Page 113 of Cowboy Seeks Husband
“The one and only.”
“You still jealous, little lion?”
“No.” Roan wrinkled his nose. “He just bugs me.”
Walker laughed and hauled Roan against his body to whisper in his ear, “Because you’re jealous. No need to be. I’m marrying you, ain’t I?”
“Ain’t you?” Roan chuckled. “You must really want me to believe you because you’re slipping into deep Louisiana-speak on me now.”
“I couldn’t not invite him. I’ve known him forever. Plus, we invited everyone else who was on the show with us.”
“Yeah, but did he have to accept?”
“What about him?” Walker said, nodding toward Ben, who had arrived hours earlier than necessary for the wedding. Apparently, Andy had requested to film interviews with him and Mike as the other two frontrunners who had “lost” to Roan. “Did you have to invite him?”
Roan snorted. “I didn’t. Andy did.”
“Ditto for Mike.”
“I know.” Roan’s eye caught Ben’s then, and he smiled, hoping to impart that he considered them to be friends. But Ben ducked his head and moved out of Roan’s line of vision into the shade of another oak tree. “He didn’t love me,” Roan said quietly. “He just thought he did.”
“Same with Mike.”
Roan shook his head, but he didn’t argue. The difference between Ben and Mike was night and day. Ben had let proximity and forced intimacy take on more meaning than they really had. Mike had years with Walker. But whatever. They were getting married today and the last thing he wanted was to talk in-depth about the other men in their lives.
“There you are,” Kylie said, hustling up the porch steps and grabbing his arm. “Come with me.” She directed her sharp gaze on Walker. “And you! Stay in the air conditioning. I don’t want to have to re-do your face later.”
Roan waved as Kylie dragged him away to the makeup trailer where he was pushed into a chair, much like the one he sat in at the dentist, and endured half an hour of her attentions. Then it was Tessa’s turn, and he stayed behind to chat with her while Kylie glammed her up for the ceremony.
“Walker’s going to love your hair,” he said, sipping water from a Styrofoam cup that Kylie had pushed into his hand at some point, ordering him to stay hydrated. “He loves the gray.”
Tessa pursed her lips, checking herself out in the big mirror. Her gray hair was curled to frame her face, and the makeup was tasteful. “Wish I liked it half as much as he does, but there’s no fighting age, baby. Death comes for us all.”
“Wow, way to get morbid on my wedding day,” Roan said, chuckling.
“Oh, no, now, I didn’t mean it like that.” Tessa’s eyes grew round with worry. “And I didn’t mean to remind you of your dear departed mama. I know she’d have loved to be here today.”
Roan nodded and took another sip of his water but said nothing more. If he thought too much about his mom, he’d cry. Instead, he teased Tessa some more. “Joe’s going to have to keep his hands off you until after the ceremony, or Kylie’s going to whip him with her hairbrush.”
“Oh, he’d like that,” Tessa said with a twinkle.
Roan laughed, his heart swelling in his chest. It made Walker crazy when Tessa and Joe talked about their sex life, but it made him hopeful. Would he and Walker still be so adventurous and eager at their age? He hoped so.
Joe was doing better since they’d moved into the refurbished barn, too. He had been taking his diabetes diagnosis more seriously, saying, “I want a few more years to play with my woman in that fancy new Jacuzzi.” Walker had groaned, and Roan had laughed himself almost to death.
When Tessa was completely made up, she rose from the seat with a slow dignity and took hold of Roan’s hands. While Kylie cleaned up and readied her area for her next victim, Tessa smiled up at Roan. “You take care of my boy, won’t you?”
“Of course, Tess. You know I will.”
“And love him for the rest of your days?”
“That’s what I’m about to promise to do.”
“He might not be my flesh and blood, but he’s my heart.”
“Mine, too.”
“I know.” Tessa smiled and touched the tip of his nose with her finger. “I knew the first moment I saw you. That day down by the stables? You weren’t supposed to be there, but you were. And somehow I knew.”
