Mine To Have (Southern Wedding 1)

"It’s going to be fine," I mumble under my breath. "The first thing we have to do is say hello to my grandparents and then work our way down the family."

"That sounds like a plan," he mumbles back. "I mean, he’s older now, so chances are if he shot me, he would miss."

I can’t help but laugh as we walk toward my grandparents who are sitting together. "Well, well, well," my grandmother says with her head tilted to the side. "Look at what the cat dragged in."

"Oh, dear," I say, suddenly thinking that maybe this wasn’t the brightest idea I’ve ever had. Perhaps I should have eased into it instead of just jumping into the deepest part of the river.

"Hello," Travis greets from beside me. "Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, good to see you again."

"Is it?" my grandfather inquires, leaning back in his chair. He wears his jeans and button-down checkered shirt with his white cowboy hat that he never goes without. He looks at me, and even though he’s got the tough exterior, I can see the lightness in his eyes. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his family, even accepting Travis after he hurt me. "Heard you got married." He glares at Travis.

Chapter 27

Travis

"Hello," I say nervously from beside Harlow. "Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, good to see you again." I nod politely and ignore the need to vomit. My eyes go from her grandmother to her grandfather.

"Is it?" her grandfather, Billy, says. He is the stamp of what a cowboy is. Every single time I’ve met him he’s wore his white cowboy hat and jeans. He also has always scared the shit out of me. "Heard you got married." He glares at me.

"You must have heard wrong," I say, the pit of my stomach sinking.

"I’m a lot of things," he replies, sitting up in his chair. "But hard of hearing isn’t one of them." His eyes go even smaller, and the glare would have anyone quaking in their boots.

"Oh, please." I hear laughter from beside him and turn to see Charlotte just shaking her head. "It took me six times to call you for breakfast this morning."

"Dammit, woman," he says, chuckling. "I’m trying to be serious." He leans and kisses her lips. "He was scared." He points at me, and I can’t disagree with him.

"Oh, please," Charlotte says, then turns to me. "Welcome back." She smiles big. "I saved you this time. I won’t the next."

I nod at them both and pick up my hand that is in Harlow’s and kiss her fingers. "There won’t be a next time."

"Well, I think there are other people here that are waiting to say hello to us," Harlow reminds me. "Or at least ask him if he’s married." She hits me with her hip and tries to hide the smile while I groan.

"We’ll see you later," Charlotte says, leaning back in her chair and looking out.

When we get far enough away, I look over my shoulder to see Billy still staring at me. "See, that wasn’t so bad," Harlow says as we walk deeper into the yard.

"Easy for you to say, he didn’t glare at you," I mumble and then bump into a girl who is running. Her pigtails are lopsided, and she smiles when she sees Harlow.

"Auntie Harlow." She jumps into her arms. "Gabriel is chasing me and telling me that he’s going to take my nose." She covers her nose right away, believing he can take her nose.

"Elodie." She says her name, and my eyes widen; when I saw her last she was just a little thing just learning to walk. "I’ll protect you." She looks just like Willow.

She looks at me. "Who are you?"

"This is Travis," Harlow says. As soon as Gabriel comes behind her, he looks over at me and stands there with his chest puffing out. He’s a teenager now, and he’s definitely gotten bigger.

"My dad called you a ding dong," Elodie says, and Harlow tries not to laugh.

"That’s not true," Gabriel says from behind her. "He called him a dipshit."

"Gabriel McIntyre," Harlow says his full name. "Watch that mouth of yours."

"Sorry, Aunt Harlow." He shrugs. "Just passing along the message."

"Well, do it kindly." Harlow kisses Elodie on the cheek and puts her down.

"How kindly do you call someone a dipshit?" Gabriel folds his arms over his chest, and if he was tatted, he would look exactly like his father, Ethan.

"I think it’s ding dong," I joke with him, or at least I try to, and he laughs even though I know he really doesn’t want to laugh.

"There you are,” Quinn says when he gets close to us. "Mom has been looking for you," he says to Elodie, who leans toward him and he takes her in his arms.

"Dad," she says, and he looks down at her. "Is ding dong nicer than dipshit?" His eyes go right away to Gabriel.