his own thing, knew his own people. Neither of us needed to be babysat, which helped me enjoy the evening without having to worry about him. Between knowing people in the area from his work and the guys making sure to talk to him, I was free to fulfill my son duties.

The brewery crew had fully embraced Coop. Knowing I didn’t have to worry about how they felt about him helped me focus on sorting my own feelings. Which I needed to do sooner rather than later. They sat there like an unlabeled box on the front porch. It could be the most exciting gift I’d ever received or a glitter bomb filled with the finest and hardest to remove glitter available.

Seth approached with a limp and filled his cup, then promptly chugged it like we were at a frat party instead of a soiree full of boomers. He tugged on his bow tie and collar.

“Everything okay?”

“Yup.” His attention darted to the side, but I couldn’t tell what he was looking at.

“Oh, is it time for speeches?” Seth had been anxious about that since I suggested we give one.

“Uh, yeah.”

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