Page 60 of Soldier Cowboy
“I know you’re busy so maybe we can set aside some time. I have some ideas.”
“Great,” Riggs said, sounding as if Colton had just told him the price of a head of cattle had been decimated.
Then he did something so shocking that Colton might never forgive him.
“Here.” He handed his son over to Colton. “Hold him. I’ll be right back.”
Colton had to take the kid, or he’d have fallen to the floor. That’s how fast Riggs moved.
The boy looked at him. He looked at the boy. His nephew.
“Hi, I’m Colton. Your uncle.”
He stood there, the most uncomfortable he’d ever been, holding the kid at a safe distance. At least for now, he seemed fascinated with Colton and reached with a wet and gummy finger for his hat.
“Um, no. Not myhat.” Colton winced and jerked his neck back.
The kid gave him the full bottom lip.
Riggs returned in the nick of time with a wet cloth, and he cleaned his son’s sticky fingers one by one. “Okay, that’s better.”
“Which one is this?” Colton looked at the boy, as if discussing cattle before they were tagged.
“This is Cal.” Riggs finally took his son back then met Colton’s eyes. “Okay, look. Come by the house tomorrow and we’ll talk about your ideas.”
Colton was about to say thanks when the crowd erupted because Sean and Bonnie Lee had arrived.
“We better get back to our seats,” Riggs said.
Colton found his seat between Jennifer and Delores, who were both wearing big grins.
“What?”
“You looked so good holding little Cal,” Delores said. “You’re going to be a great uncle. Probably an even better dad.”
Colton cleared his throat and tugged at his tie. He wasn’t even thinking about awife, much less kids. For the love of God, he just got back and was trying to get his bearings. He hadn’t even made it home before he’d offered to help someone.
“When do you two think you’ll have children?” Delores, relentless, continued chipping away at the subject.
“I…I…” Jennifer picked up her napkin and folded it on her lap.
“Well, let’s have the wedding first,” Colton said, taking Jennifer’s hand in his.
“You were holding him like toxic waste.” Jennifer smiled at him. “That’swhy I was smiling.”
“What?” He pushed back a laugh. “Youdidn’t think I looked good holding him?”
“You just need a little practice, Uncle Colton.”
Sean and Bonnie Lee arrived at the white-tented area and were seated at a table together that was on a slight rise and faced everyone else.
“They decided not to have bridesmaids and groomsmen since the wedding in the chapel was small and intimate,” Delores said. “And as Bonnie Lee said, ‘I’m not an ingenue.’ Besides, don’t you know those producers tried to talk her into having some of the former contestants as bridesmaids!”
“Tacky,” Jennifer said.
“But yet they’re still here,” Colton said, and glanced at the table filled with women taking photos of everything in sight. Sean and Bonnie. The food. Cake. Each other. Because nothing was real anymore unless captured with a photo and then uploaded to social media. Presumably they’d be posting them when they got to Wi-Fi.
Toasts were made by both Riggs and Colton. Delores cried when Sean stood to thank her for being like a mother to him and warned he expected babysitting for his children, too. Bonnie gave a little speech in which she thanked both her mother and Aunt Beulah for helping to bring her back to her one and only love. More tears. Even Jennifer wiped away a tear and pulled out the hanky he’d given her.
