Page 94 of Dagger

“Jesus,” a deep voice rasped.

We all turned at once to see John standing there.

My heart fluttered at the sight of him wearing black pants and a black jacket, covering a fashionable grey button-down. The collar of his shirt was open, showing the tight cords of his neck and his tanned skin.

John had always been a beautiful man, but the way he filled out his suit took my breath away. Heat built at the bottom of my stomach, and I pressed a hand to it, feeling my butterflies come alive.

“Kennedy,” he said huskily. “You look amazing. Beautiful, honey, just fuckin’ beautiful.”

“Stop being sweet,” Ned cried, pulling a Kleenex from the box on the table beside us and dabbing it at the corner of her eyes. “You’ll make me lose my shit. It wouldn’t take much right now. Before you came in, these bitches were already getting sappy.”

“Take that back,” Cara demanded.

Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Not you, babe. You’ve been the same snarky bitch you always are.”

“Thank you,” Cara said, twisting her lips into a pout.

I bit back my laugh, thinking how the only sappy person in the room was Kennedy herself.

“Katie just called,” John told Ned. “They’re five minutes away. You wanna come down and meet ‘em?”

Ned smiled. “Does Kit know Hustle’s on his way?”

“Yeah.” He dipped his chin, grinning. “He’s hidin’ in the backyard.”

“Good,” I said decisively. “He’s not to see Kennedy until she walks down the aisle.” I checked my watch. “The ceremony starts in fifteen minutes. If Hustle and Katie get here in five, it’ll give them time for a quick catch-up and for Hustle to get changed. We can time it so our girl here is traditionally late but not so late that Kit loses his mind.”

The door flew open again, and a little voice squealed, “Mama!”

My head whipped around to see Kady racing toward Kennedy, her beautiful blonde hair, so much like her mom’s, flying out behind her.

Sunny skipped in after her with a beaming smile plastered across her face.

“You look so pretty!” Kady cried out, throwing herself into her mom’s arms.

Kennedy caught her daughter, then bent down to give her a hug. “So do you, baby. Give me a twirl.”

Kady stepped back and spun around, her hair flying out again, along with the skirt of her white tulle bridesmaid dress.

“Oh my God,” Layla breathed, her hands flying to her mouth. “You look so pretty.”

“Gotta say, Kady,” Cara murmured. “You look like a little angel.”

“Oh, Kady,” I whispered. “You’re gorgeous.”

Sophie wiped a tear from her eyes as she turned a watery smile on her goddaughter.

Sunny popped a hip, turned to Kady, and declared, “Told you so’s.”

“You look pretty too, Sunshine,” Kady told her gravely.

“Do you thinks Kai will likes it?” Sunny whispered excitedly before twirling like a ballerina in her long, baby-blue dress. “It’s his best color.”

Kady smiled and nodded.

John’s light-brown eyes turned melty as he stared at his granddaughters. “Got the best-lookin’ family in the whole of goddamned Wyoming,” he grated out, his deep voice catching with emotion.

Kennedy looked up at John with shining eyes. “We better get moving.”

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