Tempting Love (Cowboys & Angels 3)

“Gage!” Paxton said.

“I’ve got him,” Waylynn said, scooping Gage out of his carrier.

Paxton kept the door open a bit so that we could hear them talking.

When the door opened, I put my finger to my lips to tell Chloe to be quiet.

“Girls, did you know Lincoln and Patches are tied up outside and they have ribbons and little Smurfs around their necks? Not to mention, Patches is eating the basket of flower petals.”

Amelia cleared her throat, and I could guess she was pointing to the bedroom to alert her mom Chloe was in there.

Chloe whispered, “Oh no!”

“That’s okay, Chloe cat, I have more!” Paxton said with a wink.

“Chloe’s got the goats all ready for the wedding, and I didn’t bother to question Cord as to why he was tying on Smurfs,” Waylynn said.

Melanie sighed. “Oh, good. Good. I see they’re still in the ceremony then.”

Amelia let out a chuckle. “Yes, indeed.”

“Is Corina in the bedroom with Paxton and Chloe?”

“Mom, why don’t you sit down here?”

“Nonsense, I don’t need to sit down. Waylynn, let me hold Gage.”

“Um, no, you can’t.”

I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. I could only imagine Melanie’s face when Waylynn told her no.

“What do you mean I can’t? I want to hold my grandson.”

“Well, I’m holding him right now, and I just got him. Stop being a baby hog, Mom!”

“I am not a baby hog! He’s my grandson, Waylynn.”

“Well, he’s my nephew, so take that!”

“Listen, Mom, we sort of have a surprise for you, and you can’t be holding Gage when you see it. You might drop him.”

“Drop him? Amelia, I will have you know I raised seven of you kids and never did I drop one of you!”

“Never? Are you sure? Because sometimes I have to question Cord’s mental state,” Waylynn said.

“Yes, I am sure! Then again, maybe I dropped you two. What is going on?”

Amelia called out, “Come out now, y’all!”

Chloe threw open the door and rushed out. “Grammy! We have your dirty dress!”

I closed my eyes and tried not to laugh.

Paxton groaned, “Lord, that girl…and Steed wants another!”

“My dress is dirty?” Melanie asked. I followed Paxton out of the room. Melanie had her back to me, thanks to Chloe running in front of her and keeping her put while she tried to figure out where her dress was dirty.

“Mom?” Paxton said softly. Melanie turned around and went to talk, but saw me standing there in her wedding gown. Tears filled her eyes while her gaze traveled up and down the dress.

“How? Where did you…? Oh my! You look so…beautiful!”

“Mom, don’t cry. You’ll make Corina cry and then I’ll have to do her make-up again!” Amelia said, hugging her mother tightly.

Melanie’s hands came up to her mouth, and she stared at me.

Waylnn stood next to her mother. “Amelia kept your dress and was going to make something out of it.”

“But when Mitchell and Corina decided to get married at the last second, I knew she had to wear your wedding dress.”

Tears streamed down Melanie’s face, and she turned to sit on the sofa. Paxton sat down next to her.

“Please don’t cry, Melanie,” I said, barely above a whisper.

She wiped her tears away and looked at me. “You look beautiful. The dress looks like it was meant for you!”

I tried to laugh, but a sob came out instead.

“Dab! Don’t wipe!” Amelia cried out.

I dapped at the corners of my eyes. “You don’t mind me wearing it?”

Melanie walked over to me, taking my hands in hers. “Mind? I’m honored. And when Mitchell sees you in this dress, I hope he does what his father did!”

“What did Daddy do?” Waylynn asked, handing Gage back to Paxton.

Amelia handed everyone a tissue.

“Oh, your father has always been so sweet and romantic. The moment he saw me walking down the aisle, he started to cry. I don’t know how I held it together when I saw those tears rolling down his cheeks. My father had to hold me up because he thought I was going to fall right there on the spot when I first saw John.”

We all sighed.

I took Melanie’s hands in mine. “I pray that Mitchell and I will be as blessed with our marriage as you and John have been. You’re both such amazing examples of true love and I…I…”

Melanie tilted her head as she reached up and dabbed away my tears. “I don’t remember what I was going to say!” I blurted out.

Drawing me into her arms, Melanie held me. “It’s the baby. Just blame the baby!”

I laughed and held her tighter. The knock on the door made us both take a step back. Steed walked in and stopped when he saw me.

“Mitchell is going to faint.”

John walked in behind Mitchell, and he paused the second he saw me. His eyes darted over to Melanie and back to me.