I stopped and let out a sigh. I turned back, grabbed the grapes and cheese, and tossed it all back into the basket. I dumped out the wine as Whitley let out a gasp.
“That was perfectly good wine,” she said.
I just looked at her. “There is no way in hell I’m letting an open bottle of red wine go anywhere near the inside of my truck. No fucking way. ”
She rolled her eyes as she bent down and grabbed the blanket, and she began to fold it up. We both turned to leave, and then we stopped dead in our tracks.
“Oh, wow!” Whitley said as we just stared at the beautiful red sky. “Oh yeah, totally getting married at sunset. ”
I smiled as I took her hand and led the way back to my truck. I didn’t care how bad it hurt. I was making love to my fiancée tonight.
It’s time to cowboy up for the sake of love.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Whitley
I sat on the back porch of Mr. and Mrs. Pierceson’s house, watching the sunrise. I couldn’t believe today was finally here.
My wedding day.
So much had happened in the last six months. Roger had gone to trial and had been found guilty of attempted aggravated assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for shooting Layton.
Layton had settled everything with
his father’s estate. He had taken part of the money his father had left him, and he’d set up a college fund at Texas A&M. He’d also made a very large donation to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Kate and Jen would never have to worry about anything with the way Layton had invested Kate’s money. I would never forget the look on Jen’s face when Layton had told her she’d never have to worry about Kate’s future.
I glanced over to my left when I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. Courtney came running up.
Jesus, what time did she get up to go for a run?
I thought back to the night before last when Court had been drunk and talked a little too much to Stacey and me. Stacey was our best friend from high school. She had flown in for the wedding a few days ago, and she had gone out with all of us. It was a good thing Anna had already left and gone home with Jen. Courtney had confessed to still being in love with Reed. My heart broke for her, and I had tried to talk to her a number of times yesterday about it. She’d said she was in love with Mitch, but Layton and I had both agreed that we thought Court loved Mitch, but she wasn’t in love with Mitch.
Anna had been really pushing Reed to move in together, but he’d kept putting her off. Layton had said that at his bachelor party, Reed had gotten drunk, and Layton had to keep him away from Mitch because Reed had wanted to tell Mitch he had stolen the woman he loved.
Court and Reed needed to be locked up in a room for a few days to work their shit out.
Courtney came jogging up the steps with a damn smile on her face. She had on a light strapped to her damn head. I couldn’t help but laugh at her when she stopped in front of me.
“What the hell, Court? Jogging at five a. m. Aren’t you afraid of running up on some animal or something?” I shook my head.
“Ah hell, don’t start with me. I already ran into Reed this morning. ”
I snapped my head up at her. “What? Where?”
She sat down in the chair and laughed. “Well, you’ll never believe this, but he was out running on the road, and we ran right up on each other. He scared the piss out of me. I saw his light, but at first, I thought it was a car with only one headlight. ”
My mouth dropped open, and I just stared at her. “You’re kidding me, right?”
She looked at me like I was the one who was crazy. “No, I really did run into him. He stood there for five minutes and lectured me. He said I had no business being out so early and in the dark even though it was the country. Then, I had to hear about how I should be wearing some sort of reflectors—because you know how much traffic comes down that road. ” She rolled her eyes. “We’re out in the middle of Bumfuck, Egypt, for Christ’s sake. ”
I let out a giggle. “I think it’s kind of cute. He’s worried about you, Court. You know, Courtney, we really should talk about the other night. ”
“Ugh, my God, Whit. Will you please just drop it? I was drunk and wasn’t thinking clearly. ”
I let out a sigh and turned back to the sky getting lighter by the second.
Stubborn girl.
“You know Reed loves you. ”