Oh hell. When my two sisters got their minds together it usually spelled trouble. Twice Amelia and Waylynn had been on the verge of being tossed in jail when Amelia went to New York to visit her. Waylynn’s jackass husband tried to ban Waylynn from seeing Amelia, and she pretty much told him to go fuck himself.
“Do I want to know?”
“Yes, I think you do. When Waylynn was in town over Thanksgiving and we all went to get our nails done, Paxton mentioned she always dreamed of a winter wedding around Christmas. The lights and holiday cheer made it the perfect time to get married.”
“Yes, she has mentioned that before.”
“Well then! Okay!”
I narrowed my eyes at my baby sister. “Well then, what?”
“You’ll get married. On Christmas Eve!”
Staring at her like she was insane, I let out a roar of laughter. “Because it would be so easy to plan a wedding in…” I looked at my watch. “Five days.”
A smile moved across her face that actually frightened me. “Do you trust me and Waylynn?”
“Of course I do. No, wait!” I held up my hand. “Trust you with what?”
“Planning your wedding. We can surprise Paxton. Think about it, Steed. You both want to be married, neither of you want the stress of that right now so how perfect will it be to have it all planned out for you? That way the two of you can concentrate on the baby, and Chloe, and your relationship!”
I leaned back in my chair and let the idea settle in some. “Where would we have it?”
“Here. On the ranch at Mom and Dad’s place. I already talked to April and David to make sure they would be okay with that. They were thrilled with the idea, and April is beyond thrilled to be helping.”
That made my heart soar. “Christmas Eve you say?” I asked with a grin.
“Yep. I already checked the weather, and it looks to be beautiful.”
“Is Waylynn gonna fly down for it?”
Her smile faltered. “Um, she was coming home for Christmas anyway. Jack had a business meeting in London he was going to and told her it would be best if she stayed home for this trip.”
“Fucker,” I mumbled.
“Yeah. He is. That’s a story for another day,” Amelia added.
Leaning forward, I rested my arms on my knees. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. Paxton would be mine. My wife. Chloe’s mom. A no-stress wedding. She’d already brought up going to the justice of the peace and making it official, so I knew she wouldn’t be upset.
With a tilt of my head, I smiled at my sister. “Let’s do it.”
Amelia set her coffee cup down and started to jump around. “Oh my gosh, Steed! I promise you won’t regret it! I swear we’ll make it so special for the three of you!”
Standing, I pulled my sister into my arms. I loved that she had included Chloe in that statement. “I know you will, Meli. I’m just glad the whole family will be here for Christmas.”
“For your wedding too,” she whispered.
“Hey, Amelia.”
We both pulled away to see Paxton standing there.
“Why are you up? You should be resting,” I said.
She flashed me a sexy grin. “The doctor said everything was fine. I’m sure it was the stress of the situation that made me feel ill. I feel amazing and very rested.”
Amelia clapped. “Then, you wouldn’t mind playing dress up with me would you?”
Paxton narrowed her eyes at my sister. “Huh?”
“I’ve got this dinner I have to go to and a friend of Waylynn’s sent some dresses down to try on. What fun is it to try on designer gowns by yourself? I’ll even bring them over here so Steed doesn’t freak out.”
I watched as Paxton’s eyes lit up. “Oh! That would be fun. Especially since I won’t be able to do that in a few months.” Paxton rubbed her belly.
“Great! I’ll run up to the house and grab them and then be right back.”
Paxton nodded. “Okay, that gives me time to grab something to eat.”
That was my cue. Rushing to her, I asked, “What do you want to eat, pumpkin? I’ll fix it.”
Her blue eyes filled with tears, and I was surprised when she wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so sorry you and Chloe had to deal with that awful woman.”
“Hey, look at me.”
She did.
“What she dished out to you was bad. Yeah, she was curt with both of us, but she wasn’t that much of a monster. I shielded Chloe from a lot. She was trying to hurt you, and she succeeded. Don’t let her even cross your mind ever again.”
With a nod, she swallowed hard. “I hate that I let her affect me like she did. I was just so thrown off by her hate.”
Anger toward Kim pulsed through my body. I fucking hated her. Hated that she had gotten to Paxton. At the same time, I was so relieved Chloe hadn’t seen her.