Page 74 of Loved By Tandy

While guests make their way to the reception, Tandy and I will enjoy a bit of quality alone time.

“Did you tell the boys to call me Grandy?” She runs her hand down the front of my jacket.”

“I didn’t. It’s possible he came up with that on his own. Grandma Tandy is kind of a mouthful. Grandy is so much easier.”

“Well, I love it.”

“Me too. Grampy and Grandy has a nice ring to it. Are you packed?”

She grins. “My bags are by the front door at the house. It’s probably a good thing Rose picked up the kitties last night because those boys hate when I pull out the suitcases.”

“How many suitcases are you bringing? We’ll only be gone a week.”

“Two. One for clothes and one for lingerie. I spent a boatload in Delaney’s shop. So I’m bringing along way more lingerie than I could possibly wear in a week because I couldn’t decide.”

“You can model it for me, and I’ll help you choose.” I dance one eyebrow.

Nodding, she says, “And I bought a beautiful silk robe. It’s long like that coat I used to have.”

“On second thought, maybe you should just bring the robe.”

A knock on the door ends that conversation or at least pauses it until later.

When I open the door, Colt grins. “They’re all waiting on you. I’m here to drive you over there.”

Jeremy is holding tight to Colt’s hand. “Mommy said I can’t have any food until you come, and I’m hungry. But Daddy said I could help Mr. Colt drive you to the tent.”

“He’s a good helper. I even let him steer.”

We all pile into the mule and head to the reception. Today has been perfect.

The reception is winding down,and it won’t be long until I can whisk Tandy away for our honeymoon. She’s taking me to New York City.

Donna is talking to Tandy, and I’m paying close attention to their body language. It seems like things between us are good, but I’m still a bit on edge because of how she handled her grief that weekend.

When they hug each other, I breathe a sigh of relief.

Daniel pats my shoulder. “I told you she’d come around. Did she tell you that she messaged Tandy weeks ago to apologize?”

“Tandy mentioned it.” I hug my oldest son. “Thank you for trying to hold us all together.”

“Like father, like son. And I think Zach has a bit of that in him too.” Daniel watches Zach playing with his boys.

I’m blessed to have such a great family, even if it isn’t always picture perfect. “Most definitely. Eli too. Your mama did a great job with you guys. All three of you.”

David walks up and waves Tandy and Donna over. “Let’s get one more picture before y’all leave.”

All the guests who are still around gather in close, and Colt snaps a picture. That one is going up on our wall.

Tandy slips her arm around me and inches up to whisper in my ear. “Let’s go.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After a flurry of goodbyes, Tandy and I drive to her house.

While she was in the cabin getting ready, I made a few preparations for after the wedding. Our flight doesn’t leave until the morning, so we’re spending the night here.

Rose petals lead from the front door to her bedroom, which is no longer upstairs now that the house is complete. And on the bed are matching his and hers robes that Delaney helped me pick out. Next to the bed is a box of chocolates and a bottle of bubbly that’s spent all day in the ice bucket. There’s very little ice left, but that doesn’t seem like a big deal at the moment.

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