Page 48 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

“It’ll be you soon,” Blaine said. He’d seen Ginny Winters with Cayden, and it was clear to him that they belonged together.

“We’ll see,” Cayden said, his voice giving nothing away. When he stepped back, though, he wore a smile, and Blaine hadn’t heard that things with Ginny weren’t absolutely perfect. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“Congratulations, Blaine,” Lawrence said, and Blaine hugged him extra tight for extra long.

Though Ian was fifteen months older than Lawrence and technically, he and Blaine made up the middle block of brothers between the three older men and the three younger ones, Blaine had always felt that kinship with Lawrence.

Number one, he was more open than Ian. He didn’t slam doors when one thing went wrong, and he stayed for hard discussions.

“You’re just happy you can move in here,” he joked as he stepped back, his emotion surging up his throat.

Lawrence chuckled and shook his head. “I am happy about that; I can’t lie.”

With Spur gone next door to Olli’s now, and Trey living at The Triple T with Beth, and Blaine moving into Tam’s grandmother’s house, only Cayden remained at the homestead. Lawrence and Duke were moving out of the house they shared with Ian and Conrad and into the homestead to even out the living conditions.

He looked around at the good men in the room with him. They all wore the same midnight black suit, each tailored just for them. Because of the long engagement, they’d had plenty of time for tailoring, and only Ian had refused to go into the shop with everyone else. He’d assured Blaine he’d be presentable for the wedding, and Blaine couldn’t do much more than accept his brother at his word.

He was coming to the wedding, and Blaine had chosen to be glad about that. He knew how hard some things were, and that not everything could be explained.

The door opened again, and the rest of the brothers arrived. Conrad and Ian spoke to one another, and Blaine wasn’t sure if the two of them ever stopped talking. Duke, the youngest, seemed to have more maturity than they did, and he grinned at Blaine as he beelined toward him.

He whistled as he scanned Blaine down to his shiny shoes. “Tam is so lucky,” he said, laughing.

Blaine laughed with him and hugged him, then clapped Conrad on the back and finally faced Ian. His brother’s jaw jumped, and a tornado blew through his expression.

“Congratulations,” Ian said stiffly, and Blaine’s heart broke for him all over again. Something must’ve shown on his face, because Ian looked away, anger in the set of his jaw now. “Don’t, Blaine.”

“I’m not,” he said, but his voice definitely choked with emotion. He wanted to say Ian would find someone to love—who would actually love him in return, not just love the size of his bank account.

He grabbed onto Ian, because he didn’t think anyone hugged him enough. After a couple of seconds, Ian yielded and returned the embrace. He didn’t say anything either, like,Don’t come crying to me when she breaks your heart, and he could have.

So much was said with silence anyway, and Blaine knew exactly where he’d go if Tam broke his heart. Misery did love company, and Ian had been miserable for so, so long.

“All right,” Spur said above the chatter. “Get over here and get your cufflinks.” He frowned at the closed door. “Daddy should be here by now. Maybe I need to call Mom.”

“He was just pulling in when we got here,” Duke said, crowding around the bureau with everyone else.

Blaine just stood back and watched them, this loud mess of brothers he’d been dealing with his whole life. He loved them; he always had. Sometimes, though, they were simply a lot to handle. At occasions like this, though, he was grateful for his big, loud family and the man they’d helped him become.

Daddy entered the room, and he too wore the suit. He’d paired his with a brand-new cowboy hat in a matching shade of darkness and a pair of deep, dark brown cowboy boots. He wore a smile the size of Texas, and Blaine hurried over to him.

“Daddy.” He breathed in the scent of his father’s cologne, recognizing it as one of Olli’s. She had half a dozen scents for men now, and she’d been working with one of the Chappell brothers for each one she developed.

Blaine himself woreHorsing Around, the scent she’d developed just for him. It was sold all over the country now, and he did like the notes of licorice buried down deep under the pine and straw, which were the dominant scents.

“What’s yours called?” he asked his father as he stepped back. He blinked back the few tears that had gathered in his eyes.

“My what?”

“Your cologne.” He gestured to Daddy’s throat. “That’s got Olli written all over it.”

“Oh, it’s calledPerfectly Patriarchal.” He grinned again, and Blaine hoped he would take his dad’s optimism and joy into the future with him. For years—decades—no one had worked harder than Daddy around Bluegrass Ranch. Now that he was retired, he hadn’t lost his drive to do good things, but he sure had a lot more free time to enjoy his life.

Blaine wanted to enjoy his life day-by-day, and he had the sudden vision of him and Tam sitting on their new porch in the evenings, doing just that.

His fears settled, and he went with Daddy over to the dresser to get his cufflinks.

“All right,” Spur drawled. “That’s everyone.” He looked at Blaine. “Did you want to say something?”

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