Page 82 of One Summer Day (Prosperity Ranch 1)

Lane clapped a hand on Holt’s shoulder. “Right now.”

Holt eyed the crowd. Most had turned to face the front again, but plenty were still looking at him. “Isn’t there a side entrance for the groom?”

“Wouldn’t know,” Lane said. “Might as well walk up the aisle. Everyone already knows you’re late.”

“Good point,” Holt muttered. So he walked up the aisle, nodding to those who greeted him. He saw several cousins, aunts, and uncles mixed in, but his immediate family was nowhere in sight.

After nodding to the reverend, Holt took his place, then he noticed his mother in the front row. She was already dabbing at tears with a wad of tissue. Holt gave her a reassuring smile.

The music immediately shifted into the wedding march song. It was like the organist had been watching his progress and started the moment he took his place. The stately notes filled the chapel, and everyone turned to look toward the back, anticipation buzzing through them.

Holt’s pulse skyrocketed.

His sister Cara appeared first, wearing a pale violet dress and holding onto the arm of Robert, one of their cousins. The two walked down the aisle, and Robert nodded to Holt as he took his place on the groom’s side. Next, Kellie came down the aisle, wearing the same color dress but in a different style, escorted by another cousin, Nate.

Kellie and Macie had hit it off, even when Holt had told Macie that the only therapy she was getting would be from him and nothing at Kellie’s Broken Hearts Ranch. Both women had laughed a long time at his expense.

Then Evie walked down the aisle, also in violet, escorted by Lane, who was Holt’s best man. Holt supposed in a different time or place, Knox might have been his best man. But their complicated situation had prevented that.

And then Ruby came along, walking down the aisle wearing a frilly violet dress. Her hair was full of sparkles that Holt remembered her begging Macie for. He wanted to laugh at her persistence, but his heart was too full right now to do anything but gaze at the little girl.

She carried a small white basket tied with purple ribbons, and as she walked, she scooped out flower petals, then dropped them on the ground. Sometimes it was one petal. Sometimes it was an entire handful.

A few people in the audience chuckled, but mostly they smiled at her adorableness. Ruby arrived at the front, and Evie took her hand, but then Ruby squirmed away and moved over to Holt’s side. She set her small hand in his, and if this went against protocol, he wasn’t about to change a thing.

And then it was as if the entire congregation drew in a breath at the same time.

Macie appeared, escorted by his father.

Holt was pretty sure his heart had lodged itself in his throat. Macie’s smile was nervous, but the second their gazes connected, it turned genuine.

Holt grinned back, knowing that he was completely giving himself away. He didn’t care. Macie was the love of his life, and he wanted everyone to know it.

She looked stunning, and Holt wondered if he was still asleep, dreaming this.

“Mommy’s pretty,” Ruby said.

People close enough to overhear her tittered.

Holt squeezed her hand. “She sure is, little darlin’.”

Macie wore a cream-colored dress with a V-neck and elegant lines falling to the floor. The fabric rippled with fluidity as she walked slowly down the aisle. Her dark hair was pulled up, off her neck, and a veil had been attached beneath, trailing the length of her dress behind her.

By the time Macie reached the front of the chapel, Holt’s eyes were burning with emotion. He wanted the ceremony sped up so that he could take her in his arms and kiss her as his wife.

Ruby grabbed Macie’s hand, so that she was standing between them, linking them together.

“Ruby, come here,” Evie whispered.

Ruby adamantly shook her head.

“It’s okay,” Macie told Evie, then she met Holt’s gaze.

He nodded. It was okay. Because he had vows to make to both of them.

The reverend began with his welcome and introduction, then he ran through the standard vows. Lane had told Holt to write his down, but every time he’d tried, there were just too many things he wanted to say. So he decided he would do it off the cuff, and that would likely be more from his heart anyway.

The reverend nodded for Holt to begin.

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