Page 17 of A Nice Day for a Cowboy Wedding

“Great minds,” Lilly said, stepping into the kitchen.

Cora smiled at her sister, who was carrying a squirming little boy. Cora loved having a baby niece and nephew. It was like getting to relive Micah’s baby years without any of the crushing responsibility.

“You want one?” Cora asked, pointing to the sandwich she was making.

“If you’re offering.” Lilly leaned back against the far wall, gently untangling Aiden’s pudgy fingers from her hair. “How’s the wedding?”

Cora set out to make a sandwich Lilly would like, debating with herself how much she wanted to tell Lilly about how the wedding planning was going. The thing was, this whole new leaf was a bit of a balancing act. For most of their lives, Lilly had been in charge, telling Cora what to do, stepping in and doing what needed to be done.

Cora needed boundaries, so she could be the one stepping up for once. “Deb wants to move up the date to September,” Cora offered, as that was relevant to all business things.

“That’ll be tight,” Lilly said thoughtfully.

Cora put a few slices of ham on a piece of bread. “Yes, but I thought it’d be good. The earlier we have our first wedding, the more buzz we’ll get to book the next.”

“True. I like the way you think,” Lilly said with a grin. “But Will and Tori are eloping over my dead body, and Sam can’t hold out much more on Hayley. We’ll be drowning in weddings.”

“Weddings we won’t make any money off of because they’re family and Mile High employees.”

Lilly chuckled. “Ireallylike the way you think. Who knew becoming a wedding planner would make you so mercenary?”

“I’m not a wedding planner yet. I have to plan a wedding first. And it has to be a success and . . .” Cora stopped herself from sayingactually happen. But Shane’s steadfast insistence that his mother was making a mistake continued to poke at her.

What if he was right? Was Cora aiding and abetting something awful that Deb would only regret? Cora could barely stomach the thought of it. She glanced over at her older sister, who had practically raised her. Mom had always been working. Dad had rarely deigned to take the time away from his real family to do anything with her or Lilly. Lilly had stepped up and been everything Cora had needed. She’d still be living with Stephen in that awful situation if it hadn’t been for Lilly.

Lilly, who’d protected her as best she could, who’d stepped in and told her when she was wrong. Just like Shane was trying to do with Deb.

“I have a question for you.” She handed Lilly the sandwich around the waving baby arms that tried to grab it. “Were you ever . . . When you were protecting me, did it ever turn out you were wrong about something. Or someone?”

Lilly’s pale eyebrows drew together as Aiden seemed to try to leverage himself up and over her shoulder. “In what way?”

“Just that, you made mistakes right? You weren’t infallible. Being an outside observer doesn’t mean you automatically know what’s best for someone. For me.”

Lilly blew out a breath. “I often wished I could be infallible, but I suppose I wasn’t. Not to mention no matter how hard I tried to protect you, you were often determined to go your own way. It frustrated me at the time, but I’ve also learned a little something about letting go and letting people . . . Sometimes you have to give people the space to make their own choices.”

“Even if they’re wrong?”

“If I could have stopped Stephen from hurting you and Micah, I would have, but aside from that? I was always a little heavy-handed, and I think letting you make some of your own choices or mistakes might have been good for you.” Lilly smiled a little sadly, but seemed to shake herself out of the sad. “But I’m so proud of where you are, and what you’ve done. I don’t think looking back is necessary.”

Cora opened her mouth to explain that she wasn’t looking back. She was trying to understand the now. But her cell phone trilled instead. She frowned, putting her sandwich down on a paper towel and pulling the phone out of her pocket.

Her heart sank when her display readBenson Athletic Association.She fumbled to swipe to accept. “Hello?”

“Ms. Preston. This is Mr. Cummings from the Benson Basketball Youth Association.”

“Hello. Oh, God, is everything—”

“Your son is fine, Ms. Preston.” There was a dramatic pause. “Though I’m afraid you’re going to have to come pick him up, and he will no longer be welcome at any classes within the Benson Athletics Center. His behavior today has proved unacceptable. I am sorry.”

Cora didn’t even begin to know what to say tothat. Except the man didn’t sound very sorry. “I . . . don’t . . .”

“Can someone come pick him up as soon as possible, Ms. Preston? We can discuss the particulars in person.”

“Yes. Yes. I’ll be right there.” She hit End, trying to breathe through a little bit of panic and a whole lot of emotion.

“What is it?”

“Micah, he . . . got kicked out.”

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