Standing His Ground: Greer (Porter Brothers Trilogy 2)

“The whole county hears you,” Greer mumbled.

“Good!” Holly took several deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. “So help me God …” Holly moved to walk back and forth across the small porch, the Porters moving skittishly out of her way.

“You said we can’t change anything, so there’s no need to stand here, trying to stop it. The only thing we can do is wait for Logan to draw and see what he does. Do you agree?”

They nodded.

“I’ll go to the bank Monday morning and give you what I have saved.”

“I don’t want your money—”

“Shut up!” she snapped at Greer. “You and Dustin can go home. I’m going to enjoy my last night of being single. I’ll see you at the ceremony. It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. That is, if I don’t change my mind and decide not to marry you!”

“Woman, you’re gonna marry me!” Greer snarled obstinately.

“Maybe I will … Maybe I won’t,” she taunted, going to the screen door and jerking it open.

“Woman …”

She would have gone inside, but the plea in his voice stopped her. That he had lowered his guard to make himself vulnerable in front of his family had her hesitating.

“God help me, I’ll be there,” she said, going inside and slamming the door behind her. “Sutton, you have any of that wine left?”

29

Sharpshooter: You wake up in a better mood this morning?

Sharpshooter: I never got the chance to tell you something yesterday.

Sharpshooter: I know everyone thinks I’m a joke. That I don’t care about anyone but myself. I do. I care about my family and you.

Sharpshooter: I held a grudge over Logan, and I let it blind me. If I could do it differently now, I would. Every month I lived with you, I fell deeper in love. So deep I didn’t know how to get out of the hole I had dug myself into. My pa told me never to dig a hole that you can’t get yourself out of. I didn’t listen until it was almost too late.

Sharpshooter: I tried to show you by planting the daisies for you, and by building the chicken coop for you, even though you believed Tate built it. I tried to show you when I paid Jo to put that tire on for you, and when I made that picnic for you. I didn’t ask Jo to meet me that day. It was for you.

Sharpshooter: I was so lovesick for you that I couldn’t work up the courage to tell you. I would rather have taken a beating from the Colemans, the Hayes, and The Last Riders than admit it. I deserve the blessings God has given me, but I don’t deserve you.

Sharpshooter: I think that when I was a boy, I was gifted the vision of the daisy, because God knew I was going to grow up to be an asshole, and He didn’t want me to lose the best gift He had planned for me.

Sharpshooter: If you hadn’t changed that icon, I would have let you walk away from me and never known what I was missing. You don’t have to marry me today, but I’m praying you will. I will be waiting for you with my mama’s wedding ring in my pocket.

Sharpshooter: P.S. I had King drop my wedding present off to you. It should be there soon.

Holly hugged the expensive bottle of champagne to her chest, reading Greer’s messages through misty eyes. She didn’t answer him. Some messages deserved to be answered in person.

Diamond took her wedding dress off the door of the closet. “You ready to get dressed?”

“Yes.”

Her best friend and Sutton helped her get dressed, while Rachel sat on the bed, breastfeeding Ema and watching. She carefully juggled the baby to reach onto the dressing table to hand her tissues.

“You look beautiful,” Diamond complimented her as she started to put on the veil.

“Not yet. I’m going through the woods. I don’t want it dragging on the ground.”

Swinging in a circle, she watched herself in the mirror. Picking up her long dress, she then turned toward the women.

“We need to get moving before the men can talk Greer into breaking out the moonshine.” She left the bedroom, practically dancing on air. When she got to the porch, she paused to straighten Logan’s tie.

“You look very handsome.”

Logan turned bright red when she leaned down to kiss her son.

“I love you, son.”

“I love you, Mama.”

She hugged him tight before straightening. “You hear that? How did Greer …?” She heard music coming from the direction of the daisy field.

Sutton laughed, helping her to lift her dress up again. “He borrowed Mick’s equipment. I bet every house can hear it.”

Holly held her hand out to Logan, going down the steps then starting in the direction of the path that led between the two properties. Walking up the path, she passed their guests one by one. As she and Logan passed, they fell in step behind her bridal party.